Happy Holidays

Ho ho ho and all that.

I have updated the photo albums over there on the left. We have had an amazing amount of snow in Puyallup the past few days and the Christmas lights look awesome when that happens.

Thanks to all of you who supported Emily on the Raider Run this year. She was the top fund raiser in the third grade! She got a really nice fleece jacket for her efforts of getting money out of you and us.

We plan on being at the beach for a long weekend over New Year's. We'll be closing in on a year with the Beach House in February. Hard to believe sometimes.

Here is wishing you and yours Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Cool Kwanzaa, Gut Jule, Happy Chanukah and a Slammin' Solstice. However you celebrate your winter holiday, we hope you enjoy it.

Where has November gone?

Good grief! Wasn't Halloween just yesterday?

Happy Birthdays to Mom & Dad Manil!

Well, we've been to the beach twice since the roof was last "fixed" and so far it seems they may have actually done it this time. We'll give it to the end of the month to make sure, and then we'll have to schedule repairs to the (not TOO badly) water-damaged ceiling.....

Sorry we've been out of touch for a while. Everything is so busy with work, school, physical therapy for my "well, you're getting a little older now" knee.......I will try to get after Erik to post some more pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Smell of Kelp

Wow, it has been a busy month for me at least. We're done with the major project at work that we started in March. There is one more big project for work, that I have no real responsibilities on, then cruise control until the new year.

Last time we were down here we could smell the ocean in the car heading down the boulevard on our way into town. Kristi and I spent the evening on the porch just listening to the surf and smelling the air. The next day at the beach we found out why there was such a pungency to the ocean air in the form of tons of fresh kelp washed up on the beach.

This time we came into town in the midst of a torrential rain. Guess what that caused? Yep the roof in the guest bath is leaking bad. Time to call the idiots from Skyline again. How hard is it to fix a roof that you installed?

Next weekend we are doing a three day weekend and, unless the weather is horrendous, we are going to build the shed.

Kristi's first blog

I really have nothing to contribute today...I just set up my account and wanted to say Hi!

I hope you enjoy the newer pictures that Erik posted under "2008 Part 2" and "Beach Place Story III."

Pictures

Well I am almost caught up on pictures. I need to post some new house pictures sometime soon. Honest...Check is in the mail...

We had a great time with the Hamburgs over Labor Day. Hopefully they will come down to the beach again soon and often.

All Good Things...

Alas, our week at the beach is over. We spent Thursday afternoon at the jetty taking pictures of pelicans and harbor seals (will post some tomorrow). Friday the Dobbs family came and joined us. We played games, ate good food, shopped and went miniature golfing. Sunday they left early and we spent the day idling cleaning up and getting ready to return to the trials and tribulations of having to pay for a beach house. The weather was foggy and rainy the last couple of days.

Now we have a new project to focus on: a shed. It is amazing how much stuff we need down there that we either do not have room for or would prefer not to store in the house. Right now we are looking at our options, i.e. metal vs wood. Dan suggested concrete, but he isn't the sanest person I know.

Half-Way Through Our Vacation

So here we are on Wednesday, the official mid-point of our week at the beach. Saturday and Sunday we were too busy around the house and shopping to do a lot of fun stuff. Monday we had guests over and fixed BBQ ribs. Tuesday we went to the pool and made it to the beach, for the first time!

Wednesday we decided to explore the rest of the North Beach communities. Ocean City and Copalis Beach really are just wide spots in the road. Ocean City has a store that is a bit of history and Copalis has a bar. Not much doing at either place.

Then we drove through Seabrook, the newest of the North Beach communities. I understand that everyone wants some equivalent of the Hamptons, but I can’t see spending $500,000 for a two bedroom, one bath that you have to cross the freeway and down a flight of stairs to get to the beach no matter how nice the neighborhood looks.

We went through Pacific Beach and stopped in Moclips and had a picnic lunch on the beach. Then we had a nice long beach walk.

The beaches at the north end of Highway 109 are much prettier than those on the south end. The north beaches are framed by high clay cliffs that have abundant evergreen flora on them and silvery sands. They remind me of Kalaloch where we spent so much of our summers when I was a kid. In the south we have dunes, with yellow dune grass and either dark gray or ash colored sand. On the other hand we have real amenities in Ocean Shores that all of the northern towns lack (like a real grocery and hardware stores).

We did stop on our way back at the Wacky Warehouse in Pacific Beach. This is a throw-back in time to the beachcombers of the mid-twentieth century. This store has all the assorted detritus of storm debris, estate sales, local auctions and store liquidations. It is part thrift store, part pawn shop. Outside of the store were four locals, not employees, just people who like to sit in front of the store. We didn’t find any treasures there, but if you are in Pacific Beach it is fun to stop in.

4th of July

Things are moving right along at the Beach Place. Ma and Pa Stubblefield decorated Emily's room with a nice sea theme. Pa Stubblefield took a ton (yes a TON) of concrete and made a sidewalk from the driveway to the door on the front of the house. We planted grass seed and after a week it is coming up (in patches). And lastly we painted our bedroom the cream color that our condo is (with leftover paint). Yep, we've been busy.

And we broke with tradition and spent Independance Day at Ocean Shores. We walked out to the beach and lit off $100 of legal fireworks. I must say that the show at the beach was very impressive even away from the main gathering areas. While it was not the wild duck and cover experience many speak of, we had a good time anyway.

Getting better all the time

The past few weeks at work have been frantic and stressfull and it doesn't look to be letting up anytime soon. Fortunately we have been able to retreat to the beach the last two weekends and relax. Sadly we have commitments the next two weekends, but when we go back again it will be the Sand and Sawdust Festival weekend which is supposed to be fun.

The interior is getting more homey. We need some art, a few shelves and a kitchen table, but it is shaping up nicely. We have some good art in the dining area and a quilt haning on the wall in the living room that helps break up the asylumn white. The quilt also reduces the echos in the living room noticably.

Skyline finally got the leak in the roof fixed, but the work on the fireplace is still not up to snuff. Kristi has taken the lead on repairs because nothing brings out her evil twin faster than poor customer service.

Also I got a new digital camera, a Panasonic DMC FZ18. I should have some pictures up sometime this week.

Annual Game Guild Gathering

Well we managed to get the annual Game Guild Gatherings back on track. For our 23rd Anniversary get together we had Mark, Dan, Perry, Leif and Mike Edgar. I am pretty sure I haven't seen Leif since his wedding six years ago. Fatherhood has mellowed him, but deep down he is still the same maniac that... well there are a lot of stories.

We played 20 games over the course of three days, ate good food (helluva lot better than what we ate 23 years ago), reminisced, talked treason, compared our lives, talked about our wives and kids behind their backs. In other words we just had a good time.

They all seemed to like the beach place. We probably could have brough about 10% of the games and 25% of the food and still had fun. As it was the kitchen/dining area was overflowing with stuff.

May 1st-3rd next year guys.

Dog watching in the rain

So for spring break my parents and my sister's family all went to Arizona and left us with their mutts. Actually it was kind of fun to have the dogs out at the beach place. We took them for walks around the pond until they were completely worn out. Now we just have to get the wet dog smell out of the furniture.

Other than that it rained. And rained. And rained.

Random Thoughs from Beside the Sea

There is something about a real pizza place. The furniture, the carpet, the juke box are all part of it. Pizza there is always better with nasty old dried out Parmesan cheese and root beer or beer tastes so much better out of a pitcher. Ocean Shores is blessed with such a place, Dugan's Pizza. As your attorney I advise eating there next time you are here.

Another nice thing about the OS area is a decent classic rock station, KDUX. Very similar to the Puget Sound area's KZOK. I have just been listening to the radio which is rare for me (I prefer to listen to albums). With nothing on the walls yet, the echo of classic rock is quite potent.

I am not sure why but walking down the peninsula at the remains of Damon Point State Park is more relaxing than walking over to the beach from our house. Always seems like we are power walking when we walk to the beach.

Alas the washer broke and the roof leaks by the vent in the guest bath. Sigh, not there yet.

Biding time

Waiting...

After our first weekend at the beach, we have not been able to go back. The first weekend of March we had family stuff. This weekend and next weekend I am on-call. So what can we do that is productive while we stuck at home?

Collect stuff to take to the beach!

While the piles are not as big as last time, we have accumulated a washer (nod to the Dobbs clan) and dryer, five lamps and some end tables (thanks to Ma and Pa Stubblefield). Also the usual household items that we need fill several boxes. At this point we need a bed (to replace ours and send our current set to the beach), a dresser (for Emily), another futon (guest room/TV room).

The factory is sending out their rep to do a walk-through and repairs laste on the week of the 17th, so that will be our next trip. I hope the Easter Bunny can find us down there because that is where we will likely be Easter monring.

Lessons learned

If I were to do this all over again, here are ideas where money could have been spent wisely.

1. Pay the $100 to have the interior color be something other than STARK WHITE. Looks OK in the day, but at night it looks like an Asylum.
2. Get the carpet pad upgrade. Dear lord it is like walking on office carpeting bare-foot. My feet are so sore right now I can barely walk.
3. Counter tops that are not made out of chalk or soap or whatever that stuff is. I am guessing that it will need to be replaced before we retire because it appears to lack any durability.

Coming home was nonetheless a bummer and it won't be for another month until we can get back. Some pictures are loaded into the Beach Place Story II. We really didn't take all that many this weekend either because we were too busy, too tired or too messy to want evidence. I need to start a 2008 folder for pictures too.

We're here!!!

Yesterday was move-in in day at the beach. Thursday night we loaded up my truck, my Dad’s truck and Kristi’s car so we could get an early start. I got to Ocean Shores around noon on Friday and started the walk-through. We found a number of cosmetic things besides the fireplace. Nothing earth shattering though: a couple of tile chips and a mirror needing replacement.

Dana and Diane Detray, the owners of Detrays where we bought our home, stopped by and said “hi”. Diane and Cindy, our sales person, left some nice dolphin knick-knacks on the mantel for us which was very nice. Apparently by moving in before our walk-through with Skyline upsets Skyline somehow, but as long as any to-do’s make it on Detray’s report we should be OK.

So we unload everything. I was so busy with everything yesterday, I didn't even get the camera out let alone take a picture.

My parents picked Emily up at school and then drove out here with the last load of stuff. We went out for dinner last night (seafood of course) and they spent the night. This morning we all went for a beach walk and then out to breakfast. If that doesn’t sum up why we bought this place, I don’t know what does.

They just headed home, so tonight we are on our own. I will upload pictures when I get home (the cell card isn’t fast enough to be worth it).

Inside at last

So we went out to the property today. The outside looks good. The only odd thing was the mountain of wire for the phone and cable in front of the power box and the back faucet is kind of cheesey. I am hoping someone cleans these up.

Poking around we found a key! Amazing, but it worked on the locks on the doors. I wouldn't have guessed it was there, but since we found it we went inside. YES!!! Inside at last!

Inside still needed to be cleaned as there was a lot of carpet fibers and construction dirt around. We got a good close up of the fireplace and it is very pretty, but the surround came loose from the wall, the firebox is off kilter leaving gaps between the sides and the back and the mantle corners do not meet flush. Ummm...spent over $2,000 on that fireplace so they need to fix it. The only other big problem was the accent tiles in the kitchen are the wrong color (looks good really, but definitely not what we ordered) and are missing altogether from the master bath. Since we paid extra for those tiles we either need a refund or they need to fix it. A refund would be preferable really. The top of the dishwasher has a rail that is not on the guide wheel, should be an easy fix.

Overall we are pretty happy with it, only one major problem and a couple minor ones. The final walk-through is Friday (when we are supposed to point these things out). Once those are fixed we should be in good shape.

Nope...

...next weekend. I think we are going to be doing our walk through on Feb. 22 and they will give us the keys then. Three day weekend next week while we move in (kinda)!

When we put money down in December, I predicted President's Day weekend and I was off by a week. Not a bad guess.

Could it be this weekend?

I spoke with the site contractor (the guy who does everything to prepare and connect the house, but nothing to the house per se). He said the power is in, the skirting is on, the ground has been final graded, bothersome trees removed and he is taking some of the extra money we have in our loan to fix the driveway (it got pretty chewed up). He is all done.

So now it is up to the team at Detrays to finish it off. We called them tonight, but they didn't get back to us. What is left to do???

Grumble...

We were planning on heading down to the beach place to see what is new and exciting. Unfortunately, we cannot go inside alone because it is still under construction and there are liability thingys that we could violate if we hurt ourselves inside unsupervised (who are we going to sue...ourselves?). Thus, with nothing new to see (with the exception that plumbing is all in), there is little reason to drive 4.5 hours.

I guess Axel Rose is right: just a little patience...yeah...yeah...

So I snapped

I went out and registered OSBEACHBUMS.ORG with Google. Now this blog has a hole bunch of other junk that I can add to it and has a reasonably cool name to boot. Now I just have to figure out how to make all the extras work...

Getting closer

Grandma and Grandpa Stubblefield went down and visited our place Friday. Since Tuesday they have joined/married the two halves into a single building, placed it on the foundation and put the hurricane straps on. Also they peaked in the windows and said that a large part of the carpeting is in place. The water is hooked up (I figured they would wait until they had it trenched) and the sewer is stubbed out. Really we are just waiting for power. I placed a couple of pictures Grandma snapped in the album.

We also have added the best of 2006 pictures and 2005 are on the way.

Here to stay

OK. I think I am liking this as a good mid-term site solution. It is not truly geeky, but what the heck I don't have enough time to do it right elsewhere. Best of all it is free. I have loaded a gallery of photo highlights from 2007. Just follow the link on the right.

It is here

Today our manufactured home arrived at our lot. Wow what a trip that was. We got there about 10:30a, they showed up about 12:30p. By 1:30p they were gone and the house was there waiting to be set up tomorrow. Check out the pictures on the Picasa albumn.