Neal Gladstone at Tyee Vineyard

Well it is the end of July so it is time for the annual Neal Gladstone and Friends concert at Tyee Vineyard. Time to pack your picnic or buy your vegetarian meal from Nearly Normals (on site) and buy a bottle of wine from Tyee’s selection and sit back to enjoy the great summer evening in Oregon. The weather had cooled down from the 90+ degrees and as the sun went down it was time to put on a jacket.

Neal does a variety of songs which he has written. (You can even buy them on Itunes.)He is assisted in this effort by a Virtuoso guitar player Kendall Lee that has a wonderful time playing the guitar. Even coming into the audience for one session. Of course you have to mention Audrey Perkins the lead female singer and Neal’s wife Barbara on backup vocal. That leaves only Bret Godfrey on keyboard and Bassist Jay Gee. I will have to admit the audience is mostly a group of liberal Oregonians out to drink wine and enjoy Neal’s songs. Nobody left when one of the songs spoke out against the current administrations policies.

He did perform a new song that he will soon have on video called “I’m a Liberal” which he promised to send to everyone on his e-mail list. I will be forwarding it on to anyone that would like it and maybe a few that won’t like it. So be on the lookout.

It fact this year Neal will break with the tradition of one concert at Valentines Day and the last Saturday in July to take part in a concert September 16 at CHS Theatre. This will be a benefit for Diana Simpson (that would be Bret Godfrey’s wife) for Sheriff and Peter DeFazio for Congress.

And no summer concert is complete without bubbles.

Week with the Granddaughters

We just finished a few days with the granddaughters. Lance came down on Sunday to celebrate his birthday and when he left the girls stayed.


It has been a week of temperatures in the 90-100 degree range so a trip to the riverfront to play in the fountains seemed in order. The girls returned wet and cool.

Monday it was off to the coast to visit the aquarium, play on the beach, and cooking some hamburgers at the park. It was about 65 degrees and windy. The aquarium was nice and had a new display on crabs and lobsters. Of course the touch tank is always fun and a stop we always have to make.



Once we got to the beach the wind was blowing the sand so bad that Marilyn didn’t enjoy the beach but the girls seemed to not mind the cool wind and played in the water and dug in the sand.
Tuesday Marilyn took the girls to the outdoor swimming pool for a couple of hours in the afternoon and did some shopping.

They spent Wednesday and Thursday with their Grandfather here in Corvallis. He brought them back Friday morning and we took them back to Portland with a stop at the Gilbert Children’s Museum in Salem. This was a new adventure for the time with the girls. Marilyn had taken her students there when she was teaching. It is a hands on experience for the kids. Gilbert was the inventor of the erector set and the Giblert Chemistry sets. He was raised in Salem before moving on to many different things but always made toys for kids.

The cool weather and clouds have returned so I had to throw in a sunset.

On our travels we encountered two rivers and the canyons they form.

The first was the Black Canyon near Montrose, Colorado. No other canyon in North America combines the narrow opening, sheer walls, and startling depths offered by the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River. It is not as wide as the Grand Canyon but exposes some very interesting geological formations. It is 2,000 feet deep but only 1,500 feet wide.

The second was the Shoshone Falls on the Snake River near Twin Falls, Idaho. The fall is very similar to Niagra Falls but higher at 212 feet. This is the canyon that Evil Kenival tried to jump many years ago. I did not hike to the jump site but enjoyed the falls and a picnic in the park overlooking the falls.

Now we are back home working in the yard and trying to process all the photos of the family reunion and trip. I am very proud of my wild flower photos and hope to get them up on my web page soon.

Visit to Colorado

Before the Roland family gathering we visited the mountaions of Colorado. We enjoyed the views and friends.
We saw many beautiful wildflowers and animals.

As I work more with the posting I will give more information and pictures of my tennis, garden, and travel.