Christmas 2006
Dan's view while soaring the coast in Lima, Peru
Here’s the news as we are now beginning year 10 in Portland, Oregon.
Mary Beth has kept busy this past year. Priority number one is keeping Emily focused on her studies and out of mischief. For the most part, she has succeeded, although some days are easier than others.
Mary Beth has been active in grassroots politics. She worked to help get a Metro representative elected and to keep Wal-Mart out of Beaverton. She has also been working as a regular volunteer at a resale shop that supports the Beaverton library. She has become their expert in doll restoration, and really enjoys researching the dolls on the internet, restoring them, and then selling them in the shop. She also has been the “para-driver on some of Dan’s paragliding expeditions. After having her fill of tenting in previous years, Mary Beth decided they needed a travel trailer to take to fly-ins, which we can use to travel the country once Dan retires. So now, they have a hard-sided pop-up trailer that Dan refers to as “Mary Beth’s playhouse.” Dan is looking at amortizing the cost, and has calculated that after last summer, we are now down to just under $1000 per night in the thing.
Next year Dan will reach the milestone of having re-designed every hood for every Freightliner model. A new Freightliner and two new Sterling models developed by his engineers will be introduced next year. That’s all good but for Dan it is really all about flying his paraglider now. The job at Freightliner keeps the bills paid and funds some paragliding vacations he might not otherwise take if the was retired, but he continues to dream of the day when he can devote more than vacation and weekends to the sport.
Last March he took two weeks and flew in Peru and Chile. It was a great experience. The flying was great and the scenery was spectacular. In addition to the usual Oregon flying sites, he and Mary Beth took the travel trailer to Golden, British Columbia. It was great fun flying and competing with other pilots. Dan even managed to place first in novice class for cumulative cross country distance and third in serial class for the competition flying. Mary Beth enjoyed the para-driving for the pilots in our club and eating out at the restaurants in the Golden area. So much for cooking in the camper…
Dan just booked tickets for Capetown South Africa. He plans to fly there for two weeks in the end of January.
Sarah moved to Denver in August, and is working on carving out her own space in Middle America. She got a promotion to associate publisher and was sent to Denver to start up an edition of the ReDirect Guide, a sustainable business directory and lifestyle guide. She has been busy hiring staff and setting up the office, but has found some time to go play in the mountains, take a photography class, and learn some country western dance steps. Mary Beth misses not having her in Portland, but it’s a great challenge and opportunity for her and she couldn’t pass it up. She is home for Christmas after some tense moments getting out of the Denver airport after the blizzard a few days ago. We are happy to have her home, and to have her help editing this letter.
Emily turned 18 in November. Last summer she worked as a counselor at YMCA Camp Collins outside Portland. She enjoyed getting out of the house and being in charge of her campers. This year, Emily is continuing with speech and debate and is targeting Portland State for college next year. She has also started riding again. Emily, who got her driver’s license last year, has now managed to accumulate four minor accidents. The final one ended up being enough to “total” Mary Beth’s 2000 Volkswagen Jetta. So now, Emily is limited to driving Dan’s 1999 Jeep. With the cost of gas and Emily’s limited income, she has not been doing a lot of driving.
That’s the news from Portland.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year…
