Almost All the Way!

This is a report at the end of day 5 in the cross country road trip with the documenting of America's county courthouse as the objective. Paula has been a good sport as we get up at dawn and hustle ever west in seach of the next courthouse. Often the last one of the day is taken in very little light, but it makes for some interesting shots.


Most of the courthouses across the midwest are beautiful and surrounded by a central square. Many can be seen for miles as the bell tower becomes visible. It is really dissapointing when you come across one that has been torn down and rebuilt with a modern box.


If you are interested, take a look at www.hoalawman.wordpress.com. That is the American Courthouse site where I am planning to put at least one good picture of every courthouse in the country!Paula is my navigator and is in charge of making sure I eat!




At this courthouse in Nebraska, we caught the local version of a demonstration. They were protesting the continued service of a county commissioner, and at least one who lived on a dirt road was not too hopeful!
Occasionally we come across something particularly curious. Many courthouses have famous people like Lincoln or Washington busts on the courthouse, and a lot of the scales of justice. Some have a famous local person, but this was the first one with a Rams Bust on the side. Wyoming of course.
Sometimes the destruction of the old Historic Courthouse is really sad. Here in Nebraska we saw the courthouse that so far gets the UGLY award.
I try to get at least one shot with the car in it at every stop so that I can prove that the photo's are really mine.

Sometimes I just can't resist the car!

Then there is the occasional shot where Paula catches me taking a picture of her taking a picture of me.

Bottom line, this is an amazing country. We are seeing the country in a whole new way!

Every courthouse has it's stories, and I am really ready to get back into the courthouse as a participant! I am jealous as I see the lawyers coming and going!

The Great Courthouse Adventure

Where in the world are Rich, Paula and the Car?
How about Kirtland, Ohio
Paula and I are at the end of day three of the cross country trip from Vermont to Oregon where our goal is to take pictures of at least 100 County Courthouses. It has really been fun to drive the back roads and see the historic courthouses in many of the little towns along the way. We have also done some of the big cities and really enjoyed the energy. The drill is that Paula loads the next address in to the GPS while I hop out and take the pictures. Often she is sitting accrros the street in front of the Post Office!


Or in front of the park such as here in Cleveland.
We ended the day last night in Macomb Illinois. Watch here for more posts as we make our way across the US!

What a Week!

Got to have dinner at Pham's on Friday night. Also had dinner at Nic and Hailey's on Tuesday night! I am well taken care of. Dillon showed how great he is at riding a bike! Notice no training wheels. In fact see the next picture where he is doing tricks!

Awsome huh! So the week went like this. Leave Windsor Vermont at 9 am Sunday morning, where Paula dropped me off at the Manchester Airport. 17 hours later, after layovers in Washington DC. and San Francisco, I made it home. Monday I participated in a golf tournament for the bank, Tuesday we had a hearing at the Oregon Court of Appeals on Tanglewood, Wednesday flew to Utah for a CLE and and dinner with Alicia. (Saw the fun and great Doug and Jen Shumways!). Stayed with Grandma Wright. Thursday met with members of the Utah Senate about the Utah Common Interest Ownership Act. Friday hearing with the Presiding Judge in Clackamas County to talk about our upcoming 6 week trial on Sept. 29, and today (Sat.) picked up over 900 pounds of meat and managed to get it stuffed in the freezers. In the meantime, have been trying to pay attention to the farm and the new house. See the pictures below. Can't wait to get back to Paula on Wednesday and come home for a while. Will be driving the new car back from Vermont starting next week.
The grapes are bearing fruit in only the second year. These were nothing but tiny twigs in the ground last spring and we are already getting fruit.
The Rainbow house is really coming along. The view from the loft balcony is going to be great!
They finished staining the wood on the deck and I really like the warmth!
They have started landscaping, and Jenna Bayer, our neighbor, friend and world renowned landscape designer has found a great use for some boulders that came out of the hole when they built our new office building last year. It is going to be beautiful!
I am really liking the trim finishes. The dark green really sets off the doors and the roof trim.
The fireplace rock will be up next week, and this room is really coming along. The door into the Master Bedroom say's employee's only on it! I love the truss over the balcony rail. I designed that one at church!
With these big gllass doors up, we will really feel like we are living outside!

As usual, we seem to have plenty going on in our lives. Rich

The Newest Grandbaby

On Tuesday the whole Larson clan came to Chelle's house for Mike Cammocks birthday. We gave the kids camera's and this is Chelle with Eddie still not quite ready. About midnight, Chelle had not felt Eddie move for several hours, and got concerned. She and Brig left for the hospital while Paula and I stayed with the kids. About 6 am, Chelle called, and we had Chris Cammock (a Larson sister) come stay with the kids while we went to the hospital.
By 7:30 am, Eddie had arrived. We were all amazed at the miracle of one minute invisible in the womb and the next minute greeting us with all the gusto of a newborn. 9 lbs, 1 oz. 2o inches long. And he is named Edmund Richard!
A few hours later we went home and got the kids who were thrilled to see both Mom and Ed. Both (actually everybody) was glowing!
So here is the new Brig and Chelle Larson Family. And it really is just as bucolic as it looks!

Fun in Vermont

Hello my name is Mattie and my Grandma and Grandpa came to visit. Grandpa brought his camera and I can see myself in the lens!
It was really Fun!
Grandpa here. This is Michelle and Brig's new home in Windsor Vermont. Just returned from 10 days there with Paula while we waited for little Eddie to arrive. (Next Post!) We really had fun!
For example, we got Anders to wash the car, while he was eating a sandwich!
But he is no dummy, so a few of the cousins got recruited to help. All had sandwiches!
Grandma of course knows how to have fun! The temperature had barely cleared 70 and she had the pool full!
Maddie of course had a fort put together immediately, though whose it was became the subject of some debate!

Later from the luckiest guy in the world. Dad

One of the things I have always loved to do is build forts. I guess that is why now my solution for boredom is designing buildings. I love natural materials, and simple lines. This is a home Paula and I are building near our farm in Oregon. It sits next to a county park on the Tualatin River. We will even have our own canoe launch!
The proximity to the river makes the lot about 3 feet below the 100 year flood plain. Therefore, we raised the whole home up 10 feet so we could use the entire lower level for garage and entry. (Great space for storing all those other toys.) This is a picture of the 24 by 24 foot entry drive through porch. It rains in Oregon!

We are having fun using some interesting materials. Out the back is a full deck on the main floor with 2 12 foot wide by 12 foot high firehouse type glass roll up doors. We can live outside most of the year! The entry doors were salvaged from the old Portland City Hall (a craigslist find). Upstairs we have the "Office of the Mayor" door leading to the toilet!

This is a fun project/toy, and we hope that we will get many visitors. Rich

On Big Boy Toys

I am still trying to figure out how this blog thing works. The picture at the right was supposed to be of me I guess, but I blew it so I named it Big Boy Toys.

Actually I have really been lucky to have fun stuff to play with my whole life. The latest one, the SC 430 is really going to be fun. already the grandkids like it!