Celebrating!

The new patio and grape arbor are finished -- and it is time for a party!

Just for fun, Daughter Dawn piled up all of the nursing textbooks she has lived with for the past few years --

Dawn and Todd invited family and friends to an "Old Fashioned Ice Cream Social" to celebrate her graduation from OHSU's nursing program --

After a night of steady rain, the sun actually came out in time for the party and everyone enjoyed ice cream sundaes in the back yard!

What a fun afternoon! Sister Roxy drove down from Olympia as expected, but instead of her husband Rich, she brought a great surprise -- Cousin Cathy! (She's the one across the table in the plaid shirt.) I have not seen her for many years, and it was a delight to have her here. Later in the afternoon, our oldest daughter Mary Mae arrived from Mount Vernon, Washington.

After the Open House, Todd barbecued chicken for family and a few friends. The youngsters all ended up in the hot tub while the rest of us had a good time visiting and telling stories.

The End of An Era

This morning we drove into Gresham (actually a part of Portland, Oregon) to join the folks at Peace Mennonite Church in their last worship service. The group, in a discernment process, decided last month to end their years as a congregation and set the last Sunday in May as a celebration of their many years in the Portland area (80 years! Started as a mission plant in 1939). This church building had become very familiar to me over my years of service on the Board and as Moderator of the Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference because it was our meeting place for many of those years. The offices of PNMC were housed on their campus.


It was good to see many of the people I have worked with in the past there today as well. Our time together was bittersweet as stories were told and the history of the congregation related. One of the many groups that use this church building is a group of African immigrants. They shared some of their music with us -- lively and vibrant, it made you want to dance in praise.


We would have stayed to visit longer, but yard work was calling us. I finished removing the edging bricks around the flower bed in the back where Daughter Dawn had had her strawberries. We've transplanted the berries to the yard perimeter, but part of the bed had been taken over by a nasty yellow flowered plant about a foot tall. Son-in-law Todd had sprayed it a couple of days ago, but we've had so much rain it really didn't do much good. Knowing that we didn't want to till all of the green mass into the flower bed, I took Todd's machete to it and removed a good portion of the top of it. After Todd roto-tilled it, there was still a LOT of green matter. Dawn raked and picked out a lot of it, but we decided we were not going to plant the perennials Dawn had gotten for it until it sat for a few days and was tilled again.


While we were working Todd's bio-parents, Denzel and Dorothy, arrived. Todd and Forry were very glad to have an extra pair of hands to help them lift and hold the top beams of the grape arbor while they were being bolted into place. I went back to Auntie Violet and made a crab pasta salad for supper and we barbecued the chicken sausages that we had gotten at Trader Joe's. As we sat down to eat, it once again began to rain! It has gone from a light shower to now a pretty steady rain. I think I may be growing gills...

One More Clean Bedroom!

Because I helped Grandson Micah (9) clean his room last week, Grand daughter Kyra (12) seemed to think I should help her too! So today we tackled it. We went through her closet and her dresser, sorting out the clothes that no longer fit (she's grown an inch or two lately). We took knick-knacks and keepsakes down from her shelves, dusted and washed. We moved her bed -- and the trundle bed -- cleaned the window sills and doors. Four hours later, we both were shelled, but her room sparkled!


Daughter Dawn was on a cleaning spree in the rest of the house. Now that she's finished with her nursing classes, she actually has time and energy to do something besides study. Grand daughter Havela cleaned her room (without Grammy's assistance...) and mowed the front lawn. Son-in-law Todd and Forry were working on finishing the new gazebo in the back yard. It was a busy household today!


When we were at Trader Joe's the other day, I bought some beautiful big artichokes for $.99 apiece. We had them along with spare ribs for dinner tonight.

The Geneology Trip

Last fall, I received an email from a woman named Sherrie Stahl. She had some questions about our possible relationship to a Jacob Hardt. Jacob Hardt was Forry's grandfather -- and that was about all of the information we knew.


Boy, did Sherrie change that! She was able to tell us that Jacob was born in the German colony of Brunnental, Samara, Volga, Russia and that his father's name was Conrad! She was able to tell us the name of the ship, the SS Switzerland, on which he had traveled from Antwerp to Philadelphia. (We had tried to find information at the Mormon library in Salt Lake City, but just didn't have enough to go on.) Sherrie has done a great deal of genealogical work about the Brunnental Colony and was led to looking for the Hardts because of a picture she was given of Jacob and his family.


Today Forry and I and Daughter Dawn went to visit Sherrie at her home in Portland. We brought many of the pictures that we had which she scanned for her collection. (She has EIGHT file drawers of material!) It was a great visit and we learned a lot about Brunnental.



Grandson Micah and five little guests had his birthday party tonight in Salem. Dawn and Todd took them to the Pirate Party after school. Grand daughters Havela and Kyra went with us to the Thai Restaurant in Canby. From the noise level of the boys as they loaded the cars, I think Forry and I had the best deal!

I'm So Proud!

One of the reasons (besides the grand kids!) we are in Hubbard, Oregon is to be here for Daughter Dawn's graduation from OHSU's nursing program on June 1st. Tonight Dawn was inducted into the Beta Psi Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau, the national honor society of nursing. It was an evening laden with memories as I had been the founding president of the Delta Chi Chapter at the Intercollegiate School of Nursing in Spokane thirty years ago!


I wore my Sigma Theta Tau key (along with my nursing school pin) to the ceremony tonight, then pinned it on Dawn after she had signed the membership roll. I am so proud of her!

Dawn receiving her certificate of membership --

Dawn and her fellow students at the induction --

Sigma Theta Tau --

Today was also Grandson Micah's ninth birthday. He had two pieces of cake at the induction reception -- said he got birthday cake after all! (He's having his birthday party tomorrow after school.) We ended up at Burgerville for a late dinner after we got back to Canby (we had to pick Grand daughter Havela up following her band concert and didn't have time after the induction to eat in Portland.). The staff brought Micah a fresh strawberry sundae with a candle, but he was just too full to eat it!

Burgerville prides itself on using local Oregon ingredients. Tonight they had battered asparagus. I'd have taken a picture, but it all disappeared too fast!

A Very Special Night Out!

My birthday is on May 4th, Forry's is on May 22nd. We thought it would be cool to get married right between the two dates, so our wedding anniversary is on the 14th. Throw Mother's Day in there somewhere and our kids really hate to see May come! Then toss in the fact that we have been "getting rid of stuff" ever since we decided to sell our house and live full-time in Auntie Violet and you can see why they struggle with giving us presents.


This year our two daughters went together and got us a gift certificate in the most unusual place -- and for an unusual combination of gifts. There is a place in Woodburn, Oregon called Wellpoint. It is a combination spa, aesthetic center, wellness center, walk in clinic and gourmet restaurant! The first part of our gift was a dinner reservation at Vitality Restaurant. (The other part of their gift is massages at the same place...)


We had an absolutely wonderful dinner tonight. We started off with lettuce wraps, then Forry had a flat-iron steak and I had lamb. We had some great Walla Walla wine and a mousse for dessert! What a delicious feast!

Rain, Rain, and More Rain!

We had a whole twenty-four hours yesterday without a rain shower -- and maybe half a day today. But, then, it burst loose and let us have it. I was in the back yard with Daughter Dawn, pulling out the bricks around the back flower bed and transplanting strawberries, when it cut loose. I didn't even make it across the yard to get under cover before I got soaked! Dawn had just finished mowing the back and side lawns and was raking up the grass. She kept it up until she finished, then gave up and went in and showered (even though she was already pretty wet!).


We dropped Grand daughter Havela off at her violin lesson, then went on into town to pick up some groceries for dinner. We made a big batch of stroganoff -- it was so good with some brown rice and fresh asparagus.


We had never watched it before this year, but we started watching "Dancing with the Stars" and got hooked! I've been voting and rooting for Evan and Anna, but they came in second tonight. It's just been fun watching the dancing. It's pretty obvious from some of the judge's comments that I know nothing about the nuances though...

Yardwork -- and a Concert!

Daughter Dawn and I spent time edging and weeding in the back yard today. She also helped Todd finish the new patio and the raised herb bed. That meant lots of wheel barrow loads of mulch and bricks. Todd also mixed up a sprayer full of weed-killer so that I could spray out the weeds along side the road and spot spray some of the weeds in the lawn. I was sure that it would start raining and soon as I finished spraying and wash it all off, but I think today was the first day we didn't get a single shower!


When Grandson Micah got home from school, he reminded everyone that he had a concert tonight! Todd vaguely remembered Micah waking him up one morning and telling him about it coming up and Dawn was sure she had never heard it of it at all! So everyone scrambled to clean up, shower and change clothes, grumbling the whole time...


BUT, it turned out to be delightful! It was the 2nd and 3rd graders from 91 School -- which is right across the street from where Auntie Violet is parked. They sang seven pretty lively songs and in between several of the students read the poems they had written about summer. Their new music teacher was having as much fun as the kids.


This is Micah (in the grey shirt) singing his heart out --


The group of youngsters --



The whole thing only lasted for an hour -- and all agreed it was a delight!

A Lovely Day!

It's been a lovely, wonderful day! After church we all went to dinner at Margaret's house in Mount Angel. She had fixed roast chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, homemade bread and fruit salad with a berry cobbler for dessert! What a luscious Sunday dinner! We had time for a nice visit afterwards while the fellows -- and Havela (who had just gotten back from Drift Creek where she hadn't gotten much sleep this weekend...) -- all took a post prandial nap.

Later this evening while we watched the Brooks & Dunn, the Last Rodeo show on TV, Granddaughter Kyra gave me a pedicure. She wouldn't let me watch while she was applying polish. Sooo, I ended up with polka-dot toes!

How Does My Garden Grow?

Back in the beginning when I first started this blog (December of 2008) I shared some pictures of my AeroGarden. It has traveled along with us ever since offering us herbs for cooking and even one session where it grew little yellow tomatoes. A couple of weeks ago, I replanted it again with herbs.

It the rear on the right is dill and in the front is curly leaf parsley, neither of which I have grown before in the AeroGarden. The other plant is basil, which I know from experience grows VERY well. I am looking forward to being able to use them to liven up our meals in the next few weeks.

Today was a special day as it is Forry's 71st birthday. We started the day off with some homemade poppy seed muffins, then went out to dinner tonight at PF Chang's. It was a wonderful dinner with two of the grandkids (Havala is off to Drift Creek Camp for a work weekend with the youth group from church.) and Dawn and Todd.

Grandson Micah has been in the dog house a bit ever since we arrived about the state of his bedroom. He keeps being sent to clean it, but ends up playing with his Legos or something else instead. So this afternoon, he and Grammy tackled it. Two garbage sacks later, we got the job done! I had forgotten what little boy's rooms can be like! And there are all of those darn little Lego parts that have to be picked up before you can even think about vacuuming...

Trouble is Grand daughter Kyra now thinks maybe Grammy could help her too?

More Rain...

When I talked with Brother Pat on the phone today, he asked if we had webbed feet yet? As much as it had rained since we've been in Oregon, I really needed to check! Once again it rained off and on all day today. Sometimes just a few drops, and sometimes a DELUGE!


We made a quick trip into Hubbard and Woodburn today to mail some letters, pick up some brackets and screws for the sewer line job and get some groceries. Daughter Dawn had her exit interview with OHSU faculty today and is officially "done" except for the nursing school graduation on the first. She was the most relaxed at dinner that I've seen her since we got here -- and a long time before that!


We sat down after dinner and watched Sex and the City in preparation for going to see Sex and the City II tomorrow night...

My Imp..

This is our youngest grandson Micah. Can't you just see the imp shining out of his eyes?

Micah was hanging out with Grammy and Grandpa waiting for his mother to get home from her last day of clinical to take him to his Cub Scout meeting. He's going to turn nine towards the end of the month and we were checking out the Lego website in order to renew his subscription to the Bricklayer magazine for his birthday present.

I've just realized I have not been out of the motorhome all day! Forry and I spent most of the morning catching up on paperwork for Tree Heart Ranch Ltd. Even though most of the ranch is leased out, there is still all kinds of paperwork that needs to be signed and sent off , especially for crop insurance and the Farm Services Agency. Forry had to exchange one of the pipes they had gotten for the sewer line project, so he at least went into town to do that and mail off the papers.

A Day For Comfort Food

The sun was shining when I got up this morning, but by eleven o'clock the clouds were moving in. They never really went away, just kept coming through and dropping off RAIN and MORE RAIN!


Poor Son-in-law Todd was trying to finish the new patio in the back of the house on his day off. He'd get started and then it would began to pour; he'd come inside to work on the new sewer line under the house and it would taper off; he'd go back outside and get a few bricks cut and it would start to rain... And so it went most of the day.


We went over to Zion at noon for their last soup lunch of the winter. Shirley had made a wonderful homemade chicken soup -- it tasted just like what I can remember my Grandmother Kubik's tasting like when I was a little kid.


It was such a dreary day that I decided to make meatloaf and baked potatoes for dinner. I was spending the day at Daughter Dawn's house doing laundry (things like the bedspread and blanket are just too big for my little washer/dryer in the motorhome to handle). With some fresh asparagus, it made for a great meal on a chilly evening. Dawn didn't get home from her next-to-the-last day of clinicals until late and I think she was happy to not have to think about fixing dinner!

Tuesday

A quiet day today. It POURED rain this morning! Got some reading done; sorted some more office stuff in my new desk area; made a trip to the bank in Tualatin to deposit some checks and returned the defective surge protector strip to Fred Meyers we had picked up on Sunday. Then we went to the Costco in Wilsonville to buy Forry the 14.1 HP laptop that he didn't buy in Idaho because of the sales tax. But, they didn't have the one he wanted!


We picked up some barbecued ribs, garlic bread, green salad, raspberries and angel food cake for supper then came back to Hubbard. We had dinner with son-in-law Todd and the grand kids. The sun came out so I pulled some more weeds in the back yard.


The kids came over and watched the Mariners game and the results of last night's Dancing With the Stars until Daughter Dawn got home. We watched the Biggest Loser, then Forry decided we should just order his computer on line, so I did.

Watching TV at Grammy's

Grand-daughters Havela and Kyra are over at our house watching "Dancing With the Stars" with us -- and eating all the M & Ms!




It took a bit, but finally coaxed a smile from Kyra Anne --



It's been a busy day today. We've had rain showers during the night and for a bit this morning. The ground was wet enough that it made for easy weed pulling in Daughter Dawn's front yard. I got about half of it weeded this morning, took a break and read for a while, then finished the rest after lunch. I haven't done any yard work for a long time, so I'll probably pay for it tomorrow. But, I did go soak in the hot tub for a while this evening, so that should help.


Forry and Todd made a couple trips into town getting supplies and parts for the new sewer line that they are putting in. They are setting it up so that Auntie Violet will not have to run a hose clear around to the back of the house.

A VERY Busy Day!

Breakfast this morning at Zion Mennonite, Sunday School and then worship with a focus on Pentecost. Grand-daughter Havela is a violinist with the Portland Youth Philharmonic Conservatory Orchestra. They had their last concert of the season this afternoon at Skyview High School Concert Hall in Vancouver, Washington. The concert didn't start until 4 PM (actually started more like 4:30), but she had to be at the school by 1 PM for rehearsal. Daughter Dawn, Forry and I went to the concert as Todd had an evening service to conduct.


Since Vancouver is a good hour's drive from Hubbard, we had to leave the minute the benediction was announced -- no chance to even visit with anyone. But, we'll be here for a few weeks, so there is time for that!


It's been over a year since we've been able to attend one of Havela's concerts. She has moved up to the Conservatory Orchestra from the Young String Ensemble she's been in the past two years. (The students have to audition to get in, then re-audition again every year.) They are playing some incredibly complex music. It was a great afternoon watching so many talented young people.

Hubbard -- Home of Grandkids!

Finally we are back in Hubbard, Oregon, home of three of our grandchildren -- and their parents, of course. Here is Auntie Violet, backed into the driveway at the home of our youngest daughter Dawn --

We had gone into Eugene last evening to an Office Max store to pick up hanging file folders so that we could start putting stuff away in the new file drawers. After a quick supper at Dairy Queen, we came back to the parking lot of Amazing Creations where we spent the night. We spent most of the evening and several hours this morning sorting, organizing and putting stuff away.

About noon, we headed up Hwy 99E to Interstate 5 and drove north. It took us just a couple of hours to arrive at Dawn and Todd's home in Hubbard. 91 School is just across the road from their house, and since it is Saturday, there was plenty of room to use their parking lot and back into Dawn's driveway.

It was so good to see the grandkids -- and see how much they have grown! We only got to see Dawn when we came through last fall as everyone else had been ill.

Auntie Violet Gets a Makeover!

Auntie Violet is a VERY happy camper tonight! She's thinking she's pretty special after all of the attention she got today.


This is the table that I have been using as a computer table/desk. (We never eat sitting down at the table...) I had some stacked plastic drawers from the hardware store and a file box that we packed back and forth from the bedroom to keep our papers in.



Forry's recliner was behind the passenger front seat (which is doing dual purpose in this picture as a dryer for jeans!)

When we arrived at the workshop in Junction City yesterday, we got a glimpse of the cabinetry in the shop --

This morning the crew had set it all outside in the sunshine so that it could "tan." Natural cherry darkens in the light and as it ages, so they were giving it a bit of a head start on matching what was already in the coach. At this point, Forry was sure they would never be able to get it through Auntie Violet's doorway!

Here are Bobbie and Scott taking out the table. The cabinets underneath -- which had been pretty much unreachable and therefore unusable -- will stay.

Ah, ha! The cabinets were all in pieces and the fellows had no trouble getting them through the doorway --

That's Bobbie crawling through the file drawer opening to pull through the electrical wiring for the computer --



And here are all of the pieces in place. Notice how much lighter the new cabinets are.

Scott made this little cabinet to go on the wall by the couch to hold CDs. He made it so that I can fit three across.

Here's the finished desk. The bottom file drawer goes almost the full length of the desk. The top drawer is a shelf for my printer/copier/scanner and the surge protector. There is another short file drawer on the bottom right.

Here's the desk with the top up and the computer drawer pulled out. I think I'll get some cork board and make the top a bulletin board...?

This is Scott Adams on the left of Amazing Creations and Bobby Volden on the right of Kustom Coach Works. Besides being exacting craftsmen, they are fun to work with. And they didn't even mind Forry and I hanging around to watch them work!

Seriously, if you have any desire to remodel the inside of your coach, these are the fellows to see. Bobby (541-501-3371) specializes in installation and modification of Audio, Video, Cabinetry, Flooring, 110v & 12v systems. Scott (541-556-0501) specializes in RV custom woodworking. And they have lots of room in their parking lot for you to spend the night!

Without a doubt, tonight Auntie Violet is a HAPPY camper!

Amazing Creations - Junction City

Last January when we were in Quartzite at the Alpine Coach Associations Desert Rat Rally, we had an opportunity to tour other people's coaches and see some of the remodeling they had had done. We had been thinking about how to make desk space in Auntie Violet, but hadn't quite figured it out. A couple of the coaches we looked at had taken out the dining table and replaced it with a built-in desk and file drawers. We were very impressed with the workmanship done by a couple of fellows from Junction City, Oregon and had them come take a look at Auntie Violet. They had some good ideas about what to do and we ended up ordering a desk, file cabinets, a cabinet for DVDs and a map floor cabinet.


And now Auntie Violet is parked in the parking lot of the workshop in Oregon, awaiting her appointment in the morning to her table removed and have it all installed. We got a look at the furniture in the shop when we got here this afternoon -- it is gorgeous! It's cherry to match what's already in the coach. At this point, it is lighter, but the cherry darkens as it ages.



Auntie Violet settled in for the night --

The shop across the parking lot --

The fellows were putting a new maple floor in a coach this afternoon, replacing the tile. It was really sharp looking. That's the next thing I'd like to do -- someday!

The Columbia Gorge

What a beautiful day to drive the Columbia Gorge! With all of the rain and the snow melt, all of the rivers are full and the dams are spilling large quantities of water. The sides of the canyon are all lush and green. There were patches of blue lupines, yellow arrowleaf balsamroot, and orange poppies -- gorgeous!


There were lots of barges on the river, this one was riding high in the water and was probably empty.

It's a beautiful drive between the river and the bluffs along Interstate 84.

We left I-84 as we approached Portland and took Interstate 5 south as far as Harrisburg. We are staying at the River Bend RV Park. Tomorrow we need to re-connect with the fellows at Amazing Creations a few miles away in Junction City and get directions to their workshop. We will need to spend time tomorrow clearing out the area in the passenger side slide where Auntie Violet's new desk and cabinets are going to be installed on Friday.

A Quick Visit With My Sister and Deacon --

We are entirely too close to Touchet not to make a quick trip to visit Deacon -- and my sister Sherry! We took the back roads through Helix and Gardena to Touchet, about ten miles of it gravel roads. The road took us by the many HUGE wind mill towers along the ridge between Oregon and Washington.

It was fun to see how much Deacon has filled out. He is much broader in the shoulders and hips then when we saw him last, but he's still the same slobbery lovable mastiff (note the slobber rag in my hand...).

Sister Sherry -- (that's a pretzel in her hand...)

We took a walk around the farm. The yellow roses beside Mom's angel are just beginning to bloom --

These are some of the draft horses that came to stay at the farm from the Animal Rescue people. Sherry's miniature horse stud looks so funny alongside all of the large horses...

Two of the mares were pregnant when they were rescued from the slaughter house. This beautiful two year is one of the colts --

It was a quick trip, but so good to see Sherry. Her grandson Kyle and her son Oly were there as well. It was good to see them all!

Oregon!

We're in Pendleton, Oregon tonight at the Wild Horse RV Resort. Auntie Violet says she likes it a lot better here as she's not rubbing shoulders with her neighbors!

We drove in rain showers almost the entire way today. The weather forecast was for possible snow, so we were quite happy just to have the rain! It had pretty well stopped by the time we got to the RV park, but has begun again tonight.

I knew we were back in the Northwest when we saw some Arrowleaf Balsamroot blooming on a hillside shortly after we crossed the border into Oregon from Idaho. (And no, I didn't make Forry stop so I could get a picture!)

Thoughts on Mother's Day

This pretty digitalis plant (foxglove) was a present from Forry for Mother's Day. It's going to ride around with us in Auntie Violet as long as it is blooming, then we'll find a place to plant it.

Mother's Day is now a bittersweet day for me as both my mother and my mother-in-love have passed. Someone told me once that as long as you still have memories and thoughts about someone, they are alive in your heart -- and I think that's true. I do enjoy thinking about my daughters as mothers and hearing about what they are doing with their children today. There's a certain solid comfort in thinking about generation after generation of mothers.

Today, we joined the celebration of the Idaho Mennonite Churches in worship at Evergreen Heights Mennonite Church in Caldwell, Idaho. The building they worship in started out as a house that was converted into a conference center before they purchased it as a church. It sits on a lovely spot on the hill above Caldwell. They are fortunate to have both a large yard and a large parking lot.

Initial results of yesterday's Idaho World Relief Sale appear to be a little over $40,000 raised. There were a lot of thanks given today. Of course, there is no way you could have a gathering of Mennonites without a potluck! And it was a good one! I tried to only take little tiny samples of the variety of food, but still came away stuffed. A new one to me -- and many others at our table -- was a pie made of cranberries!

Idaho Mennonite World Relief Festival

"I DANCED IN THE MORNING WHEN THE WORLD WAS BEGUN," is embroidered underneath the dancers on this fun wall hanging I bought at the Idaho Mennonite World Relief Festival auction this afternoon. It's made from some batik fabric with metal stars and moon cut-outs. The maker, Anne Hausrath, evidently is quite a mover and shaker in the Boise area. Our mutual friend Janet says I would "really like her" and that she'll tell Anne about me as well.

I'm not at all sure where I am going to put it as there is really no empty wall space in Auntie Violet. I may hang it over the TV set that sits catty-corner in the bedroom since we never watch TV in there anyway...

We got back over to the Nazarene College Church where the sale was held a little after nine this morning and got into line for breakfast with Janny and Jerry. I don't know if there has ever been a SLOWER moving line! This is the first time they've tried to prepare breakfast for the sale and they had no idea how many people might show up. They were serving bacon, scrambled eggs and toasted rolls with apple butter and sausage gravy on them. Janny, who is a cook for the local school district, said that she could have had 400 children fed in the time it took them to serve 2 or 3! But, when we got there, the food was really good. Except they ran out of sausage gravy by the time J & J got through the line (there was only one other couple between them and us).

I had a chance to have a good visit with our former PNMC Conference Pastor Larry Hauder at the finance table and ended up helping him for an hour or so when the crush for bidding cards and silent auction payments got a little too busy. It was sort of fun to see how many of the Idaho folks I have met over the years and some who served on the PNMC Board with me.

I would have been a good opportunity for anyone looking for gorgeous quilts to pick some up for a VERY good price. While a couple went for $1000, and several were in the 600-700 dollar category, many very nice ones went for just a few hundred dollars.