Floyds next stop was Cedar Creek near Lincoln City, Oregon.

  There he had a look at 2 properties. One was in worse condition than the property in Pine Bluff.

  The other was in better condition but it was a long way from the town and the road was not very good. Also, the area of land was a lot smaller, 4 acres. No, forget Cedar Creek.

  Floyd then continued further north, into Washington State.

  The final property on his list was near Omak. “I will soon be in Canada” he thought. He had now driven more than 850 miles since leaving Sacramento. He had passed the 14,000 feet high extinct volcano Mount Shasta, Crater Lake National Park, then on through Yakima in the heart of Washington’s wine country but there was no time to stop and admire the scenery or to sample the wine.

  He saw the hop growing area in the Yakima Valley.

  “I bet they must brew some good beer around here,” he thought.

  It reminded him of the hop growing farms around Nuremburg in West Germany that he has seen while stationed there.

  The property outside Omak needed some work and it had 15 acres of forested land.

  There was a creek, it was slightly smaller than the creek running through the property in Pine Bluff.

  Floyd got a motel room for the night in Omak. The motel had a laundry room. He washed and dried his clothes. When that was done, he sat in his room and thought about the properties he had looked at. He weighed the pros and cons of Pine Bluff and Omak.

  50/50 he thought. It all depends on the weir. It was too late to call Sue now. “A job for tomorrow morning, let’s get a beer,” he decided. He got to try several locally brewed beers.

  He called Sue at 9 o’clock the following morning.

  Yes, she had called the owners. They would drop the price by $5,000 if the sale was completed by Friday evening. She had also spoken to the person she knew in The Department of Fish and Wildlife. He had driven out to take a look at the creek. There were no migratory fish in the creek due to the waterfall. No, there would be no objection to the construction of a weir.

  “Excellent. I will take it. Thank you very much for your help and my thanks to your friend as well. I will be back in 2 days. Could you start the paperwork in the meantime.”

  “Yes, certainly. Everything will be ready for you on Friday.”

  “Thanks, I will buy you and your friend a few beers for your trouble.”

  Sue laughed, “Oh! No, don’t do that. He won’t leave the bar until the next morning. Anyway, he is an old flame of mine. It was good to see him again”

  Floyd packed up and headed back south.

  “$5,000 better off, that should go a long way to paying for a weir. Pine Bluff, here I come.”

  The deal is done

  There was definitely no time to go sightseeing on the way back, Friday was the deadline. Floyd got back to Pine Bluff in 2 days.

  It was late morning on Friday when he arrived at Sue’s office.

  Sue phoned the owner as soon as he had arrived. The buyer was here she told her and asked if she was happy with the sale price? The owner said yes and she was happy that the sale was going to be completed today.

  “Everything is good. We can complete the sale now,” Sue told Floyd.

  The paperwork had been completed and it was ready for signature.

  Floyd signed the forms and then handed over the payment.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Sue gave him the certificate of ownership and the keys.

  “Welcome to Pine Bluff’ she said.

  Floyd went to look for Oddball. He was sitting in his workshop office on the phone ordering parts.

  Sue had told him that Floyd was going to buy the property.

  “Thanks for the tip, I got a discount,”

  “That’s great. I have an idea” Oddball said. “No doubt you have things to organize. I have no work until next week. I know a guy who is also at a loose end for a few days. If you leave the keys and a few dollars we will make a start on the roof. You don’t want to end up sleeping in either of the outbuildings.”

  “That would be great thanks. Yes, I have to get back and organize a move. I should be back by the weekend.”

  Oddball grinned. “While you are here you can have a look at that turbine.”

  The turbine was in a crate buried under other crates at the back of the workshop. They dug the crate out and opened it.

  “What a beauty. Where on earth did you get it?” asked Floyd.

  “I was in the Philippines when Mount Pinatubo went nuts.

  It was chaos evacuating the base. There was stuff laid around everywhere. I saw it and thought it would be useful.”

  “How much do you want for it.?” asked Floyd.

  “Let’s worry about that another time. Welcome to Pine Bluff.” Oddball answered.

  Floyd left Oddball the house keys and a fistful of dollars of various denominations, then he headed back to San Francisco.

  When he got back there, he was very busy for a couple of days.

  He put his affairs in order and changed his contact details.

  Then he hired a covered trailer and began to load it and his pickup truck. He had more tools and equipment than clothes and household goods. Both of his parents were dead by now and Floyd had all his father’s woodworking tools and equipment. His father had always bought good quality tools. He bought bigger capacity equipment than he needed at the time. “You will always need something bigger” he had said at the time.

  It was 6 o’clock on Thursday evening when all was finished.

  He thought of having one last night in San Francisco and leaving in the morning but he decided to set off that evening.

  Floyd got into his truck and left the lights of San Francisco behind in the rear-view mirror as he headed north.

  “Only 500 and something miles to go until a new adventure in life begins.” This thought made him smile.

  He stopped once on the way. This was at a truck stop near Medford, Oregon, for a toilet break, fuel and something to eat.

  Floyd pulled up in front of the house outside Pine Bluff at 6.30 in the morning.

  He reclined the driver’s seat and fell asleep.

  The next thing was Oddball tapping on the driver’s window.

  “I didn’t expect to see you until tomorrow.”

  “Well, everything was done. There was no sense in hanging around so I got my ass in gear.”

  It was 8 a.m. on Friday morning.

  Oddball and another man, Frank, helped Floyd unload the truck and trailer. Once everything was stowed, the three of them got to work on the roof.

  Oddball and Frank had already made solid progress over the last four days.

  “It wasn’t as bad as it looked in places,” Oddball said. “The joists and trusses are mostly okay—only two needed replacing.”

  Floyd noticed a neat pile of timber stacked near the house.

  “I got a bargain from my father on that lot,” said Frank. “Red cedar. Great for decking. He’s the foreman at the sawmill.”

  “Perfect. Thanks.”

  “If we finish the roof tomorrow, we might be able to start on the decking Sunday,” said Oddball.

  “Don’t rush it,” Floyd said. “You’ve already done more than enough.”

  “Make the most of the weather,” Frank added. “It’s the third week of April now. October’ll sneak up on you fast—and then things’ll change, big time.”

  “Local knowledge,” Floyd thought. He appreciated it.

  They worked until sunset.

  “Want to come into town for a beer?” Oddball asked. “Frank and I are heading in.”

  “Thanks, but I’d better not. I’ve got to drop off the trailer in Eugene tomorrow. Leaving at six, should be back by ten—if all goes well.”

  The two men departed, and Floyd stepped into the house for the first time as its owner.

  The place needed work. A few floorboards were dodgy; he’d have to watch his step until those were fixed.

  “Well… I’m here,” he thought. “Let’s see what happens next.”

  Oddball had left behind a diesel generator, with a battery backup that could run the lights for a few hours. Floyd set up a camp bed and a small gas stove.

  “Just like it was when my parents moved to Lawrenceburg,” he thought, smiling faintly.

  He cleaned up a bit, organized what he’d unloaded, ate, and went to sleep.

  Floyd was up at 5 a.m. and on the road by six. Fortunately, the trailer depot was on the east side of Eugene, and he was back at the house just before ten.

  He rejoined Oddball and Frank on the roof.

  By 4 p.m., it was done.

  “Right,” said Oddball. “Decking tomorrow. Frank and I are back to work Monday, so you’ll be on your own next week.”

  “Thanks, both of you. I picked up a couple of cases of beer at the Falling Sky brewery this morning—Upside Brown Ale and Yell-OOO Pale Ale. Join me?”

  “I’ll join you,” said Oddball.

  “I’ll drink to that,” said Frank.

  They sat on the back decking—what was left of it—and cracked open a few beers as the sun sank behind the trees.

  “I hope I don’t yell ow in the morning after drinking this stuff,” Oddball said, grinning.

  They all laughed.

  “You should get a good view of the lights from up here,” Oddball said, taking a swig.

  “What lights? There’s nobody for miles around,” Floyd replied.

  “Not from the town. I mean lights in the sky. Moving around. They show up now and again. Probably the Air Force testing some new gadget.”

  Floyd shrugged it off. He’d seen stranger things.

  In the morning, they tackled the front and rear decking. With three of them, it went fast. By late afternoon, the work was done.

  “I’ll leave you the generator as long as I can,” Oddball said, getting ready to head off.

  “Thanks. I owe you both a big one.”

  Frank and Oddball waved and drove off, leaving Floyd alone again on his land.

  He stood there for a moment, listening to the quiet—just the trees and the rush of the creek below.

  “Right,” he said to himself. “Electricity. Better take a look at that weir tomorrow.”