We have been out in Portland for over a year now. The reason we got relocated to Portland was for the "Big Pipe" project. It isn't really a pipe, but a tunnel. In order to build the tunnel a crucial piece of equipment is necessary, the tunnel boring machine (TBM). Ours was built in Germany at the Herrenknecht plant. It was shipped in February and has been slowly arriving to the site. We put it in the shaft in the end of February and have slowly been building it. It costs around 12 million dollars and all said and done will be 280 feet long. It will cut a 24' diameter tunnel ranging from 90' to 150' under ground. As it goes through the ground it sets precast segments which is the liner of the tunnel. To see more how this works, click on "The Job" link to the right. Here are some pictures of the machine that were taken yesterday. We always take a picture with someone in them for size reference.

Pictures top to Bottom:

Kyle (My engineer) standing on the TBM during construction

Me standing next to the TBM in the hole. Pretty big piece of machinery.

Me standing next to the cutter head. This is the piece that will cut through the earth creating the hole for the tunnel.

Looking down the 125' shaft at "Rosie", the TBM. This is the front can which will have the cutter head attached to the front. It is called "Rosie" for the City of Roses.

Kyle standing at the tail end of the TBM.

This past weekend we got to try something new. Jennifer has some friends who work for the BNSF Railroad here in Vancouver. He had invited a bunch of the kids along for a train ride. We had no idea what to expect. When we got there he crowed all of us onto two engines and took us for a spin. It was actually really cool. I have been on trains before, but not like this. Quentin had a ball and went twice. He got to sound the horn at crossings and everything. It was quite the experience.

It is official, we are heading to East Africa, Tanzania to be exact. The tickets were purchased Wednesday and we receive them Friday. We have the entire trip set up and the tour company in Tanzania is getting the final details set. Jennifer and I will start the fun part next month. We have a series of shots to get for Hepatitis A/B, Yellow Fever, Malaria, Meningittis, Typhoid, Rabies, Tentanus, and Measles. They say it is about a 6 month ordeal for shots and visas.

We leave December 14th and fly to New York. From there we go to Amsterdam, have a 10 hour lay over where we will take a quick tour of the town. We then leave for Kilimanjaro International Airport located in the town of Arusha. We arrive Monday, December 17th at 9am. We will then start our 9 day trip to the top of Kilimanjaro (19,341 ft).The photo below shows the route we will be taking up the mountain.

We then come down and take a 5 day Safari through the Serengeti. We will be back home on January 2, 2008.

We have been looking forward to this trip for 2 years, and finally, we are moving forward with the plans.

Besides this exciting news, not much has been happening. We have all been busy with work. Quentin starts soccer Saturday with his first game. We will post pictures as we get them.

We hope to hear from everyone soon. Have a good month.