2008 – Week 8

Tuesday, June 17, 2008:
Cloudy sky this morning, but it is expected to clear later on. Interesting, when we listened to NOAA weather this morning, the rainfall for northwest Oregon and southwest Washington is below normal for the year. We will stay at Champoeg for another night and try to get organized for Portland tomorrow. We spent the morning getting organized and calling all the places in Portland we would like to visit in the hopes that they could give us some help in parking in the city or in parking lots serving the rapid transit system. We were lots less than successful and have decided to go the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Oregon City. It is south east of Portland and maybe we’ll get better info there. We relocated our camping spot so as to get away from all the kids and the hard rock lovers. It is more open and the smoke isn’t as strong. It got to be 2:00pm, and Susie and I rode our bikes to the historic Butteville General Store for a late lunch and milkshake. After lunch we decided to ride around the remainder of the park and learned that the Willamette River floods severely about every 30 years. The park campgrounds are covered to a depth of 8-10 feet. The town of Champoeg fell victim to these floods in 1861, and we saw a sign on the pavilion that replaced the Hudson Bay Company warehouse. The ground at the pavilion is about 35 feet above the river and the sign is placed on the building 15 feet above that. This would make to flood water 50 feet above normal. Seems incredible, but that what the information is. On the bike ride to the pavilion I went over a severe bump, and the bolt holding the seat to the support rod broke leaving me with not support. I was able to continue the ride, but only by standing on the pedals for the last 4 miles. We returned to the campsite, talked to some of the neighbors, met some dogs, had dinner and worked on some projects. The sunset was beautiful, and the temperatures started to fall.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008:
Another nice morning, and we left the campsite at 10:30am. We stopped at the Visitor Center to double-check the height the height of the flood and found that it was really 55 feet above the normal low level of the river. We stopped at Camping World to get some stuff and then moved on to Oregon City, the officially designated of the Oregon Trail. The “End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center” is located on the original land grant of George Abernethy, the first Governor of the Oregon Country in a portion known as Abernethy Green. It was a bit shocking to read that 10% of the people who set out on the Oregon Trail died, many of them women and children. Self-inflicted, but not deliberate, gun shot wounds were a primary cause of death for the men. One brief story: the wagons did not have any springs and so it was uncomfortable to ride inside, but in one case, a baby was put in the wagon for a bit and when they stopped for a rest, the baby could not be found. The family walked back down the trail and found the baby sitting in the middle of the trail. It had bounced out and was not injured. We spent about 3 hours in the Center and then headed north to RV Park at the north side of Portland near the Columbia River. Of course it was rush hour, and the trip took a long time. Portland is a city of bridges as it is bounded on the north by the Columbia and split down the center by the north flowing Willamette River (the same one we had just camped by the previous 2 nights). Center City is located on the west side of the Willamette. We think we found out how to take the rapid transit (TRI-MET) into Center City, but will fine-tune that when we reach the RV Park. Success, there is a big Park and Ride near the RV Park, and we’ll park the RV there and take the TRI-MET. We washed clothes but not all as there were not enough washing machines. Tomorrow we’ll finish the job.


Thursday, June 19, 2008:
Up for showers and preparation for the trip into town to visit the Oregon Historical Museum and the Portland Museum of Art. After a bit of fumbling at the ticket kiosk and help from a local (I don’t think we’ve run into any unhelpful people yet) we got on the TRI-MET and headed into town. We noticed that instead of “Seniors” or “Senior Citizens”, the term “Honored Citizens” is used. I’m one, but Susie is not (she will be in August). The trip was nice and the facilities very clean. We were surprised that the parking area at the Expo Center on the Columbia River was not as full as we would have expected. We tried to orient the RV so Daisy would be in the shade, but there are trees at the perimeter only so we could only do our best (she was fine at the end of the day). The trip to downtown was informative as we passed by Chinatown and the Industrial Section. The terracotta in the old sections was attractive and in good shape. The Rouse Company had a project in Portland, and I remember that there was a requirement that terracotta be used on certain parts of the new buildings so as to match the old. I am not sure that is happening now as we saw what looked like new buildings without any terracotta anyplace. We started to go to the Art Museum, but were overwhelmed by a busload of Honored Citizens (much more honored than Susie or I) and decided to go to the Historical Museum first. I am glad we did as it was terrific, and I could relate to the exhibits about the establishment of Oregon and the interaction with the Native Americans. We spent about 3 hours there, went to lunch at Higgins and then off to the Art Museum. I should mention that there is a park 1 block wide by about 6 blocks long with very old trees and statues that is between the Historical Museum and the Art Museum. It made for a very pleasant walking space as we walked from the TRI-MET to the museums. The Art Museum had a number of exhibits, some of which were interesting and some of which I didn’t have a clue. The most interesting was a glass exhibit by Klaus Moje. The product was great, but when I learned his technique, I’m not sure that it took as much effort as I originally thought. There was a special Native American exhibit that focused on the different lifestyles of Native Americans from the Andes to the Artic Circle. I can tell you without any hesitation that the samples of pottery and baskets were great. We left the Art Museum, went to Starbucks for something cool and boarded the TRI-MET to return to Daisy. We threw the ball for a long time and went to Safeway to restock the RV. We worked on our blogs and Susie’s picture drawings then checked in to the credit card and banking sites to see how bad the damage has been. Time to go to bed!



Friday, June 20, 2008:
We decided to go to the Oregon Zoo and the adjacent Japanese Garden and The International Rose test Garden. The Zoo was good, but it seemed that we were unable to see many of the animals. Either it was too hot and the middle of the day, or some have been moved because of new construction. Anyway, it had been a long time since I have been to a zoo so it was fun. I suspect that some of the disappointment is that we have seen many of these animals in the wild over the last 5 years. There were lots of school kids, and they were having a ball. That made it worth it. We had lunch consisting of a hot dog and root-beer float.
We took a ride on the narrow gauge train known as the “The Washington Park and Zoo Railroad”. The locomotives were smaller versions of real life locomotives, including an experimental all-aluminum locomotive we saw in the Green Bay (WI) National Railroad Museum. The full size version lasted about 2 years before it was determined that aluminum was not a durable as steel. The ride took about 15 minutes and was a good rest for out feet. The International Rose Test Garden was unbelievable, even for a non-gardener like me. There are more than 550 varieties, and most were blooming. There must be something special about the climate in Portland that allows roses to flourish. Everywhere we looked, there were beautiful roses.
We don’t seem to have the same quality or quantity in Maryland. Susie took numerous pictures. We then walked the Japanese Garden that is, according to a Japanese Ambassador, the best outside of Japan. We took the train back and hopped on the TRI-MET and returned to Daisy. It was a long day, and I think it will be a few days before my feet recover. We returned to the RV Park and washed the rest of our dirty clothes. We are headed to Mount St Helens tomorrow. Time to get back to nature; enough concrete and asphalt.


Saturday, June 21, 2008:
We left the RV Park at 9:45am and headed north on I-5 to Mount St Helens (MSH). A few stops on the way slowed us down a bit, but we arrived at a Welcome Center run by the State of Washington. We listened to a talk by a Ranger and then a movie before walking through the exhibit space. The first statement by the Ranger was today was the 9th clear day of the year. Hmmmm! Everything at this Welcome Center was first rate. We at lunch in the parking lot and ten headed to the Washington Seacrest State Park to see if they had space for us tonight, always a bit dicey on a Saturday night. When the head Ranger noticed we were from Maryland as he was, a space opened up. We’re set for the night. We immediately headed east on WA405 towards MSH, a driving trip of about 45 miles. I noticed a sign on the roadside asking everyone to be careful, as there were bikes on the road. What an understatement! This was a 100-mile ride up to and back from MSH. Traveling east, the road rose from 500 feet to 4,000 feet and there was a wind from the west of about 25 mph. We were about halfway to MSH when we noticed several cars pulled off to the side and people trying to get the cars to slow down and be careful. We pulled off and went to see if we could help and found that a bike rider had crashed on his way back from the turn point911 had been called, but we were there about 20 minutes before assistance arrived. Susie and I helped direct traffic, the best we could do. There were conflicting reports, but we believe that the rider was air med-evac’d to a hospital. We continued to head east to MSH and started noticing signs in the woods on the north side of the road stating when the areas had been planted, fertilized, etc. Tree farming here is really agriculture with clear-cutting of the areas and then planting seedlings that will grow for 30+ years before being harvested. Then cycle then restarts. It dawned on us, that all the areas had been planted post-1980, the year MSH erupted. As we closed on MSH, we were able to see the river valleys that had been filled with the rock and volcanic ash from the MSH eruption. The volcanic ash is still visible as if it had happened last week. As we neared the top viewing point, we had a terrific view of MSH from the north side.
What looked like steam turned out to be blowing volcanic ash, a fact we confirmed by finding the grit in our mouths and eyes. It is impossible to fully describe what we saw, but we both agreed that remembering the articles in the newspapers and other media did not do justice to the force of the eruption and the damage to the surrounding landscape. Within the space defined as the Mount St Helens Volcanic Monument, the decision was made to leave everything as is except for a new road and some visitor facilities. Outside the limits of the Monument, it is different. The Visitor Center at the Johnson Ridge Viewpoint Volcanic Observatory has a film that explains the causes and the sequence of the MSH eruption. It is on wide screen and must be seen. We went to the top of Johnson Ridge to get more pictures before leaving to return to the SP. MSH is the youngest volcano in the Cascade Mountains and has been the most active over the last 4,000 years. It last erupted in 1857 and was witnessed by travelers on the Oregon Trail.
A few brief facts about the MSH eruption. It took less than 1 minute from the first puff of steam to the full blown eruption; 1,300+ feet and 0.67 cubic miles of total volume of mountain disappeared in less than a minute; the eruption was unusual in that it was a lateral rather than vertical explosion; airborne rocks traveled at 700 mph at the time of the eruption; trees in the quadrant from NW to NE of MSM were knocked flat; the Columbia River was closed to shipping traffic for more than a week as the volcanic material and logs reduced the depth to less than needed; it took the airborne ash about a month to circle the earth; the debris avalanche covered 14 miles of river valley to an average depth of 150 feet; we saw trees buried under 3-4 feet of ash that have been exposed as erosion continues; there is another magma dome growing with the crater; a sediment control dam was completed in 1989 to stop the sediment from flowing further west; a bumper sticker saying “Don’t come to Washington, we’re bringing it to you”. Susie and I both believe that this is the biggest natural disaster we have seen in all our travels. It is much more real than we understood from the media.


Sunday, June 22, 2008:
A slow morning, as we planned to travel only to Astoria OR where the Columbia River empties into the Pacific Ocean. The fast running Columbia collides with the Pacific and if there is a strong wind from the west, it can be a very dangerous place. This is the place where Lewis and Clark spent the miserable winter of 1805-1806 before heading back east to St Louis MO. Before we left I talked with a gentleman who was thinking of not going as close as he could to Mount St Helens before he left the area. I think I changed his mind. We then headed west on the Washington side of the Columbia River before crossing the Columbia River by bridge and ferry (a bit of a surprise that) from Cathlamet WA to Westport OR. From Westport we continued west, stopping at an eagle sanctuary where we saw 2 bald eagles. They are busy hunting this time of the year as their young have not yet fledged. Continuing on to Astoria OR, we stopped in a hardware store to get a bolt to repair my bicycle seat. We then went to the Columbia River Maritime Museum. We were late getting there and so we will go back tomorrow to finish the exhibits including a tour of the lightship Columbia that was anchored off the Columbia River inlet. As we drove to Fort Stevens State Park (bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Columbia River on the north and east with 500 campsites) for the night, we passed a store that advertised dog self-washing (just like a car wash?). Daisy needs a bath, and she’ll get it tomorrow when we go back into Astoria to complete the Maritime Museum. There are several places of interest in the area that we need to see. We are still having house battery problems. It will not charge when we are driving. There is a switch that might be bad, and we’ll go to a RV repair shop to see if they can fix the problem. We have noticed that the trees all have moss on them and the temperature is far below normal for this time of the year. It is very unusual to wear short-sleeves and shorts during the day.


Monday, June 23, 2008:
Today we have planned to go to Fort Clatsop, a replica of the fort where Lewis and Clark wintered in 1805-1806, then back to Astoria to complete our visit to the Columbia River Maritime Museum, visit the Astoria Tower, stop by the bike shop to get Susie new brake pads and finally give Daisy a bath. All were accomplished successfully. When Lewis and Clark approached the Pacific Coast, it was mid-November, the weather was awful and they were on the north side of the Columbia River. They spent 15 days trying to find a place to spend the winter without success until the local Native Americans told them about the land and animals on the south side of the river. For the first and last time, the entire Corp of Discovery broke military protocol and took a vote on whether to stay on the north side or backtrack enough to be able to safely cross the river. Everyone had a vote, including York (Clark’s slave) and Sacagawea, and the decision was made to move to the south side. They did and established a fort on what is now the Lewis and Clark River that flows in Youngs Bay, a part of the Columbia River.
For a great description of the conditions over the winter, you should read “Undaunted Courage” by Ambrose. While walking through the forests around Fort Clatsop we noticed numerous big (larger than 36”in diameter) trees on the ground and wondered whether there had been a bad storm over the winter. We learned there had been a terrible storm in December 2007 with winds up to 140 mph that caused all the damage. Returning to the Columbia River Maritime Museum, we walked through the exhibits again, watched a movie about the Columbia River and its entry into the Pacific Ocean before touring the retired Lightship “Columbia”. This Lightship was moored with a 7,000-pound mushroom anchor with more than 1,000 feet of 2” chain. There are 2 sets of pilots who guide ships into the Columbia: the first across the “Bar” and the second up the river to Portland. The “Bar Pilots” (approximately 24 are licensed) control the entry to the Columbia River. It is not unexpected to have winds in excess of 70 mph during most months, but during the winter 90-100mph winds are not unusual. If they deem the conditions too horrible, the bar is closed and the ships must stay away. The movie in the Maritime Museum shows the conditions that can exist at the Bar during a storm and how the “Bar Pilots” clamber up and down the sides of the ships as the enter or leave the Columbia River. The US Coast Guard has an advanced training facility near the mouth of the Columbia River where they teach boat handling and rescue techniques. The location was selected because this area is deemed the most challenging in the country. The USCG makes in excess of 400 rescue missions each year off the mouth of the Columbia River. The next to last stop was a self-service dog washing facility in the pet store. Daisy doesn’t really like baths even though she loves to swim so she was a bit put out by this activity. The last stop was the Astoria Tower is located on the highest point in Astoria and commands a great view of the Pacific Ocean, Columbia River, Youngs Bay and the mountains. Unfortunately it was closed for repairs and we were unable to climb to the top for a full 360-degree view. The tower is dedicated to the early settlers with special emphasis on Gray (discoverer of the mouth of the Columbia River), John Jacob Astor (a fur trader), Lewis and Clark. Back at the State Park, Susie took Daisy for a walk while I worked on the bikes. During the walk, they found a lake, but Daisy wasn’t allowed to swim since she was just brand new clean. She was in a funk when they returned. I found a place to have the RV battery charging checked out, and that will happen on Wednesday. Tomorrow we plan to wander around Fort Stevens State Park. Oh by the way, just south of the SP, a Japanese submarine shelled the shoreline, one of three attacks on the US Mainland during WWII by. We tried to find the site but were unsuccessful.

2008 – Week 7



Tuesday, June 10, 2008:
It rained lightly all night in Colfax, not enough to get the pavement beneath the trees wet, but it was cold. The Strevys picked us up at 9:00am, and we went to breakfast at a local diner. While we were having breakfast, Dick noticed that it was snowing outside. We returned to the RV to watch the videos of the whitewater rafting in Crouch ID while Susie walked Daisy. They had planned to take us to Steptoe Butte, but it looked as if the clouds were way too low. However, as we were watching the videos, the sky began to clear and off we went. This is a geologic feature that sticks through the good topsoil and provides a great view of the Palouse farming area. The visibility was great until we had driven about 100 feet from the top then we ran into the bottom of the cloud layer. Every so often we’d get a break, and I’d try to take a picture only I wasn’t fast enough. We called it quits, drove down about 100 feet and turned around when the clouds seem to break. Back up to the top, but it really wasn’t clearing. We drove down, stopping every so often to take pictures when the opportunity came. The Palouse farming area looks great from ground but even better from the Steptoe Butte.
We went back to the RV where we were dropped off, spent the afternoon looking at the weather on the internet and trying to work on our blogs. I noticed a severe weather watch in the area we planned to travel tomorrow – 6 inches of blowing snow. I guess we’ll have to take a good look tomorrow before we set out. We went to the Strevys’ for a delicious steak, baked potato and salad dinner (with a few beers thrown in).

Wednesday, June 11, 2008:
Up at 7:00am to a cloudy (again) sky, and the wind blowing hard. At 9:00am it looked a bit promising, and by the time we left Colfax at 10:45, we were feeling good about our prospects. From Colfax we followed WA26 south and west through the Palouse farming area to Dusty, then WA127 to Dodge and then US12 to Walla Walla. The elevation of Colfax is about 2,000 feet and we gently descended to about 1,600 feet where we took a dip to 600 feet to cross the Snake River, rose again to 1,200 feet and then dropped back to about 900 feet at Walla Walla. The further we drove, the better the weather. We saw fields of wheat and peas and pastures of cattle, bison, llamas, yaks and horses. There were some small airfields with several private planes, some of which could have been airworthy but probably not. I still don’t understand how they manage to farm this land without turning the equipment and damaging both themselves and the equipment. Must be great equipment designers and operators. We saw a hard working bicyclist in the hills. Soon all the clouds were gone and the sky a brilliant blue. We spent time in Walla Walla walking around the city and enjoyed the efforts of the art community in placing sculpture around the city. The Art Museum in Walla Walla was originally a Carnegie Library and was converted in 1971. Before we completely left Walla Walla, we went to the Whitman Mission National Historic Site. The Whitmans were missionaries and provided service to the emigrants heading west on the Oregon Trail, a section of which we walked. They were killed by the Indians who blamed them for bringing “white man’s disease” (measles) to the area and causing the death of nearly half of the Cayuse tribe. West of Walla Walla, a series of wind farms ran along a ridge to the south of US12, stopping just to the east of the Columbia River. I was late looking at the odometer, but the lines of turbines stretched 7 miles before we lost sight of them just before we joined the Columbia River. We followed the Columbia west to the McNary Dam at the town of Umatilla OR, where we crossed the river and pulled in to a Corp of Engineer Campground. There are not many campgrounds sponsored by the Corp, but they are nice and generally in quiet locations (however we can hear train whistles in the background. The hot showers and sunshine were greatly appreciated.

Thursday, June 12, 2008:
Ah, the first morning in a bit more than 2 weeks we awoke to clear skies and temperatures above 55 degrees! We did the usual things and left the campground at 10:45am and headed west to the town of Maryhill WA and the Maryhill State Park with the hopes of being able to get a place for 3 nights to carry us through the weekend. We drove along the WA side of the Columbia River on WA14. The Columbia River has so many dams that from a distance it seems quite placid, more like a lake, but when we stopped to take a picture and looked back at one of the dams and saw the water coming over the spillway, we realized it was not as quiet as it looked. On the south bank of the river there is a single-track railroad and an Interstate. On the north side there is another single-track railroad. We saw a string of barges being pushed upstream, probably to one of the many grain storage facilities on the river for delivery to one of the shipping locations downstream. We later learned that 40% of the wheat produced in the US passes through the Columbia River Gorge before being shipped from Portland OR. The banks of the Columbia are volcanic rock and quite rugged and beautiful with the sunlight striking at different angles as the river flows west. We pulled into the Maryhill SP and found a spot for the night but not for 3 days. We took the spot with the Columbia River on our doorstep and realized that despite the numerous dams it still is a very fast flowing river. The navigation buoys are tilted at 45 degrees due to the current. During the late afternoon we went to tour the Maryhill Museum of Art. This facility was originally planned as a private residence for the Pacific Northwest entrepreneur Sam Hill who, in 1907, purchased more than 5,000 acres along the Columbia River to start an agricultural community. Construction began in 1914. When the planned agricultural community didn’t materialize, he was convinced to turn it into an art museum that was dedicated in 1926 but did not open until 1940. There is a permanent exhibit of work by Auguste Rodin, 100 unique chess sets, artifacts from the Native People of NA, orthodox religious icons and Sam Hill’s life. This was the first time we had seen an exhibit showing Native Americans wearing baskets as caps on their heads in addition to raincoats made from woven strips of bark. Other exhibits are rotated through the Museum. The surrounding lands are still owned by the Museum and leased to ranchers and farmers. Hill also built a replica of Stonehenge as a World War I memorial. We did not stop as we had seen the original on our honeymoon in 1967. Peacocks roamed the Museum grounds and were a treat to the visiting children.
Back to the Park, a quick dinner, a swim for Daisy and then a trip to the Goldendale Observatory, a Washington State Park located on the plateau north of the Columbia River. This Observatory is a teaching center for backyard astronomers and not by college and university students for research. This was a requirement of the 4 men who built the telescope, including hand grinding the glass lens themselves. The lens-grinding machine was on display, and there wasn’t anyone at the presentation who believed that anyone could grind glass to the proper tolerances with what appeared to be apiece of junk. It was a beautiful night with no clouds and little moisture in the air. The only negative was that the moon was more than 1/2 full and bright as could be. Anyway, we viewed the planet Saturn, seeing the rings plus one moon. We also looked at planet Jupiter seeing 3 moons and last of all viewed star clusters 35,000 light-years away. You can do the math, but (as a hint) a light-year is the distance a particle of light travels in one year at a speed of 186,000 mile/second. We stayed until 11:30pm and return to the State Park. It was a great day (and night).


Friday, June 13, 2008:
Another morning with a bright blue sky and strong winds from the west. We had breakfast and Daisy went swimming before we departed the State Park to find new facilities for tonight and Saturday night. We signed in to Columbia Hills State Park, formerly Horsethief State Park, (a name change so recent that the locals still call it Horsethief). On 10/24/1805 Lewis and Clark stayed at this Native American Village named Nix-lui-dix (The Trading Place) on the way west to the Pacific Ocean, just before they went through the section identified by the French as “Dalles”. They also stopped here on their way back east on 4/19-20/1806. On 4/19/1806, the first salmon returned to spawn and the Native Americans would start fishing in the next few days. The big activity of the day was a trip to the Columbia Gorge River Center a few miles west of the city of The Dalles in OR. The building has 2 main sections, one the Discovery Center and the second the history of Wasco County in OR. We had a geology lesson on how and why the southeast section of Washington has such terrain and is so good for farming. Melting glaciers creating Missoula Lake behind icedams that eventually melted allowing as much water as is in Lake Ontario and Lake Erie to flood the entire southeast section of the State of Washington. Huge boulders, sand and topsoils were carried by this flood and as the water spread and slowed these materials were dropped. As we have driven through this section of Washington, we have seen random big rocks sitting in very odd places. The geology community calls these “erratics”. We had a late lunch there and that was good. It is definitely worth visiting if you come this way. On the way back to the State Park, we stopped at the Corp of Engineer dam named “The Dalles”. This dam is very large and was completed in 1957. The electric output is 2.1 million kilowatts, enough to power 800,000 homes or power 2 cities the size of Portland OR. It still is a very controversial dam with the Native Americans because, when it was activated, the Celilo Falls were covered and the Native Americans’ most prolific source of salmon was gone. We asked numerous questions about how the dam accommodated the salmon and were shown the 2 large fish ladders that help them by-pass the dam. I asked about the fingerling and was told that they have a good record of survival as they pass through the dam on the way to the Pacific Ocean. I don’t know how you measure this, but I suppose advances have been made over the years. It was about 75 degrees all day without a cloud in the sky and wind from the west at such a velocity I would not want to be sailing our Lightning.

Saturday, June 14, 2008:
I am not sure I should be saying this, but another great day. We drove to the town of Hood River to see if the boardsailors and kiteboarders were active. The town is at the junction of the Columbia and Hood Rivers. They were, and it was a fascinating site to us who are used to keeping our boats in the water at all times. The kiteboarders had their boats out of the water often, to a height of 20 or more feet and a distance of 50 feet.
Some of you have children who do this sport, and you should go see this action. The boardsailors were racing back and forth across the river, but we did not see and jumping and flying activity probably because the river wasn’t rough enough and the winds were below 30. While we were sitting outside, we noticed that Daisy had moved into the front passenger seat and was watching all the action with great interest. There were dogs playing in the shallows (as was Daisy) plus numerous kids even though the water was cold. We watched for about 2 hours and then started driving to the Timberline Lodge on the south slope of Mt Hood.
This lodge was built by the Civilian Conservation Corp from 1936-1938 and is at an elevation 6,000 feet, the elevation at which trees cease growing on the mountain. The road to the Timberline Lodge, at the lower elevations, runs through valleys that are very prolific providers of fruits. There were numerous fruit stands but we decided to stop on the way back, a bad mistake. As we reached an elevation of about 3,000 feet, we noticed snow in the woods and realized the grey stuff on the shoulders of the road was actually snow covered with stone dust that had been spread to keep the roads safe. When we arrived at the Lodge, there was an abundance of snow, and we learned that this is the only place in the US where you can sky all year. We talked to 2 members of the Ski Patrol and learned that to ski during the summer at the higher elevations, you climb about halfway up, sleep in tents and then climb the remainder in the early morning as the snow had refrozen and traction was OK. We told them that this was quite a day foe us, watching sailing at noon and skiing in the afternoon. Their response was “That’s the Northwest!” and asked where we were from. When we said Baltimore MD, they nodded their heads in understanding. We toured as much of the Lodge as possible. The structure is wonderful, and all the special carvings and detail work is in amazingly great shape considering the building is 70 years old. We drove home, stopping in The Dalles for dinner. The SP is full, and it was a good decision to pay in advance for 2 nights. I think Daisy went for at least 4 swims today. She seems to have recovered completely, and we are convinced that altitude is the problem.

Sunday, June 15, 2008:
We left the SP at 10:30, heading towards Bonneville Dam, but first we had to stop at Hood River to check out the windboarding and kiteboarding scene. It was blowing harder than Saturday, and we expected some excitement. When we arrived, we noticed that the Columbia River was lower than the day before by about 2 feet, ad the action had moved downriver about 1/4 mile. A few kiteboards went down the Hood River, doing jumps and turns for all to view. Then we noticed a person who was having a bit of trouble. He lost control of the kite, he and the board became separated and all of a sudden he was in the river being pulled upstream against the current. He was struggling with the kite, and then one of the kiteboarders who had been doing leaps and turns came to his aid. By this time the person and the kite had become separated. I’m not sure how much all these pieces cost, but I wouldn’t like to lose them. The expert kiteboarder (and I don’t use that term loosely) managed to grab the kite and was well on his way to bringing it to the Oregon shore when a PWC showed up and tried to take over. The attempt was unsuccessful and the kite ended up on the rocky Washington shore. About 10 minutes later, we noticed that the expert had managed to maneuver his kite and board next to the lost kite, pick it up and carry it back to the Oregon shore. When he got to the Oregon shore, the owner of the kite was missing, so he disabled the kite and covered it with sand so it wouldn’t blow away and continued kiteboarding for his own pleasure. We waited for a bit, but the owner of the kite never returned so we left and headed towards Bonneville. At Bonneville Dam, we saw a fish hatchery with rainbow trout and sturgeon. The sturgeon is a prehistoric fish and certainly looks it, having been around for 200 million years. The largest one in the pond was 11 feet long, but they can grow bigger and weigh 1,500 pounds.
The sturgeon below the Bonneville Dam, with access to the Pacific Ocean, are doing well, but the Fish and Game organizations have to watch carefully how many are taken each year. Most taken are for sport fishing, but I must be missing something as they seem very slow moving. The ones trapped, because they cannot use the fish ladders, are not doing as well. We then traveled a bit further west to the Ainsworth SP on the Oregon side of the river. Right now it seems a bit noisy, but the road traffic should tamper off later. The wind is less. As we have traveled from east to west down the Columbia River, we have noticed that there is less brown and much more green. The steep sides of the river boundaries are moving further away, and all seems softer. There are many more trees where we are now, which is about 30 miles east of Portland. We have been in cottonwoods for about a week now, and the male cottonwoods shed fuzzies that would, and probably did, make great pillow and mattress stuffing. When the wind blows, we feel as if we are in a snowstorm even as the temperature rises. Tomorrow we climb and visit some waterfalls, and then we are in Portland OR.


Monday, June 16, 2008:
Today turned out to be a bit different. It was clear and not windy. I took my shower and came back to the RV complaining that if the price for free showers was low water pressure, I’d rather pay. Susie took her shower and had the same problem. She have just rinsed out when there was a loud knock on the door, and the maintenance man hollered that the water system had just failed and there was no water. The plan for the day was to drive along the old US30 highway (now the Historic Columbia River Highway) and see 6 waterfalls before proceeding to a viewing point where we could see Mt Hood, Mt Jefferson, Mt Rainier, Mt St. Helens Mt Adams. All of these mountains are dormant volcanoes (well, some more dormant than others) and had a great impact on the creation of the Cascade Mountains. The first, Horsetail Falls, was adjacent to the road and easy to see. The water flow of the falls fit the name. We met a man who was wearing a t-shirt with a logo of Long Mountain. I asked if he had climbed the peak and he said that he had. One thing led to another, and he said that the trip he was taking was to have been with his son who had completed 2 tours in Iraq, came home safely and died of a heart attack just before he was to be discharged from the Army. There wasn’t much to say, but we were glad we were there with him because it was obvious he was in much pain. We encountered him several times during the day, and we greeted each other warmly. The second waterfall, Oneonta Falls, was back in the forest a bit, and Daisy, Susie and I started up the trail. We never found the falls, probably because we didn't go far enough, but we turned back because there are no aids to navigation up there, and we didn‘t think that spending the night in the forest was smart. We went to the third waterfall, Multnomah Falls, really two falls one below the other. This falls has been developed for tourists to see, eat snacks and buy stuff in the Gift Shop. On we went to the next waterfall, Wahkeena but never found the trailhead. The last waterfall was named Bridal Veil Falls,
and we were able to get close enough to the base moistened with the spray. According to a guide with an Elderhostel tour, this falls is one on the best and most visible examples of a rock formation named “columnar basalt”. Don’t worry; I too need to look it up. We continued west to the Crown Point Vista House that was completed in 1917 to provide shelter and sustenance to the people who were traveling the Columbia River Highway (the Historic was added later). I had seen this building in the late 1970’s. It was restored in 2004. You get great views of the Columbia River, to the east into the Gorge and to the west towards Portland. We had lunch there to build up our energy for the best part of the trip, up the Larch Mountain Road to the Sherrard Viewpoint Picnic Area (elevation 4,055 feet). We make the turn on to the road and saw a sign that announced “ROAD CLOSED 10 MILES AHEAD SNOW”. Being the disbeliever that I am, I told Susie to proceed, as it wasn’t possible that there was still snow on the road at that elevation. We had gone about 2 miles when we saw a maintenance worker, and he confirmed that the road was closed by snow. What a rotten deal! June 16, 2008 and still encountering snow. After turning around we headed west towards the Champoeg State Historic Area that has a campground. Champoeg is the site of the 1843 vote to form the first provisional government in the Pacific Northwest and the gateway to the Willamette River Valley. We didn’t expect much, but it is quite a large park and a family vacation area. We are not used to this type of park with smoke pollution and multitudes of kids riding bicycles everywhere. We’ll probably try to move to a more quiet part of the park tomorrow as we explore the historical pieces of the area. We may stay here or 2 nights and try to get into Portland on Wednesday if we can figure out where to park and get the rapid transit trains into downtown.

2008 – Week 6

Tuesday, June 3, 2008:
Rain again, and we decided to hunker down in the RV Campground in Boise. I did more laundry and walked Daisy plus finished my blog for the week. Susie worked on her book and took pictures of her drawings in preparation for publishing her blog. We had wifi internet access, but for some reason it was difficult to download some, but not all, of the photos. I gave up on a few photos and published what I could. Susie gave up, and I don’t blame her. We eventually went to dinner at a Romano’s Macaroni Grill and then Susie tried her blog again. No better, so we went to bed and read for a bit. Not a very exciting day, but Susie needed the day off, and we hope she’ll be better in the morning. We drove a total of 17 miles, to and from dinner.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008:
Overnight the wind shifted to the northwest and the temperature dropped to 50. I took Daisy for here walk and fed her. Susie and I took showers, had breakfast and cleaned the grit from the RV. With the strong sun, the temperature climbed to the mid-60’s and with the RV protecting us from the wind, it felt quite a bit warmer. We left the RV Campground at 10:00am, filled up with gas and headed into Boise to see the house her mother and father, Janet and Ed, rented while living in Boise. We then drove 31 miles north on ID21, following Mores Creek, to the town of Idaho City. The drive along Mores Creek is wonderful. It has cut its path through volcanic rock with cliffs about 200 feet high in certain areas. As we neared Idaho City, we saw the evidence of gold mining done by dredges. The dredges sit in a pond, dig its way upstream throwing the river rock over the stern. We saw one of these dredges in 2006 about 50 miles north of where we are today. We had lunch in Idaho City at “Calamity Jane’s”, an old time café that Janet and Ed frequented when they were enroute to/from their mining claim on the Grimes Creek. I had an ice cream cone at the shop next door. Idaho City has changed quite a bit since we were last there 2 years ago. The National Forest Service has established the town as a base for fire fighting in the area, and there are some new retail buildings. Not all of this is for the better, but when we walked through the old part of town, the old buildings and historic artifacts are still there. We departed town, drove west to New Centerville (Centerville is about 2 miles north, but you’d never know it) and then north to Pioneerville, all in Idaho. This was a distance of 12 miles, most of which was on graded dirt roads. We pulled into the location where Janet and Ed camped while panning for gold and took naps. After the naps, we took a stroll down to the campsite we had used in 2006. The US Forest Service has been doing some clearing of dead wood and burning the piles. One was still smoking, but no visible flame. We also so a large military aircraft flying low over the area and suspect that it was the USFS looking for fires even though there has been an unusually large amounts of rain over the past few weeks. As night fell, we realized that the “house” battery for the RV has failed. There is no place to get a replacement in Idaho City, so we’ll make a stop in Butte MT as we continue our trip north. By 10:00pm the lights had pretty much faded to the point we could no longer read.

Thursday, June 5, 2008:
When we awoke this morning, the good news was that there was no snow, but the bad news was that the outside temperature had fallen to 41 degrees. The skies were a beautiful blue with only a few clouds. I took Daisy for her walk, and as soon as I get into the sun, I realized it was starting to warm up. Susie and I had a cup of coffee and talked about her late Mother and Father before going over to Grimes Creek and watching the water flow downstream. It was an emotional time as was to be expected, but not overwhelming. We drove back into Idaho City expecting to have breakfast at “Calamity Jane’s, but it was closed. We scratched our heads for a few minutes and headed to the “Gold Mine”. It was a good breakfast, but did not have the emotional attachment of “Calamity Jane’s”. However, it was large enough that we didn’t need lunch. We departed Idaho City, heading north on ID21 to Lowman ID where we joined the South Fork of the Payette River that took us almost to Stanley ID. As we approached Stanley we had numerous views of the snow-topped Sawtooth Range in the Sawtooth NRA. We saw them without the snow in 2006, but they are much more visible and exciting with the snow. At Stanley we traveled north on ID75 and US93 following the Salmon River. Twelve miles east of Stanley, in Sunbeam ID, we saw the remnants of a dam that was built in 1909-1910 to provide a source of electricity for a goldmine 10 miles north. Unfortunately for the Owners, the quality of the gold was poor and the company went bankrupt in 1911. The Idaho Dept of Fisheries blew it up in 1934 to allow for better fishing.
We continued north, following the Salmon River downstream, on ID75 and US93 through the town of Salmon. As it was 5:30pm we were looking for a campsite for the night, but rejected 3 because of the clientele. We found the BLM Twin Rivers Campground off of US93 and stayed there. It is between the town of Salmon and the ID/MT border. I heard thunder in the background so we’ll see what that brings.

Friday, June 6, 2008:
Well, the thunder and dark clouds brought some rain, but not a lot. We left the campground at 9:50am and continued north on US93 to Lost Trail Pass (elev 7,014 feet) at the border of ID/MT. The snow line was about 6,500 feet, and we experienced snow showers at elevations below that. We turned right on to MT43 and crossed over Chief Joseph’s Pass (elev 7,264 feet)
There was snow there, as the picture will show. This area is the location where there is much concern and dispute about the route of Lewis & Clarke over the Bitterroot Mountains and the Continental Divide into the Bitterroot River Valley after they had found the headwaters of the Missouri River about 40 miles east of present day Butte MT. It was a tough enough trip in a vehicle with an engine on a finished road; it must have been terrible with packs, horses and very steep terrain during late August and early September. There are some ski slopes in this area that look very rugged. We continued east on MT43, stopping at the Big Hole National Battlefield where the Nez Perce Indians and the US Army had a terrible battle with the US Army killing numerous women and children in addition to warriors. The US soldiers were the same ones who discovered the Custer disaster at Little Bighorn and almost suffered the same fate after the Nez Perce rallied. If US Army reinforcements had not arrived, they might have been killed. We were unable to tour the battlefield as much is underwater due to unusual snowmelt and rains this year. We moved on driving through this beautiful valley with mountains on both sides. There were more cattle than we have ever seen in any of our trips. MT43 follows the Big Hole River north, east and then south, but we left it to go north on I-15 north to Butte MT to try to get a new house battery. We stopped for lunch in a rest area and were hit with a sleet storm for about a half-hour. We arrived in Butte, found a battery and went to the Visitor Center to determine whether we should stay the night in Butte and tour the city and surrounding area tomorrow. Butte still has an active open pit copper mine with trucks that carry 240 tons of rock each. In addition, numerous underground mines underlie the city and has an abandoned pit mine known as the Berkeley Pit. Mining stopped in 1982, and the pumping of Pit and mine shaft was stopped. The water in the pit is very acidic and must be treated before it is discharged from the Pit. The current estimate for that to begin is 2021. The water depth in the Pit is more than 1,000 feet and increasing. We are in a RV park, and Susie was able to download her blog using a direct connection rather than wifi. I guess her transfer demands are more than wifi can provide. Oh, the temperature is supposed to fall to 29 degrees tonight.

Saturday, June 7, 2008:
I don’t think it went down to 29 last night, but 35 might be a good guess. We took showers and called all the kids before leaving the KOA for the Visitor Center where we caught a tour bus through the City of Butte. There were some signs of greatness when copper was king, but that was in the early 1900’s. It was a two hour trip and the biggest attraction to me was the Superfund site and the measures being taken to prevent the pollution of the ground water. The tour guide was enthusiastic about all ARCO, the purchaser of Anaconda, was doing (all on its own according to him) to solve this problem. Nothing was said about the EPA. Anyway, it was a great way to see the city, and before we left, we went to the bakeshop that Susie had seen during the tour. We traveled for a few miles before stopping at the Flying J for gas and propane. During that process it began to snow and so we made lunch before heading off to the town of Anaconda. As we traveled to Anaconda, the tops of numerous mountains are snow covered, probably above 7,000 feet. Great things were written about this town, and there were a few wonderful old buildings, but the feature was the 582.56 foot tall stack that remained from the refining operations of Anaconda. This stack has a 60-foot interior diameter at the top and the largest outside dimension of the octagonal base is 93 feet. The reason it was so tall was to disperse the pollutants beyond the local area. Does this sound familiar when discussing the height of powerplant stacks in the Midwest and acid rain in New England? We left town and headed to Phillipsburg MT where we pulled into the only RV Park. It is a beautiful valley but would be better if it weren’t in the mid-40’s at 7:00pm. It seems that I complain lots about the weather, but the locals say this is really unusual and what is this global warming stuff. Of course when we talked to Kimberly and Meredith on the East Coast, they tell us how hot it is there. I can see a slight glow through the clouds that must be the sun. Oops, it just disappeared. I am sure we’ll have the heat on a bit tonight. We went to diner at a local restaurant and learned that while the area is all green now, by mid-July it will be brown and the forest fires will create a haze that makes it hard to breath. It is very difficult on the young children. This area runs off a 3 month tourist season plus a bit of help from a nearby ski resort and employment at a nearby prison. Less than 50% of the roads are paved, and there isn’t a clean car or truck in the area! The fog has started to settle in, and visibility is completely restricted.

Sunday, June 8, 2008:
Well, another morning of low temperatures, rain showers all night and fog. It was 46 degrees and when I walked Daisy, I saw new snow on whatever mountains I could see and not at an elevation much above the RV Park. Time to reconsider! We spent a long time in the internet and realized that there was rain everywhere without much hope of improvement where we wanted to go (north to Glacier NP). A high level meeting was called of all the occupants in the RV, and we decided to forget about Glacier NP and head west at least until we arrived in Spokane WA. The clouds began to break, and we realized that we had driven most of these roads in 2006. The weather became warmer and the blue sky was more visible as we traveled west. We’ll spend the night in Spokane, visit a few AAA “Gems” before heading to the southeast corner of the state. My guess is that we’ll do the south edge of the state, turn north to see the San Juan Islands and then visit the northern portion before making a decision on whether or not to go back to Glacier NP. We have seen it before, but we’d like to see it in the sun.


Monday, June 9, 2008:
Well, we found a new campground amenity. I had seen the water tower when we moved in but hadn’t paid any attention to it. However, during the night when all was quiet Susie heard a loud hum and shut the window nearest the tower. This morning I investigated and think the 3 pumps are used to fill the tower plus maintain pressure in the system. I also noticed the sign on the fence that said it was US Property so now I’m not sure what it serves. We also have a very active set of train tracks just beyond the water tower so we have all the amenities normally for in RV Parks. It rained a bit last night and is very cloudy this morning. We left the campground and headed o the City of Spokane to visit Riverfront Park, especially the historic carousel. It was designed and built by Charles I. D. Looff of Coney Island NY.
It began operation in 1909, went into storage in the late 1960’s and then purchased by the City for installation in Rivefront Park that was the site of the 1974 Expo. Also in the Park is a very enlarged version of a Radio Flyer wagon. The handle of the slide is used as a children’s slide. We biked along the Spokane River and saw the Spokane Falls.

This was very impressive as the river flow at this time of the year is flowing heavily. We returned to the RV just as the sky darkened and rain threatened. We drove to Manito Park, a city run floral park. This 90-acre facility was established in 1904, and must be a joy to the residents of Spokane. Because of the ever-changing plant seasons, its look changes daily. We were able to see everything, and Susie went to visit the Japanese Garden just as the skies open up. Jamie and Daisy stayed in the RV. We left Spokane and were headed to the nearest campground located in Chaney WA. It was thundering and rainy so we decided to head further south through the palouse farming area
to the town of Colfax. The rains cleared and the clearing northwester followed. The RV was difficult to drive and we were happy to arrive safely in Colfax. When there we called our camping friends, Barb and Dick Strevy, who we had met at the Big Pine Camping area north of Moscow ID in 2006. We wanted to take them to dinner, but they were in the process of eating pizza so they picked us for the RV Park, and we almost finished the pizza with a beer chaser. We made plans to meet for breakfast after Dick had called work and told them he was taking the day (Tuesday) off so we could tour the area with them. Back to the RV at 9:30pm. It was cold and raw, with a low temperature of 39 degrees expected.

2008 – Week 5

Tuesday, May 27, 2008:
With Daisy feeling much better and a long way to go, plus returning to Mountain Time, Daisy and I took our 30 minute morning walk at 6:15am, had breakfast and left Goose Lake at 7:30am PDT. We stayed on US395 and when we passed through the town of Valley Falls (so small no statistics are shown on the map) we came upon Lake Abert, another mineral lake with only brine shrimp. However, I learned that migrating birds love brine shrimp and stop here when migrating north and south. Abert Lake is the remaining portion of a much larger lake that was formed after violent upheavals created the lake and a fault scarp named the Abert Rim. I drove along the eastern side of the lake between the water and the fault scarp. Great picture opportunities, but limited places to pull off. I am afraid I missed a few great pictures. During the entire trip, I noticed cylindrical rock piers along the road that I thought were property boundary markers, but as I continued, I came to think they were end supports for the barbed wire fencing. I had areas of heavy rain and found that even though the roads were in pretty good shape, the areas where the vehicle tires tracked were slightly depressed to make a swale that filled with water. Nothing like a bit of hydroplaning in the desert! Continuing north to Riley on US395 and then east on US20, we were in valleys made very productive through irrigation. There were predominately cattle along US395 and then crops along US20 east of Burns. To the east of Burns, US20 was straight as an arrow for 15-18 miles. After that we started to climb into the hills, passing over Stinkingwater Pass in the Stinkingwater Mountains, then over Drinkwater Pass and finally following Kingsbury Gulch to Juntura and on to Harper. This was a beautiful drive. From Harper east, the Malheur River provides significant water for irrigation in Harper Valley. Continuing east there were more hills for a short distance, but then the land once again became flat. The 15 miles west of Vale is a vegetable growing area, using gravity rather than mechanical equipment for irrigation. The town of Vale (population 2,000) was a stopping point for travelers on the Oregon Trail, and there are paintings on the buildings depicting these settlers. On the east coast we have whales, out here they have wagon trains. On to Boise to spend the night and hopefully post Week 4 on the blog. We have some sun, but there is the threat on rain. We are now at elevation of 2,300 feet having traveled 319 miles and stopped at 5:00pm MDT. The RV Park is adjacent to I-84, but I didn’t see any train tracks (normal amenity of RV Parks).

Wednesday, May 28, 2008:
Woke to cloudy skies again after rain last night. In the distance I heard several freight trains to the south. Daisy and I headed north to the Boise Forest to watch the white water rafting practice and probably provide a warm spot for the team. We left the RV Park and headed east on US20 towards Boise (we were not as close as I thought, but close enough). There is no housing slump here. Irrigated lawns, big houses pushed closely together, conspicuous consumption all left me wondering where the infrastructure to support all this is coming from. I hope it keeps snowing in the mountains! Having traveled 20 miles east, we turned north on to ID55 for the trip north to the site of the white water rafting event. The North Fork of the Payette River was generally quiet until we reached the town (2 buildings) of Banks ID at the intersection of ID55 and NF-24. All of a sudden, the quiet green water river turned into white water. We had planned to turn right on the NF-24 to go to the campground, but had to go a bit further north to see the launch point for the “Otters Slide”. I am very sure that I would not survive that turmoil. Back we went to NF-24 and headed up the South Fork of the Payette River to the City of Crouch to the campground. Gabby Garmin again led me wrong, and we ended up in the Boise National Forest looking for the campground that was in the town of Crouch. We checked into the campground and waited for Jessica and Seth. Daisy is feeling much better and want to me to throw the ball for her, but without Susie here to be at the other end, I am reluctant to do that. I was included in the team and invited to a cookout for dinner at the house of some locals. The husband had helped Jessica find the paddles lost when her raft was flipped during a practice run. Unfortunately no paddles, but a cookout of elk steaks, potato salad, brownies resulted. The house is under construction and is on a hill overlooking the valley. After dinner Jessica and Seth came over for tea. All of a sudden it was 10:00pm and Seth said he had to get some sleep.

Thursday, May 29, 2008:
Last night it poured again. There are several whitewater teams here, and I have only heard of one who got wet in their tents. I took Daisy for a walk, and it was beautiful. There was mist over the rivers and ponds and in the mountains above. The sun came up and highlighted all the green vegetation in the mountains. It is a day of rest for all before the competition starts tomorrow. The teams went down to the course that will be run tomorrow in hopes that the slalom gates had been set. No such luck so when they returned we hiked up to a hot springs and had a good soak. We returned to the campground and after a time had lasagna, salad and brownies for dinner. I wasn’t able to bring much, but had some lettuce, cheese and mustard plus a hatchet to split firewood and chairs for people to sit in. Jessica and Seth used the outside shower to wash their hair as did one other team member. My guess is that the outside shower will be more popular as the time goes on. The wife of the team leader for the men’s group has her parents here to watch, and tonight at dinner I heard him talk about driving down “this god awful steep and narrow road”. It turns out that he had come down Grimes Creek Road, the same one we did in 2006. We all agreed that it was not a smart trip, and we should never do it again. Of course, they had a Suburban, and we had the RV. It is 9:30pm and still light out. The weather has been partly cloudy and is a bit cooler tonight than last night. By the way, I finished the book Diana gave me for my birthday by James McPherson titled “Battle Cry of Freedom”. If you have any interest in the Civil War, I recommend this book.

Friday, May 30, 2008:
Up at 7:00am, walked Daisy and then went to Crouch to call. Couldn’t find my telephone card so bought another one. The rest of the morning was spent cleaning the RV on the possibility that Susie might be able to come to Boise earlier than expected. The white water teams went to the slalom venue on the North Fork of the Payette River at 2:00pm, and I went at 3:30pm. There was way too much confusion for an event that was the US National Championship and the only qualifier for the World Championship in 2009. Each team was allowed one practice run, and the competition consisted on 2 runs, with the best one counting. It is impossible to express the excitement and the camaraderie of all the competitors. Everyone recognized a great performance and cheered those competitors I took some video with my camera, but I don’t think I can download them. It was a day of great success for the team I was cheering for, with both the men and women winning their respective contests. Off to Bosnia in 2009! It was late when we returned to the campground, so we had dinner in the local restaurant. It was still light at 9:45pm when we walked back to the campground. For the first time in several days it was sunny and warm (except on the water). A surprise, it was Opening Night for summer theatre next door so it didn’t get quiet until 10:15pm. The race tomorrow starts at 10:00am, and I believe multiple boats run the course at the same time. That should be really exciting given the speed and roughness of the river

Saturday, May 31, 2008:
Up at 7:00am because the sprint racing was to begin at 10:am. Daisy and I took a brief walk in the dense fog. The temperature was 48 degrees and did not increase much until the fog started to clear around 8:30am. I called Susie at 8:00am and woke her in San Antonio. I had a cup of coffee with the team, and they left the campground around 9:00am and headed west on NF-24, the Banks Lowman Road, to the launch site on the South Fork of the Payette River. The cars seemed a bit cramped, so I threw my chair and water bottle in the back of one truck, took my bike off the RV and rode downstream (emphasis on down) for 6.5 miles to the launch point. There was one practice run, and the competition started around 11:00am. Normally, there are 2 boats per run, but at one point on the racecourse there was only one safe line for the rafts to follow. Jessica realized that on Wednesday when she took the wrong line and flipped on her second run. The committee and competitors decided for safety reasons, only one boat at a time would run the course. Once again, each team made 2 runs with the best time counting. The Women’s Team was second to go and had a pretty good run, but had no time taken because the scorer had a seizure and fell on the rocks requiring rescue services including 2 ambulances. There were several successful runs, but there were several unsuccessful trips as people fell out of the rafts and floated free or rafts that flipped completely. It was easy to see the good teams as their technique was clean and smooth. The Men’s Team had a good first run. The Women’s Team had a great 2nd run (one that counted) and were given the option of running 3rd time so that they would have 2 scoring opportunities if they wanted, or needed. It was unnecessary because the one run that was timed was fastest, and they were declared the winner. The Men’s Team was also successful and so I have been very fortunate to be connected to the winners of both Divisions in the Slalom and Sprint Races. I rode my bike back to the campground, upstream this time. I left a bit early and was able to get to the campground at the same time as the Women’s Team after having gone into the City of Crouch to look for 2 new bike tires for Susie’s bike which I noticed, while still holding air, were about to blow. Unfortunately there were no tires in Crouch so I’ll get them in Boise on Monday, before I get Susie at the airport. I was also going to stop in the coffee store to get a milkshake (I was due having ridden the bike) but it was closed (why at 3:00pm I cannot say). Just as I returned to the campground, the skies darkened and the thunder rolled, Daisy hid under the table and the rains came. We had dinner together, between the raindrops, and several members went to the Dirty Shame Bar to listen to Bluegrass. The City of Crouch is the headquarters for the rafting events tonight and numerous cars, vans, boats and tents have moved in to the campground. I stayed in the RV and had a second night of theatre.

Sunday, June 1, 2008:
It rained again last night, and the fog was in again this morning. Jessica, Seth and I, with our dogs, walked to the coffee store to start the day. We had a nice walk, and the dogs are almost ready to spend another day alone as we go to the races. While Daisy loves Jessica, she will be happy to be on the move tomorrow to get Susie and restart our trip. There was only one race today, and it was the Raft Downriver Race with a distance of about 6 miles. There were three sets of rapids, one of which they had raced on Saturday. There was no practice run. We took the rafts to the drop-off point, and they finally had something or me to do. I was the guardian of the equipment as the teams checked out the river conditions. The men started first at 2 minute intervals, and I am happy to report that all went well. Both the Men’s and Women’s Team won making it a sweep of the event. That means that in May 2009, they will be in Bosnia for the World’s Championship. As we sat around dinner, there were many stories told about the last World’s held in South Korea in 2007. I couldn’t believe the accommodations. The Women’s Team slept in one room on a 2” thick mattress. It was so hard that if you slept on your left side, that are went numb. Same for the right side, and if you slept on your back, your legs went numb. There was one bathroom with a shower and toilet, but with no division between the two when you took a shower, the toilet paper was soaked. Not that it has been much drier here. Every afternoon it rains 3 or 4 times for about 20 minutes and then the sun comes between storms. I am sure it will rain tonight just because it always has. One of the Women’s Team had a 5:00pm flight out of Boise so that she could be back in Vail CO to teach school on Monday. Tomorrow morning the remainder of the members leave, and head south to Boise to get Susie.

Monday, June 2, 2008:
Up at 7:00 and took Daisy for a walk and then went into the city twice, once by myself and then with Jessica and Seth. I said good-by to most of the team members, the Breeders (Mondo, Lisa, Emma and Molly) pulled out before I had a chance. He was driving to Vail CO after dropping Lisa and the girls off at the airport so they wouldn’t have to take the 14-hour drive. Their Golden retriever, Henry) was sick with some sort of skin rash so he had planned to stop by a vet for some meds. Daisy and I were the last to leave at 10:00am, and we drove to Boise to get new bike tires, some groceries, wash the RV, get more cash and check in to the RV Park. A shower and washing of clothes followed. That all seemed easy, but it seemed to take forever. Daisy and I left for the airport at 5:00pm and picked us Susie at 5:30pm. It was great to see her, and Daisy went crazy. Susie can back to us with a terrible cold, and some hot tea plus soup and went to bed. She certainly enjoyed the cooler temperature and lower humidity. Dark clouds coming in from the west, and following the normal sequence, I expect rain tonight.