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.