Cool lasted all day

What a long day. I got to work at 0800, ate lunch at my desk, on the phone til 1630 and just as driving away from the office, I saw a couple and in my heart I knew they needed the Red Cross, so I backed up the car, parked it and helped them. Got home just in time to watch Rachel.

Weather cool all day, like in the 80ies

Circle the Calendar

What a great day it is and it's only 0700 in the morning I got a voice mail from my friend Mary Fran who was told she needed to have heart surgery and now they told her, "never mind, come back in 6 months" I have yet to hear the details but I know she is much relieved.
Then I get an email, I'm going to be a Great Grandma. LOL, you know that I am way to young to be a great ANYTHING, but I'm excited. Think I need to plan a trip to the east coast, if I take my time, I'll get there just in time for the great event.

Another bit of news, I had to get up to find a comforter last night, I got a tad bit chilly. Hope that means this long hot summer is about to end. I want to get back up to the Monument but it has been just to hot.

Off to work. BTW, I now remember why I retired and became a volunteer!!

Joshua Tree

Of course, I can't download my photos, forgot to bring whatever its called.

There is no question where Joshua Tree got it's name, Joshua trees are everywhere, as are the tumbled rock formations climbers drool over. Friday was a holiday and I promised myself early rise and a trip up to Hidden Valley. Well my "rise" wasn't as early as it should have been and the need for a petrol stop, the sun was way to high for me to tackle Hidden Valley. ( A comfortable chair in the shade is about all I'm up to these days.)
I did do some of the Valley, I climbed up and through the narrow entrance and did about a quarter of the loop but it became very obvious the sun was more than I could tolerate.
The Valley has ghosts you know. Well at least I saw and heard them. Ghosts of old B Cowboy movies where the outlaws always hide away from the law in "hidden valleys", when rustlers hid their booty to change brands and when eventually the good guys in white hats come and saved the day. Actually there is a legend that this valley was used for just those pursuits but since the only way in and out is also said to have been blasted open by one of the ranchers, history doesn't always mesh.
The loop trail has storyboards, telling of the flora and fauna. For instance, the Pinyon Pine: while I used its canopy for some cooling shade, I read that the Native Americans used the seed for protein and the thick sap for glue and tar.
My JT bird list has grown. I saw a huge Redtail Hawk sitting atop some plant. Of course I was driving down the road with a car behind me so stopping to look wasn't going to happen. Later that morning, while enjoying my snack of bing cherrys, a Jay (I'm thinking Scrub Jay as that was my first thought "your a scrubby lookin fellow",) came and stole one of the cherrys from about a foot away. Reading about Scrub Jay's it said the Pacific cousin is very bold, but by the picture, the little thief looked a lot more like the Interior cousin. ( I left another cherry out to see if I could get him to return, but all that attacted was ants and yellow jackets, and then I remembered, we are asked not to feed the wildlife. Stolen fruit is one thing, but....)
I took lots of pictures. Going to run to the PX and see if they are open.

I don't think I 5 qualifies for our name

A Road Less Traveled
But here I am, on I5 heading south as it is the most direct route. This is also a first. I'm towing a vehicle, alone and trying desperately not to get myself into any situation where I might have to back up. That would be a disaster. I would have to unhitch and then rehitch, both which might cause me pain.
My first day was fine, my stops were all in rest stops where I had no problems. I found a lovely campground south of Roseburg Or at the 7 Feathers RV Park and Casino and my last hurdle is getting gas.
Where to stay Day 2 is another question. I can go south to Corning, CA where there is an campground or two with pull throughs, but after that is little to pick from until after I get past Sacramento. Thats a long drive. I guess I'll just see how it goes. Past Sacramento is a long one day drive.
BTW, I dont think that I do badly towing, I followed on RV towing a car for about 30 miles and his/her foot was on the break every time we came to anything that might resemble a downhill grade, and this was farm country not the mountains. I wonder how long his/her breakshoes last. LOL

Great weekend

We did our annual trek to Teanaway Campground just north of Cle Elem Wa with our group of friends and had an absolutely wonderful time. The weather was near perfect, the food was delicious and of course the friendship was so great.
Since I didn't take the camera, have no picture to share but heading out day-after-tomorrow for 29 Palms and will take the camera and will blog along the way.
This will be a first.
I am going to be traveling alone and towing a car. I'm not worried about it, but I want to get to the desert by Saturday so I have at least one day to set up camp and visit with friends before starting work. The job may be just a little while, a month or so, but long enough to get down to Indio to my most favorite Mexican Restaurant in the World, El Rincon del Norte, and into Joshua Tree for some spiritual rejuvenation.

Okay, not so official

Now my reporting date is 24 July. Get the sunscreen out.

It's official

I'm going to be heading south to Ft Irwin end of June for a 5+ month job with the Red Cross. Roy and I have to be in Cle Elem first of June, Spokane - mid June, so the plan is spend the first part of June wandering around Northeastern WA and then after Spokane, we will head south via Montana, Utah, Nevada and ending in Barstow.

We are getting ready:
I went shopping at the PX and lucky for me, they had tons of summer clothes on sale 75% off. How lucky is that. Here in Washington State we don't really need summer clothes and I have nothing for 100 degree weather.
Washed and waxed Ms Tioga. I am sure she appreciated it, as moss was developing here and there after a winter in storage. She still needs an oil change and I am going to go through the 'basements' and see what we can eliminate. I know we didn't use most of what we took last year and what's the point. (I washed her yesterday and today, of course it's pouring rain. Looked out and there is one big old black streak that I missed cleaning off. )

I'm looking forward to working again but I'm glad it's only for 5 months and I am so glad I'll be near my friends from Yucca Valley. They are going to get tired of seeing me. LOL

Native American Tribes

Roy and I have visited a lot of Native American reservations and this trip was no exception. While at Lava Beds and Klamath Falls the museums all told the story of the Modoc's who fought a 6 month war, under the leadership of Modicus, to regain their homelands. It didn't work, they were hung, but they did manage to kill more US soldiers than we lost in the Spanish American War, including one General (the only general killed in any war) General Camby. (Califorina, Oregon and Washington all have towns named for General Camby)

We also visited the Tree's of Mystery's in Northern California and they have a wonderful museum on the different tribes. Its free and well worth the visit.

Our last visit was to the Yurok Village. Here are some photos. The Yuroks, Algonkin family, still use this village.

Lighthouses

We didn't have much luck finding lighthouses that were listed on the map. Samoa was suppose to have one and we drove around and Roy even walked about a mile down the beach and nothing.

We did find a little one at Trinidad Head


and revisited the tiny one at Crescent City.

In Oregon we tried to find Cape Mears, drove around and around and finally asked a Ranger who told us the road washed out a couple years ago and only a vista remains. Our next find was Cape Blanco, at Port Orford



and the last was at Umpqua. Actually it was our last stop and after this we headed home.


It was a great trip, we had a wonderful time and now I have a ton of washing to do, a car to empty etc, etc.

Eureka and the Redwood Hwy

After a couple days in Redding Ca, we headed up and over the Coastal Range to Eureka and the Redwood Hwy. What awesome views.
The Carson House is the most photographed house in the US and you can see why. The Pink House across the street was built by the same Mr Carson for his daughter as a wedding present.
I have to explain about the pole, it didn't get named and I couldn't go back and name it. It shows where the high water mark was during a 1964 storm hit the town of Weott. This poor, ill fated town had been flooded out in 1955, then Hwy 101 was built around it so it lost all the revenue from the tourist and in 1964 it was hit again by an even larger flood. That killed it, folks moved away and what is left is the poles showing the water level of the 64 flood.

 

View from Lava Beds National Park

 

Big old Juniper tree and our friend George. This tree probably 200 years old.

Day 4

 

Its Friday and our plan is to leave Klamath Falls early so we can get to Redding sometime in the early afternoon. So, lucky we're on vacation because we overslept, and didn't get out as planned.

Yep that's a cave. Called Mushpot and I was the only one interested enough to want to go down into it. It's at Lava Beds National Park and actually a park that I wouldn't recommend going to. The southern way in, Hwy 10, was nothing but pot holes and torn up road for about half of the 16 miles in. It's in bad need of some stimulus money....

We stopped in this tiny town called Canby California for lunch and found a small cafe. It had the best patty melt I have had in years.

From there to Redding was mostly down hill and we pulled in about 4, later than we had planned..Poor Roy, who was raised in Redding, couldn't get his bearings as it has changed so much since he left 50 years ago.

 

Our third day out, drove up to Crater Lake, not even considering that there might be a ton of snow. As you see, at the top there was still about 10 foot and we had to climb up on it to see the lake itself. Not prepared at all, I slid around having visions that I would fall on my butt, but did manage to get to the top to see the great views. LOL, I sat down and slid back down to the car as I knew that I would never make it without falling. We met a couple from Germany who had no issues with the snow at all.

We drove up to Crater Lake on 97 but then drove back via the back roads. It was a wonderful drive and one I would recommend.

Weather held!!!

Couldn't believe how beautiful the weather was as we departed Portland. We took I5 down to Eugene, Or and then cut across the Cascade Range on Hwy 58. It was a great road with little traffic and as you can see below, a couple of great stops. The covered bridge was a great fine, and the Logging museum, while mostly a ton of rusting machines, getting out and walking around was good for the old bottom.

I think Roy and I need to return to Klamath Falls as it has lots of trails, birding and things that our friend and travelling companion George isn't able to do. We will stay at the same hotel, the Maverick which is cheap and right downtown.

We drove all the way from Roy WA to Klamath Falls on one tank of gas, 452 miles. I didn't mean to drive that far, and didn't even think about getting gas until I noticed the little light was on warning me to get to a gas station quickly.

Collier TImber Museum

Another great fine and free also. Located just north of Klamath Falls on Hwy 97, this large logging museum is a great place to stop and streatch your legs. You can see not only tons of rusting logging equipment but also some cabins that have been moved to the museum from all over the area.

Covered Bridge

 

This was a lucky find. I had seen on the Oregon State map that there were a lot of covered bridges in the area around Eugene Oregon, but I really didn't expect to see one. This was a great find, build in 1945 it's no longer being used as it is to narrow for today's trucks.

Eagle's Nest - day one adventure

http://www.jacksonbottom.org/EagleNest.htm


I wish I had some pictures but while we took the camera, we forgot to charge the battery. Lucky for me there was a website.
What an awesome site. It seems that a farmer near Portland had been watching a pair of eagles for years building and rebuilding the same nest but a couple years ago, the tree was dying or dead and the farmer knew the nest would be gone after the next big wind. He called the Jackson Bottom Organization and they called the PG&E and they managed to cut down the tree, wrap the nest in celepane and move it.
The size of this nest is awe-inpiring and seeing how the eagles wove the branches into a nest is nothing but spectacular.

If your ever near Portland, Check out Jackson Bottom

Heading out tomorrow

Finally we are on the road again, this time for a small shake-down cruise to eastern Washington and back. WIll be home one day and off again, this time to Oregon and California.
Anyplace where sun might shine.

View Larger Map

This is so cool. THis is the house that I grew up in 55 years ago and I found it by using Google Maps. That door in the wall held a secret room to hide booze in as the house was built in the 1920s.
Its looks a little different. It looks smaller than I remember and it was a sky blue, but other than that, its the same house.

Happy Holidays

I guess you've heard that Seattle/Portland area is socked in by snow and ice. Well, I'm here to tell you, we have snow and it looks like we're go to have a very white Christmas, my first - believe it or not. 

What a year. The miracle of President Elect Obama, the price of gas at an all time high and now at an unbelieveable low, the Government giving those $$billions to the banks who are hoarding them for themselves, and President Bush actually giving some of it to the working class. (Be still my heart). The long lines at the food banks, the falling house prices, and the homeless numbers going up, and  they are calling this a recession, I don't think so, looks like a depression to me!

Every charity has a hard luck story and it pulls on my heart strings, but my charity dollars are going to my own family this year. To bad thats not tax deductable. Roy figures that if they had split those billions among all of us, we would spend it on cars and homes and Christmas gifts for the family. Maybe thats to simplistic but what the hell do I know. It seems to me we could do better than those bankers are.

Our Christmas is going to be a simple old fashion 'be with family' Christmas. We're going to eat and eat and laugh and sing and maybe even have a snowball fight. And we are going to think about our friends. 

This year I lost a few friends. Pat, an old friend and volunteer lost her battle to breast cancer. She use to have wheelchair races down the corridors at Madigan with the nurses. Rose is also gone. Rose lost her battle with Ovarian cancer . Her fight was brief but heroic and so many of us miss her as she was blessed with so many friends. I was really sick of going to funerals. 

The grandson's both returned home this year and then since work was just not here, they both returned to their old jobs. Jake is in Billings and Thad in Vermont. I am proud of both of them as they are at least working. 

Betty made the Dean's List at UW, her first semester. She is going to be a great accountant so if you know anyone looking for a CPA, she has another year and then will be out there looking for employment. Ron, sweet son, is up in Seattle fighting his fights and winning. 

Roy and I are planning our 2009 and 2010 trips. We have decided 2010 is going to be our year for travel and  winter we will head south and stay south until summer. LOL

Have a great holiday. 

Larrabee State Park

Our last days were spent at Larrabee State Park and while I wouldn't recommend this park during the summer unless you have reservations, we almost had the place to ourselves and loved it, even in the rain. 

Birch Bay State Park, Birch Bay, WA

This area was named by Vancouver when he passed the area in the 1700s and it was named after the huge number of paper birch trees located there. I am thinking it should have been named Big Leaf Maple as we saw much more of those than the paper birch. 

The State Park is noted for its birding as it's on the Pacific Flyway. We saw a number of species, but as it was pretty late in the year, not hundreds like we had hoped. The regulars were there though, gulls and loons, geese and ducks and we enjoyed just sitting on the logs and watching them watch us. 

The park as a Terrell Marsh Interpretive Trail that was about a mile long and we heard a woodpecker but couldn't see him/her in the canopy of trees

Tolt MacDonald County Park

Its funny, but since DH and I have retired we need to keep day-planners to keep up with all we have to do and to get time for travel has been difficult. Now, what we do is block off time a couple months ahead and hope that we can avoid meetings and appointments or gatherings.

Last week we got a whole 8 days for ourselves and when you live in Washington State, rain is always a possibility and we had some, but we also had some great weather. 

Our first stop was just south of the town of Carnation and a King County park that catered to RVs but more mountain bikers.  The trails were beautiful with the turning leaves and awesome views. The bridge was pedestrian only and about half way across you could feel the wind and the vibration, but it had such a beautiful view of the mountains, it didn't matter much. 

The little shed, laughingly called a cabin is for the Mountain Bikers who want to spend the night. The other option was yurts and they were much better, with real beds and heaters. 

Sumo Season

This is my man Kaio. He's old, he's beaten up and he barely makes his 8, but ya got ta love him. Folks speculate every basho about his retiring, but he keeps going, sometimes showing his brilliants, mostly showing his age.

July Bash

We made it a long weekend and headed out Thursday for the weekend. We went to Rest-A-While RV Resort near Hoodsport on the Olympic Penninsula to meet some friends. We pulled in and we were told by the gal who checked us in, that our party called saying we were coming on Friday.??? I thought it was funny they hadn't called a told me, but okay, it didn't matter. Roy bought us each an ice cream cone (what diet?) and just as we were getting into the RV to park it in space 19, another one of our group showed up. They were confused as they hadn't called, but it didn't matter, we were there. Never did solve the mystery, the last couple showed up and they hadn't called either.

The weather was fine, so as soon as we got hooked up, we pulled out the awning and sat in the sun catching up on news and gossip. Whoops, we all got a little to much sun....my arms and face were red red red.

In no mood to cook, we wandered across the street and had dinner at the Tides, a great little family owned resturaunt. All the men had liver and onions, but I opt'ed for Fish. Oh yum, it was way to good and I ate way to much.

Lola and Josette must know ever card game in the book. Earlier in the year they taught me to play Hand and Foot, a Canasta like game using about 4 decks of cards. Its fun except when your losing. We played Golf and Mexican Train (with dominos) and I had a great time.

Saturday morning we woke to rain, but it was light and didn't really change much. Sunday we drove home in another rainstrom.

I thought this was summer, but I guess not.

We're home, Sharing pics

This is the wildlife refuge by Wenatchee, WA
Campground at Alta Lake
So, can anyone identify this flower/plant for me. They are all over central Washington, no smell but might pretty

Third Week

Oh my goodness, according to the calendar we've been on the road for 3 full weeks, Cle Elem to Lake Chelan, to Alta Lake, to Winthrop, to Omak, to Wenatchee, to Ephrada and now we're in Moses Lake.
Central Washington is so different from home as it's worse than desert, deserts have interesting flora - cacti, etc. but here, the canvas is blank, nothing but shrubs grow no higher than your knees. Rock also grow here, well actually most of them were brought here from Montana.
The theory is, and stop me if you have heard this, during the ice age, a great ice damn formed in Montana and water backed up behind it. It had to be at least a ga-zillion gallons because when the dam broke, the water, in great torrents made it all the way to Washington and brought with it rocks, some the size of greyhound buses. (Wouldn't that have been a sight to see).
Okay so no one would bother to live in this desert and except for a few, they don't, but that same flood cut some great lakes and rivers into the landscape, the Columbia being the most well-known. Along those rives and lakes our apples and wine grapes, and fruit and veggies from asparagus to zucchini grow and well farms needed towns and towns turned to cities, etc. Moses Lake is the color of turquoise and Soap Lake is a popular mineral spa.
Birding is awesome especially for migratory birds that take advantage of the occasional wetlands, water and menu of bugs and grasses.
Ephrada, has a fun museum. Roy and I spent hours exploring. They built or restored about 2 dozen buildings and filled each with turn of the century furniture, etc. They have a bank, a Church, a blacksmith, a dentist, a doctor, a barber. There is a general store, a saloon, a school. The kids would love it, but Grandma might have to explain the dunce in the corner and the inkwell holes in the desk.
Our next stop is Potholes State Park, another flood leftover, I think

Winthrop WA

Will an assay furnace heat a house?
What turns a Pelton wheel?
How many can sit in a Model T?
Does laughing dew make you laugh?
Is a hell box dangerous?
Can you make ciden with a Babcock press?

Some time ago, (and I am just guessing about this) some city fathers sat around looking at their dying town and decided one way to save it was to turn it into a tourist trap: Winthrop Washington, An Old West Town".
Downtown Wintrop is about 3 blocks long, buildings have been restored or rebuilt to look 'western'. Interesting enough, the bank is still operating and family owned. That building is restored and still operational , but the rest of the building sell tourist stuff or antiques or a mixture of both. The most favorite spot was the ice cream parlor...
But Winthrop has a fine museum, one you could really get into if museums are your bag. Buildings, old cabins and even the Winthrop Castle was moved to this block. Machinery, rusting stuff with motors, antique sleds, sleighs,wagons, etc.
Its a great place to visit and find the answers to the above questions.
My answers are: I don't know, I don't know, four I think, I don't know, I don't know and probably not.

Dutch Oven Cooking

Okay, so its not as easy as it sounded.

You know I purchased this cool 12" Dutch Oven. We'll got home, opened the box and read all about cooking in one. OMG, I had to go back to the store, you can't just have a dutch oven, you also need all the accouterments that goes along with it... a lid lifter ($12.) a chimney to start the coals in, ($13), 16 inch tongs to move the coals around with and the should haves, a table to cook on with a metal surface. These meals are going to cost a fortune.

Well, you know they say that when your cooking for other folks, you should never try out either a new recipe or a new way to cook, i.e. in a Dutch Oven.(that last part is my new rule) But I did it anyway because this is a 12" cooking pot and anything I make it in will be more than either Roy or I could eat. So my first attempt was a Baked Corn Casserole. (No 2big, it wasn't low carb, LOL) The recipe was easy, two cans of corn, drained - 2 cans of cream of corn. 2 packages of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix, 2 sticks of butter and 16 oz of sour cream. Mix together - bake for 1 hour using 17 hot coals on top and 8 on the bottom.
Well the smell was delicious, but after an hour, it wasn't close to being done, and dinner was ready. I'm not sure to this date what I did wrong. Let me tell you, I tasted it and it was good but finished cooking it on the stove.
So my second try.. a cobbler.. Same problem, followed the directions, number of coals top, and bottom and after any hour it still wasn't done. This time I started early so kept cooking it.
I think that the coal number is my problem as the wind was blowing and it was cold out, so maybe the oven just didn't get hot enough. Believe it or not there is a Dutch Oven Forum and I am going to go to the experts and see what they say.
According to the directions, you can bake anything in the Dutch Oven as long as you know how to regulate the temp. I have some great low carb casseroles and they are going to be my next project.

Lake Chelan WA

Lake Chelan has the clearest, bluest water I’ve ever seen. No that’s not true, Ash Meadows near Death Valley had the bluest, but Lake Chelan comes in a close second. In Salish, the local Native American language, Chelan means lake and blue water so I guess nothing has changed much.
We arrived at the park after a leisurely trip from Cle Elem. After fitting the RV into a tight spot we walked around to explore our new home for the next few days. Lake Chelan State Park has close to 150 camping sites. The utility sites where we parked is pretty much like a back in parking lot, but tent sites are scattered about in the woods, on the beach and even some on the expansive lawns.
Saw my first marmot. It’s a member of the rabbit family but they don’t look like it. These little guys had very little fear of people, Roy about 3 feet from one of them before it moved off.
The park added to my bird list. Ducks, robins, black birds and a new symphony of chirps, songs and calls.
After a night of rolling off the bed, Roy and I came to the conclusion the rig wasn’t level so after breakfast we went out to re-level, we saw that we had a low tire. Dollar signs go off. The park doesn’t have air, but we can’t find the valve stem so we drove, slowly, to town and found a Les Schwab. We are all prepared to purchase 6 new tires but the manager checked them and told me not to worry about it, added some air and charged up the cost of new wipers which we also needed.
Since we were in town, and Wal-Mart was over the hill, we stopped and spent some money there. Roy bought another level and I bought some DVDs. (They were cheap ones and now that I have seen them I know why….. pretty terrible)
Wednesday woke to overcast skies and the news that Obama had gotten the votes. I guess that I was hoping for a miracle for Hillary, and I really resent Obama for having an ego big enough to think that he is “president worthy”. Oh well, again like all of my life, I will vote for the lesser of two evils, but I wish that just once I could vote for someone I really thought would make a good president. I believe that another miracle will be needed to put Obama in as President. Middle America is still prejudice and that’s just the way it is. Actually, I wanted Richardson for President and still feel that he would have been the best choice. Obama talks a good talk, but being able to make pretty speeches doesn’t make him a good choice for President.
So now were heading to Alta Lake State Park, north of here. Looking forward to a new vista.

Critters and things

So far, our trip has had some great wildlife adventure. Alta Lake State Park had a sign posted that there had been some cougar siting and what to do if you saw on. My answer "run like hell" was wrong of course, but it didn't matter, the largest mammal that I saw was a gray squirrel.

But we did have some encounters...

I was sitting in the bedroom of the RV on the bed and suddenly movement caught my eye. A tiny chipmunk was in the hallway checking me out. I squealed, he (she) squeaked, I ran, he ran and I could only hope that he ran out the way he got in cause I wasn't particularly interested in having a chipmunk for a travel companion. That happened at Teanaway

Roy and I were hiking around Lake Chelan and I saw this animal on the rocks near the beach. It was about the size of a house cat, but looked like a gopher except he (she) had a bottle brush looking tail. Didn't have a clue what this was, and neither did Roy. We walked right up to him (her) and he scampered away when we got about 3 foot from him. Obviously, not afraid of humans. Turned out they are marmots and after I saw the one, we kept seeing them all over the rocks. Even got some pictures.

Alta Lake wildlife gave us a chuckle. We parked and went out exploring the park and returned in about 2 hours. Darn if two little birds hadn't decided to use our refrigerator vent for their home. Roy had to chase them off, clean out the mess of twigs and then cover the vent with paper so they wouldn't return. They were not happy at all as they kept trying to return to the vent...

Roy saw some whitetail deer in Winthrop, WA but so far we haven't had any further encounters.

Teanaway campground

Teanaway always makes me smile as its so far removed from most camps, the adjective primitive might come close to describing it, but even that sounds luxurious. The road in and through the camp hasn't been graded since..well ever. Your vehicle, even at a slow crawl feels like your on the ocean in a wild storm and anything that wasn't battened down is now on the floor.
Campsites are where folks made them. Fire pits are a collection of local rock, added to every year at the good sites, neglected at the not so good. You pull in to take advantage of 'flat" or 'scenic' or 'sunny' or 'shady' depending on ones needs and rig. There are pit toilets but they are usually avoided by RVers and tenters alike..
Tall towering long needle pines (ponderosa?) fill the landscape with not only their majestic size but also with a fresh clean smell in the air. Pine cones litter the dirt and scrubby brush gives each site some privacy.
Wildlife, mostly in the form of birds is abundant. The morning sound like a symphony of chirps, and calls, tweets and peeps. And in the background, the river adds its sounds as it rushes down to join its mates.
We parked, levelled and first rule of thumb is to gather firewood. As the others arrive, meet and greet.
Roy and I hiked along the river and first Roy found a jack knife and then I saw a machete in the water. We retrieved it and while not rusty, it was pretty dull. I wish that I had remembered to buy Roy a gold pan as the river sands looked promising.

Made my first meal in a dutch oven, and that is a whole new chapter.