Then This

D, Skip, Erratic fancy root from earlier walk with D on Langley west beach      Something big and dangerous is said, by our controversial meteorologist Cliff M, to have brewed up in the Gulf of Alaska, but the generic weather web site shows only a mild wind and the usual rainy rain this morning; however this post is about yesterday, Wednesday, September 29th, it's just that I was hoping for a blow you know and forgot to post yesterday lazily.      At any rate Wednesday was hardly a dazzler.      The only highlight was a circuit of Saratoga Woods, again, with D and Skip who will begin his transition to Ojai tomorrow/today.      The only other thing I can recall is the loading of the Subaru with every imaginable tool so we can take on the refurbishment of the steps to the Columbia City house while R is off in Pittsburg and her roommate is crewing for a Harry Styles and Jenny Lewis tour. Also have to go to SCCA downtown tomorrow/today  (1st floor, 7th floor, 4th floor and 4th floor in

Saratoga Woods (camera not up to majesty of this forest) These folks always go all out for holiday decorations, but note long white pvc tube on left bannister for safe delivery of treats      Wetted a couple of times today. Beginning to remember what a winter around here feels like. S indicates absolute necessity of migration. I am promoting cozy camp in numerous empty state parks around Salish Sea not as an alternative to southern migration but in the meantime. Well insulated metal box good for warm and dry I say. Picked up an off season senior state park pass for $75 with which one can stay in camps for little or nothing from October to May.      Light industry: picked up several hundred bits of high density foam from former rube goldberg device S built to protect 12 volt sockets in van which gang of three somehow got hold of, rationalized random items in cottage (lumber, giant chicken wire rabbit, rope, etc., cut honeysuckle tendrils invading building through cracks in wall,  topped

     no caption Banged away at bent gutter that I backed the silver van into; slight improvement.      Electrician came to add 30 amp circuit in garage for to charge big van, but didn't finish, maybe tomorrow.      North to Oak Harbor with Subaru and silver van to have work done on various bits of the CS Adventurous LX Edition aka silver van.      Lunch from the Caribbean Lunch Box. Good and immense but a little salty.      Walk with Skip and for a while Christin C. down Edgecliff, back to marina, down beach to Dog House and up Anthes home. Some rain at start but dry thereafter.      Continued to eat Caribbean Lunch Box lunch throughout the day and into the evening.      S reported a dead frog in the hot tub a few days back. It was a casual mention, I imagined removal with a slotted spoon. I was a little anxious. But tonight with the headlamp I saw nothing but a bit of coarse sand drifted into one corner, so I immersed and was glad. I said it was a little frog but S was non-committ

  along Edgecliff between showers      Managed to throw some black porch stain on last of the unrefurbished  boards early before the predicted precipitation arrived at noon, but that was the end of that and the afternoon was sleepy. S continued her battle with the sliding memory foam toppers for the silver van and I...      It was that old cozy feeling to watch the water lash the street and the wind to blow the foliage about of course. We'll be getting a surplus of that soon enough.      D seemed fine with walking belly deep in the saltwater, but not with dogging about in the rain in the backyard. There was the girl in the bikini standing in the sound waist deep staring off across Saratoga Passage while her three male companions sat idly chatting on drift logs. D watched the girl while standing in the water near shore, but eventually gave up trying to make dog sense of the situation and started barking. Soon the girl started to bark back and then it was time to hitch up D and head

     furbished and unfurbished deck boards Pig wire barriers them      Not much in the way of work happened until after my second nap, but at that point there was an explosion of activity in the backyard including more refurbishment of deck boards, investigation of what exactly was going on under the deck with the 3 dogs who were reported by S to have been burrowing. Indeed several of the backyard tasks were repairs of the depredations of the pack. This involved much cutting of the heavy galvanized fencing known as pig wire with bolt cutters. A nice mow capped the afternoon's projects which of course necessitated picking up dog toys, parts of dog toys and dog shit. The fallen apples I just ran over.      S of course was actually doing important things like selling the yellow van to a local young couple who were just the right type I had imagined all along. S has already collected a $3K down payment so this is not vaporware we're seeing here.      I have retreated now to the rec

  © Demuth Photography       Up, but slightly down from butt ache, but with coffee and meds I recovered and soon I found myself re-furbishing the 2x6's of the li porch while the three dogs did a major tug-of-war with a towel eventually tearing it into many tiny pieces scattered across the battlefield. Some productivity ensued particularly with S who cleaned and cleaned the silver van. In the midst of this furiousness Skip came by with news of a climate march at the high school. After lunch D and I drove over there and watched our very polite children speak and walk and sign for climate justice and Greta. D got some attention, but I think that now it has been seven years since I was in the ed business and everyone was masked I saw no one I recognized although some of the speakers I had met in Mr. B's eighth grade classes, so it was good that I knew some of the adults to avoid the loneliness of crowds. There were Asian pears and power bars, very nice.      Later the totally unpre

     Woke in the atelier and had a couple of demitasses of coffee and up at the upper house Sarah offered peanut butter toast which I added the hot sauce and wonderful purple tomato from the C&S garden. Walked to R's house where she traded me an off brand bowl of oats in trade for a couple zolp. Thus fortified we motored to Costcovia for diesel and assorted staples plus peaches.      Home was home and the unloading took the shine off it a bit. Backed into the gutter, my second such act only the first was a motel.      Crashed about 4 or 5 for two or so hours then went to bed a little while later. Big night sweat; must have been tired from road still.     Oh, less we forget, made S and I a grilled Kimcheese sandwich which included not only kimchee and apple slices and optionally hot sauce which I forgot. Not bad, but not a barnburner.  

  The Western Traveler continues to regard the mighty Columbia from the middle of the Sam Hill Memorial Bridge      Pancakes and out of Ochoco Divide by 8. Some expansive landscapes of monumental beauty all along the way with distant farms scattered to the horizon, a heroic western world never mind the occasional trump 2020 sign ragged on the fence line. Never mind the commercial chaos of Biggs Junction at the confluence of i84, 97 and the Columbia where we dieseled.      Lunched on peanut stir fry and salmon salad at a splendid state park on the Washington shore just across the bridge from Biggs. There were big poplars shaking in the breeze and vast stretches of green green grass being mowed by an ageable woman with a dancers feel for her three gang mower who drove over to warn us that if the ranger saw D running loose and joyously free it would cost us $100.      Beat west to Yakima in fire smoke and wind where the google map set to avoid highways led us through dozens of twists and

  Ponderosa - 3 feet through at chest height up-river on the John Day from Priest's Hole down-river on the John Day from Priest's Hole the ill-fated but initially fine Priest's Hole on the John Day the western traveler regards the Columbia      Passed a strange day, expecting the opposite.        Left Yellow Pine early in quite a chill. Forgot to turn the heat on.      Rambled into John Day after gassing at Prairie City. S and I ordered their Classic breakfast with the option of Polish sausage which we both chose, but in the end they only had one so we split it.      On reaching Priest’s Hole in the early afternoon we found it nearly empty but set on a fine sweep of the river. A western looking woman emerged from the river’s edge with a half dozen smallmouth bass and there was the guy in the Prius.      There seemed after a while that there was a strange misanthropic vibe radiating from the Prius guy: he sat in his car staring straight ahead as we first drove by, later he g

tomorrow we go from Wetmore to Priest Hole D, the Western Traveler      As S said, "It was a nice leisurely departure from Silver Creek." The night was cold but the sun came up early and shone right in our front door. D had an early dip. We all had breakfast, ours was the classic, his kibble with tuna.      We found Gooding to be the only town of consequence other than Boise, etc., so we rolled Ridley's for $64 worth of tomatoes, diet coke, salted caramel ice cream sandwiches, green onions, tonic, etc. D and S played in the park while composed and ate peanut butter, hot sauce, and tomato open faced sandwiches which I had been thinking fondly of since we ran out of the tomatoes we bought from the old foreigner one morning at Smokiam.      We had a complicated engagement with 2 BLM camps near Unity, OR. The first, Wetmore Recreation Area was completely empty so we found a spot and took what the sign said was a nature trail to someplace called Yellow Pine a 1/2 mile walk thr

the Silver Creek series      Left Henry's Lake in the cold rain after communal breakfasting with the group all in the communal trailer. The grandfather's homemade iron gas camp stove provided the heat for the griddle and the pancakes. There was chokeberry syrup and ginger butter and of course bacon. D was beside himself with attention and the smells. The mimosas added to the frivolity.      We left around 10 with directions to a free dump station at an almost town called Last Chance. After much to-ing and fro-ing we were able to dump and so headed southwest for an obscure BLM camp on Silver Creek. On hitting a fishers' trail beside the pretty watercourse D began to have a very good time. Thawed some salmon soup for din, washed down with gin and tonic. We had one neighbor who shunned the more peopled camps and who this suited to a T as it did we.

Henry's arm with dog Henry's Arm Island Park camp with Henry's Lake in back      Communal breakfast of sausage gravy, biscuits and fruit at the communal trailer and patio. Most of the action takes place on the patio due to the large volume of personnel and a general feeling among this group that outside is the point even if you have creature comfort equipment for both inside and outside.      At any rate, this is a confident and field experienced cadre and nothing demonstrated that more than today's float down the Big Springs River. Ten boats most of them blowup kayaks costing $700 to $1000 and all the other pieces needed for safe and comfortable floating. The river was stunning in its clarity and graceful movement. The wind was strong and fickle. Ran aground several times. Didn't take phone so relying on others to send pics for use here.

At the library in Butte      Trundled out of Brown's after classic break fast and furious toward Butte for the dog park and the library. Young man with puppy puppy sacrificed his baby to D's rambunctious whims which seemed mostly to require chase and then roll the pup. To library to furiously assemble posts and photos under the hawkish eye of S who correctly wanted to arrive at our destination an hundred miles east.       On reaching Henry's Lake and Island Park State Park camp we met many many people related or friends with Judy the focus of this entire epic. Many of the many were veteran outdoors people who could cook cornbread in a huge dutch oven over hot coals. There were also pig ribs slathered in sauce the latter I found to make a fine salad dressing.There was another dutch oven dish called green tomato pie and even a third in the coals which I forget what.       Knocked out a couple of G&Ts after which I may have played the fool for a bit before taking D and hea

       Left Sam Owen camp early and had breakfast in Clark Fork with a crew of railroad men at Grandma’s. There was a whole corner devoted to child’s size plastic kitchen set as well as other large plastic domestic toys, on the wall was a white board entitled Grandma’s Rules which included not moving the furniture, not touching “my” fan, no complaining if food took a while, and consequents if you fussed about a dirty table before the one waitperson had time to clean it and ten or so others all somewhat sharply worded. Breakfast was good.      We hurtled on to Thompson Falls and checked out the falls which was a spillway for the dam that took the place of the original Thompsom Falls. Hauled into Les Schwab in Missoula to see if one of the guys there thought the oil on the dipstick looked rather too dark; the guy said it looked pretty dark but he had seen darker and they couldn’t get to it for several hours so we drove on and eventually arrived Brown’s Lake some kind of state fishing acc

  Penn dog in same, briefly Smokiam to Sam Owens camp Drove along in the wheat stubble after saying goodbye to C&S. S took over after a while and the land changed to up and down in pine. Stopped at the grocery in Davenport, ID to get eggs, AAA’s and a toothbrush. Knocked off some more of L. Davenport’s Fritos and Jalapeño cheese dip, zigged through Sandpoint and marveled at first view of big Lake Penn Orielle. A few miles later we rolled into Sam Owen camp on a peninsula into the lake. Nice spot except that 90% of the big Ponderosa and cedar had been removed making whole sections look like a clear cut. Trees on the lake shore were untouched so you could see what you were missing elsewhere. I’ve never seen such a radical forest practice in a campground. D immediately found the water potable but the wind waves made hime uncomfortable I think. No signal a way out here, so will post words and pics later. Charlie C’s chili for din - supergood.

     Morning As night and the geese descend on Healing Waters (Smokiam) I take to the post.      Explored the town at the far end of the lake known also as Soap Lake and found it eccentric. It seems it has done everything imaginable to make a go of it, but is still failing.  Checked the Russian grocery and the thrift shop across the street where the proprietor, a young man named Andrew, and Charlie discussed the business strategies needed to freshen up the place. Had a good lunch at the Mexican restaurant and long conversations with the owner/waitress. Checked a couple of places that Charlie and Sarah had stayed at or attempted to stay at a decade ago. This led to a chat with Steve and Star, managers of the Twin Cove Resort, where ten years ago C&S had  been intrigued by the fact that it had been an exclusive retreat for Koreans run by Koreans. But Steve of Steve and Star said something about a druggy chaos.      Anyway this lake is the only one like it on earth and I'd say the

  Dog is Her Copilot Smokiam RV Resort on Soap Lake      Typically long start for road part of road trip: run around at Lynnwood Mercedes to return and get core charge refund for broken aluminium (Br.) wheel, Costcovia for smooth muscle relaxation medication and hotdogs, Joann's Fabric Barn for velcro, etc.       And thus after noon we exploded onto i405 and thence to i90 and I left the wheel (steering) to S after descending into Ellensburg and she dropped into this strangely well coiffed private camp. The lake is popular with the Russian and Ukrainian population here about due to its mud and the life enhancing qualities ascribed to it by them. I'm not going for it.

  cover of R's card with Kay Ryan's poem "Spiderweb" then this lovely presumably a nuclear sub being escorted out of Puget Sound as seen from Ebby's Bluff Packing for Idaho. Only walked to end of 6th street with D to get italian plums and a few blackberries. Leave tomorrow after finishing preparations so maybe not in the morning after all. Meeting C and S at Soap Lake for cleansing 😊

  As always hit the full screen icon after pushing the play arrow above      nice closeup from Demuth photography      Breakfast with S, R and D, presents! and off to dog and family agility. Again D was fine except he needed an accommodation in the walk the high plank activity. R headed home because of her acupuncture school board position and today's board meeting. S, D. and I headed to the Ebby's Bluff trail for a speed walk of the entire loop which only D accomplished at speed. And last but not in the least least, Laurie had a salmon with potatoes, corn on the cob and green bean dinner with a spice cake for my bday all of which was super-tasty. D crashed and I must too. 

  Mason & R at UBC      High productivity continued from mid-day until after R and Marb arrival. Giving TLC to 2x6's took over whole consciousness especially with mother nature angry and threatening to spoil work with rain; why was she so against me? As D and M mouth sparred many napped.      And in the early evening with locked the animals away at home and took ship to John's Grill in lower Mukilteo for a very fine birthday dinner of steak salads and seafood linguine with 2 Chef's Garden cocktails for me and white wine for them. Wonderful card from R took breath away and then, and then, there were her lemon bars on reaching home.

  what productivity looks like to a dog if you looked up if you looked west      Standard breakfast, forthwith referred to as Classic. Still aspiring to the perfect bite, but lost in a tangle of constantly expanding self-imposed rules and sub-rules to the point of exhaustion.      D and I returned to the giant cottonwood trunk on the western beach, but this time armed with two Zlites so as to be able to lay back and look at the sky. Marginally sustainable comfort. Instead of like yesterday when D politely joined me in repose on the great trunk he dashed off to sniff a red heeler up beach.      The yawning void at the back of the Doghouse is now being closed in with concrete and 2x6 framing. Soon it will be all done and beer and pool will once again become the center of village life.      Had a good but short phoning with L who has found a new job in the retail lighting industry which she likes.      Unlike normal, productivity was the order of the day in the afternoon with trips to Sch