Albuquerque, New Mexico - Read There and Back again first!

Straight down the mountain I went on Interstate 25 into Albuquerque, hang a right and head west on Interstate 40 and get off on Atrisco Blvd. Turn left across the bridge and right on the frontage road and on into High Desert RV Park for a week. No Problems! It was really a great drive, and the lower I got in elevation, the better I felt. This is a great little park right off the interstate. Yes, you can hear the trucks going by, but it's very clean, reasonable and on the very edge of Albuquerque.  Note to self: make sure there's enough room to open the slide BEFORE you get everything hooked up.  If you have a problem, borrow someone else's man to help.  This was too funny. I couldn't get the lever pulled out far enough to dislodge the rig from the truck. There was a fella walking to his rig just about across from mine, so I walked over and asked if he might help me with it. Like a flash of lightning, his girlfriend appeared from in her little casita and glued herself to him. No way was he coming over here with a strange beautiful woman ( well, yeah!) without her. Like I was trying to find myself a man for the night or something. I giggled about it to myself for awhile afterwards! He said he had an injury and wasn't sure he'd be able to do it - yeah, this was a soft city boy. I like my man, period.Anyway, he did finally get it to unlatch. I think I need some grease on that lever - it was pretty rusted from our stay on the coast.

Two exits back east is Unser Blvd, and to the left on Unser, down through the construction and housing developments is Petroglyphs National Monument. That's were I headed after finishing set up. Thought Sam would like a nice walk. He was so excited to go for a walk, AND a truck ride! Sam has never seen the desert, or the sand, though he has experienced buffalo grass which isn't much different from sand burrs. Poor little guy, I didn't think he'd have any problem, but he did not like the sand - at all! We didn't go too far, and while I was looking at the volcanic boulders with petroglyphs carved into them, he laid down and didn't want to get back up, so we headed back to the truck. So much for a hiking companion. What an incredible place though.

Saturday was the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center for me. It's $6 to get in, and well worth it. The gallery is filled with map paintings - something unique to this area, and incredible to see. The people of the 19 pueblos of New Mexico are working to keep their culture alive, and these paintings are being done to keep the names of their sacred places known. Prints of the work are available only to Native American people, so the only way we white folks can see them is to visit the Cultural Center. I so respect these people and their culture. They respect the earth and they teach their children to respect it also. They understand that none of us "own" it, and that we must care for it so it will be there for our grand children and their grand children. They know that what we do to the earth, we do to ourselves. They are heart and soul. I guess that tells you what I think of "our" culture. Enough said.
I waited to come here on the weekend to experience the dancers. Since this week was the gathering of Nations here in Albuquerque, they had three dance troops performing for 6 hours. I got to enjoy Zuni hoop dancers, Zuni Basket (water jar) Dancers and singers, and Apache Cloud dancers. They were wonderful! Artisans were also there vending their work, and it was all so beautiful. I bought a Pueblo Cookie around noon. It was the size of a mall pretzel, and delicious! Not too sweet, and very satisfying. The lower level is a museum with incredible pottery, beadwork and the story of the people as they tried to survive all the changes that were forced on them. I had a wonderful day!

Sunday the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History is free from 9am to 1pm (its normally $4 to get in), so I drove down to Old Town and toured the museum. Outside is a sculpture garden that is a must see! It's on 19th Ave. Life size bronze figures of early settlers, oxen, horses, mama's and babies, children, a dog, soldiers. It was incredible! The museum was between shows, so only 2 galleries were open. The paintings were ok. There was one that I really liked of a coyote's upper body & head. You'd swear it was going to jump right out of the frame. I spent about an hour there. Just behind the museum and through the tile and adobe archway is old town. What a riot! It reminded me of Wisconsin Dells and Nogales, Mexico. Shop till you drop! I thoroughly enjoyed going through all the shops and looking at everything. Turquoise jewelry and Native pottery everywhere and everything else. I had lunch in a cute little café and then headed back to the truck. Lunch was my only purchase.
Found a grocery store (Smith's) on the corner of Central and Coors many blocks west of Old
Town. That was my second purchase of the day. Fresh white corn tortillas, salsa, lime, tomatoes, oranges... yum!

Today I headed back over to Petroglyphs National Monument. Sam stayed home. I found a great seat in a shady spot up in the volcanic boulders and just took it all in. I even had a new melody come to me, and I played it into garage band right there on the spot. Cool! I saw 3 little lizards, a hummingbird and a beautiful big yellow butterfly, and of course many interesting rock carvings. This is a very popular place, and people were walking by frequently, so solace wasn't possible, but I found the quiet within for a little bit. I decided to try to find another site within the park and discovered that urban sprawl has surrounded the different areas, and remember those signs I talked about in the last blog? Well, I never did find the 2nd site. I was going to check out the one on the back side of the park that is down Atrisco in the opposite direction from home, but I'm comfortable and just going to have a leisurely dinner and relax.

I've enjoyed Albuquerque. I was having trouble believing there are over a million people here, until today driving around looking for the other Natural site. The houses are huge! Urban sprawl hasn't missed Central New Mexico. It's a wonder the water shed can support this many people. There are many other things to see here; botanical gardens, zoo, aquarium, natural history museum... but I experienced what I wanted to.

Tomorrow I get to pick up my honey from the airport. This has been a good week, but I'll be so happy to have my best friend back.  I wish I could have gone with him, but with our 3 little furry friends, it just wasn't possible. This was the best solution since I couldn't stay in Taos.

I'll get some pictures posted as soon as I shrink them down to a better size.

5 months on the Coastal Bend

Wow, we've been here just about 6 months. Seems like we arrived yesterday, and I'm not ready to go anywhere else, yet. It's been a busy and joyful 5 months. The first 3 were spent at Ancient Oaks RV Park. There we met Rose and Ted, from Ontario, Canada. John was outside playing his dulcimer and Rose stopped by to see what that strange instrument was. She ended up buying one and becoming a student, and wonderful friend. Ted bought one too - his is like a banjo, so we had a wonderful time teaching and jamming with them. Rose and I did several market day shopping trips - took the guys home once so we could all enjoy the day!

October and November were quite warm and wonderful! Wrote a few new songs there! Kimmie allowed me to play music outside her shop - the healthfood store- right across from the harbor. I so enjoyed sitting on the front porch and playing for whomever came by. The harbor was right across the way, and I could hear the sound of seagulls, and hardware hitting the masts of the boats as a warm breeze blew through my hair.

Our daughter Krystal and her boyfriend Kiff spent a week with us right after Christmas. We went dolphin watching on Port A (and got sand blasted - it was blowing something fierce that day!) had some wonderful meals and spent time in the pool and hot tub. We also went to the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi - that was amazing. I loved the little sea horses!

 Texas State Aquarium www.texasstateaquarium.org   I think that week was the coldest week we had all winter! They said it was warm, but they had come down from Minneapolis, and it was alot colder and whiter up there! They even went horseback riding on the beach out on the island.

John and I followed The Biggest Looser's exercise and diet program for the first 12 weeks. We both lost 15 lbs. Then we moved over to Copano Bay, and our exercise habit changed. I wasn't feeling too well for a couple weeks, and we just wanted to rest and sleep - which is OK.

January 19th we moved over to Copano Bay RV Park, and absolutely love it here. The park is right on the water, so we can walk down and enjoy the pier. The circle drive is all cement as is our pad and everything is so clean. Walking around the "circle" is 1/2 mile, so exercise is easy. Everyone is so friendly, and there are so many activities. John is enjoying playing poker, and the pot lucks are great. There are crafts and exercise and jams!  We've had dulcimer jams every Tuesday afternoon and regular jams on Tuesday evenings. It's great playing music with other people. I'm orgainzing the dulcimer players music for next year so we're "all on the same page" so to speak and will be ready come winter. This year there were 5 of us, next year we could easily have 10.

I've been busy arranging the music I wrote in Idaho and am working on a relaxation CD. It's coming along nicely. I also took out a membership with www.songramp.com  (I'm Riverwind out there) and am enjoying the community very much. I currently have 4 pieces out there. I am currently collaborating with a new friend on one of my songs. Now it's our song. Hans has done an incredible job arranging it, and writing a chorus. We've been working on the lyrics also. Will be interesting to see where this all goes. It's time for the music. Been working hard on the keyboard also, sightreading and transposing and just getting my skills back and improved. Days I get to "work" on music, I smile all day long.

On another beautiful day, we met our great friends Larry and Lea in Palacios for a picnic. Finally got to share the bottle of wine we picked up in Deadwood, S.D. on the way back from Idaho. It was wonderful! Another get together found the four of us out on Port Aransas. They were going to take us to the Port A Brewing Company, but it was closed! So we took them to our favorite place - Mobi Dicks. Great food and friends. John and I celebrated our anniversary dinner there too. And yet another get together was spent up in Sugarland (Houston). Sammy dog really enjoyed the trip to Houston. He even got to come along for lunch at the outside cafe. It was fantastic. The courthouse in Sugarland is beautiful, and the grounds around it also. The history of the area is enscribed on the brick walkway in front of the building and there's a beautiful fountain.

 

In February John and I went deep sea fishing. I've never been out on the gulf, and didn't know how I'd do. This is the first year I could do it. Too afraid in the past, but that fear is gone. Actually, John did the fishing, I just went along for the experience. It was rougher than anticipated, but I loved every minute of it. Three people were totally out of it and laying down inside, and 2 others were sick on deck. I felt a little guilty when I went in and asked what they had for lunch. The sandwich was delicious!  We had 6 - 10' swells out there that day. It was like being rocked in a cradle. At one of the fishing spots, a shrimp boat was anchored nearby. You can see a little bit of the waves, and one of John's Red Snapper. It was out of season so he had to throw it back, but he had a great time bringing it in.

 

We did get our fishing licenses this year, but haven't done much fishing, and the times we have been out, we haven't gotten much of anything. John does better when I stay home. He got a 70 lb. black drum one day, and a 50 pounder another. Too bad they're not good to eat when they're that big.

We've been so happy to see other friends that we met last year too. Serge and Nancy from Ontario, Mary, Jon and Pearl from Michigan, Karen and Steve from Wisconsin, Kay from Tennessee, Leonard and Terese from Washington, Mitch and Barb out in Lamar. We visited Big tree again, and I sat recording the birds and the gentle waves coming in off St Charles Bay. I'm using that recording in parts of the new CD.

We also took a day trip down to the valley (La Faria) to see Sally and Ross - who we workamped with in Idaho. They  showed us around the area. The sugarcane fields down there are a sight to see. We had a great time. They're hoping we might stay down there next year, but we like Rockport. It's quiet and tranquil here. The valley's energy is very busy, and immense.

We had planned on going up to the Hill Country and stay near Medina for a month, but the nights are still cold up there, and we so love it here. When you're happy somewhere, why leave?



Friends, family and time to come home

I have been such a loner for so much of my life that friendships have been few. The true meaning of friendship came through while we were home. John had some medical issues and instead of our planned 2 weeks, it ended up being 4. We were camped in our friends Jeff and Marlene's backyard, and I'm so grateful for all they did for us. When things got rough, they were right there lending support. It was a wonderful experience. I was able to help Marlene with some projects around the house, and she fed us wonderful meals. She is an incredible cook! John and Jeff went fishing. We also got to reconnect with Shelly, our youngest's godmom,and I spent an afternoon with Dawn and another with Jenny. I'm so grateful for our friends! We also got to spend some wonderful time with our girls. Thankfully, all of John's tests came out ok, and he got the green light from his doctors to head south AND to begin exercising.

It took us four days to get to Rockport this year, and I'm O so happy to be home! We're staying in town, so we're close to everything, and I'm now playing music in front of the Health Food Store in Old Town (right across from the water!) two days a week. I'll also be playing at some craft fairs, and we'll see what else develops. My creativity has been flowing like crazy and I've at least a half dozen new pieces done or in progress! Last year's Texas trip only brought 1 song, so this is amazing. Belly Dance Class is also on my agenda, and I attended the first one last week. I'm meeting so many wonderful light minded ladies. I'm tickled!

John and I have been doing some fishing, but the best for John was yesterday when he went out to Goose Island and caught a 44" 70 lb. Black Drum! He was just tickled, and I'm so happy for him. We've been out to the Island a few times fishing and dolphin watching. We've seen several sea turtles.

The 2nd Saturday of every month is Market Day in Goliad, and we had a wonderful day. The Live music was great! It turns out that Goliad had 2 market days in Dec. The first Saturday is all hand made items (Christmas Shopping) the 2nd Sat. is the regular market. We may have to take another trip over that way in a couple weeks!

We're beginning our 4th week here, and I still have to pinch myself - are we really here! HAPPY!

The Biggest Loser and a couple of winners

Making the decision to go Fulltiming brings about many lifestyle changes. This fall I went through some pretty emotional trauma due to our fulltiming decision which we love but some family members are pretty unhappy about. As a result of that, I am freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. (I won't go into details, it wasn't pretty) So I'm taking the bull by the horns and making some other positive changes in my life. One of which deals with menopause and the thickening around the waistline! UGHHHHH, what happened there?

John has also been carrying around alot of extra weight for many years, and decided now is the time to do something about it, and in so doing, maybe be able to get off of the regiment of pills he's taking daily.

We began at the library of course. I went in search of better recipes, a better cookbook, and oh my the assortment. After going through many many books, I discovered Jillian Michaels, The Master your Metabolism Cookbook. WOW. Low calorie, easy to follow, delicious stuff, and there was the Biggest Loser International Cookbook also. This was exactly what I was looking for. We've been watching The Biggest Loser for years. (I did join a gym a few years back, and truely enjoyed the workouts and the results, but my partner, well. Wisconisin isn't real conducive to walking - at least for 5 or 6 months when the hazzard of freezing to death or slipping on the ice is greater than going the distance. So after returning from a trip to C. America, I didnt' continue. Shame on me!) So, I went out to Amazon and did a search, and there they were! Each for under $9, and the exercise book was there too, so I also got that.

We both read the later cover to cover and decided to begin when we arrived back here in our favorite place in the world. Texas. Today we begin week 4, but I'll backtrack to week one of our journey. Sorry, pics are just too embarrassing!

The workout is not difficult, well, it gets better. We found out how incredibly important the warmup and cooldown is. That stretching is NOT part of the warmup - stretching is a great way to tear muscle if they are not warmed up! Circuit Training (which means you only allow 4-8 seconds between the exercises, so you go from one right into another - I made up a paper that we hang up in front of us with the exercises in order so we can easily keep going without checking the book) And When doing muscle training - which is what the circuit training is, you never do it 2 days in a row. Every other day, so we chose to do M-W-F and take Saturday and Sunday off. Mornings are best for us. We purchased some inexpensive Heart Monitors ($28 at Walmart) and 2 elasticy stretch ropes (under $7) each. We're also using My Fitness Pal out on the web to keep track of calories. Another app out there is Calorie Count and I've found some more wonderful healthy recipes on there!
We do our weigh in on Mondays.

Week One
We're excited to begin. Workout one. Ouch, I can't believe I can't do these for a minute. It's great we have a fitness center at our RV park to work out in. Also started walking on the beach on T, Th. Couldn't make it to the pavilion halfway down the beach.The workout took us about 50 minutes (everything was new) John had numerous dizzy spells and had to sit down until they passed. We perservered and finished and figured, it can only get better from here!

Starting weight  - waistline          John  227- 46       Deb   151 - 33.5
                
Week 2
The routine was easier, we're feeling good about exercising.
weight   - waist  - (GAIN or LOSS)     John 224 - 47  (-3)   Deb 145 - 35.3 (-6)

Week 3
Hey, this is getting easier! We both feel great about the workout. We can feel the difference! Deb made it all the  way to the pier at the far end of the beach. Might have overdone just a bit, sore the next day. John almost made it to the pier! John had a diet slip when we got together with friends and the guys had a couple beers and a huge steak. I also think we're building muscle which is heavier than fat. Only explanation I can think of, cause my calories were good. Maybe a little low - I can't believe it, but not eatting enough will cause you to gain weight.

weight - waist - (GAIN or LOSS) John 228 - 44.25 -  (+4) Deb 147 - 33 - (+2)

Week 4

Wow! One thing I noticed last night is that meals are now coming together very easily! (this is coming from the fingertips of a woman who hasn't enjoyed cooking (or done much of it for quite a few years!) I've been making us delicious meals for a full 3 weeks! I've also found that I haven't been eatting enough for quite a long time. John is having problems meeting his caloric requirements, so I'm making 3 servings and needing some healthy snacks etc. to get him there. John is doing 1800 calories a day, and I'm allowed 1200 calories. My Fitness Pal keeps track of nutrients, so it's easy to see if you're eatting a balanced diet with your carbs, protein and fat in the right amounts. My clothes are beginning to fit again! It's a work out day, and we're about ready to begin.

weight - waist - (GAIN or LOSS) John 222 - 43 3/4  (-6) Deb 141 -  31 3/4  (-6)

Week 5

weight - waist - (GAIN or LOSS) John 220 - 43 1.2  (-2) Deb 139 - 31  (-2)

I got very involved with my music this past week, and we didn't do our morning walks. Still, progress is seen! Week 5 begins a new set of upper, core and lower body exercises, and we're hurtin! Lots of crunchies and squats and T raises. No Pain, No Gain, or should I say loss. This just means we're engaging unused muscles and we'll feel all the better for it. I'm really starting to think bicycle! Still don't know if my hips will handle it, but I'm thinking about it alot. There's a recumbent bicycle machine in the exercise room, and I'm going to try it out and see how it feels. It would be wonderful to be able to ride again!

We're alsoo making some allowances for Thanksgiving - namely eatting a light breakfast then watching portions and enjoying the food. We're attending the park Thanksgiving Potluck. This should be interesting!

Oh, I found some more wonderful recipes. Why didn't I think to look here sooner? http://www.nbc.com/the-biggest-loser/social/rachels-nutrition-blog/2012/07/beans-beans-the-more-you-eat/

Week 6

Thanksgiving did us in. I gained a pound, and John gained 6! Pot Lucks are deadly! I think it was the pie table - mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Also struggled with meals this past week. Week 5 was the hardest week for me so far. I just ached. We started the second series of exercises, and they include alot of crunches and squats. However, we persevered and got through it. onward.

weight - waist - (GAIN or LOSS) John 226 -    (+6) Deb 140   (+1)

Week 7

OK, we both lost a pound. Good, but we were hoping our hard work would show a little more. No measurements this week. We were also introduced to a new book by some friends called "Wheat Belly". Very interesting indeed, and well worth the read! We went off of wheat on Monday 12/3. Today is the 6th, and I'm going through withdrawal. Picked up some spelt berries yesterday; ground it this morning and made Banana Blueberry muffins. They are wonderful! We can do this! I remember the last time I went off of Wheat about 15 years ago. I did a 28 day fast, eatting vegetables and cooked oatmeal. I lost 15 lbs and felt fabulous. My head was clear, I had energy....... I didn't connect how I felt with the absence of wheat until now. So we've purged the rig of wheat - did you know even Soy Sauce has wheat in it?????

weight  (GAIN or LOSS) John 225    (-1) Deb 139   (-1)

Week 8

weight - waist (GAIN or LOSS) John 221 - 43.5"   (-4)  Deb 139 - 31.5  (0)

John had a good week!  He lost 4 lbs and 1 1/4 " in his hips. I'm so proud of him. He's really dedicated himself to this!!!! Going out to eat isn't helping me. Darnit. Trying to stay off of wheat and going out to eat doesn't work. How can I calculate how much cheese was in the quesadia - it was a homemade corn tortilla, but... Also, the withdrawal off the wheat was difficult, and I was hungry. We'll just keep going. I can do this. On the positive side, I lost an inch in my hips and an inch and a half in my chest. That's worth smiling about! I also realized last Monday that I am not a belly dancer. My lower back and hips ache whenever I dance, and I was careful to do the movements correctly; however, I am a musician who loves to play for belly dancers! Another step forward. The spelt flour muffins seemed to cloud my head and makes me feel bloated. hm.

Week 9  weight -  John 223   Deb 140

Week 10 - Christmas week   weight - John 224   Deb 138

Week 11   John - 122   Deb - 138

Week 12   John 118    Deb 136

The past 12 weeks have flown by so fast. I was hoping the weight would come off faster, but we've both lost 15 lbs and that's something to be very proud of. John had a rough week at Christmas and lost 2 days of working out, but came right back to it. I missed a day, but changed the MWF that week to T TH S so didn't loose the flow.  Today it's down right cold out there, and the fitness center here at the park is not heated, and it's not kept clean, so we decided to try it here in the rig with just space and our Gold's gym stretchy ropes. I think I actually got a better workout here than I have over there with the weights! I've outgrown the 5# weights, but the 10# are too much for me, but the stretchy ropes or whatever they're called worked great! Now we know we can do this literally anywhere! The thing we're having the hardest time with is, of course, food. Planning meals is time consuming, and preparing them even moreso. Sometimes it's fun, but it's day in and day out. I've been experimenting with ezekiel bread, and we're liking the results. Just about out of buckwheat so will have to order more. Using a meat grinder to process the sprouted grains and beans and a slow oven to finish the bread. More experimenting to come, but it's delicious, easy to digest and very healthy. Sometimes, the old/ancient ways are the best!

Crazyhorse Monument

If you think Mt. Rushmore is something, you haven't seen anything! This is our second visit to the Crazyhorse Monument which is located on hwy 385 between Hill City and Custer. The Mt. Rushmore sculpture would fit inside the head and feathers of Crazyhorse. It is a work in progress begun in 1948 by the Boston born sculptor Karczak Ziolkowski. It is 563' high by 641' long. The three-dimentional sculpture is of the Warrior Crazyhorse on horseback pointing, in answer to the question posed by a white man asking the derisive question "Where are your lands now?" - It says, "My lands are where my dead lie buried."

 

 

 

The project is soley funded by private parties. No federal or state money is accepted. The Indian Museum of North America is but one of the buildings on site, and a wonderful place to spend an afternoon, or donate your native american pieces to. Here are a few of my favorite pieces.

 

 

 

The beadwork is incredibly beautiful, as are the weavings, painting...

 

The artwork comes from the native peoples themselves and is but a beautiful shadow of the native american people themselves.

 

Upon entering the museum, there is an orientation video explaining the history and reasons for the monument. The mission of the memorial foundation is to protet and preserve the future, tradition and living heritage of the North American Indians. The entire project is a work of love. Finally something given back for everything that was taken.

 

Laughing Waters Restaurant has wonderful food at competitive rates and the staff are all very friendly and helpful. The gift shop is a large artisan's shop with beautiful pottery, quilts, baskets, beadwork, jewelry, and music, along with books, beautiful t-shirts and too many other things to mention. There is a snack shop. The Sculptor's Log Studio Home and Workshop, the American Indian Cultural Center made from blast fragments, statuary, a Bronze Showroom, conference center, viewing veranda. A lazar light show is presented at dark nightly Memorial Day through Naive Americans' Day (weather permitting) It's so worth going to see. We'll make another trip out here for this. Admission is $10 for adults or $27 for a carload; 6 and under are free. It's open yearround.

www.crazyhorsememorial.org

 

Although Korczak passed on in 1983, his wife Ruth and 7 of their 10 children are still devoting their lives to the project. It is a testiment in faith and dedication. This has real meaning. After seeing what has become of Deadwood since we were last here @13 years ago, Crazyhorse Monument has only gotten better, while greed seems to have destroyed Deadwood. We won't bother stopping there again. It isn't even a shadow of what it once was. In fact, it is unrecognizable, and not in a good way.

 

The Indian University of North America and Medical Training center are future plans for the memorial. This was the first year summer classes for credit were completed, so this plan is coming into being as you read this.



Whew! Where'd the summer go?

Wow, I've got a little bit of catching up to do here. What a summer! This has been the best summer I can remember in many many years, even better than than the Ren Fair - don't throw anything at me my Ren Fair friends!!! Let me explain. Every year at the fair, there was some type of tension or problem or something that was somewhat unpleasant to the last fair being totally intolerable. The patrons were wonderful, the playing music was incredible, and 98% of the commeraderie was world class, but here at Dworshak, there were so few little irritations that they basically didn't even exist. We loved every minute of it. The mountains were phenomonial, and getting to drive through them to get to our maintenance sites was incredible. We saw deer - lots and lots of deer every time we went out. All of the rangers were top notch - I can't say enough! Thanks you guys, you all made it great! Our co-volunteers were great people, and we had a blast. The trips we took with Sally and Ross were a hoot, we laughed from the time we left the campsite until long after we got back. The pie, oh my, the pie at the Kooskie Cafe, and in Grangeville (sorry, I don't remember the name of the place - Sally, Help!) was Ooooooo so good, and then there was The Cakery/Bakery in Orofino. OOoooooooo. Yes, I'm typing with my stomach. Our pot lucks and Sally's Cooking, and Al's too for that matter, man could those two cook! Steve and Liz are great people, and I learned alot about Solar from Steve, and had a wonderful swim with Liz. The Boat rides, the "Starry Starry Night" event on Aug 25th with an astronomer and his 4 telescopes and us and our music and 126 people in attendance done on top of the dam with the lights off - Took me back to when I was a little girl out in my canoe at night with my guitar playing music to the ducks and just drinking in the heavens and listening to the water and the warm wind. I had the wonderful experience of working with Brittney and teaching beading and card weaving. Brit and I went hiking at Elk Creek Falls, and at the Old Growth Cedar Forest - North of Elk River.

 

 

Brittney and the 3000 yr old cedar!

John and I met so many wonderful people, and I even gave a dulcimer lesson just before we left. Found two great Trading Posts - The Eagles Nest in Orofino and the one in Lapwei supplied me with beautiful beads and the other necessities to create my headpiece (the little turtle was a birthday present, Thank you Sally! ) and earrings and other projects that may come later.

my interpretation of the Clearwater River and the Mountains near Lapwai

We attended the Caritas Choral - Nez Perce Promises in Lapwei, jet boated through Hells Canyon - I feel sad that many of the ranches we visited that day are now gone with the fires of August. The roadtrip to up to White Bird Pass and down through the Greer Grade, and the Cavendish Grade and up to Cour du Lain were fantastic. We saw 3 wolves in wheat fields in different places. The turkey visited us in the campground. We laid out on our hammock and air chair in the middle of the road (behind the locked gate) under the stars and watched the meteor shower - what a beautiful sky! Al showed me where to go to download ebooks to the computer and then to the tablet. Every time we were off we'd take a ride down to Lewiston/Clarkston to make phone calls (T-Mobile does not work anywhere from Lolo to just outside Lewiston on  Hwy 12) and hit Walmart for groceries. The mountains are so different down there. I called them "naked" for there are no trees like up in Orofino and Asahaka. Outside of the canyon, up on top, it's farm fields as far as the eye can see. The things we saw growing were wheat, canola and garbanzo beans. After harvest in August, they burn off the fields. the smoke from that, and the forest fires made the air thick and at times the visibility was almost nothing. This was an unsettling experience for us, for we are not used to that in the midwest, but for the locals, it's just part of living here.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sunset-Rose-Cafe/289791082146#!/dworshakdam , corpslakes.usace.army.mil › Corps Lakes Gateway › Idaho Along with doing maintenance, 4 on and 4 off, I helped out in the visitor center a few times when Ross was having some health issues. I found I really enjoyed that too. I learned a great deal about the dam and the surrounding area. For example: the corp owns @ 30,000 acres which includes the 54 mile long Reservoir. The water at full pool is 650' deep at the dam. The dam is the tallest straight axis dam in the US and only 9" shorther than Hoover. Dworshak is 717' tall, 35 feet across on the top and 535' across at the bottom and 3300 feet long. It is composed of monolith blocks and the weight of them alone is what keeps it in place. There are 7 boat ramps, 100 mini camps, 3 day use areas, and 5 campgrounds (2 are State Park). As I understand it, up until Labor Day weekend this year, there had never been a drowning in over 40 years. If anyone is looking for a great place to volunteer, I can recommend Dworshak Dam and Reservoir with 5 stars. It was a fantastic experience!!!

We had been planning to wait until the 15th of Sept to head out, but it got so quiet and the clean up dwindled down so much after Labor Day that we decided to head out on the 10th instead. We got Sam into Dr. Wolverton (Vet) for a nail clipping and to pick up Revolution (anti-flea,tick,worm, mite stuff) for when we get down south, turned in our mailbox key at the post office, packed up and pulled out about 3pm.

We got very lucky. Saturday the smoke from the forest fires was funneling down the canyon into and through Orofino, but on Monday, the wind was out of the S-SW and didn't bother us until we were almost to Powell Ranger Station. Just West of there there was smoke coming from it seemed just about everywhere. You couldn't see any flames, but the mountains were on fire all around us. Fire is a natural thing, but seeing it is an experience. We stayed at "Square Dance Center and Campground" again on the way back. This is a 67 site campground. Electric and Water were $24 for the night. Full hookups are also available. The park is very clean and has beautiful Ponderosa Pine everywhere. I'd stay here again anytime. www.lolocampndance.com

Last night we stayed at the Old West RV Park http://oldwestrvpark.com/ in Reed Point, Montana. This is also a great little park, and it's a Passport America Park. It's right off the highway, easy access. Clean, friendly. The scenery for the past two days has been wonderful. So beautiful. Lunch was at the Sunset Rose Cafe in Ranchester, WY http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sunset-Rose-Cafe/289791082146 . I had a $6 hamburger which included lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle, chips, AND a slice of watermelon, pineapple and a quarter of an orange! It was fantastic. I was hungry for fruit and the addition of that on the plate without asking for it was GREAT! Tonight we're in Buffalo, WY at the Indian RV Park. We got a Good Sam 10% Discount and it was still $37.50 for 1 night. I'm appauled. Yeah, they have a pool, but it's too cold to use it. The shower was nice, but ...... Anyway, we were tired and couldn't go any farther. I've made reservations for the next 4 nights. 2 near Deadwood, and 2 near Crazy Horse Monument. We'll see about staying near the Badlands after that. We love this area. Happy Travels!

Hells Canyon!

Oh did we have a day yesterday! It was undescribably fantastic! We booked a full day with Snake Dancer Excursions out of Clarkston, WA with Sally and Ross (http://www.snakedancerexcursions.com/). I suprised John and was up and dressed before the alarm went off at 4:30 am. Had everything ready and was taking fresh hummingbird nectar out to the feeder when Kaylee decided to join me outside. Of All Mornings for her to demand to be out! So while chasing her around, I tripped over Sally and Rosses water line, which of course started spraying ice cold water at me and drenched my pants. Ok, Kaylee is out; Nothing to be done about that, but have to change into something dry, and those were my most comfortable pair of jeans! - khakis would have to do. I got all our stuff loaded - camera, digital audio recorder (which I wish I could have used cause I had was humming a new song out on  the boat, but the motors were too loud to get any kind of recording), 2 pair binoculars, 2 jackets, 4 hats (opps, how did I manage that, only needed 2), phones (oh, no,  just one -John's was in my jeans pocket- which I had to change due to the first outside shower of the day), and 2 big bottles of gatorade. Sally and Ross were equiped with about the same, but they had the sun screen! Good idea!!!

 

Our Great Friends Sally and Ross Giacomo and us, before the trip.

 

 We had a jolly ride to Clarkston arriving about 6:15 - yes a bit early, but we weren't about to miss the boat! Gabe was our captain, and we left the dock at 7 am. There were 8 of us in all, but being with Sally and Ross made all the difference in the world, we had a blast. The boat would accomodate probably 20 people when full, though there were 18 of us on the way back (a boat from another company blew an engine out on the river, and we waited about an hour for them and brought them back with us.) We hadn't paid to go all the way to the dam, but another couple paid the extra $100 each to go that far, so we all got to go! Yes, it was expensive (with taxes it came to $175 each), but it was worth every single penny! John and I started by sitting inside the covered part of the boat, but then Sally and Ross went to the high seats way in the back above the 2 - 350 horsepower Johnson motors. After our second stop, John and I joined them on the other side. In the back you have a better view (Oh the views! The pictures look like nothing at all compared to the real thing), and you have a more interesting ride, Wind, Sun, Water! The 4 of us were all laughing so hard, every time Gabe did a little fish tail or something, and the more we laughed, the more he did it. Sally still had wet pants when we got home, and she had to wring out her socks! After one little soaking, I had to unroll the cuff on my jacket to let the water run out! It was a gas! The other two couples weren't as goofy as we were, but I think Gabe appreciated our joy. One lady couldn't swim and was uncomfortable being around the water, but she did great and overcame her fear. So here we are in the back, sun beating down on us, wind whipping us, water coming at us, and we just roared. Everytime the water hit I became a squeeky toy and squeeled with joy. Sally's laughter reminded Gabe of his mom, so that was sweet too, and he enjoyed it. On the way back we discovered the other tour boat wasn't as... jolly? as ours. When we laughed and  squeeled, they turned around and looked at us as if we were out of our minds. Too bad they didn't have as much fun as we did! We finally had enough though and surrendered our seats to a couple fellows, a father and son I think, and shortly we heard more laughter from behind us. At least they got into the spirit of it!

  

Gabe is a Coast Guard certified boat captain for inland waterways, and I've never seen a waterway like this one. Nothing to fool around with. The water was running at over 22,000 cubic feet per second in the river yesterday which is high (17,000 is about normal, and at 17,000 cfs the 2 big rapids by the dam are class 4) Yesterday they were class 5, which is crazy. I didn't want to go through anything worse than a class 3, but Gabe was extremely professional and knew exactly what he was doing and how to go about mastering those wicked, wild, rolling rapids. Our boat only needs 5 to 6 inches of water, and is flat bottomed and quite wide - it sat 4 across comfortably plus the center isle. Never once did I feel any fear at what we were going through, even when one of the last 2 really big ones -  one of the class 5-'s was an 18 foot difference between top and bottom and we went through it sideways on the way down! The trip upstream was incredible, and that's when I took all of the pictures (having too  much fun getting wet to take pics on the way back, besides, my camera is water shy:) You can go out to Google, images - and do a search on Hells Canyon - there are great pictures out there that others have posted too.

 

 The deepest point has 9000+' peaks above it. We could see the peak at 7000+" while we were at 1200 feet above sea level. Hells canyon is nothing like the Grand Canyon with it's straight walled sides and many colors. Hells canyon, (the deepest canyon in the world) is very rugged. -  We saw 1 huge Black Bear way over on the side of the mountain, 8 Big horn sheep (one was a young one), 3 Bald Eagles, and 2 mule deer on our trip. The big horn sheep were really neat. We were docked at Kirby's waiting on the other group and across the river something moved. First people were saying there were elk and big horn sheep, but the binoculars gave it away. A family of big horns (one with a tracking collar) were having lunch just across the river along the CCC trail.

My bitty camera wouldn't zoom in that far, but Sally's could, so the wildlife pics are her's!

  

 now, here's some more of the canyon.

 

 

   

 the stream at Kirkwood's Ranch

Hells Canyon Dam - Small by Dworshak standards, but still...

Gabe did a great job telling us about the history of the area, pointing out historic spots and watching for and pointing out wildlife.  He was also a wonderful host for our coninental breakfast - yummy muffins and juice/coffee, lunch of chicken, pasta salad, beans, a vegie tray and soda or water for lunch which was at one of the historic ranches now owned by the forest service, and our cookie snack. Although there was not a potty on this particular boat, we made ample stops to take care of necessities and stretch our legs along the way.  It's 110 miles from the marina in Clarkston to the Hells Canyon Dam, so we went 220 miles round trip! The shadows were giving the canyon different dimensions on the way back and it was truely beautiful.

Kittie and Krystal, here's something you and your fellas would enjoy -

 We saw many, many rafters - this one was funny due to the umbrella! There are quite a few companies that offer rafting trips. Primitive campsites with sandy beaches can be found all along the river at special spots. I'd love you to experience this!

 people have been in this canyon for time untold as these petroglyphs show.

What's a trip without an after pic.

We seem to have changed!

till next time! Laugh!!!!! It feels great!