Boise Idaho to Evanston Wyoming

After a quick cheese omelet at the La Quinta motel in Boise, Idaho, we started earlier today in heavy rain.  We are now 582 miles into our trip and were looking for fair weather after a long, rainy drive yesterday.  Finally, we could literally see light at the end of what seemed like a rain tunnel on the horizon before us amid a wind generator farm. 

The edge of the weather front tormenting us formed a straight line framing the blue sky beyond.  It was a welcome sight.

While helping us empty our home for the trip, our grandkids, Matthew and Andrea, had introduced us to Clementine oranges, and we were thrilled to find them at a Love's Truck Stop already peeled to eat.

The blue skies and clouds only delivered rain in brief intervals as we continued.  In this photo, we are passing what appear to be three grain silos Declo, Idaho, shortly after our first crossing of the Snake River.

Near Tremonton, Utah, the snow-covered mountains, including Mendon Peak, glowed white beneath dark, threatening clouds.

Escaping the rain, we encountered Willard Bay Reservoir.  Though we could only photograph a small portion of it, in the distance beyond it broadened into a large body of water.

In Morgan County, Utah, we grabbed a quick photo of "Devil's Slide" just off the edge of the highway.  This is an unusual geological formation located near the border of Wyoming in northern Utah's Weber Canyon, near the community of Croydon.  Two parallel limestone strata that have tilted to lie vertically protrude 40 feet from the mountainside, descending for hundreds of feet down the mountain, with a 25-foot erosion channel situated between them 

Near Henefer, Utah, close to Salt Lake City, an American flag flies proudly before the backdrop of white clouds and blue sky.

Cows are abundant along this stretch of Interstate-84 in Henefer with their recently born calves.

Turning easterly along Interstate-80, we start to see the red rock bluffs near Coalville, Utah, as we pass through Echo Canyon, part of Utah's famous red-rock country.  The color is caused by iron oxidation-essentially a natural rusting process.

 

In Tremonton, Utah, a small barn with a crooked roof and a white home caught our attention.

We arrived in Wyoming at 2:32 pm, crossing parts of three states today.  It feels like progress at 951 miles from Sedro Woolley, and not quite one-third of the trip.

We checked into a Best Western motel in Evanston, Wyoming, tonight, ate a spaghetti dinner in their on-site restaurant, and saw taxidermied animals in their lobby of local wildlife that were so expertly created it seemed like the live animals were present.  Outside, a fountain was decorated with an elk statue.

     

 

From Hops to Happy

Starting out this morning from Yakima, WA, along the highway we saw a field where hops are grown.  It is recognizable from the poles used to support the plants vertically from 15 to 25 feet to expose them to more sunlight.  Hops prefer to grow in well drained soil in a temperate climate following a winter dormancy period, and are used by brewers of beer to achieve a desired bitterness, aroma, and the preservation qualities of beer.

The terrain for much of the morning consisted of flat high desert amid rolling hills and cultivated fields.  Occasionaly we spotted a sparsely situated home, farm. or business sprinkled amid vast stretches of land reaching out to the distant horizon.

We crossed the Columbia River into Oregon and the rain began in earnest.  Near Pendleton we saw a sign that read "Beware of Solar Glare" which seemed like a strange warning until we spotted solar panels spread across a hill.  Less explained was the name "Deadman Pass" that we traveled through which I researched to learn had acquired its name because of violent incidents that occured during the 1870s as travelers along the Oregon Trail were killed by Bannock or Paiute warriors. 

We stopped in Boise, Idaho, tonight as we felt weary from the rainy driving.  Plus today we crossed a time zone.  Perhaps it's psychological, but it seems the new later time made stopping a good idea, too!  The motel had TV dinners AND ice cream available in the lobby, so we didn't have to hunt down a supermarket nor a restaurant with our room having both a refrigerator and microwave.  Snoopy has settled into traveling quite nicely and he gave this latest room a decided vote of approval.  Jimmy's asleep and I am going to say good night to all.  We'll see what adventures tomorrow brings and hopefully we'll slip far enough south to escape the rainy weather.

 

Packing Up-Headed East

Moving 3,333 miles from Washington State to Florida is no easy task at this elder stage of our lives.  After almost five years in the same home and ten years in Washington we had accumulated a lot of things in addition to the possessions we always thought we could never part with for decades.  

Possessions are a funny thing as they accumulate because every acquisition becomes either attached to you via heartstrings or because you just might “need it” some day or because it previously belonged to someone whom you held dear.  Nevertheless, we managed over the course of a few weeks to either give away, donate or sell probably 75% of everything we own.  It was a freeing experience as if the weight of all those items was physically lifted from our shoulders.  The more we parted with the better we felt.

Now we are reduced to three U-Pack pods whose combined area is the size of a small bedroom.  A truck will deliver them to Florida and we have started a cross country trip with Snoopy who is also an elder at this point.  He traveled all day like the seasoned traveler he was in his youth.  We headed south on I-5 in a slight drizzle and made our way around Seattle on Hwy 405.  The rain was light on Interstate 90 and cleared by the time we reached Snoqualmie Pass with its scattered patches of snow.  We reached Ellensburg by lunchtime and ended today’s journey in Yakima.  Ready to rest, we found a Best Western just off Interstate 84.  A good day and a very nice spot to relax.

Saving Seeds

As fall approaches, it is evident that all things have preservation on their minds.  My cosmos flowers are producing mature seeds within the drying remains of the last of their blooms.  These flowers have produced an abundance of blossoms from the packet of seeds I procured at Butchart Gardens.  Now my goal is to claim enough seeds to repeat the pleasure of their presence again next year in my garden.

I collected the dried flowers with their pods of fat black seeds, and then gently persuaded the pods to release their bounty.  The remainder went to the back yard for my mother squirrel to peruse.  She too is bent on preservation, with evidence of the feeding of her young visible in two rows of nipples along her light gray belly.  She is thin from the effort and the dry, hot summer we are experiencing.

Whenever I connect with this world around my home, the pleasure it brings is immeasurable.  And for me, this is preservation.

A Job Well Done

This is a tale of two jobs accomplished in the short course of an hour with one miraculous machine and a very competent operator.  The completion of both jobs probably saved Jim and me from an early grave.

The first was the trimming of cedar tree branches growing over our roof.  The glorious cedars living behind our home have gotten too zealous in their reach toward the east to greet the rising sun. Extending their boughs at least six feet into the area above our roof, while the branches were not touching our house, they did have the potential for causing damage during a windy winter storm. What to do?

Reaching from the roof to trim them was definitely not an option.  We don't go up on the roof under any circumstance at our age.  No ladder could safely reach sixty feet into the air.  Trimming from the ground with a pole trimmer posed the danger of one of us being impaled by a branch.  It seemed like an impossible task!

Luckily, there are companies that have both the equipment and talent to do this with the help of a lift. That, and a couple of different types of chain saws, made this a twenty minute job that was accomplished safely.  Plus the limbs were quickly disposed of by a team of workers feeding a chipper.

After a few additional moments, the lift was repositioned to the front of our house when the crew learned of our additional dilemma-the need to reach the top of a thirty foot flag pole to restring it in order to fly a flag.  In quick order, the young man operating the lift was able to determine the empty pulley at the top of the flag pole was still functional.  He sprayed the pulley with some oil to make it work better, before treading a loop of cord through it that we provided.  Securing this cord safely at the bottom, we now had the ability to install a proper flag rope with hooks for a flag.

The tree trimming company did not have to do this, but they did while the equipment was on site.  A team of young men helped two old people with a task they had worried over for eighteen months, and without asking for an additional dime.  Nevertheless, a tip was in order.  We were very happy with the entire experience.

A couple of days later, we pulled the flag rope through the pulley using the cord, fastened the flag on its hooks, and proudly raised our stars and strips.  With a light positioned to illuminate the flag at night, we had completed our quest to utilize the massive thirty foot pole in front of our house for what it was intended to be used for-a flag pole.

In the process, we gained the pleasure of meeting a very nice team of young men who did both jobs superbly.  We are grateful for both jobs, and for them.

   

White-crowned Sparrow

Sometimes a moment of pleasure arrives in the most unexpected way.  Occasionally, it is even a shared pleasure.

After mowing the grass, weeding, trimming shrubs and watering my plants today for a rather lengthy time, I was finishing up with a rinse of the sidewalk and driveway in the front of our house.  Washing away the scattered dirt that had accumulated from my labor with this final act was a sort of mindless task, and I was feeling tired.

A small puddle of water formed at the end of our driveway during the process.  I was musing over the amount of water I was using for this cleanup, and tossing around the idea of about a gallon of water being somewhat frivolously put into the ditch to just dribble away, when a white-crowned sparrow landed in my puddle.

First he seemed to merely want a drink of water.  We've had no rain for about a month of any measureable amount.  I felt instantly better.  One of my favorite birds, and the most vocal of those who visit our birdfeeder, was happy with this excess water.  Then to my amazement, he decided a bird bath was in order.  He spent several minutes sloshing around in the water while fluffing his wings and tail feathers.  What satisfaction I now owned while watching his moment of pure pleasure in utilizing my no longer "wasted" water. 

Sometimes I think God sends little messengers like these to thank us for our efforts.  "Well done," rang in my imagination.  Suddenly, fatigue was replaced with gratefulness on a Sunday afternoon.

I believe the universe sings to us, if only we listen.    

The Doll House

Building any house is an experience.  Such an endeavor requires planning, decisions and perseverance.  A doll house is no exception.  After our last visit to Victoria's Miniature World, we have become fascinated with the idea of building one of our own miniature Victorian houses.  The scale is one inch of the doll house is equivalent to one foot of its counterpart in real life.  This provides some interesting sizes for everything from doorknobs and nails to wiring and furniture.  Because of our affinity for San Francisco in general, and the "Painted Ladies" in particular, we chose a kit that reflected the Victorian time frame and design.  It will stand about 42 inches tall.  The bottom is about 32 inches deep by 42 inches wide.  There are over a thousand pieces.  Hobby Lobby was the purveyor of this marvel on June 1st.

Jim started by reading the instructions.  Page after page of them.  It seems that the order of construction is one of the most important tasks to get right.  Just like in any construction (think  "recent kitchen remodel" here) we had to figure out what step would impact the next.  Overwhelming almost.  So we started slow.  Jim sorted the pieces and we began the job of painting the exterior walls.  This was a safe start because nothing at this point was being glued together.  BUT, we learned that even this step was not simple.  Each exterior wall had to be painted three times with a careful sanding in between.  This accomplished two things.  The paint adhered better and the finish feels silky smooth.

I started painting the exterior doors (in four colors) and stained a table from one of the furniture kits while the exterior paint dried.  Fun, but very precise, detailed painting to get it right.

By now (June 17th) we were so enthralled, we stacked up some of the walls on top of the foundation to visualize some progress.  The base was painted a grey color with texture added to mimic cement.  The whole project is located in the area just off our new kitchen that we call the "keeping room" after some British series we've seen on television.  There was not enough room in either of our hobby rooms in the house nor the shed for a project of this size.

By July 1st, we had first floor wood and tile flooring installed.  A neighbor, who stopped by and saw our creation, kindly donated a round rug to the mix.  Wow!  It really felt like progress.  Again we had to hold up some walls to get a feel for what was evolving.

Between then now on July 14th, Jim has completed the first floor electrical wiring and wall paper.  The floors are permanently fastened down with glue.  We also found a doll house store in Vancouver, B.C. that yielded more goodies.  We now have Victorian living room furniture, an antique camera, more carpet and wall paper, along with a dining room ensemble in hand.  (Not to mention a long list of other possibilities now added to our list of desired future acquisitions for the house along that line.)

We'll keep you posted as we make progress on this intriguing new hobby.