Wednesday - to Wells

I will be on the road Wednesday instead of Tuesday. I got a little 'sick' kind of which set me back a day. I don't think it is really sick, I think it is more playing wrestling and tackle football with a 3 year old. I ended up getting that feeling like riding a roller coaste. I ride crazy rides rarely but i do and then my stomach lets me know I should not have don that. This ended with an upset stomach and light headedness. Anyway, did not get loaded etc.

All food is staying down so it is not sickness.

We had a big storm all night. Today, it is sunny. They say that tomorrow, Wed is the good day for weather. So I will travel then. This truck by the way has an annoying habit of beeping while driving. I take out the chip to make it stop but then the windshield wipers do not work.

Ashley got asked to interview for medical school in Orlando, Florida. She has to be there Jan. I bought her plane tickets last night. She got round trip for $330.00. After paying to fly to and from Alaska, that is a good price. Any person who applies for Medical School has done so much top get to that point. She is a very dedicated person and I am very proud of her.

Snow - Wells, NV tomorrow

Here are a few more pictures of the snow on Mt. Hood. I am still sore - 2 days later, but, it is better than yesterday.

Loading up and going to Wells, NV tomorrow. They had 3 degrees yesterday, so it is cold. It is supposed to get up to 45 degrees today. The low was 18 last night in Wells. I am hoping there is not a lot of ice on the road as I travel.

Snow boarding on Mt Hood

I turned 60 yesterday! For my 60th, I wanted to do something physical. My plan was to bike ride 30 miles. I then heard about 2 feet or more of powder snow on the mountains so there was a sudden change of plans. My daughter Ashley and I went up to Mt. Hood for snowboarding.

The snow was better than I would have anticipated. There was real powder. There were NO LINES either which makes it great in itself.Just a great day.
Then when I got home, I was invited to hear some friends band play in a bar. I went. It was fun, but I got to say: Going to a bar with a band that knows you on your birthday - be ready to be reminded that it is your birthday a lot.

The cake is from JA CIVA'S in Portland, OR. It is called a 7th heaven. It has 7 different types of chocolate. It is very good and very rich. Tasty!!!!!
It was a great birthday but I am sore today.

Sandy River

This is the Sandy River. I take the grandkids here to throw rocks into the river. We watch birds and also watch small airplanes land at the airport near here.

A week ago, a man and his 16 year old son tried to walk across the Sandy River. They had hip waders on and they filled with water. The young man barely made it out but the father did not.

The Sandy is fun to raft on during summers.

My old school caught fire!

I take a grandchild to throw rocks in the river and then come home. On the news is a school I taught at for 6 years. It is on fire. It was one of the oldest schools in Portland and it was made of wood.

All of the kids were taken out of the building and they went 4 blocks to a public library where the parents were asked to pick them up. I saw some old friends on TV talking about the fire.

We took that school from one of low performing to one recognized by the state for great improvement. We had a great principal who allowed us to try some pretty interesting stuff.

The school is 1/3 burnt but it is so old that I am guessing that it will be taken down.


So then: On the news, a fellow in Portland went into a business and kills his girlfriend. 2 others are shot as well. Crazy stuff!

UPDATE: LATER ON THE NEWS: I see a guy who just got 8 years in prison for being a peeping tom. Last week, I was at a birthday dinner for a son in law and his mom was talking about a peeping Tom being caught in her neighborhood. They had a neighborhood meeting at a home and the guy turned out to be the guy who lived in that home.

national news is nuts these days too.

Last year, in Juneau, I had no TV. I did not have much TV in Wells and Pole Creek. Is the world crazy or have I just been out of touch?

Life is fragile

I just got a call about a lady from the east coast who died. I knew her a little from being in Wells, NV. She worked for the Forest Service in Wells during the spring and summer for 10 years or so.

She was one of the Rangers that kept things in reasonable shape for all who visit our national treasure.

One Friday, she was hiking and walked over a stream. She twisted her ankle, which I have done dozens of times. She went home and put her foot up and iced it. It got worse over the weekend and she had chest pains. She went to the emergency room and was admitted. They said she was close to death. Blood clots developed and went to her lungs and heart. She was in the hospital for a week and was sent home. It did not get better - got worse. After 3 weeks of getting worse, they put her in the hospital again and kept her there for 2 weeks and then a rehab facility. She then was sent back home on a plane. That was 3 weeks ago. She was improving at home with family around her. her nurse sister was the main caregiver/overseer. She got H1N1 this past weekend and when it got in her lungs, she did not have a chance and passed away. Her lungs were already weakened by the clots.

Life is fragile. She had a pretty great job and she enjoyed it immensely, The job also became the reason she passed away. I must also say that I have had as many sprined ankles from walking in the back yard as I have had hiking or being on a trail. Little things can become big. I was in Wells when it happened and every day I expected to hear that she had improved and was back at work. Every day, the report was not good and often getting worse. She was only allowed to go to one small hospital even though many felt she needed another hospital.

Enjoy your life and those around you. If you see something wonderful, appreciate it. It is so easy to take things for granted.

HEALTH INSURANCE: She had health insurance because it was an on the job injury. Because she was seasonal, she did not have insurance when off the job or those non-working months. Had her injury occurred on Saturday, she would not have been covered with insurance. We need insurance for all - a public option is important.
(Taking back the tax cuts to the wealthiest 1% would more than fund the cost. We could even quit the wars which are costing an enormous amount of money.)

NO HEALTH INSURANCE BACK HOME: She did not have any insurance once she got back home. Workers Comp was only good in Nevada. She could not afford to go to the DR or Hospital when she got the Swine Flu. She passed away at home with family.

Between the rain storms

I have not been taking the camera on bike rides when it rains but I did get a few shots.

The Canadian Geese fly by every morning. They are making lots of noise as they go south for the winter. It is so great to hear them as they fly by. The fellows in this picture were there in the afternoon and probably going to camp out and fly out in the morning.

The fall colors are out but the weather is knocking the leaves down fast. It really is quite great to see. I have to add that it is so much warmer than Alaska. I am having to wear some full hand gloves to ride half the time but it is still a heck of a lot warmer than AK. It snowed in Anchorage yesterday. It also snowed in the mountains in OR this past weekend and some ski lifts even opened. (I am tempted to get up to the slopes but I am holding back.)

Lightning, thunder and bike riding

I woke up to sun - that got me thinking of bike riding. When I finally got out the door, the wind was blowing and there were some clouds. I rode towards the sun. The sun disappeared as I rode.

12 miles later, I was riding some hills at Mt. Tabor Park when it started raining. (By the way, Mt. Tabor Park is the only park in the US with a dormant volcano core which is now a basketball court.) I went for a cup of coffee to wait out the rain. The rain increased. I decided to ride home and go the route with our light rail.

I got the OR rain, which is constant but not a downpour like AK. I got to about 5 miles from home and the train pulled up. I could have gotten on but figured I only have 5 miles to go and I wanted to complete the ride. The train left and the lightning and thunder started - with a downpour, AK like. I picked up the pace of riding and caught the train at the next stop but I was already soaking wet and decided to keep riding.

The rain did not ease up. I did get a call when I was within 2 miles asking if I wanted a ride. I was only 2 miles away and I was so soaked that I said I would ride.

I got home and was totally soaked. It did not help that I wore cotton shorts and sweats. I never do that when it rains - until today. Reminder: Wear rain stuff when riding in rain country in Nov!

It was actually kind of great riding in the thunder and lightning though.
Portland had a record amount of rain today 1.16 inches of rain.

A bad day

True Story: FRIDAY: A fellow gets of work at 1 AM. The freeway was jammed so he took the highway home. As he drove his pickup home, he heard a thump and stopped his truck to see what he hit. He heard and saw nothing so he drove the 15 miles home. He called 911 and told them he hit something and he asked them to send police to see if anything could be found.

Saturday - He hears nothing.

Sunday: He calls the state police to ask if they knew anything about the noise he heard. They said they will call him if they have anything to report. He is watching the local Sunday News and they show a man in the hospital who said he got hit on a highway Saturday 2 AM. He said he was drunk and standing in the middle in the middle of the road.

The fellow calls the state police and he tells them what he saw on the news. They ask him to go to the police station, which he does. They get the information for 2 hours and then suddenly up the ante and act like he deliberately hit the fellow and tried to cover it up.

He hands the police the card for his lawyer and then said it sounds like they need to talk to him. He talked to his bosses on Monday and they said they back him. He has had the same job for 15 years.

He is pretty upset at this time. Weird things happen.

*The drunk who was standing in the middle of the road got a broken leg.

I was watching the local news Thursday and this case was on the news - weird. There was also a fellow run down on the other side of town.

Pictures - the past month

I decided to put up pictures of the past month or so.

I hope to go for a bike ride later but the stupid wind is blasting again. We are supposed to get rain tomorrow, so I want to get a decent ride in today. Wind, wind go away!!!!!!!!!!!

THE TOWER PICTURE: That is a railroad trestle at the Ballard Bridge in Seattle. There is an Eagle Nest on top! The tower looks out at Elliot Bay but on the other side is lots of Seattle housing. Eagles had been going extinct back in the 60s because of DDT. Times have changed for the better in some cases.

When things work out.

My daughter Ash, is applying for medical schools. She is now following doctors around and one is at a medical school.

This weekend, a son in laws mom found out she has a cancerous condition. The doctors say the main consideration is dealing with the condition fast. She could not get an appointment with an oncologist until late January.

Ash was working with the doctor Monday AM and asked him what could be done. He said have her doctor call his office to get her in. About the same time, a medical student friend heard about it and asked doctors if they would consider the case. Two sets of doctors said they would take it on. She has an appointment for this Thursday.

Sometimes, things work out like they should.

Halloween/ Bike Ride

To Infinity and Beyond! My grandson and I passed out candy as well as going to a few houses. Little kids sure make Halloween more fun.

I got in a bike ride today, Tuesday. I went about 15 miles or so. I started to go into the Columbia Gorge but the wind was quite strong. After a couple of miles of fighting wind, I turned around and put the wind at my back. Biking sure is easier if you have the wind blowing you. It actually looked like yesteday but the wind made the looks deceiving, it was a workout.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a rainless day. I hope there is no wind either.

28 Mile Bike Ride

I went on a 28 mile bike ride into the Columbia Gorge on this sunny 55 degree day! I went along the Sandy River and the colors were great! I felt so good on this ride. I actually felt like a real bike rider. There was about 9 miles of gradual uphill riding and I finally did start to cramp up. Now, I wish I would have taken a 5 minute break and gone on but I turned around. It was a great ride.

On the water

The bridge is on the way to and from the Ballard Locks in Seattle.

Ballard Locks - fishing

The last night of fishing, we fished in Elliot bay, that is Seattle! I was helping with fish and watching the lights of Seattle.

Ballard Locks: The boat is located on Lake Union. To get from lake Union to Elliot Bay, you go through the Ballard Locks. The Ballard Locks are a miniature Panama Canal. The locks allow boats to go from the higher lake to the lower bay. I have kayaked up to the locks in the past but this is the first time I have been in a boat to go through the locks.

Commercial fishing sure is a lot of work.

Fishing -300+ fish

We went fishing and in 2 days got over 300 fish. Last year, we got 600 fish in 24 hours.

I got in the boat at midnight and I slept until 6:30 AM when we got to Hoods Canal, WA. it was interesting trying to sleep in a boat. It would go back and forth and roll.
Every now and again, it would hit a big wave and I would go flying. I did have a board to stop me from falling onto the floor though. We had the nets in the water at 7 AM when fishing opened and there were about 20 other boats around. We were some of the first to set nets but then others came in and set their nets in front of us. We could have gotten a lot more fish if those guys were not there. We got 160 salmon at Hoods Canal.

Commercial fishing is sure tiring work.
It

Midnight - Boat Leaves/ fishing

I am on my way to Seattle to get on the fishing boat tonight. I need to be there at midnight. IT IS SUNNY IN SEATTLE! We had lots of rain last night in the San Juans so I am hoping it is sunny and calm. We will be on the boat until Tues or Wed - putting nets out snd fishing.

PIG WAR: Friday Harbor was the only place to almost have a war with England over a PIG. Friday Harbor was claimed by England and an American moved onto the island and set up a farm on good land. A pig from the English settlement kept going to the American's farm and eat some plants. The American kept returning the pig but it always returned. The American got mad and shot the pig. The English wanted a lot of money and it almost turned to a war. Gen George Pickett was called in to settle things down. Ultimately, an International tribunal gave the San Juans to the US. you can see Canada from parts of the San Juans.

drift wood home

I walked along the shore and hiked down to about 8 remote beaches along the way. There is a lot of driftwood on the beaches and people take the wood and make houses and structures. Here are some of the structures I saw.

Heron - Eagle

While checking out the island, I see various birds. Here are a couple: and eagle and a heron. The eagle was about 20 yards away from me but then flew away to make a bit more distance. The heron was about 20 yards but then flew to the rock that you see. I happened to walk down the beach and there he was - posing for me.

deer: Since this is an island, the deer are not genetically diverse. They are small and there are deformities.

Turken - chicken/turkey mix

This is a turken. It is a bit unusual looking. He is actually a small sized bird so I guess she is mostly chicken. They just ordered 5 more Turken chicks to sell in their shop. Chickens are great little birds actually.

How did a chicken shit in my boot though? I was either wearing them or they were in my car and bird crap got into them - mystery.

Fishing - San Juan Islands

This afternoon I will be Commercial Fishing off the San Juan islands (between WA and Canada.) It rained like crazy last night. I might get soaked. The fall colors were beautiful on the drive from OR to Seattle.

Off to catch the ferry to the island. Think Fish

The Columbia River Gorge

More pictures of Multnomah Falls and the Columbia River Gorge. It happened to be a nice day. The day before I went on a bike ride when the sun was out but the clouds came. I got soaked on the bike ride. OR rain is warmer than AK rain though.

Must say: The Gorge is one of my favorite places in the US.

Oregon

Oregon pictures: I generally do not put up Oregon pictures because the Oregon scenes are normal for me. These are pictures taken while hiking at Multnomah falls. Multnomah Falls is the biggest tourist spot in OR by the way. If you go, hike to the top.

Notice the moss on the tree. The colors of the trees are beautiful now - full color.

Sad

Yesterday, a little girl in 3rd grade at my grandson's school fainted while on a field trip with her class. Her little brother is in my Grandson's class. 911 was called and she was transported to the hospital quickly. She passed away

I cannot imagine the pain and suffering which the family and the whole school are feeling today. She had a heart condition, which was known.

Life can be short. As a parent, it must be very sad to have a child or grandchild pass before I do.

We just need to appreciate life and those we love, we never know how long we are going to be around - even for our young.

I have been in a school where the janitor was knifed and killed before school. We had school that day and it was surreal. We had police lines, had to show ID and we had to keep people out of the school. Death at school affects many.

Yesterday was also the day that the balloon boy was the big story. He was found safe and found hiding in the attic. I wish that would have been the result for the little girl at my grandson's school.

Global Warming

It is past time to take Global Warming seriously. We wasted 8 years with Cheney/Bush who loved to ignore the facts put before them by the scientific community. Al Gore should be commended for his efforts to move us forward in Global Warming.


It is our children and granchildren who will have to breathe the fouled air and drink the disgusting water which is created by polluting. There is no such thing as 'clean coal.' Coal is a pollutant - end of story. We wasted 8 years - we don't have a lot of time to waste any longer.

Make environmental changes for our kids and grandkids. Even the Alaskan villages are feeling the effects of global warming.

I have seen shrinking glaciers as well as an eskimo village which is suffering because of changing weather which impacts the salmon and causes their village to flood in the spring. I have seen the enourmous fires caused by drought in California. I just drove by Shasta Lake and it has very little water because of drought. We need to quit ignoring the elephant in the room folks.

San Francisco

Here are a few more pictures of San Francisco. The houses and hills make it a very unique place. Cable Cars and Trolleys = quite unique.

Drought in CA

These pictures are in San Francisco. I hiked the hills and went on trolleys and cable cars. It was fun.

DROUGHT IN CALIFORNIA: I read about it and I mus say that Nevada looks green compared to California. The trees are going from green to brown - just dying, not getting their fall colors.

Lake Shasta: The drought became very noticeable at Lake Shasta. Shasta is super low - quite sad to see really. I have never seen it as low as it is. California needs rain badly. I did not take pictures - looks terrible. There were signs along I5 saykng do not drain lakes. Global Warming anyone.

Oregon looks pretty much normal. The fall colors are showing and there has been rain so it looks normal for this time of year.

What a week! Pole Creek and LV

One week ago I was leaving Pole Creek Ranger Station and went back to Wells, NV to get ready to head North to OR. I decided to stop at Las Vegas and San Francisco. Here are pictures of Las Vegas and Pole Creek. I am now driving in Redding, CA and the traffic is much different than rural Nevada.

I should be in Portland this evening. I am cooking omelettes tomorrow morning in Gresham.

The Real World-Yikes!

One week ago, I was 80 miles from a small town and had to drive 15 miles on a dirt road to get home. I would see elk and deer as well as a lot of antelope - few people. When I left, I saw a lot of animals - like they were saying good bye. I would wake up in the middle of the night in Pole Creek to see if the temperature had dropped. I shut down the Ranger Station because we were getting 18 degree nights and we did not need broken water pipes. When I walked the streets of Las Vegas at night, I saw drunks being held up by other drunks - not like Pole Creek.

I went to Las Vegas and hung out with a brother and sister and talked to the LV school district about jobs. It was great seeing my siblings. There are jobs available if I do some paperwork. The cost of living in LV is reasonble, they got hit hard by the recession.

I am now in San Francisco. It is also a busy place. I do like it as a tourist. I did a lot of hanging onto cable cars and hiking the hills. It is a beautiful city. It is also expensive. I had a job interview but cancelled it because they could not pay me enough to make it financially reasonable for me. I cancelled because I knew that if I went and saw the school, kids, staff and talked program: I would be tempted to take it.

I will be a tourist one more day and then head back to Portland. I am excited to see my kids and grandkids.

THANKS TO THE OFFICER THAT GAVE ME A WARNING: In Nevada, I got a warning to stop traveling at 85. I am driving a borrowed small truck that has a non working speedometer. (I left my truck in Wells because it is a 3/4 ton and they need it for getting wood and house remodeling supplies.) I was driving and following motorcycles and the officer turned on his lights and did a u-turn. I pulled over and the motorcyles kept going. The officer and I talked about my going to LV, San Fran and heading home, remodeling in Wells, elk in NV and on and on - he thankfully gave me a warning. I started following campers and cars after this incident.

Snowing

It is snowing in Wells, NV, where I am now. It has been snowing all day but it is less than 2 inches and it is melting now. I will be leaving for Oregon later this week.

The pictures are of Pole Creek and I left there yesterday with a load of wood. I put up pictures of Pole Creek because it is much more interesting than small town Wells.

I am glad I got the wood out yesterday because I do not liking chaining up loaded truck and going down dirt roads. I do miss Pole Creek! I feel very fortunate to stay there the weeks that I did. I feel like I have been on vacation and have the feeling that it is time to get to work.

Goodbye Pole Creek

I am in Wells, NV now. I shut down the water system, turned off the propane and cleaned out the 4 living areas. I am not going to the other Ranger Station. I would have to live in a little used log cabin and I would have to hook up the wood stove. There is also a lot of mouse poop so I would start out with mousing.

I am looking for a job. I have sent stuff to Alaska, San Francisco and I just sent stuff off to Las Vegas.

There are a lot of elk near Pole Creek. Campers near me got 2 of 3 elk they were looking for. they said they saw 150 elk in a creek by the Ranger Station. I had hoped to get out and check out elk one more time but I need to get ready to leave Wells now.

Snowed In!

I was in Wells Monday and went back to the ranger station Tuesday. I got hit with a monster snow storm. We got 5 inches of snow. I had a bunkhouse without heat so had to jerry rig heat to keep the water pipes from bursting. This morning, I turned off all water coming into the Ranger Station and opened up all the faucets etc. i will be leaving pole Creek either Fri or Sat. I still have things to do and want to check out the elk. It is now hunting season for elk. We have a lot of hunters around the ranger station. I have locked the gate because I had so much shut down stuff to do. IT WAS 18 DEGREES LAST NIGHT!!! Lots of hunters were camped out in it.

I will be in OR in a couple of weeks. I have a job interview in San Francisco next Friday. I also sent some stuff to Alaska about jobs there. One job is flying all around AK and working with kids in villages and then flying back out.

It is kind of a nervous time - WHERE DO I WANT TO GO or should I just take some time off. I guess I miss teaching and the money.

18 elk

If you look closely, you will see 18 elk. I saw 6 at this spot a few days before and thought I would go there again. I parked the truck a long way back and walked in. A cow elk peeked her head over the hill and saw me. As soon as she saw me, they took off. There was one BIG BULL with the herd. He followed behind the herd. It was an awesome sight. They sure are pretty animals, and big too.

I walked down to where they had spent the night and there is water and trees. It looks like they are there at night and leave during the day. A fellow told me he saw 100 elk in this creek basin. He also showed me a picture of a wolf around here.

Dumb People

I saw a man and a boy on a motorcyle along with a mom and 2 year old on a ATV (4 wheeler) I was on a different road so I waved and thought they are camping and having a nice weekend. I figured I would see them at some camp site.

Two archeologists came into the Ranger Station a couple of hours later and asked me if I saw the people on the 4 wheeler and motorcycles. They talked to them and they have traveled 50 miles without extra gas or even food. They said they were heading back to the road when the archeologists last saw them.

What were they thinking.

(I will admit to having taken my daughter up a logging road and had snow past the bumper. I did not have snow gear for her or chains or even a shovel - that happened one time.) I am not totally innocent on the stupid meter.

I almost had a search crew sent out to find me because I was not at the Ranger Station when 2 people showed up. I was told they might show up but if they didn't, they would stay 40 miles from where I am stationed. At 5:30, I went to check out elk and let the station. I was hiking, reading and listening and looking for elk - saw nothing. I went back to the ranger station at 8 PM and they had called dispatch. A ranger was called and a lot of phone calls made. I drove up a few minutes after the phone calls started. The fellows got to the station at 9 PM. i think they just wanted to have the generator on and I was the only person who could do that so they called. It was no big deal really - just another thing to think about. Next time, I will do a better sign out so people will know that I am just goofing off but OK.

I thought about camping out at the elk site actually. Had I done that, then it would have been a mess. I might camp out there next week but I am told that snow may come next week. If I do, I will sign out saying where I am and how to find me.

sunrise

I saw this sunrise as I was going to a place to see elk. I saw 18 elk too. There was one bull and 17 cows. I almost was able to sneak up on them but a cow saw me and signalled that I was coming. They left fast. I saw a lot of elk bones and almost walked onto a dead and decaying elk. The walking on the dead elk woke me up real quick.