Serene Wandering

We spent most of a week at Ponderosa State Park in McCall Idaho with friends Darrell and Cindy.  In addition to hanging out and disc golf, we had some rockin’ Racko and Yahtzee games!

McCall is a destination with great summer and winter activities. I love that these chairs that show just that!

We moved to my cousins’ yard in West Richland, part of the Tri-Cities area in south eastern Washington, a place my extended family has lived for many years. As I grew up I knew that both sets of grandparents moved to eastern Washington so my grandfathers could work at Hanford. They lived in company housing in Richland and my parents met as kids in the neighborhood.

Fast forward decades and we’ve all learned more about Hanford. Unfortunately there is a long history as a Superfund Clean-Up site and most believe, a legacy of cancer victims, including my grandfathers, uncle and cousin.  But it is also a success story of great magnitude.

We were able to learn some Hanford’s history yesterday when we went on a tour. In 2008, Hanford was designated a Historic National Landmark – on par with the Alamo and USS Arizona. Last year, Hanford, in combination with sites in Los Alamos, New Mexico and Oak Ridge, Tennessee became national park #490, The Manhattan Project National Park.

Tours of the site, and an openness about the work done at Hanford, would be unbelievable to those that planned and worked at Hanford in the 1940s, 50s and 60s.

Think back to when Germany was dominating Europe and Pearl Harbor had been attacked by the Japanese and the US was drawn in to WWII. Scientists who left Europe were aware that Germany was trying to create an atomic bomb and were encouraging the US government to do so as well. When Albert Einstein added his name to their effort things got rolling.

The Manhattan Project, named because the man in charge, General Leslie Groves, had an office in Manhattan, was urgent and top-secret. General Groves could co-opt anything he needed from any other agency in the war effort.

General Groves had identified Los Alamos as a test site and Oak Ridge as a site for uranium processing but needed a site to make plutonium. In December 1942, Colonel Franklin Matthias, began looking for a place that was remote, had a supply of fresh water, had low population for safety and security reasons and had raw materials for making concrete. Six hundred and seventy square miles of southeastern Washington was selected.

The people currently living in the area, Indians and those in and around the small towns of Hanford and White Bluffs, were bought out and told to leave, one of the first times on record “eminent domain” was used. By report, the payout amount was generous enough but those effected had difficulty finding other lands that had irrigation water available.

DuPont Corporation was Grove’s choice to construct and run the site. Heavily involved with munitions during World War I, and having a reputation as a “corporation of death,” DuPont originally declined. However, General Groves was convinced they were the right company because of their high quality reputation and DuPont started construction in 1944.

One hundred thousand workers, including my grandfathers, came from all over the country to work at the Hanford site. Half of them left because of the desolation and harsh climate. Strong winds were called “Termination Winds” because so many people lined up to quit after big dust storms.

The population settled in at about 45,000 workers making Hanford the 4th largest city in Washington and the largest voting precinct. It had the largest “general delivery” post office in the world. Forty thousand workers were housed in barracks while others lived in trailer parks on site. Administrators lived in the government village of Richland.

My father’s  and my aunt’s families both lived in trailers on site, two of 10,000.

This partial list of food needed in area mess-halls is interesting.

Construction of Reactor B, the world’s first nuclear reactor, took 11 months and was operational in a total of 13 months. Theory to execution took less than two years.

Hanford received heavily guarded shipments of uranium and produced very small amounts of plutonium. A ton of uranium yielded 1/2 pound of plutonium. Initial levels were 230 grams per day. The amount of plutonium needed for the first nuclear bomb test, completed in Los Alamos, was hand carried in a briefcase by train.

Many workers and area residents didn’t know exactly what was going on at Hanford until President Truman made it public in August, 1945.

The second atomic bomb, developed to use uranium at Oak Ridge, Tennessee was dropped on Hiroshima.  The third bomb, built in Los Alamos, using plutonium from Hanford, was dropped on Nagasaki. Japan surrendered 6 days later.

After Russia detonated their own atomic bomb in 1949, Hanford continued to develop plutonium for cold war weapons for decades. Eventually there were nine reactors at Hanford. Modifications to the equipment and processes eventually yielded 1800 grams of plutonium per day.

The site was decommissioned as part of a arms reduction treaty in 1987. Russian inspectors come to this site each year to inspect, as ours do with their sites.

So, many years later, we can see the the “areas” and go into the B Reactor, the worlds first nuclear reactor. B Reactor was shut down in 1968.

During the tour, the process of irradiating the uranium and eventually getting small amounts of plutonium is explained in mostly understandable ways. What I really understood is that this was an impressive feat, made even more so because the engineers back then didn’t have computers to do all these calculations and designs.

 

The construction workers, plant operators and support workers believed in what they were doing and did it well. One process they developed took 55 degree water from the Columbia River and purified it through settling ponds and filters. When the water went through the reactor as a cooling agent it went from 60 to 190 degrees in one second.  The still pure water was cooled again and put back into the river. The basics of this process are still used today in water treatment plants around the world.

 

Initially, those who worked here believed they were helping  end the war a day earlier for every day they worked. Later, they believed they were keeping our country safe. I am proud that these people included my grandfathers and uncle all of whom worked  at the B Reactor.

My grandmother taught in a Hanford camp school and my father and aunt attended elementary school on site. Both of my grandmothers and my mother worked clerical jobs at Hanford. My cousin worked maintenance as a pipe fitter on another of the reactors.  Currently, another cousin, Chris, works as a driver in the Super Fund clean-up operation.

My family’s history with Hanford is extensive and we were glad to be able to visit the site and take the B Reactor tour. The National Park offers two other tours, one about the history of the two small towns and people who were displaced, and the other about the clean-up still in progress. We plan to go on those tours on another trip to this familiar and family ground.

We spent a cool, soggy weekend near Sumpter, Oregon with Natasha, Seth and Archer, my parents, and my aunt and cousins. Fortunately my dad brought firewood!

During rainy times, we played cards in the “garage” of my cousins’ toy hauler trailer. With two trailers, fires and some breaks in the rain – we made out okay. But, we are planning our gathering for June next year!

By Sunday night, only we and my parents remained. They took us to dinner in Baker for our 36th anniversary and then headed back to Vancouver the next day.

Monday morning the sun was shining so we decided to stay another day. We’re retired – we can do that!

Union Campground, between Baker and Sumpter, is one of our favorite spots, so it was an easy decision to stay and enjoy the quiet and trails.

While we wandered around the park we saw this tree top nest and sitting osprey (?).

A day late, we made our way to Copperfield Park in Oxbow, Oregon. This park is one of a series of campgrounds along the Snake River developed by Idaho Power. Every third vehicle in Oxbow is a white Idaho Power truck!  We also saw a deer wandering down the street.

When we arrived and did our regular set up, the bed frame in our bedroom slide settled askew. We have had trouble before but this was by far the most dramatic event. Handy Randy had to resurrect his engineering skills and took a full two hours to diagnose the problem and figure a solution.

The original design had the bed frame attached to a wall with eight screws. Given the movement of the slide, those screws tore away from the wall with time and use. The fact that we have a heavier memory foam mattress, instead of the cheap RV mattress that came with the trailer, was surely a factor. However, the slide itself pivots up and down  about 4 inches as it makes its way in and out every time we move. Randy was very disappointed by this design because it was “guaranteed to self destruct and rip away from the wall.” It was no surprise that it eventually did just that.

Handy Randy eventually figured a solution that stabilized the frame and allowed for the needed slide movement without actually attaching the bed frame to the wall. He had to go 17 miles to the nearest hardware store in Halfway, Oregon, spend $27 and get 16 pounds of wood and screws (weight matters in a trailer).  Once again, Randy fixed the problem himself. If we had taken the trailer in for repair, they would have undoubtably just replaced the screws and we’d have had the same thing happen again down the road.

While he was spending all day on his project, I spent several hours repairing a quilt that my grandmother made for us as a wedding gift 36 years ago. My stitching is an insult to this beautiful quilt, but at least the loose pieces are secure.

It took all day but finally our separate bed projects were completed! Then it was time to enjoy the park and the area.

Copperfield Park is meticulously maintained and has lots of green grass – something we thoroughly enjoy these days.

We had hummingbird visitors including  this beautiful orange guy!  Our birder friend, Mark, says an iridescent neck indicates a bird is a male – typical in the bird world!

We were very close to the Snake River.  In fact, we walked to Idaho (across the bridge) a couple times each day!

From the Idaho side we could see the Oxbow power plant, part of the Oxbow Dam complex.  It is interesting that this close to a power plant, we still only had 30 amp power.  Of course, this park was developed before there were so many “big rigs” wanting 50 amps.

Oxbow and Copperfield Park are just south of Hells Canyon Recreation Area.  We have been to the recreation area numerous times (not to say we’ve seen it all) so we decided to drive  along the Snake River and explore the other Idaho Power parks.

This morning Elko’s stroll was walkin’ to Idaho again.  He alerted me to a deer but then lost interest.  The deer was way more interested in the big, black dog than me.

 

As I write, we are driving in Idaho.  We are on our way to familiar territory, Ponderosa State Park in McCall, Idaho. We are excited to spend most of a week camping with our friends, Darrell and Cindy. If any more of our Idaho friends happen to be in McCall – please let us know. We’d love to get together before we head to New England in mid-June.

May 19th, 2016 marks our second anniversary of moving out of the house, into the trailer and becoming full time RVers.  (Click the following link to read the blog post from that first week  – We made it! We are full time RVers! )  It was a hectic beginning to make the move while I was finishing my last few weeks of teaching kindergarten but we survived it. We left Boise in June, were gone for most of the summer, and then came back to Boise for six weeks for me to actually retire. We took off for real on October 1, 2014.

A lot has happened in the last two years and we feel like we have settled into a nice routine. It hasn’t been totally painless, like the time we had mice – Of Mice and Man but overall we love the lifestyle and plan to keep on going indefinitely.

I asked each of my guys (Randy and Elko) what two things stand out for them as highlights of the last two years.

Elko said the best part for him was having his people with him almost all the time. He really likes family togetherness and wants both of us to go on many walks with him each day. He loves his routine of getting up with mom and then going back to bed with dad until it is time to get up for real.

His other highlight was writing his first blog post about life at Chief Plenty Coups State Park in Montana. That link is here: Guest blogger: Elko  He got good feedback and is beginning to think about writing another.

Randy’s first highlight was going to the Tucson Escapade in February 2015. We went to RV Boot Camp and learned so much, even though we had been RVing for years. Following that, we were able to spend a week with other people who are passionate about this lifestyle while attending seminars and enjoying fellowship. That is where we met Beth with whom we’ve been traveling the last two weeks. In mid-July we’ll be at the 2016 Escapade in Vermont.

Randy also mentioned our volunteer experiences. We had always enjoyed speaking with camp-hosts wherever we saw them and were glad to join their ranks. We remember each of our experiences fondly and were glad we had a chance to give back in that way. During 2015, we spent May at Cove Palisades State Park near Redmond, Oregon, July and August at Farragut State Park near Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and September at Chief Plenty Coups State Park near Billings, Montana. We value the friendships we made at each of those parks and look forward to volunteering again in 2017.

One of the things I have always enjoyed was planning travel and I’ve done a ton of that over the last two years.   Am I living my dream or what?  Of course, some people live this way without planning but I enjoy the time I spend studying maps and routes and doing research on campgrounds.  It is a puzzle to figure how to get time with family, meet up with friends and see lots of very cool places!

Goblin Valley was a very cool place! Our blog post from there was: Unique Landscapes

We have a 140 page “to do” document. It is too big to be called a list! I am constantly taking notes about places I read about or hear about or copy from other blogs.  140 pages – I’m not kidding!  We’ve got years ahead of us…

I enjoy the opportunity to learn new things every day and that is such a highlight for me. Almost every small town has a museum to explore. I’ve learned way more about planes and cars than I ever thought I’d want to know! I’ve learned about all kinds of mining, Titan missiles, Indian war bullets and the Crow. I’ve learned about the Women Air Force Service Pilots,  respirators, the Hearst castle and elephant seals. And on and on!

The single most impactful place for me was the Manzanar Japanese Internment Camp near Lone Pine, California.   It was sad and embarrassing and horrible, and yet, the Japanese internees tried to make a life for themselves behind barbed wire.

Being able to visit these places and then share them through the blog helps me explore and learn with a keener eye. Thank you for reading.

 

We have traveled the west far and wide over these last (almost) two years and have chosen destinations for reasons of scenic beauty, available activities, visiting friends or family, weather management, or just stops along the way. This stay in La Pine, Oregon is a first. We routed here for one reason – dinner.

Randy and I first heard of Cowboy Dinner Tree from other campers while in Bend a couple of years ago. The restaurant’s days and hours are limited, their location is remote and you must have reservations so they know how much food to cook.

Many thanks to our friend Beth for playing along (and driving) because, even here in LaPine, we are still 50 miles from the restaurant. It is truly out in the middle of nowhere under a large tree that use to be a “shade and dinner” stop halfway along the cattle drive trail. The small town of Silver Lake is 4 miles away – not close enough for electricity – so all cooking is done over wood or with propane.

 

Dinner begins with a salad course followed by cowboy beans and the best rolls in the world.

The main entree is a 26 – 30 oz .steak, or whole chicken, served with a baked potato.  You must choose your entree when you make reservations. A small dessert follows the main course.

The atmosphere is old time cowboy and drinks are served in large mason jars. It was totally a delightful experience – one we would all repeat. We could tell who the experienced diners were because they brought tupperware along to collect their leftovers from every serving. We have enough steak left over for at least two meals!

The cost you ask? $30 per meal – “no credit cards, no debit cards, no kidding” – and worth every penny and mile to get there. Their advertising is all word of mouth (I’m doing my part) and business is brisk.

Today we move 30 miles to Tumalo State Park west of Bend. That will be our last of four stops with fellow full-timer Beth and it has been a blast to travel together. In addition to this memorable dinner and seeing sites in Reno, Carson City, Virginia City and Lava Beds National Monument, we have enjoyed hanging out, watching some very old James Bond movies and playing card games. Getting together again somewhere along the way will definitely be on our radar.

After Tumalo, Beth is headed toward her volunteer lighthouse gig on the Oregon coast and we are staying in Oregon to have a family get together in Sumpter.  Life on the road is a joy and we are blessed.

“Peaceably if you possibly can, forcibly if you must.” Those were the words spoken by an Indian agent tasking the US Army with gathering sixty Modoc warriors and their families and taking them back to their assigned reservation.

The Modoc leader, Captain Jack, refused to go and the Modoc Indian War began in the fall of 1872.  He, his warriors, and their families retreated into jagged, defensible volcanic formations.   They used caves for homes and built rock walls to further defend the stronghold.

The Army’s contingent was 1000 troops strong yet the warriors withstood their minor and major assaults for six months, until April 1873.  The Modocs only surrendered when their water source to Tule Lake was severed. This area has since been called Captain Jack’s Stronghold.

General E.R.S. Canby was killed in battle with the Modocs, the only general ever killed in an Indian War. This cross, accusing the Modocs of murder,  is a replica of one erected in the years after his death.   The adjoining placard talks about the differing perspectives on the Canby’s death: the perceived murder vs. the attempt to stay and live in one’s home.

Today, Captain Jack’s Stronghold is part of the Lava Beds National Monument in northeastern California.

The area is vast and over 800 lava tube caves have been found within the 46,000 acre park. Two dozen caves are open for public exploration.   Beth, Randy and I decided to see a few for ourselves.

Our first stop was at the visitor center for information and a permit. The ranger quizzed us on previous cave experiences and determined she should clean our cameras and Beth’s and Randy’s boots – mine were new since our last cave exploration.   Beth and Randy had to walk around in stocking feet for a little while.

The rangers are hoping to avoid visitors contaminating the local bats with White-Nose Syndrome.  This disease has been killing bats in eastern caves at an alarming rate since 2006. Only within the last month was the first case of White Nose Syndrome confirmed west of the rockies.  A bat was found with the disease near North Bend, Washington, many miles from the last most western case in Nebraska.

Once cleared, we explored several caves. The Mushpot cave near the visitor center had a ladder entrance and then a nice easy trail with lighting available.

Some caves required climbing down into them and walking on uneven surfaces. Some had different offshoots to explore – or not.

The Golden Dome Cave has a type of bacteria that appears to glitter like gold when exposed to light.

The caves are rated as easy, moderate and difficult due to the terrain, the elevation change and the height of the tube as you pass through the cave.

We explored two easy and three moderate  caves. We declined the chance to crawl around and squeeze through low openings! Maybe another day….not!

We recently drove to Virginia City and spent some time exploring the old boom town. Virginia City was “the richest place on earth” for 20 years after the country’s largest silver deposit was discovered in the Comstock Lode in 1859.  Virginia City’s population reached 25,000 residents and had a variety of saloons, restaurants and even an opera house hosting all the great performers of the day.

 

Virginia City had shops, hotels, churches and schools.

 

We toured the Fourth Ward School during our visit.  Built for 1000 students in 1876, the school eventually had a student body of 150 in its last class of 1936 – mirroring the decline of the once booming town. (Current year round population of Virginia City is about 1000 people.) The school sat empty for 50 years until restoration efforts began in 1986.

We enjoyed touring the old school and trying, and failing, to pass the teacher’s exam from 1877!

With many college degrees between us, and successful business and teaching backgrounds, Beth, Randy and I could not pass the teacher’s exam – even collectively!

We took a trolley tour around the city, ate lunch in an old saloon and watched a gunfight re-enactment.

 

We visited the Delta Saloon and saw the Suicide Table – so named because several men chose to end their lives because of great financial loss at this Faro Table. Ripley’s Believe it Or Not once did a feature on the Suicide Table.

 

We also saw the Old Globe, commissioned by one of the town’s richest founders, James Fair at a price of $450 in 1880. It is now valued at more than $100,000. One of the interesting notes about this globe is that it shows a completed Atlantic Cable, financed by one of Fair’s  mining partners, James Mackay – only the cable wasn’t completed until 1886. He must have had confidence in his partner – and why not? They were some of the richest men anywhere after their mining pursuits.

We visited Virginia City in early May and some of the venues had not opened for the season but we still had more options than we had time for.  Another visit is likely in our future.

Our home for the week was the Sparks Marina RV Park.  Good Sam RV Club rates RV parks across the country and this resort has a 10/10/10 rating – the highest possible. The resort has nice amenities and is kept spotless. There is astroturf for grass around the park so it stays green despite the harsh seasons.

The only downsides we experienced was that the sites are quite close together and they are quite restrictive on where dogs can do their business.

However, they absolutely win the prize for the best dog parks ever! They are visually appealing, even to the people who come hang out with the dogs, and Elko loved going to all three of the parks. The smells were a smorgasbord for a black boy with big nose!

We had days of rain when we connected with our friend Beth here in Reno so we looked for indoor pursuits.  We found some interesting places!

On Friday evening we went onto the University of Nevada campus to visit the Fleischmann Planetarium. It has been over five years since Randy and I have been on this campus but that previous visit remains imprinted on our minds – another Friday night in November, 2010 when BSU lost a most heartbreaking football game. Fortunately, this trip to campus was only interesting and not heartbreaking!

We watched a program about the Nevada sky and star constellations. We do not see any of those pictures when we look at the night sky!

We learned about Mercury passing between the Earth and the sun this week – something that only happens 13 times a century.  (We were able to view it on Monday as telescopes were set up at the Marina.)

We also saw a presentation called the Dark Side of the Moon, a computer graphics show on the planetarium ceiling coordinated to Pink Floyd music – including the signature piece. Some of the graphics were very cool but 45 minutes of it was about 40 minutes too long.

We enjoyed looking at the Rand McNally “Blue Marble.” This 6 foot 3 inch diameter relief globe is thought to be the most accurate representation of the earth’s surface ever made.

The next day we drove to Carson City and enjoyed a British Pub lunch at Firkin and Fox. Think Fish and Chips, Cottage Pie and Chicken Pot Pie!

We also visited the Nevada State Museum held in the former Carson City Mint building.

The mint was needed because Nevada miners were getting so much gold and silver that it was inefficient to ship the ore to other places for minting. The Carson City Mint had a brief tenure, from 1870 – 1893, but still produced coins valued over $48 million. There is a viewable vault on premises with nearly all the CC marked coins ever produced in the Carson City Mint.

We learned that the United States went back and forth between a silver or gold based monetary system based on which political party was in control. Democrats generally favored a silver standard and Republicans favored gold.

Nevada, The Silver State, produced so much silver in the 1870s that France and Germany withdrew silver from circulation.  The Comstock Lode, the mine responsible for much of that silver, gave another gift to the world of mining.

Comstock engineer, Philip Diedesheimer, developed the “square set stope” reinforcement technique in 1860 to keep miners safe and allow for deeper penetration into mountains. This technology is still widely used today.

The USS Nevada was outfitted with a complete silver service courtesy of the state of Nevada.  It was the only battleship able to get underway during the attack on Pearl Harbor. The USS Nevada has a sad end, however, when the Navy eventually assigned it to be a target ship in bomb experiments. After being hit by the first atomic bomb it remained afloat but was heavily damaged and radioactive. The Nevada was decommissioned and sunk during naval gunfire practice in 1948.

The state of Nevada was very instrumental in bomb experimentation beginning in January 1951. One hundred and twenty six atmospheric tests were conducted before being discontinued in 1962 – many considered to be social events.

Nevada also had the first female candidate to run for the United States Senate. Reno’s Anne Martin ran in 1918 saying “….Even if I should not win, it will never seem so strange when a woman tries it.”  She lost, but garnered a respectable number of votes and paved the way as she intended.

We visited Reno’s  National Automobile Museum, considered one of the five best auto museums in the United States. The museum contains 175 autos from the Harrah Collection – of Hotel and Casino fame. When the Holiday Inn chain bought the Harrah hotels, they did not want the auto collection and a separate foundation was formed to own and display the cars. At the time of the donation, 1989,  the IRS determined it to be the single most valuable donation ever made in the United States. The collection is considered priceless as many of the cars are irreplaceable.   The Museum currently has  225 cars, most from the original collection but others that were donated by celebrities and others.

Many of the cars are one of a kind vehicles including this orange 1937 Airomobile. This prototype was driven 45,000 miles across country at speeds up to 80 mph in an attempt to generate funding for mass production. The vehicle was a success but funding wasn’t forthcoming because of the Great Depression.

The 1938 Phantom Corsair, shown above, was designed and built by Rust Heinz who died shortly thereafter. Even though the family declined to pursue the car into production, the Corsair still wins auto awards as one of the best ever designed.

There are way too many cars to mention more than a few but here is a sampling!

The First Model Cadillac

 

 

 

Beth and I had fun posing in costume in the only car you are allowed to touch, a Ford Model T.

The next few days…no rain in sight.  Outside we go!

We are camping in nature for a change and loving it! As I write this blog post, I am watching two cottontail bunnies playing just a few feet from my window. (Later I saw two adults and two baby bunnies!)

Elko and Randy are in their afternoon relaxation positions on the other side of the trailer so of no concern to the bunnies.

 

We are in Rye Patch State Recreation Area, which was just a place on the map before yesterday. We knew it was somewhat desolate but figured two days in Winnemucca would be enough and this was a stop between there and our next destination of Sparks, Nevada. We’ve spent so much time in RV parks the last many months that we were trying to get back to nature. Ideally, we would have a nice balance between RV parks and rural campgrounds but the planner (me) is still working on letting go of those RV hookups!

But let me go back in time as I don’t mean to disparage Winnemucca. We stayed in a very interesting RV park that is just a couple years old and is landscaped almost all in rock.

Yet, it was neat and tidy and worked. The utilities were built such that they are year round viable and the developers planted lots and lots of trees. We had great weather for our two days there so heat on the rocks wasn’t a problem. Hopefully those trees will grow tall and strong and provide lots of shade for future summer campers!

This facility is also prepared to provide a massive amount of bunkhouse accommodations for miners in the area. There were about 350 separate air-conditioned bunkhouse rooms, three per building. There are bath house buildings on each row as well. It seemed that very few rooms were occupied so we assume the mining industry in the area is in a lull, but this place is ready.

We took one drive and hike in Water Canyon on BLM land east of Winnemucca. We saw some nearby snow, some wild flowers and enjoyed being outside in the hills.

 

We had only a 50 mile trip down the road to Rye Patch and were on our way by 10:30 a.m. An earlier conversation with the ranger made us aware that there was exactly ONE campsite in this very large park with electricity (a camp-host site not currently being used) and it could not be reserved. We were hoping to get that site but Randy made sure our batteries were in good shape and that we had water available in the trailer just in case we didn’t.

We arrived to find three other camper groups in the entire multiple campground park so Randy was able to back right into our target site. As we had been told, the electric box was locked and no ranger was on duty until our second day. We had to rough it for one night but it was no problem. We cooked outside and had a campfire – two things we don’t do very often.

We collect and then burn the identifying papers that we used to just put through a shredder. The fire continued when some neighbors gave us their firewood as they were heading home to California and couldn’t take their firewood with them.

We’ve taken several hikes around the area and even though Rye Patch isn’t the prettiest place we’ve ever been, it has been a joy to be here.

We will definitely come back when we pass this way again, even if we don’t get the one and only electric site in the park.

In addition to the cottontails I mentioned earlier, we have seen a few jack-rabbits and lots of lizards. Randy saw a snake but, fortunately, I did not. And what of the wild turkeys for dinner?

There are four semi-wild turkeys wandering around the campground and instead of being dinner, they come for dinner! It is very apparent they have been fed by campers because they walk right into the campsite to see what is available.  They weren’t  even concerned about Elko laying in our midst – nor was Elko concerned about them. We didn’t share our meal with the turkeys because the ranger board specifically asks you not to, but we saw others doing so.

It reminds me of feeding the ducks pretty much year around in our backyard in Boise. It made me happy to see ducks walking around on the snow. They were our guests and I never considered having them for dinner either!

We are back in Boise and have enjoyed spending time with grandson Archer and his parents! During our video chats this winter Archer was calling me “Beema.” I had never really connected with “grandma” so I liked that Archer came up with his own name for me. Now that we are here, I am definitely Beema and, a couple of times, Archer has called Randy – “Beema-Man.” I really loved that because over the years Randy has enjoyed it just a little too much when I was called “Mrs. Randy.” Now he is Beema -Man. Although, to be honest, Archer is calling us both Beema most of the time. We’ll see how that evolves!

We are enjoying being back in our Riverside RV spot by the Greenbelt (paved walking path) and the Boise River.

The temperatures are unseasonably warm and the river is very high. It has been very nice for hanging out!

Randy had his follow-up tests (after his issues last fall) and the scan and exam were squeaky clean! (Praise! Praise!) Elko had his geriatric vet check and all of his results were fine as well. (Another praise!)

Unfortunately the truck didn’t fare as well. We had the oil changed in Fresno and the mechanic there had spotted diesel and oil leaks. Sure enough, both leaks were found again and the minor repairs are scheduled. The truck will also be getting new brakes and tires. Oh well, better the truck than Randy or Elko!

I’ve been able to do things that are more fun – like lunch with my friends Theresa and Jacque and going to choir practice. It is always nice to be back in Boise.   Except for a week in Cabo, we’ll be here, down by the river, until the end of April.