Labor Day Weekend!

At "Hoffer Cathedral" - Gunsight in background.

    Seems like it has already been ages since I have recorded anything here on Blogspot.  Such will be the case during the more mundane WORKING part of the year!  
    We had plans to head out camping for a day or two with friends, but when that didn't materialize, we have still had a good weekend - and accomplished quite abit as well!  
    Friday night, after a sumptious dinner of BLTs on homemade sourdough bread (Thank you Amanda for the tomatoes!), we decided to take in the home Baker Bulldog football game.  The weather was perfect and it seemed a good time to go to the ball game.  We might not want to later in the fall when it is freezing outside, windy, or snowing!  Baker defeated Weiser by at least two touchdowns, so it was a good game to watch!  

Sheet "ceiling" above pantry.

    Saturday morning Rick and I took a leisurely bike ride out the frontage road - the weather had cooled so it was perfect riding weather!  Came back to get started finishing up some things in the basement, starting with the "ceiling" in the newly finished pantry shelf area.  That led to several other patches of sheeting being put up in areas we had never finished when we started this LAST summer!  Basically we are using old white sheets from the Welcome Inn here in town to cover the rough and exposed floorboards....and all the dust, bugs, and spider webs that come with them!  Sure cleans up the basement!  We started to do the spot over my workbench, but then remembered we will need access to the bathtub pipes this fall to redo the shower, so we'll wait on that.  No sense putting up what will just have to come back down!  In between all that "work" we watched a fair amount of US Open tennis!
    Saturday evening we basically invited ourselves out to Rusty Munn's house so Rick could watch the OSU football game and Baker's own Grant Johnson #70!  We took out corn and pizza and had a great visit with Rusty!  
    I had already told the church I wouldn't be there on Sunday (we were camping, remember?), so Rick and I decided to attend the "Church of Hoffer Basin."  It really is quite a cathedral!   We also came "armed" with a small container, as Rick had seen huckleberries when he was hiking in the area last weekend.  

Grasses were turning red!

    Sunday morning, however, dawned very cool!  We went out to breakfast at the Truck Corral (it had been years since we had been there!)  Simple breakfast, cup of coffee and we are "on the road!"  (Hence this is a legitimate blog!)  And as we neared the Anthony Lakes basin we could see the trees at the tops of the ridges were all frosted and cold looking!  Perfect fall hiking weather!  Fortunately it had been wet and cold last week and Rick was ready with gloves and hats along with our jackets.  The gloves felt good.  But the skies were constantly shifting mists.  The wind was really moving the clouds overhead.   Some of the trees are starting to change colors, and there was considerable "red" in the grasses and the "wild African turkey plant" (Luke's name for it - I figured out what it was really called once, but Wild African turkey plant is embedded in our brains now!).  Pretty.  Very very pretty.  

Huckleberries!

We climbed up to Hoffer Lake and then continued on the trail to the right around the meadow, up to the upper meadow, and then headed off cross country toward the bouldered basin below Lakes Lookout - one of Rick's favorite spots.  Along the way we kept an eye out for huckleberries.  The plants with berries were scattered.  Some loaded, but still not ripe, others totally bare.  Eastern Oregon berries are so small and picking is tedious work! We probably spent at least an hour total picking during the day and came home with a little over one cup of berries!  But they will make GREAT muffins in the morning for breakfast!  

In the Hoffer basin boulder field.

    Stopped for a little gorp and devotion time up on a huge rock slab in the midst of the boulder field.  Great view up to Lees Peak, Lakes Lookout, and across to Gunsight and Van Patten Butte.  We could see Hoffer, Anthony, Lilypad, and Mud Lake in the distance.  All of it made the Hoffer Cathedral perfect.  

Don, Julie, Roxy, Cherrie, Darrell & Rusty

    Dinner at the Conklins!  Since I called Cherrie to set this up - in some ways I guess we invited ourselves to dinner again!   Don and Roxie Ulrey plus daughter Julie, and Rusty Munn made for a delightful dinner conversation!   Darrell cooked up a steelhead, and everyone brought the rest of the dinner!  Fun time!  

The hanging baskets tucked in
for the night! 

    Monday morning dawned clear and COLD!  The front door had cracked open about 10 inches and of course the kitchens windows were still open.  I checked and the temp in the house was 50 degrees.  About 33 outside.  Brrrrr.  Good thing I wrapped my tomatoes up for the night in their blankets!  

Sooooo good!

    A lazy "Labor Day"!  Maybe it was a "Non-labor Day" instead!  We watched alot of US Open Tennis, I did a little baking and sewing, Rick took in the Boise State football game with Rusty.  We spent most of the morning reading the Sunday paper, drinking coffee and eating fantastic huckleberry muffins!  So good!  


Click here to see ALL of the weekend's pictures.  

Impromptu Get Away to Anthony Lakes

Wild Onions at Black Lake

Friday - Saturday, August 13-14
VIEW pictures


Rick and I decided to take off for the night and run away to Anthony Lakes.  Luke and Jack were tied up with tennis clinic and a tournament on Saturday.  So Rick packed up the tent trailer and some food while I got a few things checked off my list, and we left at 1 pm for Anthony Lakes.  The road construction is closed on Friday through Sunday, so no delays during weekends!  


It is a beautiful day in the 80's and sunshine!  We pull into Anthony campground and find the group overflow site reserved and nearly ALL the sites in the regular campground taken, or unsuitable for the tent trailer!  Wow!  Mud Lake Campground is now a group only site, so we head up the hill to Grande Ronde Lake.  We haven't been in there for ages.  


Sign warns that the road is "not suitable for passenger cars" but we go anyway and other than a few rocks here and there, it is fine!  As we are pulling in, the park host passes us and says "The site at the end is empty and a beautiful spot, but I warn you that a large group of boys will be camped near you.  But there are adults too, so they shouldn't be too loud!"  We decide to take our chances because the site is great.  

Red Columbine

We get all set up.  A huge meadow separates us from the shallow lake.  We are in the trees right at the edge of the meadow.  A gurgling brook flows next to us.  The meadow is filled with blue gentians, Rick's favorite late season flower.  


We drive back down to Anthony Lake, and take a short hour and half hike up to Black Lake.  Wildflowers are still out, although the lupine is nearly past and all the heather has died off.  We hike around the lake.  Enroute back we visit Lilypad Lake and the abundance of water lilies covering the surface.  Finish the lap around Anthony and back to the car.  


Back at camp we both set our chairs up along the edge of the meadow in the sunshine.  A cool breeze is blowing so the sun feels good!  Time to read, work puzzles, and listen to the osprey and the brook!  


Dinner is a random blend of pretzels, peanuts, carrots, a hunk of cheese and a bottle of wine.  Nice!  We have a wonderful fire and after dark I amuse myself taking sparks pictures - they looked like fireworks going off!  


We go to bed early and set the watch to waken just before midnight.  Tonight is still a good time to watch the Perseid Meteor shower with peak activity between midnight and two am.  The meteors should be in the NE sky and that is exactly the direction you look from the meadow toward the lake.  


I get up at 11:45 and set up a chair at the edge of the meadow with my sleeping bag over me.  Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed in the number and size of the meteors I saw - only 12 in the hour I sat out in the dark.  However, the clear skies and the vast array of stars and the Milky Way was awesome in its own right!  I went back to bed at 1am when I realized how wet from the dew the sleeping bag was getting!  (Rick bailed out on the viewing....saying he was so warm and snuggly in his bed!  :)

What a gorgeous spot to fish!

Up in the morning to seek the sun and read a little.  Enjoyed a little coffee and breakfast of bagels and hard boiled eggs!  


We decided to break camp and head down the mountain to Van Patten trailhead and the hike up to the lake for a little fishing.  Took me an hour to get up the steep trail (1.5 miles), but we spent a beautiful 2 1/2 hours at the lake....Rick fishing (caught 5 small ones which he threw back) and I relaxed in the sun reading and finishing the Soduku Monster from Sunday's paper.  Osprey flying and diving.  Beautiful.     (I can't help but mention also that I had to cut a fishing lure from the back of Rick's pants as he snagged himself!)


Home by 3pm refreshed and ready to roll!  

A DAY FOR FAMILY!

Sunday, August 8

Steubenville, OH: Robin’s home

VIEW a sampling of today’s pictures

The house was full last night! Three air beds downstairs, plus Rod and Chasey on the couches. Meg slept on the floor in the sewing room. Technically I think Grandma has been sleeping in Megan’s old bedroom, and Rick and I are in Matt’s bedroom downstairs. The basement crew was up late Saturday night, hence, a bit slow in rising today!

Morning spent taking walks, preparing the fixings for today’s meal, reading papers, etc. In general – nothing too exciting! The weather forebodes a warm one as the air is already muggy. I spent down “church time” at the swing near the pond – a beautiful setting and still in the shade in the morning hours!

Tom and Betty are arriving just as Karen, Megan, and I leave for the grocery store to pick up the deli trays. Luke also needs me to pick up some Alkaselzter Plus as he is having some major allergy problems the past few days. Grandma has been making drug recommendations, Robin gave him something, etc. We should have asked Meg – she’s the pharmacist! Unfortunately, it’s been developing also into a sinus headache.

When we get back, Randy, Patty, and Rachael have arrived and the games get into full swing. For most of the afternoon (around the food time), Jed, Luke, Rachael, Matt, Chasey and either Rod or I were downstairs with a board game or outside with home run derby or croquet. Outside was limited as it was HOT and HUMID! Sorry, Buzz Word, Oregon Trail, UNO, and Trivial Pursuit downstairs. (Just for the record: Chasey won Sorry, Boys’ team won Buzz word, Ginger won UNO, we all LOST Oregon Trail, and the Girls’ team of Ginger, Chasey, and Rachael won Trivial Pursuit. We owe our victory to Chasey who is an awesome dice roller! (Beating Patty and Rod, no less! Rod is a formidable opponent of sports and history trivia!)

We ate around 2:30 and Tad and Edwina arrived just in time! Tom and Betty have the motor home parked in the driveway and their new puppy Jake, an English setter. (CUTE!) Tad and Edwina have their pug, Sofie. The dogs provide late afternoon entertainment on the vast lawn!

At 5:30 we surprise Mom with a large cake and an 80^th birthday celebration. We are a week early (her birthday is on the 14^th) but everyone is here now! Cake, ice cream, and peanut butter pie on the menu! Wow!

Group pictures follow, as Matt and Megan must leave to return to Pittsburgh and get Matt on the plane for an 8:30 flight to Chicago. While we wait for Rod to return from a walk with Sadie, Jed, Luke, Rachael, and Chasey take “Air Pictures” out on the lawn. I have a few on my camera, but none of the group ones. Jed will have to post those! Tad and Edwina leave later, and at the conclusion of the Trivial Pursuit game, Randy, Patty, & Rachael head back up to her mom’s, taking Rod and Chasey back to Greenville on the way. Basement suddenly seems so QUIET!

I stayed up way too late playing cribbage and Quiddler with Jed and Luke while we watched the championship match of one of the US Open tennis series tourneys. Rob receives the Tennis Channel which makes tennis viewing easy on the big screen downstairs!

All in all, a good day of family time. I realized Jed and Luke have had a tremendous year of renewing ties with cousins on both sides of the family. With the aid of Facebook, we shall keep it going! Thanks to Rob and Karen for all their prep work and hospitality in having everyone here in Steubenville. (We were thankful we were at an air conditioned home today!)

A DAY OF MEMORY FOR GRANDPA BILL

Saturday, August 7

Greenville, PA

VIEW a sample of pictures from today

We are up early to prepare for an 8 am departure for Greenville. Matt arrived yesterday afternoon, flying in from Chicago. The basement is beginning to fill up, but we will have 3 more staying here tonight!

On the road shortly after 8. Karen drives one car with Mom, Luke, and Matt. Rob drives the second with Rick, Jed, and myself. It is a pretty drive, passing huge mills on the river, small little villages nestled in the hills, and acres and acres of corn fields and other vegetables. Everything is so green when you come east in the summer, compared to our sunbaked, NONhumid, west. The weather today is atypical and delightful! Highs are forecast in the 70’s low 80’s and the humidity is down.

Greenville Presbyterian Church is celebrating its 180^th year of worship in this community. A very prominent, old stone structure with beautiful stained glass windows and large classrooms downstairs. We quickly set up the urn, move flowers, and figure out where Luke and I will stand to sing. I set up the computer downstairs with pictures of Pop set to scroll for the next three hours!

Family in attendance: Tom (Mom’s brother) and Betty from North Carolina, Edwina (Mom’s sister), and Tad from Pittsburgh, their daughter Susie from Washington DC, Randy, Patty, and Rachael from New Mexico, Rod from Greenville, Rod’s daughter Denise and her three children, Kevin, Kyle, and Chasey from Greenville, Rob, Karen, Matt (Chicago) and Megan (Pittsburgh), and the four of us from Oregon. A highlight for Mom was also her long time friend, Eleanor Mackenzie, who was down from Canada!

Rick, Rod, and Randy greeted many guests as they arrived, Rick grateful for Rod’s extensive knowledge of everyone who arrived – faces Rick hadn’t seen in years! Mom was able to visit with many prior to the service and the rest afterwards!

The service went well. The three grandsons each read two scriptures, Luke and I sang the song, “When All Is Said and Done” by Tyrone Wells. Thank you, God, for the strength to sing inspite of the circumstances! Rick shared memories of Pop and read the obituary. The pastor concluded with comments and reflections.

We were downstairs from about noon until 2 pm visiting. Denise and the boys had to leave so Denise could catch a little sleep before going to work. Chasey and Rod will be coming on down to Steubenville tonight.

We load some flowers and two trays of cookies into the cars and parade about 30 miles southeast to Jackson Center, where the Pleasant Hill Cemetery is located. This is the Robson family cemetery and we explore many gravesites from the family of Ralph T. Robson. (Mom’s father) We are about a half hour early, so plenty of time to explore while waiting for the minister to arrive. (Altho the sun is warm and we begin to gather in the shade of the trees circling the area).

The committal service is short yet moving. The headstone is beautiful and we leave the spray of flowers from the church on top after the grass is replaced. Rick carried the urn out from the car and Randy placed it in the hole at the appropriate time. I wish I had thought ahead to have a few momentos to toss in with the urn: Little Debbies, Werther’s, maybe a piece of music........ memories of Pop.

We drove down the road a short piece to the Yellowcreek Inn. A good, family style restaurant. We have reserved a long table right in the center of the place and enjoy a nice meal.

Susie is the only family member who will not be down at Robin's tomorrow. She has to return to DC for a Monday morning meeting. Tom and Betty will be coming down in the RV from the campground they are in at Mercer, Tad and Edwina driving back over from Pittsburgh.

Just under 2 hours finds us back in Steubenville and evening spent visiting, eating cookies and drinking wine! Home run derby on the lawn, croquet, and a little hot tub action.

More family time to anticipate and celebrate on Sunday ahead!

View Luke and Ginger's song

View Rick's family memories

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Friday morning, Steubenville

VIEW ball game pictures

Highlight for yesterday was a trip to the Pirates new ball field and a game with the Colorado Rockies! Even more amazing.....the Pirates won the game 5-1! (Distressingly with a new pitcher they acquired from the Dodgers!)

After a quiet morning sitting on the screen porch at Rob's and visiting, we decided at noon time that Thursday would be the best day to attend a Pirates game if we were going to go. Monday no game is scheduled, so no chance then. We go online with Karen and order five tickets. Mom and Karen are going to meet Meg this afternoon to pick up the guitar and get Mom some new shoes. Rob is going to the game with us.

Karen and I spend the afternoon going through photo albums to scan more pictures of Pop and the kids into the slide show. We find about 40 more - makes me feel better that it won't JUST be pictures of Jed and Luke! Hopefully I will get some today or tomorrow morning from Randy.

We take off for Pittsburgh shortly after 5. The skies are clearing, and it isn't TOO hot and muggy! The papers today were still filled with news of the storm yesterday - most of the damage was centered about 40 miles south of here.

Through the Fort Pitt tunnel and the view suddenly opens to the whole cityscape of Pittsburgh and the three rivers. Pittsburgh is a pretty city, especially at night. We can see the little cars of the Incline to our right and I spy my favorite Pittsburgh tower which looks like a castle! Rob has a parking lot in mind - a tire store that opens up the lot on game days for $5 parking. We find a spot and then walk a short distance to the Roberto Clemente bridge. They close the bridge on game days to traffic and open it only to pedestrians crossing over to the stadium on the other side.

Enroute we pass a 2008 sculpture created from miniature bridges in the "transformer" fashion. It is pretty cool and a great example of public art! VIEW

We have great seats along the first base line and in the lower deck. Sun is behind us so we are also in the shade! PNC Stadium is relatively new and beautifully intimate! The skyline is just beyond the outfield fences and the river. The hedge in center field is cut to spell out Pirates. Surrounding the upper deck is a large LED screen that encircles the stadium. There are many fun promotions, games, etc. run during the inning breaks. A fun time! Rick purchased a Philly Steak sandwich, but was disappointed in the flavor. :( It was a little bland, which is a lot for me to say!

Fun ballgame with plenty of hitting on the part of the Pirates! A couple of home runs, doubles, and action! Lots of strikeouts for our pitcher.

Home around 11 to clear starry skies (which quickly produced a heavy rain storm around midnight!)

FLIGHT TO STEUBENVILLE

Thursday morning, August 5

Robin & Karen’s home, Steubenville, Ohio

Well, our “Rembolds on the Road” turned into “Rembolds in the Air” for this part of the summer! We left Baker City Tuesday afternoon to drive down to Boise, Idaho and spent the night at the Sleep Inn next to the airport. Dinner at the Mongolian Grill and then back to the hotel as it was mid 90’s outside! We will be able to leave the car parked at the hotel for the week we are gone.

Up at 4am for a 4:40 shuttle to the airport and a 6am departure! Smooth sailing into Denver, although Jed has to sit separately because we didn’t book the flight together. He doesn’t mind! Luke and I play two games of Cribbage enroute, one of which I SHOULD have won if I hadn’t missed 8 points!

We had a two hour layover in Denver, which Rick and I spent walking around and the boys played a game on the computer. We got sandwiches at Quizno’s as the lunch provided on the plane is for first class customers only!

Jed chooses to sit separately again because he plans to sleep for this 3 hour flight! Luke and I work on puzzles which Rick reads the paper. Then a nap for Rick and two more games of cribbage for Luke and me. The three hours seems to go fairly quickly and uneventfully.

We arrive in Pittsburgh right on time and evidently JUST IN TIME! As we leave the airport with Rob, the storm begins to hit. We drive right into one of the strongest thunder and lightning storms I have seen in some time! Strong winds, HEAVY rain, and lightning bolts all over the place! Wow! A good thing we weren’t trying to land in Pittsburgh at 4 pm instead of 3 pm – we would be flying in circles above all this waiting to land!

We are all settled at Rob’s in the basement “apartment” – boys each have a blow up queen size mattress to sleep on and Rick and I have the guest room. Pretty posh! Karen has a great dinner ready and a quiet evening of visiting until a good sleep!

Rob and Karen's home sits on the top of a hill outside of town. There is only one home next to them and a vacant woodland on the other side. Acres of grassy area which is wonderful to run through barefoot, especially with the recent rain. About 8 years ago Karen developed a pond on the west side of the house. The perenniels have grown beautifully and it is a very tranquil spot now. Karen has a swing near it which overlooks the pond and the woodland below. About a dozen fish swimming around which she feeds when the fountain turns off. I am constantly reminded the plus side of the humidity - flowers grow profusely! You can sit on the screen porch facing north and the woodland below and watch critters cross the yard, fireflies, and wild turkeys!

As we read this morning's paper and about the widespread power outages from yesterday's storm, we say thank you again for a smooth flight and landing! And that Steubenville wasn't as hard hit. With all the family coming, a power outage right now would NOT be pleasant! Blessings on those who are without at the moment further south of us.

Thank you for family!

ADDENDUM!

I forgot a few things in the previous post! Please find a link to view the pictures from Andrea and Dan's wedding on July 24 in Ontario, OR. VIEW

BAKER-BASED TRAVELS

Saturday, July 17 to Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Baker City, OR

Well, the Rembolds have actually been in town for over a week with limited traveling! Everyone has been coming to us instead!

Spent a busy weekend from the 16^th to the 18^th enjoying Baker’s Miner’s Jubilee celebration. Weather was hot which was hard on Mom (all of us actually!) but a fun time. We were able to actually participate in the Lion’s Club breakfast in the park rather than work at it!

Tuesday Rick and Luke went fishing up at Two Color and came home with a load of wood in the van. Wood gathering was more successful than fishing – they didn’t even get a bite!

Wednesday Rick and I drove down to Boise to pick up Jed flying in. Enjoyed a glorious sunset enroute. Thursday, Jed and Luke helped Erin Lair paint the outside of her house and Erin came over for dinner when they wrapped it up for the day.

Friday Rick and Jed went for a hike to the summit of Angel’s Peak up at Anthony Lakes basin. Grandma Mac and I stayed home so I could finish the sewing on a new shirt to take back east. Luke was down in Ontario for the evening for the rehearsal dinner for Andrea Conklin’s wedding.

Saturday we all headed down to Ontario during the afternoon – it was hot! Wedding at 6:30 in the Japanese Garden outside the cultural center. Reception inside. Luke did a wonderful job officiating the wedding (with a Spanish interpretor). A nice blend of traditional, modern, American, and Hispanic traditions. Process in to the traditional wedding march, recess dancing to the Mexican Hat dance! Bridesmaids all wore different color low-top Converse tennis shoes! A superb buffet from the restaurant where Dan is manager which catered the meal: prime rib and baked salmon, plus a molé dish. Had a good chance for mom to visit with Midge, Trisha, Vicki, etc.

Sunday we were in charge of coffee hour fellowship at church. The triennium youth returned, so we invited Mike Braymen over for dinner so he could get a chance to visit with Jed while he was here.

Monday….Kady, Luke’s girlfriend, arrived around noon, having driven the 6 hours down from Republic in northern Washington. We promptly packed up the van and headed up to Anthony Lake for a picnic and hike! Picked up Sean Tomlinson, back from Afghanistan, on the way. The weather has turned thunderstormy, but we found some sunshine, parked Grandma Mac in a chair overlooking the lake, and took off for a short hike up to Hoffer Lakes to see all the wildflowers Rick and Jed reported from last week! Elephant heads, shooting stars, and lupine out in abundance in the meadow regions. We cooked hot dogs and made s’mores, Rick unsuccessfully went fishing, and we watching a lightning storm roll around us, but leaving very little rain. Mosquitoes were bad, but we used plenty of bug juice and didn’t get eaten up. Another glorious sunset coming home. View Anthony Lakes pictures

Tuesday Jack Ho arrived from Denver, Colorado. Rusty Munn joined us for dinner. Wednesday, Cherrie came by for lunch and a good visit with Mom. Kady left to return home. I can't keep track of who is here when right now!

So…..I said we didn’t travel much during the past week, but I guess it did include a trip to Boise, two trips to Ontario, backroads east to Eagle Creek, and two treks to Anthony Lakes! The Rembolds must still be “on the road”! And plenty of others were on the road to our house!

Sunday, August 1, 2010

McMinnville, Oregon and back to Baker City

Home from a two-part quick trip to Liz’s house in West Linn to drop Grandma Mac off for transport home and enjoyed a good visit with Liz, Dave, Gretchen, Shawn, and little Tucker! What a red-headed ball of fire! He loves his water! A lazy Saturday morning visiting, Rick taking a walk down by the river. We had lunch with Mom and Liz at the Linn City Pub – good place! Mom and Liz took off for Bandon and Rick and I for McMinnville. View Tucker Pictures

The second half of this trip was to attend the wedding of Ethan Barske and Lindsey Jorgansen at the Youngberg vineyard outside of McMinnville. Jed was a groomsman for the wedding and drove over on Thursday so he could attend the bachelor party, etc. We haven’t spoken with him since he left!

Shopping in Mac-town at Win-Co, Walmart, and Joanne’s Fabrics! Win-Co takes the longest because we have so many bags to fill with goodies! But I bought fabric for THREE new shirts at Joanne's! Also got dressed for the wedding at Joanne's.

Ethan and Lindsey’s wedding was held at the top of a hill overlooking the entire Yamhill Valley. Wow! The weather was perfect with sunshine and a light breeze. Clear skies. The music – a group of strings, probably Linfield grads from the music department! – was classic with a great blends of styles and genres – just what you would expect from music majors! “Chap” from the college performed the ceremony with a great deal of humor and personalization. Jed looked great, of course, but Lindsey stole the show with a bouquet of deep red roses that must have included at least 2-3 dozen. The dinner was classy, but not over much, and the cake was created from cupcakes decorated with a single fat raspberry! The wine flowed freely (it was at a vineyard, after all!) and we had to reluctantly shut ourselves off after a couple of glasses since we did have a late night drive ahead of us. Ethan’s parents presented them with a cutting from an ivy plant they had been given when they married 38 years ago. His brother Erik read a great poem in tribute to the new couple. We were glad we had gone. View Barske Wedding Pictures

Our drive home was smooth. I actually drove more than usual, escaping my evening sleepies for once! The half moon lit up the clear skies and it was a great night for a SAFE drive back to Baker. We arrived home around 2:45 am. G’night!!!

Home from Alaska

Thursday-Friday, July 15-16

VIEW pictures for today

Right: Denali sunset

Rain, rain, go away! But it is helping to put out the fires burning and the smoke that is starting to accumulate in the valley.

We are off to the downtown Morrison Visitor Center after cleaning up in the basement where the washing machine shook the detergent off and it broke and spilled on the floor. Hmmmm…that section of concrete is certainly clean now.

The movie “The Aurora Explained” is showing at 10. An excellent movie on the aurora borealis, how it is formed, etc. We learned a lot and really enjoyed all the pictures! I think Jed should consider this as a field of study!

The displays are currently in the process of construction, but very well done. Separated into the four seasons – excellent dioramas with full panorama backgrounds, etc.

Off to Pioneer Park (ONE more time!) for lunch at the Greek shop and a stroll through the art displays (quilting this month!) on the top floor.

It continues to rain off and on during the day.

We pick up salmon for dinner and spend rest of afternoon packing and washing clothes, etc.

A downpour around 8pm is followed by an absolutely brilliant rainbow – double, with almost a double purple/red at the bottom. We all went outside to take pictures. A fitting end to a wonderful visit!

Out to the airport where Shelli and the girls give final hugs and we say goodbye. We find the ERA Alaska desk and get checked in. Discover we can’t take the larger carryon with us on the plane, as they are so small they don’t have overhead bins. They will check it to Anchorage OR check it all the way…..for free. We never do pay ANY extra fees for the luggage – flying ERA proves to be a good move!

And the ERA experience was worth it! Our little 19 seater prop plane arrives right on time, but we are about a half hour late in departing due to gas tank problems which prove to be ok. Everyone has a window seat, and I wonder at first when everyone but Rick sits on the right side of the plane…..the Denali side! But the seat behind me is empty and Rick moves over mid way through the flight.

We pull up above the clouds and soon see the Alaska range off to the east poking up. The sun seems much higher up in the sky once we get up above the clouds! After the Alaska range, I am eagerly peeking down to the southwest hoping to see Denali. Finally…..”There it is, Rick!” Wow. So big. The sun is far to the north, so it creates a huge shadow on the south side of the mountain. But the time we get clear past Denali, the sun is setting behind it. Another wow! A perfect ending to our Alaskan adventure!

Into Anchorage shortly after midnight, and by 1am we are boarding our Continental flight for Portland. Only about half full, so we don’t have a seat partner on the aisle side. The flight was only 3 hours long, but sleeping on a plane isn’t all it is cracked up to be. Maybe I slept more than I think, but it sure was hard to get comfortable and I think Rick felt the same! And we must have had a terrific tail wind, because we arrived in Portland a half hour EARLY! Gave Liz a quick call, and by 6:30 she and Mom were there to pick us up.

Liz had fixed a marvelous breakfast for us all, plus Gretchen and Tucker and Doug were there. Tucker was still a little grumpy in waking up so early.

On the road for Baker at 8:30am. Worked out perfectly to leave the car with Liz and to bring Mom home with us. Rick drives to The Dalles while I nap, I drive to Pendleton while Rick naps. We stop there for a bite to eat, and on in to Baker by 2:30.

What a marvelous trip we have had! But as always, it feels great to be home again and find Luke waiting for us!

Wednesday: A Walk in the Woods & Music!

VIEW today's pictures

Right: The Denali Mountain Boys!

Up to a beautiful sunshine morning! I even fell back asleep for abit, and then sat in the window couch in the sunlight. It felt good.

Dave got off for his 10 days in the field around 9:30 and at 10:15 or so Rick and I took off on a walk along the trails north of the campus. There is an immense network of trails through this area, including a couple of lakes. They are maintained during the winter for skiing, hiking, etc. (Different trails have different uses, so people won’t hike all over the classic ski trails.) Mostly a thick trail through the alder/birch forest. Opens out in a few places where tests gardens are in place. We ended up missing one turnoff, so our “walk in the woods” ended up at about 5 miles probably. We didn’t get back to Swansons until 12:20! Quickly call Mac and make arrangements to meet at 1 at the Chowder House Restaurant.

We had a great lunch with Mac at the Chowder House. I enjoyed some smoked salmon chowder and Rick a bowl of halibut corn chowder.

Quickly back to the house to pick up Sarah to take her and Rick down to UAF for a tour of the geophysics plant – the aurora people! Annika has a friend visiting for a few hours this afternoon.

Rick and Sarah walked home from UAF after the tour – it was mostly about the satellite work and volcanoes, but interesting. We fix an early dinner as we find some music playing down at Pioneer Park that sounds like it would be fun.

Started to rain as we head down to the park, but we find the “Gazebo Music” has moved indoors – we are virtually the ONLY audience, but the band called Denali Mountain Boys still entertains us for the hour. All very skilled musicians. The banjo/fiddle player, Earl Hughes, was also the musician for the El Dorado Gold Train on Monday!

Leaving we run into Thom just getting out of the river from a float trip. He might try to join up with us tomorrow for lunch or whatever! That would be fun!

Back to house to finish up the raspberry/rhubarb crisp and play a few rounds of Sequence. Sarah and I dominated! J