Fresh pineapple - YUM!
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Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Red Sunrise
Sorry for the late post. Internet connection problems all day yesterday. Now I'm having a problem with my external hard drive. I may have lost all my photos. Stay tuned.
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Monday, August 29, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Making Sunflower Seeds
The dog days of summer are here. It's hard to believe that September is right around the corner.
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Saturday, August 27, 2011
The Snake River
Day Five of our White-Water Rafting Trip on the Lower Salmon River:
Saw three otter today! Also saw a couple more cranes and the now standard dragonflies, bees and spiders. We went through several small fun rapids today and made it the final 11 miles in less than 3 hours. Pretty funny, when yesterday, 8 miles took 6 hours. No headwind today.
Last day on the river. I'm very sad to see the trip come to an end. I had a wonderful time & can't wait to do this again.
Rapids
Day Four of our White-Water Rafting Trip on the Lower Salmon River:
Mother Nature put on quite a light show last night! Thunder and lightning and rain all up and down Blue Canyon. The lightning was awesome and WAY too close for comfort. The thunder echoed off the canyon walls. The rain that came after midnight soaked the sleeping bags but luckily didn't soak through. The wind that came after the rain dried everything out pretty quick.
Today we saw big horned sheep! A ram, three ewes and a yearling. We also got to ride some really fun rapids at the bottom of the Salmon River: Sluicebox, Checkerboard, and Eye of the Needle.
Today we reached the confluence with the Snake River. We stopped and had lunch at Cherry Creek, a really small canyon along the way that had a waterfall & some trees. It was very pretty & peaceful.
Dinner tonight is chili & cornbread cooked in the dutch oven. Scott is exhausted. He rowed 8 miles on the Snake River with no current and strong head winds.
There are now speed boats on the river. Not sure I like that much. Lots of houses along the river on the Idaho side, too. We did find a really nice beach to camp on. Doesn't look like rain tonight - it had better stay dry. I just bet Scott $100 it wouldn't rain again. :-)
China Rapid
Day Three of our White-Water Rafting Trip on the Lower Salmon River:
Not many critters spotted today: a duck, some other small birds and a praying mantis that hitched a ride on Scott's hat.
Not as many rapids today, but we went through Snow Hole Rapid, the only Class IV on this stretch of the river. We scouted it first, which made it scarier.
We saw the remnants of some old Chinese stone houses on the trail to scout China Rapid. They were very cool.
Tonight, we camped in Blue Canyon. It's really pretty here, the river is really swift and there are lots of rocks on the beach. I've already got a pile of souvenirs. :-)
Today was much hotter and we had that stupid up river wind again. It was nice to make camp & relax. Dinner tonight is steak, garlic mashed potatoes, and salad with apple vinaigrette dressing.
Me & the Cataraft
We stayed up last night & watched the stars come out - they were beautiful! The sky is so clear, you can see the Milky Way.
Caught a glimpse of something moving on the beach as we went to bed. Nearly scared me to death! Turns out, it was a frog. We didn't think too much about it at the time, but the next morning, the beach was covered with dozens of frog foot prints. They had a party on the beach while we were sleeping.
We went through lots of Class II and III rapids today. It was very fun and I got splashed a lot. Saw lots of critters today: some kind of crane, a kingfisher, a small herd of deer that had taken refuge from the heat of the day in the shade of a small grove of trees, and we even saw an osprey catch a fish right out of the river!
We camped just below White House Bar. We went swimming, then had taco soup & chips for dinner.
We think we spotted otter prints on the beach when we landed. There are tons of black furry caterpillars on this beach, too.
Looks like another gorgeous night on the river.
Hitchhiker!
Day One of our White-Water Rafting Trip on the Lower Salmon River:
This photo was taken at the Put-In at Hammer Creek. There were dragonflies everywhere!
It was very hot & windy - and the wind blew up river. There were times when the wind overpowered the current & the cataraft went nowhere. I thought the sun umbrella Scott put on the raft was a little over the top, but now I can't imagine floating without it. It was ten degrees cooler with it up.
We saw chukars, dragonflies, bees, caterpillars and spiders. Camped on a nice sandy beach & had ribs, black beans & coleslaw for dinner.
Scott says we can't go to sleep until we see the stars.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Certified Nursing Assistant
My daughter completed her CNA training on Friday. I am so proud of her!
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Saturday, August 20, 2011
Snack Time!
Scott caught a baby grasshopper & tossed it in the garden spider's web so I could get a photo. What a guy!
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Thursday, August 18, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Corn!
Our neighbors have the most amazing little garden! The beans & tomatoes are growing through the fence into our yard, but I'm most impressed with the row of corn that's now taller than me and so healthy-looking.
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Monday, August 15, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Huckleberries!
A fresh huckleberry shake: my reward for running eight miles this morning.
YUM!
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Friday, August 12, 2011
Mirror Image
[Edit: The plant is called gauna.]
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PFD - Personal Flotation Device
I should have agreed to go on a river trip a long time ago. Seriously. I have received a gift almost every day since I said I would go. First was my cute river hat, then Frog Togs, then my very own ammo can :-) and now a brand new life jacket! Pretty sweet.
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Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Summer Weeds
I drive by this field on my way home from work each day and am amazed at how it looks like the weeds are made of spun gold.
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Gorgeous!
The first hummingbird of 2011 ~ isn't she gorgeous! I was in the backyard with my zoom lens on my camera, taking flower photos when she stopped by. I couldn't believe she chose the only flowers in the backyard not in shadow. It made for some incredible shots.
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Thursday, August 4, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Sun Mosiac
On the wall of the meditation garden in the new North Idaho Hospice House. My photo doesn't do it justice. It's a long curved wall and the mosiac runs the length of it.
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Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Camp Cooking
Scott spent last week on a white water rafting trip on the Selway River. He's having a hard time readjusting to life without camping.
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