ROGUE RIVER, OREGON.

Jim and I stopped off to visit my son while he builds a new house for me. He is housed in a fifth-wheel while he works. I designed it and he made sure everything worked so a cupboard door doesn’t bang into kitchen fixture, and that I have enough outlets for electrical and important stuff like that. Then he drew the plans and had them stamped for approval and any input from a local architect. It was raining steadily while we were there and my camera lens got smudged and wet, even though I had it covered with a hat, under a poncho, while I carried it.


The forms were ready for the required inspection. He made an appointment last Monday for the inspector to arrive this Wednesday and his pour was scheduled for today, Thursday which involves his labor, the cement company, the materials, etc.  And, a delivery for framing materials on Friday. Doug has 28 years of building experience, from tract homes, commercial tilt-ups, condos, fancy custom homes like Ruby Ridge in Livermore, and he has built bridges in environmentally sensitive areas. This house is a small two bedroom and I designed it to sit on a narrow site where the original mobile home sat. That way we take advantage of an existing well, and septic system. So it is 16 feet wide by 64 feet long,  and will be wheel chair accessible. Just in case…


I love my place here on Evans Creek, so I tromped through the wet to look at the river. It looks good for spawning salmon. Nice and full. Little gravel beds near the banks are spots they like to lay their eggs. When I bought the place in 2001, I specified I was looking for a property that was south-facing. I had to be able to walk into the river without climbing down a steep bank and it had to have year round water and fish. I’m standing looking down river with rain drops visible on the surface. I’ve seen beaver here, and a turtle, some frogs, and many, many ducks.


This is looking up river with high weeds and blackberry vines regrown during the last couple of years. The trees on the bank are alder and they have a limited life span.

I tromped the 7 acres from one end to the other, looking for star thistle that took me three years to obliterate by hand picking it. I found a few colonies had resurfaced and Doug will hire someone to hand-pick them again. And, the blackberries I had removed mechanically have come back. And, another invasive plant has found a home and I will have to return in the spring and work removing it. I’m very much a farmer at heart. I’ve seen wild turkeys, coyote, fox, many deer and a possum on my small strip of land. And once, I scared something heavy that thrashed through the bushes. Don’t know if it was a bear, or a feral pig?


My back gate onto the property has been locked for so long, the key wouldn’t turn in the lock.  I was thoroughly wet by the time I returned to the guys in the 5th wheel. Jim set Doug up with a set of ear phones so he could use his satellite service to make phone calls by computer. His cell, nor mine, nor Jim’s work from the property, though a few people have been able to call from here over the years. Not with any consistency, though every company you talk to promises, AT&T, Verizon, Century Link and some others I’ve forgotten the name of. I guess I bought property in a dead spot.
An even deader spot is the Jackson County Building Department.  The inspector didn’t show up yesterday and Doug had to cancel his pour for today.


But the people here are friendly and helpful. Rogue River has a beautiful library for a small town. Doug has built birdhouses for one of their fundraisers, and he loves it that he can buy great books from their book sales. We thought we’d check out their book sale, but they are closed on Wednesdays. The totem is part of the library building.


I don’t know how to interpret totems and this one has similarities to many of the Pacific North West tribes we’ve bumped into. For a small town, Rogue River has some good restaurants and “watering holes.”
We stopped at the VFW and had a beer. We met a great group of friendly people and that has been my experience in the past. I love the people here. When I told them my son would like to join them, they personally told us he should just come down, he’d be welcome. Since his father was a vet, he can join, but even if he wasn’t they said, he can come by any time.
People make a place and I feel fortunate to have had good years in Rogue River and a never-ending supply of water. I’m also a survivalist. I need to know I have access to water.

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK.

As you leave Browning traveling West, the Blackfeet Reservation has a Buffalo Preserve within  a mile or two of town.  After seeing so many stuffed buffalo heads it was reassuring to see a healthy herd of the beasts on the range.

The Plains change dramatically as you enter  foothills of the Rocky Mountains, their peaks rising in front of you.

The eagle eye perch of an old homestead kind of reminds us of what life used to be like in this wild country.
Glacial rivers, so clear and clean, they reflect their surroundings.

We camp at Camp Apgar, the west entrance to the park. The Going To The Sun Road Jim drove many years ago with his smallish motor home, is no longer accessible to Motor Homes. It takes you up over the Continental Divide and into Calgary, Canada if you choose to visit that part of the park. This is the beautiful and rustic MacDonald Lodge that sits next to MacDonald Lake. We set up camp, had lunch, and visited the lodge.

I believe it was built in 1911, all of it from local materials.

Each corner is held up by three giant cedar logs. The park has a trail where one can see some of these 500-year-old cedars.
Lodge patrons enjoyed the pleasant heat from the giant fireplace.

The Lodge has a totem but the plains tribes, the Native Americans that once lived and danced here, did not build totems.

Directly behind the lodge is the boat ramp on Lake MacDonald. Blue, blue clean, clear water reflects the peaks.

We bought tickets at $16.32 cents at the boat ramp. If it weren't a National Park, that price would be double. Such a bargain. You can order your tickets and reserve ahead of time, as well. We moved away leaving a road-like water con trail on the still surface of the lake.  It made interesting abstracts on the water.
A close-up of our wake.
Cloud reflections on water ripples.
Rivers erode in a V shape. The U shape tells you a glacier once sat here. There are only two glaciers left in the park.

The boat carries us West toward the old  town of Apgar. Two horrible fires hit the park. The worst was in 2003 when the "new" fire wisdom was to let the fire burn out. It consumed 43,000 acres and nearly took the town of Apgar.
At one time, all the burned trees would have been cut down. Now, scientists know the trees provide insect homes, draw birds and provide ground shade. Recovery is better and natural.

Its kind of fun to concentrate on the ever-changing surface of reflective water, helped by an overcast sky.

On the opposite side of the burn, high up on the peak, a crevice is eroding as water cascades down this slope during spring melt. The peak is also home to Dahl sheep and grizzleys.

We head back to the dock.

The light changes.

The glacier cradle darkens.

The burn regenerates.  Not all trees die in a burn. A few remain and help the recovery and some trees fall on their own.

We return to the dock after a very pleasant hour on the lake the natives named, "Best Place For Dancing."  The guide couldn't say the Indian name, just the meaning.

I DID see wildlife. This little ground squirrel popped up on our way back to the parking lot.

FRIENDS AND FAMILY REUNION

Normally, I blog every day.  However, I flew home for a family reunion that I host every year.  After a great deal of preparation to entertain, feed and coordinate a three-day event that peaked at 58 people on Saturday July 7th, I can truthfully say I meant to blog . Instead,  I  enjoyed the whole chaotic experience; the  bedlam, cooking, eating, visiting, drinking, snacking, games. The skinned knees, overtired kids, frisbees knocking over your beer, getting squirted by the errant squirt gun. We laughed at  the child who fell asleep while eating and the treasures placed on the totem.   There were swim suits and towels drying on every railing and chair; errant socks and shirts in every room and on the ground.  Whose shoes are these?  Tiptoeing around rooms full of sleeping people on the floor, in the closet  and on makeshift beds;   Listening to the  clanging of horseshoes;  the late night laughter during card games;  watching the  breakneck dancing by lantern  light; thinking I might get some sleep tonight. Blogging was out of the question. In fact, I couldn’t even  concentrate on taking pictures, I handed the camera off and asked others to do it for me.  Here are a few photos they took:

Prep time comes first.





Then a bit of kickback time.



That first night, the guys played horseshoes until they couldn’t see them anymore.

The kids danced by lantern light and raced around playing hide-and-go-seek until the first tumble in the dark brought the game to an end. (No serious injuries.)

The next day, some serious work on the totem commenced.

The small fry squared off for the squirt gun wars.

There is never a winner or loser. Everyone just stays wet and cool in the heat.

An impromptu opera in the kitchen.

A card game before heading for the flume.

The flume water was the lowest I’ve seen it in 35 years.  So low some of the kids needed help getting in instead of out of the flume.

But, everyone got to ride and get cool even if they did scrape the bottom in places.

First timers need a little coaxing.

Someone was expecting to get “tossed” but the water was too low.

Tandem helps keep your butt off the bottom in low spots.

There is nothing quite like tubing the flume for all ages.

All that fluming takes energy and a few snacks afterward are standard.

After the flume, everyone got seriously into decorating the totem.

The ladder reaches to the very top.

Some people  like to decorate and let someone else attach their treasures.

And some like to be up on the ladder as much as possible.

A budding artist turned a piece of wire wrapped in yarn into a rattlesnake.

By the end of the day, there was little room on the totem.

No one took a picture of the cooks nor the over laden table. Everyone brought a dish to share and we shared a sumptuous feast. But, part of the clean-up crew enjoyed a bit of laughter as they washed up a mountain of dishes.

The rest of the day was the same. Kids just all out running, jumping and having a good time. The rest of us wishing we had half their energy, enjoying the food, and watching the action.

And, after the s’mores, a few sparklers lit up the night.



I think I had a bed that night and slept until the coffee crowd came in for their cuppa wake me up in the morning.