September 12, 2011



11:30 am



4:20 pm

As we drove away Friday morning, our resident frog was wishing us Godspeed. Even after being Down There this side of the mountains as many times as I have been this summer, I still looked like a deer in the headlights when we got to the Seattle suburbia traffic. Still not sure I wanted to be there as we parked the rental trailer at JB's brother's house. By the time we arrived at the restaurant for Mike's birthday party, I was relaxing a bit. After a Corona and an incredible slab of baby-back ribs, I was doing just fine. Both birthday parties were a success, and it was so very good to see everyone again. My mother-in-law loved the photo album, and the many other thoughtful gifts she received. It really was a wonderful visit.  But, I must admit, it is good to be back home at Rose Camp.

The wood was so green and so heavy that we didn't get very many pieces in the trailer compared to how many were available. We made the trip back to this side of the mountains okay, but half way up the canyon road my Jeep started to overheat. So we unloaded and unhitched the trailer. When the engine had cooled down, we drove up to Rose Camp. JB took his Jeep to pick up the trailer and return it to U-Haul. Don't think the cost of the trailer was worth the amount of wood we were able to load in it. Today JB is going to borrow Larry's trailer to pick up the wood.  I plan to start splitting it tomorrow.  Should be able to finish it in one day, as long as it cools off as advertised. 

We were both so surprised at how noisy it was over there at night. Constant traffic. Neighbor noises. Airplanes. And that was in a suburb, away from the city. Granted, much of that was because we were sleeping outside in the pop-up tent. Nevertheless, their constant background noise was not just yellow jackets. As I sit here writing, my ears are ringing with the silence. The wonderful quiet of the forest.

Just before we left Sunday morning, Dinga found a nest of baby rabbits. Fortunately I found her before she could do any damage. There were three little babies, each barely bigger than a mouse. It says a lot for the camouflaged nest that she was in the yard since Friday afternoon, and just found it Sunday Morning.

While we were gone several grouse moved into our front yard. Remember how I said that all this domestication can quickly turn back to nature? We were only gone three days and two nights. Three very hot days. It was in the 80's over there and Mt. Rainier finally disappeared behind the haze and smog on Sunday. We did get a glimpse of that magnificent mountain on our way in on Friday though. There is a heat induced haze this side of the mountains also, but unfortunately to the northwest, it is caused by smoke from forest fires. Highway 2 is actually closed west of Leavenworth because of the fires, and the sun was a bright red ball as it set last night shining through the smoke.  This morning the full moon is a reddish gold as it sinks into the west.

Well, back to the story of Sandy's camping disaster. Above and below are the photos she took of her husband trying to get the tent put up and the time line. Of course she admits that the trauma of the whole experience may have warped her sense of the actual time frame. It seems the next day on the way home, they stopped off to visit some of his relatives who live by one of Wisconsin's thousand lakes. Sandy wanted to be so sure all the ticks were off of her that she went swimming in the very cold lake and stayed in the water until she was almost blue. That may have been the last time she went swimming, too. My reason for not going swimming is because my swimming suit has a hole in the knee.

4:21 pm