tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82035962016447754612024-03-12T17:43:20.299-07:00Scott's Next AdventureA blog about travel, about adventure, about life.Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-60396519041364219952019-02-21T20:07:00.001-08:002019-02-21T20:07:23.382-08:00The End of the Blog<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I imagine it is obvious from the fact I haven't updated this in over a year, but I am no longer blogging. I'm happy, life is good, still on Shaw, just no longer recording my life here. Thanks for the support over the years. </div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-44696280999538663712017-12-26T22:07:00.000-08:002017-12-26T22:07:25.130-08:00A Visit From Marijke's Brother & Climbing Mt Baker<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When I left off last post, Marijke and I were just returning to the islands from our long weekend celebrating our one year anniversary in Victoria BC, a short boat ride away. Upon our return, it was back to normal for a few days: just sunshine and work, but soon Marijke's brother would be visiting us for about two weeks. We had a great visit planned full of activities and although I'd never met the guy, I was really looking forward to it.<br />
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Thus far, most of my tree jobs had been taking place on Orcas, but the Shaw jobs were starting to come in and it was sure an easier commute when you don't need a boat! This job, removing a willow that fell over, was about 10 minutes away, on the same road as my house. I've certainly mentioned it before, but the deer out here are pretty fearless, and attracted to the sound of chainsaws and other machines. They know that means there is new brush on the ground, and they aren't timid about getting a nibble!<br />
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A little while back I'd brought my Baja bug back up to the island, to sell actually, but it had been sitting for about 18 months and didn't want to start right away. So using my rope puller, I tied off to a tree, the bumper of the bug, and Marijke winched it into the small car port behind the main one where I keep my truck. Oh covered storage space, how I love it.<br />
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Now back in the late spring when I bought the truck, I'd suddenly become the owner of THREE green Fords. This is of course in addition to our other two cars..... None of this was intentional, all three were just the vehicles that fit what I was looking for, but I'd never gotten a photo of all three together. It was finally time to sell the Explorer, so while I was washing that to take pictures for the ad, I washed the truck and van as well for a little photo shoot on the end of the air strip.<br />
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I'd built the center tunnel of the truck box, where wood chips are shot in from the chipper and now I finally had time to start building the tool box sides. Like most things I build, I think I made one quick not-to-scale sketch in my notebook and started building. That said, I'd been thinking about the design for a long time and had a pretty clear idea where I was going, but compared to any real builder, I was just freestyling.<br />
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My shop space, which I'd been continually improving, was serving me extremely well and the slab was covered in saws, pieces of wood and other bits and pieces. In this picture the shape of the box is done, and it will eventually have a shelf as well as two barn door style doors. <br />
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On the mainland for a supply run. Besides groceries and the other usual things, I had to grab a few more sheets of plywood for the truck box. I've taken Marijke to Home Depot so many times it's a bit ridiculous.<br />
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Watching the vultures soak in the sun on a hot afternoon day. At this time, I was probably sitting down with a cold beer myself. <br />
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While I prefer more technical jobs, I wound up with one project that was just bucking a huge log pile into firewood rounds. It was big logs, some over 30" and over 30 feet long. Using my truck and a chain, I pulled the pile apart, skidded them up hill, bucked them and rolled the pieces down into the pile. I spent three solid days doing this...<br />
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August had just begun, and with that came Marijke's brother Stijn. <br />
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Stijn is into canyoneering and climbing and other action oriented activities, so so give him a fun introduction to Shaw, our boss Jack loaned us his Polaris Rzr to take a spin. This thing is the turbocharged model, 168 horsepower, and has 16-18" of suspension travel.... yah it's fast, and yah, we gave it a little bit of a workout. <br />
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Because Marijke was working for most of the time her brother was around, Stijn came with me to work and helped me with projects around the house as well. He was an awesome help and quick learner. Early in the visit, we went back to the firewood project and I had him marking and pulling logs with my truck which he got a kick out of. This was the final mountain of rounds. <br />
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Re-creating kid photos, all the rage on the internet these days and we all got in on the fun as well. <br />
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Of course we wanted to show Stijn more than just Shaw, so one afternoon we headed to San Juan Island to look around. We walked through Friday Harbor, and at one of the auto shops on the edge of town there was a small car show of sorts going on. Stijn also likes American cars, so he thought this was pretty cool and saw a number of things he'd only seen in pictures before.<br />
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This whole time, beginning before Stijn's arrival, we had been dealing with smoke filled skies from forest fires north of us in Canada. For weeks, the sky was grey, the light was dull and the air quality was pretty bad. It was such a bummer for Stijn's visit, because of course this whole time we had been telling him how beautiful it was here, but much of it was not visible. <br />
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Tacos on the deck.<br />
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I had another tree job on Orcas, so again Stijn joined me. While I did some of the usual large scale work, I did a little fine pruning as well. I enjoyed the change of pace and I haven't busted out my hand pruners on a job in.... years? I used to do a lot more fine pruning back in Seattle, on the islands, not so much. <br />
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Chipping into the truck at the end of the day.<br />
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Most customers want to keep the chips for themselves (which is why I don't need a big chip box), but today I hauled them away. Here is the unloading system in action. I've made some small improvements since this photo, but here we are unloading chips at the edge of the pond below my house. Another space on the property I've been fixing up.<br />
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Having the Rawls over for dessert.<br />
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I'm not actually where the original idea came from, but we met my dad on the mainland, and headed out to climb Mt Baker. Neither Stijn nor Marijke had ever done any sort of mountain climbing, so it was going to be an awesome experience for them. I've done pretty much all the other big volcanoes in Washington and Oregon, but had never actually done Baker, so this mountain at least would also be new to me.<br />
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Checking out glacier covered Mt Baker, 10,781 feet. On the approach road we stopped at a pull out to look and talk about the route. Here you can see the air was still smokey, but it wasn't terrible.<br />
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At the trailhead. The plan was to hike up to the base camp area, do some instruction, spend the night and then head up early the next morning to summit. From there we would head all the way back down and go home. <br />
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On the trail as we hiked upwards.<br />
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As we got above the tree line, the mountain was again visible and the weather was looking perfect (minus the smoke in the air of course). It's been a while since I was up in elevation like this, and I was really happy to be there.<br />
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As I said earlier, neither Marijke or Stijn had walked with crampons or used an ice axe before, so after setting up camp at the base of the snow (and with the summit peaking out above) we did some quick lessons on what we would be doing tomorrow morning.<br />
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Mountain goats wandering near camp.<br />
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Cooking dinner.<br />
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So not only was this the first time Marijke was walking on a glacier and climbing a mountain, it was essentially the first time she had really camped in a tent! <br />
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After waking up, eating some breakfast and getting our gear on, it was time to start hiking up. From here onward, we would be on glaciers.<br />
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The rising sun.<br />
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Me standing on what was probably a 3 foot wide bit if snow, with large crevasses on both sides.<br />
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Looking back at the rope team, Marijke, Stijn and my dad as I lead.<br />
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The final stretch is very steep, and clouds began rolling in.<br />
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Once you get to the top of the steep section from the last photo, there is a large flat-ish area, maybe 1000 feet across (?) that is the top of the mountain, and it took us 6 hours to get here from camp that morning. Along that top, and of course on the far side from where we came up, is the highest point, a little bump, half bare, that is the true summit. By this point, the smoke combined with the clouds meant there was really no view to be had. A bummer for sure, but it was still awesome to be at the top of Baker, a mountain we see often from our home island of Shaw.<br />
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Getting back to camp from the summit was faster than up, but still took 4 hours, walking as a rope team almost the whole way of course. It was more clear down below by this time, and the wild flowers were spectacular. <br />
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Victorious back at camp. <br />
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We had planned on packing up, hiking all the way back down to the car and driving back to the city today but the climb took longer than we had planned on and honestly we were all pretty tired. I was able to get off a text message to my family and told them we would be spending an extra night on the mountain, returning the next morning instead. This was totally the right call, and I'm glad we had some extra time on the side of the mountain as well because it was just such a nice place to be.<br />
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Back home and grabbing a few things at the Shaw General Store.<br />
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This little bird hit the window and was a bit dazed, so I held him away from the cats until it could fly away.<br />
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After a great visit, it was time for Stijn to return to the Netherlands the next day. Luckily for us, the smoke finally cleared and we headed out for a scenic boat ride. These are the seals that hang out on some low rocks on Blind Bay.<br />
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Normally in the summer you can see Mt Baker almost every day, but until today it hadn't been viable once because of the smoke. Stijn hadn't even seen any bald eagles yet, but that day out on the water we saw both the mountain, and numerous eagles. It was a beautiful last full day in the islands.<br />
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Catching the ferry home. It was funny though, because in a few short weeks Marijke and I would actually be heading to the Netherlands ourselves, and would see him again soon.<br />
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One of the many projects Stijn helped me with during his visit was some tree clearing on the south side of the house. This view, out the southern living room window, was gradually improving and soon would give us a clear view at the Olympic Mountains.<br />
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Work on the truck box also continued, as I tried to build it while using the truck for work at the same time. At this point I had one of the tool box sides exactly how I wanted it but bare wood, so it was now time to take it all apart, sand everything, and paint it with 2-3 coats of heavy paint. The racks that keep my firewood off the ground served well as drying racks for all the pieces as we painted both sides, and the space behind my shop was the perfect place to do it.<br />
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August 21st, the total eclipse. Of course on Shaw it was only a partial, but it was still neat to see. I was prepared with my eclipse glasses and stopped working for an hour or so to observe the strange phenomenon.<br />
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Working late into the night re-assembling the truck box after the paint had dried. I put calking in between every seam to make it water proof for year around use and protection, and it was amazing how many tubes of the stuff I went through...<br />
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Haha, this still makes me laugh. Jack was hired to build a big deer fence that would surround an orchard, and the ground was REALLY heavy clay. Normally to build fence we just use a hydraulic post pounder that mounts to the tractor. You cut a point on the post and just pound it into the ground like a giant nail, but the ground here was so hard that just didn't work. Instead, each hole had to be dug out with an auger, but even that was a challange, requiring a log more downward pressure than the 3 point hitch on the tractor could create. The solution was to put a 12 foot post into the auger mount and hang on that, in order to help press the auger into the clay and eventually dig the hole. Always funny to see your wife hanging from a post attached to a tractor! <br />
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Sam, a friend from high school (wow, so going back over 15 years now...) was about to get married, and for a wedding gift I decided to build him and his new wife a bench. I had some nice looking 4x6 laying around, so after some time with a saw, belt sander, 6" screws, 3 coats of polyurethane and more hand sanding, I had built them a pretty nice looking bench. <br />
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And on the subject of building things, I finally finished one side of the truck box! Ugh, I felt like this project was really dragging on, but there is only so much time in the day, free days to build between days I'm working, and then of course there are the times I'm held up needing materials since there is no store on the island. Anyways, now I had ONE of the sides done, and it looked and worked great!<br />
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Inside. I was really happy with how it call came together, and it offered up a huge amount of storage space for all my tools. Milk crates fit in perfectly, and have become my go-to organizing bin for the truck.<br />
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It was time to return to Seattle for Sams wedding. As I got off the freeway near Northgate mall and my parents house, I drove under all the new construction for Seattles new light rail system. Having grown up in Seattle I've seen so much change in the city it's amazing. The rail system is of course long overdue, and to watch it's progress as I visit every few months has been fun. That said, I'm glad I don't live in a city anymore!<br />
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Friday night was the rehearsal dinner for Sam's wedding (right) and we had a pizza dinner in his parents back yard. It was Sam who mentioned his dad had a tree company and needed workers that got me into tree work actually, so I guess I have him and his dad to thank for my current business!<br />
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The groom and our crew. All of us are friends from back in high school actually and still see each other often. I know that's a pretty rare thing, so I'm always happy when I take a moment to reflect on that fact. Dan, Kelty, Brendan, Noel, Sam, Nick, me, Sazzy and Jon. <br />
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The ceremony.<br />
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Sam and Meghans wedding was very nice and a lot of fun. After the wedding of course was a big dinner with everyone, then the after party at the rental house. As usual, weddings are great for bringing people together and this was no exception. Thanks for letting me be a part of it, Sam. <br />
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It's not often that Marijke and I are dressed up, we usually just wear dirty work Charhartts! Because of that, I had to include one photo of us looking nice together....<br />
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Once we returned to the island from the wedding, it was time to leave again, because Marijke and I were finally headed to her home country, the Netherlands!<br />
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When Marijke returned to the USA on a 3 month tourist visa, the time in which we decided to get married, she had literally no idea when she would be able to return to the Netherlands again. The reason for that is that if you leave the USA in the middle of the process, at least the way we ended up going about it, it isn't a sure thing they will let you back in. It wasn't until she finally received her green card that she was able to travel freely again, and immediately after that, which was 6 months ago at this point, was she able to travel freely again and we were able to plan our trip to her home. <br />
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She of course was looking forward to seeing her friends and family, and to be able to show me where she comes from. Naturally I was excited for the trip as well, because I wanted to meet her friends and family as well, plus of course see the place that made her the person I fell in love with. The plan was to spend about two weeks in the Netherlands, then about a week in Iceland on the return. With buffer time on both ends, it would mean being away nearly a month, a long time but we were both looking forward to the trip. <br />
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So with that, of course the next post is going to be about our time in the Netherlands and Iceland. I got to see the house Marijke grew up in and meet its current residents, eat Dutch fries Marijke has been bragging about since we met, see her friends, ride a bike in the worlds most bike friendly country and then see Iceland together, our own little vacation and a sort of delayed honeymoon. It was a very interesting trip, so check back and read all about it soon. <br />
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Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-31010090005815169512017-11-16T00:18:00.000-08:002017-11-16T00:18:33.627-08:00Announcing my Business to the Public & Celebrating our One Year Anniversary in Victoria, BC<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Up to this point I'd been taking all the necessary steps towards starting my business: buying a truck, a chipper, some new tools and making sure all my paperwork was in order. It's been a long process but honestly not all that difficult, it just took being organized. The only big thing I hadn't done yet was actually let people know I'd started a business! Up to this point I'd been working a few jobs, but only as referrals from my old boss passing jobs my way that he didn't have time for as he was moving out of the state. It was about time to change that.<br />
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There are many ways to run a tree business and many pieces of equipment or abilities you can have or not have. When I first envisioned what I'd be doing, I figured I'd just have a pickup truck with a canopy on it, keep all my tools in the back, and have a chipper that would let me shoot piles of chips wherever. Many people out here are fine with that, or more often you don't even do any chipping, you just leave brush in the woods. Ideally, you have two trucks, the 'utility truck' that would haul around all your tools, and a 'chip truck' that is for filling with woodchips and then dumping. But that is two different trucks, and I'm just one guy. Plus, 4x4 dump trucks (4x4 is a must out here) are hard to find and very expensive.<br />
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Austen told me about a friend of his that had built a truck box for a pickup truck that did both, and unloaded with a manual conveyor belt... I was skeptical of this idea at first but after watching some youtube videos of the unloading system came up with a design in my head that I thought would offer me the best of both worlds: a way to haul around all my tools and still have a small box to chip into or haul wood with, all fitting within the bed of a standard pickup truck. With that in my head, I made maybe one or two sketches and started building, beginning with the chip box, then the tool boxes would mount on the sides of that.<br />
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At this same time, I announced my business publicly. In the islands there is a Facebook group used mostly for individuals selling items (craigslist doesn't really work here because it groups the islands with the mainland) but also used by local businesses. I announced myself there, giving a bit of background about myself and I was off.<br />
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Marijke showing off her nice straight lines from mowing the lawn.<br />
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Also showing off crabs. The sun was shining, so a boat ride was an order.<br />
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I think it's tentacles got a little scrambled by the prop wash of my boat... but this is one of the big jellyfish we have.<br />
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On this particular boat outing we headed to Westsound, where this cool tug boat resides.<br />
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Back home and enjoying a little campfire.<br />
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A magnificent sunset from the lawn. It's so wonderful to see this kind of thing almost nightly... having a big open view to the west and seeing the setting sun every night is a wonderful treat, hopefully we can find nice west facing land when we buy our own place.<br />
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Back in daylight hours and back on the lawn, it was time to paint all the pieces of the chip box. While I'd have loved a custom metal truck box, that would have cost thousands, so I had to do it myself with wood. For this portion I used very sturdy plywood, 3/4", sanded all sides and edges, and put down a heavy duty primer and heavy duty final coat. The lawn and the racks I made for my firewood made for a good place to work and let the paint dry, and by doing it this way I could paint every surface before assembling the box, to ensure the wood was as sealed and as long lasting as possible.<br />
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Here it is together, in the back of the truck. This was just step one, and from here on out I'd be driving around, using the truck box for work in various stages of completion. It was a bit of a pain, but I had to start working, weather the box was 100% done or not.<br />
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By having this part done though, I had something I could catch chips shot from my chipper with, and unload them with the belt system instead of having to crawl in and shovel it out. For the time being, tools would just have to be piled on the sides of the box. Not great, but it got me working.<br />
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And here is some of that work. This was the job I was getting the chip box done for. The customer didn't want the chips (fairly rare out here) from this cedar removal, so in the truck box they went. Despite the box being very small by tree work standards, it's sure better than nothing, and fit everything I made on that job. Without that ability I wouldn't have gotten the job, so I was excited to actually have the ability to catch and haul chips away.<br />
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The things you find in rotten wood... some bugs are pretty alien looking eh? Gloved finger for scale.<br />
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Back home with Baxter. This is a funny picture because he's the friendliest cat ever and looks so mean here. He's actually yawning in this one, but looks like he's ready to attack.<br />
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Shortly after making my announcement online, I made some posters and put one at the kiosk on Shaw. I am now officially the islands tree guy it seems.<br />
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Summer and deck beers are the best. As I am writing this all the way in November, on a rainy day, I'm missing sitting on the deck with Marijke every afternoon enjoying a cold beer in the sun.<br />
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We weren't the only ones thirsty on a hot day, the humming birds were busy at the feeder as well.<br />
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A large crab in Blind Bay.<br />
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Independence Day was here again, and once again I was driving a firetruck in the parade. This time it was our 1973 International brush truck, and I'd be leading the parade. Marijke was my passenger and waved to everyone as we drove.<br />
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The nuns were very excited to see us drive by.<br />
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Other than the parade, I kind of took the holiday weekend off this year, usually there are a bunch of events I'd go to but wasn't feeling it. This was the first July in the house though, and it was exciting to realize from our deck we could see the top half of the fireworks display from Friday Harbor that night.<br />
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Back at work, on a job that was mostly just chipping up brush piles. Boring, but pays the bills. You may notice the box looks different, after that first job I realized I needed to make some changes, and swapped the plywood to the inside of the frame to make the box smooth on all sides so it actually unloads properly. I'll have a video eventually, but to unload the whole chip box, about 4 cubic yards, you simply turn the hand crank and it all spills out. Pretty nifty.<br />
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Back home and continuing to beautiful the property. Below the cliff our house sits on is this pond. Over the decades it had gotten totally overgrown to the point where it was essentially not visible and I decided to remedy that. By removing brush, a few small trees, and limbing up the trees I kept, it was like a whole new place. Eventually I'll be able to see this pond from my deck, but that will take a lot more work. Ah the things you do for fun when you cut trees for a living and own a chipper....<br />
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Relaxing together on the highest point on the island.<br />
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Early July is my great aunt's birthday and this year she was turning 100, so off to the mainland we went to celebrate. As we neared Anacortes, this was the sun over Mt Erie.<br />
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Docking.<br />
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Also on the list for this visit was to collect my Baja Bug. It had been sitting in my great aunts garage (thanks for letting me keep it there!) for the past two years, after the big road trip I took it on actually, but it was time to get it out and the plan is actually to sell it. So I borrowed a car hauler trailer and loaded it up.<br />
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It was time for my great aunt's 100th birthday party and the number of guests (and the food) were impressive. She is a great lady who has had a long and interesting life. Growing up she was basically our 'third grandma' and we loved staying at her house when we were little.<br />
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Her 100th birthday also happened to be on our 1st wedding anniversary, so we snagged the '1' from her balloons for this little celebration photo of our own.<br />
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Everyone getting lined up for the group photo. That is my great aunt there in the blue behind Marijke.<br />
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With that celebration over, it was time to return to the islands and have our own little event. For this, we decided to take the ferry that goes from Friday Harbor to Vancouver Island, BC and have a little 'Canadian getaway.'<br />
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The weather was of course perfect, and it was fun to be on a ferry boat seeing different islands than usual. In the distance there you can see Sydney BC, where the boat would be landing. As we got off the boat, the brakes on the car seemed to be making strange noises and we were worried something was wrong. Using google maps we headed for the closest brake shop we could find, which was called Peninsula Tireland Auto Center. They were able to fit in taking a look at our car, found nothing and didn't charge us a cent. Very friendly and helpful people. Such is Canada...<br />
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Because there are of course no restaurants on Shaw, everything we eat we have to make ourselves. On this trip we decided to treat ourselves and eat out all the time, in search of variety. This was a Korean and Japanese place we enjoyed a lot.<br />
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Being Canada, everything was just a little different, and if I'm honest many of them different for the better. I found this part amusing, where instead of a memorial to a certain war, it was specifically a memorial to Canadian peacekeepers, and flew the UN flag. <br />
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The city of Victoria was our main goal for this extended weekend, but on the drive down we stopped at the Butterfly Gardens which was a short detour off the main road. <br />
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Both Marijke and I thought it was a great place and well worth the stop. They have a sort of 'indoor jungle' habitat you can walk through that contains a lot more than butterflies, and everywhere you look you find something new and interesting. <br />
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Rather than stay in the downtown area we choose to stay a bit outside, in a neighborhood that was quite nice, reminding me a lot of the quiet tree filled streets of north Seattle where I grew up.<br />
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We found a place to stay through Air B&B which was quite nice.<br />
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The downtown waterfront in Victoria is very nice and very touristy. But that's alright, we came here to be tourists. Everything was clean, pedestrian friendly, and well maintained. Including this topiary of orca whales. <br />
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The weekend we visited was particularly busy and full of life because it was a multi-day street performer festival. All over the place you would come across performers doing acrobatics, making jokes and in various forms of costumes. It was certainly a big change from life on Shaw that's for sure!<br />
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Boats like this always capture my attention and imagination, and there were a number of cool boats in the harbor. <br />
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Funny thing is while it seems the Empress Hotel seems to get much of the attention from visiting tourists, neither Marijke or I really cared about it. I didn't even manage to get an unobstructed photo of the thing, haha. <br />
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The Parliament building on the other hand is stunning and a form of architecture I enjoy a great deal. <br />
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Most of our time was spent wandering around the streets and we wound up walking through the 'houseboat neighborhood' which was cute, but man it was a zoo. Hard to imagine anyone could actually enjoy living here with all the.... people like us.... wandering around looking.<br />
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Walking through Victoria's 'China town.'<br />
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The cute alleyways full of shops.<br />
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And more street preformers. Before this act, we stopped by this same spot to catch a band playing a few songs. It really wasn't our intention to come during this event, but I really enjoyed seeing it because it made for a great deal of vibrant entertainment everywhere you looked.<br />
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That night we were going to hit up a bar and see a rock concert, however Marijke hurt her foot and we had to cancel that plan. Oh well. (it wasn't anything serious, but did require calling it a night)<br />
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The next morning we had a huge brunch at one of those 'hip alternative brunch spots' and visited the Royal British Colombian Museum. I enjoy museums a fair bit and this one is particularly good. It had very good exhibits detailing both the natural world and the culture of the area, and I was surprised to see what were essentially period recreations of city streets, with numerous buildings to go into and explore. <br />
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Shortly afterward, it was time to head back to the ferry and back home. I think this was the first time Marijke got to flash her green card, and we headed over the imaginary line that separates this island from our own. It was a great little get away and I hope to do something similar next year.<br />
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That's it for this post. The next installment is the real start of beginning to work for myself, Marijke's brother Stijn visits us for an extended period where among other things we climbed Mt Baker (10,781 ft), the wedding of a high school friend and more of the San Juan Islands scenery. Always more to come. </div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-15120018631560826562017-10-15T23:49:00.000-07:002017-10-15T23:49:45.611-07:00A Brief Jaunt to the Desert <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This post is a bit different from most because although the scenery of the San Juan islands sure is lovely, I do still manage to get away once in a while and this one is about a serious change of scenery: the desert southwest. My friend Sam, who I've known since sophomore year of high school was going to get married in the summer and for his bachelor party a bunch of us friends were going to hike in the desert and then hit Las Vegas. It had been quite a while since I'd had any real time away from home in a while and I was excited to go to a part of the country I've explored numerous times, but always find myself wanting to return to. In order to get there however there is a bit more of life at home, then a short plane ride to another world.<br />
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Wedging trees over on a steep hillside on Orcas. This was a fun project because by taking out some of the 'boring' trees we were able to expose a few big old firs with some awesome twisted branches, as well as the water beyond.<br />
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A centipede mom and it's babies I came across while moving some rotten wood. <br />
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Exciting news for the Shaw Fire Department, we got a new truck. Well, new to us at least. It is a retired truck from the DNR and while we need to put a bit of work into it before it enters service, it is a much smaller and more maneuverable truck than any of our full size engines and will be able to get in places they would be unable to reach.<br />
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My current saw collection. Got a few more on the wish list...<br />
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We don't go to Orcas for fun very often but on this Saturday we did and grabbed a bit at the farmers market in town.<br />
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Marijke feeding the chipper as we worked together removing a group of half rotten trees. I need to put a fresh set of knives on the chipper, but overall I am extremely happy with my purchase. <br />
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As part of that same project we took down a big fir that was leaning over one of the old airplane hangers by putting a rope in it up high and pulling it over with the truck as I cut.<br />
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It was finally time for the change of scenery I talked about, and I headed south to Seattle where I met my friends early in the morning and headed to the airport.<br />
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We totally misjudged how long everything was going to take us and almost missed our flight, but as we ran through the terminal, reaching the gate expecting the worst we found the plane was actually delayed. Hurry up and wait I guess. <br />
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It's nice to sit with old friends on a plane instead of total strangers. I don't get to do that very often.<br />
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We arrived in Vegas and picked up our rental van, a new Ford Transit 15 seater. It fit the whole crew and our bags and worked out perfectly. You may recall I drive a Ford van, an Econoline that is 20 years older than this, and let me tell you they have made some serious improvements...<br />
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As soon as we had everyone and loaded up the van we hit the road, stopping for supplies and lunch. We were headed for Coyote Gulch which is almost 7 hours away in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. <br />
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Stopping for some delicious pizza in the town of Escalante as we neared out camp for the night.<br />
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That first night we turned off the paved road onto a decent dirt road, and found a big open space to set our tents a few miles from the trail head. Sunrise on the surrounding hills the next morning was beautiful, but only a taste of what was to come.<br />
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The whole group at the trail head. All of us have been friends since high school at least, meaning a good 15 years together.<br />
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After walking down a sandy trail with some low brush, we quickly found ourselves walking on solid waves of stone.<br />
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I'd intentionally done zero research on where we were actually going, I guess I wanted it to be a surprise. It is hard to make out what it actually there, but those dark, roughly horizontal spots are the top edge of what we were headed.<br />
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The hike in was only a few miles, but in the Utah heat it was still a bit of effort. Before we knew it, we were right above the gulch and would be down soon. That said, there is still no real sense of what you are about to enter, especially when you look out in every direction and see nothing but bare rock.<br />
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Besides starting at the ends of the gulch, there is only one way in and here it is. We scrambled down the rock one at a time and while it required quite a bit of care, we all did just fine.<br />
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As soon as you reach the bottom of the rock, in front of you is basically a stream oasis. Inside this narrow cut in the solid stone landscape it is cool, green and truly another world.<br />
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Once we were all down and together, we headed up the gulch, walking in the shallow, cool stream running down the middle and finding ourselves at the base of these sweeping, overhanging bends in the river course, hundreds of feet high. I was honestly blown away, the whole place was so dramatic, the scale was just huge and the shapes seemed Dali-esque.<br />
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My camera doesn't have a wide angle lense which would have helped capture some of the scenery, but I think it's one of those places that is just impossible to capture. No photo can share the sense of being under one of these overhanging bends, standing in a cool stream, in this cut in the earth in the middle of the desert and with the red and yellow stone all around you.<br />
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For a campsite we got one of the prime spots in the gulch, right under the Jacob Hamblin Arch, one of the most impressive stone features I've ever seen. <br />
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I don't usually do this, but because I couldn't capture it in a way that gave it the slightest bit of justice, I'm going to share a photo from someone else that does a better job: Photo by <span style="background-color: #e6e6e6; color: #202020; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="http://www.mountainphotography.com/">Jack Brauer</a></span><br />
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That sandy patch with the little trees, that was where we would spend the next two nights. Simply amazing...<br />
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After making camp, we wandered along the valley, walking barefoot through the stream and marveling at this incredible place.<br />
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My tent, our crew, and what is probably in the top 5 places I've ever camped.<br />
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Relaxing in the stream. <br />
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Cooking dinner in the evening, still perfect t-shirt and shorts weather. <br />
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Waking up with the sun coming through the arch. As I turned and looked the other way between the walls of the canyon, I could still see the moon, still in the sky.<br />
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Scrambling up the loose stone under the arch. A little sketchy to be honest.<br />
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We were going to be spending a second night in the canyon, so today was all about exploring. Everyone packed up some food, water and we headed down stream, wading in the water barefoot mostly. <br />
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Sam (the one getting married) taking a little dunk.<br />
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Around every bend was more incredible features.<br />
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We were hoping to get all the way to the Escalante River, but it was fairly slow going and we ran out of time. This was the spot where we turned around.<br />
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A celebratory beer back in camp. (yes, we carried a 30-pack across the desert and into the canyon. and yes, we packed everything back out!)<br />
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Night two.<br />
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The way back out was hot and somewhat slow going.<br />
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Just like on the way in, we stopped at Escalante Outfitters for some grub.<br />
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With food in our bellies, we drove back south and all the way to Las Vegas, where we stayed at the Hooters Hotel. It was close and cheap. And yah, it felt cheap.... <br />
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On the strip. To be honest, Vegas is about my least favorite place to be. It looks interesting for a night or two, and is a good place to catch a show, but other than that, nothing about it appeals to me. Then again, I live in the woods on a tiny island, soooo.... I'm probably not the target audience.<br />
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I think this may be the only time I've ever 'gambled'. I put a dollar into the penny slot. At first I bet a penny, but it was going to slow and I was bored, so I bet 10c at a time (when is the last time you did anything for just ten cents?) and got up 43 cents, wow! Then I got bored again, and hit the 10 cent bet rapidly until I lost "all" my money. Thus started and ended my gambling career.<br />
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We actually had two nights in Vegas, they kind of blend together.<br />
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With a group as large as ours, it would up being cheaper to take a limo than rent taxis. <br />
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Vegas is quite a scene.<br />
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An acquaintance had a fancy hotel overlooking the strip and we stopped in for a drink.<br />
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The view from the balcony. Eventually, it was time to return to our room and call it a night.<br />
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The next morning most of us were just ready to get out of Vegas, and rather than try and find something to do around the hotel or the strip, we just headed to the airport early. The flight home was very welcoming, because we had clear views of Mt Rainier and the other things that make our part of the world special, and what makes me feel at home. The desert is nice, and I will certainly be back for more of that (I'll probably skip Vegas), but snow covered volcanoes, this is where I want to live.</div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-23948635518234596682017-09-24T18:03:00.000-07:002017-09-24T18:03:10.437-07:00Multi-Faceted Growth<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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When I choose photos
for my blog, I look over everything I’ve taken over a given period,
usually hundreds or a thousand, sometimes more, and try to get that
down to 40-50. It’s quite a task, and as always many details are
left out, but I aim to include a representative sample of my life.
It is usually progress on whatever is important at that moment,
nature and how it is changing depending on the season, some wildlife.
having fun with my wife, lots of tree work and finding a way to tell
a coherent story. These days I’m leaning more heavily on the
photos than the writing, getting lazy I guess, but I still feel the
urge to document and share. I have actually been doing this since
before social media was really a big thing, and I only post on
Facebook once or twice a week at most, usually a nature photo I took,
maybe some tree work or an activity with friends, but this blog,
which started out to just document my travels in South Asia
originally, soldiers on. When I started writing new posts after my
trip across Africa, I actually started titling my documents ‘back
in the USA post __’ because I thought being back home would be
temporary and I’d be on the road again shortly. Then I fell in love with an
island, a lifestyle, and a girl. Now I have a new place to call home, a new life, a
wife and a business. Huh. As I type this, I am actually in Iceland,
after spending two weeks in the Netherlands with Marijke and look
forward to sharing that trip here eventually. I was also hiking in
Utah fairly recently which was stunning, climbed Mt Baker with
Marijke, my dad and Marijke’s brother Stijn and am trying to fit the new business into all of that. Anyways, this post covers about a month of spring, has a lot of
bird photos and not a single tree work photo. See for yourself:</div>
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When I left off,
Marijke’s mom was staying with us in our home, and after a few days
it was time to head down to Seattle for more family time. I brought
down the new truck for my parents to see, and we had a great visit.</div>
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As often happens we
went on a walk through Kubota Gardens.</div>
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We were also near to
Volunteer Park, so we found our way there as well. Margriet was very
impressed with the trees.</div>
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Once that visit was
over and we returned home, I found myself spending a lot more time
than I used to in the office at my computer. A byproduct of starting
a business I guess, and I spent a lot of time procrastinating by
watching the birds at my feeders that were just out my window. A welcome distraction, but the
pigeons who have discovered the feeder are not so welcome....</div>
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This huge truck, one
of my favorites from the large list of cool old vehicles on the
property, has spent the past few decades just below the top of Ben
Nevis hill. That era finally ended recently, when it was
brought down as part of the property clean up, and a new owner for
this piece of rolling art is being sought out.</div>
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A foggy morning as
we look out the windows.</div>
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I probably mention
this every year around this time, but my favorite color ever is sunlight coming
through new spring maple leaves. I won’t pretend this photo
captures it at all, but because I’ve put so much work into opening
up space for the maples around the house again, I have had the
opportunity to watch them leaf out and flourish, and enjoy it
greatly.
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My friends Brendan
and Caitlin staying with us and enjoying a meal together.</div>
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This time of year of
course is the annual Beltane party. Friends came up from far and
wide, dressed in white, to eat, drink, dance and celebrate the new
season.</div>
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Jenn cooking the
awesome stew.</div>
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Some of the crew.</div>
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Marijke and myself
at the finished maypole.</div>
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And as always, the
feast is the most important part. Many of our friends are great
cooks (I am not one of these people) so the food at our parties is
always excellent.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2vkeTEYUpf87zyglGAaa2Cons-p-wOuB-9tVKFk8HlY3Dq0efwHfrlAwM710hIe0iEjDe0rojci9h5Np_OjE2vTwI57_SXgXE28bvMhF3UDweeQ9lMZ8_JtpXu9HC3NmRhO_LS4aB_2fS/s1600/P1250993.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2vkeTEYUpf87zyglGAaa2Cons-p-wOuB-9tVKFk8HlY3Dq0efwHfrlAwM710hIe0iEjDe0rojci9h5Np_OjE2vTwI57_SXgXE28bvMhF3UDweeQ9lMZ8_JtpXu9HC3NmRhO_LS4aB_2fS/s1600/P1250993.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After eating, most
people find their way to the top of the hill. This is the actual top
which is on my friends property, just opposite where the big truck
was just taken from and the property where Marijke and I live. Nice
to have such a good neighbor and neighborhood!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkELwwZ-7GXzEfl_2OQ1PJ1A4wcCKV9dQGljPIU4V8PKvK5Y41HbhpmyL1qv6kchWmR_N8xJxO9MGfutOY1cMdkM7veItLE-ZtQzrrs-D4qwEs-Es9FCX1QiI7wunS1U2iLi3VQepPyP-0/s1600/P1260052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkELwwZ-7GXzEfl_2OQ1PJ1A4wcCKV9dQGljPIU4V8PKvK5Y41HbhpmyL1qv6kchWmR_N8xJxO9MGfutOY1cMdkM7veItLE-ZtQzrrs-D4qwEs-Es9FCX1QiI7wunS1U2iLi3VQepPyP-0/s1600/P1260052.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
No party is complete
without a bonfire and this evening did not disappoint.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuTqvVLLGVKdIYsWr72cMFJEolvS7geVthhaNv2IfDLo7SZsoxOzmEvAiwYmGr8tMI-JdZb0tIj4X5lSBk_CyOUPNfV7Ozma96Gs86Q4qBwAS0bs_TcYOvzuvhp05kOLRsJgywkIvnwFJn/s1600/P1260182.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuTqvVLLGVKdIYsWr72cMFJEolvS7geVthhaNv2IfDLo7SZsoxOzmEvAiwYmGr8tMI-JdZb0tIj4X5lSBk_CyOUPNfV7Ozma96Gs86Q4qBwAS0bs_TcYOvzuvhp05kOLRsJgywkIvnwFJn/s1600/P1260182.JPG" /></a></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I swear I work hard,
but the photos in this post sure aren’t showing it! It was a nice
afternoon, so Marijke and I went out for a little boat ride, a
wonderful way to wind down after a long day.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So I don’t have
any real work photos, but I haven’t forgotten the ferry pictures, I
seem to always wind up with one or two of those. But it’s just so
scenic, how can I not?</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Seals, in their
usual spot on the edge of Bling Bay.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEintrT7gzNn3VxHvOqsDgXJNLM6Ho2UpTB6-hrp9IFFhJ8D9dHdIHajklxn1wTeXLnM2bxdKcIXMkNQh-uV55PIcZ22dJKFY4EHXI8USnta39XVpuualqF6Trn49YbDrD9gxlOsNIvBTzIC/s1600/P1260341.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEintrT7gzNn3VxHvOqsDgXJNLM6Ho2UpTB6-hrp9IFFhJ8D9dHdIHajklxn1wTeXLnM2bxdKcIXMkNQh-uV55PIcZ22dJKFY4EHXI8USnta39XVpuualqF6Trn49YbDrD9gxlOsNIvBTzIC/s1600/P1260341.JPG" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A while back, when I
got the truck stuck in the mud actually, I took down a huge dead
juniper and saved some of the wood. In hindsight I should have taken
a lot more, but I dried it slowly, sanded it and put a coat of poly
on it to show off it’s colors. One is currently hanging in my
hallway, the other I gave to my old boss Austen as a going away gift.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNzzGewGB9JoIim9W8myyw_5kzyfSQqhHgUokOUnbfPBp1dbO9lAk3ISGmW3mySpBEFdadVVi59vbeZZ1NyHgYjZ1yjekX6q1KgCjHr_sIxFD6N4KFbto-XEpLG4-RNu72JkaiS28q3MXr/s1600/P1260369.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNzzGewGB9JoIim9W8myyw_5kzyfSQqhHgUokOUnbfPBp1dbO9lAk3ISGmW3mySpBEFdadVVi59vbeZZ1NyHgYjZ1yjekX6q1KgCjHr_sIxFD6N4KFbto-XEpLG4-RNu72JkaiS28q3MXr/s1600/P1260369.JPG" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Sup?” Found
this little birdie as I was weed whacking along the road and yes, I
moved it safely out of the way.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8_JCnZz9Y7p9IKCXg9bUojbq993HfcdtzSDpbh-sT9VikBkBRwYxCo3vU8rqBB9bPQ92bvYmJ1OZE4_EP_BhdyOzzBdBRxKDxCYzmbTOlCLMc_F8KYBOU7ZbKPdUYKkg4yHndpyRD22fz/s1600/P1260416.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8_JCnZz9Y7p9IKCXg9bUojbq993HfcdtzSDpbh-sT9VikBkBRwYxCo3vU8rqBB9bPQ92bvYmJ1OZE4_EP_BhdyOzzBdBRxKDxCYzmbTOlCLMc_F8KYBOU7ZbKPdUYKkg4yHndpyRD22fz/s1600/P1260416.JPG" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
That very same day,
Marijke and I decided to go for a wander around the property. At 80
acres, there are still corners we haven’t really explored and we
set out to do just that. As we wandered through the woods and
towards a mossy bald, I spotted a baby owl, just sitting on the
ground. Being a favorite animal of Marijke, she was very excited to
see a baby up close.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFOdBCRfqMgKw58nbpbuebxRuUMVWGSXj3plc3zconhm81iKPIammRfhE05JqMIUawwXlyn-F2DIgNX0FQhHQqBz0k5IQl9UyHM8QRkHeojEfq8Molz7OA1dQUr2cBwW_CIbGOXHB3Vvz2/s1600/P1260418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFOdBCRfqMgKw58nbpbuebxRuUMVWGSXj3plc3zconhm81iKPIammRfhE05JqMIUawwXlyn-F2DIgNX0FQhHQqBz0k5IQl9UyHM8QRkHeojEfq8Molz7OA1dQUr2cBwW_CIbGOXHB3Vvz2/s1600/P1260418.JPG" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Owls are amazingly
chill creatures, and it didn’t seem bothered by our presence one
bit (we did avoid touching it or making any quick movements of
course). After a minute of checking it out, I noticed the mom was
actually sitting in a tree just about 15 feet from us, hardly paying
us any attention and also seemingly unconcerned with our proximity to
it’s baby.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw4PRH-rWCR9xzYUxrGA11pwlDkL5Eqy1vzK9WK4wIC2cltOOF_evM8v-aE48O0pwBgMi1U0BrC6kJBYv51THNXjalqrHrRcqgLky3xTxDpdeveUabZqekL96Pt1aei8XmeLmMHccmTtgj/s1600/P1260420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw4PRH-rWCR9xzYUxrGA11pwlDkL5Eqy1vzK9WK4wIC2cltOOF_evM8v-aE48O0pwBgMi1U0BrC6kJBYv51THNXjalqrHrRcqgLky3xTxDpdeveUabZqekL96Pt1aei8XmeLmMHccmTtgj/s1600/P1260420.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The fun part of
starting my business is buying all the cool new tools I’ve always
wanted but could never justify before! I’ve made a number of large
orders and tool purchases including this one, and there is more on
the way.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAjt-RPQ5tzLKPxZTsi2AXCIq3wTYn4Gwis1JoAD7uYagDVjfNNA5x9KxdbdYWiW5CzjEeDTjILsfv5RyQcufH9g20BTuVSOB1vp5u-3rR8dQ3GC3G244qZibFHmig5jAd1_rAUAIYrnX1/s1600/P1260546.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAjt-RPQ5tzLKPxZTsi2AXCIq3wTYn4Gwis1JoAD7uYagDVjfNNA5x9KxdbdYWiW5CzjEeDTjILsfv5RyQcufH9g20BTuVSOB1vp5u-3rR8dQ3GC3G244qZibFHmig5jAd1_rAUAIYrnX1/s1600/P1260546.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And speaking of
more, how about more birds? This is the nightly show out our window
and it never gets old.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhNhmwmXhJ2rHl6nrXvN2FVJBM-URP89_HGboyph925-NIODtRpJqFRoTli0N_hyphenhyphenBTov_ylDhy-voM2kPmyItWY5OKqm-yMkJ-oWLQ3s1oLyN94MqQa9ZyCie7nsPrJaBgJu5_3-uFd05F/s1600/P1260582.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhNhmwmXhJ2rHl6nrXvN2FVJBM-URP89_HGboyph925-NIODtRpJqFRoTli0N_hyphenhyphenBTov_ylDhy-voM2kPmyItWY5OKqm-yMkJ-oWLQ3s1oLyN94MqQa9ZyCie7nsPrJaBgJu5_3-uFd05F/s1600/P1260582.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
One day while
Marijke and I were working together I came across some snakes and
needed to move them out of the area where we were working. Being the
little boy that I am, I caught one and showed it to my wife, only to learn she had
never held a snake before! I had her take off her work gloves to
really feel it, and she was quite intrigued by the way it wrapped itself and moved around her fingers.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Back in Seattle on a
social visit, and happened to cross paths with my sister Robin who
lives in Montana.
</div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXipZ9w6xz3REZ88ZyHuqNPXrEdw5wtGa2TA8yuRR6AZen-lmctwc3q_11Co3HYg_1MXszIaNVpd6cyu4X13dsChewxS2ZbRYQoh5b_-ghl_YNVBuko_LVZfRahAKy0lNhud5po1FyNyjX/s1600/P1260655.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXipZ9w6xz3REZ88ZyHuqNPXrEdw5wtGa2TA8yuRR6AZen-lmctwc3q_11Co3HYg_1MXszIaNVpd6cyu4X13dsChewxS2ZbRYQoh5b_-ghl_YNVBuko_LVZfRahAKy0lNhud5po1FyNyjX/s1600/P1260655.JPG" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Games with friends.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
No mainland visit is
complete without a huge haul of supplies and this didn’t
disappoint. I returned with the lumber to start building the chip
box for my work truck, a few weeks worth of groceries, a lawn mower, a gas
pole saw, new blower, wood cart, and much much more.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I’ve never had my
own lawn to mow but the house does and it was getting long. On a
whim I stopped by a place called ‘The Shop’ in Mt Vernon and
found a well used but freshly tuned up Toro for $80 and couldn’t
say no. It does a good job, and it’s satisfying to look out at a
nice patch of grass beside the house, even if I’m mostly using it
as a work space instead of using it to relax on…</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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Marijke’s symphony
group was having it’s final concert of the season at the Orcas
Center and then a dinner for all the members at the Outlook, so I
tagged along.</div>
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I enjoy finding life
in funny places, and while cleaning out my gutters one evening found
this frog hanging out up there…</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And as I got to the
gutters on the other side of the house, I came across this bundle of
recently hatched spiders.</div>
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My business
paperwork was finally in order and while I haden’t even begun
building the tool box in my truck, there was work to be done so I
loaded up and began working. It is still very early in the life of
my business, just a few months, but it really is a good feeling to
work for myself and be responsible for every step of the process. So
far everyone I’ve worked for has been extremely happy, and work is
coming in at a good pace.</div>
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It is the time of
year for the broadleaf stonecrop to bloom, and the tall stalks and bright yellow flowers really add a
fun splash of color to the old quarry.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Our lawn was looking
pretty empty and boring, just grass with a few doug firs, so Marijke
spent the afternoon making a little garden space with rocks, logs,
moss and ferns.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I usually spend my
weekends working on my never ending project list, but this time we
decided to spend the day having fun. While it is a bit of a journey
in my little 9.9hp boat, we decided to go all the way around Shaw and
to Friday Harbor. The weather was perfect, so why not!</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A great blue herron
standing in Blind Bay.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The north east tip
of Shaw has a stunning view of Mt Baker, and with the timing of the
ferry just below it, I couldn’t help but include this photo…
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Victory, a beer in
Friday Harbor! From there we returned to Shaw, enjoying the scenery,
the fresh air and our circle around the island.
</div>
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</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Of course the most
important tool for doing tree work, besides the truck to get you
there and the saws to cut the trees, is a chipper to deal with the
material you put on the ground. I’d been watching craigslist,
Equipment Trader, and arborist specific sites for a while now and was
always coming up empty handed. For some reason, it is amazingly hard
to find a good used chipper in the northwest. Eventually I found one
on craigslist that was all the way in central Montana, so I hit the
road for a long, solo, last minute road trip! The above photo is in
Washington at one of my favorite views, crossing the Columbia river.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Montana was really
georgous. I haven’t been out that way in a while, and although
this sure wasn’t a sight seeing trip, I enjoyed it a great deal
just from the driver seat.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After driving for
750 miles straight and sleeping in the cab of my
truck in a Walmart parking lot, something I’ve never had to do
before, I found the chipper and checked it out. Everything was as
expected, so I handed over a pretty big check, hooked it to my truck
and was suddenly the owner of a 2008 Vermeer BX1000XL chipper with
only 1,500 hours. It is a 12” chipper, has a great auto feed,
super adjustable discharge chute, 85hp Cummins diesel and weighs
4,200 pounds. To be honest it is a lot more than I was expecting on
spending, but in the end I am really happy to have this machine and
it ought to serve we well for years to come.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Once hooked up, I
turned right back around and drove to Seattle, all 650 miles. The truck handled the extra weight no problem, just as I
expected.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I started this post
taking about showing my parents my new truck, now it was time to show
them my new chipper. My mom made a great breakfast, and my bad had a
few branches in the yard he wanted me to cut and chip, so after that
was taken care of, I drove my new chipper to the ferry home.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Next post will have
some tree work photos again, especially playing with the chipper, but
is mostly about hiking in Utah and two nights in Vegas. It’s a serious change of scenery,
so look for that in a little while. </div>
</div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-58762489757079137262017-09-08T15:57:00.000-07:002017-09-09T02:58:25.082-07:00The Arrival of Spring and Another Big Step Forward<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A lot of my posts start by discussing the seasons. Sometimes it's the season the post is about, but more often, it's about what is going on at the moment I'm writing, and how the post is about a few months before that... Oh well. If I'm being totally honest, I'm less motivated to blog these days than I used to be. I'm not totally sure why that is, and I know people are still checking out my posts, so I feel like I should keep it up. Things are going well, and the new chapter in life I hinted at in the last post is that I've started my own business! That is certainly a change from being an employee, but I'm doing the same work as before, so really it's just that I have more paperwork to do. That said, it is rewarding, but I'll get to that later on. For now, here is how I got to that part.<br />
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<br />
Working on the north side of Orcas Island. I was up a tree taking out some deadwood or something, I forget, when I looked out and saw a lovely rainbow. <br />
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Back home I was still doing work to improve my view. I've found it's really hard to get the true perspective of being up a tree when you just have the camera in your hand, so this time I brought up a selfie stick, which I'm almost embarrassed to admit I bought... That said, it made for a pretty cool photo and one I've since used on the posters for my business, as well as on the back of my business cards. So it was worth it.<br />
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So although the interview for Marijke's green card, and the approval that made everything official happened in the last post, she still didn't have the actual card yet. I think they told us it would be a month or so, but only like 10 days after the interview, my wife had the card in hand and the saga could finally and truly be declared over.<br />
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An old cabin on Shaw.<br />
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Looking down while doing a big tree removal. The tree was dying, was surrounded in buildings and there was no place to drop it. I think it was something like 130 feet tall, and was actually the largest fir removal I've ever done.<br />
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The tree was so large that after I'd exhausted the usefulness of my 361 with a 20" bar, I pulled up a 460 with a 32". I dropped a few logs off like this, and then came down to pull the stick over.<br />
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Safely down on the ground, and a LOT of big wood for someone to deal with... Even though doing a tree this big is using all the same principals of a smaller tree, it's just not the same and takes a lot more ability and experience. I was a little intimidated when I showed up in the morning but after 5 hours in the tree and it all going perfectly, it was a big confidence booster. <br />
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My 99 year old great aunt Wilma had just moved out of her home where she was still living unassisted (talk about good genes!) and into a home. It was time to make a Seattle visit to see her, other family and some friends. Usually when I come to Seattle it's a busy tip full of errands, so this was only about seeing people. It made for a nice change of pace from the usual visits.<br />
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That night I went to a house party with my good friend Brendan, and a bunch of his birder friends. The host of the party was also host to a house full of interesting birds, including this very chill owl. <br />
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While I was on the ferry home, I looked out on what was a lovely, clear day and saw the old ferry the Hiyu heading north. This tiny ferry was retired many years ago, and was brought back into service as the inter-island boat for a summer, then retired again and sold. When I later asked a ferry worker about it, he said it was headed north to a shipyard in Canada for some repairs and on to it's next stage of life. I always enjoyed that little ferry, so it was fun to see it one last time.<br />
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For a while now Marijke had been a part of Island Symphonia, the island classical music group, and this was their Shaw concert. You can see her in the back standing up and being in charge of various percussion instruments. <br />
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Visiting friends on Orcas and enjoying their collection of animals that wander about the property.<br />
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Ah yes, getting stuck. I was at work one day, the customer had some trees on the low side of their fields where he wanted the chipper, and I drove right into the soft stuff and couldn't get out... I knew it was soft, but figured if I got stuck that I'd be able to pull the truck and chipper out with our other truck. No such luck. Nor could the tractor do it. We ended up getting the truck out without too much trouble, but in order to get the chipper, which was axle deep in mud, Austen had to come back with his excavator. At this point I was very much looking forward to dry weather again...<br />
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Another lovely day on the ferries.<br />
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Dinner with friends.<br />
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Tiny dinosaurs. I forget the name of these, but if my memory is correct, they are the northern most lizard in North America.<br />
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I am always working to develop and improve where we live, and one thing we still didn't have until this day was a nice fire pit. I collected rocks from the quarry, picked a nice spot in the lawn and came up with this. I've got some cool pieces of wood to make benches with, but that step will come later.<br />
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Moss, wild flowers and the rusty saw blade on the edge of the clearing out our bedroom window. <br />
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At work with Marijke. This days project was adding some post extensions to a fence in order to make it taller and keep the deer out of an orchard. <br />
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I've always really enjoyed humming birds but for some reason it took until this point to finally put up a feeder. It hangs outside of our living room window, and by the second day it was there we would have 8 birds at a time jockeying for position. It was a lot of fun to watch, but we were having to refill the feeder every single day they were drinking so much!<br />
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On my boat heading home from work.<br />
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Until this point we had been keeping our two cats indoors but it was finally time to let them explore, and explore they did, especially Baxter. He loves to climb trees, and the big madrone on the corner of the house was no exception.<br />
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As part of letting the cats outside finally, we built a 'cat ramp', on the side of the house to the window in the laundry room, so they can easily go in and out as they please. Here is Marijke making the steps. <br />
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I always have my eyes out for little creatures and spring brings plenty of them. <br />
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A large doug fir tree, mid-fall after pounding in a wedge to tip it over. Probably one of my favorite activities, haha.<br />
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While I was out on the hillside falling big trees, I was also taking time to stop and admire the smaller and more beautiful things around me like this fairy slipper orchid, flowers that had only begun appearing in recent days. We actually have a good number of them around the house, and they are always a fun little treat to spot. <br />
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As I was waiting at the Orcas ferry landing for my boss a few days later, I happened to look out the window back towards Shaw at just the right moment and caught a rare sighting, orca whales, an adult and a baby, in the channel. Now they are fairly common around here, but they are usually spotted in other areas, the west side of San Juan in particular, so to see them here was unusual and exciting.<br />
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At work with Dave the crane guy. I'd brushed this tree out the day before as part of a large project, and on this day it was time to take the trunk wood down in sections using the crane. This was actually my first ever crane job which was fun, and I look forward to more in the future.<br />
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I can't help myself, always catching snakes...<br />
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This is one of my favorite trees on the island, a mature big leaf maple on the edge of Blind Bay, draped with green-grey lichen and made even more pretty by the fresh spring leaves sprouting out.<br />
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Marijke watering freshly panted apple trees in the orchard where we worked on the fence.<br />
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It was still far too early to call it 'warm' out, but it wasn't cold at the end of work at least. With the improving weather, Marijke and I have begun having 'deck beers' together, a wonderful way to relax a bit after a long day of work. <br />
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The sun, seen through spring showers from our deck. It's been a real joy to watch all these maple trees below the deck leaf out. When we moved in over the summer the trees weren't even visible, so to expose them and add them as a feature to our daily life is fun.<br />
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Looking over the mossy bald to the north of the house, this view is roughly from the new fire pit I built.<br />
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One more scenery photo... sunset out our living room window. Man I love this view....<br />
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This is both cool and a little sad, it's a violet green swallow, a very pretty bird that has recently showed up, flying over the meadow. One of them flew into the living room and one of our cats got to it...<br />
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A better look at our wonderful deck. <br />
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This curved tree was one out our living room window that I wanted to take out, and as long as I was doing that I figured I'd better make use of the interesting log. By using some painters tape to make guide lines, I halved the log as it stood upright, and set the material aside to make mirror image benches that will probably go around the new fire pit.<br />
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With the improving spring weather, clear views of Mt Baker are becoming common.<br />
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Passing the Shaw Landing (where the above view is) and heading into Blind Bay where I keep my boat.<br />
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With us well settled into the house and our lives by this point, it was easy to host guests and our first long visit came from Marijke's mom. The first time I met Margriet was actually when I married her daughter, so it was nice to have her around for a length of time and get to know her better. When she arrived, she brought a wonderful gift, a 'life painting' that is a custom painting incorporating elements of a persons life, and this one has elements of Marijke's life in the Netherlands on the left, life on Shaw on the right and other fun things like our two cats, haha. It's a lovely piece that has a great story to go with it and it hangs proudly in our living room.<br />
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About to hop in my boat and go to work I noticed this large crab just below the surface, and stuck my waterproof camera down for a closer look. I'm usually focused on life above the water, hopefully at some point I can explore more of what is below.<br />
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My boss Austen heading up a huge cedar on the north side of Orcas.<br />
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A close up of the life painting.<br />
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Since both Marijke and I work for and spend a good amount of time with the Rawls family, they invited us and Margriet over for dessert one evening and we had a great time snacking and chatting.<br />
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On the mainland with Margriet, we decided to go out to Mexican, something she had never had.<br />
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So I mentioned at the start of this post that I'm starting my own tree business, and this new (to me) truck will be the foundation of that business.<br />
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First off, the truck is a 2001 Ford F350 with the 7.3 diesel. The previous owner was literally an older couple that really just used it for hauling their camper on road trips and kept wonderful care of it. Not only that, but it has the most desirable motor, the powerful and ultra reliable 7.3, which only had 79,000 miles! These things are known to hit 500,000, and others I was looking at often had 250,000, making this one hardly broken in. I'm incredibly excited to have this truck for doing tree work in the islands and am lucky to have come across it because it is exactly what I wanted and extremely hard to come by. <br />
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So the business: My boss told me he was planning on moving off island, and that I should start my own business to fill the gap in the market he creates by leaving. Now I hadn't really considered having my own business before, but it all seemed to make sense and Austen was very willing to help me make it happen and has been a wonderful resource. It's hard to say how everything will pan out, but this marks a big step in my life and one I am really looking forward to. I know there is a lot of work ahead of me to make this a success, but I'll start small and simple, and see where the path takes me. </div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-69219969369468284872017-05-08T07:07:00.000-07:002017-05-16T15:34:20.903-07:00White Snow & Green Cards<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Spring is here now
and life is popping up everywhere I look. It truly is a wonderful
time of year and I look forward to talking about it shortly, but it's
time to wrap up winter first. In the winter it seems that not only
does the pace of the natural world slow down, so did the pace of our
personal lives. I don't mean that in a bad way, it is a time of rest
to some extent. Maybe I'm just used to a lot of fast change in
recent months and maybe even the past few years, but there wasn't any
of that during the period of this post. We got a new car, got snowed
out of work a number of times, I did a lot of improvements around the
property, and most importantly the green card process with my wife
concluded. All important things, but nothing that altered our day to
day realities. Anyways, life has been good so here goes:
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People always
complain about winter in the northwest (well, everywhere I
suppose...), talking about how long and gray it is, but I work
outside most every day and I see the sun frequently. This is some
late December sun on the mossy cliff our house is built on, days like
this are not so uncommon.</div>
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I'm a big fan of
nature watching as anyone reading this blog probably knows, and
although I actually know an embarrassingly little about them,
watching the birds outside my windows gives me great pleasure. I put
up bird feeders when we first moved in, but for whatever reason it
took months for birds to start using them. That said, these days I
often see probably 10 different types of birds a day at my feeders,
often a dozen or more at a time, and need to refill the seed daily.
I guess this is my “old man” activity.</div>
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New Years! I had
some sparklers to light at midnight on the deck with Marijke, and we
cooked up some traditional Dutch new years treats on the stove. It
wasn't exactly a big party here on Shaw for us, but it was fun to
mark the date at least.
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So this is how I get
to work every day. Living on one island and working on another
presents some obvious challenges, and I can always take the ferry
between islands but the schedule is limited and inconvenient. Then
again, my boat isn't exactly easy… what I do is carry the small row
boat from where I keep it next to the road down to the water, paddle
it to the dock float in Blind bay where I keep my motor boat, pull it
up onto the dock and then hop in the motor boat to take the mile long
journey, no matter the weather, in my 12 foot aluminum boat to Orcas.
We leave a car on Orcas that I can then drive to work once I'm on
that side.
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We weren't a water
family growing up, our time was spent in the mountains. Although we
did some nice river and lake trips, saltwater wasn't really on our
radar. Out here of course it is a daily feature of life and even
when the weather is terrible I love being out on my little boat;
feeling every wave, seeing different wildlife and living in the
moment, alone on the water.</div>
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….And sometimes I
see other interesting things from my boat! (A few days later the
boat was righted and towed way for repairs)</div>
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Even with the
mountain of wood I split to get us through the winter, by early
January it was clear we still needed a lot more. Our house is old
and poorly insulated, it has huge single pane windows, the wood stove
is old and inefficient (and a fireplace insert at that) and the wood
we did have, much of it was a bit on the soft side from sitting so
long before we moved in to get it under cover. That said, on 80
acres we had plenty of trees to choose from, so I spent half a day
taking down, bucking and splitting some small standing dead firs,
tossing them in the van and stacking them in the woodshed. I'll have
a truck eventually, but I'm always happy and impressed with the
usefulness of my full-size cargo van!</div>
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Another of the great
old trucks on the property, on the list to be hauled away.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
With winter usually
comes storms, and with storms usually comes interesting tree work.
While there was less than I expected this winter, we did get a few
jobs such as this maple that split out (you can see where it broke
from behind the cab of the machine) and landed on a tool shed. The
excavator is a pretty new tool for the business and it's been a huge
help for this kind of thing.
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The other thing that
comes with storms of course is power outages. Being prepared for
extended events due to storms, natural disasters or human caused
disasters is something I always keep in mind and I've got systems
ready to handle at a moments notice. One evening during a predicted
wind storm the power did go out and I sprang into action, setting up
the generator to keep some lights, the fridge and a few other things
on, as well as the portable propane stove, and jugs of clean water
(since I don't have a 220 volt generator to run the well pump yet).
Once all our emergency systems were in place…. The power came back
on. Oh well, at least I was ready.
</div>
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One day we had a job
taking down a decent sized fir that was too close to the customers
house, and while we carried most of the wood away, honestly we
weren't so keep on carrying the biggest part up the stairs. What we
did instead was ask if they were interested in turning the remaining
curved log into a bench, and after doing it they were so happy with
the bench they decided to redesign that part of the yard to make it a
key part of the garden!
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Looking down towards
Eastsound and Canada in the distance.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
New car time! Up
until now Marijke had been driving my piece of junk $1,500 Ford
Explorer, something that was literally an 'extra car I had laying
around', and it was time for an upgrade. So we headed into Seattle
and did the predictable thing, bought a used Subaru Outback. I'm a
huge fan of the practicality of all-wheel-drive wagons, I had a
Subaru Impreza in the past, and at one point my dad, brother and both
sisters were driving AWD wagons at the same time as well! (three
Outbacks and a Volvo XC). The car is in very good condition, it's a
Limited so it has leather, heated seats and dual sun roofs, and
Marijks is very happy with it.
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Breakfast with my
uncle Steve, who we stayed with while in Seattle.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
That day also
happened to be Marijke's 30<sup>th</sup> birthday, so while doing our
'mainland grocery shopping trip' I bought a little cake and surprised
her with birthday candles while we sat in my van on the ferry back to
the island.</div>
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Fence work in
January isn't always pretty! This was more livestock fence building
at the monastery and the ground was a soupy mess but we got the job
done.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Playing at work.</div>
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My commute home from
work is pretty awesome when the sun is shining, but even when it's
not I still enjoy it. Until I started commuting with this boat, I'd
spent very little time on salt water. Sure I've done some sea
kayaking trips, spent a little time on sail boats and so on, but now
I'm on the water a few days a week and I love it. It's peaceful,
there is a lot to see and experience along the way and it's a whole
new world that I get to enjoy.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
More fun storm work!
This was a pretty cool job, the tree was poorly rooted and blew over
in some moderately high winds one day. After removing all the
branches, most of which were on the roof, we put a pulley in a nearby
tree and another rope-redirect on a truck, then managed to use a
second truck all the way on the other side of the house to lift the
log up and away from the house. It was pretty tricky rigging but
worked out perfectly.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I've been getting my
shop in order and hanging rusty tools on the wall for decoration.
Having this space to keep tools and work on projects is awesome, I
never want to live without my own shop again! (but I'll probably
have to when we eventually move...)</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It's only late
January and still pretty cold. As a result, I'm burning a lot of
wood and keep needing more.</div>
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Visiting some horses
as we walked around the loop road.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A calm day on the
water. This is Blind Island and the Orcas ferry landing in the
distance.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It was at this time
Austen and I started working with a new guy at work, also named….
Austen. He is a cousin of my friend out here, grew up around trees
and logging, worked a number of seasons cutting trees for the forest
service and has been with us ever since. It's nice to have another
young capable guy on the crew and he's a lot of fun to work with.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Aww, my wife found
me a skull!</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I love to create
things and while I wouldn't go as far as to call myself an artist, I
certainly do enjoy creating art. In the middle of our driveway
turn-around there has been this bare space that was bugging me for a
long time, so I came up with something interesting to put there
instead. I cleaned and leveled the space, collected rounded stones
from the quarry and laid them out in a spiral, from smallest to
largest, in the center of this cluster of trees. After that, I
collected moss from all around the forest, and filled in the space
between the stones.</div>
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Here is the finished
product, I'm very happy with how it turned out.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And another thing
just because I felt it looked neat… This is a piece of firewood
that had a huge amount of dried sap on it. If you look at that
concave spot above the dark black end, you can actually see what is a
1” thick chunk of sap. Once put in the woodstove, the piece
ignited in quite a spectacular way.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Another beautiful
day, boating home from work. It's been so long since I had to take
the ferry boat to work I almost forget what it is like. I did enjoy
the community/social aspect of taking the ferry because it's such a
part of island life, but the schedule is just plain inconvenient.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So people sure
complained that we had an especially hard winter this year and
normally I'd say people just like to complain, but this year they
weren't wrong. Up to this point we had a few cold periods and
dustings of snow, which in itself is rare, but in early February we
had our first period of snow that lasted a couple of days. Because
of the snow work was called off (driving big trucks on snowy roads is
a bad idea if you don't need to, etc) and I spent a few days being
lazy on the couch and stoking the fire. Rare behavior for me… The
birds sure were coming to my feeder though, as it was the only easy
to find food while the ground was covered.</div>
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Of course snow makes
for some beautiful scenery and it was combined with some wonderful
blue skies.</div>
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Once things melted a
bit, it was back to work. There was still some snow on the ground
while we were out cutting, and as I was climbing a tree doing a
removal it began snowing again. I'd never climbed in the snow (to be
fair it was light snow) before, so that was a first!</div>
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With more snow
coming down it was time to get home before things got worse. As you
can imagine, boating home wasn't the most appealing prospect ever,
but oh well, gotta get home!</div>
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I'd say there was a
good chance I was the only person out in an open cockpit boat that
day…</div>
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Not used to seeing
this, our house covered in snow.</div>
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Now this is how to
spend a snow day, sweatpants and cats!</div>
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And the warm fire.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The snow stayed on
the ground for a few days, but as soon as it was gone, it was easy to
find signs of spring if you looked. It was still only early February
but we had the first few daffodils popping out of the ground.
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Nice weather made
for some great walks at the preserve.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It was at this time
we finally began letting our cats outside for the first time, and
while Sem is older and fairly reserved, Baxter here is young, curious
loves to explore and climb trees.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Mt Baker, a ferry,
ducks and the Shaw landing as I boat home for the day. Yah, I love
my commute.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Believe it or not I
don't only do things outside (though it is my preference). I also
spent the winter trying to perfect my home office, including building
nice wood stands for my computer (a laptop that sits upright behind
the monitor) and my screen.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Baxter and
bald-bellied Sem, sitting on top of the piano.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The float where I
keep my boat does go dry or nearly on especially low tides and this
was one of them. Also, proof not every day is sunny and bright out
here!
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In my quest to
reclaim some of our views, the process isn't just about seeing sky
but also about featuring the landscape and other trees. We have a
ton of firs around here that are crowding the mature big leaf maples,
so I decided to open the view out our living room window to this moss
covered maple, and give it some more space. Looking out the window
at this tree now is one of my favorite views we have.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The purple leaf plum
in front of the house is starting to bud. Spring is close!</div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Marijke and I
decided to have a fun day on Orcas so we took the boat. The water
was a little choppier than usual but it was still a lovely day.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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Hiking on Turtleback
and admiring the valley below.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Shortly after, I was
at work on Orcas when it began to snow, again. We could tell it
wasn't going to let up any time soon and that we had better stop the
job and get home before it was too late. I had most of the island to
drive across, and the road was absolute chaos. Not that the snow was
really that bad, but people just don't know how to handle it and
weren't prepared for it. There were cars just parked on the side of
the road everywhere and cars in the ditches all over the place too.
A friend I know was passing the other way and warned me that farther
along, the entire road was blocked by an accident, but I may be able
to get around it on a back way. Somehow the back road was clear (I
think most people were too scared to take it) and I made it to the
ferry landing, stopping to rescue a little old lady who was stuck on
the way. I later heard that something like 35 cars slid off the road
just between town and the ferry that day…
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A few weeks ago
Marijke and I received a letter from the immigration offices that we
had a date scheduled for our final immigration interview, the last
step that would decide if Marijke would receive her green card and be
able to stay in the country with me. Although we knew we had a solid
case, submitted all the appropriate paperwork and had a lawyer
helping us with the process, we were still nervous. The day before
the interview we met our lawyer downtown at her office to prepare and
hope for the best.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
While in the city we
spent the night with my parents, and that evening had a video chat
with my older sister Holly. With Marijke and both of my parents
there, Holly announced that she was going to be having twins!</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The morning of our
interview our lawyer met us at the somewhat intimidating Homeland
Security office in south Seattle and we waited for our number to be
called. The immigration officer turned out to be a friendly young
woman who took us to a small impersonal office and began asking us a
few questions, to start with mostly to check our personal information
was correct. When she asked us to confirm our mailing address, she
literally said “Now is this the address we send the green card to?”
Suddenly we were feeling confident. When it came time to question
me, she literally just asked if my name and birth date on the forms
was correct. She asked a few questions about how we met and about
Shaw, which she seemed sounded like a very cute place, and 10 minutes
later the interview was over! We were told our case would go through
one last review and to expect something in a few days.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We had to return
home, so after a celebratory breakfast that the process was over we
drove north. Before we had even reached the ferry terminal to return
to the islands, our lawyer called us to say the immigration website
had been updated and our case was approved! It's like the
immigration officer just checked the 'yes' box on the computer as
soon as we walked out off the room, haha.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And with that,
Marijke was finally a resident of the United States. My wife and I
finally had certainty we could stay together. The process we began
about 8 months ago was over, and the whole thing was, by all
standards, quick and painless. We had some German beer to celebrate,
talked about how smooth everything went and felt a tremendous sense
of relief it was finally over.</div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Whew, well that
finally brings me up to the start of spring, I'm kind of not behind
finally! Spring is all about the 'new,' and with that in mind the
next post will be discussing the start of a new chapter in life, so
check back for that in a little while. </div>
</div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-14151396338112470142017-03-25T08:27:00.002-07:002017-03-25T08:27:51.946-07:00Here Comes The Snow: Wrapping up an Amazing Year<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Well, with this post
I'll pretty much finish 2016. All in all, it was a pretty awesome
year: starting with a great trip in Mexico, returning to the island
and Marijke, deciding to get married, taking our road trip from the island
down to LA, the wedding, moving into a house together and getting
settled as a new couple. When the year began I sure had no
idea it would end this way, but I couldn't be happier. This post is
about the last part of the year, November and December, which was
mostly settling into the house, work (as usual) and the holidays.
</div>
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<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I've always been a
cat person. My family had both a cat and a dog growing up so I've
experienced both, but cats just suit me better. Luckily Marijke is
the same way. When she came to America she gave away her cat Freddy,
so now that we were settled in a house together, it was time to get
some cats for our 'family'. The shelter on Orcas had plenty to
choose from, and we ended up taking two, Sam the black cat, and
Baxter, the orange one. Sam is older, fat and not very social, so
the shelter was impressed when he approached both of us, and I guess
that is what sealed the deal to pick him. Baxter is young and
curious, so the mix seemed like a fun idea. As I write this a few
months since getting them, both have turned out to be excellent cats
and a great deal of fun to have around.</div>
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<br />
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
On the subject of
the house, this is the crazy basement it has! On one end there is a
door, and that leads into this, a cement floor and bare rock all
around. I guess they started breaking out rock for the basement and
decided that was big enough? This also shows yet another interesting
technique employed in the construction of the house, those vertical
pieces holding up the main beams under the floor are actually pieces
of rail road track! This space was the worst mess of the house by a
wide margin, but by cleaning it and adding some ventilation it has
proved to be great storage space.
</div>
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<br />
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
There was still a
great deal of work to do on the view project, and it was what had
been occupying much of my free time and energy. Some of the trees
were very large, up to 130' tall, and falling them whole would put
the brush/mess well beyond the burn pile you can see in this photo.
So as a way to contain the mess and cleanup, I climbed and limbed
many of the trees until I could fit the top in the clearing I'd made.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In this photo, I am
in probably the largest trees of the project, one of the 130 footers.
I went to 70 feet, limbing it as I went up with a 20” chainsaw
(361) and there I took a whopping 60 foot top. I'd never taken one
that big before (it's probably pretty uncommon for anyone to
actually) and scary isn't the right word, but it was pretty intense.
Really you are just doing all the same stuff as usual, just on a
bigger scale, but that means it's got to be just right. It sort of
felt like slow-motion when it started to go over, and once it did, it
sure had a long ways to fall. All in a days work, right?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgufxzZA3Fv1UvH9DbJrS1BVMLyy1p30Vikg8-Y1DLoNMOhl8io6PtxeMVUYWorlWbFRA_9_7rWKmEpfTQCKe8TroHDyt48Q9wdw26DVuV2ClX7q80gW-uJkhrlAWY-PpyeAym0BNBzOyF1/s1600/P1170691.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgufxzZA3Fv1UvH9DbJrS1BVMLyy1p30Vikg8-Y1DLoNMOhl8io6PtxeMVUYWorlWbFRA_9_7rWKmEpfTQCKe8TroHDyt48Q9wdw26DVuV2ClX7q80gW-uJkhrlAWY-PpyeAym0BNBzOyF1/s1600/P1170691.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Marijke helping me
drag and toss limbs onto the burn pile.
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKna_6SE1VBgKBPRnZGbPbg0r2eakH14Dqfe4y7VEhTnzZFK_w20iZL23jP2fnv1x8pl-477et-GNWyRSqQ624417D7Y_TW7JwLlm5MWk3j42llCSMByeuhNSAtm3BtvgFxdgZyEfVJG0j/s1600/P1170739.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKna_6SE1VBgKBPRnZGbPbg0r2eakH14Dqfe4y7VEhTnzZFK_w20iZL23jP2fnv1x8pl-477et-GNWyRSqQ624417D7Y_TW7JwLlm5MWk3j42llCSMByeuhNSAtm3BtvgFxdgZyEfVJG0j/s1600/P1170739.JPG" /></a></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
November came, but so long as the ground was still solid enough to drive on,
there was fence to build. Morning sun at the monastery as we loaded up
tools and tractors, sure is a nice sight compared to the rain we
could be having.
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Some mornings my
leaving for work line up perfectly with sunrise, and for a few days
we had a number of incredible ones in a row. This is a photo I took
from my driveway looking down the runway before heading off to the
boat.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Marijke, Baxter,
Brud and Carol, a little visit and housewarming gift from some fellow
islanders.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEW54NNQzbjlNm2UCHTGr5kVdcnQf8uiZNdklUMwGNTisphiIgniAENv-l_b25Sdl-Ku74ZotNAJnoM30O5Bsh5JSjfH4gVSBE6jcwz-ue4fECRkzO6GfNHUBYvbQzQpQcwZwFePnJg6m9/s1600/P1170809.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEW54NNQzbjlNm2UCHTGr5kVdcnQf8uiZNdklUMwGNTisphiIgniAENv-l_b25Sdl-Ku74ZotNAJnoM30O5Bsh5JSjfH4gVSBE6jcwz-ue4fECRkzO6GfNHUBYvbQzQpQcwZwFePnJg6m9/s1600/P1170809.JPG" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As you probably
know, I'm always keeping my eyes out for wildlife, and while I see a
fair bit at this house what I do miss out on is the deer. Having
previously lived on the edge of a large meadow, I'd practically watch
herds pass through every day, but now that I'm in the trees and on a
lot of moss covered rock I seldom see them around the house. I miss
watching them actually…</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4qbU-lCogK3dzxwSskHqDoqlevhaGzCbJaiBusVPmie1LcEGR3ase0lZ_7myNggIhPKxvPZp5dRqI3REavVWUb_IsbS2DzHEXSQ8jTZM40XcjxZRz3WndxUOSVES1woogy4IHLMIwhmh7/s1600/P1170934.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4qbU-lCogK3dzxwSskHqDoqlevhaGzCbJaiBusVPmie1LcEGR3ase0lZ_7myNggIhPKxvPZp5dRqI3REavVWUb_IsbS2DzHEXSQ8jTZM40XcjxZRz3WndxUOSVES1woogy4IHLMIwhmh7/s1600/P1170934.JPG" /></a></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The Boy Scout motto
is 'Be Prepared' and that mindset is certainly important when living
on an island with no stores. We do some of our grocery shopping on
Orcas island, but to save money we do as much as possible in big
trips on the mainland. Looking at this picture now I know its a
while ago, because for quite some time now we have switched to using (and
often filling) two whole carts.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Back in August we
mailed off Marijke's green card application, but at the same time she
also applied for her work permit so she could legally work in the
U.S. Luckily that is a faster and easier process than the green
card, and three months later the work permit arrived in the mail,
finally allowing her to get a real job. It was a nice moment because
it was an important step in my wife being able to establish herself
in this country, and it also felt like a good sign for our green card
application, even though we knew that was still a long ways off.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
At the monastery
building fence.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Ah yes, this was an
interesting tree job. If you look above the cab of the crane, you
can see a large fir trunk leaning into other trees. On a windy day
it uprooted and lodged itself in the tops of three other trees next
to a driveway. Dave the crane guy devised a rigging solution that
involved hoisting me up and dangling me over the leaning tree to
install a large pulley, then a 3-1 system using other trees and the
cranes winch to partly right and then stabilize the leaning tree.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We decided it was
more stable to keep the tree at a bit of an angle, so keeping it
attached to the crane and using two other guy-lines to further
stabilize it, I then climbed it and treated it like any other
removal. It felt a little sketchy, but it all went perfectly.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A nice fall day and
a look at the view progress. It's awesome to see the water and San
Juan island out my windows! By this point I've done the bulk of the
trees on the right side (minus dropping those three sticks) and soon
the focus will turn to the tall trees on the left.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Speaking of dropping
the big standing sticks, that was the next stage of the project.
Having an open field to drop things into makes for great learning
opportunities to practice wedging trees against their lean, something
I took advantage of when using my new 36” bar.
</div>
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Heading to Friday
Harbor for dinner and a movie with the wife.
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Walking on the late
boat back home to Shaw.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Dropping trees is
the easy part, once they are down I had to actually clean them up.
And I spent days and days feeding the burn pile with branches. At
least the smoke looked kind of cool with the sun shining through it.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The house is very
much a product of it's time, and then the 'upgrades' were the
products of their time as well. Both bathrooms were actually
carpeted, which honestly is disgusting in a bathroom… I guess
people were into that in the 80s? Lucky for us though the carpet was
just installed over the original late 60s flooring so after a couple
of hours time we were back to an easily cleanable surface. Also, why
they installed a heater into the wall, but no exhaust fan is beyond
me…</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In a previous post I
mentioned the shop space I was cleaning out and by this point I
had the place knocked into shape. It's awesome to have a shop to
work on my chainsaws, do woodworking projects and generally be loud
and messy. Yah, I'm loving having my own shop. I keep telling
Marijke she is welcome to use it and hang out there as well, but she
has yet to take me up on the offer…
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By now it was
Thanksgiving and my parents were up to see the house, stay with us
and spend the holiday together. It also marked an anniversary for us, because it was after Thanksgiving dinner just one year earlier
that Marijke and I started seeing each other. If back then you were
to tell me I'd marry her 8 months later and be hosting my parents in
our home for dinner in a years time, there is no way I'd believe it.
Anyways, while the bird was in the oven we drank wine and played
games.
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With just four
people we decided a whole turkey was unnecessary, so we cooked a
chicken instead. The fun thing about that was it was actually a
chicken raised by my friends and processed by Marijke and friends on
the property where I built the cabin. She is normally a vegetarian,
but knowing where it came from, seeing it grow and being part of the
butchering and cleaning process she ate and enjoyed the bird as well.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I've mentioned the
giant clean up project on the property where we live, and here is
another fun part of it. This crazy truck here is the work-horse of
the whole thing, a 6x6 truck with no cab, a keg gas tank, wood bench for a
seat, manually adjusted boom and winch, all for yanking other trucks
out of the forest and hauling them to be scrapped. I love this
thing, so much awesome.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Being the holiday
season, it was time for the annual holiday bazaar in the community
center, always a good way to chat with your neighbors.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
One of the many
benefits of living on 80 acres is that you can walk out your door,
into your 'backyard' and cut your own Christmas tree! We had done a
scouting mission earlier, and once we found our favorites again,
weighing the pros and cons of the various small trees, decided on a
great little doug fir and carried it up the runway and to our front
door.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
At the time it began
we didn't know what was coming, but as it turned out this winter was
one of the coldest and snowiest in a very long time. Most years
there is snow on the ground once or twice, but this winter there have
been probably 5 or 6 times, and extended periods of well below
freezing temperatures that kept the snow around. This was the first
snow of the winter as it came down, but there would be a lot more
headed our way.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Looking up at our
house on the cliff from the meadow below.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And the opposite
view, this is from the house looking down. I love this photo because
you can see a light dusting of snow on the moss, logs below waiting
to be processed, the meadow, the water, San Juan island and the
setting sun. I'll never tire of this view.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Our Christmas tree,
all decorated and lit up.</div>
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With Marijke's work
permit arriving a month ago and being able to finally work, she
signed on with Jack and we found ourselves working together often.
Not so long ago we met while I was building fence on the monastery,
now we were building fence there together. You may notice the frozen
puddles on the ground, as we were once again in the middle of a prolonged
period of below freezing temperatures. As long as you keep moving,
you don't get cold!
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Looking at my little
'weather station' on the deck during that round of cold. I think it
was below freezing for over a week, very unusual, so when it also
snowed during that period it stuck around for a while. I grew up
skiing and love the snow, but honestly I prefer to just visit it than
live in it. Snow just makes everything outdoors vastly more
difficult if not impossible, and due to bad road conditions I had a
few days off work because if you can avoid driving big trucks with
trailers on snowy roads, you should.
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Eventually the snow
did clear up however, and it was back to Orcas and back to work.
That made me happy.</div>
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sjRrsmrX1gg/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sjRrsmrX1gg?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Somehow despite
owning a GoPro camera for years, and having done tree climbing for
years, until this video I'd never really combined the two. So I
attached the camera to my helmet and videoed the tree removal
process, limbing the tree, taking the top and rappelling down to drop
the stick.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
This video is one I
made of the view project, me taking a 35 foot top at about 75 feet
from my point of view, and at the same time Marijke filming from the
deck to get the overall perspective. Made for some pretty cool
footage if I can say so myself!</div>
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Looking towards Mt
Baker on the mainland and a ferry boat setting off from Lopez.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
One of the island
traditions is Carol and Bruds Christmas party, a fun time for
everyone to get dressed up, have a few drinks and celebrate the
season.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Annnnnnd another
cold period. Deciding to make the best of the bad weather, I thought we should make smores in the wood stove. I guess smores aren't a
thing in the Netherlands, so I had to explain the whole thing to
Marijke, but she got a kick out of it and we had fun doing it
together.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A bald eagle in the
trees.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A while back my boss
got a mini-excavator for the business and we have finally began to
really utilize it on jobs. Most of the time we have just been using
it to move logs, but it's also awesome for pushing or pulling
(small/mid size) trees over, grabbing huge bundles of brush and
yarding material up and down hills. I'm looking forward to using the
machine more and seeing how much it can increase our abilities as a
company.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A rainbow over the
water, seen from our living room.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It was just about
Christmas by now so Marijke and I headed to Seattle for a few days to
spend time with my family. I know I already said something kind of
like this about Thanksgiving, but I'll say it again, last year I was
bringing her to Christmas with my family before we were even calling
each other girlfriend and boyfriend, now we are coming back married.
It still blows my mind some times.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Anyways, I convinced
my family to come to Whidby island to meet up at our boss Jacks'
family holly tree farm and on the way there we stopped in Coupville
to visit a funny little store, 'A Touch of Dutch'. The place had all
sorts of weird Dutch things, mostly food and treats, as well a few
other European goods. There is this big controversy in the
Netherlands about 'Black Pete', the helper of Sinterklaas (Dutch
Santa), if it is racist or not, and of course we got to taking about it with the woman who
owned the store. She was a little awkward about it, but she said she
had some Black Pete Christmas ornaments 'in the back' if we wanted
one and because it was so funny we couldn't say no. We also bought
some Dutch cookies to share with family members and some chocolate.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Shortly after, we
met my parents, sisters (out from Alaska and Montana) and sisters
husband at the holly tree farm where my boss on Shaw’s family has a
gift shop, sells Christmas trees, holly wreaths and does horse drawn carriage rides
and carols. I've been hearing about this operation for ages, ever
since I first started working for Jack, so it was great fun to
finally get to experience it and to share it with my family as well.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
At my parents house
with siblings and spouses.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A great gift we
received from my older sisters husband Rob was this sign with our
names routered into it, as well as a cow for Marijke and trees for
me. It's a cool, personal and handmade gift, which now is mounted on
our front door.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Christmas dinner at
my aunt and uncles house.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
By now I've posted
about this tradition many times, but on Christmas for the last 7
years, my friends all meet up at a bar once all the family dinners
are done. It's probably one of the biggest 'friend events' of the
year and always a lot of fun once the gift exchange starts to get
heated.
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
But Christmas and
family time was still going strong the next day, and we had another
wonderful meal with my uncle and grandmother.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
All the meals with
family were great, but the big highlight of Christmas was heading to
the cabin with the family. This is how we grew up: parking at the
trail head, strapping on a backpack and skiing into the cabin for the
weekend.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
All of my family
skies, but it was the first time ever for Marijke and she was excited
but unsure what to expect. That said, she did fantastic for her
first ever time skiing and loved it. I had a ton of fun skiing into
the cabin with her, telling stories about how we did this as kids,
and giving her a few technique pointers along the way.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We arrived in the
late afternoon and Marijke still wanted to do some more skiing
because she was having so much fun, so after dropping our packs her
and I headed back out until nearly dark. She has always impressed me
with her athleticism, and her first time on skies was no exception.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Because we had to
return to the island, we were only able to spend one night at the
cabin. After the customary pancake breakfast, we broke trail through
about 8 inches of fresh snow back to the road, and after clearing the
snow off the car we headed back to Seattle, did our grocery shopping and caught the
ferry back to the island.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Once home, Marijke
hung Sinterklaas and Black Pete on our Christmas tree, we unpacked
the van and laid on the couch, tired but satisfied with the wonderful
holiday visits.
</div>
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<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
With that, 2016 is
just about at a close and what a year it was. The next post will be
covering most of the rest of the winter: lots of tree work, snow,
Marijkes birthday, time on my boat, getting stuck in the mud,
property improvements and the conclusion of the green card process.
Hope you enjoyed this post, and always more to come. </div>
</div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-36796830425539504802017-03-05T17:59:00.000-08:002017-03-05T17:59:46.911-08:00A House Becoming a Home & the Leaves Changing Colors <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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When I first moved
to Shaw island, I expected to stay the summer helping my friends grow
veggies and hit the road once winter came, heading out into the
unknown and living on the road as I had done for most of the two and
a half years before. What happened instead was that I fell in love
with the island and the lifestyle. The next major change of course
came a bit later, that I met and fell in love with Marijke and we
were married shortly after. I've been living on this tiny island for
nearly 4 years now and I'm certainly not the same person as when I
came here. It's not that my personality or values have changed,
maybe just my direction and goals, and that the fire I had inside me
during my 20's has become more tempered, like going from wild
gasoline flames to steady glowing coal. Maybe that's just in our DNA
when we hit our 30's, I don't know. I still dream of heading out on
adventures at times, and I expect there are still a few ahead of me,
but it's just different now. I've got a wife, two cats and a house
full of stuff. And I don't feel like it ties me down, it is what
makes where I am “Home”. My most important goals now are to have
a strong relationship with my wife, buy a piece of land to shape and
beautify, create and build things: both useful and simply for the
sake of art, and to continue to take time to recognize and appreciate
all that life has to offer, both large and small.
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Is that just a
pretentious way to say I'm getting boring? I don't think so, but who
knows. All I can know for sure is that life is pretty excellent
these days. In this post I finally bring summer to a close, settling
into our new (rental) house and then spending a few days at the cabin
to change the scenery and hike in the mountains.</div>
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I can't imagine a
job where I work indoors, I just can't. Maybe if I become crippled
or something… This was “just another day at work,” but the
location was pretty excellent, a 200 acre estate overlooking the
water and the Olympic mountains in the distance.
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Blind Bay is part of
my morning ritual, driving along its edge on my way to work it sort
of tells me what the day ahead will hold in terms of weather, because
it's the first place in the morning I'm no longer in the forest and
can really see the wider world around me.
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Most of the time my
boss and I find ourselves working at houses in the woods, so this was
a somewhat different day, working right on the edge of Eastsound. We
were there to deadwood some big firs, where the first branch wasn't
for about 60 feet and the views were pretty cool.</div>
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One of the many
things that was left behind in the house when we moved in was a
waffle maker, and it is something we have gotten a great amount of
use out of. I'm not sure how the idea began, but other than a few
times when we have been gone, we have had waffles together every
weekend, our little tradition that we hope continues until we are
old.</div>
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Old fields near the
preserve. In the distance you can see one of the countless old
orchards that seem to be everywhere on the islands.
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Yet another great
thing about the new property we moved onto is that I have my own shop
space! This is an 'in progress' photo as I was cleaning and
organizing the place, but it's great to have a nice dry space to
store tools, work on saws, build things and be loud and messy. Still
on the wall was a calendar from 1973!</div>
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Another day at work,
another tree. This one we were speed-lining branches to the chipper.
What that means is that you have a rope that you move up the trunk
as you go, and using a sling to attach each branch to the line, you
cut it free and the whole branch to slides down the rope directly to
the chipper. It's a great technique when you have the space for it.
At the same time, Dave was using his crane to haul away some logs
from an earlier tree.
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By now it was the
end of September and although the sun was still shining, it would be
time to start using the wood stove soon to heat the place. There was
a big pile of firewood rounds already sitting in the driveway when we
moved in, and an old carport right next to the house would work
perfectly as a woodshed, so Marijke and I got to work splitting and
stacking. The carport was so shaky you could move it with one
finger, but I added some cross-bracing and fixed that right up. Much
of the wood was old and punky, but there seemed to be plenty of it.
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Fog rolling off the
fields and into Blind Bay as the sun comes up. Always puts a smile
on my face.
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The clean-up of the
property has been continuing (a project I am not a part of) and a lot
of progress is being made. I think old cars and stuff like that are
awesome, and I'd love to see someone take every single piece home and
lovingly restore it, but the fact is that will never happen. The
only way to deal with a mess on this kind of scale is what is
happening right here: crush and cut the cars up, haul them to the
scrap yard and melt them down to something useful again…
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It's not often we
have social activities on other islands, but a friend of Marijke's
invited us to a concert and to spend the night at her place on Lopez.
As we were in the ferry line on Shaw the guy who runs it overheard
we were going to Lopez and asked if I could fit three kayaks on my
roof rack. I'd never done it before, but I said I probably could and
asked why. As it turns out, a group of 5 tourists had been camping,
got cold and tired, and with the weather the way it was, were in no
shape to paddle the rest of the way to Lopez where they rented the
boats from. Luckily I'd be heading right past the rental shop, had
all the straps I needed to tie down the boats and the space for 5
extra people and their gear, so we put the three boats on the roof,
the people and their gear in the back, and headed off. It's always
nice to help people out, and always fun to know you are prepared for
unexpected situations!</div>
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Once on Lopez, we
met Kristina and got a tour of the beautiful property/farm she lives
on. I've been lucky enough to visit some pretty amazing places in
the islands, and even so, this one stood out as being particularly
nice. It had wonderful gardens for flowers as well as food, spaces
for community events, a Waldorf school yurt, cool old barns, had
goats and sold goat cheese, and much more.
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The event we were on
Lopez to attend that evening was a funk band playing the community
center, so in the evening we headed to town. We were by a fairly
wide margin some of the youngest people in the crowd, it was mostly
people in their 40s and 50s, but on Shaw they would be in their 70s
and 80s, so I guess that makes the audience relatively young! The
band looked a little silly if I'm honest, but the music was fun and
the crowd was dancing, so it was enjoyable and certainly not the kind
of thing we get where we live!</div>
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Marijke and our
friend and host for the weekend, Kristina. We went for a walk near
town, then headed to the ferry home.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPce4MMTDYEoHHuRCHRARWI1gShyphenhyphenaCFCJV8LBXggZ0jzVuECFs3WLEIpoRHpOVIE3N0hjWjQzbEme07NEoNbONYfef_fmMRD1VddfCmUXIlopFGof50QRGoNPgJ71fz7BUaZPpxwF5whDh/s1600/P1160109.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPce4MMTDYEoHHuRCHRARWI1gShyphenhyphenaCFCJV8LBXggZ0jzVuECFs3WLEIpoRHpOVIE3N0hjWjQzbEme07NEoNbONYfef_fmMRD1VddfCmUXIlopFGof50QRGoNPgJ71fz7BUaZPpxwF5whDh/s1600/P1160109.JPG" /></a></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Ok, maybe this is a
little cheesy… These are berries from the madrone tree, and I just
thought they had a cool color to them. Apparently they are edible,
but I've never tried them.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Our matching cars in
the car port. The structure really isn't big enough for two cars,
but I wanted to try. With one vehicle, it leaves a great deal of
covered storage space and is yet another excellent feature of the
property. Now I know cars are perfectly fine just living outside and
uncovered, but honestly having a car port is really nice… and it
gives me plenty of ideas for the kind of car port I hope to design
and built some day when we have our own land.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So the house was
built in back in 1968, and back then it must have had a hell of a
view. Being just below the highest part of the island, sitting on
the edge of a cliff essentially, and facing directly west towards the
setting sun and San Juan Island I'm sure it was a sight to see. In
the intervening decades the firs that were all logged off have
regrown and completely closed in the house and the view. What's the
point of living on 80 acres when can't see any of it? So anyways,
this was the view from the deck when we moved in, and reclaiming some
of the view was going to be a huge project but one I was looking
forward to.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Luckily there was an
obvious place to start removing trees, and by cutting down just two
of them, I was able to open a view between the house and the meadow
below. Suddenly, we were no longer just in a dark hole in the
forest, things were opening up again.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As always, my eyes
are always open for interesting creatures… Never seen one of these
before on Shaw, not sure what it is actually.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Living in a tiny
cabin was great and all…. But it sure is nice to be able to host
friends when they come up to visit.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I'm not sure if this
qualifies as 'great things left behind by the previous owner' or
'junk left behind by the previous owner,' but there was a large pile
of cedar shingles next to what was now the woodshed, and cedar
shingles make <i>perfect</i>
kindling. Easy to split, uniform size, catches fire
easily, and so on. Here is
Marijke's pile after a short session with a hatchet.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Long
ago I joked to Marijke we would have to buy a Dutch flag and fly it
at our house, so as a surprise I ordered one online and put it on the
wall in our porch area. She got a good laugh out of it and it's
still there today.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Using
my boat to commute between Shaw and Orcas for work is awesome, and
provides me with stunning scenery like this frequently. Can't say I
miss sitting in traffic one bit. (That's Mt Baker in the distance by
the way).</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I've
been keeping my boat on a buoy in Blind Bay, meaning I have to use a
rowboat to get to it from shore. It's a little bit of extra work,
but worth it until I get a better place to keep my boat. This
fiberglass rowboat Marijke is rowing was freebie.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Another
fine example of the beautiful trucks all over the property.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As
the summer ends and fall begins, my work on the view project
continues right along. I'm only taking firs, all the maples, cedars
and underbrush is staying. I clean up each tree as I go, burning the
brush and moving all the wood off to the side. It's a huge amount of
work and I'm doing it all by hand, but not only do I enjoy it, I've
really improved my tree falling skills in the process!
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Our
house on the hill.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So
a very fun thing about this project is the immediate satisfaction it
provides. Each tree makes a large difference and going from the wall
of trees as you stand on the deck to this view here feels great.
There is a lot more to go, but being able to have that sense of open
space on this side of the house, a real feeling of the cliff we are
perched on, being able to see the colors and textures of the
different trees and grass around and the incredible sunsets makes all
the work totally worth it. We are also starting to see the other
island in the distance as well now, which is pretty cool.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
firewood splitting is going well also, and it sure is satisfying to
watch the shed fill up like this.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
By
this time it's mid-October and we have lived in the house for just
over two months. The spring and summer have been wonderful but also
grueling with everything that happened: Marijke coming back to
America, getting married, cleaning out an entire house, moving and
truly beginning our life together. Burned out isn't the right
phrase, but we were both in need of a change of scenery and
a little escape. So we planned a long weekend at the cabin,
intending to hike in the mountains as much as possible, and set off.
</div>
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The
calm waters and sunset made for a spectacular boat ride to the
mainland.
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We
arrived in Seattle fairly late, stayed with a good friend of mine and
set off the next morning, but not before hitting up Vera's
in Ballard for some old fashioned diner-style breakfast. Marijke
thought it looked just like the old American movies (it is a bit of a
time capsule) and there were even a pair of cops getting breakfast
and a server who didn't care much pouring us weak coffee, haha.
</div>
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Before
heading to the cabin we swung my my parents house to say hi. My dad
is currently working on a little shop space in the back yard.
Obviously he also likes to build things and be creative, I guess it's
clear when it comes form in me…
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Heading
east, over the floating bridge and into the Cascade mountains.
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Not
long after leaving Seattle, we had arrived at the cabin. The last
time we were here was a few months back when Marijke had just come
back to America and before we were married. This has always been a
special place to me, as I spent so much time here growing up, and I
imagine it will continue to play a part in our lives for a long time.
As always, I am very grateful to have a place like this to get away
to.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Being
October, the fall colors were in full swing, and while the weather
was a light drizzle much of the time, there were some fantastic bits
of sunshine in between.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A
bridge made from a crooked log as we made our way farther up the
valley. It had been a very rainy few days, so water was flowing
everywhere. In many places the trail was simply a stream, so it took
a lot of effort and attention to try and keep dry.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
This
was our turn-around point for the days short walk. I forget how many
years ago it happened, but a while back there was a large avalanche
down this slope and huge numbers of trees were simply wiped away.
It's pretty cool, when you look at the other side of the valley it
also has a ton of trees pushed over in the same direction, lasting
evidence that the avalanche went down the valley with so much force
it went two or three hundred feet up the other side!</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
next day after breakfast we drove out of our little valley and to the
Snow Lake trail head. This is a well known and often extremely busy
trail, but for good reason. It is very close to Seattle and it is
probably just about the most stunning hike you can get to within an
hours drive of the city. Lucky for us it was mid week and raining,
so there werent too many people around.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
lakes outflow is the coolest I've ever seen: a log jam and a narrow
slot between the stone, dropping out of view into the neighboring
valley.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
At
about lunch time it began to rain harder, so we stopped to eat on the
other side, admiring how the cliffs lead straight to the lake and the
snow and ice hung above, waiting to be replenished by the soon to
arrive winter snows.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After
a beautiful but rather wet hike, it was nice to have a warm cabin to
return to and we enjoyed dinner, beer and a movie on my computer.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
last and final outing on our little day-hike get away was to go
towards the Kendal Katwalk and the Pacific Crest Trail. Because that
section is at the very top of a ridge, that meant our hike was
literally just walking up hill for 6 miles, haha. Most of that time
was in the trees, but as the sun came out and burned off the clouds,
it sure was beautiful.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Crossing
a boulder field on the trail.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
weather was cool but clear and the rains from the previous days were
still working their way downhill.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Eventually
we finally reached the point where the trail comes out of the trees,
into the rocky peaks and were greeted with an awesome view of Mt
Rainier in the distance.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
love being in this kind of environment and Marijke was certainly
impressed as well. Coming from a flat country, this kind of thing
sure is different from where she grew up! In the end we turned
around before reaching the Katwalk because it was very cold and we
were running out of time, but it was still an awesome hike. I can't
wait to return in the spring/summer to the area and take Marijke on
some overnight hikes!
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We
spent the next morning taking it easy, doing a few projects around
the cabin and returning to Seattle where we hung out with my good
friends Dan (who also hosted us again, thanks!) and Brendan.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
next day we had breakfast at the same diner in Ballard as before, ran
our 'mainland errands' and caught the ferry boat home to the island,
where it was time to relight the fire and warm the house up again
after our time away. </div>
</div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-79530223130659080492017-02-14T21:13:00.000-08:002017-02-14T21:13:39.979-08:00A New Wife and a New House<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
First off, I'm
posting this pretty quickly after the last post, so if you haven't
seen the previous post about Marijkes return to America and our
wedding, check that out. This post picks up right after the wedding,
going from mid July when we began living together in the little
cabin, shortly there after finding a real house to live in, the
process of cleaning and moving, filing Marijkes immigration
paperwork, lots of stuff in the trees and then a celebration with
family in Seattle in early September. It was a busy time and a lot
of hard work for both of us but as we say, “the island provides.”
Everything went smoothly and it's been a great foundation to build
our marriage on for these first few months.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
When I designed and
began building the cabin at my friends place, I was a single guy with
no goal or expectation of finding a relationship on a tiny island of
retirees, so winding up married was a bit of a surprise. Two people
living in the small space was certainly not impossible, but it was
going to be a bit of a challenge. Remember we hadn't ever lived
together, only started seeing each other 8 months earlier and now
were married and living in essentially a one room cabin with no
indoor bathroom. I guess you could say the situation got us to learn
more about each other very quickly!</div>
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<br />
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
One day I was
sitting in the cabin and noticed an awkward looking creature running
across the meadow, so naturally I ran after it to have a look. It
was a river otter, which are quite graceful in the water but on land
look like an over-caffeinated inch-worm with a limp. Anyways, they
are known to occasionally go after chickens and their eggs so I kept
an eye on it to ensure it didn't head that way, and then watched it
dive into the pond, come out the other side and run away into the
woods, probably to the next pond on another property.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
There was plenty to
do on the farm, and with the garlic crop recently harvested it was
time to clean and process all of it. It's a rather tedious job that
requires cutting off the leaves, cleaning each head with a toothbrush
and sorting it by size, but when working with friends becomes a
social activity and is actually kind of enjoyable. One of the few
farming tasks you can do sitting down.</div>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
On the outside I may
appear to be a 31 year old married man, but on the inside I'm still a
little boy who likes to catch snakes…</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
This whole time
Marijke and I had been searching for a house to move into on the
island and had no luck thus far. Shaw is a very small island after
all, so rental houses are pretty much non-existent here. But just a
few days after our wedding that changed: out of the blue, I received
a call from another islander asking if we had found a place yet.
When I said no, she told me that she had a place that may be perfect
for us.
</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Shortly after, I met
her to look at the house and the property. It is an 80 acre piece of
land with a house built in 1968, with two 2000' airstrips, aircraft
hangers, numerous outbuildings, ponds, meadows and moss covered
balds. The house had been unoccupied for the last two years, there
was a fair bit of junk around and things were rather overgrown, but I
like a challenge and it did indeed seem like a perfect fit for us.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
This is the primary
airstrip on the property (there is another smaller one as well) and
the largest on the island. It doesn't see much use these days, but
it is still maintained and usable.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The previous owner
was a pilot, heavy equipment operator and prolific collector of
vehicles large and small. A major cleanup effort is under way and
mostly complete now, but tucked away in every corner of the property
were dozens and dozens and dozens of old trucks, cars and more. I'm
a fan of old vehicles myself, and to me some of these trucks are
really beautiful!
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As a heavy equipment
operator he built many of the roads on Shaw and had the tools left
behind to prove it. Parked all over were a crane, multiple
bulldozers, cement trucks, road graders and at least a half a dozen
dump trucks.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It wasn't time to
move in just yet, so Marijke and I continued to make it work in the
cabin for the moment. I was going to work on Orcas as usual but
Marijke was in a sort of limbo. She was no longer an intern at the
monastery, the life she had known on Shaw thus far, but without her
work permit, she was unable to get a job in the country. So she
filled her time helping on the farm, still visiting the monastery and
doing odd jobs here and there.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
An evening walk at
the preserve. This time of year both of us spend a lot of time
outside, which helps a great deal living in a small space.
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Still getting used
to having a wedding ring on my finger. And the green stuff? That's
what happens every Sunday from pruning the tomato plants.
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One of Marijke's
duties while she was an intern was hand milking the cow Claire pretty
much every day. She really loves being around and working with
animals, and missed that connection after leaving the monastery, so
she would still visit on occasion and say hi.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Passing ferries on
my way to work.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Wednesday fire
drill.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I'd been looking for
an outboard motor to put on my boat for a while and through
craigslist found one that fit the bill, so we made a mainland supply
run and on the way back stopped at Cabela's, not because we needed
anything, but just to show Marijke the place. It is one of the huge
ones with fish tanks, giant taxidermy displays and all manor of other
things like that. Marijke was not impressed. Haha…</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
By now it was the
end of July and time to start cleaning out the house we would be
moving into. As I said before, it hadn't been used in two years, the
previous occupants were rather elderly, and it showed. The house
was still full of furniture, the kitchen cabinets were still full of
dishes and there were even still some clothes in the dressers. As
Marijke says “It's like someone just took their toothbrush and
left.” The house was a time capsule!
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The house is a good
size, around 1,500 square feet, with a large porch, master bedroom,
two bathrooms, a laundry room, office, guest room, nice living room
and kitchen. There is even an attic and basement, a rarity in the
islands. On the west side of the house there is a 900 square foot
deck, which is awesome. This photo shows the office as we found it,
still full of books, papers and everything else. We had a lot of
sorting, boxing and cleaning to do.
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A curious dragon fly
on a sunny summer day.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Farmin'.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As I said earlier, I
finally bought a 9.9hp outboard motor for my 12' aluminum boat. The
purpose of this is to free myself from the ferry boat schedule when
commuting to and from work on Orcas. Having to catch a 7am boat when
work doesn't start until 8am, and sometimes only having a 3pm or 6pm
ferry option to get home meant a lot of waiting around. Having my
own boat, something I should have done ages ago, finally solved that
issue. The weather was nice, so Marijke and I took it our for a
spin.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A man and his boat.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I've never been a
big water/ocean guy, the mountains have always been more my style
growing up, but living here changes that. Maybe I'll get a bigger
boat some day if the need arises, but I know better than to do too
far down into that money pit! I can detach the motor and carry it
myself, and with help I can even get the boat on the roof rack of my
van. For the foreseeable future, it's perfect.
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At work we had a
pretty large job that I'd be doing the climbing on, a big leaf maple
that was 3/4s dead and partly hanging over a house. It was a two day
job and a lot of fun, far more interesting and technical than
climbing a straight up and down doug fir.
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Looking down from
the only live stem in the tree.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
On the first day we
got most of the brush off the tree and finished it on day two. Then
it was time to take down the trunk wood. Luckily we had space to let
it all drop instead of having to lower it out on ropes, but at times
we used tag lines to help pull pieces down as I cut. This was my
first time in a tree with a 32” saw, so that was pretty cool!
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
All done.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
This whole time we
had been collecting documents and filling out forms for the
immigration process. Now that we were married, Marijke and I were
direct family and I can then sponsor her legal residency in America
(her “green card”). This has involved a great number of things,
such as tax records and pay stubs from work, birth certificates,
school transcripts, letters from friends and family about our
relationship and photos of us together to show it is a 'real'
marriage and not a ploy just for a green card. It has mostly been
straight forward, just collecting the right papers and checking the
right boxes, but I'm glad we decided to have an immigration lawyer
help us through the process. Once we had everything on the list, we
mailed a fat packet of paper to our lawyer and crossed our fingers.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Work cleaning out
the house also continued. We essentially went room by room, emptying
everything out, washing down the walls (which changed color because
they had such a layer of dust built up on them), removing the
furniture we didn't wish to keep and cleaning the furniture we did.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Found this moth
laying eggs on a piece of ocean spray one night.
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As part of our floor
to ceiling clean of the house, naturally we washed the carpets as
well, and believe me, they needed it. This photo is in the master
bedroom, which has some pretty nice looking pine T&G paneling.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0B-HskfR-AICYEU2-NqmntqIu_lJE-wMsPztnnXus5LLXcsdT9BB5tKann8JEfVnqJ2GEqkUBi-Rf0evjMgTTmdXVg0mlqc7tJ96yGzxyD9y1G1RrBnPPeFTkAMKaT1OJE1h3kMpFkSwz/s1600/P1140826.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0B-HskfR-AICYEU2-NqmntqIu_lJE-wMsPztnnXus5LLXcsdT9BB5tKann8JEfVnqJ2GEqkUBi-Rf0evjMgTTmdXVg0mlqc7tJ96yGzxyD9y1G1RrBnPPeFTkAMKaT1OJE1h3kMpFkSwz/s1600/P1140826.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The house was still
a long ways away from clean (we had a few rooms to go) but we had
done enough by mid August, about a month after the wedding and
Marijke moving into the cabin, for us to move into the house while we
continued our work. We had a celebratory drink of cheap champagne
that was left over from the wedding and while I can't remember this
day exactly, I'm sure we got right back to work scrubbing!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We are only renting,
but to have a house of our own (with an indoor bathroom! Haha) to
live in and a piece of property where we can have our own quiet space
is wonderful.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Funny enough the
property we moved onto neighbors our friends land, we are even on the
same loop road! So when a group of friends from Seattle came up for
the weekend, we didn't have to go far to join the celebrations.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A look at the house
from the outside. It's a pretty dull looking rectangle of a house to
be honest, but the interior is well laid out and it's our own space
which is what really matters. The house is surrounded by beautiful
trees, moss, and sits on the edge of a cliff looking towards the
setting sun, I have no complaints!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg77FVCv74r_07HVTXSfi5chAGwSrAfDdg_eZBHcAdaLooF-UtVS6uXLmiOKRwbORXios1MyTuY2gsJQbMRFmr60do5EAJ-65LiU7tbVK9p75S3eG8ZwQqeDw4z3Gkm9JzpP_tjUx8OfAOf/s1600/P1140843.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg77FVCv74r_07HVTXSfi5chAGwSrAfDdg_eZBHcAdaLooF-UtVS6uXLmiOKRwbORXios1MyTuY2gsJQbMRFmr60do5EAJ-65LiU7tbVK9p75S3eG8ZwQqeDw4z3Gkm9JzpP_tjUx8OfAOf/s1600/P1140843.JPG" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The cleaning
continued. The kitchen is dated looking, but is extremely
functional. Every single surface was vacuumed, opened and
disinfected on each surface, front and back, inside and outside. It
took a few days but was worth it.
</div>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
This is the best
side of the house, the 900 square foot deck. As I said, the house is
literally on the edge of a cliff, beyond the deck to the left in this
photo is about a 30 foot drop off. It is currently overgrown, but
below it is a big meadow, the north end of the secondary airstrip,
and if you look closely there is even a bit of a water view in the
distance, as well as the neighboring island. All of this is visible
through the huge windows in the bedroom looking west and in the
living room that looks south and west. My big project for this
property will be to remove a lot of trees and reclaim the view, which
I'm sure was spectacular 50 years ago when the house was built.
</div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiASe_YcpIhyphenhyphenre7G9EzveeR96-CdJkAyLSrqcC5j5oKweZkXyhkUdT_sj-npZpioG7WXeC8iFrUjqY0l7VPNXfxBk42X1qwVLcXbPKwx1gI0yY5QZuxY3G_XnOSFCqWHfX0xp6f1RvOi8xg/s1600/P1140906.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiASe_YcpIhyphenhyphenre7G9EzveeR96-CdJkAyLSrqcC5j5oKweZkXyhkUdT_sj-npZpioG7WXeC8iFrUjqY0l7VPNXfxBk42X1qwVLcXbPKwx1gI0yY5QZuxY3G_XnOSFCqWHfX0xp6f1RvOi8xg/s1600/P1140906.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Because the house
was built on a 'mossy bald' (bare rock covered in a thick layer of
moss, almost no soil so to speak), the trees that have managed to
take hold in this environment are very, very slow growing. A small
fir, say 35 feet tall and 10” in diameter can be deceptively old.
I removed this branch off such a tree, about 3” in diameter, and
found the branch alone was around 80 years old!
</div>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The living room is
coming together! Ok, so Marijke didn't let me keep the speakers
setup like that, but the rest of the stuff has remained the same. As
I said earlier, all the furniture was still in the house, so while we
removed a lot of things, we kept what we wanted to use and that was a
huge help since all I had was a futon and a folding table. The
matching flower pattern couch and love seat are very 70s, but are
actually quite comfortable.
</div>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The other side of
the living room is the 'heart' of the house, the wood stove that
provides us with all of our heat. I know I'm old school in this
regard, and it's probably in large part because I cut trees for a
living, but I'd take wood heat over any other type of heat every
time. Again, it has a very dated look to it, but I love it. This
was originally an open fireplace, but a wood stove insert was added
later and while it isn't nearly as efficient as a freestanding wood
stove (and it's an insert from the 80s), it has been getting the job
done just fine. The large firewood storage space left of the stove
is a great touch, something I hadn't thought about before, but
something I'd like to incorporate into any future house of mine given
the opportunity. And the mantle above the stove is a great place to
display some of my cool nature items.
</div>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Looking off a dock,
at the marine life just below the surface. I've done a bit of diving
in warm waters (the Philippines, Thailand, South Africa, Malawi,
Tanzania) but never in the northwest where I live. I'm very curious
what it looks like down there, maybe one of these days I'll get
around to it…</div>
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<br />
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Another day at work
and another tree to climb. Doug firs usually grow straight and tall,
but this one, growing under the shadow of larger and older trees
sought light and took a huge curve, overhanging an important water
system. That made it a high failure risk and it needed to be
removed. Luckily I was able to tie into the taller neighboring tree
for safety, but getting it down safely was a fun challenge.
</div>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Back home, living on
80 acres gives you a lot of space to wander around, and when the
previous owner collected cars, trucks and heavy equipment, there is
cool old stuff all over the place. This huge International bulldozer
is just one such piece of equipment parked under the trees.
</div>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Continuing the walk
around the property, this is one of the 3 large ponds on the
property, and not even the largest of them. It sits next to the
airfield and attracts a lot of ducks and other wildlife.
</div>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Of the many ways we
lucked out with this house, another was that there was already a huge
pile of already bucked firewood rounds right in the center of the
turnaround next to the house. I cleaned out and reinforced an old
carport (it was so shaky you could move the whole structure with a
single finger) to become the woodshed, and set to work splitting
wood.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
At this point
Marijke had still not really seen me climb and cut trees in person,
so she accompanied me on a job one day to see what I really do.
Unsurprisingly, she found it a bit scary. But she also wants to
learn how to do some of this kind of stuff, so while she is not ready
to use a chainsaw just yet, I helped teach her how cut down a tiny
little tree with a handsaw, and she got a good laugh out of it.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The view from our
living room and deck. The house faces directly west, providing a
tremendous view of the sunset, but over time the trees have really
taken over. In the next two or three posts, I'll show the process of
reclaiming some of the view.
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<br /></div>
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By this point we
finally had the house pretty much done and invited some guests, the
three interns at the monastery, over for dinner as a little
housewarming party.
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A bad ass picture I
got of my boss Austen on a removal job one day.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Because we wanted to
keep our actual wedding ceremony so small, just immediate family and
a few friends for Marijke; my aunts, uncles and grandparents were not
in attendance. That said, we still wanted an event to include
people, so we returned to Seattle for a dinner with the wider family.
It was held at my aunt Katharine and uncle Steve’s house near the
wonderful Volunteer Park, which we took a walk in that afternoon
before the event.
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The view towards
downtown from the top of the water tower.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Appetizers.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<br /></div>
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We had wonderful
dinner that evening with the whole family and then shared photos and
stories with everyone on the big screen TV.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The visit to Seattle
to share wedding photos and celebrate with my family was great, but
then it was time to catch the ferry back to Shaw. We still have a
ways to go before everything in the house is 'finished', but it does
feel like home.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Thanks for reading,
I hope you enjoyed it. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from
recent posts (marriage excites people I guess!) and while I know I'm
way behind, it gives me a bit of extra motivation to put more effort
into the blogs again, both in terms of keeping up and in terms of
writing a bit more story and thought instead of simply photo
captions. Next post will cover a bit more than a month, mostly
projects around the house, work, the transition into the fall season
and a trip to the cabin for a few days of hiking. Bye for now. </div>
</div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-1100894423587699372017-02-06T23:15:00.000-08:002017-02-07T10:17:43.532-08:00Getting Married and a Whole New Chapter in Life. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Marriage is one of
those few life events in which marks a major turning point. Perhaps
meeting that person for the first time is the start of the shift, but
the wedding sort of makes it official, makes it real. So many things
in life change. Here I was, planning to marry Marijke, someone I
knew was right for me, but who I'd also only known for 6 months when we made the decision. Not
only that, but she was from another country, we had never lived
together and I was living in a one room cabin. Honestly, if anyone
else told me they were doing what we were about to do, I'd probably
think they were idiots, but so be it!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Marijke had been
back in the Netherlands for the last 7 weeks, because she had reached
the end of her 1 year visa, but after that time apart she flew back
to Seattle on a new visa and we were hoping to figure out how to
start our life together. We had no idea what to expect and had no
plan yet, just an idea and a desire to be together.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
This post will cover
the time from when my (now) wife returned to America, the lead
up to the wedding and the actual wedding ceremony, I hope you enjoy
it.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It was a Tuesday
afternoon when I met Marijke outside baggage claim at SeaTac Airport,
with the van full of lumber, both inside and on the roof rack. I
can't recall what we said to each other at that moment, but it was
wonderful to hold her and be together again, and the nearly two
months apart melted away into irrelevance.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We grabbed lunch and
coffee in Seattle and then headed out of the city, straight to my
family cabin at Snoqualmie Pass. We wanted some quiet time together
without the stress and distraction of other people. Marijke was
really stepping into the unknown on this return to America, not
knowing what would happen next (nor did I), when or where we would
get married or when she may actually return to her home country
again. There was a lot to process at that moment, and most of it was
currently unknown. But the cabin is a great place to process and to
reflect, and we were both grateful to have the opportunity to do that.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We exchanged a few
small gifts, drank some delicious Belgian beer and spent the next
three days sitting on the couch and walking throughout the valley
wondering what would happen next.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Once we had our
alone time, we returned to Seattle where our first stop was to meet
my dad at Kubota Gardens, where he is the head gardener. I hadn't
taken Marijke there yet, so I wanted to show her the place.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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That evening we went
to my parents house, where we picked greens from the garden and had a
lovely dinner together. Having a few days to spend in town before
returning to Shaw we visited with family members and even took a tour
of the Boeing airplane factory in Everett which is a pretty amazing
thing to see.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So while Marijke and
I knew we wanted to be together, we had no real idea what that meant
in terms of how to make it happen, being from different countries and
all that. She was here on a tourist visa and had a flight home
booked for the end of that period already. Would we get married in
America or the Netherlands? When? How? How would those decisions
affect where either of us could live? How do we apply for residency
in the others country? Should we apply for a fiancé visa? Do we
need to live together somewhere in Europe first? What about both of
us moving to a totally different country? We had a ton of questions
and no answers. Googling these things is a place to start, but
taking legal advice from strangers on the internet is not a solid
plan. So we had a consultation with an immigration lawyer in Seattle
and considered our options.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Our return to the
island was exciting. Marijke was heading back to the monastery where
she would resume her volunteer work and where we had met (not far
from this main entrance) and while a lot of things were uncertain it
felt like life was full of possibilities and we were thrilled to be
back together.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It was almost June
now, so things on the farm were in full swing. The tomatoes were
only knee high so far, but were growing fast.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The chicks are
starting to look more like mature birds, only in miniature.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
David, Marijke's
friend and the other intern at the monastery was getting into bee
keeping and wanted to show off his hive.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Meanwhile, Marijke
was happy to be reunited with her four legged friends.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Back on Shaw
together and armed with some actual facts about marriage and
immigration, we decided we would marry that summer and begin the
immigration process for Marijke to live in America. Along with
David, we kayaked out to a tiny island to watch the sunset and take
some photos together as a way to announce our decision, this is the
photo we choose.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Back home, the bard
owls that had been born earlier were constant companions, and were
great fun to hear and observe in the trees.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Marijke was still
living in the intern housing at the monastery and I of course was
still working on the cabin. Although we began searching for our own
place, I continued working on the cabin and improving it for us to
live in together until something else came along. This is the bed
frame part way through the build.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Working with Jack.
The top log on this entry way needed replacing and using a large
tractor and 6x6 beam chained to the loader, were able to place it on
the uprights and screw it in place. I'd never seen the technique
before and thought it was very ingenious.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The veggies are
looking awesome.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The completed bed
platform (storage underneath) and on the right the start of a closet
to hang clothes.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Visiting with the
sheep at the monastery.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Fire drill, here we
are practicing hooking the tanker truck to the engines and spraying
water into Blind Bay with the deluge guns.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Planting basil (I
think?).</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
My sister and her
husband happened to be passing through the Seattle area and came up
to Shaw for a quick visit. Marijke gave them a tour, and while we
were walking around we ran into Father Vincent who was busy building
a coffin for one of the not yet dead nuns. A rather strange sight,
haha.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Over on Orcas,
Austen had some cedar to take to a friends saw mill so I tagged along
to see the setup and watch it work.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
With the wedding on
our mind, Marijke and I headed off to Friday Harbor via the ferry
boat to apply for our marriage license. It is an hour long ride from
Shaw, but it is always scenic.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Which one were we
here for again? After a little bit of thought, we decided we would
get married in early July, a date that was coming up FAST.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Translucent flowers
popping out of moist soil. One of the things I love so much about my
outdoor lifestyle is the constant change happening around you at all
times. Keep your eyes open and there is always something new and
interesting to find and observe.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Back at the cabin
having Michael over for dinner. Shortly after, I think I finally
ordered a larger table…</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Farm day again,
prepping new beds and getting ready for planting.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Sunset from Ben
Nevis, the highest part of the island.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
One thing I really
need in life is diversity and the opportunity to be creative.
Luckily my jobs provide that. No two days are alike and this day was
even better than usual; I was told to grab a chainsaw, go into the
woods, cut whatever I wanted and make a 'Lord of the Rings style
entry gate.' I had a lot of fun walking through the forest, finding
and cutting down just the right cedar trees, and building it.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
With the wedding
just about two weeks away at this point, we still need rings and
something to wear. Lacking any real options in the islands of course
we returned to Seattle and found just what we needed. For rings we
decided on extremely simple gold bands (and I'm extremely pleased
with how comfortable mine is) and Marijke found a beautiful
blue/white summery dress after much searching. Once she had picked
that dress, I simply walked downstairs in the same shop in the mall
and bought a blue shirt. Men's clothes are so easy.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Seattle in the
evening, from dinner on the water in West Seattle with my aunt and
uncle who helped us with rings and clothes. Thanks!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
But enough time in
the city, it was time to get back to work, that ground wasn't going
to till itself!</div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Sometimes it's
amazing how still Blind Bay is…
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And other times that
stillness is shattered by the roar of a large chainsaw and the crash
of a massive fir. This particular tree had a huge lean, was rotten
on the inside and had to be removed to make way for new building
construction.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
That particular job
was on Obstruction Island, a tiny spot with something like 12 year
around residents. To work there, we carried all of our gear onto the
water taxi that drops you off right on the beach itself, cut trees
for a few hours and then met the boat again to take us back to Orcas
where our truck was parked. A pretty cool commute!
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Every afternoon,
this is the scene out my window.
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<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
By now the busiest
time of year on the island was here, the annual Independence Day
celebration! Along with it came tons of our friends, and hundreds of
other folks to the island. For this one weekend, the population
probably quadruples at least! As always, the festivities began with
the BBQ at the community center.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Inside the fund
raising auction was taking place. I actually donated a half days of
tree work to the event, and it became one of the highest priced items
of the event!
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Once we all had
our fill of hot dogs and beans it was back to the property where a 100
foot long slip-and-slide had been constructed.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Another view of what
was an excellent party.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
To wind down in the
evening, a projector was brought out and everyone watched the only
approprite movie for the 4<sup>th</sup> of July weekend, Independence
Day!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The next day was the
parade, and as usual the fire department took part. We are no longer
using the ancient Chevy tanker truck I'd driven in the last two
parades, so I drove one of our new engines instead, with Marijke as
my passenger.
</div>
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The parade going
from the community center to the county park. A short but fun route.</div>
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Marijke and my
biggest fans were out in force watching us drive by in our shiny fire
truck.</div>
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The annual softball
game.
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And games back on
the farm.
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With all the friends
up, might as well put them to work! It was time to harvest the
garlic and once it was pulled from the ground, it was carried inside
the hoop house to begin curing.</div>
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The end to a
wonderful weekend of celebration, fireworks from Friday Harbor.
As always, we went to the preserve where you can watch the Friday
Harbor show, then turn your head and watch Lopez right after.
</div>
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Harvesting colorful
carrots.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We were a day away
from our wedding and to both of our surprise, Marijke's mother and
father were able to fly to America for the event! So we drove all
the way to Seattle to pick them up and turned right around, bringing
them to Shaw. Marijke's mom had been to the island before, visiting
before she and I had met, but Marijke's dad had never been to
America. It was wonderful they were able to make it on such short
notice, and it meant a lot to Marijke to have them at the ceremony.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
On the day of the
wedding my parents arrived from Seattle, my sisters from Alaska and
Montana and my brother and his wife from California. We all met up
at the monastery guest house where Marijke had been living as an
intern and then headed out to the preserve to have the ceremony.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
For the site of our
wedding ceremony (with prior permission from the property caretakers)
we chose the Cedar Rock Preserve, a place that is important to both
of us. The preserve is the largest piece of publicly accessible land
on the island at 370 acres, is a place Marijke spent a lot of time
walking, sitting and thinking when she first came to America, and is
the place we first kissed, just 8 months earlier. Now here we were,
getting married on that exact same spot.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
My beautiful wife.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Our tiny wedding
ceremony, standing under the trees, on mossy rock and overlooking the
water and surrounding islands.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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It's official!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
This was the entire
wedding party: my parents and siblings with one spouse, Cathy, the
mother of one of my best friends who preformed the ceremony, Marijkes
parents, two nuns from the monastery, and two of Marijke's friends,
one of whom was taking the photos.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It was small, short
and simple, but we thought it was perfect.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I'm trying not to
bore people with too many wedding photos, but this one is pretty
great…</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After the ceremony
on the beach we returned to the monastery for the reception, a larger
event with a wider group of Shaw Islanders. We had a ton of help
putting the event on, the nuns did a wonderful job of setting up and
hosting the reception, and Andy, one of the islanders, made our
delicious carrot wedding cake.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Speech, speech,
speech!</div>
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Friends and family
sharing in a toast.
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Me and my siblings,
after today we are all married. (Sorry your eyes were closed Brian!)
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After the reception,
the immediate families walked on the ferry to Orcas, where we had a
nice dinner at the Orcas Hotel and that night Marijke and I got a
lovely room in the hotel overlooking the ferry landing..
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The next morning, we
had breakfast , talked about how weird (in a good way!) it was that we got married and walked back on the ferry to Shaw as newlyweds.
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As usual, there was
a lot of stress leading up to the wedding for various reasons, but it
all went off without a hitch and we agreed it was a perfect day.
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During the next few
days we spent time with Marijke's parents who were on the island a little
longer, went to Seattle yet again on a day trip to sign papers with
our immigration lawyer and simply spent time together as husband and
wife.
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Once all that was
taken care of, it was time for the step that most people usually do
long before marriage: move in together! Because she was still
interning at the monastery farm she had been living there, it was a
practical decision rather than a 'traditional' one to not live
together until marriage, but once we were married it was silly to be
apart. So Marijke packed up her few possessions and moved in with
me, to the one-room-with-a-loft 270 square foot cabin I built, to
begin our life together!</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
===========================</div>
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<br /></div>
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I'm so far behind on my
blog it's been about 7 months since all of this happened. Looking
back, it is very amusing, because it's so clear to me just how
little we actually knew each other! And I don't mean that in a bad
way, we knew we wanted to be together, we had all the same life
goals, we felt a rock solid connection, but we hadn't built the
connections that come from the little things in a relationship, the
things that only come with time and experience together. Today I'd
say we have succeeded in every way and then some, we are more right
for each other than I'd even realized back then and our life together
is even better than I thought was possible. It isn't always the
case, but sometimes risks pay off big. Life with Marijke is great.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Thanks for reading,
I hope you enjoyed it. The next post will cover the rest of the
summer: fun things like the start of our life living together, getting a little boat, more cool tree stuff and actually moving into
a real house! </div>
</div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-67040625042240044822016-12-29T01:05:00.000-08:002016-12-29T01:05:49.196-08:00Waiting For Marijke (and oh yah, doing spring activities)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hi folks and welcome back to the blog. I haven't been updating very often, so if you are seeing this post but haven't seen the previous post, my 3,000 mile road trip down the west coast with Marijke, who I also announced last post I am going to marry, check it out here: <a href="http://scottsnextadventure.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-west-coast-road-trip-big-news.html">The West Coast Road Trip & Big News</a> . <br />
<br />
This post covers a good chunk of life, from early April until late May, essentially the period between Marijke leaving to return to the Netherlands (her home country) for visa reasons and her return to the island and America on a new visa. It's a time of a huge amount of work on the farm in terms of planting for the growing season, when the seasonal people start returning to the San Juans, and when the sun shines most days. I'm making this post brief, so not a lot of stories, mostly just photos and quick captions. Enjoy!<br />
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Spring rains keep most things green this time of year, but most of the crops are still in the early stages, requiring extra water to germinate and thrive.<br />
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The view from work, up a tree on Orcas Island looking southwest if I remember correctly.<br />
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I love finding the wild orchids that pop up this time of year, this delicate little thing was just next to the woodshop.<br />
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A small farm is a lot of work, and this season Ellen's cousin Michael decided to live on the property and join the crew. This photo was the first evening I had him down to the cabin for dinner and a little getting to know each other. My initial impressions were good and he turned out to be a great worker and friend to have around.<br />
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Our friend Dan was celebrating his birthday, so I headed to the mainland for the first part of the party, oyster cooking on Samish Island (not actually an island....).<br />
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In Seattle I joined the main event of the party, where the celebration was for Erins birthday as well. Most of us are friends from way back in high school, so it's awesome to still be connected and having a good time together.<br />
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Back on the island and I'm examining some hatching spiders.<br />
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Michael used to work in IT and got burned out, hence the escaping to a farm! But his IT skills were put to work, and thanks to him I now had internet in the cabin, first time since I moved to the island about two years ago, and due to my travels, the first time I'd had internet in about 5 years! (I'll admit it was nice)<br />
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Watching the ferry boat at the Orcas landing as I commute to work.<br />
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The greenhouse is lush, green and full of promise.<br />
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As I was exploring the woods with Michael one day we came across a fawn that was laying down. It was obviously trying to sit still, hoping I/predators wouldn't notice it, but of course I'm a curious fellow and picked it up. I was surprised there was no mother in sight, but I guess this is actually common. <br />
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A little work on the cabin, this is notching the 4x4 uprights for the railing on the loft sleeping area.<br />
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Various brassica in the early stages of growth. <br />
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A heavy but brief spring shower as I worked in the wood shop.<br />
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After Marijke and I decided to get married of course it made the time on opposite sides of the world challenging, but with my brand new internet connection we were able to talk every day and video chat from time to time so it wasn't too bad.<br />
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A banana slug traversing the moss.<br />
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A look at the lower garden fully planted. I love this phase, everything is so clean and organized looking! <br />
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My plan was to make all the siding for the cabin using a chainsaw mill and trees I'd felled on the property, and with the dry weather it was time to start ripping boards. I'd never done this before so it was a serious learning process, but I quickly got the hang of it. That said, it's still damn hard work!<br />
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The completed railing (minus the trim on the ground). I'm really happy with how this project turned out; the whole thing was build using only 4x4s and 2x6 and 2x4s I ripped and routered. Once finished, it was strong enough I could climb and hang on it with complete confidence. <br />
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Using the deluge gun at fire drill. At full blast, this can empty the 750 tank in the truck in around a minute.<br />
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Spring means chicks, and this year it was time to try a flock of meat birds as well as laying hens.<br />
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Planting lettuce.<br />
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Lots of seeding in plastic cells this time of year. Once the plants reached a certain size in the greenhouse, they would be moved outdoors.<br />
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Looking towards the Orcas landing on a beautiful day.<br />
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And more San Juan Islands scenery, this is Skull Island and the Olympics in the distance from another job site. Yah, my job doesn't suck.<br />
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My boss Austen up dead cedar we were removing. He is just about to take the top which I will have on a rope and control from the ground.<br />
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Like the previous spring, there was another next of swallows hatched in the pump house. It was great fun to watch these little guys grow and learn to fly as we worked in the garden.<br />
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Yours truly, up a western red cedar to remove a huge broken branch.<br />
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The seasons new chicks all together.<br />
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This is also the time of year for our friend groups annual Beltane party. Friends gathered at Jon and Jenns place preparing to celebrate the season ahead.<br />
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Taking Brendan up a big fir.<br />
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The main event of the Beltane weekend, dancing round the maypole.<br />
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All wrapped up.<br />
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In my whites.<br />
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Surrounded in friends, enjoying the feast. <br />
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As usual, we walked to the top of Ben Nevis hill and while photos will never capture it, were greeted by some of the most surreal golden glowing sunlight I've ever seen. It's hard to explain, but it looked like we were all inside a warm ball.<br />
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Friends gathering to tour the garden before returning to the mainland.<br />
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The garden is filling up nicely.<br />
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A little double rainbow action.<br />
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Off to work on the neighboring island. Man, I gotta get myself a boat....<br />
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Inside the Shaw General Store I wasn't expecting to find a photo of me holding Boomer the cat on the wall, but it was a fun surprise! Does this mean I've officially made it as a local?<br />
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Back in the cabin I was working on the kitchen area, building in the stove and making a brick accent wall. Super happy with how this turned out. <br />
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More of the garden filling in. This is that same brassica section from the earlier photo.<br />
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Planting seeds.<br />
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When Marijke finally does arrive back in America she will need a car of her own, and luckily I still had my Ford Explorer sitting around (which I'd replaced with the van) to give her. However it hadn't been used in a while so was due for a deep clean.<br />
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On Orcas waiting for the ferry home to Shaw.<br />
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Looking at the deer that graze the meadow every afternoon.<br />
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The chainsaw milling continues! The largest log I did was 26" in diameter and 18 feet long. Made for some amazing 1" thick live edge slabs.<br />
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A burn pile with friends.<br />
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The garden is really starting to take shape this time of year and it's a good feeling to look out at all the progress we have made so far.<br />
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Roping some friends up for a visit into helping. On the left you can see the tomato trellis, and in the center squash is being planted on plastic covered mounds. Each of these systems ended up working very well this year.<br />
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And just like that it was almost the end of May and time for me to pick up Marijke up in Seattle. I loaded up the van, drove onto the ferry boat and headed towards land, excited to see my future wife shortly.<br />
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(The next post will go from the time I picked up Marijke at the airport in Seattle, through June and into our quick and tiny wedding. It will be a good one!)<br />
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Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-74051165090867764872016-11-27T00:09:00.000-08:002016-11-27T00:09:15.652-08:00The West Coast Road Trip & Big News<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I have always loved
road trips, and I strongly believe they are the best way to travel
through the United States of America. That is why when Marijke told
me that her return ticket back to the Netherlands was out of LA,
planned that way so she could see more of America before going back
to her home country, rather than send her down the west coast alone I
decided I'd drive her there myself! Now in my opinion there are a
lot of things to like about America, and a lot to not like if I'm
honest, but perhaps the thing I'm most proud of and want to show off
when it comes to my country is our beautiful, diverse and wide open
spaces of the American West. On this trip I lead Marijke just shy of
3,000 miles down the west coast, from Shaw Island to Los Angles
International Airport, exploring our most stunning national parks,
camping in the woods and enjoying our time together. (then driving
1,100 miles home solo)</div>
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And oh yah, Marijke
and I decided to get married!</div>
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Just a few days
before the trip was to begin we were laying on the couch in my cabin
and got to talking. She had already decided to return to Shaw to
spend the summer with me after spending some time back home in the
Netherlands, but we both wanted more than that 3 month tourist visa
would allow. Neither of us can remember the conversation exactly,
but I made a somewhat casual comment about how we could get married,
and she said she would “marry me in a heartbeat.” We both said a
few other things, and then I recall saying something like “Did we
just decide to get married?” and then “Yah, I guess so!” We
didn't know when it would happen, or how, or where, or the legal
requirements or implications of it, being from two different
countries, but it seemed like such an obvious decision that we wanted
to spend our lives together that it didn't require any further
discussion.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
With that on our
minds we packed up the van, excited to have an our first great
adventure together, and went to sleep, ready for the journey that lay
southward.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWOxFZEkZf-mLWdoxdVw4JfEF9snvCOpwzS5ip4914yQEKZ0-0LkJo9XZ58iZvRbwB3tf2lBNyExZc-YcYNeFarlqaIF8CTTBnd1zVtMDiaqAVGuzla9qQfDTRw_Ex_1_mg0I_AsmTyZmF/s1600/P1070530.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWOxFZEkZf-mLWdoxdVw4JfEF9snvCOpwzS5ip4914yQEKZ0-0LkJo9XZ58iZvRbwB3tf2lBNyExZc-YcYNeFarlqaIF8CTTBnd1zVtMDiaqAVGuzla9qQfDTRw_Ex_1_mg0I_AsmTyZmF/s1600/P1070530.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Day 1:</b></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The morning we set
out was fairly relaxed because everything was already prepared.
Around 9am we caught the ferry off of Shaw to Anacortes, with the
intention of camping…. somewhere on the Olympic peninsula that
night. As always, I had a rough idea of where to go and how the trip
would pan out but had no details in mind, just a confidence
everything would work out wonderfully.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvTm-7MYL-lQy0vQrOUJMnuYg_M0TpHEWUBwwm8vyTlenUuoWpouIQqocX5D8Z5prjs9zSUKTIP8LH5KhrYTsANTtf2hR0GXxwjtvJnyll9tZmwJZ01Dp2aO4Z1MokwrY4rPYeUoTBT3oo/s1600/P1070558.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvTm-7MYL-lQy0vQrOUJMnuYg_M0TpHEWUBwwm8vyTlenUuoWpouIQqocX5D8Z5prjs9zSUKTIP8LH5KhrYTsANTtf2hR0GXxwjtvJnyll9tZmwJZ01Dp2aO4Z1MokwrY4rPYeUoTBT3oo/s1600/P1070558.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Because we were
going from the San Juan islands to the Olympic peninsula we still had
another ferry to take, the Coupeville – Port Townsend route. Once
on the other side, in the picturesque old main street we treated
ourselves to a nice lunch and began driving west towards the
Washington coast, not sure where we were going to make stops. I'd
wanted to go to the top of Hurricane Ridge, but clouds had rolled in
making that pointless, but driving past Lake Crescent was beautiful,
as everything was beginning to be heavily draped in moss and there
was a light dusting of snow in the hills above.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTeOGis7mliTQBybvuifBKrM0wX-fSon0YXjEA0ntxTIuVvwg2KjLqXKa6UD4rP3Bud5VOd1WL4sFbUBrQodQ7E6EanXTZ_BtdfG_-52lQClKPa1jeAC6bGFyxCXL7P0i_56vtBCeTkpz-/s1600/P1070597.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTeOGis7mliTQBybvuifBKrM0wX-fSon0YXjEA0ntxTIuVvwg2KjLqXKa6UD4rP3Bud5VOd1WL4sFbUBrQodQ7E6EanXTZ_BtdfG_-52lQClKPa1jeAC6bGFyxCXL7P0i_56vtBCeTkpz-/s1600/P1070597.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A look at my road
tripping setup: Double bed in the back with storage underneath, 10x10
pop-tent that reaches over the back of the van for uninterrupted dry
space, two tables, two chairs, propane stove and a cooler accessible
from the back doors. Everything is organized in a way that the camp
setup slides out the back first, then everything you need including
food and dish bins is right there. Also, I removed the roof rack for
the trip as it wouldn't be carrying anything up there, which at
50/60mph, gave me another 2-3mpg. The only thing we lacked was a
toilet and shower, and a goal of mine is to devise a shower solution
for the next big trip. All things considered, it was a pretty ideal
road trip setup.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKHsGNybVJeoKgIS4Pz882Gc9jgq5x3E2H7lKmsLUU903Z90l2FgqlFw4QN2p3-Mf1aHDnGZZRWYPrLlhgq38orOTU5_UqaxLJIJOPK_PTqOm4lapimCvkVzLtn65NIa8tWSo1UPt6IUbR/s1600/P1070599.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKHsGNybVJeoKgIS4Pz882Gc9jgq5x3E2H7lKmsLUU903Z90l2FgqlFw4QN2p3-Mf1aHDnGZZRWYPrLlhgq38orOTU5_UqaxLJIJOPK_PTqOm4lapimCvkVzLtn65NIa8tWSo1UPt6IUbR/s1600/P1070599.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I like to think I
have a talent for finding spots to camp for free, picking the right
dirt roads in the right places to head down and finding places to
park for the night. On this first day we found a dirt road that
looked just right a few miles out of La Push and headed down it to
explore. We ended up making camp part way along it, tucked in
between some hills on the edge of a gravel pit on the edge of the
forest. We made camp, started cooking dinner and had a cup of wine
to celebrate the start of our trip.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWoZqZRctwvuRaPO0f3eFr-H84G_VoiymHZN2mmju_aasU1JpQm9qRagRmmXmZizvFgzhyPoOm4hVLK88nONXH2E8IRI0QFCh7qOaC-6pcfuX15VteBLQXmuTb5LDfAagAWjt_fKkZuUV8/s1600/P1070611.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWoZqZRctwvuRaPO0f3eFr-H84G_VoiymHZN2mmju_aasU1JpQm9qRagRmmXmZizvFgzhyPoOm4hVLK88nONXH2E8IRI0QFCh7qOaC-6pcfuX15VteBLQXmuTb5LDfAagAWjt_fKkZuUV8/s1600/P1070611.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Day 2:</b></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After packing up
camp we drove into La Push and checked out the amazing First Beach,
then drove to the trail head to Second Beach where we walked through
the forest, signs of spring showing, down to the water below.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS014u4BrRr1wE4U3O0jEI5WmWKae53hTTJvsyo9GkmULcJyTLwyH6jp9WFWpZUYFd99Uh7B3_hOoUUzDSm3fMfFjrXbK4xL0FwDGT_wNl8IQkhpwspih7ozUf0jkN9MUZXM3vN7YA_VpH/s1600/P1070615.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS014u4BrRr1wE4U3O0jEI5WmWKae53hTTJvsyo9GkmULcJyTLwyH6jp9WFWpZUYFd99Uh7B3_hOoUUzDSm3fMfFjrXbK4xL0FwDGT_wNl8IQkhpwspih7ozUf0jkN9MUZXM3vN7YA_VpH/s1600/P1070615.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Marijke and Second
Beach looking stunning. It had been a little drizzly the previous
day, and after all it was March on the Pacific coast, but it was
perfect now. I have to say there were a few people camping on the
beach and I envied them a little bit for their various kayaking and
hiking adventures, but we were on a different kind of trip and had a
lot of miles to cover. We will do hiking trips another time!
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpCEN5jFqpp-Ic5BsqbWYBR-9KBdmypdaPz3gKtMk8_AgrTbwKZ9dEOFWsyjfZtbtyG4qfL6shPSYzwd2tO5_rtZjXCjbNxv3jm1vUL38KkUMp6wmBpGn4GLFIfzcX_xiAZK9V4S61FShM/s1600/P1070642.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpCEN5jFqpp-Ic5BsqbWYBR-9KBdmypdaPz3gKtMk8_AgrTbwKZ9dEOFWsyjfZtbtyG4qfL6shPSYzwd2tO5_rtZjXCjbNxv3jm1vUL38KkUMp6wmBpGn4GLFIfzcX_xiAZK9V4S61FShM/s1600/P1070642.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After passing
through Forks and being surprised to see them still clinging to the
Twilight series, as well as some new TV show, we entered the Hoh
Rainforest, a temperate rainforest, bought our National Parks Pass (a
<i>great </i>deal) and saw a small
group of elk hanging out right by the parking lot. It
had been a long time since I'd seen seen groups of large mammals (the
deer on Shaw don't count!) and even I was excited.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlMx3RGEQjj3oAkcKOzlncVp-JwjoPnPur-GrcMMINkCVRWqgVNgV67UJ5pCA-fpVvze4pLMALt1W6sp5iPpiGkoIdflDdCxQM67RfR8rvLnbZXm0ohVck88lyZrsQPKCOfikl5Zz2hFMu/s1600/P1070666.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlMx3RGEQjj3oAkcKOzlncVp-JwjoPnPur-GrcMMINkCVRWqgVNgV67UJ5pCA-fpVvze4pLMALt1W6sp5iPpiGkoIdflDdCxQM67RfR8rvLnbZXm0ohVck88lyZrsQPKCOfikl5Zz2hFMu/s1600/P1070666.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
national parks are excellent at offering short hikes to
some of the most scenic spots for
the drive in, drive out the same day visitors like us (LA
was a long ways away, no time to move slowly!) and the Hoh certainly
delivers. As most do, we did the Hall of Mosses trail, quickly
finding ourselves surrounded by deep, lush greens all around us and
towering firs and spruce trees above.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We
hadn't planned the time of year this way, it was dictated by Marijkes
visa expiring and her flight, but March turned out to be the <i>perfect</i>
time of year for this trip. I'd worried it was going to be wet and
rainy, but the sun came out every day and because it was still so
early in the season there were very few other tourists around. I've
been some of these places before in peak season and they were a zoo,
this time however we had the trails and highlights mostly to
ourselves.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
That
night after driving through a large herd of elk in the woods in
search of a camping spot on state forest land we found ourselves in
an old gravel pit again and had a peaceful night.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5F0Sy-Nq5WSCEOEuZhwwEvHO_B8AtN0ztNFZ0qoZ_mGZQ3exH_EhPmRSrT_G-LF7c9LlYheGGeNf2Py_wpAolsTHN5uC8uhu5drLjJSj9cGP6BBiCJzOu347uZ-CGj0zL7l9PoyzrU2HO/s1600/P1070720.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5F0Sy-Nq5WSCEOEuZhwwEvHO_B8AtN0ztNFZ0qoZ_mGZQ3exH_EhPmRSrT_G-LF7c9LlYheGGeNf2Py_wpAolsTHN5uC8uhu5drLjJSj9cGP6BBiCJzOu347uZ-CGj0zL7l9PoyzrU2HO/s1600/P1070720.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Day
3:</b></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Filling the gas tank in Aberdeen, WA. Cheap gas makes road tripping
easy.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjLBehr-N-Y3TTSCr2CVf2u41baSE-7rLKmuJ_3Hydg5XBcI5rrxoWc1kSBar4sEnHqhHn70VXSfXpiVIFEEahikC4Mj_UbpaCJUkojI9rEIcaJQAyGR3l3sazEHJdcTY0sVjnjIRyLMQ/s1600/P1070753.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjLBehr-N-Y3TTSCr2CVf2u41baSE-7rLKmuJ_3Hydg5XBcI5rrxoWc1kSBar4sEnHqhHn70VXSfXpiVIFEEahikC4Mj_UbpaCJUkojI9rEIcaJQAyGR3l3sazEHJdcTY0sVjnjIRyLMQ/s1600/P1070753.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
With
a full gas tank we headed southeast towards Mt Rainier National Park.
The tremendous scale of this mountain was something I was really
looking forward to showing Marijke, who of course had seen the
mountain from a distance but never been there. Driving
through the suburbs on the way was probably the least interesting
part of the whole trip, with culture-less strip malls and housing
developments rapidly encroaching on forest and farm land, but
eventually we made it into the park and headed up. Unfortunately it
was a bit cloudy and we were unable to see the whole mountain at
once, but considering the time of year I was still happy with what we
got. Going from a temperate
rainforest one day to being 5,400
feet up a glacier covered volcano is pretty fun and a testament to
Washington diversity.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Without asking locals for road conditions beforehand, we attempted to
head south on a rather small road through the mountains towards
Oregon. Trees and snow had been removed a certain distance but after
a short while we were stopped by snow and had to turn back and pick a
different route. Marijke was not impressed by rural Americans
tendency to shoot their own road signs.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Towards the evening we found ourselves in not exactly a populated
area, but not far out enough to wild camp in any state forests, and
thus had to pay for camping. Usually in this situation I would just
pay for a tent site and be ok with it, but in this damn camping area
you couldn't drive to the tent area, so because we were sleeping in
the van we had to pay for an RV spot even though we weren't using any
of the RV services. Also, the showers were a rip off and cheated me
on the time I paid for… stupid developed camp sites...</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeljX2hHS373lPpm94bhi4ofs0zzKCJbsU9KXUbR-gxo8ynLqHlV8RKsGwux_cvfnDTX-ZlHo2NgUH_SoWfmeLP-Qv5dcT5kSWoVHZfVGFWm6-os5X3yoaTgjmNDsLxehOPn9GVIbhrQpJ/s1600/P1070781.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeljX2hHS373lPpm94bhi4ofs0zzKCJbsU9KXUbR-gxo8ynLqHlV8RKsGwux_cvfnDTX-ZlHo2NgUH_SoWfmeLP-Qv5dcT5kSWoVHZfVGFWm6-os5X3yoaTgjmNDsLxehOPn9GVIbhrQpJ/s1600/P1070781.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Day
4:</b></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Marijke
behind the wheel of my big American van.
I did more of the driving than her, but we did take turns and it was
nice to be a passenger sometimes.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_9ps1a-Ta3-gd00nWqjxGkH_9SuZmDZaOv-ndfRcDL47vk1xm-ASXMo8lRcj1g2MaXOgAcGuu8BG6InVdwHHwd_WE4spnp3gwlCADzwvUuxe1zrZPeOqtd-VHHth4-hlNG6p1vQAU7va/s1600/P1070797.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_9ps1a-Ta3-gd00nWqjxGkH_9SuZmDZaOv-ndfRcDL47vk1xm-ASXMo8lRcj1g2MaXOgAcGuu8BG6InVdwHHwd_WE4spnp3gwlCADzwvUuxe1zrZPeOqtd-VHHth4-hlNG6p1vQAU7va/s1600/P1070797.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Heading
east on Highway 12 we reached White Pass. At 4,501 feet the ski area
was still open and we found ourselves being snowed on.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And in another dramatic show of the states diversity, within 15 or 20
minutes we reached the east side of the mountains, had dropped a huge
amount of elevation, the landscape changed dramatically, it was hot
out and Marijke could hardly believe the tremendous shift in climate
and ecology.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8TMCe5OzkuOo6G-mYTJYAMWbOP9N_YOdda1ZospKXo4w8Cgv4d9iTaEb37mwNqkwC-114H3XfTAgbNnjTEcFqP59bJ98ek_IKmi8w2Qpc3pB5j_r9dpgFwGNE5CJVHcT_0_H8wtWEqew5/s1600/P1070807.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8TMCe5OzkuOo6G-mYTJYAMWbOP9N_YOdda1ZospKXo4w8Cgv4d9iTaEb37mwNqkwC-114H3XfTAgbNnjTEcFqP59bJ98ek_IKmi8w2Qpc3pB5j_r9dpgFwGNE5CJVHcT_0_H8wtWEqew5/s1600/P1070807.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We continued on the 12 past all the farmland and huge warehouses full
of apples to Yakima and stopped for lunch at a little Mexican place.
We were the only white people there, everyone was speaking Spanish
and the food was so good Marijke still talks about her fish tacos to
this day!
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZQSHiW3jLs7-we5V6lXND5L-DVORpBwSjRjV7Bnof64sTLieO8RzpFFnHWv63-9AYV4xgIZZOLn1SeX9g_GJPfYnc_WkmT7u89Jiu87OYU7lgoSKDHZlxMBurNkG2C8bcLPk85ZNumaf0/s1600/P1070829.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZQSHiW3jLs7-we5V6lXND5L-DVORpBwSjRjV7Bnof64sTLieO8RzpFFnHWv63-9AYV4xgIZZOLn1SeX9g_GJPfYnc_WkmT7u89Jiu87OYU7lgoSKDHZlxMBurNkG2C8bcLPk85ZNumaf0/s1600/P1070829.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Although
it's not the most dramatic landscape around, I always like driving
the 97 south. The changing forest, the rolling hills, the open
space, passing Brooks Memorial State Park, views of the mountains and
the wind turbines as you head into the Columbia River gorge make me
smile every time. Every
time I drove by I also have to make a stop at the Maryhill Stonehenge
Memorial, dedicated to those who died in WW1, and my favorite view of
the Columbia river as you look west.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After
crossing the river we were now in Oregon, passing
through small farm-based towns.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Wide open space as far as the eye can see.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Crooked River from the Peter Skene Ogden State Scenic Viewpoint.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We
were in sight of Smith Rock and while I was hoping to camp at the
base, a quick google told me sleeping
in your vehicle
was not allowed there.
Rules, man…
But luckily there was a free campsite, Skull Hollow just
beyond where it was fine. Although the days were warm, we were in
the high desert, around 3,000 feet, and as the sun got low it got
cold <i>quick</i>.
We
made a half-assed dinner, wrapped up in all our clothes and blankets
and watched an episode of Sherlock before going to bed early.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Day
5:</b></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
frost and the still chilly temperature the next morning showed how it
was well below freezing during the night and
honestly for all my preparedness on the trip this was something I
hadn't counted on. We stopped in Bend, a
place that constantly blows me away with it's growth every time I
pass through it,
and
bought another blanket. As
we were in the store trying to pick one, we realized this was our
first 'couples'
purchase for our new life together, and it's actually the blanket we
use in our bedroom now!
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtfBR_zp8Ol1HZTUoq1Asosex-4O8sZch_GTJQjiKl3eVCPkZJjuEqwviGBjRx5_R8I8omJip6g8FvihjiSevv3qFMH08OBQdknHFjA2brzfMAhlM52R-0tQsoqHHDqlcLypBYOVEeuZG1/s1600/P1070879.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtfBR_zp8Ol1HZTUoq1Asosex-4O8sZch_GTJQjiKl3eVCPkZJjuEqwviGBjRx5_R8I8omJip6g8FvihjiSevv3qFMH08OBQdknHFjA2brzfMAhlM52R-0tQsoqHHDqlcLypBYOVEeuZG1/s1600/P1070879.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Looking at the chain of volcanoes that run north-south through
Oregon.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbJVDUFxd8LC1stG3dbZsunqDP-yU1dVSFxvwDZcigctGsdiMahx_UGjztDTauu9jeyNRw1ZLRU1n_G0GZqGCzdqr6-J6_vciUUBH94Kip80vEN0GdWkWXuCzZMOky3W8luzBuXO2G_g5X/s1600/P1070907.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbJVDUFxd8LC1stG3dbZsunqDP-yU1dVSFxvwDZcigctGsdiMahx_UGjztDTauu9jeyNRw1ZLRU1n_G0GZqGCzdqr6-J6_vciUUBH94Kip80vEN0GdWkWXuCzZMOky3W8luzBuXO2G_g5X/s1600/P1070907.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Me behind the wheel on the long, straight roads that run through this
part of the state.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Our
next stop and next national park was Crater Lake, which of course
meant driving up another mountain and into the snow. As I drove up
the winding road I was thinking back to when I was here two years ago
with Stefan road tripping in my 1970 VW and recalling the 1.6 liter
carbureted engine struggling to haul our heavily loaded vehicle
up in elevation. The 4.6 in the van had no such troubles!
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The road to the visitors center and hotel was open, but of course due
to the early season the rest of the rim road was still covered in
snow. The weather was perfect though and we got out to walk in the
snow and enjoy the views for a while before turning around and
heading back down and onward.
</div>
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
One of my goals for the trip was to spend as little time on the big
interstate highways as possible and I succeed most of the time, but
our route did take us on I-5 for a few short miles around Grants
Pass, but it's still pretty nice looking, so it wasn't bad.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Sorry
in advance Marijke, I know it's a bad picture, but
I wanted to show the bed/sleeping
space
inside the van and it's the only photo I have!
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
next day we would be visiting the redwoods in northern California, so
we headed
on the 199 until it was time to find a place to camp. Looking at my
map I saw the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest ahead and at the
right moment turned off at a logging road and into the hills to find
a place to camp. Due to the mountainous terrain
I
was unable to find a perfect spot, but we were far out in the hills
that
a
large pullout on the side of one of the dirt roads worked well,
and there was no one around anyways.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Day
6:</b></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Breakfast in the forest, not bad.
</div>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Our campsite was close to the border with California, so after
packing up it didn't take long to get to the famous “Welcome to
California” sign. I put Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication
and headed towards the giant redwood trees.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I've been to Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park a number of times
before and it never ceases to amaze me. And while Marijke isn't as
into trees as I am, I was thrilled to be able to share the spot with
her as well, and having never seen something like this before in her
life, she was certainly amazed as well.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We walked through the trees for a while, enjoying the peacefulness of
the spot, then drove down the dirt road a few minutes before finding
a pull-out spot to park and eat lunch. As we sat under these massive
trees, overlooking a stream, I sure wished we had a few days to spend
at spots like this, but alas we had a lot ways to go and a lot to see
still.
</div>
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlgGxa1Vgmc_IzsvFwDwCmAuMGSCYJFJLRyhgRQvqfMutm4MVv7KcZy9t4c6w2hetvo56DHYzKg5Q3lMGHohVDwtUxgIIvnrpLeofD584zFihVo_ZZGyJLRRgpU06GmQZp4RlboKsOrfmV/s1600/P1080047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlgGxa1Vgmc_IzsvFwDwCmAuMGSCYJFJLRyhgRQvqfMutm4MVv7KcZy9t4c6w2hetvo56DHYzKg5Q3lMGHohVDwtUxgIIvnrpLeofD584zFihVo_ZZGyJLRRgpU06GmQZp4RlboKsOrfmV/s1600/P1080047.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We took the dirt road the rest of the way through the park and
watched as the trees got smaller, then changed species before winding
down the hills, connecting with the 101 and joining the northern
California coast where we got out to play for a few minutes on the
beach.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisVi3K7S-tjRXGdBq207ZA_0rFmm6QnddwFnv65tExITLLW92TdOKAmVFhza7abMteTeuCpDzmYjATrwJwEKJ_ak010TtULK6WvKDh9B2o1bis6Tz9y5LqLnPfpWRgacMFiL8nz3PtaMMh/s1600/P1080059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisVi3K7S-tjRXGdBq207ZA_0rFmm6QnddwFnv65tExITLLW92TdOKAmVFhza7abMteTeuCpDzmYjATrwJwEKJ_ak010TtULK6WvKDh9B2o1bis6Tz9y5LqLnPfpWRgacMFiL8nz3PtaMMh/s1600/P1080059.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I wouldn't say the 101/Redwood Highway is exactly 'developed', but
it's not exactly wide open space free to roam. The geography mean
roads wind through hills and valleys, and due to the huge numbers of
road trippers who pass through the area, it is built for people to
use only approved state and private camping areas, no wild camping
around here. But I suppose it was time for a shower anyways, so we
wound up at a state park camp site and cleaned ourselves up before
dinner and bed.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL63SV-dKbjdG9soVLzDajdNMQMpRTBScVXWoZOY5xJCOlrHR7h2C3f14_GdfF5N4hSkcfhhNRQvWeFsScTfZo6dn8QGkpVUfTGEZQmrLKff7jIfevSy938LltypOkjUb8Onh8UxQureZN/s1600/P1080089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL63SV-dKbjdG9soVLzDajdNMQMpRTBScVXWoZOY5xJCOlrHR7h2C3f14_GdfF5N4hSkcfhhNRQvWeFsScTfZo6dn8QGkpVUfTGEZQmrLKff7jIfevSy938LltypOkjUb8Onh8UxQureZN/s1600/P1080089.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Day
7:</b></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After
continuing south and doing some internet and grocery shopping in
Eureka (a place that seems to have a large number of weirdos roaming
the streets) we finally joined the famous Highway 1 and
spent the next 200 miles driving south on the dramatic coast roads in
nearly perfect weather. Love
it.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpbee6N9VF8TroN_diRVhIHodjUHDksJcZogod1kSFwO4CpFjLDFJdOFwHHBl77AhwgqFBTnw3bGT3RzEebBRMBLn-N7BA15cPgf8G2ymwXlQW2HF90hKy6bnqCPDJAe22KWmAEqq_YLJS/s1600/P1080134.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpbee6N9VF8TroN_diRVhIHodjUHDksJcZogod1kSFwO4CpFjLDFJdOFwHHBl77AhwgqFBTnw3bGT3RzEebBRMBLn-N7BA15cPgf8G2ymwXlQW2HF90hKy6bnqCPDJAe22KWmAEqq_YLJS/s1600/P1080134.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And
on the subject of perfect weather, it literally couldn't have been
better when we reached San Francisco! Naturally the park was crowded
as always and we struggled to find a parking spot, but the views of
the bridge and city beyond were worth it and then some. A big change
from the fog that enveloped me the last time I was here.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga3lYvgq95rdwD7-3tocBgaouyEzrlUZK4ymAf4dCg1RGaYfJDVSVFHgRZs76duKmTxo_hu9ONDsyGZtAR3u8Pa19OVYUiWUeZzDBchfrWVCcXhBXhZBeW190EdBmuodgpUvpbNBvKLnJG/s1600/P1080145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga3lYvgq95rdwD7-3tocBgaouyEzrlUZK4ymAf4dCg1RGaYfJDVSVFHgRZs76duKmTxo_hu9ONDsyGZtAR3u8Pa19OVYUiWUeZzDBchfrWVCcXhBXhZBeW190EdBmuodgpUvpbNBvKLnJG/s1600/P1080145.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Now
on that previous trip we were heading the exact same way, through San
Fran and towards Yosemite, using the GPS to guide us. I did the same
thing, not knowing the city at all, and trusting it would lead us the
same route I'd been on before which worked perfectly, avoiding the
city center while still giving us some views of
the downtown. However
my GPS was not so kind this time around and it lead us right into the
heart of the downtown, and it was rush hour as well. Because of this
dumb mistake, we spent the next two hours in traffic, inching along
or simply not moving at all. At one point, it took, and I'm not
kidding, over an hour to move one city block. I
didn't know it was even possible for things to be that bad…
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Having
lost so much time getting through the city I had no idea where we
would be able to spend the night. The whole bay area is so big and
populated that we just headed east and hoped for the best.
Eventually we were back out in the sticks and on two lane highways.
Trying to find a place to wild camp in the dark is a challenge
because you don't want to wake up in someones front lawn or something
like that, but I saw a road that looked good somewhere
in the vicinity of Chinese Camp,
parked the van and hoped for the best.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6igsygtGipVhSimOjRxQIlHMOuBxMXJ0-mHoTYWN1sMtBaFhdUV3mQQ7vpvzZrg6bDufzgU5a60xGhmNoDm5co11BUcF4vUsWHSFdP9NJ_ijtkmDinMaMN7rm4hLFKm5ObfueSmo8rZcL/s1600/P1080164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6igsygtGipVhSimOjRxQIlHMOuBxMXJ0-mHoTYWN1sMtBaFhdUV3mQQ7vpvzZrg6bDufzgU5a60xGhmNoDm5co11BUcF4vUsWHSFdP9NJ_ijtkmDinMaMN7rm4hLFKm5ObfueSmo8rZcL/s1600/P1080164.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Day
8:</b></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Unsure
where we were awaking, I was sure surprised when it turned out to be
a beautiful little spot! After
a nice breakfast in the morning sun, we continued towards Yosemite.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEerYIpoz3zFzcVV1dMx3BlykWWd5vLFn_viftxiXxQLAsI5u375Z6Dk9LIEsOW2kqA1pVBDcIbcIiGk1uP7IkPG3L3MxrQbvhyphenhypheniRM27kvIy04Q6iX1Rhrc6xJtPKsw4E7VRTlDClGp7Gb/s1600/P1080176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEerYIpoz3zFzcVV1dMx3BlykWWd5vLFn_viftxiXxQLAsI5u375Z6Dk9LIEsOW2kqA1pVBDcIbcIiGk1uP7IkPG3L3MxrQbvhyphenhypheniRM27kvIy04Q6iX1Rhrc6xJtPKsw4E7VRTlDClGp7Gb/s1600/P1080176.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Now
given all the mechanical issues (well, one reoccurring issue
actually)
on my last Western USA road
trip in my VW, I felt I had to address this one tiny issue with my
van on this trip! My van is a 1996 Ford Club Wagon (Econoline 150)
with almost 230,000 miles on
the 4.9l inline 6 cylinder.
I bought it for just $2,000 to move building materials for the cabin
and since then it has become an indispensable
tool in my life and
completely reliable. Anyways, I
started hearing a rattle when I went over bumps and realized the
strap on the muffler hanger had broken. No problem, I stopped at a
hardware store, bought about $5 of copper wire and in the parking lot
climbed under the back of the van, wrapped it up and went on our way.
In 4,000 miles, that was the only vehicle issue we had. In fact, 8
months later this quick fix is still working and I haven't even
thought about it again until writing this just now!
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirnXtmh4WiumHPc7nVdP87TslT7WjdnZf68JV45-Mwx0NIs6r0FFHdsJ-2K79Ahc3FIpRdo1PD3vs0QHRbb3O4Kj4PUjkcW-UQwY7FZYSLKs5SFto4pEFVPYQW7zxCx5uURe-LDpzUuLrU/s1600/P1080189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirnXtmh4WiumHPc7nVdP87TslT7WjdnZf68JV45-Mwx0NIs6r0FFHdsJ-2K79Ahc3FIpRdo1PD3vs0QHRbb3O4Kj4PUjkcW-UQwY7FZYSLKs5SFto4pEFVPYQW7zxCx5uURe-LDpzUuLrU/s1600/P1080189.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
But
most people are more interested in the scenery than in the vehicle,
so back to that! After the quick 'repair' and filling up the gas
tank, we headed into Yosemite Valley, which
in my opinion is easily in the top 5 most stunning places in America,
and was the location that impressed Marijke the most actually. That
winding road that leads you into the valley is just jaw dropping the
fist time you come around the corner which puts it into view…</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0bBg1ub7MlcAILgEhLNHAex_8szfXSTws1Qzfo3mycD9k0VUViBkUKwr2XTFNMAVZV7bttxEy7tAG2GBt4YSkXZZmkzyunswRvZ0gM9lVWdJvPfvCbw4V5OYwPFmQdP2ydibAgQX8g0ts/s1600/P1080219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0bBg1ub7MlcAILgEhLNHAex_8szfXSTws1Qzfo3mycD9k0VUViBkUKwr2XTFNMAVZV7bttxEy7tAG2GBt4YSkXZZmkzyunswRvZ0gM9lVWdJvPfvCbw4V5OYwPFmQdP2ydibAgQX8g0ts/s1600/P1080219.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
park was a bit of a zoo (which yes, we were also contributing to) but
we did snag a nice lunch spot in the valley along the Merced River
before venturing onward.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIhpg9V23ZZ1kvPp9Xawo0CjQKjj8vl6qvEFntaoFSmXr3dRJLJ-GY35S_e3MTlpCxx_XjigPMlAxdHQmt_zPmoMpU2NMEpKj8EYQPCqTY6pTbjKgtPGvbJSauq6XA2QWaVlbkVa8O6UGe/s1600/P1080231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIhpg9V23ZZ1kvPp9Xawo0CjQKjj8vl6qvEFntaoFSmXr3dRJLJ-GY35S_e3MTlpCxx_XjigPMlAxdHQmt_zPmoMpU2NMEpKj8EYQPCqTY6pTbjKgtPGvbJSauq6XA2QWaVlbkVa8O6UGe/s1600/P1080231.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Yosemite
Falls was just one of the many you see from the valley and it did not
disappoint.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqS3kmxMdLyEIRRz9A2Nrifiv91ApKHcSltQ2dTpCyqzDSxWyRWzAfzbto3zGGLlUbj1of56Z18SGUN_8yZzWgFpCb8YoXq_v9cDbLIL0zYGde41ZezIowaHNj9xXyXVGQarMM_2RQ6gXK/s1600/P1080237.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqS3kmxMdLyEIRRz9A2Nrifiv91ApKHcSltQ2dTpCyqzDSxWyRWzAfzbto3zGGLlUbj1of56Z18SGUN_8yZzWgFpCb8YoXq_v9cDbLIL0zYGde41ZezIowaHNj9xXyXVGQarMM_2RQ6gXK/s1600/P1080237.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And
of course Half Dome.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
had really, really, wanted to take Tioga Pass on our way to Death
Valley, our next stop, but at
nearly 10,000 feet it was still very much snowed in this time of
year. A shame, because not only were we missing out on one of the
most beautiful drives I've seen in my life, this new
route would take us quite a
bit out of the way. But we
did drive out the valley on a different road I hadn't been on yet,
and saw a bear, so at least there was that.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwtvU7FBVI5Z9cT2lFODDDRhS_ogefF2pDZ9-ECy6oWuu9Ki8KatY1xbCYoyM1wPRy_IhgzygkljfLFumgpUq5dDTazW1RTDUw050YcxbRqJ12yPR25SEFzDb1tj4nwSLT-eVO6hHmxVs1/s1600/P1080271.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwtvU7FBVI5Z9cT2lFODDDRhS_ogefF2pDZ9-ECy6oWuu9Ki8KatY1xbCYoyM1wPRy_IhgzygkljfLFumgpUq5dDTazW1RTDUw050YcxbRqJ12yPR25SEFzDb1tj4nwSLT-eVO6hHmxVs1/s1600/P1080271.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Once
we were out of the valley we sort of returned to civilization
for the first time in a while, with highway 99 taking us through
flat, straight, open, boring land, with massive scale agriculture on
either side of us. Of
course we wanted to get out of this kind of area as quickly as we
could, but with a lot of miles to cover going south all the way to
Bakersfield, turning east where
we passed through fragrant orange groves as the sun was going down,
until Mojave and north all
the way towards Big Pine we
had a ton of miles to cover. As a general rule I try not to drive at
night on trips like this, because you can't appreciate the scenery,
but we
had places to go and charged ahead. It was 8:30 before we stopped
driving, and set up camp on state land in a 4x4 vehicle park. Not
where I'd usually camp, but it was late, it was free and it did just
fine.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM6U0SRFrUwN6UoH7LEwEmRvy5-fi6g-nVRU3XEfppdIVThVYG_EZVk2P6_lrUF2PjgQSGb8WVRukEMElMu9bIlQJSqWq1ZYzc3vemXEUMLJHBBOeJ0LopVvV2I036FAZS_xt3d0n2Dl0p/s1600/P1080291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM6U0SRFrUwN6UoH7LEwEmRvy5-fi6g-nVRU3XEfppdIVThVYG_EZVk2P6_lrUF2PjgQSGb8WVRukEMElMu9bIlQJSqWq1ZYzc3vemXEUMLJHBBOeJ0LopVvV2I036FAZS_xt3d0n2Dl0p/s1600/P1080291.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Day
9:</b></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Where
we awoke the next morning.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8kzT_-otn0yt-TERggFXrL6jBLjFjkub4UpYWtgWHbxiqHf-qtnQlPTOCx_Wpn0tGg-0gCojvzo7zfFSpngR86yrZMW6t9TxitiIszosrS-SCZkkgJcNXcrGiSEZR-NtguHmrXWl6F071/s1600/P1080307.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8kzT_-otn0yt-TERggFXrL6jBLjFjkub4UpYWtgWHbxiqHf-qtnQlPTOCx_Wpn0tGg-0gCojvzo7zfFSpngR86yrZMW6t9TxitiIszosrS-SCZkkgJcNXcrGiSEZR-NtguHmrXWl6F071/s1600/P1080307.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Marijke
behind the wheel again.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8bmyIMp0ZnLjXwGvm2O7j4FYCJor3jTQRYGU7qRS_xqiL_3pu97LmGzh5zAxAYbXet_6ScIdURk1SEul31ToCxXpfacwVx0tPOoxzZCzK-0sUKrX0EPEnUmJexV4djitL0MyOn7qqFKRf/s1600/P1080326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8bmyIMp0ZnLjXwGvm2O7j4FYCJor3jTQRYGU7qRS_xqiL_3pu97LmGzh5zAxAYbXet_6ScIdURk1SEul31ToCxXpfacwVx0tPOoxzZCzK-0sUKrX0EPEnUmJexV4djitL0MyOn7qqFKRf/s1600/P1080326.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We
continued north and while the road was pretty straight and flat, the
mountains and scenery on either side was wonderful. Due to an
unusually wet period down here we actually caught the tail end of an
unusually large desert flower bloom and at times we could see whole
hillsides covered in greens, yellows and oranges.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDIokADxJqLo0ST14n8qmG3XdcpKYoMftC7ZsbxFN_3nlY_4P-PW48lSPSm0rSedVZxJSDO_CuN6-lh8qPwl_YpzX20yI4fy8Q9tM5BArlXiGk8XW-KZ4l-rzAG-Yzcmah29rkZGiqVWE/s1600/P1080332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDIokADxJqLo0ST14n8qmG3XdcpKYoMftC7ZsbxFN_3nlY_4P-PW48lSPSm0rSedVZxJSDO_CuN6-lh8qPwl_YpzX20yI4fy8Q9tM5BArlXiGk8XW-KZ4l-rzAG-Yzcmah29rkZGiqVWE/s1600/P1080332.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Stopping
in Lone Pine for coffee and internet. Lone Pine has been a
location for just about more
Hollywood films than you can count over
the last 80+ years and with the dramatic and diverse scenery so close
to the heart of the American film industry it's easy to see why.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInN3fL4X_wS2679FHnoNu8Go7F66ReOOkv_P919zAw3My-DmMCfbrJh0i-C0j93fk7VJYSka8OBaOAxXXaNr7gmJX5xK99t0YnV5DcG2jFaoeFHQjqBSfStQd-TMQ6xTVvaKo8VSTEF8z/s1600/P1080372.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInN3fL4X_wS2679FHnoNu8Go7F66ReOOkv_P919zAw3My-DmMCfbrJh0i-C0j93fk7VJYSka8OBaOAxXXaNr7gmJX5xK99t0YnV5DcG2jFaoeFHQjqBSfStQd-TMQ6xTVvaKo8VSTEF8z/s1600/P1080372.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
From
Lone Pine we headed to one of my favorite places ever, the Ancient
Bristlecone Pine Forest. This is a highly underrated spot, but it is
a group of trees that sit around 10,000 feet and are the oldest
living things on the planet. In 2013 the oldest to date was found,
at 5,066 years old! Again due to the early season, the road was
still snowed in, so Marijke and I parked where the gate was locket
and hiked two miles to
the (closed) visitors center and loop trails.
</div>
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<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Marijke
standing among some of the trees on the trail.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And
finally, my favorite tree on earth (even though it's actually dead).
I've been here three times now and it never ceases to have
a powerful effect on me.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As
we hiked back down on the closed section of road, we came across a
tiny snowman someone had made on the road. Put a smile on our faces
:)</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In
a great mood after seeing my favorite trees, we
headed back down in elevation and into the northern entrance to Death
Valley. This area is very undeveloped and contains some of my
favorite areas in the park.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Our
first stop in Death Valley was the Eureka Valley Sand Dunes, a
shifting mountain of sand at the end of a valley. The sun was strong
and the sand was hot enough to burn your feet, but we covered
ourselves as best as we could and ventured out onto the dunes and
into a world as different as possible from where we live in the wet
Pacific Northwest.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As
we were leaving the dunes on
the bumpy and rocky dirt road I saw a car pulled over with a flat
tire and I stopped to see if they needed help. Although they were
initially reluctant to ask directly for my help, it was clear from
the bewildered look on their faces, the brand new cheapie camping
gear they had with them, they fact they were staring blankly at the
manual trying to figure how to change the tire and their rental SUV
that yah, they needed help. As it turned out, they were from LA and
were out for the weekend to celebrate one of their 30<sup>th</sup>
birthdays. I quickly took
care of it for them and gave some advice on how to proceed on their
spare. Ss
a thanks they sent us off with a few cold beers.
</div>
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
wanted to get into the main valley to spend the night but we were
falling behind on daylight. We
made it over the ridge and into the valley as the sky turned an
absolutely amazing pink and purple, and while I was out taking this
photo I watched a bobcat saunter up that trail to the hilltop, it's
looked
back at us in the setting sun, and then it
walked away. Magic.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMUi1MBM4hFFpobBxtzEGW1_N1dvgnkiuQUuGF8UQGJgS2o1v6RWGeX6KUKhXO4qujXpLPlGgErpsQqxau_Kpv-HnCD-yRU_0sSAv01T42l8IP0VI0fWjVTK7Qxy0eI1-2tnu9bTUbI7Ie/s1600/P1080521.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMUi1MBM4hFFpobBxtzEGW1_N1dvgnkiuQUuGF8UQGJgS2o1v6RWGeX6KUKhXO4qujXpLPlGgErpsQqxau_Kpv-HnCD-yRU_0sSAv01T42l8IP0VI0fWjVTK7Qxy0eI1-2tnu9bTUbI7Ie/s1600/P1080521.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
am
fairly familiar with the north end of the valley from my previous
trip here and knew that we were allowed to camp anywhere off the
road. Last time Stefan and I camped in a dry stream bed and that was
my plan again,
but by this point it was totally dark and I was in a rush to stop for
the night. This of course
was a mistake, haha. After
passing a few obviously bad spots we came across a large dry stream
bed that looked promising. I got out and scouted it, walking a ways
up, feeling the ground and determined that it wasn't great but that
it would probably work. From
the main dirt road I built up a bit of momentum, crashed through the
soft shoulder and for the first little while it seemed to be working
fine.
Then after about 100 feet I began to feel the wheels slip, spin and
eventually sink into the sand as our heavy, rear wheel drive van had
broken through the hard sand layer on top and into the soft stuff
below. I climbed out, saw
we were nearly axle deep in sand and shut the engine off. This is
where we were going to be spending the night, and I'd deal with
getting unstuck in the morning.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Nights
in the desert are something special; the crisp air, clear skies and
zero light pollution made for the
most star filled view I've seen outside of the Kalahari desert. I
sure wish we had more time to spend here.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Day
10:</b></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We
ate breakfast, packed up the van and then worked on getting unstuck.
I had a shovel to dig out
the rear wheels and we collected rocks to put under the tires and
make a 'temporary road' to get out of the soft stuff, but it wasn't
enough to get ourselves out trying to reverse the heavy
rear wheel drive vehicle.
As soon as the wheels got beyond the stones we laid out, it sunk
again and started spinning the tires, digging
deeper. If only I had a 4x4
van it wouldn't even blink at this kind of thing…
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Our
best bet for getting out was having someone pull us, and luckily it
wasn't long before a 4x4 Toyota crossed our path. I waved him down
and he was happy to help. While this happened, another guy in a Jeep
with a winch showed up to help if needed. The guy with the truck put
it in 4-low and using my tow strap had no trouble getting my van the
100 feet or so back to the solid road. Perfect. I helped people in
need the night before and this morning someone helped me when I was
in need, karma (car-ma?) I
guess.
</div>
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</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Earlier
in the year southern California had received well above average rains
that lead to a 'Super Bloom', or a huge amount of blooming wild
flowers that are usually dormant. Now we were far too late to see
the real thing, but we did see some of the lingering effects of the
increased flower activity, including on cactus.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Continuing
our way south through the main valley we finally hit the paved roads
again and made a quick stop at Ubehebe Crater, a half mile wide
crater formed by a volcanic explosion. As
we were standing at the rim looking down, Marijke commented on how in
a place like Death Valley even a half mile wide crater is just a side
note in an overall tremendously interesting place, that
even Death Valley is 'just one' interesting place among dozens in the
region, and how if
something
like this would be in
the Netherlands, it would be the
largest and most amazing natural
attraction
in her entire country!
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It
was around 95 degrees as
we explored the valley, hitting up the Borax works, Bad Water,
Artists Palate and so on before heading out for civilization. This
would be the last park of the trip.
</div>
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<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Our
next stop was to meet and stay with my brother and his wife in
Irvine, so we drove until almost 9pm that night to get as close as
possible. At this point we were no longer traveling in the open,
wild areas, but between cities and suburbs, driving on interstate
freeways and in traffic. Not exactly the kind of places I like to
be, but that's ok, contrast
is good.
Both because there were no longer wild areas to camp in and because
it was time for a good shower and cleanup before meeting with my
family, we finally stayed a night in a hotel which I will admit is
nice once in a while.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After
a lazy morning and the standard hotel breakfast we got back on the
interstate, into the traffic and reached UC Irvine where my brother
Brian lives with his wife Emily, who is in grad school there. Brian
and Emily have lived here for a few years actually and this was the
first time I'd managed to get down for a visit, so it was nice to
finally make it. It was also amusing for Marijke to meet my triplet
brother! We
all visited the beach together, went out for nice lunch and dinner
and spent the night in their on-campus townhouse.
</div>
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</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Day
11:</b></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After
some final packing, today was the day Marijke would be flying out of
America and returning to the Netherlands, after a year on Shaw, after
meeting me, after deciding to get married and after deciding to begin
a totally new life. But first she had to return to her home country
for visa reasons.
</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Of
course Marijke grew up watching a lot of American movies and TV shows
and wanted to see some of LA before flying out and it would be silly
not to, so we headed out into the mess of traffic to explore a bit.
I can't recall where this is, but naturally we had to stop at the
beach somewhere and watch some surfers, gotta get those California
cliches in.
</div>
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<br />
</div>
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<br /></div>
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This
was most of our LA experience. Since we only had half a day to spend
before dropping Marijke off at the airport, we just drove around LA,
often at a snails pace.
</div>
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For
a laugh we stopped by Rodeo Drive and Beverly Hills, and
yah, it looked just like the movies.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
view over downtown LA and the
Hollywood Bowl. Compared to the wilderness we spent most of the trip
exploring, LA couldn't have been more of a contrast.
</div>
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And
of course we had to see the Hollywood sign…
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In
the early afternoon it was time to drop Marijke off at the airport
for her to return to the Netherlands. Not
long ago we both made the biggest decision of our lives, to get
married, and had just gone though this wonderful and intense journey
together as a goodbye until she could return. She
was 'only' going to be in the Netherlands for 7 weeks before
returning to America, but saying goodbye is always hard, especially
during such an emotionally intense period.
Once she did return, we had honestly no idea what was going to
happen. We didn't know how getting married would work, when it would
happen, what country it would happen in, or
anything. It was just an idea, something we knew we wanted but
beyond that was still a mystery in terms of what it actually would
mean and require. And with that we hugged, kissed goodbye
and parted ways, for the
time being.</div>
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<br />
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
2,986.4
miles, aka 4806.1 kilometers. This was the distance we drove
together, from my cabin on Shaw Island, WA through Oregon and to the
Los Angles International Airport in California. I
just did a quick google maps test, and for some comparison, this is
about the same distance as driving from Maastricht, Netherlands where
Marijke is from, all the way to Tehran, Iran! I wanted to give
Marijke a taste of America and the American west, to
show some of the tremendous scale and diversity, the open spaces and
the stunning landscapes.
I think I did a pretty good job. I wanted to be
sure she had
a
reason to return to America and to
me,
and I know I did a good job at that as
well,
haha. Even
covering all these miles we have only scratched the surface, and we
have talked about doing another huge road trip through some of the
inland states for a honeymoon trip! The Grand Canyon, Las Vegas,
Yellowstone, Glacier, these are all places for the next journey, and
there will absolutely
be
a next!
</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Day
12:</b></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Having
dropped Marijke off at the airport I was now traveling solo. As much
as I would have enjoyed taking my time heading home, I decided to
just make the return as fast as possible. I drove late into the
night, stopping only to eat dinner, stretch my legs from time to time
and get gas. Somewhere in Northern California I stopped at a rest
stop for a few hours of sleep, then continued north back to Seattle.
</div>
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<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
1146
miles later I pulled the van into my parents driveway in Seattle and
with that the journey was at an end. Total mileage 4,150.4. (goes
to show how much shorter the direct route is!)
</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
All
things considered, it was a perfect trip. Marijke and I had a
wonderful time together, the scenery was incredible, the weather was
great the entire time, the van worked flawlessly and the camp setup I
devised was easy to use and very comfortable. Most importantly it
was some wonderful bonding time together, time for us to reflect on
our relationship, talk about what our new lives together would be
like and to
keep
our bond strong during the time apart that
lay ahead.
Lucky
for us it is easy to communicate anywhere in the world these days so
the time apart would not be too challenging,
but even so both of us were already counting the days until her
return to America.
</div>
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<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
With
the trip over, I had a few days to see friends and family in Seattle,
gather supplies and then drove the comparatively
short rest
of the way north, back to the ferry and the San Juan islands.
</div>
</div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-71895393313602771402016-09-23T07:34:00.000-07:002016-09-23T07:34:28.027-07:00Great Things Ahead: Spring, Love and Travel<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My trip to Mexico that I detailed in the two earlier posts was wonderful, but with Marijke on my mind I was excited to return home to Shaw, to her and to progress on the farm and the cabin. This posts covers a pretty decent chunk of time, about mid-January until late March. In order to try and spend more time on the next post, a 4,000 mile road trip from Shaw Island to LA and back, I'm going to be fairly brief with the descriptions and stories here, but I imagine the photos say most of it anyways. Enjoy!<br />
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After my flight from Mexico landed back in Seattle I took a short rest, got cleaned up and got to visit with some of my good friends: Brendan, Sazzy and Dan.</div>
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Returning to Shaw on a cool, grey day. Taking the ferry off the mainland and back to the islands always makes for a relaxing transition and to me serves as a reminder that life out here really is different.</div>
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As I returned to my cabin, Marijke was waiting for me and although it had only been a few weeks, it was great to see her again. Before I left for Mexico I joked I was going to bring her back a sombrero and some sand, and I'm a man of my word!</div>
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The very next day it was beautiful out and we went for a walk at the preserve. Ever since I've lived here I have really enjoyed these two dead firs on the shoreline, so I was surprised to find one had broken and fallen over while I was away! </div>
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While we were walking at the preserve my fire pager went off, reporting a smell of smoke at the school. I rushed to get my gear and show up. There was the obvious smell of hot electronics, and a haze in the air. We used the infrared viewer to look for hot spots, examining every inch of the building and found an outlet that was hot where a space heater was plugged in, but there was no fire or any other danger. </div>
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Back on the farm the garden had a few left over pants still in the ground, but as it was still January, there wasn't really anything going on there just yet.<br />
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A camp fire with friends.<br />
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In the wet fall and winter there are always tons of interesting fungus around, I noticed this stuff on a small fir branch on the ground and thought it looked pretty cool.<br />
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In the cabin and working on the kitchen counter.<br />
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The ditches in the garden are doing their job diverting water. By keeping water flowing out of the garden, the soil stays healthier and it will be dry sooner, allowing for earlier planting.<br />
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Lunch at the monastery with Marijke, Father Vincent and the other interns. An unusual occasion where I got dressed up! <br />
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Marijke and I decided to actually do something off Shaw, so we took the ferry to Friday Harbor for dinner and a movie.<br />
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Looking at the Orcas landing and Shaw landing in the distance as I wait for work to begin on a cloudy winter day.<br />
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Making good progress in the cabin, here I'm showing off fact I finally have indoor water! Given the last tiny cabin I lived in and the fact I was traveling across Africa before that, this marked the first time in about 4 years I'd lived with running water!<br />
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My boss climbing in a madrona on a beautiful day. <br />
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Sunrise on my morning ferry commute.<br />
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And a little bit of work on the other side. This job was removing some rather large alders for a guy, but instead of being paid, my boss was doing the work in exchange for a sailboat! (32" bar on that saw for a size reference)<br />
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While stacking firewood in someones woodshed I came across this bat. I moved it out of the way and to safety, but it seemed injured and I'm not sure it was going to make it...<br />
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Nick, Ellen and Angus, dinner guests in the cabin.<br />
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Things are coming along and the space is very comfortable. Sure it's small, but for now it works great for just me and I'm happy to be warm, dry and and living in a wonderful place.<br />
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Marijke came over to hang out and surprised me with a cake the made with a chainsaw on it out of chocolate chips, haha.<br />
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Building and getting the first coat of finish on the landing. This was a lot of fun because the pine on the landing was lumber that came from a neighbor and were originally covered in moss and half rotten. Being able to transform something like that into something inside a cabin is a pretty satisfying process. <br />
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A look inside the just completed fire station. This building is at the community center, right next to the original building and gives us space to park three more trucks inside, consolidating our equipment and making it easier to access when we need to respond to a fire.<br />
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A while back I was cutting trees along what was going to be a new fence line at the monastery and came across this hawthorn that needed to be removed. The stump cut was really cool looking so I took a piece home with me, put a coat of finish on it and mounted it on the wall as art. <br />
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Looking down as we cut and lower branches from a <i>seriously</i> rotten old-growth dug fir that was threatening a house. <br />
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It's getting towards March at this point and that means plant seeds and starts will be going in the ground soon, so that means prepping beds from their winter rest. This is the upper garden where the garlic was last season, this year it will be the early season crops as it gets the most sun and is the driest soil.<br />
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Rainier the new rooster.<br />
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Kristina, one of Marijkes friends lives on Lopez and invited us over for dinner and dancing. Here we are meeting the goats on the property where she lives.<br />
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On the Lopez beach with Shaw in the background.<br />
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The event we were going to was the regular contra dance, something I'd never done before. Some people were quite good while others were beginners like us, but it was fairly easy to pick up and actually a lot of 'old timey' fun.<br />
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It's early spring and animals are being born. Here Marijke is holding a one day old lamb she helped deliver.<br />
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The contents of a typical mainland run: Lumber, tools, gas, groceries and beer.<br />
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So I got new work boots and it's always fun to compare the old to the new. I'd say I got my monies worth out of that last pair...<br />
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The pond on the farm. The grass and firs are green, but the maples and alders have not yet leafed out.<br />
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I pair of salamanders I found while cleaning up some rotten wood. <br />
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Dinner in the cabin.<br />
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Island Sinfonia, a group of musicians from across the islands came to Shaw for a performance.<br />
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The first of March and there are plenty of plant starts in the warm kitchen, getting ready to be moved out into the garden shortly.<br />
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Dinner with friends.<br />
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An exciting moment, the first seeds in the ground for the season, in this case, peas.<br />
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Marijke invited Ellen and Nick to the monastery to give them a tour, including bottle feeding the new cow.<br />
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Looking over Squaw Bay and towards Lopez from the meadow.<br />
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I had yet to take Marijke up a tree and today was the day to finally make it happen.<br />
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Of course she had never done this kind of thing before, but I explained the process, guided her up and she did a wonderful job.<br />
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Success! At the very top of the tree, 130 feet up.<br />
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Dinner at the community center to thank the island first responders, the Shaw fire and medical teams.<br />
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<br />
Tis the season of burn piles. If I remember correctly, this was mostly rotten wood from around the pond.<br />
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Getting some art on the walls of the cabin. I'm a big fan of the wood and rusty metal vibe.<br />
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Looking down at the top I just took on a tree removal at work. I sure do enjoy my work, ha.<br />
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A performance at the Shaw talent show, featuring Sister Maria and JP & the OK Rhythm Boys.<br />
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Boomer hanging out while we weed the garlic.<br />
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Laying down cardboard and wood chips to improve the main path in the garden.<br />
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Playing dress up in my fire gear. I think she may need a smaller size...<br />
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It's now mid-March and the maples are starting to leaf out. This is one of my favorite times of the year because the tender leaves and the sunlight shining through is the most beautiful color in the world to me.<br />
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So being from the Netherlands, Marijke has been here on Shaw under a 1 year tourist visa and by this point that year is coming to a close. She originally intended to return home for good after that year period, but, well, she met me. <br />
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That said, she still had to return to the Netherlands for visa reasons before she could return to the States on a new tourist visa. When she originally came out here she bought a return ticket out of LA with the idea that she would do a road trip from Shaw to LA as a way to end her time in America. I thought it was silly for her to do such a journey alone and offered to drive her all the way to LA, showing her the sights along the way. So I put the bed in my van, packed up the camp kitchen and bins of food and planned a rough route for the two of us to drive all the way to LA together.<br />
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The next post will be of that trip, 3,000 miles from Shaw Island to Los Angles of two lane roads and national parks, camping in the woods and introducing her to the spectacular scenery and huge spaces of the American West. Stay tuned. <br />
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Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-83819917753733798952016-08-05T23:27:00.000-07:002016-08-05T23:27:05.873-07:00A Mexican Getaway: Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Welcome to part two
of my Mexico trip. Part one was the 'water' side of the trip, now
comes the 'land' side of the trip. I said it in the past post but
I'll say again: I was not sure what to expect from Mexico, but
overall I was quite impressed. Mexico City especially exceeded my
expectations, and as I work my way inland and south from Mazatlan
over the course of this post,
I think you will see why. Here goes.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It
was late at night, I was on the bus from Mazatlan
to Zacatecas, and I made a
big mistake: I fell asleep. Now this wouldn't normally be a
problem, and I had a ticket that said my destination and an arrival
time, but what I didn't know was that this was the arrival time for
the end of the line, not my stop. So in the morning I woke up on the
bus and found myself about 250km past my stop! Oops… Because of
this little mistake, I had to wait in another bus station for a few
hours, buy a new ticket and lose essentially an entire day. Oh
well….</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
My
arrival to Zacatecas was not until the late evening, but I got a
taxi, headed into the center of the old town and found myself a place
to stay, a cheap bunk in a dorm. There were a few other travelers
there from Europe and we chatted for a few minutes, then I headed out
into the town to explore. The
old town is very much a piece of the old Spanish colonial days, and
the area was founded and built around the silver mine that operated
for hundreds of years and provided a great deal of wealth for the
empire. There were tourists all about, but almost all were domestic,
I saw very few Americans/Europeans, which was fine by me. The area
had a European feel however, because of the Spanish history, and a
lot of beautiful buildings.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A
small intersection in the old town. After finding some street food
for a late dinner I wandered around until fairly late, just taking in
the atmosphere.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
dorm I stayed in. I think it was around $10 a night.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
skies were clear and blue, the temperature was just about perfect.
Zacatecas has
little public squares all over the place, and it all feels clean and
friendly.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
What
really attracted me to the city was El Eden, the silver mine, so that
afternoon I went to take a tour. After buying the ticket and taking
the little tram into the hillside, my guide, a young student who was
very friendly, lead me around the caverns. Although the tour was
shorter than I expected, it was well done and certainly a worthwhile
experience.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Looking
out over the city from a hillside at the top of the mine.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDKROD9WSSgXuz_lkphMtR4NLl8F7__dmcOf5BKpk2hlUoVbg3e2lMLFYVdRiuhQ5fpixzujY9T6W_-iA9XLcOwjkoVjxhjghqcDKPfso0XCxgtJqIf85FwJJlEPmwRUxeLTOuDd2VB7bj/s1600/P1020204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDKROD9WSSgXuz_lkphMtR4NLl8F7__dmcOf5BKpk2hlUoVbg3e2lMLFYVdRiuhQ5fpixzujY9T6W_-iA9XLcOwjkoVjxhjghqcDKPfso0XCxgtJqIf85FwJJlEPmwRUxeLTOuDd2VB7bj/s1600/P1020204.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
rest of my day was spent looking at a map of the local sights and
wandering around. After about 5 different churches I was kind of
bored of them, but the Museo Rafael Coronel looked great and I headed
in that direction. The outside was a cool mix of overgrown and
falling apart building and restored sections, it kind of reminded me
of how they have some of the temples at Angkor Wat. The museum
looked great, but I arrived too late and it was closed. Darn.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikLVKTWL7HTf7iobsA5vYWXyxOrcamPPjs-33GePbNW7nNzz0xI-15AA63S_iPxZYYGPxPiDXa3jRMlbg3KRN15ihHXdTfRPWbtHwM8hc03oFi7qPvWuHjpcrRVgnFnWKryuxu9dzJeKHo/s1600/P1020221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikLVKTWL7HTf7iobsA5vYWXyxOrcamPPjs-33GePbNW7nNzz0xI-15AA63S_iPxZYYGPxPiDXa3jRMlbg3KRN15ihHXdTfRPWbtHwM8hc03oFi7qPvWuHjpcrRVgnFnWKryuxu9dzJeKHo/s1600/P1020221.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Not
how I'd pictured Mexico looking…At night, I went in search of an
authentic Mexican place for dinner but my search went about as well
as the museum: everything was closed! I wound up eating a 'Mexican
style” cheeseburger, just
me and the old lady who cooked it, in her little restaurant. When
that wasn't enough food, I ordered a second one.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPkjzzqOQQD88HoSWAAXHQzsji96FPoydoYMyWD3fUjsX5So5wzcQmliHWe6DSckw-e4FhoiSmpDrmvXv57cZsGfpAERCQSptkYt-X2aKg-3J4915jFLO6-Eq37atJQNg_YiEy6d_aJXA5/s1600/P1020282.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPkjzzqOQQD88HoSWAAXHQzsji96FPoydoYMyWD3fUjsX5So5wzcQmliHWe6DSckw-e4FhoiSmpDrmvXv57cZsGfpAERCQSptkYt-X2aKg-3J4915jFLO6-Eq37atJQNg_YiEy6d_aJXA5/s1600/P1020282.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It
was time to head onward, now to Uruapan, and I boarded another bus
for the fairly long journey ahead. As I watched the world go by out
the window, something I enjoy quite a bit, we passed by a huge Nissan
car factory.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCztLdbtV5BdklODvv6h0RK-WGribcReRUiNq9Gx5kYWG_I91IGGeKSElzj2mbgq2m2N5Bbx77ixeSlBpSV97zDJtn6TAIOA-SevhfKpMjzdaiBttzdeBKhkBBLAQHuyZQ0Xf4TLcQNPnK/s1600/P1020304.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCztLdbtV5BdklODvv6h0RK-WGribcReRUiNq9Gx5kYWG_I91IGGeKSElzj2mbgq2m2N5Bbx77ixeSlBpSV97zDJtn6TAIOA-SevhfKpMjzdaiBttzdeBKhkBBLAQHuyZQ0Xf4TLcQNPnK/s1600/P1020304.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Nice
scenery further down the road.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ7_6LIaLgFMns1Qw5LX4hVlNVr3kpejxwXY_uX6XAiMTUqzYHSRRj7cq7McZT_R424XiJ1hA8f4uRrkM-SgMNsN4d91wVHzrdPI9Pot38uSXZAzsUtU4G5FH_Q70BuX-UmBzHyX-LX_vK/s1600/P1020334.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ7_6LIaLgFMns1Qw5LX4hVlNVr3kpejxwXY_uX6XAiMTUqzYHSRRj7cq7McZT_R424XiJ1hA8f4uRrkM-SgMNsN4d91wVHzrdPI9Pot38uSXZAzsUtU4G5FH_Q70BuX-UmBzHyX-LX_vK/s1600/P1020334.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
By
the time I arrived in Uruapan it was about midnight and it was clear
I hadn't arrived in the 'nicest' part of town, but I didn't really
care. I found a cheap room opposite the bus station that offered a
private bathroom, cable tv, and wifi for about $12 a night and was
happy.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmGIeNfKEYljlyZwKGBRnfbYzmRYGbqRW0p5LA9nxGCVdeD1w0Psc4qi3hb3iqO35czG_FCuwmzBGS6SDsOwsHhhB7aNOt_MeUAserlCTV-Qi9M0ZXcbcMYgWRDR6NhRCKnAWeT-5LizJh/s1600/P1020338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmGIeNfKEYljlyZwKGBRnfbYzmRYGbqRW0p5LA9nxGCVdeD1w0Psc4qi3hb3iqO35czG_FCuwmzBGS6SDsOwsHhhB7aNOt_MeUAserlCTV-Qi9M0ZXcbcMYgWRDR6NhRCKnAWeT-5LizJh/s1600/P1020338.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
main attraction in/around Uruapan was the Parícutin volcano, which
is accessible via a day trip on horseback, but as I woke up and saw
the pouring rain decided that could wait. And it rained hard, a sort
of tropical downpour type of rain that sent people running and filled
the streets with foot-deep streams. So I got breakfast and went back
to my room to watch TV and surf the internet.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYkNvCwbzboaHk2jM_7H5_U793ia-4ZNgws6ko_lYQ70DP4nFPY0eaHKfeeTbu6q7UBQ91OczKa-ilTDKuOg7Toir1_R-mTzOWxaatrlOLo7BvgLU07fdXeinibx-2yqMFRxdpUIFBBooz/s1600/P1020364.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYkNvCwbzboaHk2jM_7H5_U793ia-4ZNgws6ko_lYQ70DP4nFPY0eaHKfeeTbu6q7UBQ91OczKa-ilTDKuOg7Toir1_R-mTzOWxaatrlOLo7BvgLU07fdXeinibx-2yqMFRxdpUIFBBooz/s1600/P1020364.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A
little later in the day when the rain had died down but not actually
stopped, I headed out on another of my walks. I had a vague
understanding of the cities layout and walked for many kilometers
through various neighborhoods towards the center. Most of what I saw
wasn't especially interesting, just small shops and people milling
about, but eventually I found my way to Parque Nacional Barranca del
Cupatitzio, a national park built in 1938 that is basically a lush
ravine inside a neighborhood.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRvbOZoNbr8v5DiaOZHS-diq6EzQ0gKCCOUKbaWDTuh1x9S6vfCrH-np9zcFayLp1tC5_noTOekZxmo_uza7qzlcJMMuhFmOMaQUCUmmsz6aZ1T_ikcgINx9qOT7AxD0Fcs0tlfDiyYlin/s1600/P1020399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRvbOZoNbr8v5DiaOZHS-diq6EzQ0gKCCOUKbaWDTuh1x9S6vfCrH-np9zcFayLp1tC5_noTOekZxmo_uza7qzlcJMMuhFmOMaQUCUmmsz6aZ1T_ikcgINx9qOT7AxD0Fcs0tlfDiyYlin/s1600/P1020399.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
entire place was an amazing collection of natural waterfalls,
man-made water features, bridges and walk ways snaking along a
beautiful river in the middle, all surrounded by a lush green
jungle-like foliage. Because of the light rain I had the place
pretty much to myself and it was stunning.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz1O5qBfibce0zOR3w15YvL4rGXqmXeFE-fi-DWh5RP0yg2amVdzcJzuGuV6cytdPaVydnG6I4x6d93XocZUztQMfbQCIil_sPheUoC9bxQoJJ2fwXzeYM5p9J3mN-6VYku7fwfEDWv3Jr/s1600/P1020413.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz1O5qBfibce0zOR3w15YvL4rGXqmXeFE-fi-DWh5RP0yg2amVdzcJzuGuV6cytdPaVydnG6I4x6d93XocZUztQMfbQCIil_sPheUoC9bxQoJJ2fwXzeYM5p9J3mN-6VYku7fwfEDWv3Jr/s1600/P1020413.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Ok,
just one more picture…</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjw1r8R-_Q8aNqPo1lOsjGAlIjnl3rlCWXz3cyTMhHpzM-8tfGFTBYi3DhvPK0sA5STO3nKMIZJ-gYQ51TgNB23Iv4v3y0yq4xjt7fGfcy7EKqyOarepEC9K0IqEzbFxJGSFUfqaGRHI6Z/s1600/P1020445.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjw1r8R-_Q8aNqPo1lOsjGAlIjnl3rlCWXz3cyTMhHpzM-8tfGFTBYi3DhvPK0sA5STO3nKMIZJ-gYQ51TgNB23Iv4v3y0yq4xjt7fGfcy7EKqyOarepEC9K0IqEzbFxJGSFUfqaGRHI6Z/s1600/P1020445.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Once
I'd walked through the entire park and was a bit wet, I headed back
towards my hotel. I walked slowly because I wasn't sure what to do
next so I was killing time, and to be honest I was a bit lonely.
While the trip itself had been great so far, I really hadn't really
talked to and gotten to know anyone. This has always been one of my
favorite parts of travel and I felt like I was missing out. Deciding
to sit down and have an afternoon beer, I wandered into Clandestina
Caguamería, a funky looking cafe and sat down. That was when I met
Moma, the owner of the place. We began to chat about the usual
things, but before long got into art, music, politics, social issues
and the current state of the country. Plus some tasty food and
excellent local beers! I think I ended up hanging out, just the two
of us, for over two hours before I decided I should get moving again
because darkness was coming. It wasn't anything tremendously
profound, but finding a friendly face and very interesting person to
talk to in that moment really made my day, and gave me a fun moment
to look back on even months later. Thanks Moma!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXLz2kCczUlstwenZnE9GXyZvPFQ3j7lA_xpHZX2n6MbQn2a4myXYqHVhRiQAUtPJycNkRPqGn_JMuHKiCy3Du27eUTCYklfYsmEgNCroa1g7Ic3CjD0C5KCbF5MjyqRZ_qis9fPbhAd2c/s1600/P1020495.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXLz2kCczUlstwenZnE9GXyZvPFQ3j7lA_xpHZX2n6MbQn2a4myXYqHVhRiQAUtPJycNkRPqGn_JMuHKiCy3Du27eUTCYklfYsmEgNCroa1g7Ic3CjD0C5KCbF5MjyqRZ_qis9fPbhAd2c/s1600/P1020495.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
forecast was for good weather, so it was time for me to head to the
town of Angahuan, find a horse and ride to Parícutin volcano which
began erupting in 1943. I took a local bus for a small fee and
quickly found myself to be the only foreigner in a small rural town.
Angahuan had a distinctly different feel from the other places I'd
been, much more “indigenous” if I can say that without sounding
offensive… but it was very cool and unique compared to my previous
stops. It was clear enough that this was a popular tourist activity,
and I did find it in the Lonely Planet, but it was still clearly
targeted at Mexican tourists because I didn't find a single person in
town who spoke English, and there was VERY little infrastructure to
support tourism.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
managed to explain what I wanted, and after eating breakfast and
getting a few things from a grocery store, got connected with a
teenager who spoke <i>zero </i>English and climbed on a horse for the
first time in probably 17 years.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO3OuChWrzxkAo-JatiS4ygkLNncrm0O9b9USy5SmwVLuKdS4zNpSZmFfYtSxLAK4ABQfrwGwJyDtxdxwjmoNQIyOvd0nIWO7OoKXb6p2WXhigCTA6zwp6DPzMJ48Tag2Z7g0wqI4lOfvC/s1600/P1020520.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO3OuChWrzxkAo-JatiS4ygkLNncrm0O9b9USy5SmwVLuKdS4zNpSZmFfYtSxLAK4ABQfrwGwJyDtxdxwjmoNQIyOvd0nIWO7OoKXb6p2WXhigCTA6zwp6DPzMJ48Tag2Z7g0wqI4lOfvC/s1600/P1020520.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As
soon as we were beyond the town and the handful of “resorts” that
looked like they were mostly out of business, my guide let go of the
rope and I was riding on my own. The horse seemed very well trained,
and within minutes I was comfortable riding it. We trotted down a
dirt road between trees for a few km, then as the weather began to
clear up I found myself riding through beautiful groves of avocado
trees. Truly stunning.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6WRrbd-tIFYZDFNMyxTexsUeLhlZLXSTpcM_Mso_4zbzQF_HVDITsjv5nVq7MA1n_JkqWtGXyQrhddsX2DDRqCfu1dh4Ge6ADgmArJhfi7lIdUHhaSNd7LEZwapZnDCw81dOmfZeb0LbZ/s1600/P1020559.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6WRrbd-tIFYZDFNMyxTexsUeLhlZLXSTpcM_Mso_4zbzQF_HVDITsjv5nVq7MA1n_JkqWtGXyQrhddsX2DDRqCfu1dh4Ge6ADgmArJhfi7lIdUHhaSNd7LEZwapZnDCw81dOmfZeb0LbZ/s1600/P1020559.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
ride was enjoyable, and as the last of the low clouds cleared the
volcano finally came into view.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We
rode the final stretch to the bottom and as I climbed off the horse
my guide motioned for me to start hiking up the steep loose rock of
the volcano. Again I was alone but that made it especially nice in
my opinion. On the short hike to the top I got distracted numerous
times by geothermal vents that poured hot steam into the air,
interesting plants and cool stone formations, but once I reached the
rim at the top and looked out and was even more amazed at the place I
found myself. Huge swaths of land that I'm sure used to be green and
full of life were covered in black volcanic rock, even larger steam
vents let out small puffs of steam and smoke and the crater itself
still smoldered as well.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqO4Gn1Fcs__V4AEJXIRfQTHc17bGQ66wG6GWD3a_96cgfFqmhgX4W3UdHNx_c6pRWqHJgRUw-cl6GOZ-TtCoGUJ4fnBMO06UsKyL7_zPGjZe4LxC6uLFnYI8rsodPEqfisxx-1bY17NqV/s1600/P1020710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqO4Gn1Fcs__V4AEJXIRfQTHc17bGQ66wG6GWD3a_96cgfFqmhgX4W3UdHNx_c6pRWqHJgRUw-cl6GOZ-TtCoGUJ4fnBMO06UsKyL7_zPGjZe4LxC6uLFnYI8rsodPEqfisxx-1bY17NqV/s1600/P1020710.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Next
on the schedule was a visit to San Juan Parangaricutiro Church, which
was partly buried by the lava flow. By this time I was very
confident on my horse and rode well ahead of my guide, at times
breaking into a full gallop as I headed through the avocado trees
once again, with a huge smile on my face.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLIl2IQQwb-ndwg9hqRrl510gIm9NwHNVF8v3S3zlnWM91f-l3r8Jg_M68GbGXlS8tD5FocsqTuWZij2AfrVowKzvHczjfRuB6c5x4VjoJxrsF7S6H8hDDRAOIGC2F_z_eWgj4yICf22cp/s1600/P1020722.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLIl2IQQwb-ndwg9hqRrl510gIm9NwHNVF8v3S3zlnWM91f-l3r8Jg_M68GbGXlS8tD5FocsqTuWZij2AfrVowKzvHczjfRuB6c5x4VjoJxrsF7S6H8hDDRAOIGC2F_z_eWgj4yICf22cp/s1600/P1020722.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Pretty
cool looking eh?</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcZEIfpK_fP9Gt-Sn4iVEeTukV_vJMsRFupSUJHtUuKbXKlFVeKuH0lGEFaIUjW55x-p2V0HqJQwrnxWkZilhZm8x58Sr9p_uTx-zeQRuu5E8kUXxqTI06mxeY8mXV0vVuS3pfw3n9u4Ov/s1600/P1020778.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcZEIfpK_fP9Gt-Sn4iVEeTukV_vJMsRFupSUJHtUuKbXKlFVeKuH0lGEFaIUjW55x-p2V0HqJQwrnxWkZilhZm8x58Sr9p_uTx-zeQRuu5E8kUXxqTI06mxeY8mXV0vVuS3pfw3n9u4Ov/s1600/P1020778.JPG" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After
returning to Uruapan I went out for another walk until dinner time.
Then my mission became the search for the most delicious Mexican food
I could find. After quite a while I found myself near to the bus
station and my hotel where my walk began, and noticed a large group
of people around a particular taco stand on the side of the road.
Naturally it was busy for a reason, because what I ate was hands down
the most amazing food of the entire trip! Everything was so fresh
and the seasoning was simply amazing. But I wasn't done eating, and
decided to try yet another place for 'second dinner.' This lead me
to a bland looking place where I had the first and only burrito of my
trip. It wasn't anything special, but then the lady making the
tortillas waved me over. As I watched, she showed me her process for
making fresh tortillas, then gave me one hot off the grill. Oh. My.
God. That plain tortilla was so delicious it was like a gourmet meal
on it's own, and unless I return to Mexico again and find a similarly
skilled woman, no other tortilla will ever compare…</div>
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<br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY0t34iU5IOAbzu3TaM-eQhRg5jB0x07DNQgvgwCd7OAE0u7uPSKIdKB9SOpGzp43vhUOvZU_1t2iQ2Wi6Gdr2P4IZibgvFcn51R76gOZaSPsRQGSQRo5q_8BgbcsJfnhVyBDXZsgldCQb/s1600/P1020791.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY0t34iU5IOAbzu3TaM-eQhRg5jB0x07DNQgvgwCd7OAE0u7uPSKIdKB9SOpGzp43vhUOvZU_1t2iQ2Wi6Gdr2P4IZibgvFcn51R76gOZaSPsRQGSQRo5q_8BgbcsJfnhVyBDXZsgldCQb/s1600/P1020791.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Late
that same evening I was catching an overnight bus to Mexico City, and
was really not sure what to expect. I'd heard so many negative
things about the city I wondered if I was making a mistake even going
there, especially since I'm not really into cities anyways, but I was
curious and it was where my flight home in a few days went from, so
into the night I rode and south into the big city.</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It
was 4am when I arrived in Mexico City and everything was dark and
quiet as the bus headed towards the station. As always, I had no
plan but figured I'd grab a taxi into the city center and find a
hostel.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Daylight
was just breaking when I was dropped off in the center of the city
outside a hotel, but it was full when I inquired about a room.
Because it was still so early I just sat down in the lobby and killed
time until the day began, and eventually started walking down the
same street when I came across Hostel Amigo, just a few doors down.
They had cheap enough dorm rooms and more importantly had space, so I
decided to just make life easy and stay there for the rest of my time
in the city. The place had a mix of Mexican and European travelers
and seemed like a pretty good place. The only bizarre part was that
there was a bar and big stereo and all the kind of things you expect
at a backpackers place, but they didn't sell beer. Now I know
backpacking isn't just about getting drunk with other white people in
interesting locations, but it sure does make it easier to meet
people…
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
One
of the things I was interested in seeing while in Mexico was the
pre-Columbian culture and architecture. Because I'd started the trip
with the idea I'd be in Baja the whole time, in general I was too far
north to see much of the sites, but the biggest one, Teotihuacan,
happens to be located just 30 miles north of Mexico City. I was
exhausted from the overnight bus trip and early arrival in the city,
but in order to see the pyramid and a few other sites easily, I
signed up for one of the only guided bus tours I've ever taken. Our
first stop took us to some foundations that I honestly forget the
name of (oops) but it was interesting that the Spanish tore down
those buildings and used the stone to build their churches you see on
the right side of the photo. A very literal example of imperialism.
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTiHBm917tpCX8f-n_lAUBiboF2qyrxTNgJ7SRNRiBIFJTKmyaIOD_xl4aNM-sCb00Izeyi6voepd1u26kwwDuUFQWwtG-7CBCdelSazowKQMXUi-XrW5iKfG2_zlj0a8ZiLB5Vvm5hxQZ/s1600/P1020830.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTiHBm917tpCX8f-n_lAUBiboF2qyrxTNgJ7SRNRiBIFJTKmyaIOD_xl4aNM-sCb00Izeyi6voepd1u26kwwDuUFQWwtG-7CBCdelSazowKQMXUi-XrW5iKfG2_zlj0a8ZiLB5Vvm5hxQZ/s1600/P1020830.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Next
we went to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a large public
square with a few different churches of different vintages. To be
totally honest, I was bored of Catholic churches by this point but I
was quite impressed by the views of snow capped mountains in the
distance, which was not what I'd expected to see.
</div>
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUYkEq7Cl6mvr5-qBg0QX8Z4yhQdFhmm5WeFoHDJShVWsvkneUdG5fxoETwWjrX2Ig295mtcOhmrHg8ZdCGBRRveT4beP11J17VubewjPGyIZbjHyKw0qGsO_o-MBCpJQPVRKCPXjFKU3/s1600/P1020834.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUYkEq7Cl6mvr5-qBg0QX8Z4yhQdFhmm5WeFoHDJShVWsvkneUdG5fxoETwWjrX2Ig295mtcOhmrHg8ZdCGBRRveT4beP11J17VubewjPGyIZbjHyKw0qGsO_o-MBCpJQPVRKCPXjFKU3/s1600/P1020834.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
tour of course took us inside of the churches, and the 'Old Basilica'
had the classic look of all the beautiful churches of that era, the
1700s, while the 'Modern Basilica' looked every bit it's era, the
1970s, and I don't mean that in a good way…. Maybe in 300 years it
will be considered beautiful…
</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoOvP7nyUFRGfn4UFqWPv5F8lHwxkAVzLKV1mbJjQWlB_kDP1qa1t_NwlhLJskbvbkoFPZjyW4Qivzlzq16GLcxkG9sDxz4mLPum7pmuiYo54dqWU7N5R4vMvfgjT9FF218p7uD3QwULFT/s1600/P1020931.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoOvP7nyUFRGfn4UFqWPv5F8lHwxkAVzLKV1mbJjQWlB_kDP1qa1t_NwlhLJskbvbkoFPZjyW4Qivzlzq16GLcxkG9sDxz4mLPum7pmuiYo54dqWU7N5R4vMvfgjT9FF218p7uD3QwULFT/s1600/P1020931.JPG" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Of
course what I was really interested in seeing on this day was the
pyramids of Teotihuacan and in the heat of the day our bus arrived.
Being a bus tour, they annoyingly started the visit by trying to sell
us crap at the tourist junk shop and then hustled us into a
not-very-cheap buffet lunch, but I guess that's the price you pay.
Anyways, the place was impressive, with dozens of stone pyramids you
are able to walk up, including the pyramids of the Sun and Moon,
which are some of the largest pyramids in the world.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
An
overview of the site without me in the way! This is standing on the
Pyramid of the Moon looking towards the larger Pyramid of the Sun,
216 feet tall and the third largest pyramid on earth (after two in
Egypt).
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
On
the tour I met Duncan from Hong Kong. He was on the very beginnings
of a 6 month trip through central and south America, and we would
spend the next few days hanging out together. After spending most of
my time in Mexico just hanging out solo, it was fun to be making a
new friend.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A
better view of the Pyramid of the Sun.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiasqQP3DvQv-VnfjSMpT8Og-56tZSKbA0M7SL7O4ZQPerkZjcHcFgtLSJv5e_PEoNfE6ZQJ0kX7h3GFKQxaaTtF-Fd0TKDkOq4vth0A5AlC40x4VVIJ-RZ4NIZxt8ekwAIrAkvVHMpaOL-/s1600/P1030078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiasqQP3DvQv-VnfjSMpT8Og-56tZSKbA0M7SL7O4ZQPerkZjcHcFgtLSJv5e_PEoNfE6ZQJ0kX7h3GFKQxaaTtF-Fd0TKDkOq4vth0A5AlC40x4VVIJ-RZ4NIZxt8ekwAIrAkvVHMpaOL-/s1600/P1030078.JPG" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
tour was a full day, it was getting dark and traffic was heavy when
we returned to the center of Mexico City.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Once
off the bus Duncan and I decided to wander the streets in search of
dinner, and came across some pretty serious sandwiches for about two
dollars. And on the subject of wandering the streets of Mexico City
at night, I felt totally comfortable. The night life was vibrant,
the streets were full of people and the mood seemed good each time I
ventured out.
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<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8iBptD4SdHw/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8iBptD4SdHw?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Now
it wasn't too long ago that I met Marijke and took her to meet my
family over Christmas, but from there I headed straight to Mexico
while she headed back to the island. But today was her birthday and
even though I was in another country, I wanted to do something
special. I happened to read in the guide book there there was one
square where mariachi bands hung out and for a small price they would
sing you a song, so Duncan and I wandered through the streets until
we found it. For less than the price of two beers, and I was amazed
they hung out there all night working for so cheap, I had them
dedicate a song to Marijke and it a lot of fun.
</div>
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Duncan
and I met up again the next morning in the Zócalo, the cities
massive public square and joined a free walking tour. The tour was
excellent, with a knowledgeable guide taking us through many of the
key sites and stories of the city center and I'd highly recommend it.
The above photo is actually of the ornate central post office!
</div>
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
On
the tour, Duncan and I met a third traveler and we all decided to
take the metro to the National Museum of Anthropology. I think the
metro cost less than 50 cents and was crowded (as expected) but
overall excellent.
</div>
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</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Where
we got out of the subway station had a very different feel from the
small bit of the city I'd seen thus far, there were trees, wide roads
and modern condo and office towers.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
museum itself made an impression before even entering. The huge
statues out front and the massive roof in the courtyard with a
waterfall, all supported by a single central pillar, was just a taste
of what was inside.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And
once inside the museum was one of the more impressive ones I've seen,
huge in size and scope, with both indoor and outdoor exhibits, it got
you up close with some pretty amazing items from the areas history
and did an excellent job of displaying everything. If anything, it
was a little overwhelming, and I certainly didn’t have time or
energy to take it all in.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
famous Aztec Sunstone is probably the most well known item in the
extensive collection.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Evening
light on the National Palace as I returned to the Zocalo that
evening.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Living
on an island of around 200 people maybe I'm just not used to what
cities are like anymore, and granted Mexico City is one of the worlds
largest, but it was amazing how many people were out every night from
the end of the work day until late in the night. Around the city
center there were a number of 'walking avenues' that were constantly
packed. In the distance is the Latin-American Tower, one of the most
prominent skyscrapers in the city.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Still
hanging out with Duncan that day, we decided to head to the bar in
one of the top floors to have a beer and get a view over the huge and
sprawling city. Naturally it was challenging to find a seat looking
out the windows, but once we did it was well worth the trip to look
out at the city lit up and extending in every direction.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Eating
a delicious late night dinner.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
still had a little while to spend in the city so with no plans I
simply headed out walking for a few hours. Once I'd gotten well
beyond the city center I thought maybe then I'd come across all these
terrible things I'd heard about the city but it simply never
happened, everything felt safe, clean enough and almost
as organized as any other city I'd spent time in. Hell, there were
even bike lanes on the roads better than many I see in Seattle!
Eventually I made my way back to the city center and headed to the
exceptionally beautiful Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine
Arts).</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Inside
they were doing a large exhibit on Russian avant
garde art from the 1930s I think it was. I'll be honest, I'm not the
most cultured guy around but I do appreciate art and enjoy museums;
and maybe I was just in a bad mood or something, but it didn't
interest me at all.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
murals upstairs on the other hand, some by Diego Rivera (the only
muralist I know, again, being honest here), were fabulous and well
worth the visit. And of course the building itself was a stunning
piece of art in it's own right.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
With
a little bit of 'high culture' in my system (or not?) I decided it
was time for a little 'low culture' and bought tickets to see the
Lucha libre, aka: Mexican
Wrestling. It took place at the Arena México, which in start
contrast to the Palace of
Fine Arts was a run-down
looking building with lots of wrestling masks for sale and trash on
the ground. I paid for my ticket by passing money into a dark hole,
unable to see the person inside and unable to understand what they
were saying. They took my money, refused to give me change and with
that I was on my way! (first and only time being ripped off in all
of Mexico).</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
inside looked like pretty much any arena, and it was not very full.
Most of the people close to the ring were tourists like myself. The
annoying thing was they wouldn't let me take my little
point-and-shoot camera in, so obviously this is not my photo. And
then the whole show people were happily snapping photos on their
camera phones… huh. But the show itself was great fun and every
bit as absurd as I'd hoped it would be. It even had a midget in a
gorilla suit wrestling!
</div>
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As
I walked back to the city center after the show, I stopped for tacos
at two or three places and they were all delicious.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
only had one day left in Mexico before my flight home and decided to
spend it walking again. This is the zoclao again, looking towards
the Metropolitan Cathedral.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Pre-columbian
ruins lay next to the cathedral. I was hoping to go in, but it was
closed for the day.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
My
walk led me to the modern business district where I killed some time
at a Strabucks. Something I
noticed in Mexico as a whole was that I think in my entire trip there
were only one or two instances of people asking me for money, and I
didn't see poor people on the streets. They must be somewhere, but I
certainly didn't see it. It's not that I really expected to see a
lot of poverty, but the absence of it almost completely did stand out
and again, I see more of that where I grew up in Seattle.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Back
towards the city center and looking at the Latin-American
Tower from a nearby park. By
this point the trip was pretty much over, so I headed to the hostel
early, got my things ready for the flight the next morning and went
to sleep.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9J4Fl6xHUjMWHeXGu6PWodMy-Oyo7Bb1uIOmqJA11Ii5CD8dEIN9s_c8MJ-UtpVc_CjQzMNE51b3c5lji2MkdtwjL0WEXWv9kwKbuVdLaxQciaK5Rl3TfV3OECdn4Z8aN8OaMhFmTkZjv/s1600/P1030514.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9J4Fl6xHUjMWHeXGu6PWodMy-Oyo7Bb1uIOmqJA11Ii5CD8dEIN9s_c8MJ-UtpVc_CjQzMNE51b3c5lji2MkdtwjL0WEXWv9kwKbuVdLaxQciaK5Rl3TfV3OECdn4Z8aN8OaMhFmTkZjv/s1600/P1030514.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
My
return to the US was uneventful. A taxi to the airport, a slightly
delayed flight, some pretty nice views out the window and a rainy
evening arrival in Seattle.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
My
customary trip to Dicks Drive-In after a trip.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Overall
the trip was excellent and Mexico impressed me a great deal. I
had no idea what was going to happen or what I was going to do, the
'plan' if you can call if that changed drastically early on and it
wasn't the kind of travel I've done in years, but in the end I
returned home wanting to see more of the wonderful country that
obviously has so much diversity to experience and appreciate
and I'd call that a real success.
But I was also ready to
return to the island and to Marijke.
</div>
</div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-30700959985648673072016-05-15T23:58:00.000-07:002016-05-15T23:58:08.091-07:00A Mexican Getaway: Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Do I even need to
start my posts with apologies for being so behind anymore? Seems I'm
making a trend of it… oops, I swear mom, I'll try harder. Anyways,
here is my long delayed first post of two about my trip to Mexico
over New Years.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Although I like to
think my life over the last 30 years has been more than just my
amazing journey across Africa (dig back through the archives if you
are unfamiliar), it seems to be the thing people often define me by,
and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little tired of it. Ever since
returning from that admittedly formative part of my life, I have
begun a new and completely different stage of life on a tiny island
in the Pacific Northwest, and as far as I am concerned, this is me
now and for the foreseeable future. My life went from being both
interested and able to travel the world without a second thought, to
living on and rarely leaving an island you can drive across in a few
minutes. And I've been more satisfied with this new life than any
other time before it. That said, I had the itch to go on another
trip out of the country for a few weeks and the slow winter was the
perfect time to do it.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The reason I choose
Mexico was primarily because hell, it's our neighbor to the south and
I still had never been! Years ago I intended on doing a big road
trip through Mexico and bought a 1970 Baja Bug with the intention of
driving that, but I found myself traveling Asia instead, then Africa,
then moving to the island, so it never happened. But now I felt I
wanted a big change of scenery, a little 'vacation' which I'd never
truly done before, and needed to scratch the international travel
itch again for the first time in two and a half years. This is how
it all went down:</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs5RPf7mAzfEKYZSx4Z3p6kcxZi4Mo8nBNogMSiBB16GZX2D_C6erEsNNq3K3-LNYZc-gaZDG5QerTJfnRzBUGrZVeh1rw_AlMQr3eUS7TS1FKpdEWVe8ghQEKu373mAqZOSo1Lj4ONcG2/s1600/P1000111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs5RPf7mAzfEKYZSx4Z3p6kcxZi4Mo8nBNogMSiBB16GZX2D_C6erEsNNq3K3-LNYZc-gaZDG5QerTJfnRzBUGrZVeh1rw_AlMQr3eUS7TS1FKpdEWVe8ghQEKu373mAqZOSo1Lj4ONcG2/s1600/P1000111.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Shortly after
Christmas, I loaded up my backpacks, the same two I've traveled with
for years, and got on the plane. I had three weeks ahead of me and
no real plan, but my goals were simple: surf, drink beer on the
beach, read, swim with whales harks and eat tacos. I wasn't looking
for a serious or in depth cultural experience, I just wanted to have
fun. And I had this crazy idea in my head I was going to actually
just hang out on the Baja Peninsula and relax for three weeks…
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I had a late night
flight to Texas for a layover, but that allowed me to fly from Texas
to Cabo San Lucas in the daytime and enjoy the scenery changing out
my window. Arriving in Cabo was just as I imagined it would be: the
sun shining, blue water, picture perfect sandy beaches… and huge
resorts as far as the eye could see, exactly what I had ZERO interest
in seeing or doing. But it was OK, because I was not going to spend
any time there, I was headed north to Todos Santos.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX9Vuq_p-0aT3cz9x2KPdw4MFYTMxTVv94SGVnIRfP0jXCCJLrDHy6DpUnR_itgDGfgj1i9QMfHevp4APLKFoyHbbkL5vEsAUDlfyS-t2NntXFPe6owenGsPzjsRWCAAII4h33vsGIqn8O/s1600/P1000204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX9Vuq_p-0aT3cz9x2KPdw4MFYTMxTVv94SGVnIRfP0jXCCJLrDHy6DpUnR_itgDGfgj1i9QMfHevp4APLKFoyHbbkL5vEsAUDlfyS-t2NntXFPe6owenGsPzjsRWCAAII4h33vsGIqn8O/s1600/P1000204.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Ever since I started
my travels and once I returned to America, I've worked to set my life
up in a way to allow a great deal of freedom and flexibility. My
boss has been great with that, and he actually connected me with his
uncle Gail (left), who owned some land in Todos Santos and was
willing to not only let me stay with him for a few days, but was even
going to pick me up at the airport in Cabo. This was all perfect,
and an awfully easy to begin my time in Mexico.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJl0_UpYAH55Q-rIQWmabZv4mo1_19ISD06-UIoxaDl2-q6_kUWYV2wLfInUNsSOd0IHZEDQgSmC-CPH2u4aXvsFz42aQqOJstlhrsTYzx9l5qCEt9uInvypswb8y4AOJE2dTIA6PYJwRO/s1600/P1000226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJl0_UpYAH55Q-rIQWmabZv4mo1_19ISD06-UIoxaDl2-q6_kUWYV2wLfInUNsSOd0IHZEDQgSmC-CPH2u4aXvsFz42aQqOJstlhrsTYzx9l5qCEt9uInvypswb8y4AOJE2dTIA6PYJwRO/s1600/P1000226.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Gail had a piece of
land north of town, and when he bought it a few years back there was
no paved road and very few neighbors. Today the road is paved and
other non-Mexicans, mostly Americans and a few Canadians, are
building 'vacation mansions' all over the place. He calls it
“Gringo-landia” and it's beginning to feel a bit like the
suburbs. Gail has more simple tastes though, and for the time being,
just has a small building with a roof-top deck and two trailers on
the land. He uses the large one when he comes down and has a smaller
one for guests or to tow around Mexico and beyond.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After getting
settled a bit, we drove into town. Gail headed off to a meet some
people and I did what I usually do when I travel: wander the streets
to get a feel for the place. Todos Santos was even smaller than I
expected it to be, and it didn't take long before I'd walked every
street in the core. It certainly has a strong expat vibe to it, with
plenty of shops and restaurants (and pharmacy) for tourists and
American residents, but it still seemed to have a lot of soul. I
have to say, I did enjoy the 'developing world' feel of some of the
streets, but in general the town center is clean, organized and
developing fast.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
With 'eat tacos' as
one of my primary goals for my time in Mexico, when Gail and I met up
that evening for dinner I had a few tacos as well as a torta. And I
have to say, the food was <i>delicious</i>
and cheap.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
next day we headed out for a walk into the hills behind his place.
It was hot, dry and sandy, with the ground covered in low brush
mostly, but as we headed over a few hills and to a small drainage
where water flows in the rainy season, we found ourselves surrounded
by cactus about 15
feet tall. Very cool stuff.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKNoK6nIx2ynEsR-YsEhBpGXqihbIt2yIgiVMxxHd7ANqhZMTA5C__p-8Phutx0MDU9GOq7681b0-bZqb750-uZKalbVwmX727T-BffuNLDMf6ZUH3FJlg1khiGzJaQktN6J4-jRGsgcyt/s1600/P1000344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKNoK6nIx2ynEsR-YsEhBpGXqihbIt2yIgiVMxxHd7ANqhZMTA5C__p-8Phutx0MDU9GOq7681b0-bZqb750-uZKalbVwmX727T-BffuNLDMf6ZUH3FJlg1khiGzJaQktN6J4-jRGsgcyt/s1600/P1000344.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In
the afternoon Gail continued to show me around. For this round, we
hopped on his quad and drove down to the beach which was maybe half a
mile down from his property.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It
was a perfect Baja day with the sun shining, the waves breaking
towards the yellow sand and hardly a cloud in the sky. I wandered
down the beach for a while and eventually sat down to read a book,
another thing on my 'to do' list for this trip.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
(So
this is a lousy photo, but I hope it gets the idea across.) As it
turned out, my trip lined up perfectly to see the gray and humpback
whales. Both from the beach and from Gail's rooftop where this photo
was taken, I could look out at the water and at almost any time see
one, two or even three whales jumping, slapping their tails or firing
water from their blowholes. It was really incredible, and I watched
for a very long time, making reading my book a bit challenging. This
photo is also a good representation of the kind of vacation homes
foreigners are building in the area.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4kj6ssnSQFClOFwVNWh4tFTsXMSlqA7-yGMmxcBXdV5tH7XoIwNMdstb8GPk-oM22BR3173chDOpxxjXEXjdv78mr50ve0T-fimTk6HWKHsovqIc7WqcHPuilBK1aL_JwdyVJRCMhPdZ/s1600/P1000482.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4kj6ssnSQFClOFwVNWh4tFTsXMSlqA7-yGMmxcBXdV5tH7XoIwNMdstb8GPk-oM22BR3173chDOpxxjXEXjdv78mr50ve0T-fimTk6HWKHsovqIc7WqcHPuilBK1aL_JwdyVJRCMhPdZ/s1600/P1000482.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As
I said, I watched for a long time, and from the rooftop was treated
to fantastic sunsets every night.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPU4Neb7dU-tkVmYJqLiQRbdXv231ArZp5SkQsceLB5ACR0ayfJnqIkSAPywLJugJuSX8L6IcY7oD_KTwcxqIxPAh6qVJbH3TV2Ir5TGsE2bK3kERL-ovNjfEB5c0ansxuCIP2Ux9PwPuQ/s1600/P1000515.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPU4Neb7dU-tkVmYJqLiQRbdXv231ArZp5SkQsceLB5ACR0ayfJnqIkSAPywLJugJuSX8L6IcY7oD_KTwcxqIxPAh6qVJbH3TV2Ir5TGsE2bK3kERL-ovNjfEB5c0ansxuCIP2Ux9PwPuQ/s1600/P1000515.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
One
of my main goals for this trip was to spend time surfing. I've only
been surfing a few times in my life so wasn't any good yet, but I was
hoping by this trip I'd spend a lot of time on a board and improve my
skills. Life seemed to have another plan though, and a week or so
before I left on the trip, I hurt my back…
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
That
said, I still wanted to get out and play in the water and decided a
body-board would be a decent compromise given how I was feeling. So
Gail and I loaded up the truck and headed to the Los Cerritos Beach.
His favorite water activity is long-distance swimming, so he went
out for a swim, while I hit the waves.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOW3Z0uAxHnn22cOtXq_OIX_v2ItqtsD7ijMmufv8PQFNOcHIBeS09YfAkjuC6DBM1CG1XksUZymHaLK0Glyrz1Ytk-nOPSqU05yFVrz-TiiPRLIy_YIcYHAta2ZupoatcxJgnNQYGU_oy/s1600/P1000519.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOW3Z0uAxHnn22cOtXq_OIX_v2ItqtsD7ijMmufv8PQFNOcHIBeS09YfAkjuC6DBM1CG1XksUZymHaLK0Glyrz1Ytk-nOPSqU05yFVrz-TiiPRLIy_YIcYHAta2ZupoatcxJgnNQYGU_oy/s1600/P1000519.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
With
my injured back my abilities were limited, but the water was
comfortable, the beach was rock-free and I caught a lot of nice waves
before heading back to land. To be honest, the place was a bit of a
zoo, but it's clear that it's the perfect beach for easy waves and
beginners, so the popularity makes sense. It was also pretty clear
how fast the place was developing, soon I'm sure road will be paved,
new resorts will move in and the shoreline will fill with expensive
rentals.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4EF1bsD0q1Wa1R4adOG-lq0ki8P6dw_gC2UdAZNxBUnb2WTEWnhkOWtoDSCAsy9KRL001KZt1PR37sDpgnkR4h4-bRWDXbrFwEdIJ91dGX1NxFFA_-K759bgyh9GZ37YYu-0bHa61X8FW/s1600/P1000557.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4EF1bsD0q1Wa1R4adOG-lq0ki8P6dw_gC2UdAZNxBUnb2WTEWnhkOWtoDSCAsy9KRL001KZt1PR37sDpgnkR4h4-bRWDXbrFwEdIJ91dGX1NxFFA_-K759bgyh9GZ37YYu-0bHa61X8FW/s1600/P1000557.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
On
that note, Gail decided to show me the scenic route back north to
Todos Santos, and we took the dirt coast road. He said this was
where the hippy surfers on the 60s and 70s set up their camps and
while you still saw a few of those holdouts, the land now is all
divided up into small parcels and people are building fancy homes all
over the place.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUGT1ziBOE9oD6NuvHWP8arOjEc2HWiuoXalMwLboMNohLn_JX_5SlAXQnpsnCxzDGJEmR5owI9S-SXRptL8K5gc1q94CTEL9BPjRwqJAAbi4AT-ikuant98CCnqS2MX2R4829mLzPbT8w/s1600/P1000567.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUGT1ziBOE9oD6NuvHWP8arOjEc2HWiuoXalMwLboMNohLn_JX_5SlAXQnpsnCxzDGJEmR5owI9S-SXRptL8K5gc1q94CTEL9BPjRwqJAAbi4AT-ikuant98CCnqS2MX2R4829mLzPbT8w/s1600/P1000567.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A
little wildlife as we drove the sand/dirt roads back into town.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8M2jG-Rv-zSZLLzB4XvmJwzNBslU8hg9HT8IjmvV3Y4q7C7OWMQqHPl5x19djAfrc-i9Oo-VKtMIGwTm3Su0vb-9Pz_vmKV6tCYiXUoPzqfVAtFseb2sGx9nY5E5oi0MFtyIT-PxKe4ui/s1600/P1000572.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8M2jG-Rv-zSZLLzB4XvmJwzNBslU8hg9HT8IjmvV3Y4q7C7OWMQqHPl5x19djAfrc-i9Oo-VKtMIGwTm3Su0vb-9Pz_vmKV6tCYiXUoPzqfVAtFseb2sGx9nY5E5oi0MFtyIT-PxKe4ui/s1600/P1000572.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Another
sight we went past on our little tour/exploration was some pretty
surprising farmland. This area was surrounded in dry rocky hills on
both sides and the “soil” if you can call it that seemed to be
nothing but beach sand, but they were growing <i>amazing</i> looking
basil and other crops! Of course I live on a small scale vegetable
farm back home so I notice this kind of thing, and I have to say I
was impressed. Confused, but impressed. I guess they just spray a ton of fertilizer on it?</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Like
every night, Gail and I went out to dinner, eating delicious Mexican
food for just a few dollars usually.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2tTMhErX5f3qUOEwsUNmJUdlvpFmquhg4y5yNzanoeX-5WEQRRzS_QvQmSxSY46KwRbTTVI97WCGfvgf_vXjAC3WtoAzCMkKkGGrymwIsxynhMi-IiT6ZOhMJMrMHZFlSULMBSjMYdh4i/s1600/P1000610.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2tTMhErX5f3qUOEwsUNmJUdlvpFmquhg4y5yNzanoeX-5WEQRRzS_QvQmSxSY46KwRbTTVI97WCGfvgf_vXjAC3WtoAzCMkKkGGrymwIsxynhMi-IiT6ZOhMJMrMHZFlSULMBSjMYdh4i/s1600/P1000610.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
New
Years was upon us and while I'd been really enjoying my time with
Gail, I decided I wanted to find some people my age and find a party.
The obvious choice in the area was Pescadero Surf Camp, a
backpackers/surfers place that I knew would be full of people looking
to hang out and have fun. It was just what I was looking for, and I
quickly met a bunch of people my age and found the party for the
night.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXw7lSsACUtQmfKBs4D0K9CpBopPXMaUEOef7Q4q6-m9txV7JDZQ5Ay1vjz5UkVac64u16gokH51mXbfnRYs4flR8vCGY9uRNBd4tfCOmG_fbk8WMX5NIocN0ypq5T9ONKcr0yiaZ8hAoV/s1600/P1000627.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXw7lSsACUtQmfKBs4D0K9CpBopPXMaUEOef7Q4q6-m9txV7JDZQ5Ay1vjz5UkVac64u16gokH51mXbfnRYs4flR8vCGY9uRNBd4tfCOmG_fbk8WMX5NIocN0ypq5T9ONKcr0yiaZ8hAoV/s1600/P1000627.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Naturally
it was a 'gringo-party' but I have to say it was a lot of fun, and
whatever, I'm a gringo too.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaO-NIgesxAih8L9Pi_4DdNgl-As7zVtYta4mjcNgrLyxlSkg9UPMy2ePsRU5498-1qL0I8H-MD76QrF0fX9ICOFYRIqgTsk_CderOwBpwsm1QVecioJGN20ZGRDKUJi3VgKflaWNqh-VW/s1600/P1000659.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaO-NIgesxAih8L9Pi_4DdNgl-As7zVtYta4mjcNgrLyxlSkg9UPMy2ePsRU5498-1qL0I8H-MD76QrF0fX9ICOFYRIqgTsk_CderOwBpwsm1QVecioJGN20ZGRDKUJi3VgKflaWNqh-VW/s1600/P1000659.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Huge
bonfires on the beach, giant mansions, bands, DJ's, pools, bars and
people in cat costumes with suspiciously large pupils, it honestly
looked like something out of the movies. After a while the fires
burned down and I climbed in the surf-van of a Canadian I'd met at
the surf camp (there were a LOT of people from BC down here) and
headed back to the after-party at the camp and then to my tent to
sleep. It was just what I imagined it would be like.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxgnTxTa_NVanTGuZrR-_h6z14GRj6eaZdjAnYq7nOq3cTMN7CPK4yZ_h0nGu6jcraN_GW1HWoIBbQpxSgnre9nUg9nyO6i2yIdEyCsOORbpYpomWJccH1yyUOjw7Rexy4MQclsOIqfsOv/s1600/P1000690.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxgnTxTa_NVanTGuZrR-_h6z14GRj6eaZdjAnYq7nOq3cTMN7CPK4yZ_h0nGu6jcraN_GW1HWoIBbQpxSgnre9nUg9nyO6i2yIdEyCsOORbpYpomWJccH1yyUOjw7Rexy4MQclsOIqfsOv/s1600/P1000690.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
New
Years day I got a ride back into Todos Santos with some other
travelers in their rental car (which seems to be the best way to
travel around down here if you want to camp/surf and have much
flexibility). There headed to the clinic in town to get a shot for my
back pain. In true Mexican style, they didn't even ask for my ID, or
anything else before giving me meds, but I loved how easy it was and
pondered how much effort it would have taken in the USA. For the
service, meds and 3 shots over 3 days, I think I paid less than $20.
I told them I didn't want a pain killer, I just wanted an
anti-inflammatory, and received a shot that made me feel better
almost immediately. Then I went back to Gails where I googled it and
found out it was an opioid based pain killer…. Oh well.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkaptw3Zr9XqTsY6TfiS52zfC4CRY98iyl1dkcgjqaIKIaLM5kBdnrmPrG4Hi0KJuTgsYfUu20BJp2l_b6k7ziCfCKwP8uL36ifvyA5Vwrhh16rLUcA6aIvdQdMk06HjGRWhwZFOG4tzlz/s1600/P1000720.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkaptw3Zr9XqTsY6TfiS52zfC4CRY98iyl1dkcgjqaIKIaLM5kBdnrmPrG4Hi0KJuTgsYfUu20BJp2l_b6k7ziCfCKwP8uL36ifvyA5Vwrhh16rLUcA6aIvdQdMk06HjGRWhwZFOG4tzlz/s1600/P1000720.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Since
I was unable to surf as I'd hoped to do when I thought up this trip,
I felt I'd pretty much exhausted the options in the Todos Santos area
and took a bus to La Paz. My time there was nice though, and my host
Gail had been wonderful, a great introduction to Baja and an awfully
easy way to begin the trip. I still don't know what I was going to
do with the next two and a half weeks, but I felt like I had my feet
under me now and was starting to get the hang of the country already.
The bus was nice and modern, the road was pretty good but had that
'not quite up to Western standards' feel to it, and in a short time I
found myself on the inland side of the Baja Peninsula, in the city of
La Paz.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPrJGPlIsRQV7hf10-nHkAviKYuKs2EK6g7-bNeuP9mBfyQNrPVuFPNMnm8jDykAd48XaoOKkuiivyj6T2ZuPb-IjOEMm6Jlc-ARBgyLeip1T5cyIjzGzOWcmOznhOhs_diDWFnHmj4fvq/s1600/P1000745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPrJGPlIsRQV7hf10-nHkAviKYuKs2EK6g7-bNeuP9mBfyQNrPVuFPNMnm8jDykAd48XaoOKkuiivyj6T2ZuPb-IjOEMm6Jlc-ARBgyLeip1T5cyIjzGzOWcmOznhOhs_diDWFnHmj4fvq/s1600/P1000745.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It
was surprisingly difficult to find a cheap place to stay, as one
place I looked for no longer existed and the next place was closed
for the weekend (huh?) but I wound up, as many backpackers do, at
Pension California. It was just a few blocks up the hill from the
water, has a big colorful courtyard and lots of international
travelers, I met many cycle tourers in particular. I wanted to relax
for a few days in this town because it seemed like a particularly
nice place, so I got myself a cheap room that had two beds, a private
bathroom (with limited hot water) and a TV that got one static-filled
channel of Mexican news.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After
settling into my room and laying down for a bit (I must be getting
old) I went for my usual walk around town. The stats say the town
has 215,000 people, but it felt much smaller than that. The 'old
town' where I was staying was easily walkable, beyond that seemed to
be sprawling houses and a modern shopping mall full of American chain
stores I'd seen on the bus in. I did find the old town center and
wandered into the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de La Paz which was
nice, despite the gaudy “Jesus and Winter and Christmas Lights”
scene you would expect to see in a tacky American shopping mall.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5l6RMRDh6_ehFKKn5BPBB2P6dTOt8RDBdhyphenhyphenA7bOtJbyJq2XXVIiVZpqLLb7rEg7CF_e5gzQ_OyWNEuRgxwzXw9mcvFxhGGtiSAdlPVVR_bYkYQcBjnvOEyQo4s6vjabBifUHcEGQSKQIL/s1600/P1000789.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5l6RMRDh6_ehFKKn5BPBB2P6dTOt8RDBdhyphenhyphenA7bOtJbyJq2XXVIiVZpqLLb7rEg7CF_e5gzQ_OyWNEuRgxwzXw9mcvFxhGGtiSAdlPVVR_bYkYQcBjnvOEyQo4s6vjabBifUHcEGQSKQIL/s1600/P1000789.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Back
at the malecon, the waterfront area, I wandered from the hart of the
action to the very edges, stopping to admire the pelicans and gulls
on the way.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtQQj7vxtyCuer85s0AI5MtI3q6YoTbs-FC2YQSqz9nXnDTiKiXVVh1h_XlZaWrREt0SuzVOy1MytLufEDE7tOocFpDMFDSfiFL_EFx53g1qut4i3_RlJPe0tMJrf5gI8p73JHeBkwkCwB/s1600/P1000790.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtQQj7vxtyCuer85s0AI5MtI3q6YoTbs-FC2YQSqz9nXnDTiKiXVVh1h_XlZaWrREt0SuzVOy1MytLufEDE7tOocFpDMFDSfiFL_EFx53g1qut4i3_RlJPe0tMJrf5gI8p73JHeBkwkCwB/s1600/P1000790.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
More
beach scenery.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlCqip_FQKWYcCj26QGgFSc5qCPRvy5mV5gWG2ED8rTuUIVn6b9xS_yEy_krutO67y7-6M3t95jQVQk4HtlkhbBJirQ-jZte5ZTRVUoR3k18hivexYAhaye3Dgbfnu2uxwDMFsKQV_f54E/s1600/P1000797.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlCqip_FQKWYcCj26QGgFSc5qCPRvy5mV5gWG2ED8rTuUIVn6b9xS_yEy_krutO67y7-6M3t95jQVQk4HtlkhbBJirQ-jZte5ZTRVUoR3k18hivexYAhaye3Dgbfnu2uxwDMFsKQV_f54E/s1600/P1000797.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Postcard
perfect sunset over the beach. That night I wandered around by
myself, feeling 100% safe by the way, in search of some nightlife and
people to socialize with. As it turned out, there wasn't any… Most
of the restaurants closed very early, I'm talking like 7pm early, and
a few of the expensive waterfront bars remained open but had few
patrons and didn't look like much fun. I was surprised, and ended up
eating dinner alone at one of the few places I found that was
actually open.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgINHesoS5dYmnPvcT3TZIXxeq22wLfwxozRukesVVZGWald6rdCE1TQMCNjOh2SBkIIVA_Hh3Kqz0ZaUG3hx-0OLcLs3JaGFQkE9uCAEZQHpPiAfoOvtlqt9j2UY8fqOOgm8pDPM1P7f5E/s1600/P1000871.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgINHesoS5dYmnPvcT3TZIXxeq22wLfwxozRukesVVZGWald6rdCE1TQMCNjOh2SBkIIVA_Hh3Kqz0ZaUG3hx-0OLcLs3JaGFQkE9uCAEZQHpPiAfoOvtlqt9j2UY8fqOOgm8pDPM1P7f5E/s1600/P1000871.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
One
of the big draws for visitors in La Paz is the whale sharks. After
shopping around a bit, it seemed everyone was just offering the same
thing at about the same price, so I got on board a boat from the
beach and headed out.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipvvIv5DoDoep4gAc1F8EDY_WHf2-OqWmenm3SL0umRY_4KS2GYf3jK_OiRXjsNumf37URSQOOEDh5n6L6sYzpr3SntmNFYvmRCkJELpzzj9-82jgIEdn0hyphenhyphendNCFDnJ_jDb90bh1BLK_Jz/s1600/P1000890.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipvvIv5DoDoep4gAc1F8EDY_WHf2-OqWmenm3SL0umRY_4KS2GYf3jK_OiRXjsNumf37URSQOOEDh5n6L6sYzpr3SntmNFYvmRCkJELpzzj9-82jgIEdn0hyphenhyphendNCFDnJ_jDb90bh1BLK_Jz/s1600/P1000890.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
boat had about 6 people besides myself, and after 15 minutes or so we
were on the other side of the low penensula outside of La Paz where
the whale sharks (which are actually large filter-feeding fish) hang
out. The boat was extremely unprofessional, and didn't even have
working snorkel gear for everyone, despite that being one of the
promises of the tour operator… glad I had brought my own mask and
snorkel…
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
To
be honest, I knew what I was getting myself into when I signed up,
but I couldn't help but feel a little bad for the fish. The outing
essentially consisted of the boat I was on, plus half a dozen others,
chasing these fish around, then letting the tourists jump out to swim
with them, many people (not myself) grabbing the fish, the fish
swimming away, and then climbing back in the boat to chase them
again. This seems to happen all day, every day.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG1HKbzXfth_QGaM3ZPEzvIA-wqVUe3NvvEhDUsr-L9MkqWR-G3qV4eLS5LvSJzjmP5VQC0k4VS_B11n8PBKIT4tEFXWwGBtVvwYE0kFNsiyaaVc9f-ApM-7Rg8lj2iUokiEhyphenhyphenMBjB6U1Y/s1600/P1000941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG1HKbzXfth_QGaM3ZPEzvIA-wqVUe3NvvEhDUsr-L9MkqWR-G3qV4eLS5LvSJzjmP5VQC0k4VS_B11n8PBKIT4tEFXWwGBtVvwYE0kFNsiyaaVc9f-ApM-7Rg8lj2iUokiEhyphenhyphenMBjB6U1Y/s1600/P1000941.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
That
said, the fish themselves were pretty stunning. It is something I've
always wanted to do, a goal of mine that was foiled way back when I
was in Africa thanks to a hurricane, so now I was finally making it
happen. The fish we saw were “young ones” and only about 15-20
feet in length, but to be in the water with such a creature was
really something special. And I have to say, they seemed
surprisingly undisturbed by the presence of all the people.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After
chasing fish for 45 minutes or so, everyone on the boat was tired
from swimming, and we headed back into town. The short nature of the
trip, which was said to be 'half a day' and the total lack of
equipment made it feel like a rip off and I was pretty annoyed with
the place I'd signed up with, but it wasn't worth fighting over and
the experience was honestly worth it.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
swimming and the time in the sun did tire me out pretty effectively
though, so I had an easy rest of the day. After dinner at a local
place that was supposed to be a 'sports bar', which like before was
one of the only restaurants I could find that was open, and again, I
was pretty much alone in, I bought some beers to take back to the
room and laid in bed to watch some Star Trek, haha.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Staying
with the water theme, as is pretty much the focus of much of the
action on the Baja peninsula, the next day I went on the day trip to
Isla Espíritu Santo, a small and uninhabited island that is a
protected nature area. I'd read a little about it, and the highlight
was supposed to be the ability to swim with sealions (seeing a theme
here?) but I honestly didn't know exactly what to expect. Myself and
the rest of the group who signed up hopped in a van and drove about
40 minutes outside of town, passing the ferry terminal where I'd find
myself returning to shortly.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
boat was pretty basic, but large and well suited for the trip. After
everyone got wetsuits, fins, masks and snorkels at the marina, we got
under way.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As
I said, I didn't know what to expect, but what I found was mile after
mile of truly dramatic and unique coastline. The tremendous variety
of rock formations along the way, combined with the clear waters
below made for an amazing contrast.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRhu2DXOy24HxvCPHjt8WVEQKj7AMyYnj58hDbKRsVuFz8AiJm5oRk2WbU7MwjCmUTqxz2ha3H9-HPFBXkvmzmmDEXcY-OFBUSkY2nlKWnq0VacB5R_kKV6TOuTARtiWzeFbijnZgLqveo/s1600/P1010089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRhu2DXOy24HxvCPHjt8WVEQKj7AMyYnj58hDbKRsVuFz8AiJm5oRk2WbU7MwjCmUTqxz2ha3H9-HPFBXkvmzmmDEXcY-OFBUSkY2nlKWnq0VacB5R_kKV6TOuTARtiWzeFbijnZgLqveo/s1600/P1010089.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After
about two hours on the water and a great conversation with a woman
from Iran who worked at the IMF in Washington DC, we arrived at the
last little island in the chain, Los Islotes, where the sea lion
colony lived. On this small jagged piece of rock, largely white from
gull poop, sat dozens upon dozens of sea lions laying in the sun.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp-bTO8wOxmd2zyyN3TcSKmqyuwQKSNu2wXFUnLXr32HMg0lsd7IY0AP1v9AtWhyphenhyphenKnvpi1m7Nhyphenhyphen2UbF4ZuUQ8cZ2rLtSqm25iuwNgWvazS-wSIeSLT-_y82Jfjfvkh7AjkMZELYyq1_3CX/s1600/P1010115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp-bTO8wOxmd2zyyN3TcSKmqyuwQKSNu2wXFUnLXr32HMg0lsd7IY0AP1v9AtWhyphenhyphenKnvpi1m7Nhyphenhyphen2UbF4ZuUQ8cZ2rLtSqm25iuwNgWvazS-wSIeSLT-_y82Jfjfvkh7AjkMZELYyq1_3CX/s1600/P1010115.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Of
course the big event here is to swim with them and I donned my
snorkeling gear with excitement.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
was amazed how they seemed totally comfortable with people around
(and there were a few boats worth of people), but watching their
agility as swimmers, it was clear we were very much in their world.
It was mostly the young ones in the water, but they were active,
playful and curious. They seemed to be enjoying themselves as much
as us people did!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKKrUs_cgbhxl9jFnR_h48bXSscdhFBWlaKTZiOJ8ATO5btbtiVUQ4zQCSpJbNCWrgqOUnpR6YRSxdChXI8nS1NogF_1wYBusu1BKODwHM2juuAhll9qO9j5yHc-_RfQlU30VdsuBbiyQH/s1600/P1010228.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKKrUs_cgbhxl9jFnR_h48bXSscdhFBWlaKTZiOJ8ATO5btbtiVUQ4zQCSpJbNCWrgqOUnpR6YRSxdChXI8nS1NogF_1wYBusu1BKODwHM2juuAhll9qO9j5yHc-_RfQlU30VdsuBbiyQH/s1600/P1010228.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Even
though the sea lions were great to watch, I also found myself
enjoying the tropical fish and small bits of coral. Now this was no
huge coral reef or anything, but there were some pretty interesting
fish and plant life, and it was great fun to explore this new world
with my camera.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
This
little one swan straight towards me and right over my shoulder.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After
the group had it's fill of snorkeling with the sea lions and
exploring the area, we regrouped on the boat and headed to make our
lunch stop. This ended up being in a tiny little cove ringed with
more great stone and a perfect white-sand beach. Naturally, I had to
drive off the bow.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
boat from our lunch spot. Pretty nice huh?</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It
had been a few years since I've spent any time with a mask and fins,
but it felt great to be back in warm waters again and testing my
limits when it came to staying under.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvsscGEnlnhfQnCNGiOmkPD3JZSgp4HJN-plusO0Bw-OfI3pbghNlY-XXRNCnESV8Y85Felzp7FqVITNI_NusQuxqP7Z2i7kf2LQtnWQ8lp1ZP_wHu8aWXa3SgZgqeAq8nXH_XdOj7q2nz/s1600/P1010561.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvsscGEnlnhfQnCNGiOmkPD3JZSgp4HJN-plusO0Bw-OfI3pbghNlY-XXRNCnESV8Y85Felzp7FqVITNI_NusQuxqP7Z2i7kf2LQtnWQ8lp1ZP_wHu8aWXa3SgZgqeAq8nXH_XdOj7q2nz/s1600/P1010561.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
had already felt like I'd gotten more than my monies worth from this
outing, but we had one more stop, a tiny island with a huge bird
colony. Covering the entire surface were cormorants, gulls,
pelicans, herons and blue footed boobies.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY1lZlJXGCs1moyqnV_NAQKQ1Ku1ECWgWFsBoDwT5Z2lxVrHiGAWY3ICqxV_TFpskg4YPEKLBjLVofi1N3QLJoY1Z81P0JoQctNCYHocUEgl5LiPdyIfAOJuoC7yacVvZCvbFTu0SfU1F_/s1600/P1010627.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY1lZlJXGCs1moyqnV_NAQKQ1Ku1ECWgWFsBoDwT5Z2lxVrHiGAWY3ICqxV_TFpskg4YPEKLBjLVofi1N3QLJoY1Z81P0JoQctNCYHocUEgl5LiPdyIfAOJuoC7yacVvZCvbFTu0SfU1F_/s1600/P1010627.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We
watched the sun go below the horizon with the sound of the birds in
the background and I though to myself how glad I was to be there
right then.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWYVdBXVxzkj7jgOpWQlPuEj06kB7qTlYAmIej2Y8xy4tUxBOf52Gpxhz2Igpt7ppWuv7WHAX9L1i4ih1lA6hBXp04723yRiXuxwuAZgAFMfo40srmaJ9oQXjk8NZHHNZWq3JXxWthMKgX/s1600/P1010681.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWYVdBXVxzkj7jgOpWQlPuEj06kB7qTlYAmIej2Y8xy4tUxBOf52Gpxhz2Igpt7ppWuv7WHAX9L1i4ih1lA6hBXp04723yRiXuxwuAZgAFMfo40srmaJ9oQXjk8NZHHNZWq3JXxWthMKgX/s1600/P1010681.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
At
this point I was really unsure what to do with all the time I had.
Because of my back problems I couldn't surf, the main reason I came
to baja, and after reading some advice for the area, I felt like I'd
kind of already seen the highlights, though admittedly only at a
glance. So I walked and I wandered and tried to figure out what to
do next.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkSweVyH9clw8aTF16b10OoGPfgrxrD3jfqRyjk5aVjgCgq1cR0VmiN52qXRADm0PBabozMroye7j22-kMbiu2dLzXe3y-Uy2iRFY3dwspSM-w_dhv0AQoP8qWvZ_6pylvDxM7IgQihRa2/s1600/P1010692.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkSweVyH9clw8aTF16b10OoGPfgrxrD3jfqRyjk5aVjgCgq1cR0VmiN52qXRADm0PBabozMroye7j22-kMbiu2dLzXe3y-Uy2iRFY3dwspSM-w_dhv0AQoP8qWvZ_6pylvDxM7IgQihRa2/s1600/P1010692.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Naturally,
I had tacos and beer frequently, even with a hurt back I could do
that!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8sI0vm-DbVjdHrQbeoQ_DWvziATorniuExeVmOQxJVbyURKhuPhwC0etM00pN5OI4TrWqvX4H2wYOl4g3K0wfEcl-Ms0ngEHmwsgbCYhCCH4AQg3qeHgk-ZCE_oGz-38gFRtihXxFoMkY/s1600/P1010704.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8sI0vm-DbVjdHrQbeoQ_DWvziATorniuExeVmOQxJVbyURKhuPhwC0etM00pN5OI4TrWqvX4H2wYOl4g3K0wfEcl-Ms0ngEHmwsgbCYhCCH4AQg3qeHgk-ZCE_oGz-38gFRtihXxFoMkY/s1600/P1010704.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
On
the advice of an older traveler I met at the hotel, I hopped on board
a local bus, a diverse fleet made up of old American school buses,
and went for a ride. The buses here just meet at a central location,
near the main market, then drive in various loops around town. So I
paid my couple of pesos and took a tour of the neighborhoods in the
area.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmrnD7aRXy3_pUrezwT0muYZKSUtcff96hdKKPcBBn3RkBlj-28tBjCs1QUKjSi3NVKJwUPA14aHX2OPSf2mqQhX5xFZcRso2i94ehK5KvxllzFRT1hPAojSbLHz15hkautxL75EXavttI/s1600/P1010710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmrnD7aRXy3_pUrezwT0muYZKSUtcff96hdKKPcBBn3RkBlj-28tBjCs1QUKjSi3NVKJwUPA14aHX2OPSf2mqQhX5xFZcRso2i94ehK5KvxllzFRT1hPAojSbLHz15hkautxL75EXavttI/s1600/P1010710.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
There
were a lot of similar looking dusty streets with small cinder block
houses, but there were also a number of new developments in the area
such as the condos on the hill here. Although I wouldn't say the
place felt particularly dynamic, there was an obvious sense of
modernization and development, and unlike in Todos Santos, this was
not based on foreign tourism.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTc2mwukh9bmzWQHUMAOzXTTnMFBG3CJbl_3xEpTwIF_ssjGSfR_cGdd32YnrbyyINvIhQMEMeJ2vwtKfjMfAbuY-MsgZCS2K7R3awGT6cN_UD-KxP5MsP5Gu3fsxZ37FErIEp7aTEzQbj/s1600/P1010718.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTc2mwukh9bmzWQHUMAOzXTTnMFBG3CJbl_3xEpTwIF_ssjGSfR_cGdd32YnrbyyINvIhQMEMeJ2vwtKfjMfAbuY-MsgZCS2K7R3awGT6cN_UD-KxP5MsP5Gu3fsxZ37FErIEp7aTEzQbj/s1600/P1010718.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Wandering
through the market. Unfortunately I didn't need a cowboy hat, nor a
pink guitar at the time.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbVlXjfKay8Y31CNpooKTSh0iXPMPDZnEjGfHwIdzsrtXp5ykCD17BhD-2F5PVT6WFn-W95Oxjz7Ik3YwSC9AWWZ8MX2CnJgm9du3iDZ9610HHrs0M4RSjaHbTQwoMqx9LeJ4-6L0QBvF-/s1600/P1010725.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbVlXjfKay8Y31CNpooKTSh0iXPMPDZnEjGfHwIdzsrtXp5ykCD17BhD-2F5PVT6WFn-W95Oxjz7Ik3YwSC9AWWZ8MX2CnJgm9du3iDZ9610HHrs0M4RSjaHbTQwoMqx9LeJ4-6L0QBvF-/s1600/P1010725.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
One
of many, many churches I walked past.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-i32KVmM6pbvDSQmbNWLVx1tUbOS9gr-uzzYXG4m5a4eVCWkQUdpTncJmkoON-L25g_x4XgXI3y0rfcrIGZYHqcF4AcFKg0RcU-GCF0boqFVCqkHHLpwEN6oPSOlCTAJGoEeFH-en2686/s1600/P1010730.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-i32KVmM6pbvDSQmbNWLVx1tUbOS9gr-uzzYXG4m5a4eVCWkQUdpTncJmkoON-L25g_x4XgXI3y0rfcrIGZYHqcF4AcFKg0RcU-GCF0boqFVCqkHHLpwEN6oPSOlCTAJGoEeFH-en2686/s1600/P1010730.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
For
dinner, instead of going to a normal resturant, I just went to the
food court in the market. This entire plate of chicken, beans, rice
and salad was about $2, and was fantastic.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB4c1W5vupilXFI2jFmcG0iVYZPhfr-YcuRRt7NNTYIdhpWUfzVuZckyVxEOkz899covbJVE3XZ0ecMTRfR-lPJ8anwZbcwuE4b2ypB0WGYRtc0jtq9KcHD1I6i9B6ibU3vxrpqeIswexc/s1600/P1010732.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB4c1W5vupilXFI2jFmcG0iVYZPhfr-YcuRRt7NNTYIdhpWUfzVuZckyVxEOkz899covbJVE3XZ0ecMTRfR-lPJ8anwZbcwuE4b2ypB0WGYRtc0jtq9KcHD1I6i9B6ibU3vxrpqeIswexc/s1600/P1010732.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A
statue on the water front.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
By
this point I'd decided I didn't need any more beach and because I
wasn't any good at relaxing after all, decided to change my flight.
Instead of spending the entire three weeks on the baja peninsula and
flying in and out of Cabo, I'd take the ferry to the mainland, work
my way down to Mexico City and fly home from there. I wish I'd
picked this option all along, but I had this crazy idea I'd be happy
relaxing on the beach. Silly me.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnt0ke0iPzvX2CpuRbFGvrIzG7RNBHL4_A0SZ7dYUf6D_yQA0y2xhfdqRBmiG1MSjeq1yoXfljqumXtIPV_cupeJrsVaU_t7SaS8POGCNSYAXsP16W2bnlR1P1tHmqGVh4AZQVXduPcUJ0/s1600/P1010750.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnt0ke0iPzvX2CpuRbFGvrIzG7RNBHL4_A0SZ7dYUf6D_yQA0y2xhfdqRBmiG1MSjeq1yoXfljqumXtIPV_cupeJrsVaU_t7SaS8POGCNSYAXsP16W2bnlR1P1tHmqGVh4AZQVXduPcUJ0/s1600/P1010750.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
ferry only goes from the peninsula to the mainland twice a week so I
had some extra time to kill in La Paz, but once the day came to catch
the boat I was excited to be on the road again and looking forward to
seeing some fresh scenery in this great country.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4qLrZxNo2ssYLomkAjO7bGsXFfgtM5gu9bIX-ZU_BiA9iu69iJMwG26TozZZmLn3665SWbgXQdL5mK1YdvWzt0RNrTFEHYWuc38DTEQkFCznaI1XmQbE1kA5ZtuxHO1ehKfQdog8X7RWZ/s1600/P1010771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4qLrZxNo2ssYLomkAjO7bGsXFfgtM5gu9bIX-ZU_BiA9iu69iJMwG26TozZZmLn3665SWbgXQdL5mK1YdvWzt0RNrTFEHYWuc38DTEQkFCznaI1XmQbE1kA5ZtuxHO1ehKfQdog8X7RWZ/s1600/P1010771.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
arrived at the terminal, which was surprisingly nice and began to
wait. And wait. And wait. As it turned out, the boat was running
about 6 hours behind schedule and didn't arrive until nearly 10pm
that night, giving me a solid 8 hours to sit around. It wasn't too
bad though, because I met a few other travelers also waiting, had
some surprisingly great food from one of the windows in the terminal
and go to see a fantastic sunset, though it would have probably been
nicer from the water. The journey across the Sea of Cortez to
Mazatlan was supposed to be 16 hours, but would turn out to be a bit
longer.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQGhU413q2fleWcgtvWvSNhN5u0uliYkVN8p3OfjygzRcIyiwiZPpIMTUXi_Du7-q618nBND5Ux82tRtmir78yIUPeazjimPPMMx6R1Lj0eDbLSMNazh2vbOE-9KZwJUnSkHuP9i5DmsiJ/s1600/P1010799.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQGhU413q2fleWcgtvWvSNhN5u0uliYkVN8p3OfjygzRcIyiwiZPpIMTUXi_Du7-q618nBND5Ux82tRtmir78yIUPeazjimPPMMx6R1Lj0eDbLSMNazh2vbOE-9KZwJUnSkHuP9i5DmsiJ/s1600/P1010799.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Now
of course I live on an island and much of life there runs on the
ferry schedule, so I have a special interest in ferry boats. This
particular boat was like none I'd ever seen. Built in Korea in 1978
and only recently acquired by the Baja ferry system, it has a rear
opening bay and a tremendously strange looking series of levels and
ramps for cars and trucks, and a tight, steep multi-story
stair/ladder climb to the top for passengers. It was a strange and
sort of unfriendly feeling ship, but I thought it was pretty awesome
and was looking forward to exploring.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMlicA9op1DFOY13ygLP0it15dYLUNxQnHhQ-JTt7Ryw3a039KjkeMHcNqynB21uwzYRBDoNww_DxSiBPYeKcMCC63J0t_qX-6_3TDG5rcgsnQFodkfLm3LlD7uFthBN_qa5TDY6YtTpsq/s1600/P1010806.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMlicA9op1DFOY13ygLP0it15dYLUNxQnHhQ-JTt7Ryw3a039KjkeMHcNqynB21uwzYRBDoNww_DxSiBPYeKcMCC63J0t_qX-6_3TDG5rcgsnQFodkfLm3LlD7uFthBN_qa5TDY6YtTpsq/s1600/P1010806.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Above
the car levels, there were two levels that were made up of overnight
rooms for the passengers, a dining area, a movie area and a large
deck at the rear of the ship to watch the scenery.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After
spending a few hours in the waiting room together before the boat
finally arrived, both myself and the other travelers, from Austria,
England and another American, were ready for a few beers. There were
a handful of other western and/or white people on board, but it was
pretty much a local affair. And then it turned into a bit of a
party, with people of all types buying by the six-pack and drinking
up. After a while we connected with some young Mexicans, who were
part of a traveling band and it was fun talking to them out on the
deck of the boat until late into the night and into the early hours
of morning.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Many
people traveling by the boat buy a room to sleep in, but as many or
more don't. At some point in the evening, the locals started rolling
out blankets, setting down pillows and claiming the choice spots on
the floors or in the movie room chairs to sleep. I planned ahead as
well and brought my pad and sleeping bag, and decided I'd figure it
out at some point.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWWdmHNmE5D9gANJhNy3eDEkmHcWgJruCYCHed49KjvlVuKvop3uow5DTKjRa5IyIeo11YLXfHjOxA5aw4B5OA4iInrdwpFKDr3WzwqVxv7fLTIz2K-WsbJNOKKwKTX046GbAghEFpINTT/s1600/P1010830.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWWdmHNmE5D9gANJhNy3eDEkmHcWgJruCYCHed49KjvlVuKvop3uow5DTKjRa5IyIeo11YLXfHjOxA5aw4B5OA4iInrdwpFKDr3WzwqVxv7fLTIz2K-WsbJNOKKwKTX046GbAghEFpINTT/s1600/P1010830.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
At
about 3am all the beer was drunk and even the young Mexican guys had
gone to sleep somewhere, so when no one was looking I climbed onto
the roof of the boat next to one of the smoke stacks and decided to
sleep under the stars. This turned out to be a less than brilliant
idea, because it was way too cold even with my gear and I got very
little sleep.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Shortly
after 6am, it began to get light and climbed down to the main level
outside and watched the sun rise over the water. Because it had been
dark when we began the journey I never saw the shore, and now that it
was finally light I looked out expecting to see land, but was greeted
by calm waters in every direction I looked. It was beautiful.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
That
said, after a long night and almost no sleep, I was tired, and the
scenery outside (water in every direction) wasn't changing much, so I
went inside to the movie room. They played a mix of movies, from a
serious drama to a comedy, to a kids movie to some action movie that
seemed way to violent for kids. I thought that was funny. They were
of course all in Spanish, but they were nice enough to turn the
English sub titles on most of the time.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
couldn't watch movies all day, so I'd alternate between movies and
the sun deck. Outside I mostly just leaned against the railing and
stated at the water, but a number of times I was lucky enough to see
whales in the distance and even a few dolphins swimming and jumping
in the wake of the ship. Yep, I was in the Sea of Cortez alright.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In
the early evening we were still a long ways from land and many people
gathered out on the deck to watch the sun go down and I've got to say
seeing the sunrise that morning and the sunset that evening from the
boat was pretty cool. A bit after 8, more than 20 hours after
starting, the boat finally made land and my new traveling friends and
I found a hotel room to share. From when I arrived at the terminal in La Paz on the Baja peninsula to the terminal in Mazatlan on the mainland: 34+ hours. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We
were now in Mazatlan, a place I knew nothing about, but I knew the
name as a big vacation destination for Americans and expected an
exciting night life and beach scene. So we set out into the night
and found…….. nothing. I was amazed, it was a ghost town. I
think we walked for at least 3 kilometers down the beach, and found
less than 5 open restaurants/bars. There was a beautiful waterfront
area, there were restaurants, bars, hotels and condos everywhere, but
every one of them seemed to be completely empty. What happened to
this place? We asked one of the few locals we saw and he told us
“Just wait till the weekend!” but I didn't really believe him.
</div>
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<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Waking
the next morning.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Deciding
to give the place another look (and with plenty of time to kill) we headed down the same area in the
daytime, found breakfast somewhere and walked the same waterfront.
Yes, there was traffic this time, and it <i>looked</i> like the
postcards, but it still felt totally empty and dead. I was very
confused.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
From
there all three of us went to the bus station and bought tickets to
three different locations. My bus and the bus from the other
American weren't for a few more hours, so we walked the town together
and found ourselves in another colorful market.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
One
of the larger and more interesting squares in the area, with a large
chapel along side.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Great
color and an architectural style I really enjoyed.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A
smaller area and bit of beach south of the main waterfront of
Mazatlan, I thought this was especially nice looking area.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
By
the evening it was time for me to catch a bus, and I was heading
inland to the city of Zacatecas, the cite of one of the Spanish mines
that made them great riches in the new world. I was really ready to
get away from the beach by this point, because although swimming with
whale sharks and sea lions was awesome, at some point a beach just
feels like a beach anywhere and I was ready for some diversity. It
was clear that Mexico had a lot to offer and I was ready to explore.</div>
<div style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-style: none none solid; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in 0in 0.03in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Well,
that was part one, the 'water' part of the trip. Next up will be the
'land' section with highlights including the impressive colonial town
and silver mine of Zacatecas, horseback riding to a volcano,
exploring Mexico city and the Teotihuacán Pyramids. </div>
</div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-28525783943523806262016-02-08T18:31:00.000-08:002016-02-08T18:31:55.904-08:00The "Slow Season"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As I write this post
it is the first day of February, I have been home from my Mexico trip
(a pretty great trip and the subject of my next two blog posts) for
nearly two weeks and I am sitting at the ferry dock on Orcas Island
waiting for my boss to arrive and start the work day. This post goes
from about Thanksgiving (spent on Shaw with my nun-friends) to
Christmas (spent with Seattle friends and family) and covers some
pretty major cabin progress, a wonderful new person in my life and
just general scenes of fall/winter in the islands. Enjoy!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As I talked about in
the previous post, building the stairs to connect the main level of
my cabin to the sleeping loft has been the current priority and
something occupying a good chunk of my time. They will be one of the
first things seen when people open the front door so I want them to
look especially nice and that requires hours and hours and hours of
sanding and staining!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Because I'd just
been in Seattle and seen all my family about a week before, I opted
to spend Thanksgiving on-island. Bringing a kale salad from our
garden, I joined a small group from Our Lady of The rock and a few
other islanders at the Sisters of Mercy where we shared a wonderful
meal, drank wine and played board games.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
With my friends out
of town, I was on chicken-duty. The ladies like this one laying box
in particular, so it held most of the eggs for that particular
evening I collected.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Back in my place,
the stairs were all ready to put together like a big Lego set. To
make the job easier and more enjoyable, I invited Marijke to help me
with the project and she jumped right in, doing a great job. Marijke
is one of the interns at Our Lady of the Rock monastery, she is from
the Netherlands and quit her job and sold off much of her possessions
to live on Shaw and work on a farm for a year.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
With the stairs all
put together, here I am making the final attachments to the landing
below and the loft beam above.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The finished
product, something I am extremely pleased with. Funny enough, this
is the first set of stairs I've <i>ever</i>
made! Yes, they are a bit steep, but given my space constraints I
think what I ended up with was the best method to save space while
making something functional. I wouldn't change a thing.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_EtFyhzt_3uXd4fxmhGXX24YYBQb0UUwIAVNuIFYlpKUpP4dRhukPrvbg7il3AMAyoBJBlmpb0-HT3fxB8LVLp7C_dab9BJOp-8EMpTgo935SLcbdl74LJAss9Grlw1pKn0M0VmDMR2UV/s1600/P2260830.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_EtFyhzt_3uXd4fxmhGXX24YYBQb0UUwIAVNuIFYlpKUpP4dRhukPrvbg7il3AMAyoBJBlmpb0-HT3fxB8LVLp7C_dab9BJOp-8EMpTgo935SLcbdl74LJAss9Grlw1pKn0M0VmDMR2UV/s1600/P2260830.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
One
day after work I was waiting on Orcas to get home to Shaw and had a
lot of time to kill. Instead of just sitting for two hours (ah, life
on the ferry schedule!) I was early enough to get a boat that headed
all the way to Friday Harbor on San Juan, spent less than 30 minutes
there (this photo is arriving at FH in the evening), just enough time
for a burger and beer, then hopped back on the same boat to get home
to Shaw. So yes, I rode a ferry for over two hours and headed to a
different island just for a burger!
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho-ReJ-AyTXifrgJhLvLdwJkCVLX0yf-aTTLFIK4XLzfddwlQwt5bznYRdn87aV285YdNbiOGkYW5lQwHWb_KZon_PQszDHx5mWy9t4H60J4uJnJAYlZKEQxH2-twWtB8LRYfTVKhj9lNY/s1600/P2260879.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho-ReJ-AyTXifrgJhLvLdwJkCVLX0yf-aTTLFIK4XLzfddwlQwt5bznYRdn87aV285YdNbiOGkYW5lQwHWb_KZon_PQszDHx5mWy9t4H60J4uJnJAYlZKEQxH2-twWtB8LRYfTVKhj9lNY/s1600/P2260879.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Austen
taking a huge top out of a fir as part of the gary oak restoration
project on Turtleback Preserve, my favorite re-occurring job we do
and one of the most beautiful places we get to work.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkvtvJRiWZsXXsM0US6WmkBrzpsFcrACgoXfGhyphenhyphen11m7BHn_I_QLI2Q5tHJvRrX2A7I2P1XT8EB2R_IBoccgnC6V279PFqC1sxEdS_YKTT9Vx7XzPZUrruPZ3YXDiaHR0vTBqsJaJRvGTO9/s1600/P2260911.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkvtvJRiWZsXXsM0US6WmkBrzpsFcrACgoXfGhyphenhyphen11m7BHn_I_QLI2Q5tHJvRrX2A7I2P1XT8EB2R_IBoccgnC6V279PFqC1sxEdS_YKTT9Vx7XzPZUrruPZ3YXDiaHR0vTBqsJaJRvGTO9/s1600/P2260911.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Under
a tree and looking south from Turtleback towards home on Shaw.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Fire
drill. I'm standing on top of one of the engines looking back at the
tanker that is supplying water for that nights training exercise.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Oh,
this is an exciting one! After much delay, I finally got all the
parts and installed my wood stove! This is the first ever fire in my
cabin and a truly exciting moment for me. The stove is one my dad
salvaged from a cabin that was being torn down (thanks dad!) and is a
perfect fit in my small place.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSFt7Jc95hpDql6hmIRvOsRr4lHxxSVwPM5c0xrr1AbvGImJbX1gqORHaw2s7TuiVcMVJ31hinr-yjCt-8FIrAar6LBNoZxQ7ZJfAasBDqi6-RfbIJtTE-yyhwZF9Pi1kMF8VjPxfCs7N/s1600/P2270033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSFt7Jc95hpDql6hmIRvOsRr4lHxxSVwPM5c0xrr1AbvGImJbX1gqORHaw2s7TuiVcMVJ31hinr-yjCt-8FIrAar6LBNoZxQ7ZJfAasBDqi6-RfbIJtTE-yyhwZF9Pi1kMF8VjPxfCs7N/s1600/P2270033.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
got myself a small boat! It's just a 12-foot aluminum boat, but it
is perfect for crabbing in Blind Bay, silly
little adventures, and
I may even decide to use it to commute to work which could save me a
few hours a week, if I decide to spent like $1000 on a new outboard
motor…
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
On
the water for it's maiden-voyage dropping some crab pots.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As
always I try to pay attention to the little things as well and this
slug caught my eye. It was on my table outside so I gently tossed it
onto the moss to get it out of my way. In the process, it landed on
it's back and I became curious how it would right itself in order to
continue, so I stopped what I was doing to observe it. Moving much
faster than I expected, it twisted it's body in a rather elegant
corkscrew from front to back, and headed on it's way as if nothing
had happened.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWvHXTDUGoTNo5NuKxJtTZF6ZFrCLfLz2wutvINHYYu-u1FgR81RykuWAxeB_3ZtpXQH9qIhZvjm_JpenLera36sZk3h4GK-DmffyDySvFwHMz4I7dRjxGUn41uJaEQ6WbiFIpIvObEXIN/s1600/P2270201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWvHXTDUGoTNo5NuKxJtTZF6ZFrCLfLz2wutvINHYYu-u1FgR81RykuWAxeB_3ZtpXQH9qIhZvjm_JpenLera36sZk3h4GK-DmffyDySvFwHMz4I7dRjxGUn41uJaEQ6WbiFIpIvObEXIN/s1600/P2270201.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So
you probably know I'm a climber, and a while back I mentioned I'd
installed a tie-in-point on my ceiling in order to have a climbing
rope from the main level to the loft. As a kid I'd always dreamed of
living inside a jungle-gym type house, so now that I'm building my
own place I'm making that dream a reality!
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqMbdSkTG08ZWwd9y5qVa94hvLmWhu-xsZIfA50rYmebI7MmzmTAZ0Ti9zxJgKFHZAT2csqsJ4mmN8mGUOHoy1et6GgCgpvJ9COYU0Yc13P3JfFTzNoFDPWjc_2wn9lP97VWv6pTveZOvZ/s1600/P2270279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqMbdSkTG08ZWwd9y5qVa94hvLmWhu-xsZIfA50rYmebI7MmzmTAZ0Ti9zxJgKFHZAT2csqsJ4mmN8mGUOHoy1et6GgCgpvJ9COYU0Yc13P3JfFTzNoFDPWjc_2wn9lP97VWv6pTveZOvZ/s1600/P2270279.JPG" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
With
some significant progress made on the main level of my cabin, I was
finally able to move my desk down there and begin turning it into a
living-space instead of just a work space. After months of living
entirely in the loft, I was finally beginning to spread out and use
the space as it's designed to be used for! This
is of course still a work in progress and the desk is temporary
(still re-using what I built for my tiny-house way back) but it works
great and the place is finally starting to come together and feel….
More civilized. Haha…
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKe7PlDI7E1ZBay-uHeK0WZMgQZWzRQENcr-I441WE2AjaVEo9fCe1aieepCmS8QxbXAO1xL8YBWRkiO9jZPR2es4_P-M0sU8wwahfbFxhNvTdG94Wmfd3hjyKjWy1Dp85p9xSoIqtGTM7/s1600/P2270277.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKe7PlDI7E1ZBay-uHeK0WZMgQZWzRQENcr-I441WE2AjaVEo9fCe1aieepCmS8QxbXAO1xL8YBWRkiO9jZPR2es4_P-M0sU8wwahfbFxhNvTdG94Wmfd3hjyKjWy1Dp85p9xSoIqtGTM7/s1600/P2270277.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
loft now used only as a 'bedroom', just as I intended. Again, this
is just a work in progress and I'll build a completely new and custom
bed platform, as well as
dresser and closet, but it works great as is right now and is a
wonderful place to sleep. Waking up next to a huge window
overlooking the meadow feels like being up a tree, not to mention the
two other windows I can look out from bed!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNu2i4J1q58TbI5jDLTjYFxVXIZv12MN8Ou4-CivsgUnkmLIIl9JcxH-3tmH8DYMUtiOCj7d6cL75JAWN6Z221FBSvPFqQZPnjRQH7JpQTqEASl5vMpz9QWwS112xAbCHhaYy39bTlKgSs/s1600/P2270399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNu2i4J1q58TbI5jDLTjYFxVXIZv12MN8Ou4-CivsgUnkmLIIl9JcxH-3tmH8DYMUtiOCj7d6cL75JAWN6Z221FBSvPFqQZPnjRQH7JpQTqEASl5vMpz9QWwS112xAbCHhaYy39bTlKgSs/s1600/P2270399.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Installing
the vinyl flooring in the loft.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
Shaw landing, heading to work on the 7:15am to Orcas.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I'm
always collecting bones and this is a skull I found while building a
new section of trail. Not sure what it is though, dog?</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Baby
Angus coming over for a visit.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Up
the meadow to Nick and Ellens for dinner with friends. It's pretty
unusual, but we are still friends with people we went to elementary
school with, Zach and Mike on the left here. I actually went to
pre-school with Nick, but we didn't become friends till elementary
school, haha.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Visiting
Marijke at the monastery. We walked all over the property and while
dodging cow-pies headed into the pasture to say hi to one of the
young cows she used to bottle-feed when it was much smaller.
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Inside
the monastery chapel, a very beautiful building with some excellent
wood working.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Back
at work and back up a tree.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Haha,
this is a pretty silly photo. I spent the evening doing the trim on
this window (which came out great!) and noticed the work-light made a
pretty cool shadow against it so I had to take this as a victory
shot.</div>
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Obligatory
ferry boat photo. Shaw in the background.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Happiness
is a perfectly dropped tree. This was a fun day over at Turtleback
Preserve, another day of cutting down firs to allow the native oaks
to survive instead of being out-competed. The best part about this
project is they usually use volunteers or other work groups to do all
the cleanup, so Austen and I get to spend all day just cutting and
making a mess!</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Checking
over the SCBAs at fire drill.
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Early
morning at the Shaw ferry dock, chatting with the guys before heading
to work.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Ah
yes, this was a pretty cool day. We got to work on Blakely Island,
an island I'd never been to before. In order to get there, we had to
drive all the way across Orcas and hop on the water-taxi with all our
gear. After spending all day in the rain, it was time to turn around
and do it all over again in the other direction.</div>
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Heading
home on a dark rainy day.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
pond back home. It sure is a beautiful place, and didn't get that
way without a lot of hard but satisfying work.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Burn
pilin'.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
At
this point it was nearly Christmas, and that means Carol and Bruds
annual party at their house. It ends up being one of the larger
social events on the island and is always a great deal of fun.
(sorry for the lousy photo though)</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Rainier
the rooster looking powerful and in charge.</div>
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Although
it's not something I know much about, I'm always interested in all
the different kinds of fungus that pop up in the fall and winter and
keep my eyes open for interesting looking specimens.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After
re-aggravating a back problem I've had for oh, 15 years, I headed to
the clinic in Friday Harbor. Hope for the best!</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
With
Christmas finally upon us, Marijke and I headed down to Seattle to
spend a few days with my friends and family before I flew out to
Mexico. We didn't do much touristing around as she had done some of
that stuff on an earlier visit to Seattle, but I had to show her a
few things including the view from Kerry Park of course.
</div>
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So
it's been a never ending task to find American beer Marijke likes, so
after many many failures she was thrilled to find some of her
favorite Belgium beers at a specialty beer store in Seattle. I'm
always happy to try new beers and without a doubt her favorites from
home are quite different than American beer that is usually so hoppy
(even things that are not IPAs…), they are more smooth and creamy
almost, and much stronger!
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Seattle
at night from West Seattle, as we headed to my aunt and uncles to
stay with them during the remainder of our time in the city.
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Decorating
the Christmas tree.
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My
dad and uncles preparing a wonderful dinner.
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Christmas
with the family, a great occasion.
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Once
people are done having Christmas dinner with their families, my
friends and I have a tradition (7 years now) of meeting up at the
Blue Moon Tavern and taking over a big chunk of the place for the
remainder of the evening to do a white-elephant gift exchange. It's
always a great time with some crazy gifts, lots of laughs and ending
in the group photo. This alone is reason enough to leave the island
for Christmas!
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Shortly
after Christmas, I was heading to Mexico for three weeks. To prepare
for this trip I bought a new tent and a few other pieces of gear so
naturally I had to check them out before taking them with me and the
living room at my parents house seemed like the perfect place to do
that!
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In
two days, I would be flying to the Baja Peninsula in Mexico and while
it's always a little hard to leave the island, I was excited to see
Mexico for the first time and the sunny beaches were calling my name.
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Be
sure to check back in a little while for my next post, the first
writeup about the trip includes highlights like celebrating New
Years, swimming with whale sharks and sea lions and spending 24 hours
on a ferry boat! </div>
</div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-65710750507882394952015-12-28T07:54:00.000-08:002015-12-28T07:54:53.744-08:00Fall Farm Chores and Family Festivities in Seattle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As I write this
post, I am sitting on a ferry boat headed to the mainland, today is
the shortest day of the year (always a nice turning point), Christmas
will be here very soon, I will head off for another little adventure
in Mexico right after that, and life is, as always, full of change
and excitement and beauty. But of course these blog posts are
looking back at recent events and in this case the post is covering
early October to late November, a fairly long period filled with
putting the garden to bed for the winter, a new baby for my friends,
a lot of work, some solid progress on my cabin and some family time
in Seattle. I know I said the last post was going to be the final in
the 'quick and dirty' series catching up and that I'd write more on
this one, but I'm going to renege on that promise, sorry for that,
I'm just too busy right now but still want to get the blog back into
current times, so this is the best way. I hope you still enjoy it,
so thanks for reading and checking out my photos!</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Me running the pump
panel at fire drill. The Darley is an older fire engine, but she
still gets the job done!</div>
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Jack loading up some
manure into Nick's truck. We will be using this in the garden for
the coming growing season.</div>
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Now that it is fall,
the leaves are turning colors and the meadow is even more spectacular
than usual. This is the view out the main window of my cabin, pretty
nice eh?</div>
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With the growing
season for the farm very much over (since we are not currently doing
a winter garden) it was time to pull plants and put the farm to rest.
It is a lot of work, but worth it and makes everything better for
the next season.
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Ellen pulling the
irrigation lines.
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A bald eagle in the
dead top of a fir.</div>
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It's not always
sunny this time of year, but it sure is amazing when it does decide
to shine!</div>
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Ellen is getting
ready…</div>
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A large clearing job
at work. Rob the excavator operator is very good and knows just how
far he can push his his machine. From this point he was able to rock
it back onto the tracks and carry that entire tree up hill to the
chipper.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
For a few days, the
sun was rising right as I was taking the ferry to work, and setting
just as I was taking the ferry home. Made for some truly stunning
run rises and sun sets from the water. If you look closely, you can
even see Mt Baker in the distance.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
While doing some
tree work for a customer, they asked my boss if he wanted their old
playhouse, moving it was a fun little project.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Pulling the corn.</div>
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Digging drainage
ditches through the garden. It's awfully wet in the winter so by
putting in temporary ditches, we can help retain the good soil
structure, and get the ground dry sooner, allowing us to plant sooner
in the spring.
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A crane job at work,
this was a dead madrona tree over a few buildings.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Installing the
flooring in my cabin. I went with sheet vinyl because it's cheap,
easy to install and easy to clean since I know I'll be in here with
muddy boots often.
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My bone collection
continues to grow. and my shower in the background continues to be great. </div>
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After doing a large
project clearing trees for a new fence, Nick and we were able to take
home this huge load of cherry logs for firewood.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The Jones clan
checking out progress on my cabin.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It's fall/winter,
and the garden is mostly asleep, but it is time to plant the garlic
which stays in all winter. Here Colin and Jean are helping out.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
With Nick's mower
out for mechanical issues, Jack loaned us his pair of zero-turns to
do a final mow on the meadow. Very nice of him and awesome mowers!</div>
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A ferry coming
through the fog between Orcas and Shaw.</div>
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Cover crop in the
garden beginning to sprout.</div>
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The ditches in the
garden doing their job well.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And big news, Nick
and Ellen returned home with their new baby Angus!</div>
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A little behind
schedule, but utilizing the new firewood processing area and it's
working well.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Looking out my
bedroom window. It's not exactly the great plains of Africa, but it
is fun to watch groups of deer walk by. (the most I've seen at once
was 8)</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Jack cutting down a
huge rotten alder as part of clearing for a new livestock fence.</div>
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What I'm looking
like these days. When I posted this photo on facebook, I captioned
it “In the summer I grow vegetables, in the winter I grow beards.”</div>
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The stairs to the
sleeping loft are coming along well. Made by notching 2x10s (for the
bottom set) and 2x8s into fir 4x8s they are going to look awesome.</div>
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Spreading new wood
chips in the chicken run. Yet another great use of all the chips we
made during our clearing project.
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Beams ready to sand
and stain. It's kind of scary making something like this, it's a lot
of cuts and one mistake and you can ruin the whole thing!</div>
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Loading wood chips
at the monastery, we then spread them in the cattle run to help keep
them out of the mud.</div>
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A little birdie.</div>
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Heading out with
friends for a walk.</div>
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Ellen, baby Angus
and Nick.</div>
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A beautiful day for
a beach walk indeed.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And returning to a
beautiful piece of land.</div>
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Windy weather took
out some power lines and I found myself staining my stair treads by
headlamp. Can't wait to put it all together!</div>
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I returned home to
Seattle for a family visit, a sort of early thanksgiving.</div>
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My sister Holly came
from Alaska, my brother Brian from California and sister Robin came
from Montana. We drove up to our family cabin, and surprise, the
power was out! It was funny coming from the power being out at my
place to another place with no power, but we made it all work and had
a great time!
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Breaking ice off the
stairs of the cabin.</div>
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A family photo at
Gold Creek.</div>
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More family showed
up and we met at the new Washington Ski and Snowboard Museum at
Snoqualmie Pass, here is my sister Holly next to the piece about her,
detailing her growing up skiing at Snoqualmie and going on to be on
the US Ski Team, the World Cup circuit and two Olympics.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
You can read her great blog here: http://hollyskis.blogspot.com/</div>
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Family dinner. This
cabin was a huge part of our lives growing up and it's always
wonderful to have the family gather again around the table.
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Back in Seattle, it
sure is a different scene than my life on the islands, haha.</div>
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Dinner with my aunt
and uncle, here we are tasting the wine from their vineyard.</div>
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Having family over
for dinner at my parents house the next night.</div>
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With my latest
Seattle visit over, it was time to drive north, board the ferry and
head home to the islands. It sure was great to see everyone because
it doesn't happen very often. But home calls and it's time to get
back to work!
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That wraps up the latest edition. Next post will bring the year to a close, show some awesome progress on my cabin, more beautiful scenery as always, Thanksgiving, Christmas and one step closer to my vacation in Mexico which will be the post after.
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</div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-78827270909652304652015-12-19T19:18:00.002-08:002015-12-19T19:18:46.327-08:00Livin' The Good Life: Summer in the San Juans<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Welcome to the third
and final blog in my 'quick and dirty, finally get caught up again'
series. Hopefully from here on I can actually manage to stay on top
of my blogging again, because I've found a surprisingly large number
of people actually DO read what I write! This post covers a fairly
long period from mid-August all the way to the start of October, so
enjoy and stay tuned for more to come.</div>
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I don't know why it
took me so long to put a basket on my bike, but it's awesome to be
able to ride across the meadow and grab veggies for dinner.</div>
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The window on my
high wall above the door. It wasn't in the original plan, but I
figured I ought to do something interesting in terms of framing the
window and this is what I came up, the Sun Window.
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Downstairs. I swear
there is a method to the madness.
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In the garden
harvesting potatoes.</div>
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An overview of the
tall wall. The Sun Window is done in fir, the paneling is pine
tongue-in-groove and the tree outline on the left is birch.
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Seeing orcas from
the ferry boat. It doesn't happen often, but it sure is fun.</div>
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Harvesting tomatoes.
We had so many it was a chore to keep up!
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High on the stick
during a tree removal.
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The farm stand down
at the ferry dock.</div>
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Nick loading up the
boat to go crabbing. The bounty of the ocean is as great as that
from our garden.
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As we pulled
finished plants out of the garden for the season, we ran them all
through a chipper/shredder. First to be pulled was the peas, the
first thing we planted at the start of the season.
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Picking the pear
tree, naturally I was climbing in it to reach the high fruit.
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My boss Austen pruning a
waterfront fir.</div>
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Most days I use the
ferry to commute to and from work, but sometimes I get rides on other
islanders personal boats which is always a nice treat, especially on
a sunny day.</div>
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Morning fog on the
way to work.</div>
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A fearless young
buck.</div>
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Harvesting beans.
Another crop we had almost too much of to handle, but one of my
favorite veggies.</div>
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Nick and Ellen
leading a tour of our garden for the local CSA members. It's great
to be able to show people exactly where their food comes from.
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While waiting for
the boat to work one day I happened to catch this rainbow show.
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A bard owl in a dead
cedar next to my cabin.</div>
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Working with Jack.
He dropped a big dead tree and here we were using a winch to pull it
out of the woods towards the road so we could buck it for firewood.</div>
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Silly looking dear
on the edge of our meadow. As I was cutting down trees, they
literally ran over towards me to eat the fresh leaves.
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One of my big
projects this summer has been to clean up the treeline around the
back meadow. I've been removing all the first to make it a pure big
leaf maple stand. The firs are then used for woodchips, firewood and
lumber.
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Dinner with the
Jones family.</div>
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With the garlic long
out of these beds, it was time to cover crop them. Here Brendan is
spreading a rye/vetch seed mix.
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During my tree line clearing project I attached my GoPro camera to a chainsaw and dropped a big tree, turned out pretty cool! </div>
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A look at a partly
full CSA box, this is what we deliver weekly to members on the
island.</div>
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Nick using his
tractor to move a large log. This is one I removed from the edge of
the meadow, and plan on chainsaw milling it to make siding for my
cabin.</div>
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More tractor work,
this time fence building at the monastery.</div>
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Obligatory ferry
boat picture. (this is the Orcas dock)</div>
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Cleaning out the old
fire station at drill one Wednesday night.</div>
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Don't turn your back
on this guy! Here Jack is setting up the electric fence while Isaiah
keeps watch.</div>
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Squash vines are
starting to die off and reveal what they produced.
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An island dinner in
the community center in support of one of our local residents.</div>
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Nick showing his dad
our newly completed wood processing area. Not too long ago this was
a tree and brush covered slope, now it's great flat work space!</div>
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I borrowed a dump
truck and chipper from work and with all the brush I've taken down
over the summer we made roughly 50 yards of chips to use all over the
property.
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The 'blood moon'
over Blind Bay.
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Afternoon light in
the back meadow.</div>
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Frog friend.</div>
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Going for an evening
beach walk at the preserve, one of the most beautiful places on the
island.</div>
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Chillin' with
chickens.</div>
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My place coming
along slowly but surly, at this point all the pine paneling is up and
looking great! (the plywood section on the right will all be covered
by other material, that is the kitchen area.)</div>
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And speaking of the
chickens, it was time to clean the coop.</div>
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Annnnnnd back in the
city for a visit.
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I was in Seattle for
a good reason though, the 30<sup>th</sup> birthday party for my
friend Jon, and the baby shower for Nick and Ellen.
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I stayed at a
friends house, and for dinner one evening we cooked using veggtables
from their little backyard garden. Yes, it is a slightly different
scale than I am used to these days, but it was great fun and the
ethic behind it is the same.
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A wonderful dinner
with friends.
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And once again, with
a van full of supplies and a wonderful visit with my family and my
friends behind me, it was time to drive back onto the boat and head
home.
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Whew! I'm getting
there…. Life right now is pretty busy but satisfying, there is a
lot of exciting progress on my place, the new baby has been here for
a while and in less than a month I take off for a few weeks in
Mexico! As always, more to come. </div>
</div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-26226593126493273742015-10-30T10:08:00.000-07:002015-10-30T10:08:41.928-07:00Island Primetime <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So here is Post
Number Two in my “quick and dirty, get it done, finally try to get
caught up again, quick captions only” blog posts. The post covers
roughly the start of July to the start of August; the peak of summer,
a lot of work and a lot of fun. Enjoy!</div>
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<br />
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By this point in the
growing season, the garden is looking pretty great. Here is Brendan
surrounded in cabbage, carrots, chard, beats and onions.</div>
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July 8<sup>th</sup>
is my birthday and Nick and Ellen were kind enough to make me some
delicious food. Boomer decided to join for desert.</div>
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The new flock of
chickens keeps on growing. Here Nick is scraping manure out of their
coop.</div>
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Our first ever crop
of watermelons is looking great!</div>
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A shot of the
growing tomatoes. Nearly 100 plants!</div>
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At this time we also
began an entire new section of the garden for later succession crops.</div>
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It wouldn't be a
blog post without a picture of me in a tree, right? This was a full
prune of an awesome oak, something I wish I had the opportunity to do
more often.</div>
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At this time of
year, the swallows congregate over the meadow outside my window, and
for a short time every evening the sky is full of probably 100+ of
them. Very cool.</div>
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A visit to Moran
State Park, this is the view looking south from Mt Constitution.</div>
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A waterfall inside
the park.</div>
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My place on the
meadow. Can't wait to actually mill the siding...</div>
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The Shaw Landing on
a beautiful day.</div>
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Farming with tigers.</div>
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Planting a new round
of veggies in one of the upper beds.</div>
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Processing garlic to
sell.</div>
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A friend came for a
visit and brought along one of her birds.
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The squash and other
crops are looking awesome!</div>
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Another garden view.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
My boss using a lift
to take down some sketchy dead alders.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The view from the
boat I take to work. Sure beats sitting in traffic in the city.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Another day at work,
a crane removal of a dying fir right next to a house.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As I do brush
cleanup on the property, I'm always finding bones to add to my
collection.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So for a while now
I've been posting about the outdoor shower I've been building, here
is the final product! It is a wonderful shower and a wonderful
<i>experience</i> to use it.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
shower at night time. The inside is sealed, so it becomes like a
golden glowing steam room while in use.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
My
parents Chris and Don, and
grandmothers Maybritt and
Rosemarie came up for a
visit. After telling them so much about my life on the island, it
was great to get to finally show them in person.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Watching
a movie outdoors, projected on the side of a barn. Now this is what
I call summer living.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
best part of building your own cabin, is you can make your crazy
ideas come to life. I've installed a tie-in point on my vaulted
ceiling so I can attach a climbing rope to get to the loft!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Training
with dump-tanks at fire drill.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Yah,
I've got a pretty sweet job. I took this photo from a tree of my
boss in another tree, with the town of Eastsound below and Canada in
the distance.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Crabbing.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
annual Swiss Day celebration at one of our neighbors houses, a great
event and probably one of the largest gatherings on the island.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Boomer
is not very helpful when it comes to farming, but always keeps us
smiling.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
My
favorite view of the farm on a perfect summer day.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Curing
onions in the greenhouse.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Nick,
Brendan and I trying out the first ever watermelon grown on the farm!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In
the mornings I work on Orcas, I have a little time to hang out and
watch the world go by until my boss arrives to pick me up.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Found
this little guy in the meadow.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Picking
up my 1x6” pine tongue
and groove paneling
for my cabin. Love that roof-rack! And I can't wait to
start installing it, it's going to look fantastic.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Another
great family visit, this time my aunt Katharine, uncle Steve and
great aunt Wilma.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Getting
ice cream cones at the Shaw General Store.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I
found this snake climbing up plants in the flower bed, I guess it was
hunting?</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Another
great family visit, my aunt Karen and Uncle John came up to see a
little island life.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After
dinner my friend Brendan tipped us off that the resident orcas were
passing lighthouse point, so we quickly drove across San Jaun and
caught them right in time, watching the entire pod heading south in
the sunset. The photo doesn't do it justice, at times there were
three or four orcas visible at a time, playing with each other as they swam, with dozens going past us.
Honestly it was probably the most beautiful and moving thing I've
seen living up here.
</div>
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</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Grabbing
a beer back in town with Brendan before catching the late boat back
home to Shaw.</div>
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</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Ok,
I've got one more quick post like this coming up, then I'll resume
normal posts. Check back soon and thanks for reading!
</div>
</div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-40582953308203166822015-10-17T20:29:00.000-07:002015-10-17T20:29:21.841-07:00The Start of Summer and the Fourth of July<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: left;">So it's October now
and I'm only now posting about... June. It's fair to say I'm a long
ways behind. As such, I'm going to do a few 'quick and dirty' posts
to play catch-up. I'll have the same photos, but will be writing
much less about what is going on up here, making observations and
telling stories. Once I am caught up. I'll return to my usual style.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
Anyways, this post
is about the start of June to the start of July. Like all seasons of
life here it has a certain magic to it and it's own unique character.
The primary characteristic of this time of year in the islands is
how much the pace of life picks up. With the sun comes more people,
more work, more socializing and more usable hours in the day. It's a
time to push hard, to be productive and to have fun.</div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
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<span id="goog_69149853"></span><span id="goog_69149854"></span><br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A very short while
ago this was still grassy meadow and here we are planting tomatoes.
I love seeing progress like that.
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwuODysylA0ZFbobLqzt5BGfgsl2w7qLjpAVJD3LQZ0JDm10e9woQUU-Yi4Mh9JHyQa39z9tkexB9n22Y_E3U08m0LM7GSdXTlDGvdVvYQW41ZJH3zm5LKkUctrCHKkDNjEs0Ys7rUliiG/s1600/P2170240.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwuODysylA0ZFbobLqzt5BGfgsl2w7qLjpAVJD3LQZ0JDm10e9woQUU-Yi4Mh9JHyQa39z9tkexB9n22Y_E3U08m0LM7GSdXTlDGvdVvYQW41ZJH3zm5LKkUctrCHKkDNjEs0Ys7rUliiG/s1600/P2170240.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
My boss on a small
tree removal. I've said it many times, but my work sure takes me
beautiful places.
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaTgIiv5GNtLtaP0JWSFdtjm-vicUfu3hB-nX-5B5DOM_EYNzHSmgSrcqXdYg0SFNH61QSMuYZSkbV5sPN2ctmNEZxgMzThb5_rfIanlPEXq_wBfW3FKME51HlX4DNmHeA7sqQAGYGGelF/s1600/P2170253.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaTgIiv5GNtLtaP0JWSFdtjm-vicUfu3hB-nX-5B5DOM_EYNzHSmgSrcqXdYg0SFNH61QSMuYZSkbV5sPN2ctmNEZxgMzThb5_rfIanlPEXq_wBfW3FKME51HlX4DNmHeA7sqQAGYGGelF/s1600/P2170253.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
At this time, two
baby bard owls were born and hanging around the property. It was a
ton of fun watching them grow up and fly away.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq94Uny7s-RmQEPqO74aJNx2Fvif0KWZ2k8tzL40Jx638sQqy_CVvjHq6eiMDGrzLLmxu8DUF2tvex72RmmNJEVTMgzudPW1YbXg_jP34tUeiMPxWXnH6RMsSYfHh7zfvfunkJVzJxDswe/s1600/P2170313.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq94Uny7s-RmQEPqO74aJNx2Fvif0KWZ2k8tzL40Jx638sQqy_CVvjHq6eiMDGrzLLmxu8DUF2tvex72RmmNJEVTMgzudPW1YbXg_jP34tUeiMPxWXnH6RMsSYfHh7zfvfunkJVzJxDswe/s1600/P2170313.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
<span style="line-height: 100%;">Looking down from a
tree I was working in.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTwQYefLJn1W_ivhVYYRFlNEj3nXuODYXYZ8PkDkWCNKBXqZLR0_QPh_LB3AAch9Azip5tZpYPqoOwpRaTq5Lp9x5e_Ej9wscv3xcYWHWlzGuNA0PRBe0E3lCmiuNefChpDMZYkqZlISmP/s1600/P2170340.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTwQYefLJn1W_ivhVYYRFlNEj3nXuODYXYZ8PkDkWCNKBXqZLR0_QPh_LB3AAch9Azip5tZpYPqoOwpRaTq5Lp9x5e_Ej9wscv3xcYWHWlzGuNA0PRBe0E3lCmiuNefChpDMZYkqZlISmP/s1600/P2170340.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
Wednesday fire
drill. <span style="line-height: 100%;">Here we are experimenting with a portable dump tank, an
important piece of equipment in rural areas like ours due to a lack
of fire hydrants.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Watching the garden
grow and everything is looking wonderful.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Scenery on the Shaw
– San Juan ferry route.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The open space on
San Juan Island is very different from Shaw, but is a beautiful
change in scenery.</div>
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Lighthouse Point.</div>
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And here is an
overview of the lower part of the garden as everything is just
getting started. In this area are pumpkins, squash (summer and
winter), zucchini, eggplant, peppers, basil, tomatoes, sun flowers
and much more.
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Blind Bay as I drive
to work.</div>
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The summer boat
schedule has two boats arriving at Shaw very close to each other.
Here I'm looking at the inter-island boat as I'm on the boat from the
mainland which stops at Shaw before bringing me to Orcas for work.
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The Jones clan all
working on projects in the woodshop area.</div>
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The new batch of
chickens has grown up fast, and is starting to look like mature birds
now.</div>
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And here is a deer
actually getting it's front half INSIDE the chickens mobile coop to
eat veggies we had given to the chickens. The deer here are
shameless!
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Ah yes, when working
on a building project, this is where all your money goes....</div>
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In the last post I
showed the barn swallow eggs in the pump house, here they are all
hatched!</div>
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Weeding the garlic.
Our biggest problem weeds in this area have been Canadian thistle,
clover, and grass, but it hasn't been that bad really.</div>
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An explosion of
growth in the lower garden.
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The evening sunshine
through the peas, the first thing planted in the garden months ago.</div>
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Nick mowing the back
meadow with the PTO driven mower.
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A little tree
pruning on a shore tree.
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This time of year
has such beautiful lighting, this is the setting sun shining over
Blind Bay as we refill the fire trucks after drill.
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Mount Baker and the
Washington State Ferries, what a view we have from our little island.</div>
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Hanging out on the
beach at the Preserve, some of the most stunning nights of the year.</div>
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A ferry headed to
Friday Harbor with the Olympic Mountains in the background.
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And for something a
little different, my current chainsaw collection, ranging from 14”
bars up to 36”, 35cc to 88cc! Left to right: Husky 335 XPT, Sthih
201T, Stihl 017, Stihl 361, Stihl 046 and a Husky 288XP. A good
little collection that allows me to tackle just about aything we have
in the area.
</div>
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Doing some layout
visualizing on the tree silhouette I'll be making in m y cabin. The
blue line on the left is the stairs from the main level to the
sleeping loft.
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Time to harvest the
garlic!</div>
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The growing corn,
our first year doing this crop and curious to see how it turns out.</div>
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The swallows are now
old enough to fly! It's been great fun to watch, and it's wonderful
being in the garden as the parents encourage their babies to leave
the nest.
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Curing the garlic in
the hoop house.</div>
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I just thought this
looked cool, I was hanging out at North Beach on Orcas and watching
planes land at the air field. Talk about a scenic take off and
landing!
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And a work photo,
using a tow-behind lift for some tree pruning. Talk about a sweet
tool!</div>
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Preparing for the
woodstove, here I am attaching cement board to the wall where the
chimney will be running.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It's now the start
of July and with that comes the biggest event of the year on Shaw,
Independence Day. Liks usual, a ton of our friends from Seattle (and
elsewhere) came up to enjoy the festivities, here they are headed out
for a bike tour.</div>
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At the beach.</div>
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This was a big
moment: getting the farms new rooster. Our friends in Seattle had a
rooster they couldn't keep (city noise laws) and brought it up for us
to have take over our flock. This was the official hand-off, from
Megan to Ellen.</div>
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Night time bean-bag
toss.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It may have been a
holiday weekend, but there was still work to do! Here are some beets
I pulled to sell at the farm stand that same day.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Lining up for the
parade. Being on the fire department, I was driving one of the
trucks and like the year before, I had the 1958 Chevy.
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We led the parade,
so after parking at the community center got to see the rest of it go
by. That said, it's a small island and the parade only lasts a few
minutes, haha.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Inside the community
center.</div>
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The farm stand.</div>
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The weather couldn't
have been any better that weekend, so returning to the beach after
the parade was the obvious choice.
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Once we had all
gotten our share of sun for the day, it was off to the 4<sup>th</sup>
of July softball game.</div>
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A feast was had.</div>
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As it got dark,
everyone climbed in my van and we drove to Cedar Rock Preserve. This
is where many islanders go to watch fireworks and for obvious
reasons; as you look west you get to watch the show from Friday
Harbor, and as soon as that is done you turn southeast and watch the
fireworks show from Lopez Island, which this year was very good.
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After fireworks, it
was home for a quiet campfire.
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The next day it was
time for most people to return to their respective homes, so again my
friends climbed in the back of my van and I shuttled them to the
ferry dock. The 4<sup>th</sup> is a truly wonderful time here on
Shaw, and it was wonderful to have so many friends come up to share
it with.
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Well, I think that
qualifies as 'quick and dirty'. I am currently watching the fall
color blow from the trees and onto the lush green meadow out my
window, so I'll probably make another quick post or two like this,
then be caught back up to the current season. Check back soon for
the next installment! </div>
</div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-79680150595836131472015-08-17T09:55:00.000-07:002016-02-10T07:42:33.508-08:00Across Vancouver Island, BC - The Road Trip<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It's not always easy
to leave my home base, especially in the spring and summer time. In
part that is because I'm so busy, in part it's because living on an
island means going anywhere takes more time and planning, and in part
it's because I love where I live so much it takes something pretty
special to make me want to leave. I wanted to get off the island and do something different and in short order I planned a trip to BC, So this trip was something a little bit special, and when I say “planned”
I mean simply that I decided to go on a trip, I arrived on the
island with essentially no idea where I was going or what I was going to do, and didn't even have a good map until I had already
driven half way up the island! What followed was six wonderful days
of travel and fun through Vancouver Island, and a wonderful little
break from an already wonderful life at home in the San Juan’s.</div>
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Vancouver Island is
an area that is very near to my home, both where I grew up in Seattle
and where I live now in the San Juan Islands, but one I have not
spent much time exploring. As a young Boy Scout, I did a week long
trip where we canoed up Great Central Lake and then hiked to Della
Falls, and another trip where we kayaked for a week in Desolation
Sound. Both were absolutely amazing trips, but I'd never managed to
get back since then. With those memories in mind, I knew I wanted to
return and “go for a wander” and a road trip seemed like the perfect opportunity to do just that.
</div>
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Getting to Vancouver
Island for us could hardly have been easier. In the morning I got to the ferry dock in Friday Harbor on San Jaun Island, got in
line and showed my passport.
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Once the formalities
were out of the way (sigh, I remember the days when you didn't even
need a passport to get into Canada...) I drove onto the Washington
State Ferry and my journey officially began!</div>
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Fun chair arrangements on the ferry. No one sat here, haha. </div>
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Having lived in the
San Juan Islands for nearly two years at this point and being a
regular ferry rider, I love the scenery but to be honest most of the
time I just sit in my car or read during the time between islands.
Not this time. I'd never taken the Friday Harbor to Sidney route
before, and although nothing was far from home, it all looked
different: the islands, the views, the angles on otherwise familiar
places. It was a blast to see from the boat and I enjoyed every
minute of it.
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Although it is a
Washington State Ferry, as you pass a buoy in the water marking the
US/Canada boarder (yah, things up here are still <i>pretty</i>
laid back), the ferry lowers the American flag and raises a Canadian
flag, which I find pretty cool and a nice gesture of friendship to
our neighbor to the north.
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I
made a point of doing essentially no research and/or planning for
this trip, so I was fairly unsure what to expect. All I had planned
on was getting off the ferry and driving quickly to the north end
where I would spend most of my time. After a few quick stops for
food and supplies I still needed, I got on Highway 1 (which later
turns into Highway 19) and drove northwest. Due to my intentional
lack of research, I hadn't quite realized just how true it was that
there was only one main road on the island, the highway up the east
coast (cue the South Park clip “There is only one road in
Canada!”). I'd just assumed the original map I was looking at was
simply not detailed enough to show the other roads or something!
That one road was awfully boring for the most part to be honest, and
I kept waiting for the amazing scenery I'd been expecting to see...</div>
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It
wasn't until we had driven up literally half the island when I stopped in Campbell River (a place I hear referenced frequently when
I listen to CBC out of Vancouver) that I even bought a map of
Vancouver Island and began to formulate a plan!
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It
was still early in the day, so I kept driving all the way past
Sayward where I filled the gas tank and beyond. The map I'd
purchased showed various official
and un-official camp sites,
many out dirt roads, and I figured I would give one of them a shot
that was supposed to be somewhere along Eve River. I turned off the
main highway, which at this point was just a two-lane road through
the forest and decided where
it would take me. For a while, I was the only thing on the gravel
track through the trees but it turned out the 'Active Hauling” sign
wasn't a lie and I came across a lot of logging trucks along the
way.
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
logging companies seem to do an awfully good job of road building and
maintaining, better than I'm used to seeing in the States by a wide
margin, and as I crossed one particularly high bridge I decided to jump out and take a look around. I first caught a glimpse
of it through the trees as I stood on the bridge, but after crashing
through a bit of forest, I came upon a fairly clear view of what was
an exceptionally beautiful waterfall. It was probably 60 feet high
as it fell into a large pool below, and I couldn't help but wish I
had my tree tools so I could prune some branches out of the way to
open up a little pocket view!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So
most people think I drive a big van. Sure, it's a full-size Ford
Econoline, and compared to most personal vehicles on the road I
suppose it is rather large. If you go to the extremes, it seems tiny
compared to the semi-trucks that crises-cross
the roads of America. But those are weak
and tiny compared to the
off-road logging trucks I encountered for the first time on this
trip. These trucks to me are a thing of beauty. Pure power, toughness and utility,
made to haul tremendous loads over challenging terrain, day in and
day out. The 12 year old boy in me was giggling as I imagined what
it was like to drive such a machine, and the 29 year old boy in me
was wondering about the specs of the engine, transmission and tires.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Just
past that beautiful truck was the coast and the Johnstone Straight.
The way the logging operation here was setup was that the trees were
felled in the hills inland, loaded onto these trucks, brought to this
particular spot where the Eve River flows into the Straight, unloaded
and put into the water, then pulled in large log-booms to the
sawmill, wherever that was. I am currently building a cabin and I
know a great deal of lumber is exported from Canada to the US. I
like to imagine that some of the trees I saw on trucks here in Canada
might have been turned into lumber and made their way onto
store shelves in America and into my cabin.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Now
I'd been told by my friend Brendan just how much logging goes on here
on Vancouver Island so I was prepared to some extent, but what I
experienced was far beyond my wildest expectations. Let me first say
I'm certainly not against logging, hell, I cut trees for a living
myself (on a slightly different scale) and am building a home out of
wood as I write this. A properly managed forest is a sustainable and
renewable resource, so I'm not making a negative judgment when I say
this, but I was <i>amazed</i>
at how much logging there is on Vancouver Island. It seemed like all
the land I saw was owned by timber companies, every tiny town had a
dealer for log trucks, feller-bunchers and other logging equipment,
every road off the main highway was a logging road, every piece of
forest I saw was the re-growth of a clear-cut, every other vehicle I
saw was part of the industry, and every vehicle, once I got off the
paved roads was part of the logging industry. Really, it seems like
the entirety of Vancouver Island is a managed forest for the timber
industry and there is nothing wild left. Honestly, that was a
surprise to me.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
According
to my map, the campsite I had been looking for was essentially a
dirt parking lot next to where the logs were being dumped into the
water. It was mostly empty except for a few pickup trucks and
trailers, but was far from inviting. Instead, what I
decided to do was just pick a random dirt/gravel logging road that
went into the hills and hope for the best. After a few winding
switch-backs and always choosing the smaller and more overgrown of
the road choices, I came upon a section of road that was totally
covered in grass, so tight I could hardly fit through it, and had
fallen limbs across it that indicated it hadn’t been driven on in
months at least.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After
deciding that it was obviously a safe place to camp, and that I wouldn't be woken up at 2am by a logging truck trying to get by, I simply stopped in the middle of the road, pulled out my bins,
cooler, tables, chairs, stove, and setup camp. If you look in the
back of the van, you can see the platform and the bed I used on the
trip. Amazingly I was able to fit the entire double-bed and bed
platform from my cabin into the van, which allowed for a ton of
storage underneath it as well. I grew up hiking and sleeping in
tents, and while I love it, I have to say having a real bed you don’t
need to set up and take down every night sure is nice! That night I sat around a small fire imagining what lay ahead in the
coming days.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A
lazy morning, a light drizzle and some classic
camp food: pancakes, eggs, bacon
and coffee.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
drizzle continued for most of the day and my only “plan” if you
could call it that, was to continue heading north. I stopped in the
small town of Port McNeill where I got coffee and compared the BC
Ferry to our own (the dock was far nicer, and the boats seem more
route specific and diverse), then kept going up “the only road.”
In no hurry, I stopped in Port Hardy, the
end of the paved roads, which
seemed like a far more interesting place although all I did there
was stop at a diner to eat and play on a swing-set. Strangely it had
a backpackers lodge, something I didn't really understand due to it's
seemingly inconvenient location, but it was advertising diving, kayak
trips and other activities which are all nice. With my belly and
gas tank full, I left the paved road in favor of gravel and headed
in the direction of Cape Scott, the farthest north part of Vancouver
Island.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Along
the gravel road, which was in very good condition I might add (the
logging companies seem to do very regular maintenance), I came
across this strange
shoe-covered tree.
Admittedly I'd been driving
pretty fast, so I had to slow down and stop well past the tree,
waiting for my dust cloud to clear before being able to back up and
check it out. It had all types of footwear, from old loggers boots
to brand new flip flops, and even a prosthetic leg! I don't know the
story of it, but it was a fun little thing to come across
unexpectedly.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
road out to Cape Scott winds through forests, both recently logged
and regrowing, and a few tiny little logging outposts (you can't
really call them towns). The oldest sign I saw indicated that one
area we drove through was replanted way back in 1945, so it's clear
that the area, or rather as far as I can tell the entirety of
Vancouver Island, is one giant managed forest for timber and has been
for many decades.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I had wanted to go out to the very northwestern tip of the island
and reach the coast which would mean an overnight hike, but the skies
were still gray and dripping, so I wimped out. Although I had all
the appropriate gear to make it happen, to be honest the rain put a
damper on my enthusiasm and really, that big bed in the van was
<i>awfully</i> comfortable!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
To
camp that night I did what had become the usual: look for logging
roads that seemed temporarily abandoned. I found a promising road
into the hills above, but rather than drive into unknown right away,
I got out and walked to scout it out first. As I walked up the
steep road, I looked to my left and just about 20 feet ahead of me
was a black bear in the treeline! Before I could really react, it ran off
through the trees with some pretty amazing speed and agility. Given
the fresh piles of bear poop on the road, it was obviously not used
by vehicles, but was a bear highway for sure.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Any
road this overgrown was obviously not being used for active logging
and thus was a good sign for finding a place to camp undisturbed.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
That
evening I sat around the fire reading and roasting marshmallows, but
it wasn't a particularly interesting place to camp and I couldn't
see anything since I was just tucked into an overgrown roadbed, so
feeling a bit uninspired I called it an early night.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I still hadn't managed to find a spot along the coast to see the
Pacific Ocean, so in my efforts to make that happen I drove towards
Winter Harbor. After quite some time on more gravel logging roads,
I had to turn back due to a road washout and didn't see anything at
all of interest. The previous day however I'd read on a sign
something about a blue whale jaw bone in the town of Coal Harbor, and
that seemed as good a reason as any to go
to the tiny town of Coal
Harbor and see what I could find.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As
it turned out, Coal Harbor was actually a pretty interesting little
place. At the dock I ended
up stopping to chat with a few young guys who were taking a float
plane out to a logging camp and I noticed their supplies consisted
mostly of a few big Husquvarna chainsaws and cheap beer. I also
thought to myself if I lived in this town myself, I'd probably be out
there logging right beside them. And even though I expected it, I
was consistently impressed by how friendly and helpful everyone was.
</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
town used to be a coal mine, a whaling station, and an Air-force
base, so it has some interesting history. Inside the old hanger
(which has admittedly seen better days) is a small but very
interesting and well stocked museum of local history, put together by
a local man. It contained all kinds of interesting artifacts, from
harpoon guns to plane engines, chainsaws to old fire trucks. I have
to say, I was impressed.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Inside
the old Airforce hanger, which was full of old airplane parts,
tractors, logging supplies and other fun things was where the whale
jaw bones were kept. They used to be outside, but we were told cars
had crashed into it once or twice, so it was put inside for it's own
safety. Seeing a jaw bone this big was pretty amazing, and gives you
a whole new perspective on just how big some whales really are.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Although
it was tiny and without a whole lot do so really, I left Coal Harbor
feeling like I'd found a little gem. Next I headed towards the
town of Port Alice, I think with the only reason being that it was a
near by town that actually had a paved road going to it.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
On
the way however, as I drove
across a bridge I saw a great looking waterfall below and turned off
the road to check it out. It
turned out to be the Marble River campsite, and
after wandering through the area for a few minutes I decided to go swimming. The water was hardly what you could call
warm, nor could the weather be described as sunny, but it was a
wonderful and refreshing little dip.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After
drying off, I explored the river back towards the bridge where I had first seen it. Marble River, or at least this section, was
lovely. The way the water had carved channels through the stone was
really amazing and scrambling around boulders and jumping across
streams is something I really enjoy doing!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu8vY6chtO4o4FZIyt9k4kAst-DOVa-pzem6O2K7mMgeHX64WP9QY0QuwzlbJbWGUI6agbokd3qEO977KFmZXAwGmW7nrx9RdvJP_f6RbtlBWxTqJsBAIx3m3okMxtAcNMC436B9cIfyD_/s1600/P2160574.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu8vY6chtO4o4FZIyt9k4kAst-DOVa-pzem6O2K7mMgeHX64WP9QY0QuwzlbJbWGUI6agbokd3qEO977KFmZXAwGmW7nrx9RdvJP_f6RbtlBWxTqJsBAIx3m3okMxtAcNMC436B9cIfyD_/s1600/P2160574.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
town of Port Alice seemed like an interesting little town, nestled
between the Neroutsos Inlet and the hills behind. Although much
bigger than Coal Harbor, it only had one main road between the water
and the hills, with as grocery store, police station, hotel and a
handful of other shops, but it was very small. The informational
signs told us it was basically a company town, with the pulp-mill
providing most of the areas employment, and I later found that the
mill was going to be shutting down for a year or two at least and it
seemed like the town was already beginning to fade away as a
result...</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As
usual I didn't have a plan, but the map showed some gravel roads
that went towards the coast and because I had still not seen it, nor
had I really “gotten away” into the woods like I had hoped for,
I started driving and hoped for the best. A friendly local saw me and stopped his truck in the middle of the road to chat. He gave
some recommendations on where to go and what conditions were like, so
with that in mind I drove on excited about what lay ahead.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC-a_ovL-rybi12gmPzERyHoZwz30yadLoRKK_9U9-IxqZp5l7fR7ztqwz3sEaZLym3TZralllzfwSzhmt9-XXHR1-F2qxiS2DqvyM_I8zFZRxBrNSHSQhzUhxfP-C_A2H_9eEipvabWjW/s1600/P2160586.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC-a_ovL-rybi12gmPzERyHoZwz30yadLoRKK_9U9-IxqZp5l7fR7ztqwz3sEaZLym3TZralllzfwSzhmt9-XXHR1-F2qxiS2DqvyM_I8zFZRxBrNSHSQhzUhxfP-C_A2H_9eEipvabWjW/s1600/P2160586.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Rounding
the south end of the inlet takes you past the mill and the large log
boom waiting to be processed. As usual, I was in logging territory
and the sides of the roads had all kinds of cool old equipment which
I always enjoy looking at and trying to figure out how it once
worked.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I didn't exactly have an early start on the journey at this point, and
as I climbed up and over the 'mountains' heading west it began to
get dark and rainy, I was using gas at a slightly alarming rate and had no idea how much farther I had to go. I debated how much farther to push on, and although the roads in
some ways were well marked, in other ways it was a confusing maze and
I was really wishing I had a GPS at that moment. I wasn't totally
sure it was a great idea, but I certainly wanted to keep going and I did.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDq6BNNNYKjppUSssV2PC49TppOmcC1Rn6J2d2DN2hbjJvCqE871PzcNXOgsyRzAG-QS09gd2fw9ja5ycmkqlqVIlBiaZq0SRvu_EVkIpMnhpqGaR2l3Sp3BJbbx1iQeSiW-3kOjqILg4D/s1600/P2160595.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDq6BNNNYKjppUSssV2PC49TppOmcC1Rn6J2d2DN2hbjJvCqE871PzcNXOgsyRzAG-QS09gd2fw9ja5ycmkqlqVIlBiaZq0SRvu_EVkIpMnhpqGaR2l3Sp3BJbbx1iQeSiW-3kOjqILg4D/s1600/P2160595.JPG" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Once
I returned to a lower elevation the weather improved again, the
roads were for the most part in great condition and I continued to
see the same kind of huge logging equipment I had been seeing the
whole trip. The roads had signs with distances on them, but I wasn't totally sure where I was going still, nor where I could
find the water. As I drove, I saw another black bear and a few
deer as well as crossed many nice little streams.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After
two hours of what was slightly stressful gravel road driving, I arrived at what I was searching for, WATER! My map wasn't
detailed enough to show any of this, and the signs were confusing or
non-existent, but I <i>think</i>
we were at a place called Side Bay. I pulled the van off the road
and down into a stunning beachfront camp site, unpacked a few
things and set off to explore this
wonderful little place I had arrived at.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGjSZVbsbgPpknE0XMYWeCPSZhsKWZ-iVMgtBFfJR3QIrs7wyjCe-ed8Ykn-lJrf30lQssm03z0L_e0gmDNF9Jji6h3sMxUEeNpq1-Uw134Oxy9sY9DKC7eX5XyJ3AaB0cOB7zg6n_ehjM/s1600/P2160635.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGjSZVbsbgPpknE0XMYWeCPSZhsKWZ-iVMgtBFfJR3QIrs7wyjCe-ed8Ykn-lJrf30lQssm03z0L_e0gmDNF9Jji6h3sMxUEeNpq1-Uw134Oxy9sY9DKC7eX5XyJ3AaB0cOB7zg6n_ehjM/s1600/P2160635.JPG" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
beach was very long, beautiful and most importantly, totally empty of
people! There were a number of built-up unofficial camp sites but it
was obviously a place that didn't get a lot of use and was not well
known. Under the wonderful, soft evening light I explored
the beach and looked at the rocks and trees and creatures
I found along the way. It was a wonderful little place I had
stumbled upon.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Inside
my van: a room with a view.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
That
night I stayed up late into the night sitting around a small fire, watching the stars. It was pretty much perfect.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A
little later, and it was quite late at this point, I was ready to go
to sleep and I saw an extremely bright light in the distance and
behind the hills. At first it just didn't click what it could be.
It seemed way to big and bright to be natural, but there weren't any
cities near by that could do that either. After a minute I realized,
duh, it WAS the rising moon, but it still seemed so big and bright it
was hard to comprehend. Naturally I had to get out of bed, grab my
tripod and camera, and try to capture it while watching it come over
the horizon. The moon-rise put on a spectacular show, and while my
little camera couldn't quite capture it accurately (mostly that the
sky wasn't quite this light), it is at least a reminder of what it
looked like and a way to at least try and explain it to all of you
reading.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In
the morning I woke surprisingly early due to an early sunrise and a
van full of windows, but I had decided to spend a second night here
because it was obviously such a nice spot, and therefore had all day
to just relax and take it all in. First and foremost however, was a
large breakfast!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It
was nearly noon by the time I got out of camp to explore the beach
and one of the first things I went to check out was the bridge near
us. I can't say I've ever seen one built the same way, big I-beams,
concrete decking, then huge spruce logs and gravel!</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Walking
down the beach I found I obviously wasn't alone, but there were no
recent signs of people, only animal tracks to let me know.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Wildlife
was something I was really hoping to see on this trip and while I
must say I was a bit underwhelmed in that aspect (the close encounter
with the bear was the highlight and a good one however) my eyes were
always open for interesting creatures. As I walked down the beach
I spotted this juvenile bald eagle sitting in a snag along the
beach, no doubt looking for a meal.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Eventually
I found an interesting place to stop my wanderings and sit down to
relax. That said, before I could relax, I had to climb on everything
nearby.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As
I sat looking out at the water, I noticed some splashing just off the
rocks I'd been climbing on and saw a sea otter who was hunting in the
waves. I excitedly grabbed my camera and between incoming waves
climbed up the rocks and had a chance to observe it for a minute or
two from a close perch on the rocks above before it spotted me and
gave itself a bit more distance from the shore. In the distance far
off shore, I could actually see a whole raft of otters bobbing
around the water together. Although it looked like specs in the
distance, it was never the less fun to see.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Not
a bad place to spend an afternoon.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A
jellyfish laying out on the beach. (I threw it back in the water)</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After
a lovely afternoon of relaxing and a quick dip on the ocean. I began
walking back to the camp site, and as we did so, we picked up a bag
full of plastic bottles along the way, by far the most common litter.
I even found many, many fishing line floats and other items that
had come all the way from Japan, a few of which I saved and brought
home.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The ocean really is a different world... </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
But
I wasn't ready to call it a day yet, so I left the beach behind
and decided to wander up the road beyond where I had made camp. It
really didn't take me anywhere other than through more logged forest,
and I never managed to get a clear view out towards the water, but
it was still a good excuse to stretch the legs. After all, it had
been a pretty lazy trip up to this point, mostly sitting and driving,
so a little walking wasn't a bad idea.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Back
at camp for the evening and cooking dinner.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
next morning, now <i>this</i> is what I call camp breakfast! I'd
been attempting a huge pancake-bacon-onion-egg sandwich, but lacking
a bib and still valuing my dignity somewhat I decided to just use a
fork. It was still just as delicious. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Around
noon I had finally packed up camp and headed back towards Port
Alice, because the next morning we had a ferry to catch all the way
on the other end of Vancouver Island to get home to the San Juans.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
previous day I'd realized I had a slow leak in one tire, but had a
full size spare and a pump as well so I wasn't worried. I filled it
before we left and didn't think much more about it until.... I heard
the unmistakable sound of a tire going flat and felt it in the
steering wheel. I pulled to the side of the road and got out right
in time to watch the wheel go totally flat and the van lay down on
the rim. Great. To make matters worse, it wasn't even the tire with
the leak, it was a new hole in another tire and obviously a bad one!
I pulled out the jack and spare tire to make the change which went
fine, but I was still hours from a town and paved roads, driving
with NO spare now and another tire with a slow leak.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
To
make matters worse, the maze of gravel roads were just as confusing
as ever, and actually much worse now that I was stressed out about
the tires. Man I wish I had a GPS at that moment... The slow leak
was getting worse as well, and every 10 minutes or so I was getting
out to put more air in it. Naturally I was now driving much slower
now to be as kind to the tires as I could be, and was worried about
time and fuel levels as well. I drove on and on, not seeing anyone
and scared the tires would give out and leave me stranded.
Naturally, there was no cellphone service either. Eventually it got
to the point where we were actually lost, deep in the maze of roads
and valleys. I kept driving in what I though twas the right way and I kept saying out loud “I
think I remember this creek....” trying to convince myself I was heading the right way. It was rather stressful.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
On
the plus side, we saw some cute fawns, this one was so tiny it was
about the size of a cat!
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Eventually
I came across one of those huge logging trucks I like so much and I
waved down the driver to ask how to get back to town. What he told
me that we had gone at least 20km in the wrong direction! That
wasn't what I wanted to hear at that moment, but at least now I knew
for sure where to go, and although I was still extremely worried
about the shape of my tires, at least I knew I was heading in the
right direction now. Seeing another black bear made this detour a
little more enjoyable, but only barely. (har har)<br />
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More logging equipment on the road back to town. </div>
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After
more stressful driving, I finally made it back over the pass towards
town and I knew even if I didn't make it any further, I would be
able to find help. Luckily however I were able to get all the way
back around the inlet and into town where I began asking anyone I
could find about getting tires repaid. It was a Saturday afternoon
in a very small town so options were limited (well, there were
exactly two choices, one was closed), but eventually I found someone
who had me follow them into a small neighborhood where there was a
man who fixed tires out of his home. I was <i>extremely</i>
grateful to find this guy, and although I have to admit I forgot his
name, both him and his wife were friendly and welcoming, happy to
help out a traveler in need when their work day was already
supposed to have been over. One tire was fixable, but the other was
such a big hole it was trashed. So I didn't have a spare, but at
least we had 4 that held air again.
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Once
I had paid for the tire repair, I returned to the only gas station
in town where I put $117 in the tank. The gas station was only an
hour away from closing for the night as well when I got there, had
I missed it I would have been stuck in town for the night and
probably missed our boat back to the states! Tired but needing to
keep pushing on, I got some burgers at the grocery store since both
restaurants in town had closed down now that the pulp mill was going
to be shutting its doors. I have to say, it was seriously one of the
worst burgers I've had in years and even the fries were bad. To top
it off, I got a 6-pack of beer from the BC Liquor Store (where
all alcohol has to be purchased here) and I was curious to try the
cheap beer I'd seen littering the roadsides, Lucky Lager, so that's
what I picked. It was even worse than the burger was... oh well.
All we could do now was keep driving.</div>
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I
pushed on, driving south until 9pm when it began to get dark. At
this point I had re-entered the populated part of the island and it
wasn't so easy to find a good camp site anymore. What I did find
was not great, but would work as a place to stop for a few hours.
That night while I laid in bed I noticed something
moving in the distance. It turned out to be two elk walking up the
road towards me and I waited quietly hoping they would continue up
the road and walk right past me. Instead they turned around, but it
was still fun to see them briefly.
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With
an early start under my belt and a breakfast of Tim Hortons in my belly, I arrived back in Sidney where the ferry would take me back
across the border and return me to the San Juans. It was another
beautiful day to be on the water, and a lovely way to have my journey come to an end.</div>
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Back
home in the Friday Harbor I got take-out Thai food and walked down
to the marina to sit out and eat. As I watched the boats coming and
going, I noticed a seal swimming around a boat and splashing in the
water. I didn't know the story, but I later learned this was Popeye, a
local one-eyed seal who has learned to get peoples attention at the
docks by splashing at their boat and is occasionally rewarded with
fish from the boaters. There is even a statue in town devoted to the
seal, who is a bit of a local celebrity!<br />
<span style="line-height: 100%;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 100%;">I
wasn't sure what to expect from this trip. After all, I was I
heading out to a place I knew almost nothing about and had no plan, That said, I
don't need any qualifiers to say the trip was a complete success. I
managed to do and see some wonderful things, met some nice people and enjoyed seeing a different place. I have to say Vancouver Island wasn't nearly as open or as
wild as I was expecting or hoping for (well, not at all it seemed), even in the far north, but
that didn't keep me from enjoying it at all. I quite like driving and put on 800+ miles on the trip, it was great to see the
island end-to-end since it's a neighbor of us here in the San Juans
and without a doubt the two nights I spent on the beach were the
unquestionable highlight of the trip. </span></div>
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Next
post things get back to normal. Lots more farming (the garden is
really coming along), baby owls on the property, plenty of tree
climbing and best of all, the Shaw Island 4<sup>th</sup> of July
celebration! </div>
</div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-29408942215115417692015-07-05T16:41:00.000-07:002016-01-18T06:58:33.855-08:00Life Gets Better and Better<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Right now life is busy, busy, busy. I've taken a second job in addition to my tree work, and combined with the farm work I do it means I'm scheduled for doing physical, outdoor work six days a week. Life in the islands always shifts into high gear in the summer time, it's a feast or famine kind of place, either it is the slow quiet winter and you don't have a lot of work, or it's summer when you have too much work. As they say up here, “In the islands you either have two houses and no job, or two jobs and no house.” Not that I'm complaining, life is good and it always has been up here. Everything is beautiful, the farm is really starting to fill in and look amazing, work (both jobs) is going well, friends and family are always dropping in to say hi. This post covers all that and more, detailing April and May and as always showing off some of the most beautiful scenery our little corner of the world has to offer. Enjoy!</div>
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So one day as we were all meeting up for weekly fire drill we arrived at the station to find there was a humming bird trapped inside. It was trying to get out a closed window in the upper level of the building, so without any fires to tend to of course, Brendan and I went on a rescue mission using one of the big fire ladders. I climbed up and grabbed it, then passed it to Brendan on the ground. It was tired and scared, but after sitting on an open hand outside and using a gentle blow, it took off, free again.</div>
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A little work on my shower. I'm doing the whole thing in cedar which smells great, and will age well, helping the structure blend into the woods. As I've mentioned before, my shower that was supposed to be temporary has become much more elaborate and permanent, but it's one of the most fun and enjoyable showers I've used, so I'm certainly not complaining!</div>
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If you are in the garden with your friends and you are not laughing, you are doing something wrong. It's amazing to look back at this picture when we were only just getting plants in the ground. As I write this now, the garden is full and beautiful, so it's fun to see where we started not so long ago. (planting lettuce)</div>
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Shortly after, my mother Chris and sister Robin came up for a visit. Naturally it went from sunny to overcast for their arrival, but it was great to see them and show them the cabin I'm building. From their visit with me, they went on to spend a few days on Vancouver Island as well and had a lovely time.</div>
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I don't leave the islands very often, but Chad, a friend I've known for around 12 years had some tree work for me to do and it was a great excuse to have a visit with him and his great little community in Indianola, WA. This is the small cabin he lives in, and it served as some inspiration for what I'm building actually. To see it again after starting construction on mine gave me a better way to appreciate it and to contemplate design choices, so along with getting a lot of work done and some great time with my friend, it was educational as well.</div>
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I spent the weekend doing some tree work for a variety of Chads neighbors and friends which was a lot of fun for me, as well as had the chance for some seriously delicious meals. On most Sundays, there is a brunch restaurant run out of someones house that attracts interesting people from all over the small community. It's my second time enjoying it and it was just as great as I remembered it!</div>
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Back on the islands and back up the trees. This was a prune job in a big doug fir on the northwest coast of Orcas Island. A fun job and a truly stunning location.</div>
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With the coming of summer means time to start watering the ball field at fire drill. It's doesn't make for the most technical drills, but it is always good to spend time with the equipment to keep everyone fresh, and it's nice to try and keep the grass green at the same time.</div>
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This time it is me with a hand-full-o-humming-bird! This one found itself inside my cabin and needed rescue to return safely to the outside world. Amazing how small and light they are.</div>
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It's time to start squash! With most of the early season plants either in the green house or in the ground, it was now time to get on top of the later season crops such as winter squash and even a few melons.</div>
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So on this day it was finally time to say goodbye to the ducks. They were brought to the property with the idea of providing eggs, but then it turned out all four were males! They then bumbled around the property making noise and messy poops for the next 8 months or so until it was finally decided to butcher them. It was the first time doing ducks for any of us, and although I'm sure we could get much better with practice, plucking them was such a time consuming mess I never want to do it again...</div>
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Big news, Nick and Ellen are having a baby boy! None of my friends have kids yet (although one couple is just about to have their baby as well) so it's a big deal, I guess we are starting to be come adults now? Well, at least some of my friends are, I'm not sure I'm ready yet!</div>
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Momma and her chicks. Four were hatched from eggs on the property, and ten more were bought at the store. The hen took them all in and it has been great fun watching them grow. The best part is when they are climbing all over her, very cute.</div>
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The Mausoleum, a structure on San Juan Island built in the 1930s by the McMillin family. It is a pretty strange place really, out in the woods and completely different from anything else I can think of out here but it's an interesting piece of island history and fun to see.</div>
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Beltane! This is one of our annual parties on the island, where we dress in white, have all our friends come up, dance around the May Pole and have a feast and fire. As usual, the weather was <i>perfect</i> and a great many friends showed up. It is a celebration of life and new growth and fertility, and this year there were for the first time, <i>four</i> pregnant women!</div>
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Setting up for the group photo.</div>
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One of the things our friend group does best is cook, and cook we did. I'd say it was probably the best feast of any of the years we have been doing the party, so that was great. After everyone ate, the bonfire was lit and people stayed up late into the night enjoying the wonderful evening and company.</div>
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Polly and Marshall in Jon's dump truck.</div>
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Back in the garden we were still working on expanding the usable space, this time tilling up a section where corn will be grown, a crop we have not tried before.</div>
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As always, good food and good friends.</div>
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Life in the loft. A while back I insulated, paneled the walls and trimmed the windows in the loft with the reason being that by finishing a small section, I could live in it while working on the rest of the place. By square feet, its about the same size as my previous tiny house but lacks many of the features it had. That said, it's serving its purpose well and keeping me dry and comfortable as I work on the place. It's really been great how I've been able to reuse the desk/kitchen unit from the old tiny home, as well as much of the other materials, saves me a lot of time and energy!</div>
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This is a tree I took down on Shaw with Nicks help, looking down at him while I'm still on the trunk. It was a dead fir, maybe 110 feet tall and the largest removal I've ever done actually. It was a lot of fun though, and I got to use one of my new tools, a 1.5 ton capacity rope-puller that allowed me to pull it over against it's natural lean and where I wanted it to go instead. It did make me want to buy a bigger chainsaw though, since my 046 with a 28” wouldn't even reach through the thing when I was still over 40 feet up!</div>
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The main level of my place, all cleaned up and organized.</div>
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And the inter-island ferry, heading towards Shaw.</div>
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You know spring is here when you start seeing butterflies again.</div>
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It is still early, but the garden is coming along very well and we generally feel like everything is on schedule for a successful year. All of our irrigation is done using drip-tape, which is an extremely easy, flexible and water-efficient irrigation method, one I'd recommend to almost anyone growing food on any sort of larger scale than a backyard hobby garden.</div>
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Brendan makes delicious pizza (the dough as well) and these were no exception.</div>
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The arrival into Friday Harbor.</div>
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Lighthouse Point.</div>
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The sunset from the Westside Preserve, where I watched the sun going down as birds and seals played around us and the lights of Victoria BC twinkled in the distance.</div>
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Yah, San Juan is a pretty beautiful island as well.</div>
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Home on Shaw and it was back to work as usual. Here Nick is taking an “I'm exhausted” break from hauling brush.</div>
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With spring here the General Store has reopened for the season. It is basically just a small grocery store, and while I don't use it often, it's great to have it back open for little things from time to time. On this particular day, Nick and I were getting ice cream cones!</div>
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My work on Orcas is pretty fun, not only because I like climbing and cutting trees, but also because of all the wonderful places it takes me. A large portion of the work we do is at water front properties, so I have the chance to see some of the most beautiful parts of the island, places the general public never gets a chance to visit.</div>
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Proof it isn't <i>always</i> sunny and perfect out here in the spring/summer! An early morning ferry trip. The boat out of the Harbor and back to Lopez/Shaw/Orcas leaves at 6:10am, and on that particular early morning, it was so foggy you couldn't see 100 feet ahead of you. That said, it did clear up and become a perfect sunny day by about 9am!</div>
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Rather unexpectedly, I was offered a job on Shaw working for one of the mainstays of the community, Jack. Now there are very, very few jobs on Shaw because it is such a small place, so simply having work on-island alone was exciting, but more importantly he is a great guy and I know I'll have the opportunity to do a lot of new kinds of work and learn new skills in the process. On this particular few days, we built a new cattle fence across a meadow and I learned a great deal in a short period of time.</div>
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The garden is starting to look great!</div>
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Because this is the first year doing this much farming on the property, we are continually expanding the planting area. Again, here is Nick running the tiller for upcoming planting beds.</div>
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To the right of the tractor in the previous photo you can see a small wood building that was the old pump-house, sitting in the middle of the garden. Inside this building a pair of barn swallows have decided to make their nest and lay some eggs. I can't say they are too happy about us continuing to use the building as tool storage, but they are a lot of fun to watch fly around and I'm excited to see the eggs hatch. Also, it's fun to see the swallows have used chicken feathers for bedding!</div>
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Badminton break.</div>
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My sister Holly and her husband Rob were down in Washington from their home in Alaska for a visit and decided to come up to the island, along with my dad, for a visit. Rob was especially excited to come, because I've been up to Alaska twice to help him work on their cabin, and it was during the second trip that the idea for my current cabin was born.</div>
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At the top of my to-do list, and the thing I needed the most help on, was installing the metal roof. I've done three-tab plenty of times but metal roofing was new to me and I wanted help with the install so I didn't make any mistakes.</div>
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That same day a load of compost came for the garden, much needed soil amendments for the areas of grass that we had just recently broken up to transform into garden space.</div>
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The roof and chimney done! Thanks to the awesome help I was no longer being kept dry by a blue tarp, haha. Having these things done was such a relief for me, as the chimney and roofing were the two major things I'd been needing help to do, and were holding me back from making progress in other areas. With them now completed I was feeling a lot better about the project and can move on to other things I know how to do myself.</div>
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There was still time in the visit for more work, so as along with the chimney and roof, we finished all of the wiring AND all of the insulation! Not only that, but my dad and I finished putting up the cedar on the shower! Talk about getting some great help, I'm so thankful for what turned out to be a truly fantastic work weekend!</div>
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It wasn't all work with the family though, Holly and Rob went for a kayak one morning and a bike ride around Lopez, and the next day my dad and I went for a kayak as well.</div>
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Don, Holly and Rob, thank you so much for the help! Maybe next time you come, I'll have siding up, haha.</div>
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I'm still a little kid at heart, so I love finding and catching snakes (as well as other critters). We were moving some things around in the garden, and underneath some plastic sheeting and wood found a number of snakes, including this one who was very aggressive. After a few photos, we herded them away from where we were working so as not to accidentally hurt them.</div>
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Spreading compost on the lower expansion zone where tomatoes, peppers, squash and melon will be going.</div>
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In preparation for an upcoming road trip across Vancouver, BC, I decided to transform it into a bit of a camper, or at least to put a bed inside. Much to my good fortune, the bed and bed platform I built for the cabin worked inside the van with only minimal alterations, making for some very comfortable sleeping and a great deal of storage underneath, designed to fit the Rubbermaid bins I already had for easy organization.</div>
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Amazingly it was only the day before that Nick was spreading the compost on the lower expansion, and by the end of this day we had ALL of the beds formed, including making them into mounds for squash, putting in the drip tape and the plastic covering. Not bad work eh? I can't wait to get plants in the ground and watch them fill the space.</div>
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Thanks for reading everyone, I hope you are still enjoying what I have to share here. Be sure to check back for the next post, as it will focus completely on my road trip. The whole trip went great, with lots of beautiful scenery, fun small towns, good wildlife, friendly people and only one major instance of car trouble! </div>
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Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-63919812424298328742015-05-30T14:31:00.000-07:002015-05-30T14:31:02.864-07:00Getting Serious on the Farm<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I really do live in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Right now I'm sitting on a Washington State Ferry boat, looking out the windows at the water, countless rocky forested islands, blue skies and other ferries in the distance. It sure beats sitting in traffic on the freeway when you have places to go, that's for damn sure. As the good weather returns, life gets more and more busy. Work has picked up, there is a lot to do in the garden and on my cabin, and with friends and family coming up to visit regularly now it means the quiet months of winter are a distant memory. I sure don't have any complaints though, other than not having enough time, so that's good. This post covers about a months time, early March to early April, and with it done, for the first time in far too long, I can consider myself finally caught up on the blogging! It's going to be an amazing and wonderful spring and summer, and I can hardly wait to experience it myself and to share my journey with others. <br />
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With a decent sized flock of chickens on the property, a chicken tractor (a movable chicken coop open to the ground) was an obvious addition to our bag of tricks. Built using a kids swing set that was left behind when they bought the place, the enclosure was finally ready to bring down to the garden and test out.<br />
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Back in the garden there was a lot of prep work to do in order to start making the planting beds and get the veggies in the ground. One of those tasks was to weed-whack the winter cover crop, which was a bit of a messy job! (and shows why you should always wear eye protection)<br />
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Most of the area you see in this photo is new planting space, meaning not long ago it was just a grassy meadow. Lacking a tractor mounted rototiller at the moment, you can see Nick using the tractor with the backhoe attachment to dig and break up the sod, then we would break up the big clods with shovels, and after that were able to use the walk behind rototiller to really get the soil where we needed for planting. Breaking new ground is a lot of work for sure, but it's a satisfying transformation and everything will get easier as it is worked in the future. <br />
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After a day in the garden we all did dinner together and Ellen asked me to grab a “bouquet of kale” from the garden. It's still last years kale, but it looked and tasted great. Also, I think a 'bouquet' should become a standard unit of measurement, it's a pretty good one!<br />
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A bit later I got a call from a fellow islander saying their cat was stuck in a tree and asked me for advice. A number of my old tree climber co-workers have done a lot of cat rescues and told me about it, but I'd never done one until now. After the cats second night in the tree without coming down I was asked to get it myself as rain was coming. Luckily it was in an easy cedar to climb and although it fought me as I tried to get it in the bag, it was a pretty easy and successful rescue. <br />
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Back on the farm Nicks parents were up and we were tilling beds and planting potatoes.<br />
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Sara, Sazzy and a few other friends came up for a visit on this particular weekend and as always Sazzy cooked an amazing meal of Indian food for everyone. Seriously, it was one of the most delicious meals I'd eaten in months.<br />
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Although we are usually working outside (and putting our friends to work with us), on this particular day we were not feeling especially busy and combined with the rain meant that we decided to spend a rare day playing games and watching TV inside.<br />
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It turned out to be a lot of rain which made rather large puddles in our potato beds as well as others, necessitating a few improvised drainage ditches through the garden.<br />
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Back inside my place, I was adding a layer of plywood to the loft floor to sturdy it up.<br />
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And as always, you can find me up in the trees.<br />
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During a job removing some storm damage from a massive madrone tree a few pieces of branch wood caught my eye and I asked if I could keep them instead of them being turned into firewood. To be honest I'm not totally sure where I'm going to use them, but my idea is to build them into my kitchen counter. Let me tell you, in my world, it's easy to find cool pieces of wood and take them home for.... something.<br />
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The outdoor shower is still very much a work in progress at this point (it works perfect, it just doesn't have the cedar siding up), but I did get a chance to install the battery powered LED lighting I bought online, which looks amazing and creates an amazing effect when showering at night!<br />
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Ellen goofing around while planting asparagus.<br />
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A little pet-session with Plumpers, the semi-wild cat that lives on the farm with us. He is very skittish and for the most part you have to be sitting down and let him approach you in order to touch him, but he does enjoy the attention when he can handle it and it is always fun to give him a little love. <br />
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Nick, Ellen and Brendan thinning peas. At this point there are a few things in the ground, but nothing has really come up yet beyond some inch tall pea sprouts.<br />
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It wasn't an especially wet spring, but the garden was much, much wetter than we wanted it to be. In order to remedy this, our only solution was more ditches. And honestly, people always complain about this kind of work, and maybe I'm strange, but I really enjoy ditch digging! <br />
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A big moment, the final cleaning of the pond! Restoring this pond on the property has been an on again-off again project for about 18 months at this point, and although the work was almost done, it was on this day, using a chainsaw from a row-boat to cut a two floating logs, that we could officially declare the pond free and clear. We celebrated with a quick paddle around it and a cold beer. <br />
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Mid march and it was time to get the onions in the ground, all 2,000 of them, one at a time. Naturally this was very time consuming (and lead to some sore backs) but luckily for us, Boomer the cat was there to help.<br />
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Onion starts in the evening sun indicate a job well done.<br />
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Around this time we noticed one of the hens was getting broody, meaning she had fertilized eggs and baby chicks on the way! To make sure everything went well, she was separated from the other hens so she could sit on the eggs in peace as we all waited.<br />
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I just can't help taking pictures of the ferry boats when I'm in trees, it's an obsession I'll admit... This was a massive willow that was a good challenge to climb so the view was an excellent reward. <br />
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Getting some insulation done in my cabin. I love climbing trees and well, just about anything else, but ladders are not much fun...<br />
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On this evening, fire drill was to start at the station and time how long it took to get to the school and start spraying water. I can't recall what the final time was, but everything went smoothly and it's great how our tiny department is improving.<br />
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It was time for another visit to Seattle and as always that meant gathering building supplies. On this evening I was at my great aunts place gathering some boards that had been sitting in her garage for 63 years if I recall correctly. As it turned out, they were some wonderful, straight grain cedar and pine 1x12”s, and in perfect condition! Like the madrone branches I wasn't sure where exactly I was going to use them, but they will not be going to waste, that's for sure. My great aunts is also where I've been storing my VW which you can see in this photo, in need of some major work....<br />
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I'm always paying attention to the natural world, and today what caught my attention was this cute little snail traveling across my wood scrap pile. <br />
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Another day, another tree. This one my boss Austen climbed though, a pretty large fir right next to a house in Eastsound. Because it was over a landscaped yard and near a house, we had to lower every branch out, making it a lot more work than some of the removals we do, but it also made it more challenging and fun as well. <br />
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The peas and radishes are coming in!<br />
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Over in the garlic patch, things have been going well and along with the garlic, the other thing that has been thriving was this type of fungus. I don't know the name and doesn't seem to effect anything else, but it sure grows big and looks weird. Life comes in many forms, they are all fun for me to watch.<br />
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Work on my place has continued, and in order to move into it as quickly as possible I partly finished the loft area so I could stay up there while building the rest. To do this I did all the wiring and insulating, then put up pine 1x12” paneling which was material my dad salvaged and looks great. Some areas are not done in pine because they will be behind the bed platform, a built in bed table, closet and so on, and overall everything up in the loft looks great and is a taste of what is to come as my cabin gets farther along.<br />
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Back in the garden and hanging out harvest guard to dry.<br />
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So with the creation of my place, there is another large section of the property being seen and used, by me at least. With a place like this, what it means is a whole new series of clean-up projects. Now this is another of those things I enjoy doing, because it's fun to transform a brush covered and unattractive area back into beautiful meadow. For us what that meant was mostly just picking up downed branches, removing a few small trees and pruning a few others. <br />
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As always, good food is important to us and this is actually another wonderful meal cooked up by our friend Sazzy on another visit.<br />
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This is the same area from the earlier photo, but after the brush clearing, pruning and mowing had been done for the first time in decades. The other part of the project is that we are trying to clean up the fence line around the entire meadow, which is a very large area, but manageable when done in sections. The old fence is mostly trashed and in need of replacement, but to remove and replace it, we first need to be able to access it!<br />
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Still a work in progress, but this is the view from inside my shower, complete with beer holder!<br />
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Another islander had a water tank that they changed their mind on buying, and in an effort to improve the water situation on the farm (which is good but water needs are growing as more area needs irrigation) it was bought up. I have to say, they are huge, but surprisingly easy to move when you can just roll them around. Looked pretty funny driving down the road, but worked perfectly.<br />
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This time of year the wildflowers are in full bloom on Yellow Island, a tiny island a short distance from Shaw. It is owned by the Nature conservancy, has a pretty interesting history of a family living there and protecting it and now only has one small cabin with a caretaker. Brendan proposed he and I kayak out there to take a look and I excitedly said yes.<br />
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A rock covered in seals just before reaching Yellow.<br />
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Once on Yellow we met the caretaker who Brendan had a connection with and I was really blown away with the flowers. There were so many and in so many colors it looked almost unreal.<br />
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The island has a small network of paths to walk and given it's size, maybe two hundred feet wide and a few hundred long, it doesn't take long to see the whole thing. That said, it's worth taking slow and enjoying, because there is a lot of beautiful scenery.<br />
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I mean, how perfect is that?<br />
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As I was standing by the beach on the east end of the island, a cute little otter swam right towards me, looked around maybe 6 feet from where I was standing, then swam away, climbing through these rocks as it left. Very cool to see. <br />
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After Brendan and I had completed our exploration of the island, we paddled home to Shaw extremely satisfied, and with a new drive to do more kayaking out here. After all, we live in a world class kayak destination and to be honest I'm not really taking advantage of that. Well, something to work on I guess.<br />
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Back on the farm our friend Jon showed up with this cool old Ford dump truck and a full load of compost for the garden. Given that we are rapidly expanding the garden and breaking new ground, a big hit of compost is critical for soil building and successful vegetable growing, so along with this, there will be a lot more compost needed in the near future.<br />
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That’s the story for now, thanks for checking it out and I hope you are enjoying what we do up here. It really is a great lifestyle and something fun for me to share. These days the garden is really starting to come on, it feels like summer is here already and there are a ton of other interesting projects going on, people to get to know and trips to be had. Until next time! </div>
Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8203596201644775461.post-7737331709165609012015-05-14T10:44:00.000-07:002015-05-14T10:44:54.038-07:00Here Comes The Sun: Preparations For a New Home and New Farm<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">As I write this, I am sitting in the loft of my new cabin, overlooking the lush green meadow below and the maple that frames my cabin as it leafs out. Spring has sprung as the cliché goes and things are very busy right now. Work is picking up again as everyone is outside and thinking about their trees, the farm needs a huge amount of work in terms of expanding and planting the garden, friends and family are beginning to start coming up in bigger numbers again and of course I've got a ton of work to do on my cabin. It's a lot to handle, but life is good. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">After a big push to get the framing of my place done, it was time to head to Seattle, mostly to gather supplies yet again. As always on this project, my dad has been a tremendous help and happened to have a propane oven he salvaged that I could use. It was up at our family cabin at Snoqualmie Pass, meaning we had to push through a little bit of snow to get it, but it is the perfect sized unit for a small cabin and saved me a lot of money as well. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">Also while in Seattle I bought three 275 gallon water totes that I found on craigslist for $100 each. These will be used for storing rain water that will be collected from the roof, and will supply my sink and shower. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">While in town and with access to some better tools my dad and I cut some boards that would make up the loft. It was a dusty job for sure, and my cat Jack was curious what was going on.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">When I was looking at buying a vehicle to transport materials I debated for a while what was best and I have to say, I'm 100% convinced that a full sized van with a lumber rack is better than a pickup truck for just about everything. In my van I've got TWO 275 gallon water tanks (empty), an oven, dozens of boards, rolls of tar paper and countless other things all safe and dry inside. Then on the roof rack I had 25 10 foot 2x6s. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">Home again, by what was the most beautiful ferry rides I'd had in a while. Sometimes it seems like a hassle to deal with the boats to get places, but when it comes down to it, I love it and it's just another wonderful feature of this unique lifestyle.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">While it was still only January, it was time to get ready for the growing season. Part of the old chicken barn has been designated the 'potting area' and is where we meet up to plant seeds, water them in and bring them into the 'germination station' in the house.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">This is one of my favorite scenes on Shaw. The photo doesn't do it justice (they never do), but this is what it looks like in the morning sun as fog rolls over the meadow next to the community center, over the road and pours out into Blind Bay. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">Working on my roof. The cabin is generally a rectangle, but has one corner cut off on the meadow side to provide a more interesting and appealing shape. Rather than have the roof take the same shape as the building footprint however, the roof is a perfect rectangle, providing this overhanging section that is above the front door. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">Nick using the tractor to move some wood chips and put them on the road to the back meadow which was getting a little muddy.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">Nick, Brendan and I doing the tar paper wrap. I know I climb huge trees for a living and have no fear of heights, but ladders are a whole different thing and are way more dangerous! Luckily we had no troubles putting it up and with that done, I could start to work on the windows and actually sealing up the building.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">The San Juan Islands tend to attract a lot of interesting people to live up here, and this man was one of them. My boss and I had been removing a tree near the road and he came to ask for the wood. We ended up bringing it to his place, and he told us a little about himself. Born in Germany, worked as a blacksmith for something like 50 years, a woodworker, a pilot, a member of the local choir and a print-maker, he wanted to show us his antique printing presses which both Austen and I were excited to see. In his workshop, he had three different presses, one over 200 years old, and often carved the lettering by hand. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">Back on the farm, enjoying the pond and thinking back to all the work we did to actually expose it. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">One of our (rather new) traditions is the Super Bowl Sunday Shotgun Shoot. A few of us guys got together on the back meadow to shoot some clays and had a ton of fun. I hadn't done any shotgun shooting in a few years, but I think I hit something like 23/25 and was pretty impressed with myself! </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">The sleeping loft coming together. Because I had to install the beams before I had time to sand them, it ended up taking me like three days to do the sanding from a ladder! Looking back I would have easily traded a few hours of sleep for getting them cleaned up before the install. Oh well, live and learn. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">Exciting news for the fire department, we got two new fire engines! Ok, so they weren't 'new', they are hand-me-downs from the San Juan Islands fire department and are from 1986, but that still makes them the newest trucks in our fleet and they are great to have. With new equipment comes a lot of new things to learn, and working with these two trucks has been the focus of fire drill since receiving them.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">The decking for the loft is complete and looks awesome. Can't wait to be sleeping up here!</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">Ellen's dad up for a visit, here they are moving some t-posts to start on the garden expansion.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">Speaking of dads, mine came up again to help me install the windows. My views over the meadow are going to be awesome. The two large windows on the front wall are fixed windows and were acquired free here on Shaw form a neighbor as they were upgrading theirs. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">Last year the farming was done between two couples and two properties, but this year only one will be continuing to farm, Nick and Ellen on the property where I'm building my cabin. The obvious implication of this is that the garden needed to grow considerably, and after coming up with a plan that will hopefully provide space for the next two or three years of farm growth, it was time to start pounding in t-posts and putting up fencing. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">It's only mid-February at this point, but today was the first flats of plant starts in the greenhouse with many, many to come shortly. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">Me doing some tree removals for a fellow islander. I'm always happy when I get to work in something other than doug firs, because that's what probably 90% of my time is spent doing up here and it's nice to mix it up once in a while! (there was a lot more diversity of species and work back in Seattle, but that's ok)</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">There is a house that was going to be torn down on Shaw, and rather than doing that and hauling it away, the fire chief organized with the owners to let us use it for training exercises for a few weeks, then do a controlled burn of the entire house. Naturally I was extremely excited about both the training opportunities it would provide and about how cool it would be to legally burn down an entire house. A fringe benefit of doing this however was the fact that all the glass, appliances and other non-wood items were to be removed before the burn. Because of that, Nick and I were able to go to the house before the burn and salvage whatever we wanted. In the end we wound up with a huge stash of windows and doors mostly, as well as a handful of smaller items. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">Even in February we have large numbers of friends coming up to visit, which is lovely.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">As the old time wisdom says, 'plant peas on Presidents Day' so we did just that with the help of our visiting friends. With peas in the ground, that marked the very first seed in the ground this year, a big and exciting moment!</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">More work on my place, here is a shot of the roof overhang with all the soffits done in cedar. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">Working with Nick and Ellen to weed the garlic beds which are looking wonderful.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">Now this was one of those sights that can never be adequately captured with a camera, one of the biggest, most color-rich sunsets I've seen in a very long time. It was like the entire sky, 360 degrees around you was deep blue and pink and purple. It was one of those moments, for just a few minutes, where all you wanted to do was stand outside and watch it before it disappeared.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">A quick walk down South beach with Brendan and the dog he was sitting.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">That same night it was a particularly low tide so Brendan and I returned to the beach to explore it at night looking for whatever fun creatures we could find. Using his hip waiters, Brendan headed into a kelp patch and found hundreds of nudibranch, collecting a few in a bucket to bring back to the sand and examine. I've gotta say, nudibranch are pretty much the most alien looking creature I've ever seen in my life...</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">My temporary home in the chicken barn, until my cabin is ready to move into. It was pretty easy to re-use all the furniture from my tiny house and re-purpose them, making it a very painless process to move.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">One thing I haven't had for oh, the last 4 years or so, was a great place to shower. Becoming tired of that, and knowing I had a place to settle for a while I decided to build myself an awesome outdoor shower below my cabin. It is based on a 4x8 platform, with half going to be the shower, and half a porch, with the whole thing overlooking the meadow. It's going to be pretty awesome.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">Some of the first starts moved from the germination station in the house to the greenhouse outside. Ar sign it's getting warmer out and that the growing season is about to come very quickly.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">Doing tree work in the San Juans often takes me to incredibly beautiful places and this day was no exception. Working for the Land Trust, my boss and I headed up to Turtleback Mountain Preserve with our chainsaws to do habitat restoration for garry oak trees in the area. What happens is that doug firs grow faster and larger, out-competing the native oaks and eventually killing them off. Our job was to go out and cut down firs to give the oaks the space they needed to survive and thrive. We spent a full day dropping trees (and we didn't have to do any of the cleanup!) in this beautiful place, and will be doing more in the future.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">Here is some progress on the shower. Taking a cue from the shower back where I used to live, I sealed the shower box (except for the bottom few inches) using heavy duty plastic sheeting. What this does is trap the heat of the water, creating a steam-room effect in the shower that makes it far more comfortable to use year round. The large window overlooking the meadow is one we salvaged from the house we are burning down, and the next step is to put up all the cedar siding to make it stronger and far more attractive!</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">A work shot, looking down from a tall, skinny fir removal.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">So this was an exciting, but ultimately uneventful day. Around lunch time, my fire pager went off to report a smoke alarm and potential structure fire on Shaw. Any time my pager goes off when it's not the noon test page, my heart starts to race and the adrenaline begins to flow. Usually it's a medical call and is dealt with by the EMS team (aka, not me) but this one was actually for a possible fire. Nick and I raced to put on our gear and head down to the station, where a few other guys had already begun getting the trucks ready. As I drove Engine 51 towards a possible house fire, trying to get prepared for anything, we got a call on the radio indicating it was just a false alarm and to stand down. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb-rk4hTQSemWke1yvlHpbZrr0emI_BD56wkdhqWGphkQ1_LiCkuK-wmpcP7GJCyC4eRjCwF-MAvV7NJaHguGYQyJV9QwX0ySeO4uBhlLsPtdn3y9LdPJqPhBePNhvpiBS5uT4schLz3OZ/s1600/P2090392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb-rk4hTQSemWke1yvlHpbZrr0emI_BD56wkdhqWGphkQ1_LiCkuK-wmpcP7GJCyC4eRjCwF-MAvV7NJaHguGYQyJV9QwX0ySeO4uBhlLsPtdn3y9LdPJqPhBePNhvpiBS5uT4schLz3OZ/s1600/P2090392.JPG" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">So at the moment because it's such a long run from the power source to my cabin, I don't have enough power to run two things at once. What this means at night, is that I can't run the big construction lights AND a power tool at the same time. This is a hassle for night time work, but that's what headlamps are for right? (and no I was not cutting towards myself, this was just a posed photo!)</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">The ducks, wandering the property together. I really love having animals on the property, so many funny little personalities that to me at least add a lot of joy to life out here.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">On a sunny Sunday morning, it was finally time for the big event. After weeks of training and preparation it was finally time to do the controlled burn with the fire department. Conditions were perfect: clear skies, a slight breeze blowing the smoke away from us and over the water, and mud free ground to place out trucks and other equipment. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">Nick had the honors of lighting the house, which was done with a few gallons of diesel and some road flares in the kitchen. From ignition to this photo was only THREE minutes, that's how fast the fire spread and it was incredible to watch. We had all of our trucks set out, with lines to all four corners of the house to keep the fire contained. One of our tasks was to protect a little birch tree that was near the house which I was sure was going to catch fire, but thanks to favorable winds pushing the heat away and Mikes use of water, it escaped any damage.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">(photo by <a href="http://wingtrip.org/">Brendan McGarry</a>) </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">This is the side of the house where the fire was started from, the left corner. Two portable fans were blowing on the house to direct heat and smoke away from the sheds we were protecting, and two fire department members were stationed on this side with hoses.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">30 minutes after ignition, the house was almost completely gone. Here I am with my hose (and GoPro mounted to my helmet) keeping my corner of the house contained. I had to spray down a lot of grass to the north of the house to keep things safe and contained, but everything went perfectly.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">About 40 minutes after ignition, the house was probably 95% gone. One small wall was still standing, and did for a surprisingly long time, but the rest of the house was nothing but ashes. Overall, doing this burn was an invaluable training and learning opportunity. Getting to watch the fire behavior will help all of us in the event of an actual fire, and spending time with the equipment is always a good thing. A number of community members came to watch and feed us coffee and treats which was lovely, and ad the end we all gathered for a group photo. What a cool day. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">As always, seeing reptiles is a sure sign of warming weather and spring on the way. And I'm still just a little boy, I love catching snakes and other critters.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">On the cabin front, on this day I installed the final window. Id originally planned on using different windows, but when those didn't work out I had to make other plans. That of course meant a trip to Seattle to look for the right thing, but a second use store had just the right thing. It required re-sizing the opening of course, but all in all, is a better window and a better option anyways. This window will be over the kitchen area, looking out into the moss covered forest. Getting the final window installed was a big step that felt like some real progress. With that done, the building was almost sealed up and one more step closer to moving into. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;">That is is for the moment, thanks for reading. Coming up in the next post is, well, more of the same. There will be a major push to get the garden ready for the growing season, more work on the cabin and property, rescuing a cat from a tree and a gorgeous kayak trip. Life is great right now, the sun is shining, friends are coming up to visit and progress is happening all around. I'm so happy I've found my way up to this amazing little island with this wonderful group of people, and right now I can't see myself living any other way. </span></div>
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Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15014853908348413382noreply@blogger.com