July 4, 2007

The right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness were guaranteed to us in our founding document by those brave men who saw fit to throw off tyranny by sacrificing their lives, liberty and happiness, in many cases. We should guard those rights jealously while realizing there are those who would take those rights from us even at the cost of their own life, liberty and happiness. We should always honor those men and women who did and have protected our country down through the years and continue to do so even now. While the enemies have changed, their goal has not--extermination of the U.S.A. and everyone who believes in what she stood for in 1776. There are even those within our own government who would change our nation into something the founding fathers would never recognize and for which the founding fathers would once again rebel. The founding fathers believed in self reliance, limited frugal government and a strong defense against our enemies, internal and external. The cost of liberty begins with eternal vigilance.

Once again it was off to the shower upon waking at seven thirty. The sun was hiding behind skies that were mostly clouds but the rain was gone. Big doings were going on today at Castaway so hopefully the rain would stay away.

The paper had arrived by the time the shower was over. Inside the paper was an American flag, sponsored by Saturn, about two feet by a foot and a half. We placed it our window.

The school was closed for the Fourth so there was no swimming today but we had Cheerios and banana anyway since we were looking forward to a large meal in the early afternoon. Our usual coffee and tea were sipped as we worked the crossword.

Onie cleaned the kitchen and went to work on the fruit salad that she had volunteered to make for the community lunch. Our daughter, Dawn, called yesterday. We missed the call. Now I called her back and we visited about her and Colby’s summer in Manvel, their home, and the beach.

While Dawn and I caught up on family news Onie cleaned the kitchen and worked on the fruit salad for the community lunch, at one.

Down on the fish grate lots of activity was taking place but nothing was being netted. It was true, there were more fish in the river than in past days, but ten times a small number is still a small number and besides, there weren’t ten times more fish in the river than there were yesterday. A guide had put out the word that reds were jumping down stream and headed toward us. Like drowning men hoping a toothpick can save them, the fishermen were hoping to catch one of a couple thousand fish, in a river that is miles and miles long. If there was one fish every thousand yards of river bank it would be a lot compared to what was there.

With the fruit salad completed Onie went out to put her new flowers in the planters with the tomatoes, dill, parsley and chives. A few of the bulbs we had planted sometime back were also coming up.

With the flowers watered and in their new home we headed off to lunch. Lots of folks were already gathered on the deck.

Arrayed on several tables were stuffed fresh jalapenos, deviled eggs, deviled eggs stuffed with smoked salmon, two bean salsa, chips, potato salad, grilled chicken, brats, fruit salad, pasta salad, chocolate cookies, rhubarb pie and chocolate anniversary cake celebrating Chuck and LaVon’s thirty four years of wedded life. Their anniversary is actually tomorrow.

Frank and Inger sat with us and we talked about her land of origin, Sweden, and immigration. When the festive party wound to a close we were both stuffed. Taking the small portion of the fruit salad that was left we walked toward  the coach in a light rain.

On the way we wound our way through the park taking pictures of the amazing variety and color of the wild flowers growing here.  These are just a part of the beauty of Alaska that brings us back year after year.

It was two thirty and with the cloud cover the afternoon temperatures were already falling.

Inside the coach we started the Floyd Cramer CD and then sat down at the computers. A note was made that Sonny had hooked a red this am but didn’t land it and we all know close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and dancing. Fishing isn’t included and one can’t eat what is still swimming in the river.

With me still plinking on the keys Onie adjourned to the bedroom to watch LMN. Plugging along the writer was able to finish week six and then spend some time with Tom Clancy.

Outside the river runs.

July 5, 2007

Eight thirty is a good time to rise wherever one happens to wake. This morning we woke in Alaska and after waking I tripped off to the showers under heavy clouds. Moisture filled the air forcing the humidity up to what felt like forty or fifty percent and making the fifty two feel much colder. Just to be sure we hadn’t been teleported back to Lake Road I took a good look around. Behind me was the river and past that, barely visible in the low hanging clouds was the Chugach Mountain range. We definitely were not still in Texas and it sure didn’t look like Kansas, Toto. The humidity and temperature were just fooling with me. I trudged onto the showers where the hot water chased the cold from the well used bones and muscles.

On the way back to the coach they got cold again.

Onie had the coffee and tea made. The paper came in with me. As Onie made biscuits and heated sausage, hot tea and the paper kept me company. The front page of the Anchorage Daily News was filled with coverage about people racing up and down mountains. These are organized races not just impromptu things done by people trying to get rid of cabin fever. That fact didn’t strike me as particularly odd as people tend to adjust their games and test of skills and endurance to fit their environment. What was odd was no reports of skullduggery in the government or some unfulfilled woman protesting a war her son had volunteered to participate in.

Nor were there any other stories about parents who can never let go of their children and try to control them even from beyond the grave. That control is called a trust that the child, regardless of age, never controls. Of course it could be argued that some people need a trust so they don’t become penniless due to ignorance or worse just plain stupidity. Some parents are able to finance their children into high public office, where they drive drunk, steal, kill, use illegal drugs and commit various other minor crimes while maintaining their office and feeding from the public trough. Some of the folk even become U.S. senators. Well the paper was interesting, especially the comics. B.C. is wonderful.

Steaming biscuits soon distracted us from the TV, playing without sound but with closed captioning, and the newspaper. They were replaced by the serious business of breakfast and working the two crosswords the paper had brought.

Outside it looked like the sun might be going out as it was getting dark, in early July, at Castaway. Onie opined that it looked like it might rain all day. That was unknown but it looked like if it didn’t rain it would miss a good chance. Before the dishes were done the rain started.

We had not watched GSN, the Game Show Network, for many days. We turned it on and crawled under the covers, the temperature was dropping, to warm up and watch a few shows. Outside the rain pounded on the coach.

As the hours passed the rain continued and it became apparent that there would be no walking today. Onie got out one of her exercise videos and worked up a good sweat while I exercised by typing. The rain continued and we stayed with the Game Show Network until late in the day when the sun finally began to shine.

When the sun showed up our appetites came with it and we had half a cantaloupe apiece. That wasn’t enough so we had a large salad, the chicken we grilled the other day and some limas and okra.

Properly fortified we went to the fish grate to try our hand at the reds. Earlier in the day, in the rain, Sid had caught the first red from the grate and we were hoping to duplicate his deed. After half an hour or forty five minutes we decided the rest of the fish had either moved past us or hadn’t yet reached us. We went back to the coach.

The sun was giving some much needed warmth and light to the flowers Onie had planted yesterday. They were looking nice and perky even though it was cool.

While Onie watched Fox News I was typing and trying to finish up the story for today. Over my right shoulder I watched a little, too.

With the clock hands approaching ten we had a little ice cream before brushing our teeth and retiring to the bedroom. Later we turned off the TV and went to sleep.

July 6, 2007

Slow mornings don’t seem to go with swimming so this morning we rushed through our Cheerios, bananas, coffee and tea before heading off to the pool, while filling in the blanks of the crossword.

By ten thirty we were immersed in the pool doing our exercises, hoping to regain a little of our vigor. An hour and a half later we showered and dressed.

Refreshed we headed off to Trustworthy Hardware in hopes we could replace the rod part that was lost when Onie hung a red. Scott, one of the managers, said that no part was available but that in a few days he might have one, check back. We will.

Soldotna Computer was our next stop. Onie’s laptop began making some strange noises a few days ago and then refused to boot up. After much coaxing and gentle talk it seemed to have failed completely. We hoped the guy at the computer shop could diagnose the problem and correct it. With a brief examination he pronounced the hard drive, DOA. A transplant would have to be made but fortunately there would be no waiting for a donor. He had one waiting on the shelf and could have it installed by tomorrow afternoon. We would be back then to pick it up.

It is very difficult to pass Safeway without stopping in. Today we were unable to resist its siren call and went in to pick up a few items.

Hair grows night and day. Have you ever seen a person go bald around their ears but have a thick growth on top of their head? Neither have I but that is the way it should happen. Then time and money wouldn’t have to be wasted on haircuts. The hair around my ears grows faster than the weeds in our flower beds and today it was showing a penchant for covering my ears. We stopped for a haircut but had to make an appointment for tomorrow before heading home.

A new hard drive in Onie’s laptop means that all her software will have to be reinstalled, including the operating system. She found the ISO, whatever that is, as well as the Windows XP startup disk info on our external hard drive. She had backed up and it paid off.

Strawberry Frank had developed a problem with his right shoulder. The range of motion had been restricted to the point that he can’t do the work to smoke fish. We volunteered to smoke some for him. This afternoon a trip was made to his and Bea’s house to pick up the fish for smoking. While there he showed me his big garden, over two hundred strawberry plants, several rows of potatoes, some green onions, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, green beans and other vegetables as well as rhubarb.

Back at the coach we decided to go back to Soldotna Computer with the CDs and external drive so that the repairman could install the software once the new drive was installed.

Did I mention that it is hard to pass Safeway without stopping? This time we stopped to get wooden skewers before heading on home.

Onie sat outside relaxing, relieved that she would soon have an operating computer again. Richard and Mary came to visit. While at the coach they and Onie put together a hike, for next week, to go watch salmon climbing the Russian River on their way to their spawning grounds.

Inside the coach I visited with Gary and then Polly.

Outside with Onie the grill was prepared to cook our supper. No sooner had it been fired up than a rain and snow storm blew in.

The rain was the real thing but the snow was ersatz, being "cotton" blowing out of the cottonwood trees.

Onie had readied shrimp kabobs for supper and they were put on the grill while we ate our avocado. When the kabobs were ready we feasted on the shrimp, onion, mushrooms, tomato and broccoli that were strung on the skewers and then Onie tuned in LMN.

After making a few more notes I picked up the Tom Clancy book and finished it before heading off to bed at twelve fifteen.

The rain had stopped but the cold it had ushered in stayed.

July 7, 2007

It was eleven in Coldspring, but eight here, when the shower hit my back. Outside the sun shone brightly warming the morning air.

The coffee and tea were started at eight thirty and the oatmeal followed at nine. The daily crossword was filled in before LaVon brought by the mail. When the mail was opened we turned our attention to Frank’s fish.

We took the fish outside and opened the frozen packages before cutting the fish into smoking size pieces. While that was taking place Onie mixed the ingredients for the brine and then the pieces were placed in the brine. An inverted plate was placed on top of the fish pieces and a gallon milk jug filled with water was placed on the plate. This was to hold the fish down in the brine.

With the first step of the smoking process taken care of we went into town to check on Onie’s computer. It wasn’t ready at one but would be before Dennis, the computer man, closed his shop for the day.

The hair appointment was for two o’clock so Onie dropped me off and went back to Soldotna to pick up her laptop.

It was ready and had some software installed.

On the way back to pick me up she stopped in at Freddies and picked up some more shrimp, like we had last night, and replenished our smoking supplies. She also picked up more cherries and some nectarines.

Back at the park, with my ears lowered, we fished for a bit before heading off on our walk. As you may remember we are stretching the distance we walk, each day. Today the stretch put us over the three mile mark. Along the roadside and in the woods the wild flowers continue to bloom and our living calendar, the fireweed, is half bloomed out in many places. That generally means our summer is half over and we are nearing the mid point of our trip. It hardly seems possible but here we are in the middle of week seven out of probably a total of sixteen. This year we have our own private fireweed plants next to the coach. These are volunteers and in addition to the ones we transplanted.

Transplanted Fireweed

Early fireweed blooming outside our dining area window.

Resting from our walk we played a few games before the grill was started for our evening meal, steak, corn, broccoli over the charcoal and mushrooms and onions from the kitchen. Meals like this mean we will have to keep walking.

While Onie cleaned up and reconfigured her computer I lay down to watch Heehaw and Foxworthy on CMT. Somewhere along the way sleep caught up with me and I missed the last of Heehaw and the first of Foxworthy. Somehow I didn’t think my intellect had suffered from napping during the shows.

Refreshed, but no smarter, I went to the grate, in the rain, to fish with Duaine. Onie was still on her computer. Rain brought better luck and a tiny trout, about four inches long, managed to get on my line giving me my first catch of the season. Hopefully things will improve as we move through July. A few minutes later a little bigger fish of a different variety bit. A fifteen to twenty pound king hit hard, spooled off about twenty five feet of line, jumped in the air, waved goodbye and continued his trip up river. Not wanting an anticlimactic finish I tucked my hook in a rod eyelet and headed for the Marlin. It was ten.

Onie was still working on her computer but she stopped long enough to help me take the fish out of the brine. While the paper was placed on top of the freezer Onie rinsed the brine off the fish and placed them to drain. In a few minutes they were placed on the racks to dry with the dash fan blowing cool drying air over them.

With that part of the smoking process on going Onie went to watch TV, LMN no doubt. Outside the rain continued to fall. By midnight the rain had the best of Onie and she turned off the TV, snuggled down in the covers and went to sleep.

In the quiet with the rain keeping me company I read until two.

July 8, 2007

We were up by eight. In a light sprinkle Onie went off to get her shower. When I stepped out to get the paper it was fifty three and the sprinkles were still falling. While the coffee and tea brewed a couple of links of sausage were put on to boil. When Onie got back from her shower I toddled off to get mine.

After the coffee and tea with a little sausage we dressed for church and headed off.

Fish Drying. Onie Ready for Church

The message, "Are you talking to me?" was brought by a deacon. His text came from Genesis, Samuel and Noah. It was an unusual message but well prepared and well delivered. It dealt with hearing what is said from the pulpit.

We had received a nice letter, Thursday, thanking us for visiting. We had filled out a visitor’s card the Sunday before. Today as we were leaving an older gentleman met us at the door of the church and gave Onie some spiced coffee and me a bag of trail mix, since I don’t drink coffee. He thanked us for coming and invited us back. First Baptist of Sterling is not a large congregation but it is big in heart and warm in friendliness.

We were home by twelve fifteen and settled down to enjoy our treats, Onie her coffee and me my trail mix. Actually we shared the trail mix and Onie kept all the coffee. Chai tea helped wash down the trail mix for me.

The sprinkles had gone away and the sky held a few ragged clouds keeping the temperature down to sixty. It could rain again.

After the snack the next step of the smoking was began. The smoker was set up, the racks cleaned and sprayed with Pam, the fish loaded on them and then the racks were placed in the smoker.

The pan that holds the wood, apple, had three pieces placed in it and it in turn was placed over the cal-rod in the bottom of the smoker.

Apple wood cut at our friend's (Ted and Priscilla Gotto) home in Maine.

The door was put in place and the electric cord was connected. The actual smoking would begin as soon as the wood was heated sufficiently. We had a thermometer which we would use to try to keep the interior of the smoker between one hundred forty and one hundred sixty degrees. In a little while smoke was coming from the smoker and we were underway.

The instructions say to smoke the fish for four to six hours. At the end of that time our fish was still too moist so we continued with the heat. Smoke is only generated during the first two hours. After that it is just dry heat. As the smoking continued we tried to analyze why the fish was still so moist. We came to the conclusion that to remove moisture to the degree we prefer we will have to brine the pieces, in the future, for twelve hours. The salt in the brine actually removes a lot of fluid from the fish and the longer it stays in the brine, up to a point, the more fluid is removed.

At the end of eight and a half hours we were satisfied with the fish. The smoker was unplugged and the fish removed from the racks and taken inside to cool. When it had cooled enough we put it in Zip Loc bags where it would stay until we took it back to Frank and Bea.

While I had been tending the fish, one has to keep a close eye on the smoker as the temperature can fluctuate wildly if the air turns cooler or the wood for smoking catches fire, Onie had been working on getting week five of our journal ready to post. She had included two short video clips, taken by Duaine, of the launch and retrieval of the Kamikaze boats. This was a first for us and if it is well received we will try to include more in the future. After she had everything ready she went off to the laundry room, the wi-fi signal is very good there, and uploaded the week and then checked to be sure it had loaded properly. When she returned she reported that all had gone well and our first ever video clip was up, with sound.

While the fish had smoked, under my watchful gaze, and Onie had worked on week five the telephone had been busy, too. Larry Croft, the halibut guide we like to fish with had been called. Also David Matthew, son, Jim Johnson, friend and neighbor, sister, Martha, and brother, David Benjamin. A business associate, Mike Rivera, was also called to take care of a few business details.

We must have been in a smoking mood because when we were finished with the fish we fired up the grill and cooked, smoked some, boneless skinless chicken breast. While it was getting done just right we had a very large salad and then ate some of the chicken hot off the grill, at ten.

It has been said that fish can not be caught unless one fishes and that sounds reasonable. Still wanting to catch a first red of the season I headed off to the grate. Sometime later I returned to the coach still harboring the same desire.

Months ago I had undertaken to read a lengthy biography of Alexander Hamilton. Although there had been numerous interruptions since the beginning the book was never abandoned. From the reading facts were learned never discussed in high school or college history. A few interesting things to note in passing; Hamilton was a bastard, born in the islands, probably St. Croix, and was very touchy about the subject. He was an outstanding student in college but never finished, quitting to join Washington’s army in the war for independence. He became Washington’s most trusted confidante, and a general himself, and by the end of the war was replying to Washington’s correspondence for the General. The general did read and sign the letters but rarely if ever did he alter them. Hamilton is responsible for our monetary system, mint and banking industry. He was active politically almost from the day of his arrival in New York City.

The man who killed him, Aaron Burr, was also a lawyer and they had worked on cases together although they were on opposite sides of the political fence. Before and after Hamilton’s death Burr worked to lead the northern states to secede from the Union fearing Virginia and other southern states had too much influence. He even tried to interest the British in helping him overthrow the U.S. government. Burr developed a great dislike, some would say hate of Hamilton, as Hamilton bested Burr at every turn and was the favorite of New York inhabitants. In their duel, Hamilton fired into the air, wasting his shot, while Burr apparently shot to kill. He had practiced for many days prior to the duel so he could be sure he could deliver a killing shot.

Burr was twice indicted for murder as a result of the duel but was never tried as he was, at the time, Vice President of the United States. Hamilton was a married man with seven children at the time of his death at the age of forty nine. Burr, about the same age was a widower engaged in dalliances with several married women as well as single women and it is reputed with one or more of his slaves. Had today’s medical technology been available to Hamilton he might have lived to an old age. Tonight the book was finished and laid to rest. Tomorrow I shall start another.

At two o’clock Mr. Hamilton et al were tucked into a shelf and I in bed.

July 9, 2007

Onie was up at eight and fixed the coffee and tea. A short time later I got a cup of tea, in bed.

When we were both wide awake, and the paper had been retrieved, we sat down to the crosswords and cheerios and bananas. With the easy Monday crosswords completed we dressed and headed for our swim at Skyview High School. This morning the life guard was Colin, a red scraggly haired young man who is congenial but on the quiet side never speaking unless spoken to. Perhaps so many of his elders are intimidating to him but I get the impression he is just not interested in talking.

After our swim and shower we headed off to Safeway and Freddies arriving at home at two.

In addition to our normal Monday cleaning chores was added the task of cleaning the racks from the smoker as well as the smoker itself and then storing all of it back in its box under the coach. After the groceries were in the house and Onie was occupied with them I took care of the smoker detail.

These chores were completed just as LaVon brought Saturday’s mail. She is very conscientious about seeing the mail placed in our hands never being satisfied to just leave it in a chair under our awning. Mail here is almost always very light the advertising and other junk mail not being forwarded to us.

Now we stripped the bed and sorted the weeks wash before heading to the laundry with it and both computers. It had been a week since there had been a wifi signal on my laptop and email had been stacking up. Onie, too, needed to retrieve her email. While the wash sloshed and spun we worked on the computers pausing to put the several loads into dryers before continuing with our reading, replying and deleting. Two hours later the email had been finished along with the clothes.

Before returning to the Marlin with our clean clothes and laptops we visited with LaVon, in the office, for a while. We had moved there with our computers when the laundry had been finished.

Back home we stored our clean clothes before doing a quick rearranging of things inside and then pulling in the slides. Even though we have wooden pads which are larger than the jack pads underneath the jacks, the coach still settles as the gravel below us shifts. This in turn allows the coach to become unstable and uneven. To alleviate this problem we have to retract the jacks and then redeploy them to level and stabilize the coach. It will remain fairly level and stable for a week or so before more gravel movement renders it shaky and uneven again. This shifting of the gravel is probably exacerbated by the constant shaking of the ground here. Even though one rarely feels it seismologist tell us that the ground here in Alaska is moving almost all the time. It has been severe enough, over the years, that on a couple of occasions that I have felt it lying in bed.

With the slides out again but with rugs and furniture still off the carpet Onie took the opportunity to vacuum while I visited by phone with our friend, Jim Johnson. He had asked me to check on the availability of cabins next year and I was relaying the info to him as well as catching up on Coldspring happenings. This desire to know about events had been acquired back in the fifties when we greeted each other with the question "What’s happnin man?" or "What’s shakin?" to which a standard reply would nave been "nada or just the leaves".

The vacuuming and phoning at an end, preparations were begun for supper. Onie was preparing a chicken pasta salad and the writer grated cheese to go on top. Grating cheese is something he can usually do without messing it up.

The day had been long and productive but it had sapped our energy so at nine o’clock we retired.

July 10, 2007

The seven thirty shower got me a little wetter than had the drizzle that was falling on the way there. Refreshed and somewhat dry back at the coach coffee and tea were set to brewing, by the author. My helpmate rose at eight and went for her shower, in the rain. While she was gone the grits were started. When she returned the bacon and ham along with the eggs were cooked to complete our breakfast.

The gentle sound of the pencil filling in the crosswords was drowned by the louder sound of rain falling on the roof.

The phone rang. It was Martha with an update on her health. She was recovering nicely from her surgery, she sounded just like herself whereas last week she sounded very different, and in addition her cardiologist called her with her test results. Her heart was perfectly normal although I personally think it tends to be on the soft side. We were glad for the good report and enjoyed the phone visit with her. She is scheduled to return to work in another week.

Our younger brother, John, is doing well but brother David is still having problems with his blood pressure. It is all work related and if he ever decides to retire his problem should go away. Some of us think the problem will go away when we close the lid on him as he doesn’t seem inclined to retire now, or ever.

Richard and Mary came by at ten thirty to see if the walk to the Russian River Falls was still on. It was raining steadily at Castaway but being the optimist the scribbler pronounced the trip a go. We would leave in an hour and take our rain gear and some snacks. A good time would be had by all even if we walked in the rain.

At eleven thirty we loaded the wagon not worrying about the mules and pulled out of the park. The drive, about forty miles, to the Russian River Falls is back toward Cooper Landing and Anchorage. The rain stayed with us for a while and then began to taper off. Soon we were riding in the sunshine with blue skies overhead. While we kept a sharp lookout for animals we chatted and the miles rolled by, with no animal sightings.

At the park we used our Golden Age Pass to get in free but, we had to pay parking, half price.

The drive to the trail head was but half a mile. We took the last parking place. Hikers showing up after us would have to walk and additional three quarters of a mile, each way.

Richard donned his backpack and we took our umbrella, there was no rain but it looked like it could develop before we returned, and camera.

With Onie and Mary in the lead we headed off toward the falls. Along the way we encountered a ptarmigan hen and her five chicks.

A close-up of one of the chicks blending well in its environment.

Our pathway was lined with flowers of all sizes and colors.

Walking we were sometimes accompanied by a few rain drops which encouraged Mary to don her rain coat.

The trail is one of gravel overlaying the rocks that have been cut down to a relatively smooth surface with not too much incline or decline. In other words it is a trail to accommodate the very young, the very old and those in between as well as bicyclists who use the path to take in camping supplies. It also hosts groups of youngsters on bikes, out for a nice ride. We met all of the above on our walk.

Strolling along at a leisurely pace and stopping for many photographs, including one of a tiny trailside waterfall,

we managed to cover the two point three miles to the falls in just over an hour. At the falls we stayed for a while, batting down mosquitoes, looking into the swirling waters below. In the eddies one could see sockeye salmon resting on their journey to their spawning beds. In one instance the writer saw a fish jumping through the white water as he fought his way upstream.

Salmon pooled while waiting for their trip up the falls.

Hiker No. 4 at the Falls.

While at the falls we had a light snack and a bottle of water, furnished by Mary and Richard. Snacking and drinking at an end we explored a little further down the river, off the maintained trail. Richard and I ventured down to the river’s edge to get a moose or bear’s eye view of the tumbling water.

Out of photo-ops, perhaps, but more likely due to flagging energy we began our walk back to the car. On the way we stopped to look at a place where the river divides. On the little island formed by the division stood a group of beautiful wild flowers.

While the walk hadn’t been particularly long or strenuous each of us were glad when we got back to the car. With rain gear shed and the backpack stowed we drove off to the campground to find a place for a picnic lunch.

No picnic in the wilderness is complete without a latte for Onie so we drove to the closest shop where the three adults indulged in high octane coffee and yours truly had a Chai tea. Properly pampered and comfortable we set off for our drive home by way of the Upper Ohmer where Richard and I got our and walked back to the lake and cabin. He was sure that he and Mary would come back and spend at least a day and a night there.

The trip was stretching out longer than we had planned but we finally started for the RV park, in earnest arriving there at seven with the sun still high in the sky.

Chores never seem to get done by the good fairy. As a result when we got home the blue boy detail had to be tended to before I headed off to try my hand at the fish. The time could have been spent in a more productive endeavor elsewhere as there appeared to be no fish in the river.

Dennis and Sandy came by to visit and we were soon joined by Richard and Mary. Later still Stu and Shirley came by.

Tired from the exertions of the day we turned in at ten.