Montana Countryside

Our boy, Chase started school today - hope it was a good first day for you!!!!!

 

They talk about the Big Sky of Montana and it is a true description of northern Montana.  This picture does not do it justice - the brilliant blue of the sky with the yellow gold of the wheat.  It was really beautiful countryside.

We saw lots and lots of fields with round bales of hay.  We tried to tie a couple on top of the van for Kurt but they were too heavy to lift.  Sorry, Kurt.

 We came across a sign across the road that said "Road Closed" but there was a highway man standing there so we pulled up to talk with him.  Actually the road was open but there was a prairie fire and smoke across the road in an area up ahead.  We could see the smoke and then the actual fire.  At times the fire was in the ditch right next to the road.  You could feel the heat of the fire and hear the crackle - they only allowed traffic on half the road but we had no problem with smoke.  There was a good breeze from the north blowing it away from us.

This is what I worked on the week we came home - the downstairs bathroom was pretty scuffed up so put some new paint on the walls - it's a yellow gold and looks very nice.

 Guess who are coming tomorrow evening - 6:14pm to be exact.  DeAnn, we WILL be there to greet you.  I know you said that last year we weren't there when you got off the plane but then after making us feel guilty, we find out that the flight was 10-15 minutes early.  Not my fault!!!

After we pick up DeAnn and Katie, it's off to Culvers for supper with Aunt Jen and Aunt Jan.

We're looking forward to having the two of you.  Only thing that would make it even better is if Sam and Holly (and I guess John too) would be coming along.

 

See you very soon.  Love to you all,

Gramma and MOM

Herman the Sturgeon

This post is dedicated to my most very favorite 11-year old in the whole wide world.  While at the Bonneville Fish Hatchery, we had to go see their most famous fish.   Herman the Sturgeon who lives with several other sturgeon and some trout in his own pond with big underground viewing windows.  This sturgeon is painted several places on the sidewalk leading up to his tank.

 Herman the Sturgeon is 10 feet long, weighs over 450 pounds and is over 70 years old.  He was quite impressive.

Chase and his dad are sturgeon fishermen and do a lot of fishing for this particular species in the St. Croix River.  I've seen pictures of Chase laying on the dock next to some of the fish they've caught and the sturgeon was as long as Chase is tall.  Chase is a catch and release sort of guy  --  I'm not sure if sturgeon is very tasty anyway.

So Mr. Chase, what do you think?  It was fun seeing this big fella and knowing that Chase would have enjoyed seeing him too.  I tried to get a special  Herman the Sturgeon souvenier but they didn't have any - couldn't believe it.

Well, that's it for this Labor Day.  We've had a great day - went to the Hills Christian School for a pancake fundraiser breakfast.  We saw LOTS of friends from that area that we haven't seen in a long time.  Sam, you would not have liked it because Grampa and I stopped to talk to people a lot.
Then on to Larchwood for a high school rodeo - we met my cousins, John & Judie there so sat with them and their granddaughters and enjoyed the events.  Ran into our nephew, Elmer and Laurie on our way out so visited with them before heading to Culvers for a late lunch.  Had to go there because you get a coupon on the back of the sales slip that entitles you to free ice cream the next time you visit AND since DeAnn and Katie are arriving just after supper time on Wednesday, we thought we should have at least one free coupon.   Came home, took a short nap and I watched a Waltons special while folding laundry from the day before.  Like I said, it's been a great day.

Hope you all had a good day as well.  Love to you all,
Gramma and MOM

Columbia River Gorge

Thursday, August 23

We left Kelso and headed toward Portland and the Columbia River Gorge.  As I mentioned yesterday, the Columbia River is beautiful.  You can take the scenic route on either the Washington or Oregon side since this river is the dividing line between the two states.  We took the Oregon side because we wanted to see their waterfalls.

 

The first waterfall we came to was the Wahkeena Falls.  I was trying to take a picture of it and this man across the road was hollering at me and then walked toward dad who was already across the road and down a little hill.  I walked over and here he was trying to tell me that across the road was the perfect place to get a picture of the whole falls.  He was a volunteer with the Oregon falls area.

Just a short distance down the road was Multnomah Falls - the height of the upper falls is 542 feet and the lower falls is 69 feet.  It was beautiful and very popular.  DeAnn had told me about this falls and how pretty it was.  You were right, DeAnn. 

 Dad took the path to the little bridge that went across the lower falls.

 Just another short distance down the road was Horsetail Falls - here's dad reading all about it.  He loves to read every placard and sign whereever we go.  In fact, he even likes to read the newspaper through the little window in the newspaper stands.  If it makes him happy, fine with me.  I can always find a bench to sit on.

 This tree was located right next to the falls and it had moss growing all over it.  Might be a little difficult to see but it was interesting.
It was across the street from these falls that we had our cheese and lunchmeat sandwiches along with some fruit and yogurt.

The gentleman we met at Wahkeena Falls told us we really needed to stop at Bonneville Dam also.  This dam was built by Franklin Roosevelt's CCC during the depression.  We listened to a ranger talk about the building of the dam and the need for it.  When it was originally built, they put two turbines in it and felt that would be enough to supply that area.  It has been enlarged twice since the 1940's and serves something like 900,000 homes.  In fact he said there are so many dams on the Columbia River that it is at capacity.

They had a fish ladder at the dam also.  I'd heard about these but had never actually seen one.  There are three people who sit behind windows next to the ladder and "count" the fish that swim upstream.  They not only count the number of fish but what kind and whether they are fish from a hatchery or from the wild.  The ranger said it is a very popular job and they never lack for applicants.  They use a little counter gadjet with at least 8-10 buttons on it. 

 

The falls man also told us that there was a sturgeon named Hermie that is at the Fish Hatchery at Bonneville Dam who weighs 450 pounds and is over 10 feet long.  Well, you'll have to wait til later to find out about Hermie.  Chase, Grampa and I went to visit Hermie and take his picture just for you.

 

I'm going to take a little nap now and then put the basement bathroom back together again.  My paint looks very nice - bright and cheery.  I just finished doing a "deep" cleaning down there.  I've decided that cleaning is just not all it's cracked up to be but I have special company coming.

 

Have a wonderful long weekend!!!!

 

Love you all,

Gramma and MOM