Montana Highway

 

 

 

Wyoming snow fence.

 

Washington to Colorado map

 

If only

 

 

If only Jesse could learn to relax.

 

 

Now we’re in Montana.

 

Washington to Colorado map

 

Halfway there.

 

Oh Darn

 

 

There’s poop in the yard.

 

Oh wait.

 

That’s deer poop.

 

Cool!

 

Now we’re in Idaho.

 

August Washington to Colorado trip map

 

 

We’re on our way back to Colorado.  The couch we bought in June has finally arrived at Vanlife Customs, the installer we’re working with in Arvada.  We have a date with them next week.

 

How many people

 

 

How many people get to hold an American Kestrel

 

 

 

…..and a Great Horned Owl

 

 

 

…on the same day.

 

One of Andy’s responsibilities is to supervise animal mitigation efforts.  Lucky for me, the wildlife biologist in their employ caught an owl and a kestrel this morning.  I got to go talk with him while he banded them.  He records all the specifics then carries them an appropriate distance away for release.  If they get them the right distance away, most of them don’t come back.  If they do come back and they get trapped again, the birds will be in the database.

 

Andy, you rock!

 

We did some creative routing

 

 

We drove back to Edmonds by way of Aberdeen, Shelton, and Kingston and took the short ferry ride the rest of the way to Edmonds.

 

Portland Drive Map

 

Jesse, still rocking the camping vibe.

 

Judy still rocking the ferry boat ride vibe.

 

 

Another visit

 

 

Drove down to Portland today to visit Elisa and Solomon.

 

Waited for traffic to clear through Seattle, then made it there by lunch.  Had a nice time.  Had some good food.  Talked and talked and talked.

 

 

 

Jesse came with us.  We walked the dogs together.  She was in this picture too but wasn’t tall enough to make the frame.  She and Solomon bonded immediately, and he is now her new best friend.

 

It’s quite a journey Solomon is on.  It took over two years to get his travel visa to come from Ghana to Portland so they could get married.  (They thought about getting married first, before he got his visa, but that would have slowed down the process even more.)  Elisa can travel freely, so she was able to fly over and spend some time with him while they waited for the visa.  Now that he has his travel visa though, he can be here, but he’s not allowed to work.  He can live here and enjoy it, but he can’t settle in and get a job, he can just visit.  Ironically, with a travel visa he’s not allowed to travel either.  If he leaves the country, he loses his status and can’t come back without starting the process all over.  Well, now that he’s been here over a year, he just got his work permit, and has been able to get on as a host at Red Robin.  Now life in America is opening up more for him and while he works at Red Robin he can consider what other work opportunities might open up for him.  He has some experience in sales and he knows a lot of tech stuff.  The next step, after some time at this level, he can get his permanent residency card.  A few more years after that he can apply for citizenship.  What a process, but he’s determined enough to do it.  Both of them are determined enough.  It’s a joint effort and it’s so nice to watch them work their way through all this together.

 

Elisa still works for Wells Fargo where she has for at least eight years.  After Solomon got here, they moved to a larger apartment, but only a block away from the last apartment so it wasn’t hard to find them.  Visiting, walking, eating, talking, it didn’t take long to run out of time.  Judy and I left Portland before dark and drove partway back north to stop for the night to camp at Paradise Point State Park in Washington.

 

Portland Drive Map

 

Kyle

 

 

Kyle has been working his way up to do an Ironman triathlon.  Swimming, bicycling, running.  Two miles, 100 miles, 26.2 miles.  All in one day.  He has placed well in swim meets and runs up to and including the marathon distance.  He has done triathlons up to the half Ironman.

 

The day finally came for the full Ironman today.  He’s at an event in Penticton, Canada.  Except that the lake water was too cold.  Out of safety concerns, the organizers had to cancel the swimming portion.  They went ahead with the rest of it though.  We got to track his progress with our cellphones all day long, by way of the gps tracker on his bib.  Kyle completed the bicycle section in 7 hours, 17 minutes.  He pulled out of the marathon at about 15 miles though.  Having the swim cancelled and sitting around for the next four hours might have thrown off his mental plan and eating.  This was one of the hilliest Ironman routes.  He says he might do more hill training next time, and maybe choose a flatter event.  We hope he is as proud of how much he has accomplished so far, as all of the rest of us are of him.

 

Edmonds Saturday Market

 

 

 

Cool and rainy, and the flowers love it!

 

Hurricane Ridge

 

 

The view from the top.

 

 

We found a newt walking next to a trail.

 

They’re not very big, 6 inches.  I blew him up for the picture.

 

 

Now we’re back in Edmonds.

 

2024 August Camping Week

 

Dungeness Spit

 

 

Forest trails.

 

A scenic overlook

 

The Dungeness Spit is a 5 mile walk to get to the end.  We didn’t go all the way.

 

Fog rolling in.

 

 

We left Texas to stay out of the heat.  It stayed cold here all day.  At one point we went back into the van, turned on the engine and ran the heater on high to warm up.  We have sleeping bags that are rated to 30 degrees.  We stay toasty all night, even when it’s cool out.  Saw an orca.

 

Another day

 

 

Another campsite

 

Still at Deception Pass State Park

.

 

 

 

Jesse hiked four miles today.

 

Correction

 

 

I may have given a false impression that we got a kitty.  Mister Kitty is already Christie’s cat.  Jesse is very wary of Mister Kitty at Christie’s house.  We didn’t add to our own menagerie.

 

Now we’re at Deception Pass State Park.

 

Camping week map

 

 

 

 

 

What are the chances

 

 

Still thinking about Lewis and Clark.  They were on a mission to find the fabled Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean, starting with locating the headwaters of the Missouri River.  After months of travel, naming rivers as they go, they came to a spot where the river split into three.  It seems to me they could have determined one of those rivers to be a continuation of the Missouri and named the other two.  Instead, they decided that the Headwaters of the Missouri was the confluence of these three different rivers.  What are the chances they stood there at that aquatic intersection discussing their options and said “I’m feeling a little tired of following the Missouri, how about you?  What do you say we just name all three as different rivers, declare their confluence the headwaters, call it a day, and move on!”

 

 

Jesse and Mister Kitty getting to know each other

 

 

 

We took a therapy day

 

 

A ferry ride to Kingston.  Crepes.  Walked around the parks.  Ice cream.  Walked around the harbor.  Talked to strangers.  Thought about Henry.  Talked to strangers about Henry.  A ferry ride back to Edmonds.  It was peaceful.

 

Henry

 

 

He stretched it out as long as he could, eight months, but he ran out of time today.  He didn’t have anything left.  It was a peaceful leaving.

 

 

Our first day with him.

 

He worked hard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Played hard.

 

 

 

 

Rested hard.

 

 

Big brother to little Jesse.

 

 

And helped around the house.

 

He has been a very good boy.

 

He was fourteen.

 

A walk in the woods

 

 

 

In the Pacific Northwest.

 

New trees sprouted from the stumps of harvested old growth.