Fishing Part II: The adventure

I just got back from a week long camping/fishing excursion with BJ, Brad, and Ben. I wrote about my desire to go, and the excitement of going last month.

Unfortunately, I was silly and didn't check the batteries in my camera so the only camera I had was my cell phone - and I didn't have a charger for that, so I turned it off most of the trip. Which (bummer!) means I don't have very many pictures.


We had a special guest on our flight to Seattle. In 1969, a pilot was declared MIA. Last year his remains were found in Laos, and they were sending his remains back to his family.
There was a water cannon salute as we landed in Seattle. (Fire hoses spraying over the top of the plane. I'm glad I knew beforehand what was going to happen - otherwise the firetrucks, police cars, and water spraying at the plane would have been unnerving.)
We stayed in our seats while the Air Force officers got off the plane and then accompanied the body out to the waiting family. I can only imagine how it must have felt to get that phone call. "Your son (husband, brother, dad, friend) has been missing for 45 years, but we found him. We can tell you a little bit about what happened to him."

The fire cannon salute followed by the firemen and other officers saluting as the hearse came to pick up the soldier's remains.

We got off the plane, got on a train, and rode into downtown Seattle. We met Brad at the train station. We walked through downtown Seattle, carrying our fly rods, on May Day. (Apparently May Day is a big deal and there have been riots in Seattle there every year for a long time. We found out when we got back that the police presence seemed to quell the desire to riot enough that nothing happened this year.)

We met Ben at his office, jumped in his truck and drove to "The Ford".
It was a rather bleak looking place at first. Dry, sagebrush and rock covered ground. The campsite was a parking lot with an outhouse. Just over the hill was a huge spring fed stream with BIG rainbow trout in it.

Besides the fish, I saw a rattle snake (coiled and rattling at me - about two feet from my leg. And I stood there trying to turn my phone on in the hopes that I could get his picture. He turned and slithered away before it came on... Dangit.)
Muskrat. They're funny little critters.
Turtles. Swimming in the water. I thought they were rocks at first, but they were swimming. Then one came to the surface about five feet away from me.
Frogs, Toads, Bullfrogs. Mostly I heard these more than saw them.
Pelicans - both brown and white ones.
Many other birds, bugs, and small critters.

We fished for about four hours that night. I might have gotten a couple hits. (Fish nibbling on the fly), but I didn't see them. Everyone else kept fishing long after the sun had gone down, but I don't know how. I couldn't see a dang thing!

Sunset was spectacular. Brad's "super tent" is in the corner.

We camped for two days, and spent the time fishing, talking, eating, laughing, and just being. Both Ben and Brad are smart funny. It has been a long time since I have laughed that hard for that long.

In the two days at the Ford, BJ caught one. I caught one. Brad caught four. Ben caught two. Brad and Ben are used to the fishing having much more catching involved. Lucky for me, there are lots of things I enjoy about fishing, catching is only one of them.

We also did a guided float trip down the Yakima River. (Two people per raft, two rafts, two guides. The guides do all the work: rowing, tying flies on, keeping line straight, and telling us where to put our flies in the water.) BJ out fished everyone by a lot, but everybody caught some, and it was a great day.

The four of us on our lunch break. (For the record, Ben reminds me of David Spade. They look a little bit similar, but the way he tells stories... if he wasn't a brilliant engineer, he could totally be a comedian.)

The scenery was beautiful. The company was great. We switched around boats, so part of the time Ben and I were in a boat together, part of the time BJ and I were together, and for a very short time Brad and I were in a boat together. I loved that BJ and I weren't expected to be together the whole time. I liked being able to just go wherever and do whatever.

BJ had caught six or seven before this one, but this is the first one I saw him land.

This was a screenshot of a video I was taking. I LOVE this face... and the bend in his rod, and you can see the strike indicator hovering above the river. Unfortunately, the fish got off. (The guide couldn't find a place to pull over and accidentally put BJ into a tree...)

 After the trip, we went to "Praise the Lard" which is what Ben and Brad call their favorite restaurant. (I think it's real name is Cottage Cafe.) The hash browns are to die for. The french toast and strawberry jam were pretty darn good too.

We had planned on camping one more night, but we ended up going back to Brad's house and staying there instead. That gave us a chance to visit with Brad's wife.

After an amazing breakfast cooked by Brad, we went to the MOHAI (Museum of History and Industry) in Seattle. The museum has several exhibits, and we saw only a few of them.

We spent most of our time in the Timeline: a history of people in Seattle, which is really the history of people in the US. I love history. I read a lot of books about history, and it was cool to see all of the "stuff" they had displayed: old diaries and journals, games and toys, propaganda pictures, (a copy of) the treaty of 1855 between several of the Native tribes and the US Government, etc.

There was a Revealing Queer exhibit... which left much to be desired. I know you can't put everything in to a small exhibit, but they left out a lot. (If you're going to define Queer as anyone that doesn't fit normal sexual identity, you should probably mention (at least) pansexual, asexual, etc... but the pictures were cool, and it was interesting to see the timeline of change.)

My favorite part of the exhibit was a wooden plaque where they asked people to use post-it notes to share the issues they are dealing with. They had another one that asked people to use a word to describe their identity, but that one was less powerful for me.

After the museum, Brad dropped us off at the airport, and we flew home.

Walking through the airport with fly rods is a different experience. People stop and talk to you about fishing - even people who don't fish asked us about where we were going, what we were fishing for, and that somehow went into conversations about work or family or horses.

Sitting in the Seattle Airport - the end of another grand adventure.

It feels good to be home and to be back to work, AND I can't wait for our next adventure: Camping in Moab with BJ's sister and her husband. And then we are going to Yellowstone to see my brother in plays (and to fish and explore of course). And we're going fishing, camping, hiking, riding, all over the place this summer. AND BJ's daughter is expecting a baby boy, so BJ will have another grandson (his third). And... probably a whole bunch of other things I have forgotten.

A waterpark in January! (This is my kind of work.)

We took a business trip to Phoenix last week. Phoenix, AZ - and 70 degree weather. So, we decided to take a few extra days traveling, and we had a lot of fun.

We went hiking and fishing on the way down. Then we got to the hotel, set up our booth, played in the water park, went shopping, read (sitting by the pool in the sunshine). That evening we had a "social" for everyone at the trade show.

There was excellent food, a hot air balloon ride, a beer-toting-donkey, "old west" pictures, s'mores, a huge telescope (we looked at Jupiter and got a very short astronomy lesson), Native American dancers and drummers, donuts, and sitting around the campfire.

The trade show went great for us. I couldn't have written orders any faster - more than thirty new accounts in five hours. BJ's son came to help just as everything was slowing down, then we went out to dinner with BJ's son, daughter-in-law, and adorable 1 year old granddaughter. (They moved to AZ just recently.)

We drove on the Carefree Hwy, through NOTHING, visited the Hoover Dam and Lake Meade, visited BJ's sister, and finally had lunch with my brother before getting all the way home.

I could get used to playing in water parks and taking hot air balloon rides as part of my work.
(And now a photodump.)

It turns out, my camera has a function that I can do remote viewing with my iPhone. I took this picture - the camera was just sitting on a rock, I posed it, focused it, and TA DA!

Nat was an awesome guide. I didn't notice this in the moment, but BJ pointed out that Nat spent more time guiding me than she did him. She put me on all the fish first, and him second. I have been out with guides many times with BJ... usually, it's just the opposite. They all put BJ on the fish first and make sure he catches the most fish, and I am an after thought. Although I feel like I should feel bad, I loved the time she took to teach me and help me.

FLOWERS! In January. I needed that.

Sun. Books. I needed that too.

 Hot air balloon ride. It was cool looking over the Scotsdale Valley.

S'mores!

A quick selfie of us all before we got back on the road. (My brother just moved to Southern Utah to go to school. SUPER excited for the experience he is getting there, and I miss him. A lot.)

Even the bathrooms are beautiful in a place like this.

Us. On the river. With our boat. And huge red cliffs behind us. (This is one of my favorite places. I love it here.)

These are the only fish pictures we took. My last fish of the day.

BJ's last fish of the day.

 

Macro lens = extra awesome fish picture.

A waterpark in January. (Just enjoying the lazy river.)

A rather organic and incredibly perfect process

Here's a completely non-hypothetical question, but can we just pretend it's hypothetical for a few minutes?

Two people are really good friends. They live in the same house, but have separate bedrooms.
They spend time together - no one is really sure when they "fell in love" with each other, because they have loved each other deeply for a long time.

Both people needed time to sort out themselves, and living in the same house, but not being "together" was very conducive to the individual work they each had to do. In the process of the individual work, it became a work on their relationship... a rather organic and incredibly perfect process if you ask me.

Then they went camping together and on a cruise together and other vacations where they shared the same space. And it just seemed natural to sleep together.

So, when they got home and kept sleeping in the same space, does that mean they "moved in together"? And if you start sharing a room with someone, do you need to announce to the world that you are sleeping in the same bed? Is that anyone's business?

Well... anyway... if there needs to be an announcement made, consider this my announcement.
And if there doesn't need to be an announcement made, then this is just about the silliest post I have ever written.

Alaska photo dump

I went to Alaska!
When we got back, there was so much work to do, I haven't had time to do much of anything.
My horses are getting fat; we haven't been out on the trails, and all they do is eat on the pasture all day. I haven't been fishing. BJ and I have spent a lot of time with his kids and grand kids.

There's so much I want to write about... I miss blogging, but for now... I am just going to dump some pictures on you. Between BJ and I we took more than 500 pictures, so I'm not sharing even close to what we have: Just a few, so that I can feel like I have shared some of this amazing trip with you. I often say, "I'll come back and write about it later," but I rarely do, so don't count on it.

Just know: The trip was amazing. The scenery was gorgeous. The time spent with Todd and the family that went too was better than anything I could have ever imagined. Time spent with Todd's family was fun. Words don't do any of the experience justice.

And now: The picture dump. 

We rode in a dog sled. Or a dog cart. 16 dogs running at 20mph dragging the six of us (and a musher) behind them. BJ has the same giggle when he's behind a dog sled as when he has a fish on. I love that giggle!

BJ was the only one that caught a salmon in our group. The rest of us all caught little Dolly Varden. Just fly fishing in Alaskan wilderness was awesome for me. I need to go back JUST to go fly fishing and exploring.

BJ's Pink Salmon

I'm smiling in this picture, but I was really upset. I just realized I had lost my camera. After already dropping my phone in the ocean. I thought I had lost every picture I had taken thus far, and the ability to take more. I was horribly bummed... but my phone (and everything saved on it) survived, and someone found my camera. HUGE sigh of relief.

Just me, standing in front of our plane as we get ready to go back to Juneau, and then get back on the cruise ship.

Coming in for a landing.

Some of the scenery in Tracy Arm Fjord.

Dawes Glacier

I love going to art museums and such with BJ. He is a sculptor himself, so he has a better understanding of what it takes to do what these artists have done. It amazes him, and I love watching him be amazed. (I also have a better appreciation of it all, and feel my own feelings of amazement now too.)

So... In Oregon, there is a street called Mellen Street. I really wanted to take a picture of the street sign. I was practicing on the signs coming up to the Mellen Street sign, just to be sure I got the picture. I have several practice pictures, but when it came to the actual sign, the camera just didn't go off... Therefore I didn't get the Mellen Street picture. I still wanted Mellen (my sister's nickname) to know I was thinking about her, so I took a lame picture of a freeway exit sign... Do you feel loved yet Mel?

This is where we had dinner on our way from Portland (to visit BJ's brother and his family) to Seattle (to get on the cruise ship).

Waiting for my parents to come find us at the car rental place. It looks like I'm slobbering or something...

Everyone waiting in line. BJ and I got through the line first. We hadn't printed out our boarding passes in advance, and we didn't know how much that would delay us, so we didn't wait for everyone else... Turns out it was no big deal, so BJ flashed his "Sea Pass Card" at all of them, I took their picture, and we got on the boat without the rest of the fam.

Just us... in front of our cruise ship.

REAL LIVE HORSE RACES. So much cheesy stuff happening on the ship, but I enjoyed it.

Bowser... from Sha-Na-Na. I actually owned a few Sha-Na-Na CD's, so I was pretty excited to see this concert. It was even more fun than I expected.

Everyone with their cameras out.

BJ and I with future mushing champions.

All the swag we bought. Mostly for BJ's kids. A few things for my brother and sister that didn't come, and a few things for friends. (That reminds me. I haven't given it all away yet. Sorry for the spoiler to the two people that haven't seen what I got them yet...)

Empress hotel in Canada... Mostly, I was really excited to be back on land. Two days at sea was a long time.

Weird looking, but fairly tasty, dessert

Playing combat croquet with BJ's brother (and his son). BJ and his brother have a lot in common, and it was fun to see the two of them together.

Mi Madre

I look like I'm trying to model or something... I don't know what was going through my head...

Some scenery

The tide had come in...

Scenery

Our guide decided we needed a picture of both of us... which I appreciate. I forget to do things like that.

BJ in front of our plane

The Mendenhall Glacier from our plane. The rest of my family hiked here while we were fly fishing.

Zack taking pictures

Alaska!

BJ, myself, and Zack in the rain in Alaska

Towel animals

We spent lots of time just reading and chilling

Fly fishing with BJ's uncle in Washington. I felt like at any moment, a dinosaur should just walk out and greet us... the forest just felt pre-historic.

I never encountered any dinosaurs though.

Just BJ, Brad, and Ben.

This is the sign in front of the river we were fishing in... comforting, eh?

I didn't realize we were making the exact same face... but we were...

We could totally be cruise entertainers.

David Jake was our waiter. He took good care of us.

BJ's brother Matt, his wife Donna and BJ and I.

They totally look like brothers, huh?

I played with the shutter speed on my camera to get this effect.

Welcome to Skagway!

On our way to Musher's camp.

Dogs!

He got sick. This is his effort to look especially pathetic. I was there, and still his eyes break my heart.

This bird liked BJ's leg and foot. It just climbed right up...

This dog reminded me of my sister's dog, Sadie, so I took his picture.