We're Back!

Well, we're back and we 'escaped' Montana just before freezing and snow hit the Lincoln area. I had a great time with Karen. Camping with my sweetheart in such beautiful country is fun and relaxing, not that we have anything all that stressful to relax 'from' now that we're retired in Roseburg OR! We enjoy nature and we saw a lot of it ... some a little too close for comfort!

We got to spend time with Son Matt and his wife, Heather, both at our first campground (Trout Creek near Superior MT) and for a couple of days at their house in Coeur d'Alene ID. It was our first opportunity to check out their new (first!) home, a beautiful house and property short blocks from beautiful Coeur d'Alene Lake! (I admit to being a bit jealous!)

Trout Creek campground is where we had a close encounter with a brown bear in our campsite. I was about 14 feet from him when I first noticed him and a few minutes later I got a close-up look at him from about a foot (through the trailer window). Don't care to be closer to a bear than that! FYI, according to a forest service expert, if you want to scare off a black or brown bear carry a soda can with coins in it to rattle at the bear.

Karen and I spent one week in the Trout Creek campground followed by three weeks in the Aspen Grove campground near Lincoln MT. We arrived at Aspen Grove the day they stopped collecting camping fees so our accommodations cost zero there. They turned off the main water faucets but that campground has a well (hand) pump that stays available and they kept the garbage and vault toilets open. Therefore we didn't have to 'dry camp' ... had all the amenities available that we needed to have a wonderful time. And the weather cooperated ... too well in fact for fishing. I had a really sweet time with Karen and we were sad to leave Aspen Grove a couple days early but snow was imminent so we didn't have much choice.

We saw lots of beautiful MT scenery on various 'scenic tours' and had lots of fun just spending time together playing cards ... even took in two Lincoln High School football games. Karen and I enjoy scenic tours so much ... we're so fortunate to live in this country and have such natural beauty to appreciate up close. Saw lots of wildlife which is always fun. Then we left MT just as Fall colors were setting in. While we didn't get to see the colors at their peak it was still a good display to appreciate.

For most of our time there the temps were well above normal (92 degrees on the Missouri River one day ... very warm for mid-September!) which made for lazy trout not too interested in taking the flies I tossed their way. I got to add six(!) new rivers to my list of MT rivers fished: Clark Fork, Fish Creek, Blackfoot, North Fork Blackfoot, Dearborne, and Sun River. Fished the Missouri previously.

Got Matt out on two fly fishing float trips alone with me for the first time. We had such a good time together ... soooo sweet! I love my sons and value every opportunity to spend time with them and get to know them better as adults. The fishing trip was fun for both of us but, for me, it was 'just' an excuse to spend time with Matt. I had a great time with Heather too while Karen and I stayed at their house. What a cool young lady she is! Smart, responsible, compassionate, and beautiful inside and out. She certainly blesses us. Can't close without mentioning fun time with their pup, Johnny Cash, a cute and energetic Boston Terrier.

It was a terrific trip. We're already looking forward to our next adventure in God's great outdoors!

Trippin' W/Karen

I'm planning to do some camping with my wife, Karen. I'm getting excited about spending time with her in God's great outdoors! We always have such a good time together wherever we go so it'll be fun. What a blessing it is that we share a love of the outdoors and that we still have good enough health to enjoy camping. Now if only we could get a break in the price of gas!

We're planning to spend a little time in Montana in areas where we haven't spent much time yet. Our usual routine is fanning out around the area where we camp and see whatever sights there are. We'll just hang out a lot too. We'll play a lot of games, especially rummy. Maybe I'll win a few games ... for a change! Whadda ya think, Hon?

I hope to have opportunities to get in some fly fishing, one of my favorite activities. Not many places one can go and have such an abundance of good fishing rivers available as in Western Montana.

Son Matt and his wife, Heather, with their Boston Terrier pup, Johnny Cash, are planning to join us for some camping together. We enjoy all the time we're able to have with them but we haven't done this together yet. We're really looking forward to it. In addition, Matt and I are planning a guided fly fishing trip on one of Montana's many good streams. It'll be sweet just to have one-on-one time with him regardless how the fishing goes.

By God's grace we're able to enjoy retirement this way. Time away together. Time with family. Sweet!

What Nature of Person Does This?

Top pic above: headed West on highway 89 in California about 30 miles before you get to McCloud ... beautiful scenery including Mt Shasta in the background.

Bottom pic above: HUGE pile of trash right next to highway 89 a mile or two from where I took the top picture. What nature of person does this? It's disgusting. It's sad. Sad to think a person can live in this great country God has blessed us with and do this. Sad to think what it means about the country we're becoming. (I had no way of cleaning up a mess of this size so I reported it to the Forest Service.)

Got Better Things To Do For A While!

No more blogging for two or three weeks while I'm away on a camping/fishing trip. (Check my previous blog for the what, where, who of it.) I'll be Tweeting however. :-)

P.S. I miss you Sweetheart!

Where I'll Be Tomorrow

The Fly Shop in Redding has this pic on their website of someone fly fishing the Upper Sacramento River. HA! This could be me tomorrow. I'm hoping to get the trailer set up in a campground early enough to do some late-afternoon fishing and then I'll have a couple of weeks to do more of it. Looking forward to it. Not looking forward to being away from my wife. Will miss her a lot ... although these trips do have their compensations. ;-)

I'm Also Stoked About Trips With My Sons!

These are my sons, Chris (left) and Matt. I'm excited right now because I'm working on plans to go on fishing trips with each of them individually this year. Fishing trips like this are mostly a good excuse to spend time together without the distraction of home and work responsibilities. Private time together with my sons to share whatever needs to be shared. Time to get to know each other better as adults. I'm so stoked about this and will be posting updates as things come together.

The basics of both trips are coming together. The most likely logistics got established by the fact that Karen and I want to experience Fall in Western Montana (ref blog posted 01/24/09). Since Matt lives in NorIda (what Matt's wife, Heather, calls North Idaho) it will be really convenient to work in a trip with him in the Fall as part of the trip Karen and I want to take up thataway. Current plan is to spend three days with Matt in the Helena area in mid-September probably fishing the mighty Missouri as much as we can. At least one full-day guided fly-fishing float trip is in order as we're not familiar with that area. Having a guide for at least one day will give us a leg up on the how and where of successful fishing there.

That means the trip with Chris will be in the Spring, late May most likely but I need to guess when the rivers will get lower and clear up. The duration's not established yet. We've talked before about meeting half-way between here (Roseburg, OR) and his home (San Jose, CA) so the Quincy, CA area is a logical choice for that and other reasons. Since he's working he can get there reasonably quickly compared with anywhere in Oregon, which maximizes our time together. Also, it's an area where I've fished several times before so we won't be wasting time trying to figure out where and how to fish. This works out well also because that time of year is good fishing in the Quincy area. I will plan to arrive in the area at least a week before Chris arrives so I have time to scope out where the fish are getting active and would likely stay there a while longer following time with him for additional fishing/exploring on my own.

For both trips I'll be taking our trailer, both to save on lodging/meal expenses and for the camping experience it affords. Updates coming as things firm up.

I'm Stoked For Trippin' W/Karen

Ah, retirement with the love of my life! We'll be vagabonds more this year. Gotta see Western Montana in the Fall so we'll definitely do that this year. Northeastern Oregon, which we've never been anywhere near before and a line of lakes in South-Central Oregon between Crater Lake and Klamath Falls are possible trips too. Not sure we can do all three this year because we prefer settling in each area we visit for 3 weeks or more. We'll see.

Our trailer, a 25 1/2 foot Nash, is very comfortable for us and we prefer staying in federal campgrounds where we're close to nature and good-natured, down-home people who also love slowing down to appreciate God's handiwork. Fly-fishing is always on the agenda for me everywhere we go.

Will post more info on these trips as the planning progresses. For now it's fun to anticipate the adventures in store for us this year.