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Three Brothers — Wenatchee & Leavenworth, WA; June 30 – July 9, 2017

Of the five surviving brothers of Barb, three now live in Washington State: Dan, George, and Hugh.  We spent an enjoyable time visiting them and seeing some of the beautiful area.  Knowing that we intended to be in the area for some time, we had, three weeks earlier, arranged for the cracked left pane of the RV’s windshield to be replaced in Wenatchee.  Alas, the replacement windshield was delayed and had not yet arrived when we did.  No matter, the brothers and their families were attentive hosts, and that part of the world is gorgeous.  Early in our visit we took a side trip northward along the Columbia River to Chelan, where we visited the  Fielding Hills Winery before continuing on to Manson for lunch.  When we returned to Wenatchee, we joined the pool party/cook out in progress at the home of Dan and Candy (they also own a home in Leavenworth), already attended by the extended families of all three brothers.  George and Hugh have separate businesses in construction; Dan & Candy together own an Italian restaurant in Wenatchee and another in Leavenworth perhaps more well know:  Visconti’s.  I say only half jokingly that Dan must have some kind of hormone problem:  in addition to the two aforementioned restaurants Dan and Candy also have two additional eateries in Wenatchee in the Pybus Public Market — a Gelato and Crepe shop called ICE, and a Pizzeria called FIRE.  They also have several additional businesses in Leavenworth: a cheese and sausage shop, an open-air sausage “garten” a gelato shop, and, believe it or not, down in the basement of Visconti’s, a facility for making their own sausages, called CURED.  See what I mean about hormones?

George and Hugh seem similarly afflicted:  among other things they have each been buying homes and then renovating them for resale.  When we arrived in Wenatchee, George was just in the process of moving into his impressive new home which he almost entirely built by himself.

George’s new home, by the way, is on property adjacent to the beautiful Ohme Gardens.  From the Garden’s page on the internet: 

In 1929 Herman Ohme purchased 40 acres of land for an orchard. Included was a craggy, dry, desolate, rock-strewn bluff with a breathtaking view of the Cascade Mountains and the Columbia River valley. Herman and his new bride, Ruth, began dressing up the bluff for the their own enjoyment.

Small evergreens were transplanted from the nearby Cascade Mountains, native stone was hauled to form paths and borders, desert sage gave way to low-growing ground cover, and pools took shape adjacent to massive natural rock formations. It was hard work, done mostly by hand, and truly a labor of love. In the beginning, sustaining the Gardens meant hauling water in five gallon buckets from the river valley below, but eventually the Ohmes constructed an elaborate irrigation system that pumped water to the site.

Initially intended as a private family retreat, the interest of friends and community members prompted the Ohmes to open the Gardens to the public. The Ohmes continued to perfect the Gardens for 42 years, until 1971 when Herman died at the age of 80. The couple’s son Gordon and his family then assumed responsibility for the Gardens, and in 1991 Washington State Parks and Recreation purchased the Gardens and surrounding property. The Gardens are currently owned and managed by Chelan County.

We had an enjoyable time in Wenatchee.  Dinner several times at the Wenatchee restaurant, visits to George and his wife Anne and their daughters at their new home, and visits to Hugh and his S.O. Patty at their isolated home on the edge of town up high enough to give a commanding view of the orchards below.  We also visited Hugh’s most recent renovation, located just two doors down from Dan and Candy’s home.  And the extended families all attended the July Fourth fireworks display on the waterfront in the Walla Walla Point Park, which we accessed by parking at the restaurant and then walking to the venue.

The uncertainty concerning delivery of the RV window pane restricted our ability to commit to extended time in either of the two near-by RV parks, consequently we were forced to make last-minute reservations that were hindered by unavailability.  So we found ourselves bouncing back and forth between the Wenatchee Confluence RV park and the Wenatchee County Park.   But both had their charms; Barb was happy to get some fit-bit steps while I focused on bird photography.

We took the RV up the scenic highway to Leavenworth, where we parked in Dan’s yard.  The town was packed with visitors there to enjoy the Bavarian theme that permeates the entire village.  Dan’s Sausage Garten was packed; understandably so:  the various x-wurst sandwiches, potentially garnished with any of approximately one thousand different mustards, and accompanied by German-style potato salad and locally-brewed cold beer, were delicious.

The Wenatchee River borders Leavenworth to the east; about half of that boundary is given over to a lovely park offering shaded walks along the river, which, on the day of our traversal, was filled with inner-tube floaters (featherless bipods) and ducks (feathered bipods.)

All told, we had a great time visiting warm and friendly people in some lovely parts of Washington.  We’ll be back.

Birds

Here are some of the birds seen during this time frame.

Side Adventure with Zane — June 27-30, 2017

On June 27, we moved to Post Falls, a small town near Coeur d’Alene (CDA) , Idaho. CDA is a satellite city of Spokane, which is located about 30 miles to the west, in the state of Washington. We were in Post Falls to see Zane Cowles, son of Jeff Johnson, son of Barbara.  Which is a long way of saying that 16-yr-old Zane is our grandson. We proposed that he join us on a little camping side trip, and were pleased when he agreed. We were even more pleased when it developed that he seemed to enjoy the experience as much as we did.

Farragut State Park

We were much more interested in camping than in driving, so Barb chose the nearby Farragut State Park as our destination, located at the southern tip of the Lake Pend Oreille in the Coeur d’Alene Mountains.

The 4,000-acre park is about 30 miles northeast of CDA. Publicized activities include camping, picnicking, hiking, mountain biking, cycling, fishing, boating, swimming, water sports, orienteering, disc golf, flying model aircraft, archery, and horseback riding.  We didn’t do all of these, but we did do some hiking, some bird-watching, some kayaking, some Ladder Balling, some Mexican Training, some museum visiting (see below) and S’mores Eating.

The Park formerly held the Farragut Naval Training Station, a major training base of the U.S. Navy during World War II.  Why northern Idaho for naval training?  To keep it well inland away from possible attack by the Japanese.  Ground for the base was broken 75 years ago in March 1942 and its first phase opened in early August; by September the base had a population of 55,000, making it the largest city in Idaho. It was the second-largest naval training center in the world at the time, and liberty trains ran three times daily to Spokane, Washington, about an hour away. Over 293,000 sailors received basic training at Farragut during its 30 months of existence. The last recruit graduated in March 1945 and the facility was decommissioned in June 1946. It was also used as a prisoner of war camp in 1945, run by the U.S. Army; nearly 900 Germans, most captured shortly after D-Day, worked as gardeners and maintenance men.   Reportedly, many former prisoners liked the area so much that they returned after the war.

After its use and closure as the Farragut Naval Training Station, the site housed “Farragut College and Technical Institute” for three years, beginning in 1946. It did not re-open in late 1949, because of financial difficulties.

A remaining park feature is the Museum at the Brig, located in the confinement facility of the naval training station. Its displays include boot camp, naval, and war memorabilia, as well as historic prison cells.

Lake Pend Oreille

We did our kayaking outside of the Park, renting kayaks in Bayview.  Lake Pend Oreille is huge.  It is not a reservoir, but is instead the creation of the melting of ancient glaciers.  It is the state’s largest (43 miles long, 111 miles of shoreline). It is the deepest (at 1,158 feet deep, there are only four deeper lakes in the nation).  We spent about 3 hours on the lake, with Barb and Zane in a double and Chuck in a single.

On June 30 we returned Zane to his home in Post Falls.  We had all decided it would be good to take him with us to see Barb’s three brothers in Wenatchee, WA (and take a train back later), but when we returned we learned that in our absence an employment opportunity had materialized, so we said our farewells. We look forward to our next visit with the fine young man.

Smokejumper School — Missoula, Montana – June 23, 2017

On June 23 we stopped in Missoula, Montana to visit the Smokejumper School.  Our already-existing interest had been heightened by having read a book by Timothy Egan.  As indicated by the title — The Big Burn — the book is about a wildfire that occurred in 1910 that burned about three million acres in northeast Washington, northern Idaho, and western Montana  — the largest wildfire ever in the United States. The book also details some of the political issues, focusing on Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot (the first Chief of the United States Forest Service from 1905 until his firing in 1910).  The discussion of Theodore Roosevelt’s rise to power and the formation of the U.S. Forest Service provide the setting and background in which the action occurs. Pioneering the notion of conservation, Roosevelt and Pinchot created the idea of public land as our national treasure, owned by every citizen. But critical politicians, under the sway of powerful and moneyed capitalists, accused the Service of governmental meddling into the rights of private business to exploit natural resources.  As a consequence, the Forest Service was slowly starving to death from lack of funding when the fire broke out. The fire resulted in raising public awareness surrounding national nature conservation and highlighting the forest rangers and firefighters as public heroes. And so, even as TR’s national forests were smoldering they were saved: the heroism shown by the rangers turned public opinion in favor of the forests. Hence, the subtitle to the book: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America.

At the Smokejumper Visitor Center , tourists can see many displays explaining firefighting procedures, smokejumping history, and other fire related issues.   We took advantage of a guided tour which lasted  about an hour and took us through the working facility of the smokejumpers, used for both training of new smokejumpers and as a smoke jumping base. The tour gave an in-depth look at the profession of smokejumping and allowed us to learn about jump gear, parachutes, cargo and aircraft.

Time well spent.

 

Pits & Mines — Butte, Montana; June 22, 2017

This last winter, while still in Bonaire, Barb and I read two interesting books by Timothy Egan.  So interesting, that they have influenced our travel plans as we head west.  One, Lasso the Wind: Away to the New West, is a social history, with each chapter dedicated to a particular site in the western states.  One of the chapters is about the rape of the environment in Butte, Montana.  We vowed to see for ourselves.  This posting is about that visit.

(The other book is The Big Burn, and that will relate to a later post in our blog.)

Berkeley Pit

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Berkeley Pit is a former open pit copper mine located in Butte, Montana, United States. It is one mile long by half a mile wide with an approximate depth of 1,780 feet (540 m). It is filled to a depth of about 900 feet (270 m) with water that is heavily acidic (2.5 pH level), about the acidity of cola or lemon juice.[1] As a result, the pit is laden with heavy metals and dangerous chemicals that leach from the rock, including copper, arsenic, cadmium, zinc, and sulfuric acid.

The mine was opened in 1955 and operated by Anaconda Copper and later by the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), until its closure on Earth Day 1982. When the pit was closed, the water pumps in the nearby Kelley Mine, 3,800 feet below the surface, were turned off, and groundwater from the surrounding aquifers began to slowly fill the pit, rising at about the rate of one foot a month.[1] Since the pit closure in 1982, the level has risen to within 150 feet of the natural groundwater level.

The pit and its water present a serious environmental problem because the water, with dissolved oxygen, allows pyrite and sulfide minerals in the ore and wall rocks to decay, releasing acid. When the pit water level eventually reaches the natural water table, estimated to occur by around 2020, the pit water will reverse flow back into surrounding groundwater, polluting into Silver Bow Creek which is the headwaters of Clark Fork River. The acidic water in the pit carries a heavy load of dissolved heavy metals. In fact, the water contains so much dissolved metal (up to 187 ppm Cu) that some material is mined directly from the water.

In the 1990s plans were devised for solving the groundwater problem. Water flowing into the pit has been diverted to slow the rise of the water level. Plans have been made for more extensive treatment in the future. The Berkeley Pit has since become one of the largest Superfund sites.

The pit is currently a tourist attraction, with an adjacent gift shop. A $2 admission fee is charged to go out on the viewing platform.

From other sources:

Butte is the largest U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund site in America. It is their job, along with the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology and other groups, to maintain it as a terminal sink and keep the pathogens contained to help the public stay safe and healthy.  Water levels in the East Camp/Berkeley Pit system will not be allowed to exceed the established Safe Water Level (SWL) of 5,410 feet

  • Within eight years of approaching the SWL, design of final water-treatment plant shall begin, with construction completed four years prior to the projected date for water to reach SWL. This will allow for a shake-down period, for optimizing plant operations.
  • Long-term, ground-water and surface-water monitoring program will be implemented.

An estimated 3,000 to 4,000 snow geese perished in December 2016 in the Berkeley Pit’s toxic water, sucumming from both heavy metals and sulfuric acid, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The companies responsible for the pit, Montana Resources and Atlantic Richfield Co., could be fined as much as $5,000 per bird. The report says the birds’ condition was similar to the 342 snow geese that died in November 1995 when a flock landed — almost 21 years to the day — on the pit during a snowstorm and perished.

Mining Museum

From the time it was located in 1875 until it was purchased by Marcus Daly and associates in 1879, ownership of fractional shares in the Orphan Girl Mine changed hands many times. The Orphan Girl eventually operated to a depth of over 3,000 feet. While not a huge producer according to Butte standards, by 1944 hardrock miners had removed a respectable 7,626,540 ounces of silver as well as lead and zinc from her depths. Cool temperatures between 55 and 65 degrees made the Orphan Girl—affectionately nicknamed “Orphan Annie” or “the Girl”—a desirable place to work unlike some “hot boxes” where temperatures could top 100 degrees. By the end of the 1920s, the Anaconda Company owned the Girl and operated it until the 1950s. In 1965, the Girl became the site of the World Museum of Mining with its stated mission to preserve the history of mining and the cultural heritage of attendant mining communities. Many of the original structures are still visible, including the 100-foot-tall headframe and the Hoist House, which houses exhibits as well as original equipment. Visible are the cages that were crammed with six or seven miners for their daily trip 2700-feet down the shaft.

The World Museum of Mining’s most prominent feature, besides offering underground mine tours of The Orphan Girl Mine, is the “composite re-creation of an Old West mining town, called Hellroarin’ Gulch.” There are fifty exhibit buildings, with sixty-six exhibits in the mining yard alone, that revolve around not only mining, but the ethnic and culture groups that worked in this dangerous profession It is described as “an authentic reproduction of an 1890’s mining camp. Buildings include a bank, funeral parlor, jail, post office, city hall, union hall, school, the sauerkraut factory, saloon, and Chinese laundry.

The highlight of our visit was the trip down into the mine using a special entrance created by the School of Mines for the Museum. Accompanied by a guide, our group descended some 65 feet. Although the original shafts were some 2700 feet deep, that is no longer possible, since the shafts are now flooded to a depth of about 100 feet.

Glacier National Park — June 15-18, 2017

Relaxing  — June 15-16

For the first two days of our 4-day stay in the Saint Mary Campground in the Park, we stayed fairly close to our base.  We did some short walks and visited the Visitor Center often for access to wifi that we needed to secure reservations for further into the summer.  (We didn’t even have AT&T phone reception at the campground.)  When we asked about the free shuttle service provided to transport visitors to the many points of interest, we learned a) that the road was still snow-bound (and blocked) that cuts through the Park from the east side to the west side through Logan Pass and b) the shuttle service on the east side was not yet operating.

Right next to our camper was a den occupied by a number of ground squirrels.  I am no expert, but I judge by the coloration that they were Columbian Ground Squirrels.  The literature also mentions that their most common activity above ground is standing at attention, and that certainly matched my observations.  Wikipedia mentions that they first came to the attention of the scientific community through writings produced by Lewis and Clark.

When we realized that we wanted to extend from two to four days, Barb made a reservation, getting one of the very last available.  When it came time to move to the new site, we discovered that it was already occupied with new campers.  Turned out a new Park employee had messed up and double-booked our site.  Although we had the initial reservation, the other campers had the site, and they had secured their camper and then disappeared.  What to do?  Finally a senior member of the staff realized that one of the group sites was not going to be used for the two additional days that we desired, and so we were permitted to occupy the roomy spot.

Apikuni Falls — June 17

Our first real hike was relatively short, up only one mile but rising some 700 feet to the Apikuni Falls, and then back down the same way to the car.  To get to the trail we had exited the Park and had driven up to the tiny town of Babb before re-entering in the “Many Glacier” section of the Park.

Swiftcurrent Nature Trail — June 17

Not sated, we continued up the road past the Many Glacier Hotel to the Swiftcurrent Trailhead, where we left the car, after having added the bear spray to our kit.  🙂  The Trail is an easy, level trail that follows the shoreline of the Swiftcurrent Lake in a 2.5 mile loop.    Early in the loop we encountered a Mule Deer that was entirely indifferent to our presence.  I didn’t even unholster the bear spray.  🙂   Later, we caught a glimpse across a bay of the lake of a Moose cow with a calf, but they were too far away for a photo.

Seven-eighths of the way around, we stopped at the luxurious Many Glacier Hotel for cups of hot cocoa.

Three Falls & Lotsa Steps — June 18

On our last day we drove up the Going-to-the-Sun Road to the trailhead for Sun Point, where we joined a small group led by a Park Volunteer for a guided hike to Sun Point and then Baring Falls, where the guided hike stopped but the trail continued.  Most of the group retraced their steps with the guide, but we continued onward.  The main trail continued on past three falls and then further.  Each of three attractions (Sun Point & two of the falls) on the portion of the trail paralleling the Going-to-the-Sun Road had fairly lengthy separate trailheads on the road.  We had entered the main trail at the Sun Point Trailhead, and would not use any of the other accessing trails with their own trailheads.  The nominal one-way distance from the Sun Point Trailhead to Virginia Falls was listed as 3.5 miles, but by the time we returned to our auto, Barb’s tracking software registered 8.3 miles!  No wonder we were tired when we returned!

Sun Point

Sun Point is the former location of the Going-to-the-Sun Point Chalets.  The site itself is spectacular, but little remains of what was once among the most desirable alpine lodging destinations in America.  The Great Northern Railway, under the direction of James J.Hill, built the Going-to-the-Sun Chalets in 1912 . The builders used local logs and stone.  Early visitors would board a vessel at the St. Mary Chalets for a one-hour ride up the lake to the chalets, docking on the lee side of a prominent outcropping. For a brief quarter-century, Going-to-the-Sun Chalets — affectionately known as “Sun Camp” — was immensely popular. Within two years of opening, the complex was hosting about 3,000 guests per season. The dramatic setting and the stunning vistas were straight out of a Swiss storybook. It was expensive, and required a significant amount of time to reach.  But the demise of Going-to-the-Sun was not a result of its high cost nor inconvenience.  Rather, the Chalets declined precisely because they had become accessible by road.  When the Park opened up to automobiles, the new generation might stop for a meal or to buy a knick-knack, but then would continue up the road to far cheaper and more convenient new tourist camps offering “auto cabins”, feeling that was all that was really needed after a day of exploring. The Chalets, with separate lodging, bathhouses, and dining areas, were simply too time consuming and expensive for the modern motorist. The number of overnight guests sank like a stone.  Lodging discontinued circa 1942 and the chalets were demolished after World War Two in 1948.  An ignoble death:  they were bulldozed off the cliff onto the ice below and set afire.   You can read more here.

(An interesting aside:  our guide told us that the small island on the south shore to the west of Sun Point used to have a cabin occupied by a notorious partier.  Although the island is not very close to the chalet sites, on one occasion the party got so loud that a chalet employee was sent out to row over to complain.)

Baring Falls

The pictures below show some of the sights along the trail westward from Sun Point, culminating with Baring Falls.

Saint Mary Falls

Sights along the trail from Baring Falls to Saint Mary Falls, culminating in three pics at the falls.

Virginia Falls

Continuing along the trail past Saint Mary Falls, we encountered Virginia Creek.  Often along the 0.7 mi trail from the St. Mary bridge to Virginia Falls, we saw dramatic rapids.  Virginia Falls itself was by far the most dramatic of the three falls we had seen along the trail.  It was time to turn around and retrace our steps to the auto.

Glaciers?

We were told that there are only 25 glaciers left in the park, down from the over 150 in existence when the Park was created in 1910.  They are now so rapidly disappearing that there will be none by 2030.  So of course we wanted to see some.  Alas, they are not easy to get to, and not very visible from the roads.  One of the few visible from the road is Jackson Glacier.  The overlook is about 4.5 miles east of Logan Pass.  We stopped at the overlook with great anticipation.  Alas, clouds were obscuring the tops of the mountains, and what we presume was the glacier really only looked like a distant snow bank.   Here is my disappointing picture:

Heading West — Theodore Roosevelt National Park; June 8-11, 2017

South Unit

On the first leg of our passage west, Barb and I spent two days camping in the Cottonwood Campground of The Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  On the second day we joined a ranger-led hike to a little-known formation called Eye of the Needle.  That evening we drove up to the Wind Canyon Overlook to watch the sunset.  Alas, a cloud bank arrived from the west just before we did.  We hung around long enough to catch a photo of the full moon rising from the opposite direction, however.  (No captions needed on the photos.)

North Unit

We then drove the 80 miles up to the North Unit, for our first experience in that portion of the park.  We were impressed.  True, that portion of the park is considerably more remote; no quick trips into a store for an ice-cream cone.  No drinking fountain in the minimal trailer-hosted visitor center.  But a gorgeous wooded campground down in a flat valley, where we found a site right next to the river.  The hills surrounding the valley feature quite dramatic badland formations.  We hiked one trail that took us up onto a ridge with spectacular views on both sides.  We also observed cannonball concretions, large spherical concretions which resemble cannonballs. They were created by early cementation of sand and silt by calcite.  

We will be back, ice-cream or no ice-cream.  

(Again, with the exception of the photo of the cannonballs, no captions are necessary.)

Friends & Family; North Dakota — May 18 – June 8

We spent a fair amount of time in North Dakota, moving in with Mom and Zona in their huge home south of Bismarck.  We drove out to fetch our RV from Marvin Bodvig’s voluminous storage building at the Tappen Farm and Implement Dealership.  I helped Zona with some home repairs.  We attended a track meet sponsored by the Recreation Department for graduating 5th graders of a number of Bismarck’s schools.  Cole Dockter excelled in a number of events, including a 100-yard dash and a 4×100 relay, both pictured below.  Several times Zona took the opportunity to get away to Minneapolis; on one such occasion at about 4 in the morning we were awakened by a loud bang and the sound of running water.  A panicked (and naked) quick check revealed that a pipe connection in the basement that supplies the extensive yard watering system had burst.  Water was gushing into the basement.  A panicked call to Zona in Minneapolis was not immediately productive; she couldn’t remember how to shut the water off.  But she called her son-in-law Jon Dockter, father of budding athlete Cole, who called us with a description of the appropriate valve,  located through a chest-high opening onto a dirt-floor crawl space.  (See photo below, taken after clothing.)  It took hours to mop up the mess, and would have taken much longer had there not been a slow-draining sump.

On May 27 we drove via back roads from Bismarck to Carrington in order to visit Barb’s brother Tim and his sons Tyler, Preston and Austin. Along the way I did some quick photography, pulling off onto the shoulder and grabbing a few shots through the car window. Not very professional, but fun. Although we spent the evening at a new motel across from the Chieftan, it was the Chieftan itself where we ate our evening and breakfast meal, not the least due to the luscious caramel rolls that are available there (if one asks before they all disappear). When we left Carrington we drove down to Jamestown, where we had lunch with Barb’s high school friend Lynne and her husband Steve. That afternoon we got together with my cousin Karl and his wife Julie, who took us out northwest of Jamestown on a “wild” asparagus hunting expedition! By having asked in years past the right people for advice, and by hunting for tell-tale signs in the fall, Karl and Julie knew just where to go for the hunt. On the way back to Jamestown we stopped at a cemetery to view the grave of my father, Wilbur Stokes Shipley.  After a delicious dinner at Karl & Julie’s (of pizza and, yes, asparagus), we returned to Bismarck.

We played a lot of cards with Mom and sometimes Zona; it continues to amaze us that Mom, despite her age (98!) and her very severe problems with sight, can so often be a winner without any of the rest of us giving any quarter at all.

Medora

On one of the occasions when Zona was in Minneapolis, Barb and I and Mom took the RV to Medora to spend the weekend of June 3 at the Medora Campground. We were joined by Zona’s daughter Cathy and her husband Jon and their chillin Cole and Katie, camping in the spot next to us in their fifth wheel. Early on the morning of June 4, Barb and I rose to join the 63rd annual bird watching effort sponsored by The Theodore Roosevelt Park at the Cottonwood Campground. Barb and I saw few of the birds that the leaders reported hearing, but it was a very pleasant outing, made even better by the complementary pancake breakfast hosted by the Park at the conclusion of the event. And I won a Sibley bird book and Barb won a pair of lovely earrings in the post-breakfast raffle. And I have started studying bird calls.

That afternoon Cathy and the kids and Barb and I drove up to the petrified forest. It was a fairly long walk under a hot sun, but we strongly recommend the visit. (Just go earlier in the day.)

Back in the USA — Southeast; May 5-15, 2017

Georgia

We flew in to Savannah on May 5, and the next day drove to Statesboro, GA to attend the cum laude graduation of Kristen Johnson, our granddaughter, from Georgia Southern University.  Saving seats for us in the football stadium were Danielle, Barb’s daughter and Kristen’s mother, and Abigail, Danielle’s other daughter.  Knowing that the restaurants in small-town Statesboro would be packed, we all returned to Savannah for lunch after the ceremony.    

On May 8 I kept an appointment with my Savannah dermatologist.  Last Fall she had removed a small basal cell carcinoma from a spot under a fold of my right ear.  By the time she called to say that the removed tissue was indeed skin cancer and that more needed to be excised, we were already back in Bonaire.  So the return visit on the 8th was to complete the removal.  This time, the tissue was examined as I waited, so I would leave knowing that “enough” had been removed.  But what to do about the cavity?  She fussed and fretted about trying to stitch it closed, but muttered that there wasn’t enough tissue in the awkward spot.  She fussed and fretted about a skin graft maybe being needed, but thought it would probably just eventually “fill in”, and finally settled on that plan after I told her I wouldn’t be in Savannah long enough to have a graft monitored and/or stitches removed.  She gave me a 24-day supply of antibiotic and a supply of “duoderm” thin skin patches to be placed over the incision site and replaced every three days.  After the second replacement (six days later) Barb noticed a hard white area in the middle of the site.  Oh oh.  Infection?

(Hang on to your hats, folks.  We are about to enter a fold in the time dimension and skip location and way ahead in time to “finish” the story of the ear.  Barb was able to sound sufficiently alarmed to get an almost-immediate appointment with a dermatologist in Bismarck, ND, who subsequently informed us that the white area was exposed cartilage.  Further, he opined that it was highly unlikely that the area would fill in by the neighboring skin growing over, and that if it did not, the cartilage would dry out and die, leaving an area vulnerable to infection.  He suggested that he monitor the site regularly and decide whether to attempt to find a plastic surgeon to do a skin graft.  Several days later, his office called to say he had made an appointment for me with a plastic surgeon.  Long story short:  the surgeon decided the best of several alternatives would be to remove the cartilage and replace it with skin harvested from my body elsewhere.  So there would be an area in my ear that would essentially consist of just two layers of skin:  one on the back of the ear facing toward my head, and the other the replacement skin facing in the other direction out from my ear.  

As I write this I have had the operation (under soft anesthesia similar to that used for colonoscopies) and am wearing an awkward contraption designed to protect the ear while the graft heals.

OK.  Back through the worm hole in the time dimension.  That is, back to our account of our activities in the Southeast.)

                                                                                                                                                                                                         

North Carolina

On May 11 we drove to Charlotte in a one-way rental car, where we changed to a round-trip rental and continued to Asheville to see Devi & Hunter, old cruising buddies formerly on Arctic Tern.  Hunter was in the hospital when we arrived.  He had a hip replacement some three years ago, and it did not go well.  Exploratory surgery revealed an infection, so the hip was removed and temporarily replaced with an antibiotic-saturated temporary replacement to occupy the space while he receives daily antibiotic shots over a period of months.  We visited briefly with Hunter and then accompanied Devi to a restaurant for dinner and then spent the evening with Devi in their home.  It was good to see them both; we just wish it had been in better circumstances.

Early on May 12 we drove to Boone, NC and had lunch with granddaughter Jessie.  We then went to a huge nearby Airnb home where we would spend the weekend in celebration of Jessie’s magna cum laude graduation and our mini-reunion, since we were joined by my daughter Nellie, her husband Michael, their two sons Michael and Connor, and Nellie’s other daughter, Katie.  Later that night Jessie’s girlfriend Deja joined us.  Staying at the house, as opposed to separate hotels or motels, turned out to be very good strategy.  It gave us much more time to socialize together as we prepared meals, cleaned up afterwards, watched TV, and so forth.  Great visit. 

The actual ceremony, held in the huge field house on the campus of Appalachian State University,  was on May 13.

On May 14 we drove back to Charlotte, where we eventually found a restaurant (Chris Ruth’s) not already fully booked for a Mother’s Day dinner.  We stayed in a motel that night, and early the next morning took a series of flights to Bismarck, ND.  But the details of that visit will have await the next exciting edition of our blog.

Omnibus Post — Bonaire and Curaçao; March 16 – May 5, 2017

Bonaire

Our experiences and activites during our last 5 weeks in Bonaire were to a large extent an extension of those discussed in the previous post.  We attended the Monday evening fish ID classes given by Kim White.  We exercised on weekday mornings at the Bonaire Health and Fitness Club, and then usually went for a local walk in the Kralendijk area.  We took the pickup to several more remote locations for extended hikes on established hiking trails, including one to the north near Rincon and another to new-to-us areas in the east.  And although Bill and I passed, Colleen and Barb enjoyed visiting the donkey sanctuary.  And of course we continued to dive, although Barb and Bill much less so.  I did most of my dives as a solo diver at night, enjoying the challenges of learning new techniques and new creatures. (I will hold back my underwater photos for another post.)

We continued to fuss and fix the pickup, including replacing two broken rear windows after suffering a bit of random vandalism.  (Actually, it turned out to be cheaper to just replace the whole rear doors with ones obtained from a local salvage shop.)

When the 7-yr old 25 hp Yamaha outboard developed problems — it would not stay in reverse — we investigated and found worn gears and worn linkage.  Unfortunately, we could not find a replacement motor with electric start.  Barb was especially concerned.  In the end, we decided to purchase a new 30 hp Yamaha motor, manual start notwithstanding.  All of the exercise at the gym is paying off:  Barb can indeed start the beast.  Fortunately, the Yamaha dealer was willing to serve as a broker for the old motor and we got a good price when it sold “as is” almost immediately.

We did a fair amount of socializing with a local resident of Dutch descent:  Paulien Wijnvoord.  She is keeping our pickup on her property while we are gone.

 

Curaçao

Tusen Takk II and Dolce Vita made the 50-mile passage from Bonaire to Curaçao on April 25. (Celilo had crossed about a month earlier in order to be free to accept an invitation to crew on a vessel that was going to visit Cuba.)  Long time readers will remember that we leave the boat in Curaçao because there is not suitable facility in Bonaire.  

When wind and sea conditions resulted in Dolce Vita not being able to keep up with TT2 on sails alone, she switched to motor sailing.  Alas, after a time she developed fuel problems: clogged filters due to dirty fuel.  A change of filters did not suffice to clear the problem.  This was worrisome, because the final leg of the trip to Curaçao Marine past the Queen Emma swing bridge and then down the relatively narrow channel through Willemstad could not be done under sail.  We slowed down to stay with them, and readied lines in case we would have to tow them to the Marina.  Colleen sailed while Bill spent most of the trip trying to combat the problem; there was so much “snot” in the fuel that the lines clogged as well as the filters.  He ultimately resorted to disassembling the filter assembly and to using compressed air to clear the lines.  Shortly before we neared the opening Colleen announced on the VHF that the engine was running again.  We sent DV in first, and we all held our breath as we made our way to the Marina.  They just made it!  How do we know it was “just”?  Because the engine wouldn’t start some days later when it came time to move from slip to haul-out dock.  

Tusen Takkk II also had issues on the trip from Bonaire to Curacao.  Several hours into the trip we noticed that the engine temperature as indicated on the pilothouse gauge was running a bit high.  We went down into the engine room and took direct readings near the temp sender with an infrared gun thermometer.  The readings looked fine.  So the question became:  was the method of measuring internal temp with the infrared gun flawed, or was the pilothouse gauge wrong.  We consulted with Bill via VHF and he urged that we test the system by increasing our RPMs to see if the temps would continue to rise, and if so, would they level off at some point.  So we kicked the RPMs way up, and watched the two conflicting indicators as they both rose.  We stopped the experiment when we got a “high temp” warning alarm on the console at a temp that would presumably be OK but high on the infrared gun.  Lower RPMs brought the temps down to “just slightly” high, and we continued the rest of the way without incident.  After we got on the hard I removed the heat exchanger and found that it was indeed partially blocked.  Conveniently, MRC, which has a shop adjacent to the Curacao Marine offices, was able to flush the exchanger with muriatic acid and render it squeaky clean.  I reinstalled the exchanger before we left Curacao, but will have to wait until we splash again next Fall to see if that has completely resolved the problem.

Kings Day

On April 27 we suspended our chores early and drove downtown to join the throngs celebrating Koningsdag or King’s Day, a national holiday in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The date marks the birth of King Willem-Alexander.  Up until 2013, when Queen Beatrix abdicated and was succeeded by her son Willem-Alexander, the holiday was known as Koninginnedag or Queen’s Day and was celebrated on 30 April.

The streets and stores were packed — every citizen of Curaçao must have come downtown!  And to do what?  Strolling and eating and drinking and people watching and shopping at the vendor booths and stores, many of which featured special prices for the day.  (We bought a sound bar for our TV at a price better than what is available in the USA from discount houses!)

Visit to Museum Kura Hulanda

On April 29 we took another break and visited the Museum Kurá Hulanda – the museum with the largest African collection in the Caribbean.  Opened in April 1999, the museum is the vision of Jacob Gelt Dekker who founded and privately funds (initial investment $6 million) it through the Jade foundation. Museum Kurá Hulanda is an anthropological museum that focuses on the predominant cultures of Curacao. It offers a world-class chronicle of the Origin of Man, the African slave trade, West African Empires, Pre-Colombian gold, Mesopotamian relics and Antillean art.

Back at the Marina

For a number of years we have been using, with only limited success,  PropSpeed to protect our rudder and propellor from fouling.  But it is quite expensive, and so last fall we decided to try priming and then applying bottom paint.  See below for some impressive modern art.

Foggy Flight Home

We flew to Savannah on April 5.  I guess there was a lot of moisture in the air.  See below.

Underwater Creatures — Bonaire, Jan. 1 – April 1, 2017

As this posting affirms, I have not grown out of my fascination with tiny denizens of the sea. However, there have been some changes. I have been doing a lot of night diving lately, and that means a shifting of subject matter. Some of the crabs in this album are no larger than ¼ of an inch. That means I do my best to focus, check the exposure after taking the picture, and often do not find out what I have captured until loading the image onto the topside computer. But I am having fun. Hope some of you enjoy seeing these creatures too.