Our updates for all of you

I was taking the opportunity to take photos while we actually had snow on the ground and on the trees. Even back in 2007, the first full winter we were here, there was more consistent snow on the ground then had been the last couple of winters. Cold yes, but very little snow staying around more than a few days after the snow occurred. It usually warms up and begins to rain within a few days of most storms the last few years, the new normal with warming.  This year we had a few inches on Christmas eve with about 8 inches a couple of days after. Then all of this week the cold that settled in right after the holiday kept the snow around although by Monday (01/05) it might be freezing rain or just rain as a warm moist front from the southwest is to be impacting the northwest as the Canadian arctic front moves east. We even had a few mornings of below zero with highs in the 7 to 9 range.  This all made for some great shots though! The top photo is our place in a very nice winter ...

A week ago was black Friday and although I had started this post on Monday, it's been busy! After Thanksgiving Thursday, Stacy decided to venture out on Black Friday and see if some of the things she was looking for were still available with many stores starting on Thanksgiving Day again this year. From the news reports I know the trend was for quite a few stores to be going back to Friday being the day for shopping, but many of the area stores and especially towards the more populated areas in our neck of the North Idaho woods had been advertising the Thursday evening or even a few Thursday morning shopping "extravaganzas". So Stacy went out on a cold and snowy Black Friday and a few hours later came back saying it "was crazy" out in the shopping world. Nothing like those Black Fridays back in California when she'd take one of the kids and go camp out well before dawn to be in line for the really special sales at the first opening of the store, most often...

In my mind, my RVing started back in the early 1979 when I purchased my first tent trailer. Thing was, this tent trailer was made for towing behind the big touring motorcycles of the day like my 1975 Honda 1000 Gold Wing. The Time Out Trailer was a 5 foot long by 3 foot wide by 1 foot tall box that opened up to make a 5 foot by 7 foot by 6 and a half foot tall, off the ground , tent. It was great to pull up on the parking pad at a national park campground or any other camping facility and camping on the pavement leaving all the rest of the campsite open for relaxing around and still being comfortable off the ground on a nice flat deck. No hidden rocks there! I camped a lot back then with several friends that also towed motorcycle tent trailers, they were a big thing back then! We'd set up two or three motorcycles and towed tent trailers to a campsite or in a parking lot at places like the Motorcycle Jamboree when it was at the Ventura County Fairgrounds in the early 1980's....

Where to start to get caught up! Thinking back two months now to all that Stacy and I have been doing, and most of it has been work related too. Stacy did her 3 week trip to California to be with and help out oldest daughter Sandy's pregnancy and birth of newest grand baby Natalie, and since the birth everything has been doing well for grand babies and family, if you don't count very little sleep into that equation. Both Stacy and myself did our last stint with the Idaho Juvenile Justice Association in early September. And we will be out of it for a year or two at least since she is now off the board, and I am no longer the event photographer. We were a package deal but there, as with almost everything else, everybody is replaceable! So we get a break! We're both happy about being done for a while and looking forward to the time off break after 6 years of being involved with that organization. For Stacy it was always almost a full year activity for each event with seve...

Stacy to California , On Saturday the 26th Stacy left to drive to Northern California to help out and be with daughter Sandy as the birthday approached for the new grand daughter to be born. As Sandy was going to have a C-section birth, so the actual date was pretty well planned, Sandy had called and was concerned that there was a possibility that new baby would be a bit earlier than anticipated. So with that call Stacy left two days earlier than planned to be there that much sooner and before the doctor's visit to find out one way or the other on the due date. So Stacy made the around 1,000 mile trip in two long days and was there by Sunday night. By the doctor check up on Tuesday morning, the concerns were lessened and the timetable was back on track for the birth on the first of August. Stacy had a great time with almost 2 year old grand daughter Justine, giving mom Sandy a much needed break before starting it all up again with the new baby. Friday August 1st, originally had...

When we lived in the High Desert of California, I used to really like the afternoon winds that so many people were often complaining about. I actually miss those winds often here, because many times, especially this time of year when the winds die down in the afternoons it gets very uncomfortable and humid in the still air. Then there are times that get myself and Stacy very nervous about the winds. Back in the desert it was the wind storms that stirred up sand that could sandblast a car down to the bare metal. That actually happened early on when we had moved to the area, no garage yet, no protective fences up yet, just our 3 vehicles parked side by side in our front yard, my Datsun 240Z, our Chevy Suburban and Ford F150 pickup truck. It was our first time with winds like those and we didn't know what to expect. But we had not expected that! The storm happened over night and the next morning I was very upset to find the passenger side of the 240Z obliterated from the sand blas...

So, here in North Idaho we are very lucky to have a wide variety of wildlife, considerably more than I ever saw in Southern California. Bald Eagles, Osprey, Elk, White Tailed Deer, Moose, Wild Turkey, Canadian Geese, Swans, Wood Ducks and on and on with varieties of other small animals and birds. On our property itself we have quite a lot to see, but to me, one of the most beautiful birds that is also one of the hardest to spot and causes the most damage to our trees is the Pileated Woodpecker. Adult birds are said to be around 18 inches (45.72 cm), and the one I've seen twice is a big bird. These are the biggest woodpecker species in North America. Black with some white and a red crest, I've read these birds to have been the inspiration for the cartoon character "Woody Woodpecker" in the 1940s. To me I think of them as the relative of the thought to be extinct "Ivory Billed Woodpecker" from the South East swaps. In the years we've lived here now I...

A short post today as I had written a long post yesterday only to have it lost as we lost our Internet at work for the last 2 hours, and unlike mobile devices like this Nexus 7 where you can save the post on the local device,  on my computer all was lost as the Internet failure was early on in my typing. So, today just a note to say all is well.  It's finally summer here with the last few days and all next week the temps being mid 80s to low 90s. Tonight is our communities 4th of July fireworks but we won't be attending.  Due to our location this far North,  the show won't start until after 10 pm.  A bit late for us and then the traffic after the show just to leave. Did get to hear a lot of fireworks last night though. They're not illegal in this area so quite a few people buy them and love to set them off until around midnight. Probably the same tonight also. Anyway, I will post again next week.  Happy holiday.

I had posted this photo and not gone back to edit or publish it until today. On June 29th Stacy and I drove to Libby, Montana, about an hour away, for the drive and to check out a few places, like the photo below, to hopefully some weekend soon check out with our trailer.  The photo is a pull through RV site at the East- Yaak River campground, in Montana, about a half hour or so from our property in Idaho.  The pull through is actually the roadway to the left with the pass by on the right. To me this photo looks like it could just as easily be on the coast of Washington instead of over 400 miles inland in North Idaho.  Still, we really liked this and a couple of other sites at this same campground. Ten dollars a night, 14 day limit, no hookups, and several of the sites are right along the Kootenai River.  The West Yaak River campground with it's entrance just a few yards before the entrance to this group if heading east, and on the other side of a gully,...

A taste of summer today as the temps are, at this point- 1:55, about 80 degrees, which is actually just above what was predicted and warmer than yesterday by a degree or two or three. Last week was in the upper 50s to low 60s and cloudy and rainy. It is predicted to be that way again next week too, so the sunny and warm (hot) weather is just teasing yesterday, today and tomorrow. Even I have to admit it to be a nice change. Everything is sprouting everywhere with the longer days and now the warmer weather. Everything, green, green, green. All summer long too here. Morning twilight is from about 4:30 in the morning already and evening twilight goes to after 8 pm, it really makes me wonder why this far north we have to be included in the 'daylight savings time' switch. I mean right now, if it was still 'standard time', it would still be getting light at 3:30 in the morning! And staying light till 7 to 8 pm already. And the days are getting longer very fast, about ...

This story starts with the box in the above photo that Stacy received via UPS on her birthday, Thursday, the 17th, from our daughter Sandy, and about a marmalade that Sandy had liked that was available near her home from "Frog Hollow Farm". Last Saturday the 19th, Stacy decided to take on the challenge of creating it and I would photograph and be the helper and taster. To be honest though, when Sandy had said it was the 'best she'd tasted' we were expecting a box with some pre-made marmalade and not a marmalade kit. And lemon marmalade to boot! It looks to be quite the challenge to make lemon into a sweet and tasty marmalade In the box were two smaller boxes, the top one had some packed like eggs lemons, a bag of sugar, three little jars for the finished product and some directions and advertisements for the place. As the packed directions were somewhat simplistic and a little vague, Stacy looked online and found some slightly more detailed directions. So...

So, here's the story about the photos below.  Stacy and I were on the final day of the annual Juvenile Justice Conference, and in 2011 it was in Pocatello, Idaho.  The conference moves to different locations around the state each year for each conference.  While most other people were checking out and driving back to their various locations in the state, Stacy had to attend a state level meeting that lasted most of the day.  Just the day before, Stacy had been asked by the hotel's hospitality representative if she was interested in being in a promotional photo shoot for the facility in updating their website.  While Stacy couldn't because of the meeting, she told her I might be interested. Stacy later told me about it and told me if I wanted too, all I had to do was show up at 10:00 am to the sports bar in the building. Since that last day of the conferences are often me sitting around after packing our stuff back in the vehicle and checking u...

Just a few days ago we had our anniversary of our full time life here in North Idaho.  We arrived at the end of our last moving trip here on the morning of March 26th, 2006. We had our 5th wheel trailer full of all we could get into it and still have enough room to get in and sleep in it during the two nights it took to get here. We still wound up leaving several things we would have brought of we'd had any ability to bring them or had the time for another trip. I was driving our Dodge truck, it too filled with what we could fit in it along with the two dogs we'd brought up and kept with us for the last trip.  Stacy was driving the GMC truck we'd traded my Mitsubishi 3000GT in on, because I knew I wouldn't drive in with all the snow! How things change! Anyway, it was as all the moving trips had been, quite the challenge.  That year it was still snowy that March and we had come across a lot of road construction that had been muddy torn up dirt roads when we'd got...

Last September while we were visiting in Hawaii with Sandy, Justine, Sean and Brandy, Sandy had given myself and Stacy as well as Sean, a 23andMe kit to send off on our return home. So Stacy and I got home and after a few days decided to go for it to see what came of it. We registered online and over two days we did the spit and sent off the little tubes of DNA to wait for the results.  At the time, the online connection said to wait at least 4 to 6 weeks after the email notification of receipt of the samples to start getting results. Some of Stacy's results came in somewhat early of the 4 weeks but the 'meat and potatoes' results and my results took the entire 6 weeks to the day to come back. This also was when one could still get the genetic health profile which to me you should take with a genetic grain of salt, but enough people got scared and took it as their genetic bible of what their future must be holding, so the company got in hot water for those results and we...