A long, long goodbye

Volcano National Park 

Hilo was wet, humid, buggy and wet. Two showers every day. I've never had so many mosquito bites! Travis too! Must have been our Type O blood. We did a little bit of touristing -- visiting Volcano National Park, a hellish hike to an isolated beach -- but mostly we spent time with family.

Denese never did get her neurologist visit before we left but we did get her to plenty of other health care visits. We spent some time at the beach with family, including a cool black sand beach adjacent to private property owned by Lika's family. I helped Denise unpack and organize her yurt while Travis and Dan helped amenities to it. 

Unknown to me Travis was applying to local jobs. And he got one. And I flew home alone. On the plus side, he seemed very happy there. He slid right into the low-key friendly culture and came out of his shell. He was excited about hanging out with his cousin. 

Hilo beach park 

Paikea's 10th birthday

Haena Beach hike 

Travis in his new home

Aloha and goodbye

Jana and Travis

Late October saw me heading to Hawaii, to help my sister and her family. Denese is having serious health issues, the most distressing being serious cognitive deficits. We won't know more until she sees a neurologist and gets an MRI. I was convinced to make the trip when B old me frankly "She'll never be as good as she is today." So I took the plunge.

Feather has five children so I'm trying to help by ferrying Denese to appointments and supervising the kids when Feather needs to work on his home, where Denese has joined them. It's mentally exhausting and I find myself tumbling into bed at a much earlier hour than is usual for me. Travis has joined me, to help Feather with the house. 

Feather with his brood in tow

My sister Denese in her new home

Travis and Feather at work

Pele and Keli'i

 

A little Japan, a little Italian

 The week before our anniversary we toured the Japanese Garden in Portland. Missed the deepest fall colors, probably by a week or two but it was lovely. And the COVID crowd was very small indeed. And after we ate dinner in the Pearl at a likewise quiet restaurant. 

COVID cider, the newest thing

This year's cider weekend was odd. COVID caused us to cancel our Portland cider-making and the group in the Valley was small. We spent two days at the rental house fixing an electrical problem, getting the electrical going and the winterizing the mower. 

Leah and Michael arrived and we picked a full bin of Honeycrisps. Next day we pressed more than 40 gallons of cider and kicked back for. a chili feed. The sun shone the whole time and it was breathtakingly beautiful. Capped it off with a visit to Nancy in Wenatchee. 

 

Bayocean backpacking

Well, after years of trying B finally got me out on a backpacking outing. I picked the venue -- Tillamook Bay spit -- because it was beautiful and short. We could hike four miles in, set up camp and stay one night and hike out the next day. No water or bathrooms out there, though, where we were. The trailhead parking lot was packed with cars but the spit was quiet once you hiked in a few miles. 

We picked a campsite at the very end, in sight of Barview jetty, where we scattered my mother's ashes. As we ate dinner we listened to the disturbingly close foghorn on the buoy at the river's mouth and wondered. Sure enough I had a terrible night's sleep, between the foghorn and the hard ground (you'd think sand would be softer but...not so much) 

We took Luna on the trip and she was a champ. Given that there wasn't room for her in the tent and the fact that there were deer and elk around, we worried, but she was perfect. The sun came out the next day and our walk out along the beach was lovely.  

 

See the forest for the trees? Wildfire blues

September was the month the West was on fire. If you didn't live somewhere with wildfires, you lived somewhere inundated by smoke. Portland got socked in so bad the streets looked like a sci-fi dystopian movie set in an urban area. The coast was no better. While we were down in Pacific City the air got to unhealthy levels and eventually we fled for home and air conditioning. 

 

We're gonna need a bigger boat

 Our last two crabbing outings in August were epic, for entirely new reasons. 

In mid-August, we decided to try the single-tide method of crabbing, where you lay pots as the tide begins to turn and come upriver -- then check them frequently over the next hours. 

Tide change was two hours before sunset, plenty of time we thought. The motor out was lovely, as the sun got low and the herons lined the shore looked for a dinnertime meal. When we got to the mouth of the Nestucca there were no buoys on the river, no other boats. We set pots then beached the boat to eat the dinner we had brought. As we dined and the sun dipped low in the sky fog began rolling in and we wondered if it would impact visibility. 

We packed up our picnic and motored out to check our pots. Two were empty, or nearly so and one had two keepers. Checking the three pots took some time and as we worked the fog slowed but the coming nightfall did not. 

Once the crab were in our bucket we turned for home as darkness fell and we realized we had no navigational lights on board for safety. Luckily, no other boats were as foolish as us so a collision in the dark was unlikely. We arrived back at home safely. (We've since added lights to the boat's safety gear)

A week later, having learned several lessons, we headed out for an incoming tide crabbing session -- this time in the middle of the afternoon. We found spots for our pots in a crowded field of buoys then beached for lunch and a break. The wind was brisk and our first two forays to check pots were disappointing. Lots of females and juveniles. 

By the time  we completed our third check the wind was up to 20 mph and fatigue was setting in. We hauled in about 9 keepers, including one mammoth 10+ incher, and decided to head in. As we motored back to the boat ramp we realized what that kind of wind meant to a small boat. The waves were viciously slamming our bow, causing the boat to crest each wave and slam the surface of the water with a bone-jarring impact. The wind blew water over the side and in no time we were soaked. It was a very long 15-minute journey back to shore, leaving me with the impression 20 mph winds were definitely the match for the Amy M. 

Feeling crabby and clammy

We took advantage of all of our extra time in PC this summer to perfect our crabbing skills. We hadn't yet put out pots on the river, only in the ocean when B was salmon fishing, so this was something new. We also went clamming for the first time, after being inspired by a conversation with new acquaintances Emily and Darlene, a couple who moved to PC as COVID was beginning. 

We were only moderately successful in both, but felt we learned a lot and will continue to learn more as we progress. Every outing brings a new lesson.  

Back to Shady Cove

B's cousin Melodie invited me to her home to share her bounty of cucumbers and participate in a pickle-a-thon. Having canned only a small amount of pickles before and seeking more experience, I jumped at the chance. Her pickle patch was indeed overflowing, as was a bean crop so we put up dozens of jars of dilled pickles and beans. I even learned to make sweet pickles, which I hate but B loves. While there I also visited with B's aunt and uncle, who recently relocated to the area for retirement. 

Mirror, mirror

For some years now my behemoth Nikon camera has set largely unused, since I rarely need it for work anymore and it's heavier than sin to carry about for personal use. So we decided to make the plunge this summer and buy a mirrorless DSLR. We stayed with Nikon so we could still use my lenses (and it's a faster learning curve when you know the system). We bought a model on the low end of the line, thinking we can always upgrade later once we know how much we like it and what we use the most. 

 

PC all the way

During B's hiking weekend Mary and I went to PC. A very low-key, virus-safe trip with no outings except walking on nearly deserted beaches. Luna came along for fun. She still doesn't like the water. 

then in late July we traveled down to meet up with B's dad. The pair of them spent the weekend readying the big dory for a fishing outing. We took it out in the river and Brian was learning to captain. He hopes to learn the same for the ocean outings. 

Boo and a Barbecue

For Boo's birthday this year we had a two-fer: a hot afternoon at Kelly Point Park on the river for me, Travis, Kristin, Boo and friends and a COVID barbecue at her house in the evening. Very enjoyable, despite the mosquitos at the Park and having to wear a mask at the barbecue. 

PCT Version 2

B hit a big goal again this June: another PCT backpacking trip, this one for a week! He went with friends Steve and Debbie (who only hiked three days) and they had a great time. Weather cooperated and no bad outcomes (except Steve injured his knee and they had to cut trip short a bit). I drove up to Detroit Lake area to get Debbie and got in a short hike near Marion Lake.