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Yet another snowshoe trip in Grand Teton National Park. It is either age or becoming more picky about snow conditions, I'm not sure which, but we only skied cross-country or went out on snow shoes - no downhill skiing this trip. |
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We bought a new tractor implement - a grading scraper, for dressing gravel roads. It has been so useful I completely forgot that we've actually owned it less than a year. Per usual, picking it up was an adventure. We drove the old truck to Olympia where the shop used their fork lift to load the implement into the back of the truck. Once home, we had to figure out how to unload the 500 pound beast. This is how we did it. For all the use we've gotten out of this thing, I don't have a single picture of it in operation. But, it is wonderful, it almost completely replaces a standard box scraper, and may even have become our most frequently used implement. |
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For John's birthday, he learned to operate more heavy equipment. |
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In last year's photo essay you saw pictures of John and me building a foot bridge over a stream. This year, during the grandson's visit, THEY built a bridge of their own. (Is this what you call "delegation"?) |
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Their visit also allowed John and me to see the Seattle sights, some for the first time, tourists ourselves as we entertained the boys. |
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The Seattle trip was only one day in our week of activities. In addition to the bridge building, there were hikes in the Park and to First Beach, visits to tide pools, fireworks, ice cream making (the hard way, by hand) and last, but not least, boating practice! |
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More about boating: Standard practice on Olympic Peninsula rivers prohibits boats with motorized propulsion. You want to navigate one of these rivers? Use a drift boat, a pontoon boat, a kayak, a canoe. Use human power and human skill to pick your way through the treacherous "rock gardens"; use your local knowledge of weather and river flows to pick the times when a river is passable at all. |
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In the years we have lived here we have experienced two intersecting curves: John's increasing knowledge and skill on the rivers, but a continuing scarcity of like-minded fisher people to accompany him. The simplest answer in John's mind: Hire a guide on a beautiful summer's day and "hook" Ruth on fishing. |
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It sort of worked. We bought a second pontoon boat (John already had one), dry suits all around, and spent several happy days floating down the local rivers. Not exactly fishing, but fun, nonetheless. |
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In October we helped Bo and Leah move. |
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Fall brought a little sightseeing with visitors, |
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and... work on a rental property. |
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We are, as always, grateful to live on our beautiful land. |
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