How smoothly August flowed into September this year. Teagan returned from the east coast early to participate in soccer practice. A couple weeks later Latah returned and then back to school routine. Latah will start volleyball this coming week. Fires burning in August are still smoldering. We had a major one northwest of Trout Lake. Some days the air is hazy with smoke well into September. The fires are under control but not out yet.
Labor Day weekend Jason’s gang arrived at Dennis’s and set up camp in the back yard. They had never done that before so we all were excited. It was a great time. Taylor and I had been sick with bad colds so we kept ourselves outdoors, out of the house.
There was a group of guys in kayaks there. It was exciting watching them play around and run the falls.
Taylor had river runs all weekend so at one point we all went down to watch him shoot the falls.
Earlier in the week a raft from a different company than Tay works for was running the falls. They just barely reached the lip and one guy falls out getting stranded on the rocks and tipping the raft. Crazy! He sits perched on a rock in that icy water patiently waiting to get rescued.
Chris Samuelson, from Las Vegas, was here to visit his mom. Thursday of this week he and I hiked the lower loop of the Tom McCall Preserve near Mosier, Oregon. We left early to avoid the heat. I have not been there in awhile and forgot what a pleasant place it is to hike, being a plateau that overlooks the Columbia River to the north in the area of Lyle, WA.
Leaving the Tom McCall Preserve we stopped at Kolberg Beach just out of Hood River to hike the bank of the Columbia and watch a couple Yakima Natives set their fishing net, which was interesting.
The last week of August leading into the first week of September has been lots of fun. Now we will settle into our daily back to school routines. I am rested up and ready for it. Tonight I am enjoying a glass of white wine and reading, for the second time, James Michener’s book, The Source, my all time favorite story.
