Rivers, Lakes and Rain

 

 

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.

 

It's raining!  It's raining!  It's pouring!  Boy, did we need this rain.  There hasn't been any good rain in this area since about the 4th of July.  Many of the rivers are as low as we’ve ever seen them.  Sandbars have been popping up where we have never seen them before.  Rain was expected on Friday and definitely long past due.

Remember the little air dryer I mentioned on my blog a couple days ago?  We ordered three of them for the cabin.  They were ordered from Amazon early Monday evening.  So, Thursday I thought I’d check the tracking to see where they were and when we could expect them.  Guess what?  They were already sitting on our son’s porch!!  Talk about super fast service.  Sometimes trying to decide what company to order from is a big decision.  I think we definitely made the right one.  Now we just need to make one more trip to the cabin and set them in place.

The other day I read one of my normal morning blogs from Rick. He talked about the spawning of salmon that they watched on one of their hikes. It was a light bulb going off.

About 2 miles east -- Spawning area by fish hatchery on the Kalama River

There are many rivers around here where salmon spawn. However, I figured most of them in the fall run had probably already done that. If Rick had posted that blog a few weeks ago, we might have been able to sit and watch too.    Several years ago my son took me to visit some spawning grounds not far from his house.  Thursday we decided to check a few spots out.  We  had to go on Thursday if we wanted sunshine.  After 3 1/2 months of dry weather, the much needed rains were expected to begin on Friday.

 Kress Lake - 2 miles north.

We weren’t out for a long drive.  There are many, many rivers and lakes in a short distance from my son’s and daughter’s homes.  They live a little over a mile from each other in a area that is gorgeous and definitely an outdoor paradise.  

2 miles west - Fisherman's Loop

1 mile west - Columbia River

Since it was a weekday there weren’t a lot of folks out.  We did see a few fishing for steelhead.  We also saw a few struggling salmon on the last leg of their journey.  The salmon turn darker and darker the longer they are in the river.   By the time they are close to their spawning grounds, they are pretty black.

 

It was a gorgeous fall day.  Fall in this part of the country isn’t the same as fall in the East as Toni recently reminded me.  The colors of changing leaves around here are inter-mixed between the evergreens.  It’s gorgeous but very different from the East coast.

1/2 mile down the road

1/2 mile -- Loading logs on large ships

And, I have to show you this.  This is a baby gift Sabrina put together.  It’s diapers and supplies using blankets and ribbons to give the impression that it’s wrapped in a cradle!  Cute. Cute.  Cute.

Halloween is just around the corner.  We were reminded of this when we saw the pumpkin displays at the mall.

Trick or Treat

Actually, Duchess was on the floor at the cabin in the picture.  I thought the pillow was cute though.  Duchess doesn't like rain.  She'd much rather be inside than outside when the rain starts falling.  It could be our fault actually.  When we brought her home from the breeder she was just a wee little puppy.  We lived in Texas then and it didn't rain a lot.  However, I do remember having an umbrella by the back door.  We used it when we took her outside to do her business.  The umbrella was for her and not for us. 

We ended Thursday with two more soccer games.

The countdown is now on until departure day.  From posting this blog we have six more sleep-overs until we head south.  Temperatures are cooling down and the rains are coming.  It's a good sign the time is close.

‘Tis life on the road.