The Morning Walk - and other things........

We took a "short" route today since it was still below 20º. This is Canyon and we like it because we can still get a good hill in the walk. Since it is nice and sunny, it didn't feel as cold and when we were walking with the sun to our backs, it sure felt good!








A nice view toward the Cascade range - there is still a bank of clouds and we're predicted to get at least a little snow every day this week. Because the roads were so icy this morning, Redmond had a 2 hour delay, so we saw kids playing in the snow on our walk.







Coming down the driveway on our way home. The garage door is open, so Dean is out for his morning walk with Abby. He doesn't like to go 3 or 4 miles, so he takes Abby down on our trail, usually about a mile loop. Denise's poor car is sitting in front of the house and our car and Dean's dune buggy are in the garage. His truck lives outside, too.
We ran out of firewood (that we cut last year) already, so had to go and get a pickup load of scraps from Opportunity Foundation in Redmond. With this cold snap, I hope it lasts us long enough.
Now, back to the archives a bit. This is the Deschutes River and a trail we often take, especially in the spring. These photos were taken just about a year ago - February 2nd. It was cold, but no snow. There are several of these rock spires along the river - the eagles like to build nests on them.
Abby and I with Steelhead Falls in the background - our destination for the day. And here are the falls - very frozen! And very beautiful.
In April, since we had worked so hard and the house was pretty much "finished", we treated ourselves and headed south to meet up with Jim and Janet. We spent time at Joshua Tree National Park, Mojave Preserve, through Death Valley (it rained, snowed, thundered, lightninged - not pleasant.....)and a week here on the Kern River in the southern Sierras in California. The weather was quite nice, as was the scenery. The guys spent their time panning for gold, Janet and I read and went for walks.
Jim and Janet headed to a wedding in San Diego and we meandered toward home. We spent a couple of days at the Black Rock Desert in Northern Nevada - home of the famous - or is it infamous - Burning Man which takes place every Labor Day weekend. An interesting place, to say the least! Dean is driving on the "playa", which some say is the largest flat surface on the face of the Earth. The world supersonic land speed record was set there in October 1997.
As the home of Burning Man,
there are many leftover relics of creativity which are displayed along the entrance road. I will only bore you with a few examples.

Here is Mr camera shy himself - and you thought I was bad........And finally, a momentous occasion - another photo of myself on this blog! Always with trusty dog at my side. All these photos from last years vacation make me wish we were going again this year, but the price of gas has kept us pretty close to home - as you in Vancouver may have noticed!

And, last, but not least - BUSHISM
"We thought long and hard about what to propose. We proposed a bold initiative, an initiative that takes equities out of the system, so people are treated fairly."
Lee's Summit, Missouri, January 2007