Day 29

It rained last night.  That meant I couldn't mow.  The grass is so high that there's no way the mower could handle it wet.  So we ran some errands instead.

I decided to wait on the trailer safety check until tomorrow.  I didn't see any point in getting one dated October on the last day of the month.  Instead we went to the insurance agency and got a Texas based umbrella policy.  Then we went over to check to make sure that I can get the trailer in and out of the inspection station.  We can.  Finally, we got a safe deposit box for some of the papers that we felt should be in Texas.  When we got home we met Lola and paid her off.

I felt guilty for not doing anything when we got home.  So I moved the rest of the stuff out of the interior of the trailer.  I still have the basement left to do.  Then it was time for dinner followed by the Halloween get together.  Ellen made a cake, but it won't be ready until tomorrow.

We had more adults than children at the get together.  We all had a good time talking for about an hour and a half.  One of the neighbors is talking about having a cul-de-sac party her in a few weeks.  I hope it comes off.

Day 28

Today was a yard work day.  I got up early because I couldn't sleep.  The pain of my finger kept waking me up.  I literally woke up several times an hour the whole night.

The battery on the mower was dead (no surprise).  So I decided to use the weedeater while it charged.  I cut the area by the well house and then did the lower part of the driveway.  At that point I decided to just keep weed eating and use the mower tomorrow.  It took over 5 hours, but I did the well house, lower driveway, and the edging for all of the front and back yards.  The only part I didn't get to was the far side of the parking area.

To cap it off I cut back the wisteria.  I think I cut off about half the plant.  I took it all and threw it over the back fence.  I love having acreage where I can do that.

I was covered with dust and plant material when I was finished.  I went in and took a shower.  I had to use the shampoo twice to get my hair clean.

We went to HEB to get stuff for dinner and some Halloween candy.  When we got back Ellen gave the dog a bath so that she could be on the bed with us.

One weird thing.  I had to use my finger all day today to hold the weed eater.  It should be hurting a lot right now.  Instead it feels a lot better as long as I don't bend or bang it.  Maybe I'll get some sleep tonight.

Day 27

We're home.  The drive over wasn't bad, it's only 70 miles.

When we got home the place was overgrown.  I kind of expected it would be.  I had to weed eat the parking area before we could park the trailer.  I got ambitious and cleared the entire area as well as all of the rocks surrounding it.  I also did the entryway sidewalk.  There's several days worth of lawn mowing and weed eating left to do.

The pump didn't work when we got home.  I immediately called someone.  They were out in a couple of hours.  We got lucky.  It turns out that there are a couple of circuit breakers mounted on the well head box.  They had tripped.  Sooner or later we'll need a new pump.  I hope later.

Before parking the traile I decided to cut off a branch from a dead tree that overhangs the spot.  Ellen helped cut, but she was only about halfway through when I was ready.  So I got the ladder and a handsaw and climbed up to finish the job.  Big mistake.  When the branch went, it knocked me off the ladder.  I fell flat on my back.  I'm lucky I didn't hit a rock and cut the back of my head.  I did bang up my left arm and hand.  I either broke or severely smashed the little finger on my left hand.  It hurts.

Parking the trailer went pretty well.  I didn't get it quite as close to the rocks as I would have liked.  On the plus side I didn't have to move any rocks.

After a quick lunch I started moving stuff from the trailer.  I was tired when I started, and more tired by the time I finished.  I still have to move the stuff in the cabinets and the basement.  I just ran out of steam and went in and took a nap.

When I woke up it was time for dinner.  The Hyundai started right up, but it had a thick layer of dust on it.  We had to clean the windows before we could drive off.  We went to Cheddars.  I missed that place.  On the way back a warning light went on in the Hyundai.  When we got home I restrted the car and it was off.  We'll just have to see what happens.

Day 26

We slept in a little today.  After breakfast I went out to change the headlight bulb in the truck.  They don't make it easy.

First I had to unbolt a fender support and remove one of the batteries.  It was heavy of course and just barely fit.  That made it pretty difficult to get out.  I still couldn't get to the bulb.  I had to lay on the ground to disconnect one of the fender liner attachments and then unbolt the window washer tank.  I had to get Ellen out there to pull back the fender liner while I unbolted the tank.

At that point I could get enough access to unplug the bulb by using a screwdriver to unlatch it by feel.  I couldn't get my hand in there to get the bulb, but Ellen could.

At that point the battle was won, but it was still a pain in the ass to put everything back, especially the battery.

After that we went to town.  We took Lucy.  She was great, well behaved for the entire time we were there.  We walked up and down the street and took turns going into a few stores.  We both bought wallets.  We also ate lunch at the place hat allows dogs.  When we were finished I didn't feel like going back to the trailer.  So we took Lucy to another place that had a singer.  Ellen had tea and I had a hard cider while we listened.

On the way back we fueled up the truck.  It's a short day tomorrow, so I won't hook up until tomorrow.

Day 25

Another day, another 375 miles.  The weather was a little better today.  We only had a head wind for the first 90 minutes or so.  That meant gas mileage went up to just about 10 mpg.

I was a little worried about the biodiesel that I had to put in the truck last night.  It didn't seem to do the truck any harm.

When we got to Fredericksburg we set up and then went to town.  The first thing I did was buy a headlight bulb.  It turns out that I'll have to remove a battery, and possibly the windshield washer bottle, to replace the bulb.  The owner's manual says reach down and replace the bulb.  There's really no way to do that. 

We went around to most of the stores in the afternoon.  We didn't buy anything, but we saw a couple of things we'd like to have.  I may go back tomorrow and get a wallet.

The campground is pretty full.  There's the wine and food festival today, and some sort of jamboree earlier in the week.  We're kind of lucky to get in.

Day 24

There isn't much to describe about an 8 hour trip through southern New Mexico and west Texas.  It's just a place to get through ASAP.  We battled a headwind, or a cross wind all day.  I got between 7.5 and 8.5 mpg all day.  That's expensive.

We're in Van Horn right now.  This place has no socially redeeming value.  At times the wind gusts hard enough to shake the trailer.

We lost an hour just before we got to Van Horn.  I still plan to get up early and get to Fredericksburg as soon as I can tomorrow.

Day 23

We went shooting today.  Tucson is having a cold snap, so it was only 75 degrees.  We had a good time, and the targets were pretty good.  I was shooting well, which made it even better.

We had the dog with us, so we couldn't do anything afterwards.  That was OK, because we left he off lead when we were shooting and she had a great time.  She's been occupying the couch since she got back.

When we got back we left the dog in the trailer and went over to Camping World to look at trailers.  They had one trailer that looked pretty nice, but they wanted over $40K for it.  That was really too much.

We went back and surfed until happy hour at the park's restaurant.  I had a beer and we sat there reading the paper and surfing until dinner time.  I had a pizza for dinner.  Half of it is left for tomorrow.

When we came back I checked the air in the tires and got the truck cover folded back.  I was going to hitch up the truck, but I didn't feel like it.  I still hope to get an early start.  I'd like to make it 438 miles to Van Horn tomorrow.

Day 22

We drove down from Ben Avery to Tucson today.  The drive was a little longer than I thought.  It was uneventful except for some traffic through Phoenix.

After we disconnected at the park we went to a grocery store and bought a few items.  Then we went back and hid in the trailer because it was over 85.

In the evening we went to the doggy park.  Lucy met a few dogs.  It took her awhile to warm up to the other dogs, but then she had fun.  We had some good talks with the other people while the dogs were playing. 

There's free ice here, so I fixed myself a gin and tonic.  I'm having it right now.

Day 21

Today was pretty uneventful.  We got up in the morning and did the wash.  When it was over we shot a round of sporting clays.  We basically shot the hard stations, and some of the easy stations the hard way.

After sporting clays we went over to the stores to get a few grocery items and to top off the tank.  We had lunch at In-and-Out again, mainly because there wasn't any better place there.

The dog is sick.  She had a bad case of diarrhea in the morning.  However, her ass wasn't dragging when we shot.  The cool jacket helped.  She had another case while we were gone, there was shit on the carpet when we got home.  She also had another run to the border after her dinner.  I'm not concerned yet, but I soon will be.

Day 20

All in all this was a pretty good day.  I got up at 8 our time (7 their time) did the morning things and a couple of trailer things.  Then it was time to go to Sears.  We were first in line.  The tire that failed was not one of the ones in the recall.  That means we don't get a free one.  It also means that the other three will always be suspect.

That took very little time.  We were back at the park, hooked up,m and ready to go by 8:35 (our time).  The trip down I17 was somewhat of a pain.  The overall decline in elevation is 5,000 feet.  But there are a couple of 1,500 foot ups and downs in there, too.  There were a couple of trucks that were a continual pain in the ass the whole trip.,  I also met some RV's that were barely making it around.

We got to Ben Avery just before noon (out time).  We were going to stay at a park about 11 miles away, but that didn't seem to be worth it.  Instead we're staying at Ben Avery.  We set up, ate lunch, and then loaded up the guns and went shooting.  It was hot (85), but we had fun.

After shooting we left the dog in the trailer and went to the outlet mall about 4 miles north on I17.  We went through several stores and bought a couple of clothing items and some kitchen stuff.  That killed the rest of the afternoon, so we stopped at In-and-Out for dinner.  I got a new t-shirt, too.

When we got home Ellen spent an hour trying to get a signal on the satellite.  She was unsuccessful.  Because she was doing that, I wasn't able to watch football on broadcast TV.  Oh well.

There's laundry facilities here, so we're going to stay here tomorrow to do the wash and shoot again.  We'll go to Tucson on Wednesday.  We'll probably stay two days there and then head home ASAP.

Day19

We went to Sears today and got a new tire ($300).  The web says that they have lousy service.  The web was right.  We were the first people in in the morning and it still took them two hours to do the job.  We bummed around the mall.  It was bigger than I thought.  I did find my shampoo, so it wasn't a total loss.

We went back to the park and got Lucy.  We took her to a dog park.  We stayed there the whole afternoon talking with a lady who has spent twenty years working as a nurse in Indian health services.  She worked in Obstetrics.  So she and Ellen talked baby deliveries for a long time.  She didn't have a particularly high opinion of Indians.  Apparently the government gives them free everything and they don't respect it.

On the way home Ellen found out that our tires might be subject to a recall.  The three that are left aren't.  I went back to  Sears and asked to see the carcass.  They told me to come back tomorrow.  I'll be there.

Day 18

Today wasn't the best of days - but we got lucky.

First was the drive.  It's all up and down, at times with a headwind.  I got 7.5 MPG on one leg and 9.5 on another.  Of course there was the usual pain in the ass trucks and RV's.

We took the scenic route by Monument Valley.  It was a lot of up and down.  It was also spectacular scenery.  That iconic tower that John Wayne rode by is only a mile or so from the highway.  I always thought it was out in the sticks.

We made reasonable time and got to Flagstaff about 3:30.  That's 2:30 their time since they don't believe in DST.  We went over to Wally World to get my pills and a water filter to replace the one we lost in Snowville.  Unfortunately they didn't have a place to get my shampoo.

On the way back we stopped at a light.  A guy pulled up and said we had a problem with a tire.  The right rear had this big blister on the inside sidewall.  We got to the tire store just as they closed.  They didn't have a replacement, but the put on the spare.  Of course we don't have the documentation for the purchase, so I'll have to pay for a new one.  We might be able to get one tomorrow.  Unfortunately we won't be able to get to Ben Avery tomorrow.

At least the campground is nice.  We'll be staying there another night.

Day 17

It was nice to sleep in until 8 today.  We got up and ate breakfast and then it was time to go.  We got to the ATV place about five minutes early.  Another couple was waiting.  That was good.  It meant that we got back $70 of our fee because we didn't have to pay for a second driver.

They put us in a van and drove us about 15 miles north of Moab.  We parked off the highway and got into the vehicles.  The other couple and us had RAZR's.  The guide had a quad.  We loaded up (including Lucy) and headed out.

We started off on a one and a half lane graded road.  It quickly changed into a path, and later into rock.  Some of the rock areas were pretty rough.  The RAZR handled it all well.  Lucy had some trouble adapting to the low back rim of the cargo area.  In one rough section she slid out the back.  I stopped right away and no harm done.  After that she learned to set on her haunches and brace against the back.

We road for quite awhile and then came to Uranium Arch.  It's an arch that they dug uranium out of the ground below it.  It was very cool - see the pictures.  Then we did some more driving over to the Monitor and Merrimac formations.  Those are formations that we took pictures of from afar last year.  This year we drove up to the base of them.  Very cool.

We then drove over to another formation.  I've forgotten the name.  It was a vertical column with shear sides that people free climb.  That's crazy.

The next stop was a formation where water had eroded a tunnel through some rocks.  The tunnel was big enough to stand in and maybe 50 yards long.  The far end opened up into a bowl kind of formation with interesting walls and a view of the mountains.

Several times during the trip we ran through areas where the track was sandy.  It was a lot of fun bombing through the steep banked curves and the whoop-de-dos.  There were a lot of people on the track.  There were jeeps, quads, UTV's, four seaters, motorcycles, and one pair of girls in an xTerra.  I wouldn't have taken that on the trail.

All in all we had a great time.  It was well worth the money.

When we got back we went to lunch at Milt's hamburgers again.  Then we walked around downtown a little.  I got a pair of sandals with arch support.  We also got John a t-shirt for Christmas.

We've decided to go to Flagstaff tomorrow.  There's no way we can make it to Ben Avery before their 3:00 closing tomorrow.  In Flagstaff we'll decide if we go on to Ben Avery or to another club east of Phoenix.

Day 16

The day started badly.  Accuweather had said that the low was going to be 28.  Instead it was 23.  That meant that the water hose froze solid.  So did the water faucet.  I got the hose off the trailer using two pliers and a hair dryer.  I couldn't get the faucet closed, so I just left it open.  I hope someone sees it.  I would have disconnected the water the night before If I'd known it was going to be that cold.

The first 50 miles of the trip were a little scary.  It was below 32, so I was concerned that there might be some slick spots.  Also, we were driving into the sun.  That made it very hard to see.

Driving was OK until we hit the traffic near Ogden.  Then it was pretty solid until we got to Provo.  Lanes kept coming and going, which added to the misery.  We did get good mileage, 11.5.  That includes all the hills from Snowville to Logan.

We gassed up in Provo and headed up Price Canyon.  It was OK except for some pain in the ass trucks and RV's.  The GPS decided to send us off the wrong exit in Price, but we recovered and just got back on.

When we got to Moab we unhooked and then went into town.  We signed up for a 4 hour guided UTV tour.  It was $400.  I hope it's worth it.  Then we bummed around town for awhile.  A store clerk told us about a hamburger/ice cream joint off the main road.  We went there for an early dinner.  It was great.

Apparently there's a big todo this weekend in town, so everything is pretty booked up.  We'll have to see about tomorrow afternoon.  We might just head off for Phoenix on Sunday.

Day 15

We left Richland for a long, boring, 400 mile drive to Snowville.

The trip was totally uneventful.  That's good.  The last thing I need is an adventure in the wilds of eastern Oregon or southern Idaho.

We got pretty good gas mileage after leaving Baker, about 10.5.  We got really good mileage, 12.8, after leaving Boise.  That's because we had a strong tailwind.

Other than that nothing happened.  We made it in about 7.5 hours and just stayed at the campground.  I was too tired to walk anywhere.

Day 14

We spent the morning getting ready to leave.  We did the wash.  I torqued the wheels and aired up the tires.  I also drained both tanks, flushed the hose, and put it away.  We were done by 10:30, which is when I told Dan we would be done.

Apparently Dan wasn't interested in a new TV because he wasn't there when we got there.  We hung around with Patsy until noon, not doing much of anything.  All of us went to lunch at Annie's.

After lunch we went back to Dan's house.  Patsy called DirecTV about getting an HD upgrade.  They refused.  I told her to threaten to quit, but she didn't.

Gerry called about the investment.  Neither Ellen or I are thrilled about it.  I told him to send us the paper work for keeping the money in a liquid account until we can decided what to do with it.  I'm writing him an email to that effect right after I finish this entry.

We went over to Greg's to get vegetables and run the dog.  Lucy had a good time running.  Then we went back to Dan's, had dinner, and listened to the debate.  I think it was a tie.

After the debate, we went home.  I hooked up the trailer so that we could get a good start in the morning.

Day 13

We kind of messed around a little in the morning and then walked into town for the mail.  After that we went over to Dan's.  He wanted to go hunting, so I went back to the park and got my stuff.  I didn't really want to go because my foot hurt.  I'm glad I did because Lucy redeemed herself.

We hunted behind Dave's place.  He really is building an impressive deck.  We walked up a road to get above his house.  We hadn't gone 25 yds before a covey got up.  They were too far away to shoot, but they just flew up the draw.  We followed them and Lucy did a wonderful point.  She locked steady on the bird and didn't move.  I walked up near her and told her to break.  She flushed the bird and I shot it.  Then she rushed out and retrieved it.

Then we humped it a lot further up the hill.  We saw a covey run up the hill.  Dan went up the hill after it and I stayed below to shoot them.  Unfortunately when Dan flushed them they flew between us.

At the same time Lucy was acting very birdy.  I was holding her close because I thought she wanted to run up the hill.  Instead there was another covey down in the draw just ahead.  They flushed.  I might have had a shot or two if I'd remembered to take off the safety.

The rest of the hunt was a little more uphill and then a lot of down hill on a vicious rocky slope.  I didn't see another bird, but Dan got up two more covies.  When we finally made it to the bottom I gave Dan the bird I shot.  I had lost interest in it as soon as Lucy brought it to me.

My foot's even more torn up than it was before.

I went home and took a shower while Ellen stayed at Dan's house to give Lucy a bath.  She was filthy. 

We went to dinner at John and Pat's place (weird they have the same names as John and Patty).  It was a great turkey dinner with stuffing, mashed potatoes, and cranberries.  Just like Thanksgiving.  Patsy  made a pineapple upside down cake for dessert.  It was all great.

We went back to Dan's to watch the rest of the football game and then went home.  It started raining while we were at dinner and it hasn't stopped.

Day 12

Dan went to church today.  It had a function afterwards, so he was gone all morning.  We needed milk and bananas, so we took Patsy with us to Halfway.  We went to both of the grocery stores, mainly to see them both.  Then we went to one of the two restaurants in town for lunch.  That pretty much exhausted all of the places that are open in Halfway on a Sunday.

Dan was home when we got back.  He'd already washed everything he had, so we watched football all afternoon and evening.  Jeff Clay came over in the evening and we talked with him for quite awhile.  He's taking out a guy who has never hunted before tomorrow.

That was pretty much the whole day.  I set a new record low for a reading on the pedometer.

Day 11

We did a little surfing in the morning and then we went over to Dan's place.  Ellen went off with Patsy to the bazaar in Newbridge.  She got Christmas presents for Patsy and Pat.  I stayed and watched Dan detail his trailer.  I knew he didn't want any help.

When Ellen got back we went to the ice cream place and had a cone, just to spend money.  We had lunch at Annie's for the same reason.

When Dan was finished with his boat we hooked it up to the truck and hauled it back to the RV park.  We covered it for the winter.  When we got back Dan went in to watch football.  I rinsed off the truck.  It was covered with dust from our trip down Snake River road and the other hunting trips.  I mean covered.  It was so dirty that you could see it was dirty at night.

In the evening we watched Prometheus.  It was a midly entertaining movie, but not one that I'm going to buy.

Day 10

We went fishing for the whole day today.  We used my truck to haul Dan's catamaran.  It's the first time that we've been on it.  It's very, very, nice.  After we launched I found a part of the trailer on the pavement.  We took it with us on the boat.

We went down the Powder to the Snake, and then down the Snake to Swede's Landing.  Dan's son was waiting there and we picked him up and fished with him for a couple of hours.  That's a long drive from Boise, and he returned that afternoon.

We spent some time fishing on the way back.  All in all we caught 4 or five respectable fish and some really small ones.  I fished a little bit, but didn't catch anything.

We had beautiful weather for most of the day.  However, by evening we could see the clouds moving in from the west.  By the time we got back to the dock it was dark and rain looked likely.  Dan and I put the trailer part back on, but it came off again while we were loading the boat.  We went to dinner at the Shorthorn and it rained a little while we were there.

Day 9

We didn't do much in the morning, just surfed (sound familiar?).  We went over to Dan's place about 11:00.  I used his compressor to blow all of the dust out of my gun.  Ellen worked on Patsy's computer some more.  Then we went hunting/fishing.

Dan and I got out of the boat.  He did this super climb up and around a fair piece of territory.  I stayed below him.  Most of that involved hanging around.  I still ended up climbing maybe 200 feet and walking half a mile.  That doesn't sound like much, but it was all on a steep side hill covered with little rocks.

Dan flushed some covies, but they were too far away for a shot.  I flushed one.  I could have shot a couple of birds, but they would have fallen where I couldn't retrieve them.  So I passed.

After that we fished for a while and then went in so Dan could listen to the debate.  It would have been interesting if Ryan had wiped the floor with Biden.  Instead it was boring, with them basically tying.

Day 8

We spent the morning surfing.  In the afternoon we went hunting.  Dan took his Ranger with Patsy and Ellen.  Dave took me in his golf cart.  We drove a LONG way up on the hill across from the park.  The road was steep, rocky, and almost washed out in a couple of places.  I had to get out and walk two or three times because the cart couldn't make it.

Lucy got a scent as soon as we got out at the top.  She took off after it.  I followed.  She did sort of point as she got close, but immediately started creeping.  I told her to whoa,but of course she didn't.  I should have zapped her.  She ended up flushing the covey before I got close enough for a shot.

That began the worst day of hunting she's ever had.  She'd hunt with me for awhile, and then go off on her own.  She wouldn't come when called.  After that first covey I didn't see anything until we were about ready to leave.  I was walking a side hill and flushed a covey about 25 yds away and down hill.  Lucy might have had something to do with it, but I'm not sure.  Fortunately Dan was below and got three birds.  Another small covey flushed a ways away above me.  Lucy didn't have anything to do with that - she was chasing the other birds down hill.

Lucy saved the worst for last.  As we were driving home we saw a covey on the road in front of us.  We stopped and some flew.  I told Lucy to whoa, but instead she jumped out.  This caused the rest to fly and she took off running after them.  I zapped her a lot and called her back.  I put her in the rig and told her to whoa.  I walked after the birds and she came after me.  I zapped her and told her to whoa.  She absolutely refused to do anything but follow me.  I was very pissed.

The road up and down was very dusty.  I took ashower as soon as we got home and then we went over to Dan's for dinner.

Day 7

We spent the morning doing the wash and getting the dish set up.  Luckily I had an extra RF cable to hook up the power supply.  The aiming didn't take long.  That's probably due to the fact that the last time we used it was here.

We finished just in time to go to Dan and Patsy's for the Baker trip.  I took a shopping list that included a whole lot of things.  The most important for me was the bandages for my foot.  We stopped by a used car lot.  They had a cheap Bronco that was beat to hell.  They also had a nice Trooper, but they wouldn't come down on the price.

That took the whole afternoon.  When we got home we took the dogs, including Lucy, for a run.  Lucy did just fine.  She'll be ready for hunting tomorrow.

We watched The Avengers in the evening.  It was just as good a movie as in the theater, but it had an ending that wasn't quite as good.

Day 6

Lucy is really stoved up.  For the first time in her life she didn't immediately eat a bowl of food.  She actually laid on the coach for about 10 minutes before she got down to eat.  She has a couple of sore spots from her nails rubbing the sides of her toes.  She's also very stiff.  It was so bad that we drove over to Dan and Patsy's rather than make her walk.

The first order of business was to rescue the Mickey Mouse pillow from Hooch's hotel room.  That was easy to do, since they were cleaning the room when we walked up.  After that we messed around at Dan and Patsy's for most of the day.  In the afternoon we went over to Lawrence's and order the fishing poles.  They are going to look neat.

Just before dinner Dan and I took his dogs to the Sportsman's access to run.  They immediately flushed a covey that flew low over our heads.  I could have shot three with no effort at all.  We went home and watched the football game and ate chili.  Jeff came over and told us how successful his hunt was using Dan's friend's boat.

By the late evening Lucy was actually willing to stand up by herself without being asked.  She certainly didn't have to think about going to the dinner bowl.  She'll prbably be ready tomorrow, but tomorrow is Baker City day.

Day 5

Now I'm up to date.  We went to breakfast at eight, and then went hunting at the Sportsman's access.  We saw a couple of coveys of quail, but they flushed too far away.  It had obviously been hunted the day before and possibly that morning.  We got nothing except tired.  Both of us couldn't do anything more than walk the slight hills along the river.

The dogs surprised me.  They were both dragging in the morning.  However, as soon as we hit the access they started hunting hard.  They kept at it for two hours.

We got home at 11 to go out on the boat.  Dan had this dream that he'd put us off and we'd hunt from the river.  He had a great place picked out.  We could hear and see the chukar on the hill, maybe 50 feet up from the river.  The only problem was that neither of us had the ability or inclination to climb up above them and circle around.

So we fished instead.  Dan got several fish and Patsy got one.  Dan and Ellen got none.  I finished my magazine.  The dogs were passed out in the bottom of the boat for the whole time.  We had a great time.

When we got back, Dan took off for Portland.  He arrived while I was writing this.  We gave the dog a bath and took her home for dinner.  After that we went back over to Dan and Patsy's for a chili dinner and football.  Jeff showed up and we talked hunting and guiding.  He's got some clients from Texas.  Neither the clients or their dogs are cut out for Hell's canyon.

When it was time to go home Lucy could barely stand.  She couldn't walk.  So I carried her to the truck.  When we got home I made her pee and then let her inside.  She needed help getting up on the couch.  That's where she is now.  I'm sure that she'll be better in the morning.

Day 4.

We decided not to get up really early on opening day.  Instead we met at Dan's place at 7:45.  We loaded up everything in my truck and Dan's Lexus and went down Snake River Road to Fosse's place.  It's posted, but Dan had permission.  We climbed up the road behind his place almost to the top of the canyon.  We probably went up 1,500 feet. 

Along the way we saw four coveys, and got shots at birds in three.  The other one flushed too far away.  We didn't get any birds out of the first one, and got two out of each of the next two.  We also got a grouse.  It flew in front of us while we were standing in a line on the road.  We all shot, I'm not sure who hit it.

At that point we were about 1/2 way to our goal which was Bud's place.  We also had at least 200 - 300 feet more to climb.  Dan gave us the choice of turning back or going forward.  We should have turned back.  We never saw another bird. 

However, we did get near exhausted getting to the top of the ridge above Bud's place.  By above I mean a mile and a half in from his place and probably 1,500 feet above it.  And we were really tired.  We started to follow a road that we thought would take us down to his place.  It had a couple of serious "go down to go ups" in it.  I almost didn't make it up the second up.  Then it finally started to go down.  Of course down up there is as much work as up.

Unfortunately the road wasn't the one we thought it was.  It ended in a short distance.  That left walking the side hill.  I didn't think I was going to make it.  Dan took my gun, I just couldn't carry it.  Dan was really worried I was going to collapse (so was I).  So he forged ahead.  We followed as best we could.  I had to stop every 50 yds (or less) to rest.

Eventually we got to a place where we overlooked the road to Bud's place.  By that time Dan was down on the road and a couple of hundred yards down it.  We had to go a couple of hundred feet straight down to get to where the road ended.  It took us half an hour with several rest stops along the way.

By the time we got to the road we and the dogs were dehydrated.  We had run out of water an hour and a half ago.  We walked slowly down the road, stopping often.  We knew Dan was driving the Lexus up, but we still decided to walk to a place where he would be able to turn around.

Finally he showed up and we rode the rest of the way down.  The dog's were exhausted.  They had been hunting the whole way, about 8 hours.  When we got home Lucy wanted help down from the couch to eat her dinner.  That's a tired dog.

I was tired, too.  I went home, took a shower, fixed a little leftovers for dinner, and crawled into bed.

Day 3

So on Friday we did make it fishing in the afternoon.  The morning was spent pretty much just screwing around.  We went to a garage sale and bought a couple of trinkets.  I also tried to get a hold of the fishing pole guy, but he wasn't around.  I'm going to order a fishing pole from him.

When we got out on the water there weren't a lot of fish to catch.  Dan got a couple, and I think Patsy got one.  Ellen didn't get any.  I wasn't really paying attention as I spent the whole time reading a Fortune magazine.  Lucy did have fun licking the fish.

We had picked up Dan's motel key in the morning.  He came in in the afternoon while we were on the river.  It was OK, he just got another key.  We spent the evening with him at Dan and Patsy's.  It was an early evening as we had to get home and prepare for tomorrow.

Day 2

I haven't been keeping up with this.  The first post was Wednesday, and now it's Sunday.I'm going to try to remember some stuff to fill in each of the intervening days.

On Thursday we sort of just hung around with Dan and Patsy.  I gave them the stuff that I forgot to give them yesterday.  Some fishing lures and a can of hot spiced peanuts for Patsy.  Dan kept talking about going out fishing, but we never got around to it.  That was fine with me, since I didn't really feel like it anyway.

Instead of fishing we went over to Gerg's house and got some apples from his tree.  They were small, but very good.  On the way there we saw 5 pheasants.  Two were on a side road, and three were on the main road.  Later we took the dogs over to the Sportsman's access to run.  Sassy scared up another pheasant there.

In the evening we just watched the football game.

Day 1

One the road again.  I think I start out every year with that.

It was a boring, 7.5 hour drive to Richland.  In this case boring is good, as anything else would likely be a problem of some sort.  Gas mileage was OK, but wasn't helped by a head wind in the gorge and a regen cycle.

Setting up in Richland went well until I discovered that we didn't have an LNB power supply.  For some reason the one that belongs in the trailer migrated to the other trailer.  We ordered one online and it should get here on Friday.

We spent the evening at Dan's place.  Pat and his wife came over.  She brought dinner.  A casserole and a really good chocolate cake.  We watched the presidential debate.  Romney creamed Obama.  Unfortunately I don't think it will make a difference.