Donna's Christmas letter...2016 blog #416

Well sweetie... its time for another Christmas letter to you. I promised I would keep you up to date on your birthday and your favorite holiday, Christmas.
If your friends are correct, you can see this and you're watching over me all the time...me, I just think your positive energy is floating thru the universe effecting all the people who were close to you. It certainly must have had an effect on our son, he has been working so hard and takes such good care of his family.
Yes, Jason seems to have settle down very nicely and is a super father. He, along with Lisa, are raising two wonderful grandkids for you. 

Except for the old geezer, you have a great looking family.

Riley continues to get awards, upon awards for his outstanding school work and has a wonderful, if slightly (lawyer like) argumentative personality. 

This photo pretty much puts it in a nut shell, KMoon is unabashedly so interesting to be around. I was lucky enough to be with the kids for a month in November and it was one of the greatest times of my life.
 KMoon is a sparkling star to go with her beautiful personality.

Ashley is also very smart and ahead in school, the smart gene must of come from the female grannies. Here she is with her first real pet...milktoast. 

 

I had help in November taking care of the kids, Carla was so helpful in guiding me, while helping me care for both children...I would of been lost without her.

In September I told you about Carla, well we are still together and enjoying life. Sometimes I think you nudged me toward her somehow and while she is no replacement for you, she has such an awesome personality, a positive outlook and much more trusting than myself. I'm not sure how I keep getting so lucky as to have had such wonderful people around me since the age of 23...you'd think with my view of life, I'd be surrounded by a slue of pessimists.

When I found the house of our dreams outside of Colville, WA., after approximately three years on the road, you made me promise that if we bought the house, we would still RV part of the year.

I kept that promise to you and am still going to keep traveling, whenever possible throughout the year.

 I still have fond memories of bringing you home from Seattle in the motorhome, just weeks before you passed...you loved that trip as much as any we have had.

Another promise you made me swear to, besides traveling, keeping the trust for the kids and not ending up like my dad (alone), was to lose weight. Jeez you made me promise a lot, girl! Well I did lose my excess weight but I also picked up a bad habit that you made me quit years earlier...cigars. Well, you never made me swear not too so don't be pissed off if you are looking down here. haha

Merry 2016 Christmas sweetie, not a day goes by that I don't think of you or thank my lucky stars you were in my life, as long as you were.

My Ascent to Flag Mountain...101.2 Blog 415

Yesterday was a beautifully calm day, just begging me to go on a hike. (unlike today which is a cool and rainy day.

After walking a 1/2 mile or so, I am nearing the foothills. My objective is straight ahead, the highest pike.

  
After hiking a bit I get the bottom of the first very steep hill. Most of the trail is marked by piles of rock, shaped like pyramids.

Not quite half way up, you really get a good sense of where you started...and how much further you have to go.

 I can see (barely) the flags on the top peak.

Ahh...nearly to my goal. This is the third time I have been to this point. Made it to the top last year once, then on my second attempt I was nearly blown off the ridge by a sudden wind storm that came out of nowhere and I wisely stopped.

I made it, but not without being embarrassed by a lone lady, my age closely nipping at my heals.
I still using my selfie stick which was a present from my BFF, Judy, last year.

A little better perspective of the mountain. I came by myself because my partner has had a hip replacement and I didn't think it would of been a great idea to test her hip on such a rugged and steep trail.

Hopefully these Youtube videos work because I am having trouble linking the film to the page. I'd like to thank AT&T for their horrible service in Desert Hot Springs, which requires me to come down to a Palm Springs Starbuck's in order to finish this.

All in all... it was a great hike and it encourages me to keep pushing my own envelope.

Whitewater Preserve...December 2016 Blog #414

Carla and I are heading up to the preserve for a mornings hike.

As I was speeding down the hill, 1/2 mile from our RV park, I quickly glanced at the RV resort I was passing and mentioned to Carla that I had never seen any swan's in that pond. Of course I just had to turn around and look again, only to find out they were American White Pelicans. I know they nest inland in Northern California, just not often do you see them in the desert.

Carla wanted to know if we were going south to Mexico, or north to Canada.

There was a fair amount of water flowing down to the Coachella Valley although about two miles downstream from here the Whitewater River, if you can call it a river, disappears underground.

The canyon, which is breathtaking, is formed by the water rushing down from Southern California's highest mountain...San Gorgonio.

Mmm...south or north on the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. (its full name but many just call it the PCT)

The object of our hike today was Red Dome. I had at one time thought it might be part of the Morrison Formation that was laid down some 150 million years ago, until I sheepishly learned it was just from a volcanic mud flow.

From a distance, Red Dome does not look all that impressive...until we walked to its base.

Being 20 feet up on top of Red Dome afforded us a wonderful view.

That's it for today...only thing missing here was our stop that I filmed at the wind generating fields on the way to Palm Springs. Every windy day we can view tons of smog flowing through the San Gorgonio Pass into the Coachella Valley.

Walking around Vancouver and Northern Oregon.

The day after our tour of the old Fort Vancouver (Hudson Bay Company) we headed off looking for a nice hike with maybe some wildlife involved.

On the way there we spot this...it is not every day you are graced with a good view of Mt Rainier.

Cloaked by clouds more days than not, we got very lucky on this day see the majestic Mt Rainier...even if were 70 miles away.

We headed for Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge just north of Vancouver, which advertised two great hiking trails.

Forty minutes later we entered the refuge only to find out that the trails were closed, and only the auto loop was open. Well, why can't I just walk the auto loop instead...even though there were signs to stay in your car. We walked about a mile in, with the sounds of shotguns going off on both sides of the road...you can hunt the refuge at this time of the year.

At about the mile mark a car with a refuge volunteer stopped us and said that only cars should be on the road...because people walking disrupt the wildlife. WTF? And hunter shooting the birds do little to bother them? Well, I knew we were breaking the rules and walked back the car and joined the other "lemmings" circling the marshes.

Carla and I did stop and watch this Great Heron stalk something in the grass for at least ten minutes before failing at the strike.

With careful observations, we did see a heron eating a grass snake along a dike.

On the the way to our next hiking opportunity we spotted this store right off the freeway...how can I pass up a chance to see some Berks, in a German setting?

On the Internet, Kelley Point seemed like a good bet...and so be it! We just had to drive across the Columbia into Oregon to get there.

They did have the rules posted in every language, but I think "Yiddish" was missing.

What an outstanding hike this was...walking on the sands of the Columbia River and watching barges and big ships just offshore.

Mount Hood is also uncovered this day, much to our surprise.

The landscape is so serene and beautiful along the water.

Old docks or log ties line the shore on Kelley's Point.

The author of the blog insisted on one selfie type photo to prove he here!

Some very big ships were loading in sloughs of the Columbia.

Another day gone and I'm just trying to catch up with my portfolio.

Walking around Vancouver and Northern Oregon.

The day after our tour of the old Fort Vancouver (Hudson Bay Company) we headed off looking for a nice hike with maybe some wildlife involved.

On the way there we spot this...it is not every day you are graced with a good view of Mt Rainier.

Cloaked by clouds more days than not, we got very lucky on this day see the majestic Mt Rainier...even if were 70 miles away.

We headed for Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge just north of Vancouver, which advertised two great hiking trails.

Forty minutes later we entered the refuge only to find out that the trails were closed, and only the auto loop was open. Well, why can't I just walk the auto loop instead...even though there were signs to stay in your car. We walked about a mile in, with the sounds of shotguns going off on both sides of the road...you can hunt the refuge at this time of the year.

At about the mile mark a car with a refuge volunteer stopped us and said that only cars should be on the road...because people walking disrupt the wildlife. WTF? And hunter shooting the birds do little to bother them? Well, I knew we were breaking the rules and walked back the car and joined the other "lemmings" circling the marshes.

Carla and I did stop and watch this Great Heron stalk something in the grass for at least ten minutes before failing at the strike.

With careful observations, we did see a heron eating a grass snake along a dike.

On the the way to our next hiking opportunity we spotted this store right off the freeway...how can I pass up a chance to see some Berks, in a German setting?

On the Internet, Kelley Point seemed like a good bet...and so be it! We just had to drive across the Columbia into Oregon to get there.

They did have the rules posted in every language, but I think "Yiddish" was missing.

What an outstanding hike this was...walking on the sands of the Columbia River and watching barges and big ships just offshore.

Mount Hood is also uncovered this day, much to our surprise.

The landscape is so serene and beautiful along the water.

Old docks or log ties line the shore on Kelley's Point.

The author of the blog insisted on one selfie type photo to prove he here!

Some very big ships were loading in sloughs of the Columbia.

Another day gone and I'm just trying to catch up with my portfolio.