On the Road Again!

The other day I decided to get out of camp and build my situational awareness of our area of operations. As I mentioned a few posts back it is a huge area, about 15,000,000 acres. So after the morning briefing I hit the road in my trusty rental car and headed north for the town of Lufkin. I had heard of Lufkin before. I think they make tape measures there, as that is a pretty famous brand.

Nice scenery, but the bugs were smearing
the windshield as you can see

The roads here in Texas are very nice. Lots of improvement work underway on the interstate, but even the "Farm to Market" roads are in fabulous shape. These roads are the main collector roads that feed the state highways and interstates. Anyway, it is a beautiful driving experience here. The terrain is very gentle (essentially flat) but the vegetation is mostly pine-hardwood forest. The road rights of way are wide and clear. They are vegetated with grass, and most seem manicured by frequent mowing. Basically its pretty cool!

I made it to Lufkin in a couple of hours and met with my Safety Officer stationed there to watch over the couple of firefighting task forces that are based there. It was a short meeting. Things were going well, and I dropped off a package of briefing materials for him to use. Then, it was off to Jasper.

Jasper Texas is kind of infamous as the place where a horrific murder took place several years ago. Two white guys chained a black man behind a pickup truck and dragged him to death. Coincidentally, the last of the two still alive (one died of cancer while waiting on death row) was put to death yesterday in Huntsville. Justice was served, but it still hurts me to think of all the pain these two morons have caused. Nothing can change that.

While I was in Jasper, I met with the Safety Officer assigned there, and we had lunch at "the best bar-b-que in Jasper". It was a fabulous experience. I never would have found "Billy's BBQ", and even if I had, I most likely would have kept on driving. The place was well off the beaten path, in a somewhat shabby looking residential neighborhood. It consisted of a small, very beat up, modified mobile home painted red. It was pretty ramshackle looking. Painted red, the aluminum skin was dented and pulling off in places. However, as I walked up the steps to enter the establishment, the most delicious smell of wood smoke and spicy barbecue nearly overwhelmed me. It triggered an instant reaction. Much like ringing the bell for Pavlov's dogs (look that up Lucy!).

You would never guess what great food was
waiting for us on the  inside!

The inside of the place lived up to it's exterior advertisement. It was well worn, and very cramped. There were three "booths" that probably were salvaged from an old restaurant renovation. In addition, a large glass trophy case squatted in the entry, taking up much of the already scarce space. It contained photos and memorabilia that appeared to be family oriented. Pro football players, soldiers, and sailors. A very old television was mounted on the wall and broadcasting the local public service channel.

Me and Rita.

Then the proprietor greeted us. Her name was Rita, and she had such a thick accent she was difficult to understand. But she had a friendly smile, and I quickly hit it off with her. We joked back and forth as figured out what to order. Choices choices! My friend Rich and I decided to order a plate of ribs, and a plate of sliced beef then share (that's right, Kim has me well trained).

Rich sitting in the booth,
waiting for BBQ!

We sat in the tattered old booths, visiting with Rita, and talking to a couple of other customers. Finally, Billy (Rita's brother in law) brought out the food. Wow! Besides large portions, the food was aesthetically arranged with pepper and onion garnish. Great presentation. I had the presence of mind to take a few pictures.

The trophy case and TV were almost antiques.

Sliced beef, white bread, and Potato salad garnished
with onion rings and a pepper.

Ribs, BBQ beans, potato salad, and onion pepper garnish.

OK, it not only looked good, but truly was delicious! It was certainly the best barbecue I have had on this trip to the barbecue capital of the country!

After lunch, and a short visit with the local forces standing by for fires, I headed for Woodville, another small town about 40 minutes away where we have forces staged. There I tied in with another Safety Officer at the Texas Forest Service (TFS) station. While we were visiting, and getting up to speed on the situation, the local TFS District Ranger came over to visit. He was new in the job (started in February) and came here from Chico where he worked for Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI). He knew several of the SPI foresters that I knew including Brian West (Lucy's basketball coach)! Small world. Turned out his wife went to Chatsworth High School (neighboring my alma mater Canoga Park HS). Weird.

A little later, I hit the road for Conroe and home. Finally got in about 6:00 PM. Just had time to develop my daily safety message for the next day's plan, and it was back to the motel. Another day in the can!

That's All!

Rotary in Tomball Texas

While my team was working the Riley Road Fire down out of Magnolia (couple of posts ago) I met one of the local fire chiefs. Chief Randy Parr is from the city of Tomball in Harris County. He was assisting the local Type 3 management team when we arrived, and continued working with us while we were there.

I arranged with my commander to do a "political mission" at the Tomball Rotary meeting on Wednesday morning. After getting a big "affirmative" from the boss, I called Chief Parr and got directions. It was about a 45 minute drive, which is just around the corner here in Texas. The club meets at the Tomball Community Center in downtown. As a city, Tomball is probably something between Susanville and Auburn in size. A very attractive community, and the club has about eighty members. The club actively supported the firefighting efforts by serving coffee every morning, and throughout the day. One of the members owns a "Starbucks like" coffee business called "Pip's". Their motto is "Just good coffee!" and it sure was. Rotarians also served breakfast to all the firefighters one morning.

Chief Parr Prepares to dig in!

Of course I was not allowed to pay for my lunch, and spent the first fifteen minutes meeting folks and chatting. Finally, someone said "Let's eat!" The meal was buffet style and catered by a local restaurant. They served fried chicken, green beans (pronounced "GRAIN BAINS"), mashed 'taters, green salad and banana cream pie for desert! Of course we washed it all down with sweet tea ("SWAIT TAY"). Delicious, I should have taken a picture of the food line, but I am still learning how to be a good cub reporter.

We opened the meeting with a prayer, the pledge to "Old Glory", the pledge to the flag of Texas,and  a rousing rendition of "My Country 'Tis of Thee". I remember singing that one often in grade school. Finally, we recited the Four Way Test, and got on to the meeting.

The President rings the bell to start the meeting.

The room was large, and nicely decorated with Rotary regalia. Flags, banners, a display board documenting club activities, and a poster advertising their big annual "Fish Fry" next April. They didn't really do fines, it was Happy Dollars, so people stood up and "fined" themselves. One interesting part of the meeting was "Pickem". This activity only occurs during football season, and consists of members picking the winners of the upcoming football games for the week. Pro, college, and high school games are included, about 10 games weekly. Each week they read off how folks did, with the winner getting to hang on to a football for the week, and the loser (worst percentage) getting the "Plunger" award. This is a highly decorated "plumber's friend" with a role of toilet paper on the handle. Not sure what the ultimate prize is, but the whole thing looked like a load of fun.

Coach Kaiser was very inspirational.

The program was the local high school football coach, Tommy Kaiser. The local high school has a freshman, Junior varsity, and varsity team. Last year they had so many freshman players (105!) that they actually fielded two freshman teams. A slug of players from this division move on to play for major college division 1 teams. They grow 'em big and fast down here.

Coach Kaiser was a dynamic speaker, and he gave a talk on what it takes to be a great team member. He went over eight characteristics of a great team member. They were:

1. Be Adaptable
2. Be Committed
3. Be Dependable
4. Be Communicative
5. Be Enthusiastic
6. Be Prepared
7. Be Selfless
8. Be Tenacious

Club displays were nice.

I won't go into the details, but by the end of his speech, I was ready to play football for this man. What great principles to be teaching our young people. It saddens me that in many of our local schools, budgets make it impossible to hire professional coaches. We resort to volunteers, usually parents. This can work, but its a real "crap shoot" and quality control is non-existent. OK, off the soap box! It was a great program!

The club is preparing for a nice community service project around Thanksgiving. It is called "Families Feeding Families". It is in partnership with some local church groups, and other civic organizations and is just a huge community potluck. All are invited, and there is no cost. It's not exclusively for those in bad economic straits, but also just for the entire community to come together and break bread. Nice idea!

After the meeting I had a ton of folks come up to me to express their gratitude for the work the firefighters are doing. Moments like that bring purpose and meaning to being here! I followed the Chief back to his department after lunch to take a look at what's going on with the Tomball FD.

Chief Parr and one of their newer engines.

Its a small but very nice station. They are funded through a portion of State sales taxes, and are just converting from a volunteer based department. Chief Parr is rightly proud of his people and equipment. He showed me a new engine they had just purchased for around $675,000. It was veeeeeery nice. My favorite piece of apparatus though was the 1948 Ford, Howe fire engine that they have restored for parades and PR. It was beautifully done! All it needs is a nice shiny wooden ladder, the aluminum one is just a little out of place. It is a truly a showpiece.

My favorite! A 1948 Ford Howe Fire Engine
beautifully restored.

I asked the chief where the name Tomball came from. Apparently, Thomas Ball was an industrialist with vision who transformed the town from a sleepy intersection at some dirt roads, to a bustling city with a main rail line running through it. As I left town, I went to the old railroad terminal where they have restored the building, and made a very nice park adjacent to the "old town" area. There, sitting on a bench, with his dog Spike, was a bronze statue of old Tom Ball. It was a great end to a great visit. 

The restored depot at Tomball.

Tom on the left, with trusty "Spike" the railroad dog on the right.

That's All!

Its Football in Texas!

Wow! I just had one of the most unique experiences I have ever had on a fire assignment! We spent about a week in the little town of Magnolia working the Riley Road fire. There were over 60 structures lost. As I mentioned in a previous post, it was more complicated than usual since it involved three separate county jurisdictions. However, we did manage to get things organized and under control in pretty short order. The communities were extremely grateful. OK, so that's the set up.
 
Saturday morning we were told that one of the local Judges (that's the elected executive at the county level, sort of like the Governor at the state level, and the Mayor at the city level) wanted to treat some of the team to a high school football game. I didn't exactly jump at the chance, but since it was an early afternoon game, and my boss said it was very important for us to accept this offer of gratitude,  I volunteered to go with about 7 others. After I had made the decision, I started looking forward to seeing some of the "legendary" Texas high school football.

We got in the vehicle to make the drive to the town of Katy. It was about an hour and fifteen minutes south west of our home here in Conroe. We were told to meet one of the county commissioners at a Bar-B-Que steak house there in town. Stan was his name and he was the most polite, and laid back man I think I have ever met. His slow deep Texas drawl just put you at ease immediately. We went inside and right away the aroma of smoke, beef, and sauce hit me between the eyes like a 2 X 4! The restaurant was decorated with mounted animal trophies. There were elk, moose, deer, bear, fish, fowl, and even a woolly mammoth. Now, I am not sure where the mammoth was taken, but there it was mounted right above the soda machine!
The food was absolutely delicious. I had barbecued beef brisket, beans and cole slaw. We were not allowed to pay for anything. We sat there eating for about an hour having a wonderful and relaxing conversation with our host Stan. Finally, we got up and into the vehicles to head to the stadium.

Midway Texas Barbecue and Steakhouse!

Quite a trophy!!

Our gracious host Stan, the Waller County
Commissioner for Precinct 4

Rhodes Stadium, I think the seating capacity is around 15,000 to 20,000 people! We parked and started toward the stadium. As we got closer, more and more people converged, every single one of them wearing a red shirt! I remembered I had a red t-shirt in my suitcase, and was wishing I had known to bring it, when a very sweet lady came up with a bag of red "Katy football" t-shirts for us! We all eagerly donned the shirts over our Team 4 polo shirts, and felt a little better. As we entered the stadium I was blown away! Not only was the facility comparable to most college and university football fields, but there on the far end of the field was a "jumbo-tron" video screen! It was huge!!

Our first impressive view of Rhodes Stadium.

I was starting to wish I had brought my red shirt!

No worries! Our hostess and escort supplied the shirts!

OK, I figured they would probably announce us while we were there at some point (that had happened on Friday night at another game some of our team members attended), but what happened next was over the top! It was Parent's Night, and each player walked with his parents from the goal post at one end of the field, to the 50 yard line to be recognized. Well, they told us to follow the last set of parents. We waited as a group at the goal post, then I heard my name being announced over the PA system. "Go on ahead, go on!" our local escort urged me out on to the field. I stumbled forward and waved as I made my way to the center of the field. They introduced each one of us: name, agency, position, and home town. We all gathered up at mid field, and they gave the one female member, Carolyn, of our group a rose. The crowd was giving us a standing ovation. I glanced over at the jumbo-tron and there we were, on the big screen. I quickly snapped a picture, and we started to leave. But it wasn't over! They stopped us, and asked if we would pose for a picture with all the Katy team captains who had come out for the coin toss. So, the young men came over and politely thanked us, shook our hands and took a knee in front of the group as the photographer snapped away.

Here we are all outfitted in our Katy t-shirts!

Parents and players file past photographers and
on to the field. We had no idea we were to follow!

Carolyn, Tom, Kit, Frank, and Sig follow me onto the field.

Here is a picture of us all at mid field as seen on the jumbo-tron.
I am on the right with arms outstretched taking a picture of the
jumbo-tron!

The home stands.

Finally, we made it off the field and moved into the "spirit line". This was basically two lines of parents with a lane in the middle for the players to run through and on to the field. What a blast! There we met the Judge of Waller County who was our host. What a neat guy. Turned out his youngest son was the kicker (quite talented I might say). He put on his red t-shirt and red "Katy Football" ball cap and cheered his head off with the rest of us. We hooted, hollered, and whistled as these serious and very large young men passed down the "spirit line" and onto the field. Afterwards, we were escorted to our reserved seats!

The big boys come out of the chute!

Rocky Opliger, our Commander, watches the action.

Instant replay on the jumbo-tron!

The bands and drill teams from both schools (the opposition was from Beaumont Westbrook HS that evening) were very large and impressive. Probably more kids than in Portola high school! Really, it was like watching a major college football game!

Katy High School Band and Drill Team!

Beaumont Band (in white) plays while their drill team
files through the formation. Majorettes are up front!

Well, it was a good night for the home team as they played an almost flawless game, and whipped Beaumont soundly 42 to 7. The score would have been 48 to 0 except for two mistakes on the part of the home team. They took out the first string after about midway through the third quarter! I had a difficult time adjusting to the availability of instant replay on the jumbo-tron, but after a while I got used to it. The folks all around us in the stands were very gracious and friendly. It was truly an exceptional experience that I will never, ever  forget.

That's All!

Keepin' Em Safe in Texas

Our AOR. Note Galveston Bay at the bottom, and the
Louisiana border on the right.

Well, this is my 10th day here in Texas with California Interagency Incident Management Team 4 (CIIMT 4). This has turned into a very interesting assignment. We are managing the "South East Texas Complex". A complex is usually a group of fires being managed by a single incident management team (IMT). In this case we have an area of responsibility (AOR) of about 25,000 square miles (over 15,000,000 acres). Currently there are about seven fires we are actively working on. Most are either 100% contained or close to it. However, we are staying to assist with the new fires that are sure to start here over the next couple of weeks.

We provide support in every way possible to the Texas State Forest Service, the state agency responsible for wildfire suppression. We have a small air force assigned to us (two heavy helicopters, a light and medium helicopter, plus a couple of Single Engine Air Tankers (SEATs). The SEATs are big modern turbine powered cropdusters! They are very agile compared to the larger tankers, and quite effective under the right circumstances. So, we also have access to those big brutes of the firefighting aviation world: heavy air tankers. These are twin engine and four engine planes (mostly retired military), and yes we have the Very Large Air Tanker (VLAT) the DC-10....yes a DC-10. The same DC-10 jumbo jet that flies commercial passengers and cargo missions. This brute is very cool to watch, and is particularly effective in this big flat country! Here is a video of the DC-10 (Tanker 910) dropping on a fire in California last year. It can drop 11,000 gallons in a single run.

Here is a "SEAT" to compare, the fire was in Utah a few years ago. About 800 gallons.

Interesting contrast huh??

So today Don Will and I went up to Huntsville to do a review of the aviation operations being conducted out of the Huntsville airport. Don is a trainee safety officer, however he has a long and distinguished background in firefighting operations. So this was a great opportunity for him to practice and learn the safety officer role, and for both of us to learn more about aviation operations behind the scenes on fires!

Vertol 4 Charlie Hotel

Don discussing issues with pilots
and crew of 4 Charlie Hotel.

We had a good conversation with the heli-base manager, helicopter managers, pilots and mechanics. The two heavy helicopters were most impressive. A Vertol twin rotor ship, and Sikorsky S-64E Sky Crane. These two represent the most capable helicopters in terms of water dropping capacity. Depending on temperature and altitude they can dump around 1,500 to 2,000 gallons at a pop. They are amazing machines, and incredibly complex. It is amazing how well all of this operation works. Think about it. One day we had three heavy helicopters, and two medium sized ships, several SEATS, a couple of heavy air tankers, and the DC-10 all working on one fire! The whole thing is managed by an air attack supervisor in a twin engine Beechcraft orbiting the fire and directing the "show". Pretty incredible.

Left to right: Don, yours truly, and Kerry our Air Operations Branch Director
Standing in front of "Ichabod".

 Over all we spent about two hours at the heli-base. These folks had it pretty dialed in. Especially given that it was a temporary set up, and that they could be moved at a moment's notice. I talked to one of the Sky Crane's mechanics, and he told me that one blade (there are 5 total) cost close to $400,000! The Sky Crane that was on site was named "Ichabod". It took me a few minutes, but I got it eventually...Ichabod Crane! (You know...the Legend of Sleepy Hollow!)

After the inspection we ducked into the local truck stop restaurant called the "Hitchin' Post" and I had some delicious fried catfish. It was amazing!

"Old Sparky" the electrode was attached to the condemned's
shaved head and left foot.

Across the street from the airport was the Texas State Prison Museum. We decided to check it out before heading back to the Incident Command Post. It was a small museum, but pretty darn interesting. Probably the most chilling display was "Old Sparky" the electric chair that was used for executions from 1924 to 1964. I could imagine strapping the condemned man into the chair, and attaching the electrodes to his shaved head after a thin sponge soaked in salt water was placed on his bald skull. The other electrode was attached to the left foot. Turn on the juice, and I imagine it was quite a flashy and smelly show!

Don't know where Clyde got this gun, but it sure is pretty!

There was also a display of Bonnie and Clyde newspaper clippings and a nickel plated pistol recovered from their car after they were ambushed and killed by Texas Rangers.   I also found an interesting display of Texas prison farm tools. One tool identified as a "Cane knife" used for the back breaking work of cutting sugar cane was identical to the tool I learned to use at the beginning of my career to cut fire line through southern California chapparal! It is called a "brush hook" in the firefighting world, and is obsolete since it has been replaced by the modern chainsaw. I will never forget learning how to wield this nasty cutting tool. If you came down at the wrong angle it just would not cut. But if you had it right, it would go through a 4 inch diameter stem in a single easy stroke.

This nasty tool was labeled as a "Cane Knife" but we call
it a "Brush Hook" in the fire service.

Ah, so much for reminiscing....I'll take a chainsaw any day!!

After the museum, we headed back to ICP and caught up with our paperwork in preparation for tomorrow's work shift. Every day we make a very detailed plan, and publish it for all folks involved in the effort. Our part is a message on safety. The idea is to alert folks of hazards and keep them on their toes and maintaining  their own situational awareness.

Should I mention "Old Sparky"?

That's All!

Burnin' Up in Texas!

And I don't mean BBQ! Well, maybe some BBQ. Last Tuesday I was frantically working to finish painting the eaves on the gable ends of our barn before my fire team was activated (I had a funny feeling!). I was able to borrow a "cherry picker" lift from my neighbor (the peaks are about 45 to 50 feet high) to make the job safe and relatively easy. As I was starting the prime coat, Kim came outside to tell me that my team had been activated!

Turned out we were being called to assist the State of Texas Forest Service in dealing with the numerous and stubborn wild fires that have been plaguing them all year. The state is undergoing its worst drought in recorded history, and the forests are extremely dry and explosively flammable.

The good and bad news was that I could schedule my departure for Wednesday. This meant that I could get the painting job to a point where I could leave it, and the primer would still take a finish coat on my return. (The sun breaks it down in a couple of weeks, but since I could put a finish coat on all the exposed surfaces, I should be OK.) However, this meant that I had to continue working straight through until 8:00 that evening. By the time I finished I was pooped! (I will post about the paint job later)

The scene from the command post the evening before
we joined local forces in unified command

Next morning I nearly missed my flight getting out of bed at 4:00 am, and arriving at the Reno airport at 5:25 am for my 6:00 am flight. I was surprised and worried to see a pretty long line at security! I was lucky because, if I had been one minute later, the line would have been twice as long, and I definitely would have missed my flight. I was the last one to board as it was.

Fire burns a couple of thousand feet
from the command post

Our mission is to provide support to wild fire suppression efforts in Southeast Texas over a 20,000 square mile area. We are based out of Conroe, just north of Houston. We began our task by traveling to a fire about 40 minutes from our command center in Conroe to offer assistance. After two days of unsuccessful effort on the part of the local firefighters, we were asked to get more involved and take a direct role in managing the fire alongside the three county command posts already dealing with it. This was extremely complicated as you might imagine, but after a day or two we were fully integrated into the effort.

Food service volunteers

The pressure was on since I think at first the local jurisdictions thought we were trying to take things over from them. Luckily, with good work by all the line firefighters, and a slight mediation of the weather, success was attained. The fire is now 85% contained, and it looks like we will be able to scale back the number of firefighters and associated equipment after tomorrow.

We will head back to Conroe, and start preparing to assist on new problem fires as they develop. This is a totally new type of assignment for me. I am assigned as the team safety officer with overall responsibility. That responsibility is not new. However, it is difficult since we do not have actual responsibility for putting the fires out, we are only providing assistance and support which is different from our normal role.

There is a whole different firefighting culture here. Most forces are volunteer firefighters, and their logistical needs are almost wholly provided with volunteer labor and supplies from the local community. It is absolutely amazing. In California we would have a contract caterer providing meals, where here the folks from the community show up with food and serve the firefighters. They pulled in a huge portable BBQ, and we have some of the most delicious fire camp food I have ever tasted each night.

Volunteer work hard at the BBQ

This is all provided at no cost. On top of all that people are falling all over themselves to thank us, and express their appreciation and support. There is a dispensary chock full of over the counter medical and personal hygiene supplies donated by local stores. It is also staffed by volunteer medical personnel. Every morning the local coffee company comes and brews and serves coffee (at no charge). When our team got here some of the volunteer food servers had been at it for 4 straight days, providing food for hundreds of people each day. They thought our team was going to replace them with a caterer, and were very upset about it, many were in tears. Of course that was not our intent unless they requested it. What we did was offer technical assistance and advice to them to make their operation more efficient. They were greatly relieved.

Fully stocked dispensary for
over the counter needs.

The command post is located at the local high school. What a beautiful school (and big!). The football stadium is larger than many college stadiums! We are set up in the industrial arts building. There is a full wood shop, and a magnificent auto shop along with classrooms. School is back in session today since the fire is less of a threat and nearly contained.





 Well, that's about it for now, gotta get back to work!

Last one Leaves the nest

Ok, after our somewhat tearful goodbye to Lucy, the three of us, Kim, Maggie, and I headed north through the wine country bound for Portland. It was a beautiful day, as we motored up the back roads and scenic highways of a part of California that is unique, and certainly unfamiliar to us. Beautiful green vine covered hills and dales, with darker oaks and chapparal covering the more rugged ridges and hilltops. The occasional craggy gray rock outcrop punctuated the scene, with an incredible blue sky capping the entire picture. The road got increasingly crooked, as the terrain got steeper. We enjoyed the slow drive, and the company, as we made our way through Calistoga, Napa, and past the town of Clear Lake, where we turned east to Interstate 5. This giant band of concrete would be our course for the remainder of the drive.

Turning North at Williams on I-5, Maggie began playing the "License Plate Game". When I was young, we just looked for out of state plates, and the kid that spotted the most out of state tags won. Maggie's version was a little more violent, and definitely more intense! Once an out of state license is spotted, the spotter quickly punches those less fortunate observers. Once for each syllable of the foreign states name. Thus "U-Tah" is a double hit, while "Bri-Tish-Co-Lum-Bi-A" is a six time smackeroo! Once the spotter calls out the "hit" they cannot be hit back on the same plate. However, If there is another unobservant (or unwitting) passenger in the vehicle they are also at risk. So if you are quick, sometimes you can smack two people after spotting one plate. On the other hand if you are sitting in the middle seat, as Kim did most of the trip, you get pounded from both sides. Dirving in the right lane, I had an advantage, as I could usually pick out the foreign plates as they approached from the left rear, and Maggie would spot them before Kim could react. So many times it was a simultaneous "Air-I-Zone-Ah!" from both sides, left thigh and right thigh,  before my poor wife could even react. It kept us occupied as the miles rolled by.

We finally ran out of driving energy in Yreka. We were tired, and guiltily got a room on the north end of town, I say guilty because we have good friends there, and we were just too pooped to do more visiting. It was a clean budget friendly room with TV and wireless internet. I watched Fox News, while Maggie emailed a friend who has just arrived in Belgium on exchange. The TV didn't last long, however I was soon sawing them off.

On Monday, we got up and hit the road again. First stop was Ashland for breakfast. Just a little restaurant off the freeway, but good food and service. After some morning nourishment, we pointed the big red truck in the direction of Portland and hit the throttle. More license plate games, as we drove through the lush Oregon landscape. It is incredible how quickly trees grow there. We saw some fresh logging (must have been private land) and only about 4 logging trucks on the whole trip. That is amazing! We are "deforesting" other areas of the world (and thus contributing to global warming says the UN) while we sit and let our forest industries dry up and blow away as the forests grow thicker and thicker. Sure doesn't make any sense to me! I am certain however, that any call to increase our levels of federal forest management would be met with screams of protest like "You're gutting the environmental laws that protect the planet and our children!"  "More logging will only make the rich richer and destroy the environment!" Been there...done that!


We finally arrived in Portland that afternoon, and headed straight to Sister Ann Barkley's house. What hospitality, and what a beautiful house in a beautiful city. We had a few days before Maggie had to move into the dorm on Thursday, so we relaxed and got to visit with friends and relatives we hardly ever see.

On Tuesday Ann took us to see the Japanese Gardens, and the Portland Rose Gardens. It was wonderful strolling through these beautiful places. The weather was a little on the warm side, but we weren't complaining!

In the Japanese Gardens

Pretty Roses!

Later that evening, we visited Leo and Belinda Sidebotham who live nearby. I went to school with Leo at Cal Poly, and we started our federal forestry careers together on the Sequoia NF in 1976. He went to work for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and I ended up with the Forest Service. He retired several years ago as a "muck-ee-muck" in fire at the BLM state office in Portland. We shared some old memories over barbecue flank steak, potato salad, and corn. His two girls are heading to OU and OSU (Eugene and Corvallis) which could spell trouble for family tranquility since this is the biggest rivalry in the state!

Kathleen, Belinda, Nicholle, Leo,
Moe, Me, and Mom

Wednesday we had the opportunity to meet Viola's friend Sarah at the Farmer's Market downtown. Parking was a challenge, but we lucked out as we pulled by just as someone was pulling out. Great spot right near the Market! Maggie paid for parking, and put the receipt in the window. Two hours, plenty of time! We met up with Sarah and had lunch. Then we toured the market. Really fun, the produce was really beautiful, organic, and expensive! Those Farmers must be doing OK! Finally we headed back to the truck (still had over 30 minutes on the meter) and there to our amazement was a parking ticket! The receipt was still there in the passenger's side window fully visible, with lots of remaining time. Well, it turns out we should have put the receipt in the CURBSIDE window, which in this case was the driver's side! Oh, well, our additional $35 will help pay for employees pensions in the People's Republic of Portland, that gives me comfort at least!

Sarah is on the right with her back
turned

Wednesday evening we had a barbecue at Ann's house. Matt, and his two boys Gavin and David were there, along with Vince, Sarah, and their babies Rowan and Ainsley. We had the added company of Marcie and Danny (they are hanging in Portland while Daddy Rob is deployed in Afghanistan). What fun watching these young Mom and Dads visit, cook, and ride heard on these wild little munchkins! We had a great time. It is comforting to know that this part of our family is right there if Maggie needs some support.

Maggie and Danny 

Clockwise from Left: Rowan, Gavin,
David, Ainsley, and Danny

Finally Thursday arrived. Time to move in. We drove the monster truck over to UP. When we were within about a mile and a half, we started seeing signs posted on all the power poles and light poles "Welcome to UP", "Pilots Rule", "You are coming to the UP side!", etc. It was great and really "UPed " our excitement level (especially Moe). We got to the dorm and checked in, brought the big red beast around and started filling up Margeaux's room....It didn't take much. It is a traditional dorm room. It is about 10' X12', with a sink (big bonus!) small closet, and two small built in desks. I would call it "Spartan". It was amazing how Moe and her roomie Shelby transformed it into a very cute little room.

We went to Target to pick up a few last minute odds and ends for the room. Maggie was surprised by a young man who first asked where she had gotten some of the stuff in our cart, then said "....So, what's your major?" Not bad for a pickup line. Turned out the kid was a microbiology major at UP. Later, we found out he had used a similar line on Shelby elsewhere in the store!! We all got a pretty good laugh.

Friday morning we packed up and said our goodbyes to Ann. It was just wonderful support to be able to stay with her during this adventure. We said goodbye, and headed to breakfast with Maggie Shelby, and Shelby's parents Larry and Cathy. Maggie definitely scored in the room mare area. Shelby's parents are great folks too. Larry recently has joined Rotary, so we had a little to talk about there. They were, just like us, saying good bye to the youngest of their children and going home to an empty nest. We ate in a little hole in the wall called Darcey's a few blocks from campus. There were some "parental orientation activities" planned that day, but Kim and I decided to hit the road instead. We dropped Maggie off back at her dorm, and said goodbye. It wasn't as hard as it was with Lucy, since last year when we put her on the Plane to Belgium we knew that she was starting out on her own life adventure. We treasured the visit this summer.

Our first night with "Granny Annie"

So, to finish this endless post, we crossed the Cascades and headed down the east side for a change of scenery on our way home. Out of state plates were pretty slim pickings on these relative back roads. We finally found a small motel in the tiny town of Bieber (between Susanville and Tule Lake) after striking out in the cross roads of Canby and Adin. We had a memorable dinner in Adin at the "Oney Frosty" in town. I think Mr. Oney must be the proprietor. Anyway we had barbecue tri-tip and ribs. It was delicious!

Saturday we made it home by about 1:00. The animals were all glad to see us. The horses were the most subtle, a few low nickers. The dogs did their usual thing, Delta howling and yapping, while Remi biunces up and down (about 18 inches) without making a sound. Lumina took the cake however. She meowed continuously (no matter what we did) and actually followed us around as she vocalized! We weren't safe anywhere. This lasted well into the next day! Actually it was a nice distraction from the empty house.

So, that's the end of this story. Its also the beginning of a new story. For Kim and I and of course for Maggie and Lucy.

That's All!


On Friday