OK, It has been almost a year since I brought you up to speed with what's been going on in my world. I thought I would do a review of the last 11 months just to get back on track with my posting. It has been a busy time with lots of things going on, so I will sprinkle in just a few photos.
In May of last year, Kim and I decided to get a jump on the ranch projects because we suspected that come summer, we would both be unavailable and on fires. We were right! We started by taking on replacing the eastern fence in our southern pasture. It is nearly 900 feet long, and we wanted to remove the old rotted wooden posts and barbed wire, realign the fence, and add a gate. It took us a about a week, but we got it done (after repairing the tractor). The most difficult part was digging and setting the posts. Brutally hard ground about 18 to 24 inches down (we had to go down at least 34 inches!)
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Kim was the operator and I was the 'swamper'
as we cleared out the old fence. |
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The weather was pretty nice, and I got a start on
my summer tan while I was digging post holes |
Our next big chore was painting the house. We wanted to get it done before Viola and her family arrived in June, so after about three weeks touring Nevada in our fifth wheel (and getting together with Justine and Christophe in Las Vegas, and our Elko cousins) we started back to work with a vengeance. The preparation was a lot more involved than I had guesstimated. Kim and I spent close to a full week scraping, sanding and priming. Finally, we were ready to mask off the windows and spray. Early morning was the only time when the wind wasn't too breezy, so we broke the actual spraying into a couple of days. Finally, I spent several more days painting the trim. It came out beautiful, but I noticed the other day that I forgot to paint the rain gutters along the north facing side of the house! Oh well, another project for this spring.
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It only took two morning shifts to spray the house.
It took almost a week after to finish all the trim!
It really looks good! |
We finished the house a day or so before Viola and family arrived. We had a fantastic visit which would have been worthy of several posts. We visited Virginia city, painted in Truckee, went camping in the wine country, and Viola got to go visit some of her college friends up in Portland. The highlight for me was taking my "Big Girl" up in my little airplane. We had a great tour of the area, and buzzed the house several times. Angelinas took a ride too, and she is a natural pilot. I let her take the controls and she flew the plane like a student with many hours under her belt.
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| It was great taking Viola up for a ride. |
While Viola was in Portland, Kim and I drove to Sand Point Idaho to attend the memorial of my Uncle John Guttry. Uncle John was my Mom's older brother, and he was well into his eighties. It was a sad occasion, but also very wonderful, seeing relatives I hadn't visited with in twenty or thirty years. Growing up, my family would often visit Uncle John, Aunt Nancy, and our cousins: Glen, Tim, and Karen. Uncle John ended up with a career at Farmer Brother's coffee, and was the head honcho of the Reno area branch. He was a former Marine, who served in Korea. He never talked much about it, I think he went through some pretty tough stuff serving his country. It was a wonderful re-engagement of that corner of our wonderful family. Travel wise, it worked out well, and we drove back home through Portland and picked up Viola and Baby Emily.
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Uncle John was a Marine, and served
in the Korean war. |
It wasn't long after Viola returned to Spain that the fire season started in earnest. On August 2nd, a huge dry lightning storm hit northern California starting literally thousands of forest fires. They managed to put most of them out the first day, but a few hundred escaped. My team was activated, and we went up to the Shasta Trinity National Forest, in the little town of Hayfork. It was called the Fork Complex. A complex is a grouping of fires, and our complex contained seven fires. Steep, ugly terrain, and the extremely dry conditions made the work dangerous and difficult. The thing that saved the forest was the stable and inverted air. This trapped all of the smoke near the ground and blocked the heating of the sun while minimizing air movement. So, the fires slowed down, and we were able to make good progress in spite of the fact that we didn't have enough firefighters and equipment for the size of the fires, and the terrain they were burning in. The bad news with the smoke is that you have to breathe it, even while your sleeping. Many firefighters got sick. We left after about 17 days straight of 16 hour shifts, and handed off what was left to another team that was freshly rested.
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You can see how smoky it is. That's not fog or
mist. This was taken after it had already cleared
up a little. |
I got home and got two days off. While I was home, Kim got called up to the Six Rivers National Forest to provide a supply truck (good old Rusty) to another complex called the Gasquet Complex. She ended up staying there for over 5 weeks. About that same time, my team was called up again. This next fire was called the River Complex, and was primarily on the Shasta Trinity NF, but some of it (including our camp) was on the Six Rivers NF in the town of Hoopa. Viola remembers that place! There was no smoke to speak of on this fire, and we jumped in after the previous team in an effort to prevent the fire from reaching Highway 299 (main state highway between Redding and Eureka on the coast). Our guys did a magnificent job, and held the fire up on the ridge. My scariest moment on this assignment was when we heard over the radio that someone had driven their pickup over the side of the road and into the canyon. This sounded like it would likely be a fatality (and should have been). It turned out that it was one of my Safety Officers. He seemed OK, was talking on the radio, but couldn't tell us where he was. We found him fairly quickly, and deployed a high angle rescue team that used climbing ropes and pulleys to get him back up to the road. It was amazing watching these guys (from LA County) go to work. Luckily, his only injury was a bruise to his shoulder caused by the seat belt. However, the truck was totaled. It went nearly 500 feet down a nearly vertical slope barely missing trees, and miraculously staying on its wheels. It finally plowed into some soft soil, and thick brush that cushioned the shock when it hit a large tree square on. The airbag didn't even deploy! It was definitely this fellow's lucky day!
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This is our safety officer as they are getting him
out of the stokes litter, and onto a gurney into
an ambulance. |
We stayed for another 16 days or so on the River Complex, then came home for two days off. Kim was still on the Gasquet, so I was by myself. My third day home I was assigned with my team to another fire east of Fresno in the Sequoia National Forest and Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park. It was called the Rough Fire. This fire had started in a place called Rough Creek, and it was named that for a reason. There was literally no safe way to gain access to fight the fire because of steep rocky terrain. When the fire came out, it went on a burning spree! We were the third team on it. The best news is that we were the last team on it. This was another example of incredibly skillful and heroic fire fighting. We held it at the last ridge possible before it would have swept into tinder dry brush and dead forest. Local communities were already evacuated, but since we managed to keep it on the back side of this ridge, they eventually all got to go back to their homes. We took the opportunity to see some of the Giant Sequoias in the Park (no tourists around!). Through all three of these fires we had only a few minor cuts, scrapes, and bruises. My Safety Brothers and I were very proud and relieved at this. Unfortunately, just before we got to the Rough Fire, a young man was pinned down by a rolling log in burning coals. He was severely burned before they could extract him. I know our great record was (and always is) a combination of hard work and awareness, and plain luck! After another 17 days or so, we turned what was left back over to the local forest personnel. I got to have dinner with Lucy down in Fresno on the way home which was the highlight of the assignment for me!.
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Me and my Safety Brothers: Don Will, and John
Kraushaar. The smoke in the back ground was
a burnout to secure the last piece of line on the
Rough Fire |
By the time I got to the ranch, summer was over and fall was upon us. October 1st found me making the final repairs and preparations to my hanger at the Beckwourth Airport. Having a hanger to protect my little magic carpet is crucial in this area. A severe wind storm had blown the door off this unoccupied hanger the year before. I managed to salvage most of the door, got a little lumber, lots of screws and some door trolley hardware to make the repair. Luckily, there was a lift available at the airport that I borrowed to hang the door back up. I doubled up the latches and have come up with a secure system that I am sure will hold up to our fierce Sierra Valley winds, and keep my little plane dry and safe!
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| The finished repair job from the inside of the hangar. |
About the end of October Kim and I flew to the big Island of Hawaii for a Rotary conference. After the conference, we journeyed with two other couples up to Kaui, at Princeville. We had an absolute blast in our rented condo, seeing the sights, taking the tours, cooking great meals, and drinking (cheap) wine! We had never been to Kaui, and I have to say it is my new favorite island having been to Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii.
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I think this was called Wailua Falls. Kim and I
found this place after a great lunch at a "locals"
joint. The food was really fun when you avoided
the touristy places. (cheaper too!) |
We got home a few weeks before Thanksgiving, and were really blessed to host our family Thanksgiving celebration this year. Brother John and Little Jeannie, Uncle Frank and Aunt Lucille, Lucy, Maggie, and her two friends Hilda (from Romania) and Merhdad (from Iran) all joined us. The weather was cold but fine. I "weberized" a nice sized bird, and we all just had an extraordinary time visiting!
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| Everyone enjoyed the barbecued turkey |
The day after the feast, we took off into the forest to find and cut Christmas trees. It was a very snowy trip, as we had had quite a bit of snow previously. We didn't have to walk too far though, before we found the perfect tree (although we had to keep looking for another hour just to make sure)! John and Jeanne, Merhdad and Hilda, Maggie and Lucy, and a couple of other friends including Dave, Jane, and Christin Roberti came with us. We all had hot chocolate back at the trucks, then it was back down the hill for turkey soup and a few rounds of Taboo.
December 1st I had ankle surgery to remove a bone spur that had been causing me quite a bit of pain and preventing me from walking as much as I (and my dogs) wanted. The surgery was simple, and I was back on my feet for our trip to Spain on December 28th. Unfortunately, as I debarked from the plane in Stockholm, after 10 hours at 40,000 feet, my ankle gave out. The additional swelling caused by the flight made it almost impossible to walk. Kim got a wheelchair for me, and we made it to the hotel shuttle. From there I looked like a "wounded warrior" with my arm around Kim's shoulder hopping on one leg to get to our room. It calmed down by the next morning and I was able to limp along until we arrived in Spain where Viola had acquired a loaner set of crutches. In a couple of more days, I didn't even need them. My ankle feels nearly 100 percent now, but I think I still have a little healing left to do.
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Just two small incisions where the went in to my
ankle. Amazing the wonders of modern medical technology. |
We arrived in Spain and were very pleased to find that our wonderful little grand daughter Emily recognized us from our many interactions over Skype. It was great not having to go through a day or so of "re-acquainting". She is growing so fast, physically and mentally, it is astounding. I had forgotten, even though I watched four of my own grow up. We stayed in Espana for about three weeks. The best time by far was the short family vacation we took to the southwest coast of the country. We were just south of Cadiz, at a place called Los Canos de Meca. We rented a small "casa rurale" there and spent almost a week exploring and relaxing together.
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| Grandma couldn't get enough of her little nieta! |
Possibly the high point was a short day trip to a town called Bolognia just south of us. There were some amazing Roman ruins there that have been extensively excavated, studied and preserved. A small museum and visitors center was on site and we spent quite a bit of time learning about the Roman history of the area. Luego, tomamos almuerzo in a little cafe/bar right on the beach. It was a balmy, sunny day. After eating,we just relaxed. I sat and visited with Angelinas, while Kim and Viola took the baby down to the beach to look for shells. It was wonderful being able to connect on a little bit deeper level with 'A'. My Spanish is much improved, but I have a long way to go!
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There was quite a city going way back in Roman times.
There was even a fish processing plant, right on the ocean
where they salted and preserved fish over a thousand
years ago. |
Canos de Meca is very near to Trafalgar point where there is a light house. It is an ancient spot to post a warning to seafarers, and the remains of a Roman and Moorish tower sit next to the current lighthouse. A great sea battle took place in about 1805, just off the coast there. It was a brutal fight between the English navy, and the combined Spanish and French fleets. The greatly outnumbered and out gunned British fleet won a resounding victory. It makes for some interesting reading if you're into world shaping historical events. I really love going to the places that I have read so much history about. Very cool.
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| El Faro de Trafalgar. |
We returned home near the end of January, and I immediately got swallowed up in chores around the place, and Rotary chores. In late February, we took a trip down to see Lucy (and Diesel) in Fresno. We spent one night at her apartment, then got a motel room in Oakhurst outside of Yosemite. The next day was spent touring the Yosemite Valley. What beautiful sights to see. We did a little hiking and met Brother Don at the end of the day. We toured our way back to Oakhurst, and had a great Mexican dinner at a place called El Cid's. Kind of a strange name for a Mexican restaurant since El Cid is a Spanish folk hero from back in the 11th century. Kind of like naming an American restaurant "Cromwell's". Bottom line is that the food was absolutely delicious, and we really enjoyed ourselves. It was very nice to spend some time with my big brother Don.
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Lucy and Diesel with Yosemite Valley
in the background. That's El Capitan on
the left, and Half Dome in the distance to
the right. |
Well, that about brings us up to the present. It is difficult to cover almost a whole year in one post, but I felt I had to do it before I could get back in to a more normal blogging routine. So, until the next one,
That's All!
