Winter Sunshine

Winter Sunshine
Winter Sunshine in the Desert

Thursday, July 22, 2010

07-22 to 24-2010 Oukrop Family Reunion in Lapine Oregon

Once again, I am writing about this time of our life long after the actual happening.  Attempting to recreate a better format for my early blogging days I am discovering some trips that I neglected to write about.  This time as before I will let the photos simply tell the story.

Day one: Don loads up our kayaks in addition to his handmade wooden kayak and we launch on the Deschutes River near LaPine where the reunion is happening at Roger and Nancy’s home.

Abby loves to swim as always.

Day Two:  We are comfortably settled in to a spot between the house and the big workshop/garage at Roger’s place

Whenever the Oukrop clan gathers there are sure to be lots of dogs.  These are only a few of them.

Time for the traditional family float on the Deschutes River.

Late afternoon and everyone gathers for a family bar be que on the porch. 

The Oukrops are a sporty family and everyone joins in with the kids for games on the lawn

Day Three: Family members disperse a bit for various activities.  Mo and I choose kayaking over golf and head for a nearby lake.

We decide to try the Deschutes River again on our own and discover that an hour’s worth of paddling upstream will take us just fifteen minutes to return to our launch site.

Another side trip for the two of us to the LaPine State Park where we check out the history big pine.

Oukrop reunions are a special time with a wonderful family, happy kids, good food and lots of activities for everyone. 

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

07-21-2010 Gem of the Cascades Waldo Lake


Tucked away in the Cascades, north of Highway 58, is a lake that is referred to as the “Gem of the Cascades”.  Mo and I have thought often about traveling the three hours or so to this beautiful lake to camp, but for many different reasons, we never quite made it until now.  Waldo Lake, although truly beautiful, is also very well known for it’s mosquito population.  People who know Waldo warn that the only good time to camp there is in late summer and early fall.  However, we thought that with a motorhome for protection, and our desire to be out on the water in the kayaks, it wouldn’t be too much for us to handle.  Besides, it will give us some good practice for Minnesota and the northern Lake Superior region later this season.

We left by 9 this morning, and made it to the Diamond Lake Junction cafe just in time to savor another fabulous breakfast.  The small tables are adorned with handwritten notes from diners all over the country, touting the wonderful food and friendly people who run this tiny, inconspicuous little restaurant.  The cook laughed when we shared our “Bigfoot” breakfast and still needed a good sized to-go box for the part we couldn’t finish. 

After breakfast, continuing north on HWY 97 to HWY 58 was uneventful, and in no time we were on the forest service road leading north to Waldo.  After some internet research, and exploring Google Earth a bit, we determined that the Islet Campground would be our best bet.  North Waldo Campground has a boat launching facility, and Shadow Bay at the southern end of the lake is much more thickly vegetated and as it says, shadowy.  When we arrived at Islet, much to our surprise, there was only one campsite taken out of the 48 or so available.  Some Forest Service workers laughed when we asked why, and told us that the mosquitoes kept most people away, and suggested that we take an open, sunny, and breezy site.  This wasn’t a problem, since the campground was empty, and we had great fun picking our perfect spot.  By the time we left the next day, there were still only 3 campers in Islet, and maybe a half dozen or so more north of us in the North Waldo Campground.  Amazing.

Our site was adjacent to the bike trail along the lake, and just a few hundred feet down a gentle slope to our own little sandy beach.  We set up camp, sprayed ourselves down with DEET, and checked out the surroundings.  The sky was brilliant, the forest deep and rich.  The trees were dominantly Western Hemlock and Shasta Fir, with an understory of dwarf huckleberry, a good indication of the cold moist climate at this high elevation.  Our view of Waldo Lake was lovely and we took some time to settle in, relax under the trees in our comfy chairs and appreciate all the perfect amenities of our camp, including a really solid, big picnic table in just the right position by our awning, and a fire circle close by.

We unloaded the bikes, deciding that a bike ride would be better during the sunny afternoon when the mosquitoes would be a bit less aggravating.  The trail circles most of the lake for several miles and is a favorite for mountain bikers. 

Mo and I have mountain bikes, but I don’t think we would qualify as mountain bikers.  The first part of the trail was nice, but as it ascended to Taylor Mountain it got a lot rougher, with roots and rocks in the path, and some very winding twists among the huge trees.  We rode a little bit beyond the Waldo Campground and then gave up and headed back to camp.  Still, it was a nice ride.

The main reason for coming to this lake, of course, was the kayaking, and I was excited to get out on the legendary clear water.  Waldo Lake is nestled into volcanic andesite rock, and is the second deepest lake in Oregon, second only to Crater Lake. 

It is pristine, with some of the purest water in the world, and a recent decision by the forest service to exclude gasoline engines from the lake will help to keep it that way.  The lake has no natural inlets to bring in any kind of sediment or pollutants, and fish stocking ceased in 1990. 

There is very little plant growth, and no algae anywhere.  As we paddled along the shore, the views were breathtaking, and the water was as clear as any I have ever seen.  The colors reminded me of the Caribbean, with rich deep turquoise and cobalt blues that were nearly impossible to photograph. The wind came up as we headed back across the lake to our camp, and the sheer size of the lake was impressive. It was a truly amazing experience to have this huge lake and pristine forest almost entirely to ourselves.

We arrived back in camp to the mosquitoes waking up and getting busy and ready for dinner.  We did the same, and Mo built a nice fire for our steaks, while I started up the generator to quickly bake the potatoes.  I didn’t have to worry about disturbing anyone with the noise, at least.  Supper was yummy, and we sat for a long time afterward waiting for sunset.  Walking south along the trail to get a better view wasn’t such a good idea, since the mosquitoes were incredibly thick and bothersome out along the beach.  We went back to camp where I sprayed down heavily and walked down to the beach to watch the sun set behind the mountains.

We woke early to a morning chill, had some tea and little donuts before getting out on the glassy lake.  Down on the beach it was a fight between us and the mosquitoes, and I think they could have carried our boats off if they wanted to.  We launched and paddled like crazy to get away from them and for a bit I thought it was going to be a losing battle.  Once we rounded the jetty, however, the winds picked up and we left the bothersome bugs behind.  Again, our paddle was gorgeous, the water incredible, the views of the surrounding mountains magnificent.  The pristine clarity comes with a price, however, and we noticed that there were no water birds around anywhere.  The entire time we were there, we saw just a tiny little duck family by the boat launch.  As much as I loved the clarity, I really missed the birds.  Our murky Klamath Lake certainly isn’t as pristine, but it teems with life everywhere. 

We decided to dock the boats in the sunny open boat launch area instead of our buggy little beach, so I walked back and got the car and we loaded the boats on top and went back to camp.  With the sun up and the breezes rising, the mosquitoes dissipated a bit and we enjoyed a great campfire breakfast.

Our spot at Islet Campground, number 42, was probably the very best spot in the entire area.  We hope to go back again sometime in the fall, but have also heard that these camps get very busy when the bug season lets up. 

Packing up was a snap, and we left by noon to head for Mo’s brother’s home in LaPine, just a couple of hours away.  It was time for the bi-annual family reunion, with kayaking, and bocci ball, golf and bar-b-ques.  Our little Waldo Lake overnighter was a great way to start the weekend.


 

Sunday, July 11, 2010

07-11-2010 A Day in Seattle

Our flight from Seattle to Medford wasn’t scheduled until very late at night on the day that we disembarked the Sapphire Princess by mid morning.  As usual, getting off the ship was a bit of a tedious process, with large groups waiting to be called for their turn to leave.

We wandered around town a bit and decided that taking a Duck Boat tour around the city might be a nice way to spend a good part of the day. 

The tour was fun, going to Lake Washington for the obligatory water entry, and then returning in time for us to find some supper before heading for the airport. 

Once again, photos fail me, and I have no clue how we got from downtown Seattle to the SeaTac airport near Tacoma. 

As with the last post, I am writing this in 2021, and not surprisingly, my memory of that day is quite vague.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

07-10-2010 Cruising to Victoria British Columbia

Writing on a sunny morning in January, 2021, the day before a new president is inaugurated.  For the past few days I have been working on rewriting some of the earlier blogposts for the year 2010.  In the process of making my annual hard copy books of the blog, I discovered many problems.  Photos are no longer located on Picasa, the formatting of many posts is awkward, with dots and spaces used as an attempt to force photos into their proper positions.  In addition, I discovered as I reviewed my writings about our Alaska Cruise that I simply stopped writing after on last day at sea.  I guess I just wore out.  Only the photo record, which is thankfully preserved on several backup devices, google photos, and my photo site on SmugMug let me know what was missing.  So I am attempting to write about our last two days on this lovely cruise, completed more than 10 years ago.  As is often the case, photos will remind me of what I have forgotten, and when the book is printed for my hard copy memories, I will remember the rest of the story.

We approached Victoria late in the day after cruising for two days through the Inside Passage of Alaska.  It was a beautiful cruise and a lovely two days on the ship as we relaxed.  Mo and I had traveled to Victoria by cruise ship several years prior in 2004, and with the short port time for this visit, felt no need to return to Butchart Gardens or to see any of the other possibilities available for excursions.

Instead we got off the ship and enjoyed walking around town viewing some of the beautiful buildings that grace the city . The sun was brilliant and lit up the local gardens with gorgeous color.

We took our time strolling the streets, peering into the wonderful and varied shop windows, and relaxing on park benches for lots pf people watching.

Based on the photos I have of our time in Victoria, I see no sign of us eating a meal in town.  The photos of the city at night are a good indication that we departed after dark and the lights were wonderful.

A beautiful city for our last day aboard the Sapphire Princess



Friday, July 9, 2010

07-09-2021 Cruising Alaska Day 6 and 7 at sea

Yesterday we enjoyed a sea day.  Tonight we will dock in Victoria, but not until 7PM, so I would say this qualifies as a sea day as well. On sea days, the time just rolls by, and before you blink, it’s time to dress for dinner.  On this cruise, both formal nights have been held on sea days, which is really quite nice.  By morning yesterday, we were in the North Pacific, west of the Queen Charlotte Islands, and shrouded in fog.  The fog persisted all day, and it was chilly, so not really conducive to hanging out on the deck.  Mo and I had a late breakfast, wandered around the ship a bit, listening to the pianist in the Atrium.  We spent some time in the casino, where I actually won a tiny bit of money.  We knew it would be a late night, so took it easy, playing cards in our stateroom enjoying the view of nothing, but still enjoying our balcony.  There are a lot of scheduled activities on a cruise ship on these sea days, but I do love most the chance to do just about nothing.  I get very few real “nothing” days at home in my regular life.

Even though it was chilly in the afternoon, the sun tried to warm the fog a bit and we decided to try a swim.  We are on the 12th deck, and the terrace pool at the back of the ship is on 12 as well.  We discovered that we could leave our room and travel all the way to the back of the ship without having to go into a public space at all.  The hall emerges within feet of the pool.  It was perfect for us, with no one else in the pool.  It was also pretty nice to make a run for the room and the hot shower after our swim.  The water was heated, and is fresh water, which is nice, but the wind was still really cold.  It did feel good to get in a bit of a swim, though.

We dressed early for dinner, and took our cute little printed invitations to the Captain’s Circle cocktail party.  Since we are two time cruisers with Princess, we are now part of this elite group.  The captain informed us later that this elite group numbers more than 10 million, so I guess it’s not that elite.  We had complimentary rum punch and cute little canapés while we listened to the captain tell his story, and applauded the cruisers with the most cruise days on princess, a couple with 440 days at sea!  Gee, that would be a year and a half of continuous cruising.  They were pretty old, so maybe they have had 20 years or so to rack up those days.  It would have been interesting to see their trips.  The third place couple were fairly young, but only had 150 days or so.  I guess you would have to really like cruising to get into a group like that!

There were door prizes as well, and we wondered a bit how much longer the program would last and what we should do next.  Calling out the names of the winners, suddenly there it was, “Ms Sligar?”  Mo won a bottle off champagne!  What fun that was for us, and they eventually delivered the bottle to our dining table and then we took it to the stateroom.  The formal dinner was excellent, with lobster and shrimp and beef wellington for Mo. The prawns were nearly as big as the lobster, but even as a shrimp lover, I was delighted with the lobster.  Yum!  We went to the casino to win a little bit more and then to the last production show of the cruise, “Do You Wanna Dance”.  Once again, this show was truly excellent, with great dancing and costumes, and lots of lights and glitz.  I loved it.

I so love the dress up nights, as much for watching all the other folks as for dressing up myself.  It’s fun to be shiny and glitzy and have a chance to wear rhinestones and sparkles and not appear ridiculous.

Today has been another quiet time in the cabin, punctuated by a meal here and there. After morning tea, we started watching a movie with Sandra Bullock, “The Proposal” and couldn’t get away for breakfast until after ten.  Of course, the Neptune deck “Taste of Alaska” buffet was scheduled for 11:30 so I had just over 90 minutes to get ready for more food.  Finally this ship came through with the carved fruit, ice sculptures, and fancy production.  The Alaskan salmon was poached, delicate and perfect, the sushi was fresh and tasty, and I do love having all the pickled ginger that I want with my sushi.  Mo and I shared another Alaskan Summer Ale with our meal and then headed back to try to finish spending our casino money. 

On this ship, if you win, you have to cash out to your cruise card.  This could be really dangerous, since there is a green button on the slot machine that is called “charge to your cruise card”.  Stay away from THAT button.  If you win, you cash out to your cruise card casino account and the money is waiting for you the next time you put in your card.  I had 6.95 left in my casino account that I really needed to finish off, so plugged in the card to play.  After a long time, I had to decide to give up since I couldn’t seem to lose.  I cashed in my casino card just an hour before the cruise casino official closing with $70.00 to the good.  With the champagne for Mo and the winnings for me, it turned out to be a winning trip!

This afternoon we are slipping into the quiet time of packing for disembarkation tomorrow and finishing up our day.  Our landing in Victoria awaits, but it’s a bit of an afterthought, especially so late in the day.  We haven’t planned much, but hope to enjoy the city a bit before getting back on ship by 11 for our final sailing to Seattle.

Ahh, something else I forgot to mention.  In the past I have had a lot of trouble with being sea sick.  The last couple of cruises have been easier, and on the last one I only needed a patch for a very short time.  However, after getting terribly ill in Key West on the trip to the Dry Tortugas, I bought some sea bands.  They work by applying pressure to meridians and are said to work for morning sickness as well.  I am a huge fan!  They really DO work, and  no drugs.  I will keep them with me always, not just for cruises, but for busses, and any other time I might get motion sickness.  What an amazing thing!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

07-08-2010 Cruising Alaska Day 5 Skagway

We set the alarm for Skagway, knowing the day ahead would be long and full. This time we decided to do one of the Princess excursions, because we didn’t want to miss the chance to do the two things really important to us and still get back to the ship on time. Skagway is a delightful little town, with an old fashioned boardwalk, and some good shopping, but our focus on this day was riding the White Pass Railroad and going kayaking.

The White Pass Railroad is part of the epic history of the Klondike Gold Rush, with the construction of a narrow gauge train 112 years ago. The White Pass & Yukon Route was designated an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, along with the Eiffel Tower and our recent destination, the Panama Canal.  In addition to the many hazards and obstacles the builders overcame, they built this railroad in two years, two months, and according to some storytellers, two days, two hours, etc. etc.  Riding this train is a fabulous experience, unlike the many touring trains that dot the western landscape, this one has real views, and tunnels, and trestles, and has such an amazing history. 

Fascinating as well, was the young woman narrating the journey.  She was born in Skagway, a town of about 800 residents and a population that drops to less than 500 in the winter.  She graduated in a class of seven, all them them with close to a 4 point average, and all of them continuing that average when they went away to college.  Her family has a gun business and a restaurant and were long time Skagway residents as well.  She is entering medical school this fall and plans to be a plastic surgeon. She gave us lots of information about the train and the journey, but because we were in the “sound car” we got to hear her side conversations with some other people about what it was like to grow up in a small tight community like Skagway. 

 

The train climbs from sea level in Skagway to nearly 3,000 feet at the summit of White Pass, in just 20 miles, passing through some of the most magnificent terrain in the US.  The purpose for this train was to get people in and out of the Klondike, in anticipation of the huge gold rush expected there.  What I didn’t know before this trip, was that that huge gold rush actually burned out after only two years, with very few people actually making any money.  But the stories of steam engine number 9, and the rotary snow plow number 1 were fascinating.  Other stories from Skagway include the notorious “Soapy” Smith, a thug who ran the town until he was killed by another thug who was then eulogized as the man who saved Skagway. 

I took a photo of the “trail of 98” where men hauled literally a ton (2000) pounds of goods over the pass for hundreds of miles on their backs.  They had to make many trips because the Canadian government at this time wouldn’t allow a foreigner in the country without enough provisions that they wouldn’t become a drain on the Canadian economy.  It was said if you lost your place in the line of men on this tiny trail, it could take a day to get back into line to continue forward.  What a story.

After White Pass, we got off the train at Frasier, British Columbia, to begin our kayak trip on Glacier Lake.  Our guides were typical young, adorable river boys, who gave us a lesson in tandem kayaking with a rudder, helped with our skirts and life jackets and let us out into the lake.  Now you know that Mo and I are kayakers, but we do usually each have our own.  It’s fun trying to figure out who is in charge when there are two people in a kayak.  We did fine, eventually, and I did eventually figure out the rudder pedals.  The lake was lovely, clear, and windy, with protected coves.  The wind saved us from what I assumed would be legendary bugs, with only one mosquito to mar the day.  Just one.  That was amazing in itself!  The mountains around us were topped with snow with several glaciers visible. 

The lake is in a place called Tribulation Valley, desolate and windy and incredibly harsh.  We were on the water for just over an hour, not nearly enough, before we had to return to Frasier and the waiting coach.  The train up the pass follows the east side of the river, and the Klondike road on the west side of the river was our route back down to Skagway.  Our coach driver told us stories about Skagway and the local history as she negotiated many bikers from Sockeye  tours who refused to move to the right of the road to let the bus pass.  She had a few pithy comments about Sockeye, and asked us to please not do a tour with them, ever. From the way everyone talked, it was obvious that this was a small community, supportive of each other, but also much like a small family with some infighting as well.

By the time we got back to Skagway, I was starving and grumpy, and made a beeline for someplace to eat.  After an Alaskan Amber and a burger at the Alaska Brewing Company I felt much better.  The restaurant was great, and looked historic and interesting, but a closer look at the historical walking tour brochure revealed that the building was erected 3 years ago, called Old Town Skagway.  The town itself is completely taken over by tourism and the cruise industry, with only a few local businesses on some of the side streets. 

Again, Diamond International and all the associated Caribbean jewelry stores dominate the main street of Broadway, with just a few interesting local shops caught in the middle.  The town was crowded and busy, and with a population that swells daily from 800 to 10,000 or so with the cruise ship arrivals, it was certainly more like Disneyland than a true Alaskan frontier town. Mo and I were shopped out, even though we haven’t really bought a lot of “stuff”, and walked back to the ship.  Again, the flowers were brilliant and gorgeous, the skies a perfect blue, and the mountains magnificent.

When we left Skagway, Kathy talked on the microphone about the glaciers and waterfalls, and Mo and I braved the incredible winds at the front of the ship to get great photos.  We passed Haines on the right, the mountains adjacent to Glacier Bay to the north, and got an extremely rare view of three magnificent glaciers as we cruised down the sound.  I took a ton of photos.  Perfect.  Perfect that is, until this morning, when I discovered the horrific fact that I left the smart card in the computer and took all those photos without a card in the camera.  Geez, you would think a camera would tell you something like that.  So, no photos of the extremely rare sunny departure from Skagway, while we listened over and over to just how incredibly lucky  we were to see the glaciers and the mountains.  We were, I just don’t have photos of that experience!

Again, we skipped dinner in the dining room at 8 in favor of the production show.  It was well worth it, finally, this show was fabulous.  “I’ve Got the Music” was filled with great dancing, great singing, and all the bells and whistles.  We felt that we had truly been entertained.  It was so good that we decided we would have to go to the 10:15 show after our formal dinner at 8 on our sea day tomorrow.

I fell into bed filled with visions of mountains and glaciers and lakes and all the wonders we had seen on this day and slept like a rock!