September 2007

Updated Friday, January 28, 2011     

September 23, 2007


I went to the sausage festival here on Friday night (see the picture of a little girl below), then worked Saturday morning, then drove down to the McNary dam. Today I plan on going to the petrified forest north of here.

I will be home the weekend of October 13, and again the next weekend!

Sausage Festival

Tilt!

Shy magpie.

The famous Wallula Gap. This narrow gap in the hills restricted the flow from the melting glaciers and much of Washington State was flooded.

Irrigation pumps on the Columbia River,

An apple orchard.

Wallula pass from the downstream side.

For scale – the ship is tiny in front of the pass!

I climbed a telegraph pole to get this shot!

The sun came out for a while.

Hat Rock.

September 18, 2007

I had emailed a Dr.Lehman (an expert in the field) about my root cast find (see pictures of the root cast at the bottom of this web page). The Doctor wrote back that he also agreed that it most likely is a root cast, but the root could be a root of most anything and it would be millions of years old, not just thousands!!!!!!

Dr. Thomas M. Lehman
Department of Geosciences
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, Texas 79409-1053

September 17, 2007

Pictures of my new home thanks to Holly of “A Point of You”. 

Every thing is so rich and wonderful! The bedside tables have since been replaced, but the rest has not changed. 

It is awesome to come home to! 

September 14, 2007

Again time flies, it has been two weeks since I updated thus page. I drove to Mt. St. Helens and then up to visit Amy and Sarah last weekend. We had a great time riding the train and out to lunch. 

Furry friend by Mt. St. Helens.

Logging as I approached Mt. St. Helens (kind of a “before” picture).

Kind of an “after” picture – 27 years later. 

Me in front of the crater, I thought that I was a mile from the crater, but I was 4 miles! I thought that the devastated area was 5 miles from the dome, but it was 12 miles!
 I think I need new pants – these are now way too big!

“Mount St. Helens is most famous for its catastrophic eruption on May 181980,[1] which was the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States. Fifty-seven people were killed; 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles of railways, and 185 miles of highway were destroyed. The eruption caused a massive debris avalanche, reducing the elevation of the mountain’s summit from 9,677 ft to 8,365 ft (1,300 feet lost), and replacing it with a mile-wide horseshoe-shaped crater. The debris avalanche was up to 0.7 cubic miles in volume. ” (Wikipedia)

 It is still active! (landslide to the right).

Hike up to the viewing area.

Evidence of the power of the volcano.

These trees were sheared right off!

The devastated area is shaded.

27 years later, some growth has occurred. Trees ripped right out of the ground.

The power!!

“……. triggered a massive collapse of the north face of the mountain. It was the largest known debris avalanche in recorded history. The magma inside of St. Helens burst forth into a large-scale pyroclastic flow that flattened vegetation and buildings over 230 square miles.”  (Wikipedia)

The train Amy, Sarah, and I went on!

One of the conductors on the rear platform.

Sarah and I are waiting for the train to board.

Amy and Sarah.

Purchasing the tickets.

Amy and Sarah on the train – Sarah has one tooth gone!

The restaurant for lunch.

The “Teapot” gas station on my way back to Hanford

Below is a curiosity I picked up in the desert:

I was told that it is a “root cast”, the root of a tumbleweed from 10,000 to 13,000 years ago that is now petrified and has grown a calcium cast. It is 4 inches long and an inch wide.

Detail of the tip of the root.

This is True®by Randy CassinghamStories from Our Archives ©1994-2017
Dry Dock
Southern Florida is suffering from a drought, and many cities have instituted strict curbs on water use. For instance, yard watering is restricted to once per week in St. Petersburg, yet the city is sending out letters to residents warning them to improve the look of their browning yards — or else. The letter notes that nice landscaping makes “our neighborhoods nice places to live,” and reminds residents that decorative gravel and crushed stone is not allowed; a “herbaceous layer of sod or ground cover plant material” is required. “In a tough time like this, with the drought, we really, truly do try to work with residents,” said Todd Yost, assistant director of the city’s code compliance assistance department. “But at the same time we want to try to figure out how to keep that dust down.” (St. Petersburg Times) …Xeriscape, zero tolerance — what’s the difference?
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Weekend trip weather:

Amy and Darren’s weather:

Dad and Betty’s weather:

Susan and Al’s weather:

David’ and jeans weather:

Donald and jeanne’s weather:

Daniel and candy’s weather:

Heather and michael’s weather:

Rod and jill’s weather:


See you in Vermont : 2008!

  1998John’s Boat
  2002 
2008Sue and Al2005David and Jean’s Housewarming party,
       Pocomoonshine Lake, Princeton, Maine
2009John2006Darrell & Marilyn
2010Donald2007Dan & Candy
2011John’s refurbished home