THE LITTLEST SOCCER PLAYERS

Today was the first practice for Emmy's soccer team. Yes, all the players -- five of them -- are three-years-old. Here Emerson poses in her new soccer duds, complete with shoes and shin guards. She'll still wear this uniform when she's five.

 Big sister Annie was a helper on the soccer field.

Emerson is a right-footed kicker.

Here's a picture of the team and coaching staff. And practice with these young 'uns was just as interesting as you might think. "Like herding cats" was the observation of the coach. One little guy left off dribbling his ball and cried. He was quickly consoled by his parents and re-joined the play. When it came time to play "shark," they just couldn't find a "shark" mean enough to steal the ball. KW

KIDS AND DOGS

Mike and I are enjoying a visit in the Denver area with the Mile High Warnocks (son Yancey and family).

Mike said he wanted to take a picture of Emmy wearing the smock apron made especially for her by Gramma Kathy, so Emmy posed. The fabric has ghosts and pumpkins on it.

We drove fairly hard from Gooding to Denver on Thursday in the hope that we could catch at least part of Annie's softball game. We made it for the last inning. Annie is the catcher.

 Jack and little sister Emmy -- doing what? Geocaching, of course. In the background Grandpa Mike hunts in vain for a cache that seems to be gone.

"She's gonna drink all my water!" Nellie and baby Blanche also eat each others' food, which sent dog owners to chow packages to determine nutritional content.

 Kelly, Emmy and Jack creating with Play-Doh.

I think Nellie enjoys the comfort of a pillow on a pillow. Maybe we'll try that at home.

I was impressed that Emmy and Grandpa shared a rather long reading session. Besides Play-Doh and reading, Emmy loves puzzles, magnetic cardboard dolls, singing, swimming, and games. KW

BALLON RISING (HOPEFULLY)

Daily over the last month a hot air balloon has risen over the valley by 7:00 a.m. There's something about the sight of a balloon rising that catches the imagination, even though in reality I know I wouldn't enjoy the ride. Still, I think of Around the World in Eighty Days and imagine myself in that basket.

Sunday, while the camera was with Mike on his geo-adventure to the Seven Devils (see post below), I looked up from my reading to see the balloon floating right over the town house -- and fairly close. I lamented the lost photo op, but today it returned.

Mike and I had commented that the balloon was air-borne again this morning and then went about our business. Suddenly I heard  that distinct sound -- "Pfooooopth" -- and knew the balloon was very close. It was right out our house, very low, and framed in our front windows. I ran to the front door, grabbing the camera on my way. The photos here were taken from the front stoop as the balloon floated over our roof.


We could hear them talking in the basket: "Take it easy. Take it easy." "Pfooooopth!" "Take it easy!"  There were probably half a dozen people in the basket and it seemed like a training session.

We noted they didn't seem to be getting much lift, but the balloon floated on by and I lost interest. I wasn't going to chase them.

Note in the pictures a second balloon in the distance. KW

MORE MICKEY WARNOCK GEO ADVENTURES

Last Tue I took one on my "Backroads Beemer" on a loop from Greer through Weippe, Pierce and back through Grangemont. There was a Gold Rush series of caches mostly at historical signs and some at cemeteries. It was pretty interesting but I did have one mishap (some might say a Mickey Warnock experience). There were 2 or 3 caches not in the series that were on the back gravel roads. I took a gravel road just before the Grangemont turnoff and went back in about 5 miles and then bushwhacked a ways through the woods to get a cache. I had gotten about half way back out on the gravel road when the bike slid out from under me. It went over the embankment, fortunately minus me, and ended up at about a 45 degree angle pointed downhill with the back wheel a foot or two down from the road. I got a little road rash but nothing serious. The bike weighs well over 400 pounds so there was no way I was going to get it back up by myself. There was absolutely no traffic on that road so I hiked the 2 1/2 miles back to the highway. It didn't take long at all to get a ride back into Pierce where some folks were kind enough to drive me back out with their truck and pull my bike back up on the road. Shortly after getting that bike, I had installed some crash bars which really came in handy. I just had a bent brake pedal which I was able to straighten out after I got back to the farm. It happened about 5:00 p.m. so it put me back after dark and my cell phone battery had gone dead. Of course, where the accident occurred there was no service anyway. Kathy was about a half hour away from calling the sheriff.

My trip yesterday went a little better. For a long time I’d been wanting to put a cache in the Seven Devils but it’s almost impossible to get permission to place one in a Wilderness Area. They have a rule that says no caches in the Areas but it’s meant for a regular cache such as someone leaving some food or hunting gear back in there to retrieve at a later date. Some also say geocaches are litter. At any rate, Ken had given me a mountain goat skull which I intended to use as the container. After I finally got in touch with the Ranger in charge of the area, which wasn’t easy, and explained what I wanted to do and about the container, she gave me permission. Actually, I wanted to put two down there. The other one would be a multi cache called “No Hill For A Climber”. The last leg would be down there and I would put at least two other legs that would require some serious hill climbing. The first leg would be here locally just to get some of the hotshots hooked that think they have to get every cache in the area.

So I left a little before 6:30 yesterday morning on the “Backroads Beemer”. It was a little chilly even though I have heated grips and a windshield which really help. I stopped in Grangeville to warm up a bit. After leaving the highway a little past Riggins I had about 15 miles of uphill twisty gravel road. You can bet I took it easy, especially the curves. I got there about 10:00 and left the Seven Devils Campground at 10:15. I have waypoints in my GPSr for the Hikers’ Trail that makes the shortcut over to Sheep Lake. It took me about an hour to get up to the saddle. It seems like those steep hills aren’t quite as easy as they used to be. From there I made a right turn heading north along that high ridge that faces the campground and parking lot. I found a perfect spot for the skull in a little cave at 8,650 feet elevation. After placing it I continued north heading toward the highest peak on the ridge. I soon met two couples from Nampa so I stopped, had my lunch, and visited with them. I always forget something. This time it was my hat so they gave me some sun screen for my head which really helped. We exchanged information on how we had gotten there and I decided to take the ridge they had come up back down and they would take the Hikers’ Trail with maybe a detour to Sheep Lake.

When I got to the highest peak at just over 8,700 feet I found a great place for the second cache. The container was a plastic peanut jar about 7” square painted with camo paint. I found a big rock that had fallen over and created a little cave so I placed the cache in there with a rock and some wood in front of it. I’m hoping if “The Goat Head” cache goes well I can get permission next year for the multi cache and I won’t have to make another trip in there. My trip back down was much easier except I had developed blisters on the tops of my fourth toes on both feet from going down the steep inclines. The ridge they had come up starts near the parking lot but since that’s not where I was going I veered off to the south and partly slid down a loose gravely sloop until I hit a little bench just above the camp ground. It was only 1:30 so I felt like I had done a lot in that amount of time. I had also logged a cache just before the entrance into the Wilderness Area.

About half way down the road from the Devils I stopped to try a cache that had been out for over a year with no logs. To make a long story somewhat shorter, I missed the trail intended and took another one taking me down a steep wooded hill to the same general area. When I got down there I saw a high overhanging cliff with pitons, carabineers and chains embedded in it to accommodate rock climbers. The name of the cache was “Cliff Hanging Spelunkers”. However, the coordinates took me down a steep talus slope, across a creek and part way up the other side where there was nothing out of the ordinary – just woods. I knew it had to be wrong so I retreated and climbed all the way down, across the creek and back up the talus sloop. However, I went too far up and hit the wrong trail leading me to a dead end cliff. I backtracked and hit the right trail taking me back to the overhanging rock climber cliff. At that point I discovered another trail above the one I had taken in which was the one I should have taken in the first place. That took me to what was described as the cache site – ropes attached in the hillside leading up to some caves. I climbed up to the caves and crawled in the biggest one which circled about 30 feet back into the cliff and terminated in a tunnel about 2 ½ feet in diameter. Fortunately I had a flashlight with me. Unfortunately I found no cache there nor in any other of the smaller caves in the area. The coordinates were 300’ off. I should have known better. The cache was placed by someone who had found a grand total to two caches. Oh well, a disappointing “no find” but quite an adventure and an interesting place even if it did take two hours out of my trip. The rest of my trip was fairly uneventful and I was back home a little after 7:00 p.m. M/W

FRIVOLOUS FRIDAY: HANKIE COUTURE

I had seen the book online and put it on my wish list – Hankie Couture by Marsha Greenberg (Running Press Book Publishers, 2011). The author, a designer and sewist, has created dresses and other outfits for fashion dolls (like Barbie) from handkerchiefs, and also created this delightful book to tell about this adventure and share a few tips. “I have handkerchiefs,” I said to myself, sensing that I stood on the brink of another inspiring yet impulsive tangent. I was not the least deterred by a reviewer’s comment that the book did not contain patterns for every outfit pictured. Without even seeing the book, I immediately understood that the style of the outfit was going to depend on the hankie and one’s own creative sense. “All I’d need is a couple of bodice patterns and a few tips,” I thought to myself – not that I would ever be in this author’s league.

My plan was to wait until the price of the book went down, or possibly buy it as a used book – not because I’m poor but because that’s what I do. But one day on a refresher visit to Jo-Ann’s, I spied it on the book rack looking all new and appealing. I picked it up and leafed through it, silently ooh-ed and ahh-ed over the beautiful doll dresses, and then set it back on the shelf. I was able to resist momentarily, but as I stood in front of the remnant cart, I heard the book calling me: “Come on! I’m a brand new book – not even shop worn. My price isn’t so bad. Put me in your cart. You know you want to. You probably even have a coupon that will make me half price or something.” (It’s just a good thing I don’t have any serious addictions.) In six steps I was at the bookshelf and the book was in my cart.

 

So, the book came home with me and is every bit as charming as I thought it would be. Seriously, I would enjoy this book as leisure reading even if I didn’t have an interest in experimenting with hankies. But of course, I did want to experiment and that’s why my hankies came out of drawers, boxes, and trunks to be spread out on a bed and carefully considered.

The issue is, of course, do we want to cut up the vintage textiles? Or specifically, should I make doll clothes from my hankies? An online search proved what I suspected: you might find hankies at flea markets and thrift stores for cheap but online sellers seem to expect $8.00 to $12.00. While I’m not an online seller, the value of the hankies does influence my decision as to their use. Upon deliberation, I removed from consideration those that were identified as keepsakes and put them away. I also removed one designer handkerchief – a Faith Austin on a dragonfly theme. (I’ve never heard of her either but I found Faith Austin handkerchiefs online and they weren’t giving them away.) And then, not every handkerchief is appropriate for the project. Some are too small. A 12” by 12” is recommended.

 

In the end I still had plenty of hankies I could play with. I selected 8 or 10 good candidates for doll outfits, several of which were old or less appealing samples that would be great for initial experiments.

So it’s off to the sewing room. Let the experiments begin! KW

[Photo 1: Book cover.

Photo 2: Too large for a handkerchief, I believe this to be a small scarf or bandana. I love the vintage colors and would never cut it. I don't remember it, though, and don't know where it came from. 

Photo 3: An example of a larger handkerchief, possibly a neck scarf like teen-aged girls wore in the '50s. It was probably left in some drawer I inherited from one of my sisters. 

Photo 4: The "Faith Austin" designer handkerchief. While I'm not drawn to it, I recognize it as special. Dragonflies are meaningful to me.

Photo 5: Lastly, a selected collection for experiments.]

TO SEE WHAT I COULD SEE

Last weekend temperatures sat at nearly 100 degrees, even here at Gilbert. Today I’m wearing a sweatshirt and jeans and brewed myself a cup of cinnamon stick tea. A few days ago sleeping under a sheet seemed barely tolerable. Now we pull up the electric blanket and turned it on. I have traded a nightgown for pajamas. Temp Wednesday afternoon – 74. These cooler temps came with a storm system that moved through Sunday night. It didn’t bring much rain but we had a lightning show and wind.

Now thoughts turn to harvest bounty – apples, pears, elderberries. Here’s a picture of the awesome apple tree. I wonder when I should pick the apples. According to an online comment, it’s when your dog is eating the apples that have fallen. I notice Nellie checking under the trees but I haven’t seen her eating them yet.

Tuesday (Aug. 30), I rode my bike up Plank’s Pitch without getting off to push. I wowed Mike with that astounding information. “Why are you so surprised?” I asked. “Because it’s tough!” he answered. Usually once I do it, I can do it again, but every year I have to work up to it.

Once I was up and out of the bowl, however, my desire to explore got the better of my intent to ride. For years I have wanted to see the other side of the field on the flat, and the best time to explore is right after harvest – before hunting season opens, before it rains, before they plant the field again.  So I parked my bike and Nellie and I walked over to the Clearwater side of the field to see what we could see. 

Naturally it was another beautiful vista that included Dworshak Dam. However, several of the pictures weren’t as good as I expected because the considerable vegetation got in the way. Well, it’s not the dam that’s beautiful. It’s the water and the mountain setting that I find breathtaking.

[I think the text explains the photos fairly well, except for the last one. Below the trees in front of the camera is the main Clearwater River. The bridge crosses the North Fork where it enters the Clearwater. The settlement is Ahsahka, and you can make out the fish hatcheries on the point.] KW

COMPLETION (ALMOST) OF THE WESTERN WASHINGTON GEOCACHES

You may recall that the last two summers I’ve had lots of fun and adventure logging at least one geocache by motorcycle in each county in Idaho and Oregon. Washington was my goal this summer and I wrote a blog last May about my first trip which covered north central WA. I already had many counties along the southern border as result of my trips to OR. I had been delaying my western WA jaunt because daughter, Hallie, who lives in Seattle with husband Nick, had been involved in a remodeling project.

The project was completed and it looked like the weekend of Aug 20^th was good especially in view of a favorable weather forecast. I was a little apprehensive because I had rather severely aggravated an old back injury July 24^th and was still suffering. Fortunately, bicycling and motorcycling doesn’t seem to bother it all.

I left on the 18^th at 6:00 a.m. and got the first cache I needed in Skamania County at noon. The weather was beautiful but I was fighting a terrific headwind most of the first day. From there I worked my way around the perimeter with the goal of logging at least two caches ineach county. I could find only one in Cowlitz but after I got home I discovered that I had already gotten two there last year when I was doing the OR counties. I arrived in Raymond about 7:00 p.m. This is where Kathy’s father lived and taught music as a young man. It’s a beautiful area but the town has seen better days (at least I hope so).

The second day I was on the road again about 6:30 a.m. and it was foggy and a bit cooler. The first cache was at the base of a huge old stump just off the road. The second required an uphill hike of about 3/8 of a mile. I chose this purposely to get warmed up a bit. That morning was spent going up the Olympic Peninsula which is really spectacular. It’s mostly in a rain forest but by 10:00 a.m. the fog had dissipated and it was absolutely spectacular. Near the top of the peninsula I headed east to Port Angeles and that’s when the traffic became really bad. I headed south down to Shelton and then east to Vashon to catch the ferry. I had many problems getting to the ferry as I was trying to get a cache in Kitsap County. There had been a wreck at the exit I needed to get to that cache which caused me all kinds of problems. To make matters worse I must not have put the far northwest part of WA into the detailed map in my GPSr. So for all of those caches and most the following morning I was going without driving instructions. Of course, it was late Friday afternoon and the traffic was horrible. I finally made it to the ferry and things went well from there. It must have been about a 30 or 40 minute ride to Hallie’s and now my GPSr was back on the map. It was about 7:00 p.m. when I got to her place.

Hallie treated me like the King of Idaho. She had made my oat bran muffins, gotten skim milk and did everything she possibly could to make me feel welcome and comfortable. The next morning I headed out again at 6:00 a.m. with the plan that I would go north getting Snohomish, Skagit and Whatcom counties before turning back southwest to meet Hallie and Nick at the ferry at Anacortes. I had a pretty good morning with most of my time spent on a very rural highway with lots of curves and hills going through thick woods (kind of like Arkansas) with a few small towns along the way.

After Whatcom County I headed southwest to the Interstate going as fast as I could as I was running a little late. I made it to Anacortes a little after noon and found Nick and Hallie in the ferry line. Unfortunately the ferry filled and we didn’t make it. I could not believe all the people over there. There was no way we were going to get on that ferry. Kathy and I will go over to the San Juan Islands to get that county at a later date. So we had lunch and got a few caches in the area before Nick and Hallie headed back. I decided to ride down to Oak Harbor and pick up my two caches for Island County. It was bumper to bumper traffic all the way (about 20 miles) but at least it was moving and a beautiful ride. I had to back track to Anacortes to get on the Interstate. That went OK for a while before getting into the worse traffic situation of my whole life. I must have endured two hours of moving about 5 mph for a little ways and then stopping and then resuming again at 5 or 10 mph before stopping again. And, of course, it was hot, especially on the motorcycle. It was after 7:00 p.m. when I got to Hallie’s and they were out so I just lay down on the floor in the hall in front of their condo door completely exhausted. As it turned out they had encountered the same traffic situation but exited downtown in hopes of getting out of it. However, some event was going on down there as well as a Seahawks game so it was just as bad. Seattle is a beautiful city when the sun is out but there is not enough money in the world to entice me to live there.

I was off again at 6:00 a.m. Sun morning heading south. By 11:00 a.m. I had finished the three counties that I needed down that way and I headed east toward home. It was a pretty nice ride especially crossing the Cascades on Highway 12. However, I was a bit tense because I was low on gas and ended up going the farthest I’ve ever gone on a tank of gas on the Triumph. The afternoon was brutally hot and I got home about 7:00 p.m. again. So I had four 13 hour days in a row although I wasn’t on the bike the whole time of course. Anyway, I was pretty tired and my butt needed a rest.

Washington wasn’t quite as much fun as Idaho and Oregon because of the population density and tourism in the western part of the state. Of course, Oregon had its share of that as well in the Portland area and on the coast. I’m glad those states are done and now I’m looking forward to some more wide open spaces such as Montana, Wyoming, Nevada and even Utah.

The first picture is Hidden Cove where I had lunch on the first day. Next is a house typical of the ones on Ellis St. where Vance taught music many years ago. The third one is of beautiful Ruby Beach on the Olympic Peninsula. Fourth is a cache at a guardrail well away from a road. Next is Mt. Rainier seen from the ferry and then a cache called "The Ugliest Car in America". M/W