Pasco Ditch Experience

I have recently returned from visiting my family in Pasco. Many of you will recognize Grandpa's back yard in the following photos. If you look closely at the second picture, you can see where some of the dry grass clippings have been disturbed. My email below explains why.

 

 

Well, it is 9pm and I just fell in the ditch! Grandpa caught 2 small bass on the fishing trip. It was rainy and cold. We were fishing for walleye but fishing was very slow. I cleaned the fish at home and was taking the garbage out when I saw a salamander in the car port. I took it in to show Grandpa, then took it outside to throw it in the ditch, where I presumed it lived. It was dark and I very carefully picked my way across the lawn and then the small ditch road. When I got to the edge of the road, I took a step and tossed the salamander. Only it wasn't the edge of the road, it was the edge of the ditch! The salamander sailed across the ditch and I fell into the ditch! I had to crawl out through the grass clippings pile so I had dry grass stuck all over me--quite a sight. I used the hose by the pool to squirt the grass off and was glad that the hose water was warmer than the ditch water.
How many of you have fallen in the ditch at 9 o'clock at night? It is a surprising experience.

Alaska 2011

After we left Juneau, we flew to Anchorage, rented a car, and continued our collecting trip. We visited Wasilla, Soldotna, and Fairbanks, staying a few days in each place and collecting.

Wasilla

 

Anchor Point

 

In addition to working, we managed to find some time for Alaskan style fun also.

 

Our main focus in Fairbanks, where we stayed in the UAF dorms, was working at the University of Alaska in their fly collection.

 

 

Joy, Alaska

 

Yukon River

 

Arctic Circle

 

Aleyska Pipeline on the Dalton Highway

 

Hatcher Pass

 

Generally the weather was good and so was the collecting. We arrived July 18th and left August 12th. We saw fresh snow in the mountains on our way out of town. As we have always said, Alaska is beautiful. Never having tried the winter there, we confidently say that we prefer the summer.

Juneau, Alaska

On our most recent trip to Alaska we started out in Juneau, a city that we had never visited. The small capital city is famous for cruise ships, Mendenhall Glacier, quartz gold, and rain (2/3 of the time). There are two ways to arrive in Juneau--by air or by water. We flew in, rented a car, and did not have any trouble driving most of the roads in the area. The "end of the road" highway goes 40 miles to the north. Thane Road goes 5 miles to the south. Our first 2 days were rain soaked and we wondered if fly collecting was going to be possible. Fortunately our last 3 days were beautiful--bright and sunny and collecting was very good.

 

 

 

Chum salmon were thick in the rivers and creeks. Most Alaskans spurn them, preferring to call them dog salmon because in the past they were mainly used for dog food. Now days they are sold to Japan and the "lower 48" where they are readily eaten.

 

This black bear cub was in the tree outside our apartment. The mother was just off the lawn eating blueberries. We stood on the deck and watched her for quite a while.

 

The Mendenhall River flooded while we were there. An ice dam somewhere in the glacier broke and released a lake that was backed up behind it. The water was high for a couple of days and then returned to normal.

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful scenery, delicious halibut fish and chips, Xtra Tuff boots, and productive collecting. We enjoyed Juneau.

Big Fish

 

Couldn't wait to tell you about our halibut fishing trip. The big one (135 pounds, 64 inches) belongs to Dianne. Great trip.

Western Field Trip

We have recently returned from a trip to the west. The best part of the trip was visiting family, especially our grandson, Jacob. He is totally into sharks. He has a shark shirt collection and is becoming quite knowledgeable about them.

 

The purpose of our trip was to attend a biennial meeting of the North American Dipterist's Society. This year it was held in Provo, UT and we stayed at Timpanogos Lodge in the mountains. Since there was still snow in the mountains our collecting trips were to the valley--Antelope Island, Goshen Warm Springs, and Diamond Fork Canyon.

 

 

After the meetings, we traveled to Valles Caldera National Preserve in New Mexico where we are helping with an insect survey. This year we were earlier than usual and were surprised to see how dry and windy it was.

 

 

We took one afternoon off and enjoyed visiting Bandelier National Monument.

 

 

 

Our listening material for the drive was Robinson Crusoe. Please note that it is 11 CDs. We finished it.

 

Family Togetherness

Ann and family recently spent their vacation with us in Virginia. Michael had moved to Arizona but his family was waiting to join him. So, we had all the family together except Michael and David and we had a great time! Too bad that we are so widely scattered (Utah, Arizona and Virginia) that we can't do it more often!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Western Road Trip

Dianne recently traveled to Washington to visit her family. On the agenda was a road trip to visit relatives in Idaho and Utah and a stop in Nevada to see the newly constructed bridge that allows traffic to bypass driving over Hoover Dam. We accomplished all the plans except driving back via the California coast. Too bad we didn't get a picture on the desolate Nevada highway of Sharron laying under the truck trying to unwind baling twine and a bungee cord from the pick-up's drive shaft, Dad supervising, Dianne directing traffic around the scene, and Melba in the 5th wheel worrying...