We met Gary’s sister, Holly and Doug here. They brought their hot new Ranger bass boat and an intimate knowledge of the hot walleye fishing spots. Like true hosts and guides they let Gary catch the first walleye and let Judy catch the biggest one. The weather was just perfect. Friday night was a bit windy, but Saturday and Sunday were in the seventies and the lake was calm or rippled the whole day. Although we fished several species of fish in our lives, this is our first walleye experience. They are a fun and wily game fish to go after.

We will have to post this when we get back to civilization on Monday, but this quiet time sure drives the busy city life and congested freeways out of our systems.

On our way to this location we traveled through several small towns in eastern Washington. I wanted to visit some of the places I worked in 1964 as a college student telegrapher on the Northern Pacific Railroad. The towns, Almira, Wilber and Reardan have hardly changed at all in the 44 years. Railroading has changed, however. There are no small town depots and friendly railway agents. There are no cars lined up on the sidings waiting to be loaded. There is no sign of the depots even when you know where to look. In Almira the lady at the city hall had no idea where the depot had been, but a historical book had a two page reference to Mr. Kreitz, the agent I had relieved in 1964. In Reardan a couple fellows at the Reardan Grain Growers pointed out where they remembered the depot had stood. They told us where to find the museum. We looked it up and even though the door stood open there was no one in the building. We found a single photo on the wall of the depot in nearby Almira, but none of the Rearden depot.

I came away wondering if I had only dreamed that chapter of my life. Some of the memories perhaps will live on. I have a magazine, Classic Trains, that is interested in publishing a tale from my past.

Stay tuned for more adventures as we spend a week with our family in Colville Washington.

Love from Gary and Judy Dinsmore

Judy's Pet Fish

Judy, Gary, Holly and Doug at Lake Roosevelt

It has started out lucky. We drove all the way down here in one day even though Jack didn’t have reservations. Remember this is the July fourth holiday. Yes! Jack was able to get a spot on a charter boat, and even now is on Cook Inlet trying his luck. The weather is clear and sunny and Cook Inlet is like a lake. The three mountains, Mount Redoubt, Mount Iliamna and Mount Augustine, all volcanoes, stand as sentinels over the water.

You never saw such a zoo in your life, however. This is not your typical fishing village like we have on the Oregon or Washington Coast. This is a long gravel beach. A couple hundred fishing boats on trailers converge on this beach in the morning. (Actually I counted 137 trailers lined up on the beach.) The State’s Concessionaire has six big tired loaders running on the beach. Each is set up with a hydraulically actuated arm with the equivalent of a ball hitch stinger on it. It has a turret with all three popular hitch sizes on it so it can handle anything from a 14 foot kicker boat to a 36 foot triple axle trailer and boat. There are about ten lines of rigs working their way up to the front of the line. Once you reach the front the helper disconnects your boat trailer from your pickup and you go and park. They have step ladders so people can board the boats, and when everything is in readiness the loader picks up the trailer tongue and down the beach you go. They swing you around and slide you right off into the water. Your engines better start! Check below for a series of photos to help you understand the sequence.

When the day is over the boats will return. I guess they radio ahead and the loader picks out your trailer and wades into the water with it. You just power up onto the trailer and out you come. Yesterday all the boats we saw return had limited out. Can today be any less lucky? Stay tuned for photos of the fearless fisherman.

It is now evening and the fish story can be told. Jack returned after nearly eleven hours on the sea. We all crowded around to witness the presentation of the catch. Six guys and a skipper make lucky seven. The boat returned with a limit of twelve halibut. Jack came back the hero of the charter. His best fish was 76 inches long and tipped the scales at about 235 pounds. His other fish was about average for the catch and will make several nice meals for our group. The big one gets flash frozen and FedEx-ed home. It would overwhelm our little refrigerators.

By the way the boat registration numbers for the Carnivore have the numbers five and two which equal seven and the numbers three and four which also equal seven. Am I writing too much into this lucky seven deal? You decide.

Good bye and good luck from the Kenai Peninsula.

Gary, Judy, Jack and Sonja

Loader Goes Down the Beach With Carnivoire	The Carnivoire is Launched
Getting Underway Amid the Splendor	The Fisherman Returns Triumphent

Jack and his Halibut

Our time at the lake is always most relaxing. We take over sister Holly’s RV parking spot complete with 30 amp service. I also got to ride on the new Ranger Bass Boat, boy is it a scooter. Of course I got dumped off in the shallow water at the boat ramp and was expected to back the pickup and trailer in to load the boat. Obviously Doug hadn’t heard about the scrapes I have had backing my little trailer around. I was a good boy, however, and didn’t even bend the tongue.

We have been doing a few last minute chores before heading north. I picked up a spare fan belt and fuel filter for “just in case;” And cousin Norm set us up with a new charge of air conditioner juice so we don’t have another sweltering 90 degree drive. Today is no problem, of course, the rains have come and we got a little wet on our morning walk today.

The photo today on the web page will be Grandma Holly and her precious new grand daughter, Melody Grace, born May 23rd. It is only in comparison that we come to realize just how much our grand daughter, Georgia Ann, has grown in just seven months.

From Gary and Judy with Love

Grandma Holly with Two Week Old Melody and Her Big Brother, Skyler

We have been getting lots of walking and bicycle riding now that the rains have let up a bit. Glenn and Deb McGill, our friends from Ontario, showed us the last little corner of Texas called Boca Chica. This is right at the mouth of the Rio Grande. The GPS indicated that we were south of the 26th parallel. There is just a little tip of Florida that will allow you to get further south and still stay in the continental United States. Of course you can get further south in the USA. Just go to Hawaii you can get to the 19th parallel, and that is south of the Tropic of Cancer, 23 degrees and change.

Once in a while you get one of those really weird feelings when you walk out of a Wal-Mart store in a strange town and the fellow behind you walks up and says, “I know that bicycle, I have seen pictures of it on the internet.” It turns out that this is a friend of Deb and Glenn and apparently Glenn was trying to explain our strange bicycle to him. They too are bicyclists and snow birds from Alberta Canada. Now just like that we have some new friends. Tomorrow we are to get together for some bicycling. I have no idea how I ever had time for work. Yes we are having fun.

It is good that the rains have left for a while, we are running out of space to store all of Judy’s new quilts. Audrey will be so pleased when we get back to Oregon.

Adios y’all with love from Gary and Judy

Abstract Geese fly the Great Texas Costal Birding Trail

Arcturus nestled in the Mesquite Trees at Sunset