September News

The ice house from the Skow Homestead where Poppo grew up near Cocolalla, Idaho. It is the only structure still standing up on Huckleberry Mountain.

So, I haven't posted anything in almost 3 weeks, but that doesn't mean that we haven't been busy. Two weeks ago Loren and I went back to Coeur d'Alene, spent the weekend with Francie and Tom Hanson (cousins), then on Sunday we joined Ray Spencer and all of their family for a big reunion up at Aunt Bennie's homeplace (she was Poppo's sister). We had about 50 people join us for a sunny day picnic and lots of good conversation and family talk.

That's Ray in the green shirt in the center, and Francie on his left.

This past weekend I got to attend a four-day, 8 hour/day art workshop with Artist Stan Miller. It was held in Moscow, and there were about 20 of us who attended. He mostly taught us landscape design, but also spent a day on portraits. I have alot to learn! But enjoyed the workshop and am anxious to paint some new things.

We are down to my last week here on the sabbatical. Our house is ready to move into in College Station, so Loren and I will be flying back next week, I'll stay and move in, and he will come back to Washington for the last 4 weeks. He plans to be home by Thanksgiving, so I'll have his news to post for November! We are spending this week saying our goodbyes to many new friends we have made, and eating out in the evenings with as many of them as we can. We have made some great friends and hopefully will see some of them when they come for a Texas visit. As for me, I'm ready to be home. I am starting to miss my old friends, and the routines of home, but this sabbatical has been a wonderful, exciting adventure for us both!

Too Much Fun

We are back in Pullman, the 4 kids are back in College Station, and I'll try to post SOME of the 78 things we did while they were here! Pottery-making in Lewiston, Idaho, eating at the Green Frog Hippie Cafe, Living in the Garden tour, antique shopping in Palouse, Boggan's Oasis, Knitting socks and eating freshly picked blackberries, shopping in Joseph, Oregon, Terminal Gravity at Enterprise, red flannel shirt from the Salvation Army, fresh huckleberry french toast by Chef Kevin!, the biggest red western cedar tree in the world, more barns, sitting around the fire pit, Loren's broken fly rod :( ... falling in the river (once, twice, ??) , church at Emmanuel Baptist, badminton and brothers' rivalry, watching Notre Dame game in Coeur d' Alene pub, Ashley getting scolded by the fat lady, sleeping on blow-up mattresses, fresh cinnamon rolls, driving the Row-Goo, and Dad beating the boys in a friendly game of croquet at the lake.

Kids Come to Visit - Part 2

This is Ashley again, picking up where I left off at Boggan's Oasis on the Grande Ronde River.

On Monday, September 6th (Labor Day) we took a day trip to Joseph, Oregon. We visited Lake Wallowa and the Wallowa State Park.

We saw beautiful bright red salmon that had migrated in from the ocean and were swimming through the creek that feeds into the lake.

On Tuesday we drove to Lewiston and visited a neat pottery shop where we each got a lesson in making pottery. We got to spin some clay on the wheel and shape it into a bowl, cup, vase or whatever we wanted to make. Our creations will need to dry for a couple of weeks, then the professionals will glaze and fire them for us. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of our visit to the pottery shop, but Mary can post a picture of our finished products later.

We took lots of pictures along our drive.

A few more barns...

We drove through lots of small towns...

Later Tuesday afternoon, we drove to Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River. Inside the dam we saw a fish ladder that the migratory fish swim through to get up the river to reproduce. There was a glass window on one side of the fish ladder where you could watch the fish swim through a chamber, and a woman sat inside a booth in front of the window and counted each fish that swam through. We saw King Salmon (chinook), Steelhead, and many more. Kevin and Ben really enjoyed watching the giant fish swimming through the ladder. After that, we cooked hot dogs, fished, and picked wild blackberries.

Today is Wednesday and we are spending the day in and around the Pullman area. I wish I could post many more of our pictures from the trip so far. It has been action packed! Other activites include: antique shopping, sock knitting (Brooke), wine tasting and coffee drinking. We have seen some wildlife: pheasants, valley quail, Hungarian partridge, mule deer, whitetail deer, a bobcat, bald and golden eagles, fish, grizzly bears (don't worry, they were in cages), and bighorn sheep (also in cages).

Tomorrow we will head to the St. Joe River near Avery, Idaho for more fishing and relaxing. We will stay there two nights and then spend Saturday in Coeur d'Alene. Mary and Loren have planned a wonderful vacation for us and we are all having a great time. Back to Texas on Sunday!

Kids Come to Visit

Howdy from Washington... this is Ashley. I thought I would update Mary's blog with a few pictures of our vacation so far. Kevin, Brooke, Ben and Ashley arrived in Pullman, WA late on Friday, September 3rd to visit Mary and Loren for about a week.

On Saturday we visited the Farmer's Market in Moscow, ID. Beautiful fresh fruits, vegetables, homemade goods, flowers, breads, and LOTS of interesting people.




We visited the Nez Perce museum.



We took about a thousand pictures of old barns and other interesting things along the countryside.



On Sunday we drove to Boggan's Oasis on the Grande Ronde River. We fished, looked for wildlife, and enjoyed the view.


The above picture is a view from our deck.

We have so many good pictures to share, but our itinerary is telling me it's time to go. Will post more of our trip soon. We are having fun!

Seattle, Hood Canal, and Lots of Apples

Loren and I just got back to Pullman after spending 3 days touring the Hood Canal area west of Seattle. There is so much to report, I can't possibly write about all of it...maybe just a few highlights and pictures. We saw so many apple orchards, plums, blackberries, and fruit stands that were just beautiful. We enjoyed staying with Laura Calvin's parents (Marge & Bill) in Union, WA, went to the Seattle Aquarium, the Pike Street Market in Seattle (saw them throwing the fish!), saw Bill Gate's home, ate salmon overlooking the Alderbrook Golf Course, went to Leavenworth for a German lunch with Loren's cousin Francie, shopped in Paulsbo, WA, and much more. The Brementon Ferry was a fun experience this morning as we crossed back over into Seattle. Now we're going to rest up for our kids' visit this coming Friday! By the way...we just THOUGHT we had seen the giant cedar tree. We found this one on the way to Avery last weekend.

National Lentil Festival!

What is a lentil? It's a tiny "lens-shaped" legume full of amino acids and protein and iron. They grow around here and Pullman is the national lentil capital so this is a big, annual event around here. They close off streets of downtown and it's a 3-day festival, complete with lentil chili contests and the world's largest bowl of lentil chili. Do I need to say more? We are experiencing Washington at it's finest.

Tick Tick Tick

I guess I should tell you what Loren is doing: He is studying ticks. Rather, tick-borne diseases and how cattle respond to ticks. Somebody's got to do that, right? These cattle need some help! (He says there is some urgency to his research because hunting season opens in 3 weeks and the steelhead fish are running).

More Adventure

Today (Saturday) we drove to Uniontown, WA about 15 miles away. The entire town was having a Yard Sale. Every lawn, the town square, shops, everyone was participating. Kids were grilling hot dogs to raise money and antique dealers were clearing out their barns. Oh how I wished I had a big trailer. The prices on these antiques were crazy --some really nice big pieces of furniture. Oh well, I did manage to stuff the car with some things I couldn't pass up! Loren even walked away with 3 new antique fishing reels. It was fun. I think one thing I notice up here is how everyone in these small towns pulls together and is like family. They are very polite, very "earthy" and conscious of protecting the land. Having these old barns stand thru generations is an example of how things last longer here. Maybe it is small town vs. big city, but I think it is more than that. I am growing to appreciate the simplicity of life here.

Okay, big news....we are "house sitting" for a week. We are in heaven and NOT missing our one room student apartment. This is a couple from the University and they are out of state for a week and we get to stay in their huge, new home on top of a big wheat field out in the country north of Pullman. Complete with a heated beautiful pool, 2 happy dogs, and overlooking Moscow Mountain. (see top picture) This is making me even more anxious to move into our new CS home! Only 3 more weeks until our boys and wives get to visit us here in this wonderful state where the apple trees are beginning to show red color and the huckleberries are ripe (I put some in the freezer for pies, Ashley!) I wish Poppo, Loren's Dad, could see the mountains filled with huckleberry bushes and ruffed grouse. September is when the salmon and steelhead runs begin in the Snake River (2nd picture) from the Pacific Ocean. We are definitely making memories......

Cedar Grove, etc

One week has passed. Every week is full of new adventures for Loren and me (people at his lab tell him, "I can't believe all of the places you and Mary are going. Most of those places WE haven't even been to and we LIVE here!) We are truly trying to experience everything in our short time here. We went to a beautiful primeval forest called a "climax community" of Western Red Cedars. It is where over many hundreds of years, a forest has been left untouched and one species of trees begins to dominate. It was stepping into Camelot. The trees were huge, and there were so many of them. The forest floor was covered in damp ferns, and it was extremely still and almost reverent walking through this small trail. We got lost a couple of times, it was cold, and I was thinking we should have told someone where we were going! But we made it back to the car safely around 8 p.m. just at dark.

More Barns

Oops, I can't post this without a couple of new barn pictures I took

A Quick Trip Back to Texas

We just got back to our apt. in WA after a short week in College Station. Loren had business at the University and we had to check on house plans and make some decisions about that. Our new home will be finished within 2 months and is so exciting for us! God has blessed us with many new opportunities.

Today it is 49 degrees, a light mist, gray skies. The wheat fields are harvested and it feels like fall is in the air. I will attach a photo of the hills outside our apt. a month ago, and what it looks like now. Loren is looking forward to more research ideas and I will be busy working on some art projects for someone back in Texas.

We will go to the St. Joe River and to the town of Avery, one day next week. Glad to be back here for the peace and quiet, but at the same time--going back home makes me miss my friends and family there. For now, we will try to seize every opportunity while we are here in this place, and I'll keep you posted on the things we do and places we see.