FRIENDS & FAMILY

Two friends from way "back in the day' were out to visit today. Denise and Lisette used to baby-sit for me when my girls were little and it was just the three of us living in Lincoln Heights.  But they were more than simply "baby-sitters." They both hung out at our house most of the time -- Denise even lived with us for a while when her mom was going through a rough patch.  Now both she and Lisette are all grown up and not only have kids of their own, but grand kids as well!

What a great time we had visiting with them and their guys ! Lots of conversation crowded together on our wee boat -- a few libation's -- a little lunch. Denise and Lisette both tried out Little Turtle. They both were waaaaay more graceful than I am getting into and out of it. (I do the something like a beached whale approach to both getting in and getting out. That's why I try to do it when no one is around) Then they left to go back home with us all promising not to wait 30 years to get together again.

Then, later in the afternoon, Joe, Lou,Ollie,  Mel and Casey showed up.  They had gotten a late start but were finally all set up at their campground at Farragut State Park (only 3 -4 miles from us)  So it was more conversation, "hydrating," dinner  and attempts a the kayak. ( Mel & Casey tried to both fit on the single person kayak. It didn't work, but our neighbor generously offered his canoe (one of those beautiful wooden ones) to them, so they had a good paddle while the rest of us were out walking.  Then it was 'home' to settle in for them.

Norm and I were tired but we'd heard there was going to be live music at the cafe just around the corner, so we went to check it out.  It was a local band - not too bad and, admittedly they did sound even better after a Bloody Mary.  But our wagons were beginning to drag so it was back to Proud Mary for us and we called it a day -- another great day on the lake....and the beat goes on.

~Nancy

We are one big family of people, trying to make our way through the unfolding puzzle of life.”` Sara Paddison

LAUNDRY & LAKE DAY

Today was laundry day s Norm offered to take me out to breakfast while the clothes sloshed around at the Laundromat.  Like so many small towns Bayview businesses seem to supply more than one thing so we ate at the Coffee House-Internet Cafe - Laundromat.  Our sausage scramble was yummy!  And the characters coming in and out (and working there) were quite entertaining.

Next it was time for the lake !  We motored out past the "no wake" zone and tried the sails. After a couple hours of not much wind we decided we were in 'the dull drums' and we'd give up sailing fr the day and motor around a bit.  Of course, no sooner did we get the sail down and situated than the wind picked up 1  So, we started from scratch and re-lifted the sail and actually got some pretty good sailing in for a couple of hours late in the afternoon!

Norm did a bit of fishing off and on throughout the day but no luck. That $100 (what his license cost) mackerel just won't be caught !  LOL.  We had a fantastic day on the lake and returned to our dock hot, tired and happy. Gold beer and salty snacks then soup for supper.  I took a quick paddle around the marina in Little Turtle (my kayak) and we called it a day -- Another great one !....And the beat goes on.

Nancy

He Fishes                                                                                   

with a rod named

for a fluffy white cloud

and a reel after a poet

from the seventeenth century,

first name of William.

He fishes,

pulls back the bale,

threads invisible string

through silver ferrules,

ties on a brutal barbed hook.

He fishes,

spears a shiney lure,

all wiggly and bright colored

imitates a smaller fish

worming through the water.

He fishes,

watches the tiny, transparent line

drops until it disappears, drawn

downstream by our slow

turbid trolling wake.

He fishes,

concentrates on the distal

end of his pole, brow furrowed,

wills a trout take nibble from

the hook, that holds the gigantic lure.

He fishes,

with a rod named

for a fluffy white cloud

and a reel after a poet

from the seventeenth century,

first name of William.

He fishes

Oh MY! STRAWBERRY PIE !

We visited with friends Jan & Joe at their house in Spokane and had a nice visit reminiscing about their many sailing adventures, and the ones we tagged along with them on - PV, Panama and the dreaded night sail around Punta Mala !...Always good for a few laughs.

After a nice lunch we made our way down to Pete & Leigh's bungalow in the Arboretum... What a great place to live!  They both have mixed feelings about selling their little house. It's so adorable and the location couldn't be better, but, it's a teeny-tiny place and the girls are growing. We hope, for their sakes that it sells soon.

Laina and Marin entertained us all afternoon with puzzles, games and their outdoors antics.  They crack me up !  Leigh fixed an awesome bar-b-que !  The best turkey burgers I've ever tasted.  She mixes stuff in the meat like apples, curry, Tabasco, and I don't remember what else she said, but they were sure good. And the very best part of all: She made Norm and strawberry/rhubarb pie that was not only beautiful , but scrumptious as well!  Our kids are sure spoiling  us this trip!  :-)

Our last stop for the day was at Jenny's to drop off the bike helmet be had exchanged for Marcus. We got him a bike and helmet for his 5th birthday last week, but the helmet was too small.  The little guy has a large noodle just like his granny :-)  Jenny and baby are both doing great - tired , of course, but that is part of having a wee one in the house.  Marcus is adjusting well and being quite a good little helper.  What a sweetheart!  He didn't want us to leave, but grandpa and gramma needed to get back to the boat because our tails were dragging. Jenny looked like she was ready for bed too.  Hopefully his dad Rick, will bring him out to sail next week. If not, we'll go in to have a play day with Marcus!

We're both loving our time in the Pacific Northwest. - time with the lake and even more important time with out kids.  Life is great!...And the beat goes on...

~Nancy

ON A BLUSTERY DAY

Another overcast, windy day today and we can only read for so long, so we jumped in the car and drove up to Sandpoint, Idaho  --  a cute little artsy-in-a-rustic-sort-of-way town about 40 miles from the lake.  We walked all over town, nosing around the shops and generally acting like the tourists that we are. then we ended our morning with ice cream. (of course!) and came back to the boat to read and be lazy.

Late afternoon the huge dark cloud that had been hanging over the lake all day, lifted and the sun danced on the lake! Norm tried a little fishing. No luck. He still hasn't caught that $100 fish yet. (that's what his fishing license cost) But life is good.....and the beat goes on. 

~Nancy

PROJECT DAY

It was Project Day for our guys today.  Joe and Norm have been working all day. First they tore off the old roof and put a new one on Joe's storage shed; and now they're replacing some boards on the deck. They seem to be having fun pounding and sawing....you know....doing "manly things ?!"   LOL

Meanwhile Louise and I have been holding a Bake Sales for MS out in the front of the house. "Summer Parkways" is going on in Spokane today and one of the 'walk/rides' was slated to go right past their house; so Lou figured it would be a good place to have a captive audience for all the home baked goodies she and her mother have been busy baking all week ! We did pretty well - not as good as she did previously when she hosted the booth in the park, but not too bad a showing all-in-all and we handed out lots of brochures about the upcoming Ride for MS too.

Next, as soon as the guys are done with their project, we'll go see Jenny's new baby and then head back to the lake.  Another fan-tab-ulious weekend!  And the beat goes on.....

~Nancy

TAKE ME OUT TO A BALLGAME

After our usual morning at the lake : sleeping in, slow morning coffee, a hearty breakfast and then a quick paddle around the marina in my little kayak; we headed in to town to spend the day with Joe And Louise. We may get another peek at that new baby girl, but that will depend on how Jenny's feeling.

Louise cooked a scrumptious home-style meal for us.  Her meat loaf and mashed potatoes  sure tasted good after eating 'out of cans' for a week !  (Not that we are going without, mind you, we actually eat pretty good on the boat as well) 

Melissa brought her new boyfriend over for grandpa to meet. Casey seems to be a very nice young man - Air Force and has the manners that go with that and also being a 'southern man' from Georgia.  They are real cute together.

After dinner we all went to the Spokane Indians Baseball game.   Hadn't been to a game in years and it was fun !  Our team lost but ...oh well.  Great fireworks show after the game. It was worth going just for the fireworks! 

Tomorrow Norm will help Joe with some 'fix-it' projects around the house while I help Louis man a Bake Sale for MS. Then we'll , hopefully, get to stop by and see Jenny and family on our way out of town and drop off Marcus's birthday present. although we weren't on the lake much today, it was another wonderful one....and the beat goes on.

~Nancy

ANGELS ON PROUD MARY

Yesterday was another great day on the lake. Pete and family came out and we all enjoyed a sunny, fair-weather day on the lake. Laina and Marin were perfect little girls - very well behaved and sooooo cute!  Laina was really good at 'driving Proud Mary' and like to go fast. By the end of the day she was racing along "20 fishes fast" according to grandpa.  Marin preferred to color :-)

Of course we can't get a Harless clan together without an ice cream run, or in this case, "walk," up the hill to Ralph's Ice Cream and Laundromat.  I just love how the lake towns businesses combine things. Reminds me of Mexico!  :-)  Boy!  Little Marin sure knows how to enjoy a cone!  :-) 

By the time we walked by to the boat the kids were getting hungry, so we decided we'd just eaten desert first and so we started up supper.  After eating we took one last walk up to the Post Office and it was time for the Harlessfamily to take two very tired, but very happy, little girls back home.

Norm and I fell into bed early and slept for 12 hours!  Gosh, we didn't even realize we were that tired !  I don't know if it's the exercise, the fresh air, or the gentle rocking of the boat, but we are sleeping like the dead here.  It was another great day on the lake. ....and the beat goes on.

~Nancy

CELL SERVICE ON PEND OREILLE

This is how we use our cell phones here at the lake. The only place they work is in front of the little store at the top of the hill.  Good exercise and we can buy ice while we're there!

The BIG NEWS of the day is that Jenny's baby girl arrived yesterday afternoon and she is beautiful !  Now I know, I know ...all grammas feel that way, but no kidding she is a little beauty !  See:

And now, today we're waiting for Pete to get here with his family.  The girls, Laina and Marin want to have lunch on Proud Mary.  We hope to also take them for a ride, however, the sky is cloudy up so I don't know if that will happen, or not.  Oh well, Proud Mary is just one big 'playhouse' and we'll have a good time doing something!  Another great day on the lake....and the beat goes on.

~Nancy

SWITCHING GEARS

We woke up to a cloudy day so Norm got on-line (lucky for us we DO have WIFI on the boat and even though it's slower than molasses, it's better than not at all) and checked the weather report. Sure enough: It's going to rain off and on all day. So, we decided today would be a good day to drive over to Sandpoint and look around. For those not familiar with Sandpoint, it's a small town know for it's crafts & arts located on the opposite side of Lake Pend Oreille from us.

Just before we were ready to take off we checked our email and there it was on Facebook , of all places, "Jenny's water broke. Here we go !"  I guess Rick had tried to call us, but our cell phones don't work on the boat, so we didn't get his messages.  Of course this meant a change in our plans for the day, so we're in Spokane waiting for the little girl to arrive. Dads and step-mothers aren't invited to the actual birth (not a problem; we get it) so we're hanging at Barnes & Noble, enjoying their much more efficient WIFI as well as great coffee and we'll go up to the hospital once she's arrived.

Loving the lake more and more each day. I can't believe how the days fly by!  We've been here one week tomorrow. The only sad part of that is that it means we've only got five more!  My geese come around daily for the cracker snacks. I start, and end, my days with a paddle around the marina in my new kayak, "Little Turtle" ( I want to name it that in the Lakota language once I find out what the words are) and we've taken taken Proud Mary out to sail twice. She's getting easier and easier to sail and to tack already. By the end of summer we'll be "real" sailors! 

  We went with our marina neighbor, Marti, over across the lake to a different marina yesterday to help her get her waste tank pumped out.  She has 27 foot cabin cruiser - very nice and roomy!  It was nice to see how it handled and also to realize how much room it has down below for the living quarters. Hmmmm....maybe our NEXT boat will be a cruiser?  LOL

When we were out sailing, I was "wom"- manning the sail while Norm fished . I brought Proud Mary around too quickly and we had a few moments of excitement as the boat keeled over at least 20 degrees - which may not sound like much for for us beginners it was scarey.   (And just for the record, it's Norm who says it was 20 degrees.....I think it was more like 45 !)   But have no worries !  Every time we take her out we learn something new and we'll be extra careful when we have guests on-board.  Come see us !

Waiting for the baby and drinking great coffee....and the beat goes on.

Norm & Nancy

AND THE BEAT GOES ON

Losing track of time already and that is a good thing. Norm just checked his phone to see what day/date it was.  At least the phone is good for something - not calling as we are down in a 'valley here on the lake and the only place our cell phones work is up the hill in front of the little store. Call if you need us, but know that we only check for messages once a day - usually in the evening.

Yesterday was killer hot ! (90 degrees) So we took the car and went for a drive around the lake. Stunning vistas from above !  It would have made a lovely walk too, but like I said - It was HOT ! I love the gaggle of sailboats all in a row -- their bare masts rising up like flagpoles and row and row of white boats below.  Sad for all the owners who aren't on the lake using them; good news for us as we like being "nearly alone" on the lake.  :-)

 After our scenic drive we drove on into Newman Lake to meet up with   Leigh and the grand daughters, Laina and Marin at Leigh's parent’s home.  Those two little cherubs are sooooo sweet. I'm so happy that we'll get to spend some time with Pete's family this summer. I feel like the girls barely know us!

 I hope to leave some nice "granny Nanny" memories; and I know that Grandpa Norm will.

It’s cooler today. Nice. I started the day by feeding my geese. I'm starting to call them that -- 'my geese.' and they have caught on that if they coming squawking in I'll give them crackers. Fun!  Next I took my new kayak for a spin around the marina. (Norm found it on Craig's List and we bought it yesterday when we were in town. Sweet!  The kayaking went well. The getting into it and getting out of it was less than graceful. I'll be working on that all summer!  :-)

  Longtime friends, Janet & Joe Ohl were out to see us today from Spokane.  They are 'dry-docked' now but in the past they lived on their sailboat for something like six years. We had a nice visit then went for a walk together up around the lake. We didn't try to sail today as there's a storm brewing and when Norm checked the radar it looked imminent.  As it turned out the "storm" was just a big black cloud and a few sprinkles. The Ohl's left in the afternoon to avoid 5 o'clock traffic and we're just settled in to our 'nest' taking a slow, relaxed afternoon.  Life is good.

And the beat goes on....

~Nancy

LESSONS LEARNED

Today is our 29th anniversary. We woke up around 9AM, after sleeping nearly 12 hours! Ah, boat- sleep ....there's just nothing like it! Just like a couple of babies in a cradle and with fresh air too! Ahhhhhhh.

Today was the day we planned to first sail, so right after breakfast we uncovered the boom, untied the lines and cast off....with the help of our two very nice neighbors. Sean and Mark pushed us out of our berth and got us on the right track out of the marina , then we slowly motored out to beyond the "No Wake" area and hoisted the sail!

Oh, excuse me! Did I make that sound like we just pushed a button, or something? NOT! (hahaha) Norm crawled up on the deck and wrestled the sail while I "wom - manned" the wheel and tried keep it 'into the wind'....or was it 'out of the wind'? I don't know...I kept getting confused!

After a fashion he managed to get 'er up and we set sail! Norm tried it first and got a feel for the wind, then he let me give it a try and I learned a VERY VALUABLE LESSON this afternoon while sailing (even tacking - aren't you impressed?!) across the lake. That lesson is this: For me, with all my spatial challenges if I react in EXACTLY the OPPOSITE way I feel like I should, then I do the right thing! Each time I let my head get in the way, however, I would lose all the wind from my sail. But, as long as I kept pulling the line and turning the wheel exactly opposite from what my tangled brain called 'the right way' then Proud Mary sailed on!

After a few hours of sailing and tacking, we brought the sail down (It comes down waaaay easier than it goes up) and motored for a while so Norm could troll for fish. No bites today, but it was mid-afternoon by then and probably not the best time of day for catching fish. We'll try it earlier the next time.

We returned to the marina and our heros Sean and Mark were there to once again assist us in getting situated in our berth (and not crashing into any other boats in the process) Those two are great! We'll miss them this week as they only come on weekends as do most of the folks on the lake. Both Norm and I are looking forward to seeing just how abandoned this marina, and the lake, do get on a Monday.

We walked up the hill to a restaurant for a special dinner 'out' since it is our anniversary and enjoyed scrumptious pasta dishes and garden salads, then back to the boat where Norm is now comfortable in the cockpit reading his new Nook; and I am writing this blog from the cabin.  The sun is going down. It's unbelievably quiet. all is well on Lake Pend Orielle...someone just played taps on a trumpet......and the beat goes on.

~Nancy

"Give me a spirit that on this life's rough sea, loves t' have his sails filled with a lusty wind." ~ George Chapman

LAST BIT ON THE ROAD

We did our last leg of the road trip yesterday stopping by a sight Norm remembered from waaaay back "in the day" - the place with the 10,000 silver dollars. Well, we don't know if they actually have more dollars now, or if inflation is the reason but it's now the $50,000 silver dollar bar. Just a quick stop for a photo opt and BR break and we were back on the road since we were both anxious to get to the lake.

Proud May took the mountains like a breeze. Luckily, Norm had figured out how to use the cruise control and downshifting to save the brakes so we went up and down LoLo Pass without a problem and arrived at Lake Pend Oreille early afternoon. 

After a bit of reconnoitering we managed to get her mast hoisted and the infamous Bimini in place. We celebrated by going out to dinner at a little place within walking distance, then to bed early as we were two old tired birds.  Falling alseep in our little nest was easy, but around 2AM we both woke up to a horrible screeching sound that was relentless.  It just went on and on. Norm got up to investigate and found the back of the boat had gotten too close and it was rubbing against the dock. since our berth is in the back of the boat it was amplified 10-fold to us down below.  He retied the lines and the rest of the night was uneventful.

A good first part-day in paradise.....and the beat goes on...

~Nancy

WORLD MUSEUM OF MINING - Missoula, Montana

Sailed down the road from Billings to Missoula, Montana today listening to a mystery of tape and watching the prairie turn into mountains.  The only major stop we made was in Butte at the Little Orphan Girl Mine.  Interesting walk around the little town they've recreated, circa late 1800's, but even more interesting were the skeletons of gigantic, old mining equipment that are strewn all about the grounds. As you might imagine, Norm was in seventh heaven! 

The little Orphan Girl Mine (I can't believe they actually named a mine that) began in 1856 and was worked until 1956.  with typical dark, humor miners often called had frames 'gallus'. or gallows, because they looked like places to hang a man and because the threat of death was ever present in the mines.

The mining museum was well worth the stop so if you're ever in Butte check it out!  I had to buy the ice cream again today since the car is sucking gas down like crazy going up the mountain and Norm won the bet. We've agree to skip ice cream for the rest of the week :-)

We're in Missoula tonight and will arrive at Lake Pend Oreille tomorrow before noon. Life is good....and the beat goes on.....

~Nancy

"As the warning bell sounded, the cage dropped into the dark shaft. The only light came from the lanterns affixed to the cage itself. Likened by some of the miners to being buried alive, the fall produced only muted sounds...then from the pit of the stomach came the sinking feeling that accompanied the rapid fall." ~ Ronald C. Brown - Hardrock Mines

SAILING ACROSS THE PRAIRIE

The road trip across the prairie continues. Proud Mary is doing fine. She pulls great....except in the wind when she wants to take off and fly away! Norm is doing all the driving.....well, I did drive for 100 miles, but that was all he could handle. I make him nervous!

Not many stops today other than the visitors center for Wyoming and , of course, the obligatory ice cream stop. I had to buy for the first time yesterday. We wage a bet each day of what sort of gas mileage we'll get and the loser has to buy. I think we better put a screeching halt on that game though....if I keep eating ice cream all the way to Idaho my life jacket isn't going to fit! LOL

And the beat goes on...

~Nancy

THE BADLANDS and BEYOND

I took my bad boy through the Badlands today. What a timeless place! Layers and layers of sedimentary rock laid down over eons—then carved into sand castle shapes by the relentless wind! Life must be very hard in the Badlands – one hot mother in the summer; one long, cold winter. And the wind blows all year long.  Awesomely beautiful. Great place to visit. Wouldn’t want to live there.

Next stop: Wall Drug for ice cream!  A quick stop was pretty much all we did as there were gaggles of tourists flocking to see of the zillions of gift shops and trinkets – so many people it felt very claustrophophic!  We ate our ice cream and got the heck out of there!  Next was a quick look in the Wall Harley Shop for a T-shirt for Norm, but no luck.  All were fairly ‘gaudy’ and he decided against getting one so we drove on down the road to…. 

   Mount Rushmore!  We arrived about 30 minutes before they closed so we didn’t bother to go inside, just stopped at a scenic  overlook and took a few snaps then headed on down the road to Deadwood passing scads of ‘tourists traps’ along the way. This area has really gown up since our last visit. Then we had trouble finding a motel – now the road is lined with them and also tourist’s shops after shops.  Today casinos, motels, Prairie Dog Farms, Christmas Stores, Go-Kart tracks – you name it, line the streets.  It reminded me of the first time we returned to Angenguo, Mexico to see the Monarchs. The single bumpy, dirt road with one ‘shack’ gift shop at the sanctuary entrance had morphed into a wide, paved road lined with tienda after tienda  offering ‘junky trinkets’ to all who visited. My recommendation: If you go to Mount Rushmore go ‘off season.’  Hopefully, you’ll miss the hoards of cars and people scurrying everywhere. No one can say Americans aren’t staying home to vacation this year, but we’ve noticed I-90 seems sparse with traffic so maybe gas prices are keeping everyone on cacation close to home.

Leaving Mount Rushmore we drove to Deadwood in search of dinner, but although it looked like a sweet little town, it too had grown into a tourist trap: LOTS of stores and LITTLE parking! We’ve been very careful all along this trip not to get ourselves into a parking situation we can’t get out of , so we just drove through Deadwood and continued on down the road to Spearfish, S.D. where we spent our first night aboard Proud May in a nice little campgroup at the edge of town.  The campground  was full to the gills with folks, yet surprisingly quiet.  It rained cats-n-dogs in the night, but we were snug as a couple of bugs in our nest on Proud Mary. 

Another great day on the road….And the beat goes on…

~Nancy

Wander a whole summer if you can. Thousands of God's blessings will search you and soak you as if you were a sponge, and the big days will go by uncounted. ~ John Muir

---

THE GREAT ROAD TRIP WEST - DAY TWO

We started the day by heading off our route a few miles to visit the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Museum.  Since Norm feels like he is the sole reason they've had to double their production over the past 120 years it was a stop we couldn't pass up.  and well worth it , it was!  Huckleberry for me and Mocha-almond-fudge for Norm :-)  Oh, and the "museum" wasn't much, but what was there was interesting.

Then in the afternoon we pulled into Chamberlin, SD just in time to make it to the Lakota Indian Museum.  AWESOME!  Definitely well worth the stop even if it did leave me feeling more than a little bit sad about the way the early Americans treated the Lakota.

Dinner for me; breakfast for Norm at a local family run cafe then a walk about town and across the bride that's under construction.  Ah, another good day. And the beat goes on....

~Nancy

Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quiestest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” Pat Conway

MAN on the STREET

Norm continues with his "man of the street" interviews. Here he is in Albia, Iowa at the courthouse chasing me around the grounds asking,"What do you have to say today, Nancy?" Albia has a nice little monument to the "Fallen Soldiers of the Civil War, so I snapped just one of the old sailor...who may get left in Spearfish, Montana if he doesn't let up with his "interviews!"  LOL

It was TOO HOT to camp in Proud Mary for the night as we planned. (92 degrees at 8PM!) so we opted for a nice motel, then walked to the nearby Colonel's place for some good, albeit greasy, fried chicken and fixins.

All in all it was a good first day and the beat goes one...

~Nancy

LET THE ADVENTURE BEGIN !

And we're off! After much fanfare, planning, provisioning, laoding and unloading, we're finially ready to pull out. Our neighbor, Marion, just came by to take our "farewell" photos. So, we're off - 1624 miles and Norm plans to do "Man on the Street interviews all the way out to idaho. I may leave him in Spearfish, Montana. :-)

~Nancy

Twenty years from now you will be more disppointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover ~ Mark Twain