August 2010

August started off with a nice camping trip to Ranier and Mt. St. Helens in Washington. It was a great trip.  I had the opportunity to visit with some of my Anchorage friends who I don't get to see very often.  It is such a treat to spend time with them.

The second half of the month, I did another rotation at the Incident Command Post for the oil spill in Houma, Louisiana.  My Houma away from home.  I worked until  26th where I was able to come home for a few days.

In that period of time, I did get to do some Boise things, see a movie with some great friends, check out the photography competition at the Idaho Western State Fair and attend Boise's Curb Cup 2.

The following is what happend when you get carried away playing with Topaz post processing software.

Silver City

The weekend of February 13-15 found a 12  IWOW women and one daring husband, Bud snowshoeing and skiing into Silver City in the Owyhee Mountains in South Central Idaho.    We went up via Murphy entrance this time.  We all drove to where we could begin the 8 mile snowshoe in.  Fortunately, our great hosts, Jerri and Roger, and some of their friends, had their snowmachines at the same place to take our gear in.  After they got our gear there, they came back to see which of us poor ladies needed some help in the 8 mile UPHILL drudge there.  I must admit, I did get on that machine after 6 miles of uphill since I was hauling in my camera gear and my back was beginning to get sore.

The hotel is about 150 years old and very rustic.  The place keeps the feel of the old west and you almost expect a ghost from the past to appear in the hallway.  There is no running water so we did have to go without showers for the 3 days.  We had fantastic meals and gathered in the dining room near the wood stove and ate and drank and played games and gabbed when we weren't out snowshoeing or exploring.

Roger opened up the drug store which dates back to early, early 1900s and many of the items that were just left there.  Here are a couple of pics from there.

I can't wait to go again.  It is an near annual tradition for us all.

Thanks to Jan for organizing and the rest of my fellow buddies...Cyn, Norma, Meg, Heather, the other Kathryn, Cheryl,  Sandy, Marion and her hubby, Bud.

I hope to have more pictures included in the near future.

North Carolina

Or should I say "Birds, Birds, Birds!"

These are snow geese that migrate to Mattamuskeet Lake and wildlife preserve for the winter months with plenty of left over grain in the corn fields.  The sound of them was deafening and it was amazing to see them move in waves and take off, circle and then return back to the field. 

Here is a picture of Mattamuskeet Lake

Back to the Outer Banks. This is at Frisco pier. Boy was it cold and windy that morning.....

We also went to beach at Cape Hattaras where we saw enormous waves where the two ocean currents meet.

It was also fun watching the fishermen at the Cape getting into those wild waves to fish and getting battered by the waves.  I didn't see anyone catch a fish.  That water was really cold as was the temperature and the high winds.  Can you see the fisherman in the next two pictures?

Just for some fun and games, Karyn took mom and I to the North Carolina zoo where she volunteers on Mondays.  Here is a few shots from the zoo.