At the homestead

Celia said that I should talk more about what we do at home in my blog, not just the trips we take. So, here's some picture of summer at the Wilson household...

Dan does a lot of field mowing to keep the grass and blackberries under control. We've engaged in a large project to reclaim land for native plants (shown below), thereby cutting back the need for field mowing in a sizable area. Dan has done a lot of research into which native plants will do well in this area.
Below is the perennial garden.
Our friend Sheila visited from Fresno. We enjoyed wandering along the waterfront and through the farmer's market.










Right after Sheila visited I took a class in teaching reading and writing to English Language Learners. It was a week long intensive class - the first class I've taken for credit in about 25 years. The information was very practical, and I will be able to put it to use in my tutoring. At this point, I have one private student. I am working toward starting a tutoring program at our church.

The garden got a late start this year due to poor weather in the spring. Here it is at its peak in early September.





























I grew 8 cabbages like this one. Everyone in the family is making sauerkraut.

WTA "volunteer vacation"

In late July, Dan and I joined a group of hikers for a week of backpacking and trail work with the Washington Trails Association. Our volunteer vacation was in the Goat Rocks Wilderness, between White Pass and Naches.
Evening activities included lots of good food, story-telling, and scrabble. It was a really fun and diverse group of people. We were a good team.


On our day off, we were able to hike the loop trail to the high country. We also went off trail and into the snow.






















This shows some of the projects we worked on. The area of trail Dan is standing by was almost impassable because of some large rocks. He rerouted the trail and removed some of the rocks.

Lake and River outings

Banks Lake
At the end of June we returned to Banks Lake with a group of friends. The weather was cool enough that we were able to hike comfortably. We took a long hike around the top of Steamboat Rock.



























We also brought our canoe and enjoyed exploring among the rocks and swimming from the boat.




















The next weekend we took Evan and his friend to Lake Kachees.

The water was really cold and refreshing on a warm day. It was great fun jumping from the rocks.

Recently we joined a canoe club called Paddle Trails. Our first trip with the club was a paddle down the Tolt River. The river had some good riffles and rapids, but nothing too scary. Dan and I learned a lot from the leader, who was a former Olympic trainer. We learned how to surf a wave! We also learned the safety equipment we need to do whitewater canoeing.

At home with the deer ones

We finally got fed up with the deer feeding on our tender plants in the garden; with tripping over the netting that covers everything; with getting squirted in the face by the motion detecting scarecrow; and with untangling the raspberry vines from the netting...

So we put up a deer fence - 300 feet and 7 feet high. It's made of plastic and it was actually pretty easy to put up. You can see below that I am standing inside the fence while Dan plays deer and tries to get in - unsuccessfully.

So far it is working very well. Now if we could just get some sun...








Here's our first fire of the season. We had to dump out gallons of water that had filled the firepit, and then get the fire hot enough so we could burn all the wet newspaper and logs. Kind of like Elijah calling down fire into a soaking wet altar. (It's a story in the book of I Kings, chapter 18, verses 33 - 39) Well, not quite. Anyway, we enjoyed our hot dogs and burned up a lot of wet stuff.

The rest of the Kauai story...

Colin got some action on the boogie board. He had a great time. I tried it and just swallowed alot of salt water. Those were powerful waves.


All of us drove up to Waimea Canyon and took a hike to Alaka'i swamp, a unique spot which receives a huge dump of rain.
This is Kalalau Valley from above.
Dressed for the weather...























A mountain apple blossom and a huge fern beginning to uncoil.























Overlooking Waimea Canyon.
A monk seal rests right on Poipu beach. Conservationists put up ropes to keep people from disturbing it, since it is endangered.

Fun at Kipu falls - this was a small waterfall with a high rope swing. Yes, I did let go. Colin jumped off the cliff next to the falls.































The last Sunset... we thought
Surprise! We ended up in Honolulu after our plane had to return due to malfunctioning flaps. Hawaiian Airlines treated us very well and rather than sitting at the airport, they bussed us to Waikiki for dinner. It was fun to be there - the place was hopping with tourists and with families celebrating Mother's Day. We paid for the fun later when we departed at 11:00 pm and tried to sleep on the plane.
The banyan trees in the park were fun to swing on.

Kauai with the fam

April 30: Preparing for the trip - We wanted to make sure we didn't forget anything for an action packed week.







We spent our first three days with Celia and Keith on the north side of the island. Sunset was a special time.

We went snorkeling at Tunnels beach and then stayed to watch the sun set with the Na Pali coast as a backdrop. Later we hiked two miles down the Na Pali coast (no roads- only trail) to the next beach and then two miles up to a waterfall coming from sheer cliffs. We swam under the waterfall to cool off.

Rain is a regular occurance on the north coast. This picture was taken during an early morning rain shower.

Colin joined us on Sunday and we headed to Poipu beach. He found a spot with some good waves.

We tested our sea legs aboard a catamaran sailing up the Na Pali coastline. The first part of the trip was smooth. We went snorkeling and were able to swim with sea turtles. We also saw spinner dolphins. On the way back we hit some large swells and things were just swell for most of us. Colin, Celia and Keith sat in the front and enjoyed a constant shower of buckets of spray, while Dan sat in the back with his barf bag. He didn't have to use it, but he wasn't very happy either.

Every night at about 7 we go to the beach to watch the sunset. Then we head back to our villa where we create a delicious dinner featuring fresh fruit and vegetables and usually something from the barbecue. We've been visiting the farmers markets which occur daily in different locations around the island.

Vancouver Performance

Opus 7 was privileged to be invited to sing at the conference of the ACDA in Vancouver. (Association of Choral Directors of America) Throughout the conference they held showcase concerts, each featuring several choirs. The groups were mostly from the northwest, but a couple came from Europe and Japan.

Mostly, we spent time with Celia and Keith and took a spectacular walk in Stanley Park.

We had some sunshine – quite rare this winter!