Fire Lookout: Warning Children are not advised...

Last week I was once again off in Billings and this time Brenda went to her parents to spend the weekend. She had a great time there and Billing was...well what can I say. Spending your birthday alone in a unfamiliar town working 13 hours, I guess it was fine. Most people make a big deal of their birthdays, but I have always been one of those people who think it is just another day...because it is, just another day.

I made arrangements that I had to be back for this past weekend and that was the fire lookout tower I had rented in March. Brenda and I headed out Friday to Boundary County in Northern Idaho to the Deer Ridge fire lookout. It is a tower 40' in the air and at the top is a 14'x14' room for sleeping and living.

Before we left we took the 13 week picture.

Finally we arrived. The tower is very cool, but as the forest service had said "children are not advised".

Nice views from the top. I have been to a lot of fire lookouts, but this is the first one I am going to spend the night in.

Notice the wire going from the roof, past the railing, and to the ground. That is in case of lightning. They had two chairs in the building that if there was a lightning storm you are supposed to sit on them with your feet off the floor. The casters/bases of the chair are old fashion glass insulators off a power pole...not very reassuring.

View out the front door.

James loved it as well

You could see to Montana and to Canada.

We went on a hike about 20 miles away the next day to Pyramid Lake. Nice hike with great views

and only about 7-8 miles round trip. The we continued to Ball Lakes

Lower Ball Lake

We rested at the lake for a few minutes and James was able to grab a bite to eat. He then got very tired...pretty standard.

He is so cool in his hat.

Another great view

Then we drove to another hike which was very short. We were tired, but had to cram it all in.

Then back to the lookout for dinner and relaxation.

James is smiling a lot now and starting to laugh occasionally.

You got to wonder why I am so perplexed. Must be because I am a horrible speller and playing Scrabble...not a good combination.

Nope...just got some very bad letters. I had a heck of a time this game and lost to the "dominator" aka Brenda.

Great sunset

The next day we went about 400yds from the lookout to pick some huckleberries. They were pretty well picked over, but we got some all the same.

Then to one more hike on our way out of town.

We saw this waterfall at the end. Easy hike and had a great time.

Back home I checked on the progress of my beast...I hope this thing will get huge. I have about 10 pumpkins that should pass the 30lb mark and a few of those should go well past that.

Not sure if these videos will work....there seems to be an issue with blogger.

Headlining the NBC nightly news was Beyonce noting she was pregnant. Those idiots actually think that is news. They had very little credibility before and now I have lost complete faith in any news organization.

I also hear that unemployment is dropping and don't care. Besides the fact that those numbers are fairly subjective, I would argue that there is a larger percentage of the population which is actually unemployable. By unemployable I mean 1. refuse to move for a job-why someone thinks they should be able to get work where they live is beyond me. Being flexible and willing to move will get you a job very quickly 2. Poor work ethic and always looking for a easy way out- constant problem with people thinking the company "owes" them. 3. Feels entitled to work. You should be happy for any job you can get and quit feeling you are above a job. I have a lot longer list, but am getting a bit long winded.

I have a lot of construction workers tell me they are working so they can "save up" unemployment so they can relax this winter. Or another one said when he was laid off at the end of the construction season last year he made a conscious effort to "spend time with his kids" because he had saved enough unemployment to allow him to do that (he went 10 months without working and collected unemployment the entire time). This is total BS and in general if you have to go on unemployment you should only be allowed to do so once or twice in your lifetime, and it should be limited to 6 months. I am sick of these leaches sucking the rest of us dry and acting as if they are entitled to it. I have no problem paying more taxes as long as it is not wasted...which 25% of it is...

Have a great day

Summer actvities

It seems like every time I post I am apologizing for the last time and how long it has been, well no more. I got a lot of stuff going on, and when I don't, I want to relax. But enough has happened that I thought I should put something down so I don't forget about it.

My sister stayed after my brother and parents left for a few days and that was just long enough to go over to the car show at the hot rod cafe. Brenda and I stopped here on a whim last year and caught the festival so it was a must go this year based on the crazies we saw last year.
James also liked it and wore his skull and crossbones skull cap as well as his "chicks love me" shirt. I love carrying that kid around because everyone thinks he is so cute. He loved the burnouts and the cars.

Here is a jacked up old chevy doing a burnout. About every kind of car you can think of was there trying a burnout. Even ones that should not be. There was a old cop car, 1976 Ford LDT, and of course multiple rednecks in trucks. It was a feast for the eyes.

Not sure if you can see here, but the truck did a burnout until the tires blew up. He is riding on the rims here.

Summer has hit Greenacres and we have a couple thornless raspberry bushes which have provided more berries than we could possibly eat. It has been fun to pick them and then give them to friends. Everyone always appreciates it and they taste amazing

Here is 10min worth of picking.

After my sister left, Jim and Sandy needed another grandchild fix and came up for the weekend.

Yet another James and James picture. James is getting huge now...our James that is. I got a call the day Jim and Sandy showed up from my old boss asking if I could get out to the big oil spill in Montana. They work 7 days a week out there and I was not going to turn down good work so off I went, leaving Brenda with her parents for the weekend. I was out there for a week and while I was gone, Brenda was able to convince other visitors to come as well.

Laura did not have a lot going on and thought....why not go see Brenda. It probably helped that it was Brenda's birthday, but I think she wanted one last getaway before the school year starts.

Brenda said the kids had a great time.

I was able to some home the next weekend. Liberty lake had a car show that weekend and we saw this sweet ride. Someone put a lot of work into a bus...really?

Brenda always poses for picture whenever I ask her.

Yet another pose. They all were not weird cars, but I like to take pictures of the crazies.

Brenda and James then came with me on Monday out to Billings for the week. It was much nicer coming home to the hotel and seeing my wife and boy waiting for me. Working 10-12hr days zapped a lot of energy, but having those two waiting for me gets me energized.

One of my old co-workers from San Jose was there for the job, so we went out to dinner a couple of times and she loved to hold James.

Brenda and I also got to visit some of the sights and sounds of Billings. Here we are at the pictograph caves state park. The rock formations around that area reminded both of us of the thanksgivings we would spend in Utah...great scenery.

Amazing.

James was a great traveler and slept most of the 8hr drive

He is really starting to smile.

Brenda also got a chance to go see one of her old friends Colleen and her baby. I did not go because after a 8hr drive the day before, I was not going to drive 7hrs round trip to visit friends for the day. Plus I was tired and needed to get the bike out on the road...it is summer.

James is getting bigger and bigger and is weighing it at about 15lbs now...you can really feel it when you hold him.

I snapped this pic of him sleeping the other day. It does not get any better than that.

Besides Raspberries, the rest of our garden is growing like mad as well. I planted giant pumpkins and a few are going crazy big and should be quite the sight in a month or two. Potatoes, beans, onions, carrots, and Zucchini are a few of the major things growing like mad. We have a lot of Zucchini...A lot. I think even if I only ate all Zucchini for every meal there is still no way to keep up with the 6 plants we have. We put a bunch out in a box in the front yard with free sign on it and they go like hotcakes.

This pumpkin is growing about 1" in diameter every day. I should be huge by then end.

More amazing cuteness

Summer meals in our backyard are fun and we can sometime see the Spokane hot air balloon giving rides. This only makes Brenda want to go more and more, but I keep reminding her how much it costs and we have better, more practical things to do with our money...like pay for the house, or buy another motorcycle...

Here are a few videos I have uploaded of our fun.




I may convert my mower to do this



As promised last post...this is the funniest dancer I have ever seen. She is oblivious to anyone else and has the rhythm of a tennis shoe in a clothes dryer.



Safety is not the most important thing at an event like this. This car proceeded to do like 20 minutes worth of burnouts and donuts after I stopped the video. Notice the little concrete blocks keeping us safe. Those things did not make me feel any better so I stood behind some fat people to provide cushion if the car crashed into the blocks.

And last but not least is the boy. He is laughing and responding to us now which really makes us laugh and act like those "other" wacko parents who talk in baby talk and make weirdo faces in a feeble attempt to get some reaction from their kids.