From Our Newsletter: Pet-Friendly Trinity River Adventure Inn Updates

August 2007 was our first August for the Trinity River Adventure Inn and we were sure it was going to kill us; we ran full tilt boogie the entire month. Our guests were many and varied and up for everything, so we ran river trips, cooked huge meals, cleaned like crazy and fell into bed exhausted near midnight each night, but it was as much fun as it was work. Labor Day Weekend was the grand finale for a completely wild and successful month.

Last year, we had one cabin and managed a second; this year's Labor Day Weekend, we had five cabins and all but Dragonfly was rented. Last year, we cooked for four; this year, we cooked for up to 12. More guests wanted river trips than we could accommodate, but we took the folks who booked earliest and it was marvelous.

The "weekend" began August 29th, when the Awerbuck family from Monterey arrived. David Awerbuck is a head and neck surgeon whom I met at the end of 1999 when I came down with a vile sinus infection. He cured what a GP couldn't, then brought his wife and young kids whale watching with us. That was the last we saw of each other until we re-connected in the summer. When he heard where we are, he got excited about bringing his family up to check out our new location.

David, his wife Astrid and their kids Mara, Daniel and Talia arrived just in time for Talia's 8th birthday, so our first dinner was capped off with the requested pan of brownies topped with candles. As soon as dessert was out of the way, the kids were off exploring. They swung in the hammocks and we could see a flashlight bobbing as they ventured along the shoreline. This is what kids used to do on a summer night, and we loved seeing it.

On Saturday, a big group of locals launched everything from inflatable kayaks and rafts to catarafts across the river from us. As they got their gear ready, I commented to Steph that a couple of them were the people who "won" a gift certificate we donated to a fundraiser for cancer research. They have one of the biggest and fanciest places on the river and he, Wayne, is pretty well-known for his massive plasma screen TV that is located a couple of feet from the river. It's housed in a faux boat that sits upright on its stern; he can watch ball games while he fishes.

Watching TV has little appeal to me anyway, but especially when I'm outside, so the whole TV in the boat thing leaves me flat. Wayne said women don't get it, but that men clench their fist, pull their elbow backward and say "Yes!" when they hear about it. Some do, some don't; most of the men who have done the river with us have shrugged and asked questions like, "Isn't that one of the reasons you go outside; to get away from television?"

But Wayne is a character and a prankster. Last time they went by in their boats, he was dousing everyone with his water cannon. Steph considered giving him a Trinity River Adventure Inn salute with our fire pump. Even though it was a lot of work, he finally decided to go for it and hauled the pump down to the river, attached the hard line suction hose, slipped it into the water and laid out a roll of fire hose. He started the pump, then sat in a chair by the river, waiting.

As the big bunch of boaters neared Steph, they were oblivious; nobody paid any attention to the running pump as he waved and smiled. In fact, they waved back and eased his way. Then, as Wayne got within reach, Steph got out of his chair and picked up the nozzle, cranking it open and unleashing 250 gallons per minute of pretty cold river water their way. There was a flurry of activity as paddlers and rowers scattered, but Wayne handled it differently. First, he tried for evasion. Then he stopped, loaded his 5 gallon per minute water cannon and turned toward Steph. As you can see, it wasn't much of a match. However, the people with Wayne cheered Steph on, saying that alone had made their day. Like most kids who have all of the toys, Wayne probably gets this reaction a lot on the rare times when he's completely overpowered.

While we hung around our place harassing the river people, our neighbors and friends Ron and Carolyn took the Awerbucks fishing on Lewiston Lake on their patio boat. We barbecued their catch-two beautiful trout-for the dinner's appetizer. We were joined by the Butler family that night. They're also from Monterey, and friends of the Awerbucks. Their arrival was a jaw-dropper.

Picture this: 2 adults, 3 kids, a medium-large dog and all of their gear for 3 days. We have had families that size who couldn't cram all of their stuff into a Suburban, but the Butlers arrived in a well-packed and un-crowded Toyota Prius! They get the Conservation and Compression Award.

With the arrival of the Butlers, there were now 6 kids and once dinner was finished, they scattered like ants after a picnic; more flashlights and squeals of delight at their discoveries while the adults chatted at the candle-lit table over the river.

Our river trip the next day included most of our kayaks, plus the raft, with Randy Mordecai as oarsman. Randy expected a mellow paddle down the river in his own kayak, but when he brought three more paddlers, we realized Steph would need to join me in his kayak so we could mother hen our chicks down the Trinity. Parents and kids traded in and out of the doubles, while most of the other adults paddled their own boats. Eli the dog took to his loaned flotation device as though he'd always worn one, and the grab handle proved useful when he bounded out of the boat to test his water wings.

Our lunch stop in the shade turned into a blackberry-picking bonanza and in about half an hour, we had enough berries for the night's dessert, plus a couple of jars of blackberry preserves for pancakes. The kids surprised us by managing to turn in their containers with something in them, since they ate most of what they picked. This is a great berry year.

After our river trip, the kids had a great time on the rope swing over at the Steel Bridge cabins. Doesn't this look like a hoot? The river is about as warm as it gets, which isn't saying much, but who cares when you have a swing to aid your splashdown?

She was often found cuddled up with Bisco or Scupper, or looking for Alvin. A trip to the bathroom in our cabin turned into a sidetrip to visit the animals and we'd find her smiling and patting their heads. The fondness wasn't one-sided; they realized Maren is a cool kid.

Most animals wouldn't think of this, but when ours learned Maren has to have a heart operation, they dolled up a Trinity River Adventure Inn T-shirt for her. Bisco is part border collie and her signature and paw print was precise and attractive; she helped Scupper with his. But Alvin? Some days, Alvin's a dog. Other days, he's a cat. His paw print turned into several as he marched right through their message, so I'd say he was having a cat day.

I didn't get to meet our other guests at Steel Bridge until they were leaving on Monday. They stayed at Alpen Glow and when I walked into the kitchen to show them the assortment of TRAI embroidered caps for a family member who couldn't make the trip, I was asked what the device hanging over the refrigerator is. It's redwood and square, with a compression handle on the top.

"That's a tortilla press," I told them. "My mother gave it to me."
"You were right!" they exclaimed to one of the women.
"You don't see them like that any more," she said. Most of us have run across the round metal tortilla presses, but the more rustic models used to be made of wood and were square, even though they produced round tortillas. The one my mom gave me is a piece of art that I have used, but thought it looked good over the fridge. It's kind of funny that the only guests who have asked about the tortilla press was the Aldana family; they're Hispanic. Note in their picture to the right that they brought two dogs. Goldens are such scene stealers.

We weren't exactly dead by the time our last guests headed out, but we declared an afternoon off. I read and napped in a hammock for hours. It was warm, shady and the river noise had a magical effect. I kept thinking, "So this is what our guests do. No wonder they don't want to leave." Steph spent a fair amount of time on the couch, doing pretty much the same thing I did. A motorcycle ride was considered, but dropped due to the potential energy expenditure; you have to have some to use it.

Fall bookings have been good and we've already signed up several fishing groups. The Fly Shop and Sac River outfitters in Redding both proved to be a nice fit with TRAI last year. This year, with more cabins and options, they're sending even more business our way. Bob Marriott's Fly Shop near Disneyland works through Sac River and we'll have the owners of both businesses up here in October with their guests. We're pretty jazzed about that. The fishers we attract are conservation-minded; they never leave a mess in their wake, either on the river or in our cabins, and they are fun. What more could you ask for?

It's hard to believe people think this far ahead, but we only have one cabin left for Thanksgiving; the rest are booked. The Miner's is still available and would be an ideal choice for someone who wants to barbecue their turkey, since it has a minimalist kitchen. It's easy to do, even for novices. My first attempt was back when I had Heidi's Old Princeton Landing in Princeton, north of Half Moon Bay. It was a deli; a bar; we made specialty coffees; it was a sailboard shop; and I made custom T-shirts. I also did some catering. Two of my regulars requested a custom meal for their daughter's wedding rehearsal dinner. The entrée and method of cooking had been the subject of intense debate for weeks. My suggestion of out-of-this-world barbecued salmon fell flat because someone on the other side didn't eat fish. It had to be turkey and it had to be barbecued. I agreed to do it.

Trouble was, I had barbecued a lot of salmon, but I'd never barbecued a turkey. My mom had extensive experience, so I called her for directions. I have always had a rule never to try a recipe first time for business, but I was busy and all of a sudden, the day arrived and it was time to cook. Mom had warned me the bird cooks surprisingly fast since it's not stuffed, so I had everything ready for transport on time. But just as I put the turkey on a red chard-covered platter and started to arrange green, red and black grapes around it, a wing tip snapped off. It looked really funky. What would you do? I snapped off the other wing tip at the same spot, then stuck a grape on a stem into each opening. Nice effect.

My store manager and I drove up to Montara to deliver the meal to the awaiting party. I impressed upon her the need to float in, arrange the meal and get out, so we'd barely be noticed. Everyone seemed impressed with the meal and after we'd arranged all the dishes, we backed away from the table and made for the door. I was in the lead. In just a few seconds, POOF! We'd be gone and they could sit down to eat.

I opened the front door and charged through it. Except it wasn't the front door; it was the coat closet. No matter how fast I thought and how many ways I approached the problem, there was no way I could get out of the closet without being seen. With more than a little embarrassment, I backed up and into my manager. There was a momentary Keystone Cops episode when we nearly fell to the floor, then we smiled back at the party with assurance; we would make an exit with our next door choice, which we did.

A few days later, the parents of the bride came by to pay the catering bill and return my serving ware. They raved about the food and how lovely everything was. They said it couldn't have been better if they had prepared it and there was no way they'd have taken it on; especially the barbecued turkey. I asked why.

"Our daughter married a cookbook writer," I was told. "He just finished a book on grilling. It was published by Sunset Magazine."
There are some things you just don't want to know in advance. This ranks pretty close to the top for me, even after all these years. However, a cozy dinner for two in the Miner's; a barbecued turkey and grilled vegetables; a pretty salad and a nice bottle of wine? What could top that?

The Old Lewiston Bridge Lighting extravaganza is the Saturday after Thanksgiving; it is easily our favorite event up here. Hundreds of locals turn out for it, and a lot of out-of-towners show up as well. The entire intersection of Old Lewiston is one big street party with Christmas music, hot chocolate, a couple of crowded and happy bars and free cotton candy. I never have figured that one out, cotton candy for a winter party? But it's very popular and no kid goes home un-sticky. There is a big fireworks show over the water, then Santa Claus arrives in a sleigh towed by a quad. We won't cook for guests this Thanksgiving, but we will offer kayak or raft trips on the lake or the river for adventurous souls, and we will offer meals around the holiday, so think about it.

Interior work on our little log cabin Trout has started, sort of. The futon frame we bought for it was dark cherry and we had a lighter wood in mind, so Steph has stripped it and stained it much lighter. We're debating how we want to do the shower and toilet and so far, are deadlocked. However, another fall project was to move the hot tub away from our cabin and out to a rocky outcropping overlooking the river. Steph did that while I was in Redding shopping and it looks great there. Trout will go on the upstream side of a big oak not far from the tub, so guests in Trout will be as close to the tub as we are. Imagine this scene with the large family staying at Sow's Ear over Thanksgiving. That tub's going to get a workout.

Well, what else should I tell you? Days are warm to hot this time of year. Nights are crisp and mornings require a jacket or fleece. Some days, we have our morning coffee down by the river. I swing in the hammock and Steph sits in a chair next to me. We've been watching a rainbow trout or two that work back and forth a few feet from the shore. Haven't seen the otters in several days, but they were making a real racket last week across the river.

We took our bicycles into the Weaverville bike shop and had them re-built, removing the results of years on the salty coast. As fall deepens, we'll do more rides up Brown's Mountain Road. It's still a little too hot, unless we head out fairly early in the morning.

More salmon are getting up here and we've seen several caught as we've paddled by shore fishers. It never ceases to amaze me how large those ocean-going creatures are. Talk about an incredible journey. The bald eagles at Lewiston Lake have been spotted by all of our recent guests. David Awerbuck got this picture. We often see eagles at the lake and osprey down on the river.

How are you doing on donations to your important causes? We're doing well. We've booked a couple of donated stays at our cabins and just ran a river trip for four complete with a dandy lunch that included grilled pastrami and provolone sanwiches with avocado. These offerings helped our local volunteer-staffed library, the American Cancer Society and the food bank. Unlike most food banks, ours is not a non-profit, so the only return we get is the satisfaction of helping some folks. We donate food, gift certificates, toiletries and toothbrushes that our dentists generously contribute to the cause, even though that fact may have escaped them so far.

As for whether clients of the food bank genuinely need help or are freeloaders, I'll let my mom settle it. She always said, "I'd rather give to someone who didn't need it, than not to give to someone who did." See you up here, Heidi

Fires that have plagued Northern California have largely been subdued. We're getting back to normal, but for some, that time will never come again. Thousands of firefighters from all over the country have battled these fires, which were started by a horrendous dry lightning storm June 21st. We were all so lucky not to have had any fatalities on the firelines, but that ended just as the fires seemed to be winding down. We have lost 11 pilots and firefighters and they were honored in Redding on Saturday.

Andy Palmer was a firefighter for Olympic National Park in Washington. Andy graduated from Port Townsend High School in June, and the school's athletic director called him a "bright and shining star." Andy was killed July 25th.

Dan Packer, also from Washington, was chief of East Pierce Fire & Rescue and past president of the Washington Fire Chiefs. He was killed July 26th while supervising firefighting efforts in Siskiyou County. This man left behind an entire community devastated by both his loss as a friend and as their protector.

"There are people alive in Sumner because of Dan Packer and his wonderful vision," Sumner Mayor Dave Enslow said in a news release. "Professionally, he knew how to bring people together to give them the best fire service possible. And personally, you can't find a better guy than Dan. He knew that firefighting was really about people, about being part of a community in good times and bad."

If you were to drive through this area, you wouldn't see much evidence of the fires, but you'd know we've been under siege because of all of the big, hand-painted signs by the roads that say, "THANK YOU, FIREFIGHTERS." It's with very heavy hearts that we also want to say, "Bless you and the family and friends you left behind. Rest in peace."

Heidi, Steph and all of the people and animals who call these mountains home

7/10/2008: The 4th of July Parade Review, Finn's Return & Lots of New Cabin Pictures

As just about everyone knows, there are some raging fires in California. The ones in Trinity County started after the loudest and longest thunderstorm we have ever experienced. Having lived in Utah for eight years, where summer thunderstorms were a glory to behold, that's saying something for me. We have been lucky and no fires have been close to us, but smoke has ranged from mild to heavy.

We gave guests the chance to postpone their reservations and one party did, while others didn't. Some of the ones who came anyway are return guests from last year. You may remember their gorgeous golden retriever Finnegan, whose nickname is Bubba. He brought his buddy Jake, a 13 year old labradoodle who is one of the originals, a result of a midnight tryst between a lab and a poodle. Jake's family (Liam and Robyn) fit right in, just as Bubba's family (Mary & Brandon) did, and we all went to the Weaverville 4th of July parade together.

Bisco rode in her side car and Scupper rode with the guests. They were as tickled as us by the charming parade, which featured our neighbor Shirley in her BMW convertible; Chinese dragon dancers (Finn did not like them at all); a family of cousins that rode their bicycles as they do every year; stunning backcountry mule teams; the few fire engines not on firelines somewhere; and even a real Huey, the helicopter that played such a big roll in the Vietnam war.

Bisco and Scuppie watched the parade from the side car, which gave Scup a chance to get used to it. Later that day, he took his first ride with Bisco and he liked it enough that we'll try more; however, he will never be the rider Bisco is. That girl has biker blood in her veins, for sure.

We planned to go to the ice cream social after the parade, but it was jammed. There is a mini mart and hot dog palace in Weaverville called Papa Dog that we have never frequented, so we decided to go there instead. The problem was, Papa Dog doesn't allow dogs in their outdoor area.

I gave the owner a big speech (another 4th of July tradition) on how being dog-friendly can help their business, adding we had 6 hungry people who were sure to buy a bunch of food and maybe a beer or two if the well-behaved dogs could come in. He relented, but looked worried when Bubba cruised in. He is 85 pounds and looks like a blonde sumo wrestler. But one look at that happy face convinced the guy it would all work out, and it did.

As we were eating, a woman came over to me and asked, "Heidi?" She works at our insurance agent's and she and her husband own Papa Dog. This might be a new tradition for us: What's more American than hot dogs at Papa Dog's on the 4th of July?!

The party due in a few days later decided to postpone their visit even though I kept emailing them saying the sky had appeared again and it was beautiful. Too bad. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything in the first place, but this was a big family reunion and we didn't want it spoiled.

As for Finn and company, everyone enjoyed the experience and Finn even got his water wings. Last year, he was only 6 months old and Mary and Brandon were afraid he'd get out in the river and wash downstream, so he never really swam. This year he not only swam, but he also rafted the river. The only dicey time was when Brandon, who was in a kayak, got a little too close to the raft. Finn tried his best to get loose from Mary and bound onto Brandon's boat, which would have had predictably bad results.

Summertime and the livin' is easy

Our Steel Bridge cabins have proven to be far more popular than we could have hoped for. We're booked over half of the next few months! Little and bigger improvements continue: The Miner's Cabin just got a hand-stitched fish quilt and an entry mat that is perfect for it. We're putting the finishing touches on the Dragonfly cabin, which is only available with the Carriage House. It has watery aqua and royal blue tie-dyed curtains that our friend Debby Howe made for it.

She put a chabby-chic trim on the bottom that's got just the right amount of bling in it, then she glued tiny dragonflies on the antiqued curtain hooks. Steph put in brilliant grass-green carpeting and we installed a cozy double captain's bed with drawers underneath. There are three windows and they look out onto the river, a private dog yard for Carriage and Dragonfly guests' dogs and a shady, ivy-covered spot under a pear tree. Our friend Ardie was up for a few days and she and I completed the fencing between the Carriage and Dragonfly, using rustic old wood salvaged from another fence. Perfect.

In keeping with our whimsical theme for the Dragonfly, there is a string of solar-powered LED dragonfly lights across the ceiling (also thanks to Deb!) and a dragonfly mobile with a lead crystal to cast rainbows around the cabin. I'll get pictures for the next newsletter. Here is a new shot of the Carriage House living room with a peek into the bedroom. When I say it's got a cedar interior, I mean it. Steph also just installed a 20' mister on the covered patio which will cool it down for these hot summer days!

Steph also put in a new kitchen floor and boy, did it make a difference. We scored a wonderful piece of furniture at the Peddler's Faire and it found a home in the Carriage, too. In fact, we got two great pieces there (more details in the newsletter below this one). One is a grape hutch. We can't agree on whether we paid $40 or $50 for it, but it looks as though it was made for the Carriage. We also bought a horse collar mirror from a friend. Steph has been combing craigslist looking for old horse tack, but this is functional and stunning. Ideal for a carriage house, hmm?

Remember that hybrid Ford Escape I "bought"?

After Steph and I test drove the rig down at Red Bluff Ford, we filled out paperwork to buy it and told the salesman we'd let him know later that day. Of course, they'd want something signed that committed us, which was why I suggested we do the paperwork. So I emailed him that evening and said we'd take it and pick it up in a few days. He told me he could only hold it 5 days, which was fine; we'd be down in 2.

Then I realized we were free the next morning, so I went to the computer to email him to say we'd be heading down soon. There was an email waiting for me, written in his (and most of the people I dealt with at dealerships') illiterate manner: "heidi i am so sory they sold yor car it was yours an i told them they coudnt but they did."

What creeps! It got creepier. Another salesman called a day later to say the first salesman decided to move back to San Diego and was gone and that the entire management staff was fired over this and if I would just deal with him... NO WAY. Then he put a guy on the phone who said he was the owner's son and this clown said he owed me nothing; if I wanted another Escape, I could buy it, but no special deal for their having sold my Escape. Maybe you heard my scream?

It took a day to realize I really liked the looks of the 2007s more, so I hit craigslist (www.craigslist.org). Have you used it yet? It is wonderful and unlike ebay, it's free! I compiled a data base of Escapes for sale in the S.F. bay area and compared options and prices. Our friend Gary Vosters checked one out (he was service manager for Acura for 9 years and he knows cars), but it was older and didn't have the nav system, which also gives a more complete read-out on fuel use. So I found one in the east bay, talked the woman down from a ridiculously high price and agreed to buy it.

It would be a complicated deal, because we had to either drive down or have her come up. She's not an outdoorsy type, so the offer of a free night's lodging didn't appeal to her. We also had to figure out how to pay off her loan. She said she'd call the dealership about that and get right back to me. I went to craigslist to check the equipment listed for it one more time to make sure there were no surprises, and there was a brand new posting she had put up after hanging up the phone! This time, her asking price was only $700 over what I offered.

I emailed her and said pull the ad or I'm not putting more effort into making this deal happen. Her response was I wasn't trustworthy, because if I was, I would not have gone back to craigslist. Kiss another Escape good-bye.

There was a nice Escape listed in Oregon, so I contacted that guy. He agreed to drive it down, we did the deal and I am really pleased so far. The fuel screen shows real-time fuel use and there's a graph that shows the last 15 minutes' usage. The trip up the mountain from Redding is steep and windy, but even on my first run, the Escape got an average of 23.7 MPG. The last 15 minutes to our cabin included some of the steep climb, then the ups and downs of driving in the mountains. I got 34.1 MPG. By driving conservatively (no jack rabbit starts, moderate speeds), I get between 33 and 45 MPG. By buying a used Escape, I saved about $12K.

People have all kinds of excuses not to go greener. One is that hybrids cost more and the payback is slow, but often the estimated period to recoup the extra cost is figured on $3.50/gallon fuel. Fuel is higher here than most places in the country ($4.39 was the lowest in Redding yesterday and it's about 30 cents more per gallon up here). My pay back comes in many forms: I drive a rig that often runs on battery power at low speeds. It pollutes less than a comparable gas-only vehicle. I'm doing something about global warming.

There is something to be said for the first two purchases not working out; they weren't meant to be. I think this is going to work out fine. But who needs creepy people and the lousy feeling you get trying to deal with them? Oh, and Red Bluff Ford, you can kiss my...

We're just about to take a kayak and raft trip down the river and I haven't even washed my face yet, so I better go. Hold a good thought for the firefighters around the state (many of whom are from all parts ot he country). Hope we see you soon! Take care, Heidi

6/13/2008: Warm Breezes, Cool River Kayaking & You: We're only a tank of gas away from most of you; news on MPG you can use!

As I type this, I hear three things:

1.) Baby birds chirping in the birdhouse outside our door

2.) Steph giving a kayak lesson to a couple that just flew into Trinity County in a small airplane

3.) Laughter

Man, I love summer up here. Flowers in bloom, everything smells great.

The couple is Gary Vosters and his wife Debbie. Gary is our Magic Man who can fix anything, including our BMW motorcycles (he was a pro BMer mechanic), my Acura (he was a pro Acura mechanic then service manager) and airplanes. We don't have an airplane yet, but he has 3 friends who do and he works on the planes and has free use of them. That rocks.

Debbie is a swimmer supreme. She dove right into this very cold river and swam before her kayak lesson; not too many people do that. The Perkins family from Monterey did and a steelheader last winter dove into the river at night in freezing conditions, but a $500 bet and alcohol were involved, so that doesn't count.

We have been astounded by reservations for all of our cabins. Return guests have tried new places; some new guests are already scheduling return trips and plan to book either the same cabin again or try another one, but everyone has liked our inn and both locations are popular.

We did have one fellow complain upon leaving that his cabin didn't have the microwave mentioned on the web site for that location, which begs the question, "Why did he wait until leaving to let us know?!" We had moved stuff from one cabin to another and in doing so, forgot to put a microwave in that cabin. The first thing guests get upon arrival is a welcome note with our phone number on it that encourages them to call if they need anything. Whatcha gonna do?

Looking over the reservation calendar, I see we have decent availability for most cabins every week or so, even though all are booked part of the time. So if you have a date in mind, drop me an email and we'll see what we have.

The Peddler's Faire was fantastic. We found some perfect items for the cabins, including a horse collar mirror that is not only ideal for the Carriage House, but also came from a friend who has been very ill. She's on the rebound and we were so jazzed to buy this piece that she originally bought for her dad, who has since exited the freeway, that we didn't even haggle. She and he are now a part of the continuum with the Trinity River Adventure Inn.

It is very rewarding to have cool stuff from friends in our places and it's noticed. Recent guest Doris Burbank said in her feedback comments that she appreciated the "authentic cabin atmosphere." We also have an oak dresser and mirror that our first guests (who recently returned for their third visit) brought up and donated to the cause. That would be Andy and Allison, or King Henry and Princess Papuli. Andy has had the dresser and mirror for over 40 years; Steph refinished them and now they grace the Carriage's bedroom.

I finally took pictures of the beds at Alpen Glow and the Carriage; nice, huh?

GAS PRICES: WAAAAAA: Want to do something about crazy fuel prices? Did you know that by driving 55 MPH instead of 70, you can save 30.6% on fuel consumption? So slow down. Yesterday, I took the jump and bought a Ford Hybrid Escape. It got between 25 and 45 MPG during our test drive and that included 60 MPH going up a bit of a hill with AC on.

You can barely find information about hybrids and if you do, the vehicle is usually way more expensive than a regular gas engine version. This is especially true of Honda and Toyota. While I'd rather have bought either, we need an SUV for provision shopping down the mountain in Redding and I wasn't wild about the Highlander, which was more of a station wagon. The Escape has the best mileage of any vehicle for its payload and it handles pretty nicely. It won't ever match the Acura for cornering, but for $30 grand out the door with a 100K/6 year warranty, it's a winner.

If you haven't fallen asleep yet and want to learn about more ways to save energy and money, read on; it will make your toes curl. This is a big deal to us; you'll find we are trying to run a green, clean, lodging machine up here just as we did with our whale watching company.

Think you're up to speed on conservation? Answer these questions:

1. You spend $40 to replace 10 incandescent bulbs with CFLs. How much will you save in electricity in one year? In five years?

Answer: $92 savings in one year and $582 in five years. You'll also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1,431 lbs. a year, and 7,155 lbs. in five years. [One-year savings assumes $0.11/kWh, the current average U.S. electricity price. Five-year savings assumes $0.14/kWh, the projected five-year average.]

2. If all U.S. households in the United States replaced 10 incandescents with CFLs, how much money and Co2 would we save in one year?

Answer: If all 113 million households in the United States screwed in 10 CFLs, we'd save $10.4 billion and 81 million tons of Co2. That's like taking 15 million cars off the road. [One-year savings assumes $0.11/kWh, the current average U.S. electricity price.].

The catch here is when you dispose of CFLs, they MUST be handled as hazardous waste because they have mercury in them, so wait until your local hazardous waste day to get them to the right organization.

3. How much will you save if you hang your clothes to dry in the sun?

Answer: A simple clothesline can save you $80 in one year and $508 in five years. You'll also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1,247 lbs. a year, and 6,235 lbs. in five years. [Assumes the average use of clothes dryer to be four hours a week.]

4. How much does standby mode (for computers, microwaves, printers and so on) end up costing Americans each year?

Answer: $4,000,000,000. Standby mode accounts for 5 percent of all energy use in the United States. You can do your part to cut this waste by plugging your electronics into a power strip, and turning it off when you're not using your electronics.

5. How long before you recoup the additional costs of a hybrid?

Answer: 5.3 years. Of course, this doesn't count any possible tax credit (I'm getting $3K back, but this is so stupid: The more popular hybrids have already surpassed a government cap in sales so there is NO incentive to buy them, tax-wise!).

So you see, there are things you can do, both large and small, to save energy and money. It's good for all of us and the smell of line-dried laundry is one of the best smells in the world, just in case you can't recall it.

See you up here. Heidi

June 8, 2008: A Fast Run Down the River to Our Steel Bridge Cabins

The Trinity flow is slowly being decreased. We ran the river a few days ago and it was spectacular: warm, sunny and the river was still lively. We ran it two weeks ago with my brother and that was crazy fun, despite the cold and rain. There is a stretch at Poker Bar that is like a huge piece of bacon with wavy edges, which is why we call those stretches bacon runs. It is always exciting, but more so this time of year. My brother flipped his boat in the middle of the run and donated his Trinity River Adventure Inn cap to the river gods, but he agreed that the experience of kayaking such a beautiful river, surrounded by towering forest-covered mountains, on a day when we saw NO ONE but one drift boat fisher and his buddy, was worth it and then some.

From now through summer, the river calms and the air warms, so make a date with yourself to come experience this magnificent river at whatever level you're up for. Watch the osprey and bald eagles; sit by the river at either of our locations and you'll see otters splashing about; enjoy the solitude. This is what we live the rest of our lives to make room for.

May 18, 2008: High Flow Starting to Drop, But What a Change It's Been!

Each spring, the flow from the dam is increased to scour the river and improve fish habitat. Last year was a dry year, so the increased flow was short-lived. In an odd twist this year, we had big snow through much of the winter. This was officially deemed an average water year and a normal release was scheduled. But the last 2 months have been so dry, now the government has declared this to be a dry year. They tried to turn off the bigger release and found they don't have a way to do it. The fish need all the help they can get, so keeping the flow up isn't altogether bad. What it does mean is that Trinity Lake will be lower than normal next spring and if we have ANOTHER dry year, that could mean trouble.

Here is our shoreline at Laughing Salmon on an average summer. Note the expanse of bank below the steps to the water. Then look at the picture I took a few days ago. Next is the view downstream from Laughing Salmon. Note the river bends to the left of what is usually an island with a tiny brook arcing around the right side of it. In the last shot, which was taken slightly to the right of the 3rd shot, you'll see the river has spread out all the way on the right past the island to the raised bank. The whole right bank in the 3rd picture is covered with water in the 4th one. The Canada geese and mallards are loving their temporary lake and are using it as a nursery for their goslings and ducklings.

Some of our Bucktail neighbors came over to the Steel Bridge cabins today and their reactions were pretty funny. Linda couldn't figure out why we aren't moving into Alpen Glow, the grand A frame. Mike was curious about the salmon hole along our bank. It IS a really good one and produced several nice fish for the former owner last year. Their dogs, Thelma and Louise, wanted to know how our dogs Bisco and Scupper were lucky enough to score two riverfront properties and have all that grass to roll around on. The Steel Bridge cabins are the most unique and nicely-positioned cabins we know of on the river. We have booked all of them for several large parties of between 15 and 20 guests, with some of them camping or staying in their RV. Then again, Sow's Ear, in Bucktail next to us, not only has use of our spectacular riverfront, it holds the largest group of any one cabin and is easily the most economical.

Speaking of Mike & Linda, they brought an incredible dessert to a party at Carolyn & Ron's down the road last week. It is chocolatey and has a vanilla layer and the base is made with pecans and butter; it falls into the Chocolate Ooey Gooey category, meaning it is really good. We'll be adding a few special touches and making it for guests up here. A two or three hour mountain hike ought to burn off a modest serving of it, but on vacation, one should splurge, right?

I took the pictures below this morning. This is the view all of the Steel Bridge cabins share, now that a very pretty but unfortunately-placed blue spruce has been removed. The Adirondack chairs in the third shot are a delight to sit in; shaded in the afternoon, looking out on the river, perfect place for a drink with an umbrella in it. Maybe you don't care for umbrellas in your drinks. Better an umbrella than galoshes; think of it as insurance.

Tomorrow is a well-deserved play day. Steph and I are going to run the river instead of what we have been doing, such as crashing about clearing blackberries. We have enough welts, bruises, scratches and sore muscles to warrant a river trip. Then it's back to business getting ready for a big party Memorial Day Weekend. Our very first, never knew us before in our last business, guests Andy and Allison are coming back. They were here Memorial Day (read Andy's comments at the bottom of Backtalk) and Labor Day last year. This time, they're bringing friends and we have surprise guests joining them. I'm thinking everyone is going to enjoy this weekend. See you up here, Heidi

April 28, 2008~The New Raft, New Kayaks, New Cabins and a Fish Update

As I considered what to write about, I thought no wonder we're pooped. We've been working hard, although everyone tells us, "You have it made. Your whole life is a vacation!" Right. Just like running Sanctuary Cruises, all we had to do each day was hang out with whales and dolphins.

Steph and I really have been busy gearing up for spring. Last week , I spent hours figuring out an order for bedding. Finally I had to make a spreadsheet to make sure I had all the beds covered, so to speak. I also completely overhauled our web site and am happy to say I only screwed up all of the links several times over a couple of days before getting it straight.

I added LOTS of pictures of the new cabins, full descriptions and all of the pricing and options. Directions now includes both our Bucktail and Steel Bridge locations. I even posted pictures of the road signs you'll see as you get close. As Steph said, if someone can't find us after all this, they're not meant to be here.

We also put phone service in at the Steel Bridge cabins. The number is 530.623.9444 in case you want to call us and we're not at the 530.778.3444 number. The Steel Bridge phone will work like an old-fashioned party line. Each cabin will get a handset and free, unlimited calling in the United States and Canada, not to mention the opportunity to eavesdrop on others, just like in the old days.

Yesterday was a hot, beautiful day. After working on the new cabins (new fan in the Carriage House, distributing the new bedding, replacing light bulbs with compact florescent lights and an aborted attempt to weed and feed the enormous lawn--the granules had gotten wet), we bugged out for the maiden voyage on our new 14' raft.

It has a rowing frame and two sets of upholstered seats (we removed one set for the picture below). The frame and seats can easily be removed and inflatable cylinders installed for paddlers to sit on instead of having one person row it. It holds the biggest cooler Costco sells. A neighbor looked it over and announced happily, "The party barge has arrived!"

Steph rowed 2/3 of the trip and I rode in front with the dogs in a scene reminiscent of "Driving Miss Daisy." We both found it took a little while to get comfortable rowing forward. The seats are very comfortable; you can stretch your legs out on the sides, and the dogs had a ball standing on the pontoons. I think people who aren't up for kayaking will love the raft. The seats shown will also be nice for birding up on the lake and we can rig the boat for fishers.

The flow is up right now and the little coho smolts are being flushed downstream. We're still seeing them, but not in the numbers we were. They sure have been cute to watch.

Last week, we received a new shipment of Ocean Kayaks. We now have the Venus 10, Venus 11, Caper, Scrambler and Scrambler 11 in stock, along with paddles, life jackets, paddle leashes and wetsuits. If you're thinking of buying a kayak, this is a great time to do it.

We've decided to use the Venus, Caper and Malibu 2 exclusively for the inn, so the Scramblers are deeply discounted. You can get a nice discount on any package and we'll guarantee 10% off accessories you buy in the future, including special orders.

You get a free lesson with Steph when you buy a boat and the bragging rights for that alone make this a purchase to seriously consider. I can see you now, sitting around the camp fire with friends, saying, "This guy paddled all the way from Canada to Mexico, and he taught me to paddle." This means you learned from a crazy person, but who cares? It makes for a great story.

We have booked several large parties for summer at both locations, which is a nice way to go into spring. We're even booking fishing parties for late fall and winter, which means you ought to think about making your own reservations in order to get your preferred dates.

Some of our guests are bringing their motorcycles up so we can show them what wonderful bike country this is. If you have a bike, bring it. Just the ride up from Redding is a wonder. It's mile after mile of perfectly banked "S" turns, which explains why I will cook up any excuse to make that ride. Then there's the trip to Coffee Creek and over the mountain to Etna. An entire mountainside is serpentine rock ranging from mossy green to shiny greenish black. I have yet to ride by it without filling my saddlebags with rocks. Did you know serpentine is the state rock of California? Did you know states had official rocks? I'd ask if you cared, but we're already so far into this, never mind.

Some of you were here for outdoor concerts and dances at One Maple Winery, which is a mile from our Bucktail location. They are carving out and landscaping an amphitheater to accommodate more people, since most of Trinity County turned out for last year's events. We had so much fun, we're working on co-sponsoring some of One Maple's winery dances. Steph is working on bringing the Blues Box Bayou Band up here; they put on a ripping good dance aboard our boat Princess of Whales on the San Joaquin River last summer. I'll announce the events when One Maple sets the schedule.

Well, that's about it for us. I think I'll have a pretty big announcement in the next newsletter, but if it doesn't happen, I'll make something up so you won't be disappointed. No sweat. Take care, be well and see you up here. Heidi

3/28/2008: The Coho Are Here & They're Chirping!

The biologists who installed the coho salmon tracking station on our property dropped by a few days ago to download data and it's official: salmon smolts that were tagged before release from the hatchery a few miles upstream have made it to us. Some have continued on their way, but each tag is unique, so the biologists can identify individuals. We know coho are passing by, but we also learned two of them like it here. They have passed the antenna numerous times as they swim up and down the river. I suppose some people would like to name these fish, but most biologists frown on it because that would imply anthropomorphism, what is also known as Bambi-izing. By giving them names instead of identifying numbers, we make wild things onto something more human. While I disagree with science's cool approach, I do believe we'd be better served if humans learned more about the natural world rather than covering its distinguishing differences by attaching cutesy names to wild creatures (Thumper, Flower, Bambi...).

Then again, when we were at Neah Bay fighting the gray whale hunt in 1998, a young resident gray whale was named Buddy. That did help people identify with the plight of the whales, which was a positive note. Who cares about anything until they feel a kinship with it? And if naming a creature helps humans make the connection, I say go for it. I am a conflicted soul.

The tracking station has been chirping over there by the oak tree because the biologists turned the sound up loud enough for us to hear every time a coho passes by. It is a cricket-like noise, which makes it fun to hear; it could have beeped or whistled if its designer hadn't worked to create amore natural sound for the device.

Since Easter just passed, I will resist naming the two fish who are hanging out along our shore Flopsy and Mopsy, but you go ahead and call them what you want. They are slippery little information-spreading miracles and it's very nice being part of this project. See you up here, Heidi

3/21/2008: Cricket Noises from the Salmon Passing By & Buddy News

You wouldn't believe how beautiful this day has been. Steph and I worked on completely different jobs. He has been stripping a new/old oak table which will go in one of the cabins at our Steel Bridge location. I have been in computer accounting hell. Gee, who has the better job? We had a cup of coffee and sat by the river for a mid-afternoon break and we saw fish from 1-1/2 inches to around two feet long. That one was a spawner, a salmon.

We agreed to let biologists put a tracking station on our property and it was installed a few weeks ago (just before things started greening up around here). Coho salmon smolts were released from the hatchery upriver recently, but we haven't heard the cricket-like chirp from the receiver yet to tell us a tagged smolt has passed by.

So there we were, drinking our coffee, conjecturing over how big the smolts are. I said I'd email one of the biologists to find out.

Not five minutes later, Steph exclaimed, "Look at the school of fish out there!" Mid-river was a tight formation of around 100 fish, all around 6 inches long, heading downstream. I'd say we got our answer on size. Steph went back to his patio-based project and I went back to the dungeon.

Why is it I spend the day wondering if anything I do gets me ahead and marveling at Steph's accomplishments? I ought to be smarter than this and wedge myself into more outdoor activities, especially when the temperature is lovely outside, the dogs are sprawled in the grass by the river and the birds are all singing and chattering.

We have a new family member to announce. Steph's brother Peter and his wife Rhonda got a border collie puppy named Buddy. Buddy and company came to visit and our dogs alternated between sheer joy and total disgust with him. Mostly it was good, but after about 8 at night, Bisco and Scupper gave us that "Get rid of it" look as Buddy pummeled them, chewing on their legs like a chainsaw and growling ferociously. Don't even ask what the cats thought of him.

Buddy took his first run down the Trinity with us and it won't be his last. He had a ball, mostly riding on Rhonda's lap, but also cruising back to visit Pete every once in a while. Pete & Rhonda are shown at the right here. Buddy is overseeing my photographic effort. Steph and Bisco are to the right of Buddy.

We just had a guest stay here who is all the way from Redding (45 minutes down the mountain). She's a nurse, has two dogs, and found us after she was given some extra days off that had to be used soon. She saw the National Geographic show "Whale Attack," but had turned it off when the killer whales attacked the baby gray whale. Learning I'm in it, she borrowed the DVD and watched it all the way through, crying just about where I wanted to throw up. Then she called her mom to tell her about her host. Her mom also saw the show and thought it was pretty interesting her daughter was staying at our inn.

The guest dogs had a riotous time here. They are tiny little guys who chased their ball out in the meadow and went on big hikes, compeletely crapping out once they got back to their cabin.

You spring travelers should wander our way. The river is delightful for paddling, as is the lake. Temperatures are perfect for hikes any time of the day and everything is buzzing, bursting or bubbling, as in bees, bulbs and the bountiful river. Take care, enjoy the return of green and see you up here! Heidi

March 6, 2008: Big News & Big Fish

So there we were; Steph and I were on our motorcycles, riding down to Redding on some trumped up errand that was really just an excuse to get out on our bikes after all the snow. It was sunny and the day was warming in Bucktail, but the snow was still thick on the hillsides along the highway. By the time we got to 299 (three miles), I asked Steph if he wanted to put his chaps on because it was pretty chilly even for me, and my bike has a more aerodynamic design which protects me from the cold. No, he said, he was fine. A mile later, I pulled over so I could pull my riding pants on over my jeans and this time, Steph was all for the chaps.

The ride was a gas. Motorcycles are such fun and it just gets better if you've been housebound for a while as we had been. I don't know about you, but the flu kicked our butts. We had some favorite guests coming back just as I got sick, so they hung out at Sow's Ear and we stayed away from them, which was a bummer. But they were here to fish and it was great, so it wasn't a huge loss on their end.

We did go to Costco as planned. We ought to do this more often; it's harder to drop $200 there when you have to cram your purchases into saddlebags. After that, I suggested we check out Shasta Lake, the city and the dam. Shasta gets pretty confusing up here. There is Lake Shasta, Shasta Lake, the City, Shasta (which is on 299 west of Redding and nowhere near Shasta Lake), Shasta City and probably a few more we haven't discovered yet. We rode up to the dam, where I asked a game warden for suggestions on back roads to get over to 299 around Shasta, so we saw a lot of new country AND a bobcat that ran across the road right in front of me.

We also stopped at a little antique store and picked up an attractive set of silverware. Why would we need more silverware? Because we have four new cabins to outfit. Yep, that's the big news I alluded to earlier. The Trinity River Adventure Inn is about to quadruple in size.

We ran out of space for guests a lot last year and this is a pretty cool place. I won't go into much detail right now because the sun has just set and the hot tub is ready; also, I want to get some new photos now that the snow has melted and it's greening up. But here are some pictures and a brief description of the new place. It has four cabins in all and every one looks out on the Trinity, with steep, tree covered mountains on the other side of the river. It is on the river down by Steel Bridge, just a 6 mile drive from where we are now, or a 3 1/2 hour paddle if you only take one 20 minute break along the way. We did this paddle again yesterday and it is such a hoot! I can see a lot of trips between the two places.

The largest cabin is a grand A frame with a great kitchen and two pantries. We cook for guests a lot and having room for a table for ten is a big lure that may pry us out of Laughing Salmon. We're not sure, so we're going to try it for a while.

Next comes the Carriage House, which was converted into a 1 bedroom/1 bathroom cabin. It has a full kitchen, wood stove, a nice and deep covered back porch facing the water and the entire interior is soft, natural cedar. Next to it is the Artist's Studio, which will become an additional bedroom for the Carriage House. Between the Carriage and the studio is a nice, high fenced yard which perfect for guests who need a place for their dogs to hang out while their people are engaged in non-dog activities, which Bisco insists is ridiculous, because she goes everywhere, but there you have it.

The first photo above shows the A frame, with the Carriage House to its right, the high-fenced dog yard, then the studio. The Carriage and Miner's cabins are part of the historical Vitzhum homestead and the grounds have several burbling waterfalls from the springs above us. We're thinking of bottling our very own Trinity River Adventure Inn water.

The Carriage House is going to get a new kitchen floor and bathroom before it's rented, which means Steph's list of projects has just grown exponentially. I may get involved in the floor project, because it interests me and he's done so many around here on his own.

Then there is the Miner's Cabin. This is a restored and updated real miner's cabin. It has hand-hewn timbers, a magical loft with a very nice queen-sized bed up a ladder, a trundle bed in the living room and a tiny bathroom. It has a deck overlooking the river and is in a grove of trees all by itself.

No kitchen; just a sink, microwave, mini-refrigerator and a coffee maker, so it will be best for people who have us do the cooking. It is the cutest thing you ever saw and what a bonus: an excuse not to cook!

If we do move to the A frame, that means Laughing Salmon will become a vacation rental, too. What a gem it is. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, thirty feet from the river, wood stove. It's such a wonderful place to live that we are really struggling: Bigger place with a large kitchen or stay here and rent the A frame? We will figure it out in the next few months.

By the way, the fishing has been superb recently. The Bankson family spent last weekend here to celebrate Brian's 40th birthday. His wife Holly arranged the whole thing, complete with two couples joining them, as a surprise. The men fished and caught a bunch of steelhead, plus Sam Smith caught a huge German brown trout. Speaking of fish, we're seeing a good number of spring salmon that have arrived to spawn.

This family was pretty impressive. The kids built a teepee using branches downed by the snow. They played with our dogs, read in the hammocks and explored, just like kids used to do before computer games. Steph and I paddled down to the new place on Sunday, so before we went, he gave the Bankson kids a ride in a kayak. They had a good time and are already planning a summer trip back up to do a run with us.

The women went shopping in Weaverville and wine tasting at One Maple Winery. We ran into Ernie, who owns One Maple, just yesterday. He says they're carving an amphitheater into the hillside at One Maple for more summer concerts and dances. This is really good news because we've taken guests to several of their affairs and they have enjoyed them. See you up here... somewhere.

February 16, 2008: Snow Blind

Following record snowfalls, we've had beautiful sunny days. The roads are all open, but snow lingers on the meadows and in the shade. Yesterday, we kayaked down to Steel Bridge. We brought gloves, but never wore them. We passed fishers in T-shirts and saw our guests land one of over 20 steelhead as we went by them at Poker Bar.

The river level is high enough year-round that we don't have to portage through shallow spots, but there are areas where you need to know where the deeper water is. Most of the time, on the outer side of a bend there is deeper water. This is because the flow hits harder there. Sometimes, it's trickier to predict, so it's a matter of trial and error. We've figured out the route, which can change after the big spring flows.

The spring run-off two years ago was so powerful that entire channels disappeared in some places and appeared in others. We always do a run without guests to check for changes, meaning we're the guinea pigs. Those are some of my favorite trips.

January 5, 2008: ART FORMS~Spawning Salmon and Stained Glass

Happy New Year!
It was nearly a month ago when I sent out the last update, complete with a tantalizing picture of spawning salmon in the clear, rock-lined shallows just below our cabin.
I promised to send the expanded version of the entire event soon, but then pre-holiday visits and Christmas got in the way. We had Sow's Ear, Laughing Salmon and the trailer filled with family, making it one of the best holidays ever. How was yours?

Imagine the single-minded determination salmon have to survive their years at sea and return to their birth waters, only to work and fight almost to their death to complete the circle.

This sequence of photos shows the smaller female salmon with her battered nose. The larger, dark male has a white gouge on his beak. He courted her for quite a while, running off a smaller male who was just as intent on being part of this final adventure.

The female mosied about, looking for just the right spot to dig her redd. As she did, the large male shadowed her until the smaller male cut in too close. The big fish would tear after the smaller one, chasing him forty or fifty feet from the female before turning back to her. But each time, the smaller male came right back.

For hours, the two males raced back and forth across the shallows. Then the female dug her redd, clearing the silt from between the rocks. This was where she would deposit the eggs. She might look dead in the shot at the right, but she's just turned sideways to fan the rocks clean.

When she was ready to lay, the larger male couldn't risk missing the moment by chasing off the smaller aggressor. Each male sidled in next to her just as the female shimmied.

Look closely at the picture to the left and you'll see all three fish have their mouths open. She ejected her eggs and they tumbled down in between the stones just as the males exploded, their milky white milt filling the water, the sperm from both males fertilizing the eggs.

The need for males to make sure their genes seed the next generation may not be tangible to the fish, but it's an intense instinct. Most whales aren't monogamous, but males will compete fiercely to be the last to mate with a female. That male's semen flushes the other males' semen out of the female and has the best chance of impregnanting the cow.

Note in the picture on the left how the larger male increased his sperms' chances by arcing over the female as she laid her eggs.

The female rapidly covered the eggs, creating a small whirlpool (right). His work done, the smaller fish left, but the larger male hung around for a while. We spotted the female hovering near her redd for several days and it was a melancholy sight. Maybe she was protecting it and maybe she just didn't have anywhere else to go; the redd was her last connection with this life. Each day, she had decomposed more.

All of that digging, then covering the eggs had taken its toll. Her tail was tattered and ragged. Her skin was mottled and appeared to be rotting. But she still had the strength to stand her watch until it was over.

All three of the fish are probably dead now. Their mission, mysteriously ingrained in their brains from inception, was accomplished against such tremendous odds. It is an awesome spectacle to witness, and an honor.

As I've said for years - sometimes after getting a wondrous whale or dolphin shot and sometimes after missing it - nature photography takes patience, endurance and luck. We got to share this experience because Steph had all three and was willing to stand very still for a long time on a cold winter's day, waiting.

But this isn't the end of the spawning story. Read on.

When Steph and I started work on Sow's Ear and creating the Trinity River Adventure Inn, we had friends - and our former whale watching passengers who became friends - pitch in to be part of the transformation. Bobbi Dunham is the gifted writer who so eloquently described her experience with Mon Ami, the friendly humpback we saw so often a few years ago. For those of you who have not read it, or would love to make the journey again, it's farther down this newsletter.

Bobbi wanted to do something for the project and it is our great, good fortune that she is a stained glass artist. I don't use the term loosely; she is a designer with a keen eye and she is a technician. I had no idea of the adventure that lay ahead. We discussed the possibility of replacing the scroungy yellow glass in the front door at Sow's Ear with stained glass. I emailed pictures of the view down the river from our place and Bobbi started sketching. Because dragonflies are so important to us, she incorporated several into the design.

We batted ideas back and forth for a word to put on the bottom of the window, something that gave guests a hint of what their experience might entail here. There were many candidates, including Imagine, Magic and Believe. Believe won. Bobbi sent a precise template for the word and I wrote it in my script scrawl to be etched into the glass.

This woman buys glass like some people buy wine; it's done with loving care. She considered the color and texture, where it would go and how it would react to the surrounding pieces. Her approach is more like building a neighborhood as she weighs personalities of the inhabitants and fine tunes location to suitability of spirit. Bobbi's style is similar to Louis Comfort Tiffany's, the master stained glass artist of the late 1880's and early 1900's. His pieces were drenched in color and detail.

When she felt the design was ready, Bobbi started to lay the design out on her glass, but then she declared the dragonflies needed serious changes, because she had spent a summer watching dragonflies and how they move. Back to the drawing board. Then the trees bugged her, so she re-worked them. The reflection in the water had bested me in my embroidery designs and I unhappily deleted them, but Bobbi found ways to incorporate them. Every sketch was more intricate and more stunning than the last.

The colors didn't do it justice, she said, which was as gross an understatement as ever existed. This is pastel. Bobbi's glass is alive.

Everything finds itself under the microscope with this woman. She wrote a fascinating description of the special glazing compound she uses and how she has a horseshoe nail that is just perfect for packing the compound under the lead.

When the cutting started, Bobbi mixed equal parts of glass and skin under the blades. Not one to wear fingers protectors, she has been leaving a bloody trail on most items she touches, because she snaps the grooved cuts against her fingers to make the breaks

She also uses a special grinder to make shapes I had no idea were possible. When the first two pictures downloaded, I called Steph in and asked, "Do you believe this?" He looked at the section of water, shook his head in amazement and exclaimed, "No." Not even close.

Then came the mountain. "This is the piece I've been most afraid of," Bobbi wrote. "This was 80% grinding, partly because of the glass itself. There was an internal flaw in the piece, and it was breaking where it wanted to. That happens sometimes."

"This was an end piece," she continued, "with a rolled edge that was very thick, and even though I had placed the pattern as far from that edge as I could, when I scored it, it started to break right through the middle of the pattern. Rather than risk losing the shading that I like for the hill, I put down the cutter and started grinding. The sharpie is there for size perspective - something I've failed to do with the other pieces." Look at the sketch above to see where this piece will go. I would have said glass can't do that, but apparently Bobbi doesn't know.

Next, she cut water and again, the pieces received intricate grinding to take on their required shapes. Bobbi would be a good counselor at a prison if she was as capable in changing the pattern of stubborn people as she is with glass.

We probably had enough information to warn us what to expect when we opened an email after Bobbi had spent several days working on the glass, but we didn't. I gasped. Called in Steph; he gasped. Then I started emailing the pictures to everyone I could think of. The dragonflies' wings are gossamer, the water reflects the trees above it, the crystal jewels will send rainbows flying like sparks off a welder's torch. It's not just alive; now it's breathing.

I'll include two more photos before closing. Stay tuned for more updates and the grand finale, assuming with tremendous hope that Bobbi doesn't bleed to death in the process of completing this window. I must add that we have decided the piece will be too fine to put into the door, so we will either frame it and hang it in our window or in the window at Sow's Ear.

We planned to have Bobbi design another window for the front door, but then we bought a brand new set of exterior French doors for a song. They were to go in the doorway between the living room and the Sanctuary room, but why waste exterior doors in the interior? So Steph just tore into the front door over there and is getting ready to frame the French doors for the enlarged opening. We're still looking for interior French doors for the Sanctuary room.

Riley's Most Excellent Adventure
We recently had a father, who is a wine lawyer in Napa (!) and his son, who is a fishing guide in Montana, stay with us. The son brought Riley, his 1 year old chocolate lab. Riley doesn't fish, so Steph took her out of her kennel at their cabin for her own adventures.

Riley hiked Browns Mountain Road with us, she hung out at our place and chased the cats, she swiped Scupper's toys, she went to the dump and got dog cookies and then she took a ride in the sidecar. As good a rider as Bisco is, she had to warm up to the sidecar. Not Riley. This picture shows her just after Steph put the Doggles on her. She rested her head on the bar, patiently waiting to go.

Just as he started the bike, Riley's family arrived. She was ultra cool, more interested in her most excellent adventure than them. Grandpa took a picture from the front as they drove past and Dad stood smiling broadly, watching as they went by.

Here's a lesson for you: Riley's family cooked their own meals, but after seeing ours, said they wished they'd gone with our cooking. It is that good. Riley judged her experience 4 Paws, across the board.

[The new owner of Sanctuary Cruises, our whale watching company, has replaced the web site and dumped the old one, including all of the archived letters. This is too good to lose and will find a permanent home on our TRAI web site.]

Jon Cronk was out with us a few weeks ago. It was his first time with Sanctuary Cruises and he was treated to three friendly humpback whales. He got so many great photos, he brought us a CD of them when he joined us last Sunday. On that day, we had MORE friendly experiences! Jon was busy taking pictures while another passenger, Bobbi Dunham, absorbed the experience. Here is her letter, accompanied by Teri Garcia's photograph of the eye of the whale:

If I could have handed someone a wish list of special things to include on a special day, the list would not have included all the wonderful things that happened on our Sanctuary Cruise. I wouldn't have dared ask for the things that actually occurred. But sometimes, magic happens.

We have a young friend from Switzerland who is in the United States in an English language immersion program. She has always loved whales, largely because of the "Free Willy" films, but has never had the opportunity to see them. So, we planned a whale watching outing, largely for her, but also for ourselves. We'd gone on two other occasions and always had a wonderful time.

I did some research online because I wanted to make certain we chose the tour that would give her the best experience possible. Sanctuary Cruises appealed to me for several reasons. The welfare of the animals themselves figured prominently in the content of their website. And I loved the idea of one tour per day, so the maximum attention could be given to that tour.

The night before our cruise, I lay listening to the pounding of the surf, and was a little anxious about the weather and ocean conditions, but the day dawned sunny, clear, and calm. We arrived at Moss Landing early, had a look at our boat, and said a brief hello to an extremely capable looking man we later learned to be Captain Steph. We returned to the dockside and waited in the warm sunshine, soaking in the atmosphere of the picturesque dock, while the cranky sea lions barked about whatever cranky sea lions bark about.

Right on time, Captain Steph walked toward those of us who had gathered at the dock, and we made our way to the Sanctuary, a solid-looking, immaculately clean vessel with a four-footed first mate. I remember now that Captain Steph told me right before departure that he loved this boat, that the best things always happened on this boat.

Steph told us the swell was high that day, despite the idyllic appearance of the sky and lack of wind, but that if we liked E ticket rides at Disneyland, we would love the trip out to open water. We did. We sat on the seats in front of the wheel, spotting jellies, scanning the horizon, and hanging on tight till our bodies found their natural rhythm to ride the rise and fall of our sturdy little boat's progress through the swell. That alone was worth the price of admission. We left all the extra hats and coats we had lugged along inside the cabin, never needing them.

Along the way, we saw otters feeding in waters conventional wisdom had told us was too deep for otters to feed in. Captain Steph told us about seeing an otter floating in water of that depth with a crab on it's chest/menu. I guess Sanctuary isn't the only object on the sea whose size belies its capabilities.

We were also delighted to see small groups of sea lions, arcing in and out of the water in an impossibly lyrical dance, then stopping as a body and looking back at us, as if to ask if we had gotten their picture, and did we perhaps agree with Captain Steph's quip that they thought the whales were over- rated.

A very short time into our trip, Captain Steph told us that he had spoken to a ship we could see a couple of miles ahead of us, and that we might be seeing something pretty wonderful fairly soon. Captain Steph slowed the boat's engine and you could nearly taste the anticipation. I can't remember which happened first, the sound, the smell, or the sight of our first whales of the day. It was Big Fin and her calf. We spotted their blow and heard that mighty blast as their breath plumed into the sky. Two incredibly graceful forms arched into view, the familial rise and fall of cow and calf, a lifelong rhythm we were fortunate to see at it's beginning. Steph told us to wait, wait, wait, NOW, take your pictures, and we all got our first shot of those fabulous flukes.

The whales were just being whales and we were completely thrilled. Captain Steph, with uncanny accuracy, born of experience, instinct, and maybe a little assistance from a depth sounder, kept us right in position to get another good look when they broke surface again. More blow! And this time we were close enough for our first whiff of whale breath - once smelled, never forgotten. Another great photo op, and they disappeared again with a graceful flash. Captain Steph pointed out their footprints, the slick left behind by the water being displaced by their mighty flukes. We watched, trying to comprehend the power of a creature which could do that - and be no threat to us.

And this was just the beginning. As Steph said a little later, trying to decide which whale to watch was not the worst problem to have. We saw so many. It seemed everywhere we looked, there was blow and those graceful forms breaking the surface. It was too good to be true, too many whales to see all at once.

We slowly moved away from the whales we had been watching, because as Steph said, the primary concern was not to change the behavior of the animals by our actions.

I wish I could remember the exact sequence of events. Steph said he had spotted another cow and calf, which was so unusual for the time of year. She had been seen before, but didn't have a name as yet. He again slowed the engine, and waited to see the animal's response to us. Nothing could have prepared us for what then happened. Nothing. She came to us. In friendship? In curiosity? She came to us and showed us the wonder that is a whale in a whale's world. Without fear, without aggression, she came to us.