Five Years Ago

Oh, those anniversaries.  Five years ago we left Bowery Guard Station to begin a new life in Idaho Falls.  It had been a full month of angst.  We first applied for the RSVP job opening on July 16th and a month later we were on our way.  It wasn't easy to get from Bowery to the Snake River Plain that day.  Believe it or not, it took a full 12 hours.

Even though we spent the previous few days packing and rigging and preparing to shut down the cabin and so forth, the morning of August 16, 2007, started before dawn and seemed to last forever.  The drive out on the East Fork normally takes one hour but that day it took us almost two hours.  We were towing out the large travel trailer.  Susun would go ahead a little way with a radio and then block the road and radio back that it was clear and then I would proceed.  It took forever before we finally reached a road wide enough to stop with the radio spotting routine.  At one point on the highway, our trailer awning cut loose and we almost lost it.  A big forest fire blew up near Sun Valley and dropped visibility down so low we worried we couldn't see oncoming traffic.  We spent out first night at the Blackfoot fair grounds before moving up to the Snake River RV park in Idaho Falls.  My first full day on the job was August 21.  What a blur those days were.
One of the reasons we wanted out of there so badly back then was the absurd fire danger and the intense smoke.  Ironically, that's just the way it is five year later to the day.  Funny how that stuff cycles back around just in time for notable anniversaries.

We've been spending way too much time covering the Halstead Fire near Stanley and we're going to take a break on it.  We'll still cover it but just not as much as the past week.

Well, an innocent remark abour "Durango By Dinner" sure brought about an interesting chain of events.  Be sure to check out what DF & LBR Terry M. found regarding "Durango By Dinner."  Click here to return to that blog post.

Gary made it in record time Tuesday--13 hours from Rimrock.  We enjoyed a nice evening Tuesday and a full day yesterday.  We went shooting in the morning and then ran all kind of errands during the day.  Then he and I went back out to the range last night so he could participate in a local IDPA match.  He did great and will rank as one of the top shooters of the evening.  It sure was fun.

Gary's waiting right now for his hiking buddies to show up from Ogden.  They should be here by 11 am.  Susun's off dead heading with Dina.  Hum...is that another song title, "Dead Heading With Dina."  Terry, could you look into that please?

Oh, my, that's way too much fun.

Many Cheers!  jp