Our ninth anniversary began in a foo foo Montana resort that most guests apparently flew to in their private jets where rental cars and limos waited at the airport, and is winding down with us snuggled into a moderately priced (but amazingly well-appointed) room in Medford. While it was a great room and a scenic setting, I was secretly glad to be away from the sometimes  snobby elite who all but ignored us dragging our travelpro along the paved trails as they cruised by in SUVs and golf carts. We did meet some warm and wonderful people there of course, and had a great time. Guess I’m just not cut out to be rich, which I guess is fortunate since I’m not. 🙂

What memories this day has brought us! Our first stop was for fuel in Coeur d’Alene, where we also found one of those truly patient and helpful aircraft mechanics (aka A&P) who will chat as you use their expensive tools to install an inexpensive part – and then give you a discount on the part (a landing light in this case). Tripp happily fueled and vastly more visible to other planes in the sometimes thick smoke (it’s everywhere!), we cruised over town admiring the aquatic setting.

0726 Water World

Somewhere along the line from there to Bend I saw what is easily the most bizarre looking farm of the trip. It looks very much like a giant landing instruction sign for extra-terrestrials.

0731 Martian Message

Not far away is what I call the Clump Farm, where another enterprising farmer has managed to make use of every last inch of usable land.

0733 Clump Farm

We were fascinated by the area where the Snake meets the Columbia, as you can see below.

0743 Between States

0744 Water Worker

0750 River Art

Just be glad I spared you a few. 🙂

We caught Crater Lake just at sunset, and to our surprise there were quite a few cars driving around the rim. The light was so golden!

0773 Crater Lake Sunset

We glided down into Medford just as dusk was settling into the valley, and maybe Anne will share some tales about our adventures on the ground before getting to the hotel. She’s been frustrated by her computer’s weaker wifi, so sometime soon you might see a bunch of “new” posts from her that she’s been saving up. I love the photos she takes and the stories she tells, because her perspective expands my enjoyment of our fun together.

So we celebrate the culmination of another year, and begin anew tomorrow. A woman once asked me what Anne and I do for fun and without pausing to think about it I simply replied truthfully, “Everything.”

We flew back toward the East again today, through Jasper again, and landed in Edmonton again, for a wonderful evening with two people we love.

0280 Allie & Joshua

Allie and Joshua gave us a midnight tour of the town after a great meal, and demonstrated yet again that best friends make the best marriages.

Our journey here provided an even better view of Mt. Robson because the clouds parted for a moment during our passage. Too bad there was so much smoke from all the fires, because this could have been a stunning photo. Hope you can imagine how much better it looked in real life for us.

0549 Mt. Robson

We climbed fairly high to get closer and above some of the smoke, and for some reason Tripp seemed to run a bit hotter than expected. She cooled down again later, so maybe it was due to having nearly full fuel so she had to work harder. Near the top left of the peak in the photo above you can see the “face” we spotted, and here it is in a closer view.

0542 Rock Face

OK, so it’s not Rushmore but maybe we were tired or it was the altitude. 😉

The views straight down were much clearer than the mountains this time, and the color of the glacial water seemed all the more striking.

0552 Turquoise River

I also liked the swampy area nearby, with its variety of shapes, textures and colors.

0554 Swamp Snake

So tomorrow we’ll see what the weather portends. Could be we’ll head South to begin our journey home, or the skies will cloud up and nudge us to stay and spend some time exploring Edmonton by day. Any advice or suggestions?