Checking Out Fishing

Over the past few months, I have spent quite a bit of time recovering from my back surgery. Each small adventure we've tried was a test of how I have been healing. We found that I could pack and get ready for our trips with no problems. I didn't have problems getting into or out of the camper, or better yet, crawling into bed when it was time to rest. After this latest trip, I feel confident saying I'm back to normal, and we can continue our adventures with no worries.

Linda was online this spring and checked out the website for Huckleberry Campground up on the St. Joe River and noticed an opening at our favorite campsite. It was available Monday through Thursday, so she clicked the reserve button and secured the spot. Gotta love retirement and camping during the week.

We loaded up and spent the next few days relaxing in the shade on the banks of the St. Joe and loving it. My test dealing with my recovery from back surgery was to go fly fishing and see if it caused any problems. I can say without a doubt that I was able to fish just like I have in the past. I got a bit tired, but all in all, the fishing was unhampered by my injury. Now I just have to figure out how to catch those critters!

Linda enjoyed her time away from the stress of caregiving. She took walks, read her books, and enjoyed the quiet. On one of her morning walks, she came upon a rabbit that was determined to make her laugh. The rabbit would hide in the brush and then rush out and jump around in free-form dance, much like puppy circles, except, of course, it was a bunny. Linda said it did this about four times before it disappeared into the dense brush and out of sight. She looked for the little bunny every time she walked, but never saw it again. 

Around our campsite, we spotted many different birds, but the one that intrigued us the most was the Grey Catbird with its distinctive songs and cries. It really does sound like a cat at times, and we were able to spot it hiding in the brush next to our camper.

For our dinners, we used our Dutch ovens. The first night, I followed a recipe out of one of my many DO cookbooks for a Mexican enchilada dish.  I put it all together, and as I added ingredients, I thought t it might be a bit too plain and not have an exciting flavor. When I served the meal, we were pleasantly surprised that it had a great flavor and turned out really good! It was delicious!

The second night's meal was an old favorite that we have cooked many times, Chicken Cordon Bleu. The meal is always very flavorful, and everyone loves it. It does, however, take a bit of fussing and mixing to get it all together.  I will be trying some ideas I have to make the process less labor-intensive for the future.

Our three nights on the river went by very quickly. We were sad to have to drive home on Thursday, wishing we had just one more day. 

Fishing & Camping Fun

 Spent the middle of the week fishing the St. Joe from our base camp at Huckleberry. 

Return to the River

 Sometimes we never learn. When the forecast calls for 95 degree + days, we need to listen and be prepared for hot weather. But morning rain each day? Come on now, you can't have it both ways, can you.

For grins and giggles, Linda checked the availability of possibly camping at Huckleberry Campground on the St. Joe River and found a nice spot open from Tuesday through Thursday. She boked it and once again we found our selves upon the Joe for a mid-week stay. 

Daren and Marcy Upchurch had booked a site so we had friends to chat with and do some catching up.

Due to the heat, we relaxed in the shade each day and enjoyed our campsite.  The weather was hot each day, but the rain came through each night in the morning hours. It is always nice to get thunder and rain to cool off everything just before the sun comes up. We kept our fingers crossed that the lightning didn't start forest fires, but the cool rain was very welcome.

It's Raining, so keep Clam!

The Clam in all it's glory!

We finally got a break and were able to drive up the Coeur d'Alene River and do three days of camping. Tom and Sarah Husby and Dan Breeden were getting away from the city and invited us to join them. The group all gathered at the store in Pritchard on Sunday, and then as a convoy, drove up the river to the area around Teepee Creek where we found a very nice little site right next to the stream.

The three rigs filled the dirt access road, which left a great spot for our camp chairs near a fire ring. We were set up in less than a half-hour and ready to relax with no worries or interruptions.

We sat around the fire and chatted the afternoon and evening away. There weren't many folks up and driving around on that first night. We knew that the weather might be changing from partly cloudy to emanate rain so our thoughts were that the big 4th of July crowds might not head up this early in the week.

Everyone had dinner and Danbo stoked the fire as we sat around laughing and telling stories.

The next morning we were having coffee when a friend and his dog dropped by. Jim Gallahan and his dog, Black Dog, came up the river to do some fishing with Tom and visit our campsite. It was good to visit with Jim and catch up on life events.

Tom and Sarah had brought a screen tent up with them called The Clam. It had never been set up and Tom wanted to see if the group could accomplish this task. Previously, Tom had attempted a setup but got stymied and gave up. The group pulled out the Clam and Tom explained what he had read in the instructions. It took a bit but the Clam finally was about set up. Jim stepped back and said, "It looks like we have it set up inside out!"  

Returning from fishing.

Back to square one... we attempted to go. During the previous setup attempt by Tom, some poles were twisted and would not let us pop the Clam up properly. Jim and I took the pole holder apart, unwound the tent pole, and then got it all back together properly. After about 45 minutes we were finally able to pop up the Clam and stake it into place!

What a nice bug net shelter! As it turned out, this space became very important as the campout progressed.

Jim and Tom went fly fishing downstream and I got my gear on and headed on upstream to see if I could find some fish. It was a nice afternoon and everyone had a great time.

The afternoon progressed and the clouds grew darker pushing out the blue skies. As we returned from fishing the clouds opened up and it began to rain. Back at camp, everyone climbed into the Clam, out of the downpour. 

From this point, we basically spent our time either hiding from the rain, sitting in the protection of the Clam, or walking around the area when the weather let up a bit. There were times when the rain came down so hard that we could not hear each other talk over the pounding on the Clam's fabric roof. It was amazing. Danbo brought Tom and Sara's propane fireplace under the Clam and it made for very comfortable sitting.

On Tuesday the rain continued. Tom and I went fishing. I made my way to a nice deep pool with a good riffle at its head. My thought was to get a perfect cast into the water, so I got into position and stripped my line out. Then I loaded the tip of the rod and made a small false cast. On my second cast, I laid the fly down on the water in a great looking spot. Just then, out of the corner of my eye, a baby fawn that had been hiding almost under my feet jumped up out of the tall grass. It scampered upstream. I glanced at the baby and at the same time saw a big cutthroat strike at my Stimulator fly. Because I was watching the deer, I missed setting the hook on the big fish.  The whole event only took a couple of seconds. I stood there shaking my head and smiling. Five minutes later the sky opened up with a downpour that sent me hustling back to the safety of the Clam.

Our little group spent the rest of the evening in and out of the Clam. Danbo kept the fire going despite the huge downpours of rain.

The next morning we packed up the Clam, all our gear, and headed back to Coeur d'Alene. What an enjoyable three days. We are ready to head out again as soon as the holiday weekend is over.

Mergansers on the move.

We walked to Magee Ranger Station.

The old barn at Magee.

Linda loved this green grotto.

Well, We Did More Than Eat!

It all starts with Linda looking at her calendar and seeing that there are no appointments, meetings, or shopping to do for a four-day stretch. Then we raid our freezer and scope out the food cupboard and we put together a food plan for the days we're going to be out. Linda then checks the reservation website for Huckleberry and reserves one of our favorite spots. Once this is complete, then we start packing the camper and preparing Linda's folks by telling them we are going to be gone for a few days and how we're going to keep in touch. Being gone requires letters and procedures to those that need them in case something happens while we're gone and we touch base with Linda's sister so she can ramp up some phone calls to check up on things in the evenings. We have a window starting Wednesday afternoon and ending Saturday.

Our trip up is uneventful. We have to stop for road construction three times, but that has been normal up the Joe this summer. The camper is set up by 4:00 PM and our next activity is the cooking of the Dutch oven "Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot Pie!". (Follow the link to understand the pie joke.) I had prepared the pie filling the night before and all we had to do was unfold the crust into the Dutch and then build the pie. Cooking was the big unknown for this meal. How much time? How many briquets? Will it burn? How will we tell when it is done?  It's enough to send a guy to the looney bin.

We endeavored to persevere, placing the crust into the Dutch. It took three pie crusts. My tip of the day would be to let the crusts set out and warm up a bit. Having Linda sit on the crust to warm it was helpful but probably not the best solution. The crust was wrapped in a towel by the way. They need to be flexible and from the refrigerator, they tend to crack and pull apart. Success came after much pushing and stretching, a big victory in my book.

The filling is not for the weak at heart. It contains heavy cream, carrots, chicken,  peas, celery, and onions. You put 4 Tbsp. butter in a pan and saute the celery and onions. Then you add one cup of chicken broth, your chicken chunks (I used the world-famous Costco rotisserie chicken!) and stir in one-half cup of flour, the carrots, and the peas. This should be cooked until it thickens up. Add some garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme and that about covers it.

Fresh raspberries from the Anderson's farm.

We put the filling in the crust creating the "Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot Pie!" and then placed it in the coals to cook. I placed quite a few briquets on the top to try and brown the crust. On top of all this, I made a raspberry cobbler out of some fresh raspberries given to us by Rayelle Anderson. This cobbler came from a cobbler kit, but I changed things up by adding heavy cream in place of milk. I did this to use up the cream. Neither Linda nor myself actually use milk products very often and I didn't want the cream to go bad (can cream go bad?)

Enough for a small army.

Cooking the meal took about 40 to 50 minutes. I was freaked out about the "Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot Pie!", but Linda forced me to wait the 40 minutes before I looked at it. Oh my gosh, everything was perfect! The flavor was amazing and the crust was golden brown. The top of the crust cooked and was moist and heavenly! We had to force ourselves to not eat too much!

This was a big Cutthroat caught on a hopper pattern.

We went to bed after all the dishes were cleaned up. I had beaten Linda in cribbage and our first night of camping was a huge success.

On Thursday I went fishing and Linda stayed around the camper and read. As you know, Linda runs every morning, even when we are camping. She runs in the campground in and out of all the small side roads. By the end of our stay, everyone knows her and she is waving to everyone.

I make breakfast once each trip!

I caught about three fish when I was out. One big one (see photo.)  Taking pictures of the fish I catch is so very hard on the fish and not the easiest on myself. I worry about the fish and worry that I will drop my phone in the drink. I have to get everything prepared prior to going into the water so that I can quickly get the phone and the photo without damaging the fish. I don't even pick up the fish when I catch them, I just grab the hook and give it a flip and they swim away.

Linda beat me in cribbage tieing the tournament. We ate dinner of Flautas and cheese, read and then went to bed.

Friday we spent the day taking walks and reading. There were so many fly flippers on the hunt that I didn't even go out. The wind was a bit gusty which also took away some of my desire to fish.

We heated up leftovers and then played Mexican Train. Linda kicked my butt in the games of the evening and then we crawled into bed where I finished my Dean Koontz book.

Camp takedown was smooth. We were up and loaded by 10:30 AM  The drive home was nice. We are rejuvenated and ready for a new week.

Quick, Short Trip

This last week we had a bit of a window without parental appointments and shopping needs, so we drove back up to Huckleberry and stayed Monday through Thursday. Linda went online and reserved the exact spot where we stayed two weeks ago. We arrived early afternoon on Monday and were set up with cocktails by 2 PM.

I have been trying to get better at cooking in a Dutch oven. For this excursion, I had collected the ingredients for a very tasty chicken cordon bleu meal we have tried before. I made some adjustments to the cooking process and it came out very nicely.

The recipe called for using crescent rolls that you buy uncooked and then bake them in the oven. The process calls for assembling the meal starting with the crescent roll dough on the bottom and then layering the ingredients up prior to baking. What worked really well for me was to place the crescents in the bottom of the pan and bake them before you layer the rest of the ingredients. Once the dough is baked, I took and flipped the baked crescent roll bread over and then built the layers of the recipe on top of the brown crust.

Here is the entire recipe for you to try:

Deep Dish Chicken Cordon blue
1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls (8 rolls)
2 tablespoons unsalted or salted butter
1 tablespoon Crisco® 100% Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Pure Olive Oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 box (13.25 oz) frozen baked honey-battered chicken tenders, thawed, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, or 1 (NOTE: I used Costco rotisserie chicken instead of the tenders. Cheaper and better flavor!) deli rotisserie chicken (2 to 2 1/2 lb), shredded
16 slices (1 oz each) Muenster cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon horseradish sauce or cream-style prepared horseradish
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1lb shaved cooked brown-sugar or maple-glazed ham (from the deli)

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 13×9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray. Unroll crescent rolls in baking dish; press perforations to seal. Bake 10 to 13 minutes or until light golden brown.
2. Meanwhile, in 10-inch skillet, heat butter, and oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened. Remove from heat; stir in cut-up chicken tenders.
3. Place 8 slices of the Muenster cheese over baked crust. In a small bowl, stir Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, honey, horseradish sauce, and thyme until well blended. Spoon half of the mayonnaise mixture evenly over cheese on crust.
4. Spoon chicken mixture evenly over mayonnaise mixture on crust. Spoon remaining mayonnaise mixture evenly over chicken. Cover chicken evenly with ham. Top with remaining 8 slices Muenster cheese.
5. Bake 15 to 20 minutes longer or until cheese is melted and filling is thoroughly heated.

With a Dutch oven, it takes a bit more time to get things right, but when it is finished... oh la la. I also used much less chess (8 slices total)

Of course, I finished off the meal by making some cinnamon rolls in the top Dutch and yes, we ate too much!

On Tuesday I went fishing and Linda read her book. She is reading a great book by William Finnegan called Barbarian Days - A Surfing Life. It is a great read and we both highly recommend it. While fishing I caught three fish, but only one was of an impressive size.

Wednesday I went out fishing once again, but this time I caught, what I would call, two real hogs! I was using a beat-up old grasshopper pattern, and those two big boys were hungry. It was sure fun, and both of those cutthroats slurped the fly in classic dolphin attack fashion. Great fights and I was able to release them untouched.

As I was letting the adrenalin rush of catching and releasing a huge fish pass, I stepped on an unstable rock and it sat me down into the water. I got wet, but it cooled me off and I didn’t hurt anything but my pride so all was good.

Back at camp Linda and I had a happy hour and enjoyed the evening.  New rigs were coming in and setting up. We met some very nice folks and chatted about camping and retirement. It was a fun evening.

On Thursday we loaded up and drove back into town. These short adventures give us a chance to get away and relax. We will definitely be doing more of them before the snow flies!

Yes, those are guides shorts. No laughing!

Grand Ronde River - Boyz Trip

Rainbows over the Palouse.

As soon as I got back from Mexico this year, Ryan Edwards invited me to join him and the River Boyz on a river trip on the Grand Ronde River in Oregon. The trip was put together by a couple of folks that Ryan knew and all I had to do was pay and show up with my boat and gear. You can't beat that, so I was all in.

We had everything together by Wednesday night and so to make things easier, I stayed out at Ryan's place that night. In the morning we were able to get up, eat, and get an early start. We met up with the group at 7:00 AM, at the group leader's house, Andy Groves. When we arrived we found out that some of the fellas were going to be a bit late, so we jumped in and helped load the final items onto the truck.

The second truck arrived about 45 minutes later. We loaded it with gear and supplies and we were off. The convoy rolled along the roads of the Palouse; green fields of spring grass glistening with moisture from the morning's rains. We spotted several rainbows as we cruised along. Our next stop was Colfax where we picked up two more of our boyz.

Cutting across southwestern Washington we headed for Minam State Recreation Area in Oregon, just a mile and a half from the put-in on the Wallowa River. We spent the night at the campground and in the morning we stowed our gear and launched.

Our launch went relatively smoothly though the launch ramp was a zoo. I think everyone in Oregon decided to hit the river this weekend. Four of our boats launched from the west bank of the river and the other launched from the Minam Store located on the east bank. With all the other river runners and our double shore launch, it took us a few miles to gather up and get organized.

The Wallowa River flows ten miles down to join the Grand Ronde River. We floated on down and looked for a campsite. With all the folks on the river, we had to keep moving into the late afternoon and finally found a large spot at about river mile 22. The long day was unexpected but it also gave us a lot of time to fish as we went. Fishing was a bit off. The water level had risen a bit and was a little off-color. This trend continued throughout the float. I did OK, but I wish we would have had better fishing.

We set up camp and had a wonderful meal. All meals on this trip were amazing and no one went hungry.

We floated the next two days and took off the river at a bridge just above Troy, Oregon. Fishing wasn't great, but being on a river is always the best.

Takeout was easy and everything went well. We loaded up and said our goodbyes. We caravaned for the first part of the drive home but after a couple stops, Ryan and I passed the others and beat feet on home.

Sunlight on Ryan's butt.

My tent on the second night.