Pacific Northwest: Past, Present, and Future Tour

2010-05-15T22:26:00.001-07:00

Orca!!

2010-05-15T22:25:00.001-07:00

And we're back after an incredible experience. Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen. Now for some sleep.

2010-05-15T21:51:00.001-07:00

Almost home.

2010-05-15T19:35:00.001-07:00

2010-05-15T19:32:00.001-07:00

We are leaving the park after a wonderful salmon dinner and closing celebration. We will arrive in Seattle close to 10:30 to 10:45. Your child will call you when we are about an hour away. Once you get the call, please plan to be at school on time. All of us are pretty anxious to get home. You can come early and pick up your gear since it will arrive a long time before we do. Thanks.

Chuck Waggin' Tails - Day 6

2010-05-15T17:25:00.001-07:00

Hello from the Chuck Wagon & Happy D6!!!!

Pretty warm night here in Goldendale, WA overall with no worries of freezing and any other outdoor elements to worry about in the morning. Once again, Sabrina (Elliott) is up at 5:30a to get coffee started and soon after others were soon up to help get breakfast set up. Just as I'm about to jump in I see Susie (Emmy) with her list... so their is much relief as we're in good hands today.
The plan is for the Chuck Wagon to get lunch, meet up with the bus and transfer whatever Susie needs for her dinner tonight so that the Chuck Wagon can head home early. The idea is for the Chuck Wagon to unload everything into the cafeteria ahead of time so that when the bus arrives everything from the chuck wagon can be returned to their rightful owners tonight.

The clean up at the middle school was pretty simple as we had lots of hands helping including little ones. Once the kids were out on teh road, a quick mop and taking out of the trash and we were done. Thanks to a scale in the boy's locker room, I was able to weigh our garbage. All of the garbage from the cafeteria, bathrooms and kitchen came in at ~40#, this doesn't include our recyclables. I would say this is probably about our average footprint at each stop.

So, after checking out with the night custodian Jodi, we are back on the road in search of lunch. This was to be our last meal to be served out of the Chuck Wagon. So we have tortillas, 3# of cheese, tomatoes and bowl full of hummus...sounds like something quesadilla-ish. Well after a couple of quick stops in The Dalles, we set up lunch in front of the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center in their picnic area. I asked if we could have lunch for about 40 people there...but accidentally left out the part that we would be setting up a full-on kitchen as well. Thanks to Dave's cousin Phil who lives nearby... we were able to get lunch served on-time:

1. Hummus sandwiches on fresh baked baguettes from a bakery called Petite Provence in The Dalles, with lettuce cheese, salt, pepper and EVOO
2. Pan fried quesadillas - wheat or white flour options
3. sides included fresh salsa (peeled and chopped tomatoes, cilantro, salt, pepper, EVOO), and an avocado salad (cubed, fresh squeezed lemon, salt and EVOO drizzle)
4. hand scooped 3 flavor sorbet cup: Zesty Lemon, Raspberry and Mango (ala Haggen Daz)

After lunch, we made a few more revisions to Susie's list to make sure that all of the tools/ingredients for dinner got on the bus. And we handed the duty of Chuck Wagon to the awesome team of Rob (Emmett) and Ron (Lila), aka The "B" team.

OK...sooooo... we left the bus behind at about 1:30p, and most people thought we were going to be home at 5:00... showering up and taking a nap until the bus arrived back. HA! We actually headed 3 miles up the hill overlooking (AMAZING lookout point, see video) the Discovery Center to cousin Phil's house to wash the lunch dishes and catch our breath. By the time we got back on the road an hot Portland it was 5:00. We grabbed a burger there and got home at 9:00p. Hahaha...so much for the plan. But we still got all the stuff unpacked and spread out. The pictures below don't do much justice to the volume of "stuff" the van carried. Sadly, much of it was excess and had to be donated or dumped.

Thanks to Julie (Emmett) and Robin (Mika) by the time we got stuff spread out, the bus arrived 30 minutes later and were greeted warmly with a round of applause by the entourage of parents and siblings. And as quickly as they arrived, families picked up their things and headed to the comfort of home and I'm sure a warm bath. Thank you Kent, Rob (Emmet), Paul (Shira) and Michaela (Conrad) for sticking around till 11:30p to relocating items left behind and excess food and un-claimable items.

Dave and I did share a final hug and a couple of words before he and Nikko headed home. We didn't say much, but it was enough to sum up the trip up and bring closure to the Chuck Wagon role as we return to normal life. We still get a kick out the comments we get from parents who think we do this for a living. "...so when you're not supporting Orca, what other groups do you do this for?", "NO, we don't do this professionally, but for a major nominal fee...???" A few final words:

Midway thru lunch Susie made an announcement acknowledging that this was the last meal served by the Chuck Wagon. It totally caught me off guard as I was in the midst of making a few more quesadillas...and all of a sudden I got super emotional. I'm not sure if it was relief or the fact that I was actually going to miss this job/role. Regardless, it was both an honor and privilege to be a part of this trip. And although I fell into the role accidentally, I would volunteer to do the job again if it meant kids getting out of the classroom and exploring their surroundings. Each night I heard stories of what the kids saw and learned. I agree that what Dave and I did played a critical piece, but it was a very small price to pay in exchange for the value of the learnings that the kids took away from the trip and how that will change their lives and perspective on life.

Thank you again for the privilege to support such an awesome trip!
Dave and Koichi
"get along lil' doggies"

2010-05-15T16:07:00.001-07:00

Whole lotta red

2010-05-15T16:04:00.001-07:00

Multnomah Falls to Fort Vancouver Stuck in traffic near Portland.

2010-05-15T16:00:00.001-07:00

The final bedtime class meeting

2010-05-15T15:59:00.001-07:00

Then a swim

2010-05-15T15:57:00.001-07:00

2010-05-15T15:56:00.001-07:00

Showtime!

2010-05-15T15:54:00.001-07:00

Fasion show prep

2010-05-15T14:46:00.001-07:00

We went to Rock Fort where Lewis and Clark holed up for three days. The kids were surrounded by beautiful flowers as they played on the rocks that Lewis and Clark sat on while they dried things out and repaired equipment.

Then we went to the Columbia Discovery Center where first we ate a delicious lunch that Dave and Koichi whipped up out of the food that was left over. They keep surprising us.

Griffin is sitting in front of me and he has been telling a non-stop, made-up story ever since we left the Dalles Dam. It is a very weird set of tales. He's keeping Noah, Lila, Emmy, Sarkus and Emmett entertained.

By the way, we recently passed the garbage train. The containers were stacked two high so the train was only half a mile long.

The kids are starting to get anxious to get home but sad the trip we planned all year is nearly over. All kinds of emotions flying around.

2010-05-15T14:31:00.001-07:00

There are turbines everywhere. The cattle show the size. So many of these the kids no longer notice them.

2010-05-15T14:23:00.001-07:00

The dump!

2010-05-15T14:20:00.001-07:00

The not so nice parts of the dump. One section of the mile long garbage train arriving daily from Seattle.

2010-05-15T14:17:00.001-07:00

Bird with an egg

2010-05-15T14:16:00.001-07:00

Discovery

2010-05-15T14:13:00.001-07:00

The nice parts of the dump

2010-05-15T14:08:00.001-07:00

(a few minutes on bus to cAtch up from yesterday) more from dairy farm

2010-05-15T12:13:00.001-07:00

"the bus is LEAVING!!"

2010-05-15T12:08:00.001-07:00

Lewis and Clark Rock Fort L&C took shelter here on their journey. Trading with natives had become troublesome and they worried for their safety. The natural rock formation served as a safe overnight. Historians worked with NASA to find the location if the fort.

2010-05-15T11:19:00.001-07:00

Powering two cities the size of Portland. The sixth largest hydro electric dams in the US. The top four are also on the Columbia.

2010-05-15T09:58:00.001-07:00

arrival at the dalles dam

2010-05-15T09:55:00.001-07:00

Mt Hood and Mt Adams surround us

2010-05-15T09:49:00.001-07:00

Dalles stop to learn about the effects of the dam we'll visit next. This used to be a major fishing and trading spot. All now submerged along with a waterfall which would be below us. Kent tells us that once they closed the dam it took only six hours to cover the falls and village.

2010-05-15T09:45:00.003-07:00

Back to day six: back to Oregon side of the Columbia.

2010-05-15T09:45:00.001-07:00

Cow houses Cows

2010-05-15T09:41:00.001-07:00

Grace's solution to an unpleasant smell: submerge the nose

2010-05-15T09:40:00.001-07:00

At the dairy. 1760 lbs of Orca

2010-05-15T08:56:00.001-07:00

Our "wagon" on the Oregon Trail

2010-05-15T08:54:00.001-07:00

Oregon Trail (2)

2010-05-15T08:50:00.001-07:00

Oregon Trail Conrad enjoyed finding the many ant colonies and huge nestles.

2010-05-15T08:44:00.001-07:00

Cleanup crew

2010-05-15T08:43:00.001-07:00

Preparing for the day Sarkis took up coffee

2010-05-15T08:32:00.001-07:00

Breakfast at camp

2010-05-15T08:27:00.001-07:00

Wifi flaky so posts will again be a little disorganized since recreating yesterday via phone only. Sorry.

Chuck waggin' tails - Day 5

2010-05-14T23:09:00.000-07:00

Hello from the Chuck Wagon... He's Losing, I'm It...

Day 5!! We are both amazed that we made it thru day 5 relatively quickly and somewhat gracefully. Regardless, it's chilly and we're up and at 'em at 5:00, unpacking the van (had to pack the van due to another bear warning) and getting ready for breakfast. By the time we're done unpacking, Sabrina (Eliott) and fellow Starbuckian is asking where all the French Presses are so she can get coffee going. YIPPEE!!

Breakfast is pretty decadent as Ron (Lila) and Kelly (Lucas) are dipping and flipping French Toast. Along with the maple syrup we had the usual suspects such as yogurt, cereal and OJ all out in the beautiful outdoors...ala noisy hwy 84. Not long after breakfast, kids are loading their stuff onto the bus and saying good-bye as they move onto the next stop.

Ok...kinda of a large task today...what's for lunch? and get Fresh Apple pie. First thing first, start Googling the words Apple Pie, Bakery, and Diners in the nearby small cities. Nothing, nada and zilch. We soon learned that not only did most of the apple pies that we found have filling from a can, we also figured out that local apples out of season. For those reasons we ditched the thought... but Dave-the-pie-maker had a vision of fresh empanadas and turn-overs...but since oven facilities were lacking, that thought also dissipated as well. Maybe we can talk Dave into making us some pies at the end of the year when apples are back in season???

Next job: Lunch. So we're in poh-dunk Pendleton OR, at an ol' Albertson...looking for inspiration. After wondering the aisles, we see some fresh baked french bread just baked 2 hours ago... and a full case of cold cuts. Aha! we're gonna make 2 foot long subs....so we got 3 types of meat, with 2 types of cheese, 2 types of lettuce with real mayonnaise and mustard. In front of the Waste Manage Station (aka "the dump") we set up table and Dave puts the sandwiches together and adds a little EVOO, salt and pepper while I shoo away flies. (ahem). Anyways, we slice 8 ways. The vegetarian option is chibatta bread filled with hummus, lettuce cheese and EVOO. NICE! For dessert in the desert... we have fresh cut watermelon (no, not local) , apples & pears on ice and rice pudding. And just as quickly as the kids got off the bus and devoured lunch, they were back on the bus and headed up the the hill to see the garbage get dumped. As the Chuck Wagon pushes onto Goldendale.

Of course, it's not as interesting if you don't get lost...so we did... Instead of turning on Blalock Canyon Rd to get back to 84, we miss our turn all together and go straight onto Barnett rd...which is a dirt road that heads into oblivion...never ending road of farm land...

well...we go back to where we started...not without a few more distractions tho...and get to Goldendale. Along the way we run into Abby (Isabel) at the Stonehenge memorial. By the time we pre-check the driver in at his motel, shop for dinner tonight, the kids arrive as well...ready for some swimming... and they "smell" like they need it too.

Dinner is pretty easy, especially with all the kitchen help tonight... a nice 3 lettuce Ceasar salad as the main course, soba noodles with dipping sauce and fried tofu. To boot, the kids ate outside on the grass under the sun as they watched a HS track meet just a yards away. Soon after, they went swimming 6 blocks away.

Upon their return, Dave crafted a to-die-for caramel sauce from scratch which we used to dip cut apples on toothpicks...thank you Sarah (Gabriel) and Ron (Lila)...and also used it to coat pop corn...thanks to popcorn-machine cranker Rob (Emmet). Other popcorn toppings included butter and fresh Parmesan cheese. When kids are happy, I'm happy....

ok it's late, and I'm having a who-can-stay-up-the-latest contest with Rob...he wins. It's no-cook breakfast tomorrow. good night!
get along little doggies...

2010-05-14T19:58:00.001-07:00

The kids are all swimming in Goldendale Pool right now, There happens to be a water slide here. The kids think they're having fun but really it was our devious way to get them to take a shower.

Earlier today there was a fashion show with all the fashions made of recycled materials.

We've been treated to great food, tremendous organization, perfect weather, marvelous lessons taught by the groups, excellent tours and of course, wonderful kids.

I think most would agree that the trip has been quite a success and all too soon, over. A very full day tomorrow and then we will see many of you at school.

Thanks to the hard work of everyone! I feel there should be a special shout out to Koichi and Dave. They worked their tails off to make sure everything was set up and taken down. They were first to arrive at camp and last to leave, thus assuring that we could keep to what turned out to be a very ambitious schedule. Thanks.

See you all tomorrow.

2010-05-14T18:03:00.001-07:00

Made it to middle school. Kids working on designing outfits from recyled materials. Fashion show in 10 min

2010-05-14T16:35:00.001-07:00

Going up the onramp to the highway was enough of an incline that the fuel drained to back of tank and bus stalled as we crested the hill. Driver was able to start it on the fly and luckily it was a flay 2 miles to the gas station.

2010-05-14T16:25:00.001-07:00

Another reason the bus goes slow up hill: running out of fuel!!!

2010-05-14T15:52:00.001-07:00

In true orca fashion the kids asked a lot of questions about how worms and compost fit into the system here. Answer: they don't. All about containment and dealing with the gas produced.

2010-05-14T15:49:00.001-07:00

Waste Management facility: piling up 2 million tons of garbage a year. At their current pace, it will take them 140 years to fill this location.

2010-05-14T13:23:00.001-07:00

Cows on conveyers! Thousands of them. We just saw industrial milking on a grand scale.

2010-05-14T12:58:00.001-07:00

Just now leaving the dairy. The kids had an endless supply of great questions. The stats of this place were truly amazing: 70k cows; 20k milkings a day; each cow produces 60-85 lbs of milk a day; they are largest single dairy location in US, and very close to largest in the world. They're owned by the largest potato farmer in the world.

2010-05-14T12:48:00.001-07:00

2010-05-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

2010-05-14T11:08:00.001-07:00

I think the kids are getting pretty tired of me in their face with a camera but I keep telling them their families will want to see them.

2010-05-14T11:05:00.001-07:00

The center had a lot of "stuffed animal"!

2010-05-14T11:03:00.001-07:00

Few random shots: Shira and Ella Mae pair up for scavenger hunt.

2010-05-14T10:59:00.001-07:00

Step three: review answers on the bus. (Lucas leading this part of the lesson)

2010-05-14T10:57:00.001-07:00

Um, "finding answers"

2010-05-14T10:56:00.001-07:00

Step two: find answers

Chuck waggin' tails - Day 4

2010-05-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

Hi from Chuck & Wagon...I'm Wagon, he's Chuck...

Day 4 started out great. We had the most amount of parents on this day, so we had plenty of help for breakfast (granola parfait, cereal and lotsa fruit), clean up and packing.

We also celebrated Rob's (Emmet) birthday with a candle lit strawberry plate:

Lunch was totally awesome delicious as well. Stuffed Pita pockets with a cold crispy cucumber salad and crumbled feta on the grass in the open sun in front of the Tamastslikt cultural institute. Kent personally stuffed my pita, so mine had a bit of extra love in it.

As always, enroute to the final destination Dave and I are thinking of dinner. As we passed thru Walla Walla we purchased two humongous slabs of tri-tips from Thundering Hooves butcher shop thanks to Kelly's (Lucas) recco. They stress the fact that all of their beef is 100% grass fed. We also picked up some super crunchy croutons at Walla Walla Bakery. The espresso was ok, but the pastries and breads are not to be missed if you pass thru here.

Soooo... we have 2 giant slabs of meat, a bunch tortillas, and some fresh chopped salsa made by father and son team of David & Gabriel...so what's for dinner? Here's what we came up with:

1. your choice of a warmed wheat or flour tortillas
2. your choice of charcoal broiled rare or pan seared sliced tri-tips, ground taco beef with fresh tomatoes and mushrooms from Nash's farm, or refried beans (or a little bit of everything)
3. top your fajita off with organic lettuce, sour cream, freshly sliced avacados, chopped cilantro, and fresh salsa
4. 2 types of rice: brown and basmati
5. crispy snap peas

All this was done and ready to go thank you to the rockin' team of Mary (Grace), Ron (Lila) and Sara (Isabell's grandmother). Sara was a trooper thru & thru and truly inspiring. This night would've been different if it weren't for Sara. Thank you!!

Of course, if you have a campfire you gotta have s'mores. Which led to the most hilarious moment between Dave (Nikko) and Lila. Lila who is helping us get set up for s'mores looks at the ingredients in the marshmallows looking to see what type of gelatin was used. Most marshmallows use a gelatin that is derived from animal hides and bones. So she looks at Dave and says..."so what kind of marshmallows are these?" Hoping to hear that they are gelatin-free. Instead Dave's response was "oh...these are (reading the name on the front of the package) Great Value marhmallows". Lila responds out the side of mouth with one eye brow up and one down, "...uhhh...yeah right...I bet these were a "great value". I love Orca!

Ok... in my tent and off to bed...breakfast is French Toast
"Get along little doggies..."

2010-05-14T10:48:00.001-07:00

A few more shots from yesterday Scavenger hunt at O trail center. Step one: find a human clipboard

2010-05-14T10:39:00.001-07:00

A few more. (note:these are from yesterday)

2010-05-14T10:38:00.001-07:00

Some of the rescued birds they saw at the Tamastslikt cultural institute

2010-05-14T10:35:00.001-07:00

Kids walking Oregon Trail. A lot of them really connected with this part since we've been listening to a recording Kent made reading Stout-Hearted Seven while on bus.

2010-05-14T10:27:00.001-07:00

Thanks for the bball update. Big cheers and sneers from back of bus. And yes Elijah was one if those interested.

2010-05-14T10:22:00.001-07:00

We just got through walking in the actual ruts of the Oregon Trail. This is history education at its finest. Next time a teacher decides to teach about the pioneers on the trail, our kids can say they walked on it. How cool is that?

Sports fever

2010-05-14T08:59:00.001-07:00

A few of the boys are really wanting to know who won the celtics:cavs game and are asking to use my phone to check. I said my phone is restricted to blogging and emergency use. So we came up with the idea to post the question on the blog and hope for a response from one of the readers. So, what was the score?

2010-05-14T08:26:00.001-07:00

Logs

2010-05-14T08:17:00.001-07:00

Going down super steep road. Kent is explaining to class that the pioneers would tie logs to their wagons here to keep them from going to fast.

Plans

2010-05-14T08:10:00.001-07:00

Back on the road. First stop is Echo Meadows trail ruts where the kids will walk the path of the pioneers. After that is Three Mile Canyon Farm, the largest dairy farm in the US. They claim to be green but the orca kids will have sone tough questions for th for sure.

French toast for 35 people

2010-05-14T08:09:00.001-07:00

Chuckwagon is an impressive operation.

2010-05-13T23:17:00.001-07:00

Off to sleep. Great dinner tonight by chuckwagon crew. Kids all asleep in the cabins. Adults in tents (yes it does seem a bit backwards)

2010-05-13T18:37:00.001-07:00

We are getting ready to head up the hill to our campground and I don't think we will have cell coverage up there. This might be the last post for the evening.

2010-05-13T18:31:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted lately. Sorry. Right now we are on the road back from the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. It's a long bus ride but the kids are in high spirits. The bus has become the focal point of the trip as I thought it would.

We went to three interpretive centers and together they do an incredible job telling the story of Pacific Northwest history. I believe the kids have a pretty good understanding at this point,

It's back to camp at Emigrant Springs now. Gianna is on the bus PA doing a lesson with the kids about the exhibit we just saw.

Tomorrow we will be walking in the footsteps of the pioneers at Echo Meadows,

Very good weather continued,

Multimedia message

2010-05-13T18:23:00.001-07:00

Gabrial's new song: Industial Agro-business

Multimedia message

2010-05-13T18:16:00.001-07:00

Far from home!

Multimedia message

2010-05-13T18:10:00.001-07:00

Kids looking over their gift shop receipts and discovering Oregon has no sales tax.

Multimedia message

2010-05-13T17:58:00.001-07:00

Kids spotted rabbits, marmots and ground squirels

Multimedia message

2010-05-13T17:55:00.001-07:00

Multimedia message

2010-05-13T17:54:00.003-07:00

Oregon trail interpretive center. Fantastic view with mountain ranges in three directions.

Multimedia message

2010-05-13T17:54:00.001-07:00

Great scavenger hunt through the museum. Kids learning about the pioneer travels through this area overlooking the Oregon trail and the grand ronde valley.

Oregon trail

2010-05-13T15:56:00.000-07:00

Multimedia message

2010-05-13T15:22:00.001-07:00

Nice view from the bus. Plenty of time to enjoy it. This old bus tops out around 35 going uphill.

Multimedia message

2010-05-13T15:14:00.001-07:00

Just crossed over the 45th parallel.

Multimedia message

2010-05-13T15:12:00.001-07:00

Life on the bus: lots of cards and reading. And cookies what seems like every 10 minutes.

Multimedia message

2010-05-13T14:04:00.001-07:00

My two favorite pals. Chuck and Wagon

Multimedia message

2010-05-13T14:01:00.000-07:00

Lunch and visit at Tamastslokt cultural institute. One on the four birds on exhibit.

Multimedia message

2010-05-13T11:50:00.001-07:00

Suzzie tells us these are cottonwoods. Huge. Beatiful.

2010-05-13T11:45:00.001-07:00

Somebody out there want to tell us why there are giant painted concrete frogs everywhere in Milton-Freewater?

2010-05-13T11:43:00.001-07:00

We're in Oregon!! Big cheers from kids.

2010-05-13T11:42:00.001-07:00

2010-05-13T11:34:00.001-07:00

2010-05-13T11:33:00.001-07:00

2010-05-13T11:32:00.001-07:00

2010-05-13T11:04:00.001-07:00

Mika walking foundation of original houses

2010-05-13T11:03:00.001-07:00

Class climb

2010-05-13T11:02:00.001-07:00

Harrison on the wagon trail. Whitman memorial grave site atop hill.

2010-05-13T11:01:00.001-07:00

I sort of expected them to offer Lila a job.

2010-05-13T11:00:00.001-07:00

My so called chuck wagon life 2

2010-05-13T09:40:00.001-07:00

Ok, probably be the most memorable moment on the Chuck Wagon happened on Day 2. Somehow we managed to get Michaele (Conrad) and Kristen (Lila) on the van as well in effort to get dinner started early. Wellllll.... we made wrong turn out on the peninsula, got lost and ended up at Camp Coleman of all places. So... we had no map, no GPS and limited cell phone connectivity. In front of us were three signs:

1. Camp Coleman
2. Joemma Park - pronounced by Kristen as "Joe Mama"
3. Almost Home Kennel (with a phone #) - Reading this sign made us all want to cry

So we decided to call the Kennel. Here's Dave's conversation with the nice owner:

Anyway..realllllll lonnnng story short, by the time we un-Lost ourselves the bus was already past us and so now we had to devise a way to keep dinner on time. So we called ahead to Jay Berry's Pizza in North Bend and ordered 10 pizzas. Luckily Anthony (Isabella) and Money-man Paul (Shira) were in a separate car ahead of us and were able to pick up the pizzas. In the meantime, we nearly arrived to the camp the same time the bus did. The Chuck wagon folks then scurried to get a salad pulled together with fresh greens from Sunny Farms Market in Sequim.

Great Pizza, great pizza loving kids... and the gracious flexibility and understanding saved the day. Note to self: Bring your GPS next time.

2010-05-13T09:19:00.003-07:00

Arrival at Whitman Mission

2010-05-13T09:19:00.001-07:00

Kiara: I think what was funny was we were taking our lesson and I fell asleep. Emmy: that Noah changed Griffins name to "Grill". (see photo)

2010-05-13T09:06:00.001-07:00

Asked the kids what the funniest part of trip so far: Ella Mae: I like telling jokes. Sibleigh: you've got to look at the mood ring Noah and Emmy: Noah and I could not remember the last lines of This Land is Your Land so I said it was "I was walking all over the place" then we tried singing it. It did not work. Sibleigh: Stella said that the wind turbines blades GROW up to 350 feet. Emmett: a girl at the park asked Gabe out. Grace: I fell asleep at the wild horse wind farm presentation. Emmy: the same girl who asked Gabe out thought Emmett was in high school. Griffin: a random girl asked Gabe out. Kent: every time we go by a McCdonalds the kids go "eeewww" Shiraz: when my dad almost forgot his swimsuit Mikala: getting lost in the chuckwagon for hours.

2010-05-13T08:23:00.001-07:00

Vasily was telling Paul this morning that our trip to Hanford yesterday had him a little nervous. He grew up not far from Chernobyl