Men of the Murray

Was it really a five foot salmon in a five foot bathtub?

   Always unsure the formalities when driving a vehicle onto a ferry, we simply followed others in front and gestures of staff, pulling the handbreak on as tight as it would go when we came to a stop aboard the vessel. The trip from Bainbridge to Seattle was a delight. Cool ocean breeze allowed a moment of photos outside before settling in to the passenger viewing area for the bulk of the 40 minute trip. Hearing the announcement, we returned to our vehicle, ready to explore Seattle.
   Our intent was to find a relative fair priced car space somewhere in the CBD to allow us to wander on foot. In the end, due to the 7ft height of our Big Bird, we opted for 2hr street parking in two locations. Never before had the people of Seattle seen so many illegal U-turns and hook turns to find the right spot.
   First was a wander and stroll through Pike Market, the shoreline, 1st and 2nd Ave, which we thoroughly enjoyed. A well organised and cultural CBD.  Of course, we received another comment for Jamie's dress. A Walmart must have been nearby. A small drive and we spent a little more time walking through the sculpture park. A beautiful day to relax and enjoy the sights.
   Overall, we do wish we could have spent some more time in Seattle, particularly some of the very trendy cafe's and bars. But we had plans to head North then cut through the Cascades to a friend's place in Twisp. So, a slow commute out of Seattle on the I-5, plenty of vehicle incidents made us divert, but after two hours, we hit our general camp area just North of Hamilton. We had explored the back road a little further but could not find a decent pull off area. We did find a character alongside the road hammering away at a fairly stripped and well weathered pick up truck. We weren't certain whether he was hammering in frustration, or seeking some scrap metal. It may or may not have been his, but the vehicle looked more suited to a scrap yard.
   We found an empty horse camp ground, so settled in for dinner and sleep. Only a couple of disturbances raised our heads. First were some youths on quad bikes, into the camp area and after a few 'doughnuts' screamed off down the road. Second, our mysterious hammering mechanic had miraculously restored life into his scrap heap! We were amazed, he was driving it hard down the road, past our camp and off towards town, all in reverse! Third, a vehicle pulling a horsefloat drove by, reversed, came into our camp area, slowly pulled alongside, we stood up, a little uncertain. The passenger window wound down slightly, enough for a small camera to poke out and take a picture of our van. The window went up, and the vehicle with horse float drove off. That left us still a little puzzled, but a shrug of the shoulders and we went about our business. The final head raise was as darkness fell, headlights pulled in, we looked through our Big Bird curtains, a small family clambered out with a couple of torches, set up a tent and all climbed in. A late night stop for them. Back to bed for us.

   The following day took us through the Cascade's into Twisp. Highlight's included the various water power stations and dams. Behind the Gorge at Newhalem was an Engineer's dream to plug electricity into trees and light a trail to some waterfalls. The same dream saw him heat the ground and attempt to create a tropical garden. Element's over the years made it look a little different now but it was a nice story to follow. One concern came on a small forest trail as we read informative signs, a town siren echoed across the valley. With plenty of smoke already about and our knowledge of nearby fires, we hastily made a retreat to the small town centre only to find everyone still going about their business with little notice of the warning siren. We chose to swiftly move on from that town.
   A number of other gorge's made us slow and marvel at their beauty, the rolling mountains for what we could see through the smoke haze. The steep climb and descent across each range, then a gasp as we came across a cross country skier on wheels. Slowly making his way to Lake Diablo. We paused for pictures and stifled prayers to the name.
   Finally, we made our way into the town of Winthrop, a surprise to its decor. Many years ago, the town was apparently fairing poorly, a decision made to redecorate in a Western traditional look. Now the town had become a tourist haven. A small drive South found us at Twisp, pulling into the driveway of friends from Australia, what we thought were fake, happened to be five deer sitting under an apple tree. We slowed to a halt as they each turned to look at us, we assumed they may be pet deer but no, they were wild and knew of a well watered tree that dropped apples. Further along the driveway we saw our first turkeys, scratching through the dirt and squabbling with each other. Here we planned to stay for a few days, relaxing and exploring the area. Simple pleasures of a toaster and kettle were thoroughly enjoyed.
   Back in the town of Twisp, we visited the local grocery, Hank's, though our thoughts were it shold have been called, 'Hunts'. For that is exactly what they did, then kill and stuff. A little unnerving for us to walk through the vegetable aisle while a mounted lion above looks down.
   A few more Twisp events included being invited as guests to a Horse Riding Group meeting. Bringing back strong memories of many committee style meetings brought a smile to the face. Though our favourite part was the dessert smorgasboard as each member provided a plate. 10 desserts for us to work through made our tummies happy as we sat through discussions of funds, events and the nearby fires.
   Early the following morning one of us made a small walk behind the hill of where we were staying to gain one bar of reception. The Melbourne Demons were taking on Geelong Cats at 3:20am in the game of Australian Rules Football. Despite being a devoted fan, Ian was unable to catch the game live, as word of cougars and bears nearby made the thought of a walk in the dark unnerving. Instead, waking at 6am to gather the news sufficed. Any wild animals around at that time must have been startled by his scream of excitement at the news.

   The next day we joined our hosts up to one of their campgrounds that was under development. A new gate and fenceline being installed. Unfortunately with the severe fire warnings, no external motor could be used in the area, including chainsaw or auger. This made the job of fence building a manual task, one which Jamie and Ian have had many years experience in. So we put our hands to hole digging while the others set the posts. Alas, Jamie's first hole found a monolith, so she spent some hours working around that while Ian continued with some easier ones. A full day of work certainly tired us out and returned some forgotten blisters to the hands. But we hope we gave a good impression.
   The evening brought a very small respite of rain, but that came with strong winds and a couple of lightning strikes. As we were relaxing at home, the power went out, which we didn't mind as we'd already prepared dinner and had quenched our thirst with numerous beers. The drive back to the house that evening had also taught us the town had a large number of relaxing deer sitting in front yards and strolling through the streets. Your vehicle speed certainly had to be slow and cautious as they easily strolled across the road to gather greener grass on the other side. Quite eye opening for us and enjoyable, this soon led to a very small level of nuisance, but overall enjoyment at small faun's.

   The next day was a Saturday, a long tired sleep in and slow start saw us reaching the town market at 10am. There we explored the small tent vendor's and various nick nacks. Ian sat down on a central bench to take pause, an elderly gentleman on the other end of the table sparked a conversation. It went a little like this:
Gentleman, "I can't keep walking."
Ian, "Oh?"
Gentleman, "My knee, it's a new knee that I had operated on, they sliced it open from here to here." He gestures the front of his knee. "Guess when the operation was."
Ian, "I'm not sure, when?"
Gentleman, "In March!"
Ian, "Oh wow."
We introduce, his name is Leonard, he continues his story. "I was a plumber by trade, residential, commercial. I used to answer every call, up every day. But now I'm tired. I don't have to do that any more. It was a good job though, took me all over the place. I even went to Alaska. Can you imagine that? A boy from Oklahoma in Alaska for work. They found me a room to rent above a fisherman's house. It had a view of the lake. I remember one time talking to the fisherman and telling him I wanted a fish. He said, 'how big?' and I told him to fill up the back of his truck. I didn't know at the time but at the end of the day he knocked on my door and said he had my fish. I went down and you wouldn't believe it but he had a salmon that was as big as the tray on his truck! I was shocked, I'd never seen one that big."
"What did you do with it?" I asked.
"Well," he answers, "I had a bath tub in my room, one of those five foot long bath tubs that sat up on small legs. I put it in that, I got into my trunks and I started to cut it up! The tail of the fish was sticking up and out of the bath tub. Afterwards, I gave some of it the other people I knew and put some in a freezer."
Leonard tell's me this story with much enjoyment but he reaches the end and pauses before saying, "I look back now and I don't think I really appreciated the view from that room. It overlooked the lake, it was incredible, and I was just a kid from Oklahoma. I'd like to go back there."
It was the late 1950s when Leonard was in Alaska. He also talked about his enjoyment of blues music, his move to Washington and now living at a farm near Carlton. He went into a lot more detail about his knee operation, then his wife finished her shopping and they left.

   We continued our exploration of the town, taking in the Cultural Centre, art galleries and more stores. A relaxing day in a lovely town. Tonight we will head up to Winthrop for some recommended bars and live music. Leonard's words resonating, appreciate the moment you are in. Thank you Leonard, we will definitely do that.