12/15/2009 A whole lot of Snow fun!!

So here I lay in a cabin in Mt. Rainier National Park.  I first want to say Happy Birthday Mike!  I feel bad I could not call you today but there is no cell service or available phones here in the park!  You are a wonderful older brother and I feel every year I get to know you better than the one before.  I look forward to the future growth in getting to you!

So I have had a great last two days.  Yesterday I took a National Park Service test on scuba diving skills, it was a 2^nd test after passing my scuba diving physical fitness test.  I passed my skills test so all I need to do is turn in some paperwork and I will be officially part of the National Park Service dive team at Olympic.  The team is made up of some really cool people, all pretty much work on Lake Crescent.  I am excited to be part of the team!  One part of the test (luckily in a 12 foot deep pool) was to dive to the bottom in full gear and take off all my gear (my flippers, mask, BCD vest and of course the regulator (for you non-diving folks that is the piece I get oxygen through) then return to the surface, where the instructor then says ok now go put it on.  I tell you diving down with chlorine in your eyes and finding your regulator first (I mean what else would you want first) was awkward but then putting all your gear on under water, well that is a work out and it was very interesting but it worked out. After I finished the test I had about 30 minutes to get home change and meet another Ranger to drive to Mt. Rainier (about 4 hours).  I was pretty exhausted last night.  You may think , well Brian why are you there?  well let me tell you.

I am here for avalanche training.  It was very cool first day, I learned a lot. (one being that running in snowshoes at 5400 feet is exhausting).  The first half of the day was classroom and the second half of the day was n the snow up at paradise.  It was so nice being out in the snow.  I am looking forward to tomorrow and Thursday.  I guess I haven’t told you yet but I am working the winter weekends at Hurricane Ridge.  It sets about 25 minutes above our home in Port Angeles.  It’s also over 5000 feet high, a beautiful place and such easy access.  I am excited about “rangering” there”  My first day was last Sunday and my supervisor showed me the ropes!  OK I better go to bed I have a long day tomorrow.

Today we learned about snow stability.  After the classroom we headed up to paradise to play in the snow.  Our goal was to dig some pits and lean about the layers of snow and how secure it was.  We learned a few different snow tests to understand the avalanche danger, as well as learning how to read the weather and weather trends and try to determine what was going on in avalanche areas, Good Stuff! Anyways…. So we arrive at paradise and split into 3 groups, one instructor per group.  We all headed to a paradise valley, as we started to hike into the trees (the safe trail, since we were at a high avalanche danger) we spread out (which is safer)  I was right behind my instructor and we hit the end of the trees, it was about a 38% slope and another instructor noticed across the valley (a beautiful valley) some crowns (areas where slabs have broke free, they were about 8 feet deep. As we looked around we noticed some cracks in the snow about even where the instructor and I were standing.  I asked him if this made him feel nervous? (I know I was.)  He said yes he was definitely concerned, and he stopped the group.  He said that he had never seen so much avalanche hints at the park there (which meant a lot with his knowledge and experience).  So here I am keeping my eye on the instructor in case something broke loose and he did a few slab tests, I was glad when he was done.  We made our way back up the cliff and found a safe spot to do our dig tests.  So much information I have learned in 2 days and I guess we are so lucky to have seen the conditions on the mountains that we saw.  I wish I had pictures for you but I really don’t want to bring my camera into this weather.  It snowed pretty heavy but wow what a view, I look forward to taking Janelle out on the ridge when I get back home! Tomorrow is my last day, I am excited for it but I am also ready to get back home to Janelle.

Thanksgiving Week in Port Angeles!! 11/26/2009

(you can click on pictures for a closer look)
Saturday night Mama and Papa Johnson arrived in Port Angeles from Minnesota.

I had worked my last day in Kalaloch for the year on Wednesday before, and moved all my gear and 7 months of living stuff back to our new home in Port Angeles. I was Blessed that my work weekend was Thurs. Fri. and Sat. So those days still counted in my work week. These days helped Janelle and I clean and prepare to host our first Thanksgiving. I spent a lot of time in the attack preparing a nice warm cozy room for my newest sister Meredith. You have to take care of family!

Saturday after they arrived we went to my Olympic Park Christmas party, it was nice to introduce my family to my new work-mates. (though I am still getting to know everyone here in Port Angeles)

Sunday morning Leslie, Marlene, J and I went to church, the early service. We had to get home in time for the Seahawks game, they lost ☹ but everyone of us wore a Seahawk Jersey, I am proud of parent Johnsons because the game was against Minnesota. (someone has the picture I have not seen it yet) I continued watching football while Janelle took the parents to see her garden, work and Sequim.

Monday – We met in the morning at J and I’s favorite breakfast place, “Haven”. A place with good size portions, tasty food, coffee cake, scones, muffins and even gluten-free bread. They have great combination plates, my favorite is there Mediterranean omelet. The restaurant has a real homey small town feel to it. It’s also a small place, long room that is very narrow, like a hallway. After breakfast we went to drive to Kalaloch where I spent my summer. We stopped at Lake Crescent, A beautiful long (11 miles) lake that was dug by a glaciers many many years ago, 8000 years ago a mud-slide from the mountain above blocked the valley and it filled with water, it is around 624 feet deep. This summer my dive buddy Morgan and I dove it. We only went around 100 feet deep. It is beautiful clear blue and you can see forever underwater. It has straight down rock wall cliffs, it feels like you are flying along a mountain. Anyways, we took a few pictures and continued on our trip. We arrived at Kalaloch 2 hours later. I showed them my living quarters for the summer and the ranger station. We then went to the Lodge enjoyed lunch while looking out over the ocean. It had been a slightly windy rainy day so the view from inside was warm and pleasant. On our way out we stopped by Big Cedar tree one of the largest cedars in the U.S.A, snapped a few photos and went to Ruby Beach, we didn’t walk the trail down to the beach it was raining pretty hard, but you could see the rock formations in the water just off the beach. A beautiful view! Our next stop was a detour off HWY 101, we went to the Hoh Rain forest, a beautiful rain forest where the trees are covered by a gorgeous green moss, the woods are thick and the trees are all huge. It is one of the few temperate rain forests in the U.S and also one of the largest. It receives around 140-165 inches of rain per year. We were blessed with a herd of Elk that slowly crossed the road right as we were entering the park. I would say there was about 50 plus of them. A few of the elk had antlers, which is a good thing after hunting season. The Hoh River ran right next to the road and campground. What a wonderful diverse area! On our way back we stopped in Forks, J and Marlene looked around the Twilight store as Leslie and I sat on the bench in the front of the store. I bet that bench gets used a lot by all the husbands, boyfriends and dads that make the trip to Forks to satisfy the Twilight groupies. As we got back into Port Angeles we stopped at a Mexican restaurant where the group enjoyed some Kiwi Margaritas, I did have a traditional one on the rocks but the Kiwi ones tasted pretty good too.

Tuesday – Janelle had to work and so I played tourist guide. It was really nice to spend some time with Mama and Papa Johnson. We went out onto Ediz Hook, a large spit that protects the shores of Port Angeles. The Coast Guard has a base out at the tip. We ate lunch at a little dive seafood place at the harbor, great clam chowder and fish and chips! We continued to Sequim, a town about 20 minutes away and went down to Dungeness Spit. It was a spit type of day. We got some coffee in Sequim where Marlene disappeared into her new favorite little shop called Doodle-bugs. After that we headed to the Park Visitor Center where we schmoozed and learned park facts. We sat down and watched a 20 minute movie on the Olympic National Park. What a great day, we finished off with a great chili dinner made by Marlene.

dungeness spit, Sequim

Wednesday – Was a morning of rest. Janelle and I slept in, Mama and Papa Johnson came over just before lunch. After lunch, I went to do the grocery shopping for Thanksgiving day. I was gone for about 2 hours trying to make sure I didn’t forget a item. I believe Leslie found a cozy spot on the couch and kept the couch warm. Janelle and Marlene baked pumpkin and Apple Pie as well as made a wonderful Pork Butte for dinner. Janelle here on the left gives a smile as she gets in a pie making frame of mind.  Here is a picture of me preparing some stuff the night before, cutting onions with my scuba diving googles on.  Later Leslie and I went out to buy a Thanksgiving table and a extra pie plate. I ended up getting a nice piece of 4 by 8 plywood. I cut the corners off making it a nice oval shape and added some 2 by 4’s to the bottom so it would fit over our small dining room table. It turned out great! Late that night my parents and Meredith arrived. Mama and Papa Doo picked Meredith up at the airport and made great time in getting to P.A. (Port Angeles). I believe they drove straight onto the ferry. We saved them some Pork Butte and we quickly called it a night. Oh yeah, of course the day was filled with Pork Butte jokes.

Leslie straightening out the table after single handedly carrying it into the house.

Meredith adds some Turkey Spirit

Moms prepare to set the table

Nothing like a smile and a swig of olive oil!

Thursday – I got up all by myself at 7am while everyone slept in. I needed to prep the Turkey, my first Turkey and I wanted it to turn out not just good but great. (thank you Uncle Craig for the pre-help with the Turkey, great game-plan)  That was my goal for the whole meal. I love to cook and I don’t like to follow recipe’s. For me, I feel food should be part of a mood or feeling so to follow a recipe may fit your mood but to make something without a recipe on feeling and food is to adapt it perfect for that day and meal. I have to be honest I was pretty nervous about the whole meal, cooking for all your loved ones is a big deal to me and I wanted everything to turn out great. I pretty much told all the parents that Janelle and I were cooking this first Thanksgiving dinner and we did not want any help ☺  We really wanted to host and take care of the family. To give all the parents credit they did a good job of letting us cook. You know, that is hard for a parent to do, for them to just relax and enjoy the day. They and Meredith did help set up the living room for the big feast. I was excited to see that the dining room table I put together the night before worked out well. Leslie later said that he was impressed with Janelle and my ability to team work in the kitchen. (That made us feel pretty good.) Janelle and Meredith got up around 9 am when the first football game started. It was nice to have a view of the TV from the kitchen. The rest of the family showed up soon after as well as a new friend of J and I’s, Matt who also works for the park. He was away from family for Thanksgiving so we adopted him in. The Turkey came out a nice and golden brown and it finished about 2pm, right on schedule. Janelle was in charge of a Brussels sprout dish, she sautéed them in garlic and scallions and topped them with melted parmesan. She also made a beautiful Spinach and glazed pecan salad with raisons and a balsamic vinaigrette. We started dinner with a nice gentle amuse bouche. It was a vegetarian broth with some smoked salmon, a chanterelle, a half cut cherry tomato and a drop or two of truffle oil. It was a nice warm up for the palate. It reminded me of my Canlis days.  The other courses were the stuffing, which for the life of me I can not remember all the ingredients, but I do remember more chanterelles and raisons. The gravy, (which also doesn’t come to mind) I know both sets of parents are cringing right now because they love to lecture me on writing down my creations. I do know it had a pound of chanterelles that I had picked this summer and the perfect amount of truffle oil. I had substituted a Cauliflower mash instead of mashed potatoes. It was cauliflower cooked and mixed with butter, cream cheese, sour cream, roasted garlic and chives. MMMM MMMMM GOOD! The truffle oil and Chanterelle Gravy went perfect with it.

In a substitute for the can of cranberry, shaped as the can, my family is traditionally all for, I made a beet, cranberry and carrot sauce with honey and clover, the texture turned out beautiful and it was the perfect match with the turkey.  I was in creative mood so I decided I would try to make my first mushroom duxelle. I used mostly boletes (porcini mushrooms) king, queen and admiral boletes, all I had picked from the summer/fall but I also mixed in some chanterelles. You first chop them up into tiny pieces (aka duxelle) I sautéed them up in butter to where a few were getting crispy I also added in scallions, bacon, green olives, roasted garlic and port. It had a nice consistent texture and it was full of flavor, boletes are amazing mushrooms. Finally we made some garlic bread with homemade roasted garlic and butter.  While we were cooking we passed around the Port bottle, everyone at the house took at least one swig, I think we created a new tradition for this Doolittle family Thanksgiving. We had a few different wines to compliment the meal (all of course in there correct glass). A buttery Chardonnay, a light Pinot Noir were the main two we had with the meal.  After a hour or two of hibernation on the floor and couch and where ever you could find the space to lye down we enjoyed Janelle/Marlenes pumpkin and apple pie with vanilla ice cream. HEAVEN. We finished a puzzle everyone had taken turns working on throughout the day and of course the Packers won! A Blissful beautiful day that Janelle and I truly enjoyed spending time with all the family. I did really miss Mike, Carrie, Mary Jean and Alex but they had other family they had to attend too. It’s hard to get everyone together now-adays. It was a day Janelle and I will never forget! Thank you!
puzzlen

Victoria, B.C

Friday – On Friday we all got up by 7AM, yes you read that correctly 7AM so we could get ready and catch a ferry to Victoria BC , Canada at 8am. Janelle and I had a hot dog at 8:15 for breakfast mmm mmm nutritious. The ferry takes about an hour and drops you off in downtown Victoria.  We walked onto the ferry because there is no need for a car because everything is so close to the waterfront. It was a beautiful day as you can tell from the pictures. It wasn’t very busy either. You see it was black Friday and any city in the U.S was probably a zoo, but in Canada they have a different day for there “Thanksgiving”. 
Can you believe they let this crew through the border check

No Comment!

Awwwwww

 We didn’t do much buying but what a great place to go shopping if you are normally a black Friday shopper. OK enough talking about that, since shopping isn’t my thing, I am a buyer, meaning I already know what I want before I go to a store. Anyways, we did see a lot of shops, we tried on some Chinese hats in China town and posed next to statues, the moms went to the Christmas village while Meredith, Janelle, Papas X2 and I went to the Irish Times Pub for a stiff drink, well I had Scotch the rest of them had hottie totties. We ended up having lunch at a place called Sticky Wicket pub & restaurant. We had a fun little dart tournament there, lets just say Meredith and my dad got a little competitive with each other, the funny thing is they tied for last, I had my “A” game on, and Janelle took second. Victoria was beautiful! We all had such a good time hanging out. I think my dad took like 800 pictures. He is quick on the trigger. We caught the 4pm Ferry back to P.A and were ordering Gordy’s Pizza by 5:30pm (That is Janelle and my favorite pizza place, it is soooo good!) We had a Mediterranean pizza, yummy. We played games the rest of the night. (Oh I would get in trouble if I did not mention that Mama Doo won a poker game against all of us, very impressive! Meredith was the runner-up.)

The whole Crew!

Saturday – I know Mama and Papa Doo had breakfast at Havens and Mama and Papa Johnson joined them for coffee. Meredith, Janelle and I slept in, we can’t keep up with those kids! We met up with all of them in downtown P.A where we did some more looking around and Christmas shopping. The Johnsons including Janelle had lunch at Ricks Restaurant while I drove back with my parent to our place to grab some stuff. My parents took off for Seattle and the Johnsons met back at our place. The Johnson and I went to the top of Hurricane Ridge so they could see the beautiful view.  It is where I am working this winter, unfortunately there was low clouds so they didn't get to see the view but we enjoyed the snow. The rest of the day was just hanging out and playing games

Sunday- Not to much to tell sadly. Meredith, Mama and Papa Johnson left for the airport and Janelle and I vegged and watched football all day.

It was a very special week for Janelle and I, we had so much fun hosting Thanksgiving. It was nice to take care of family and spend so much time with all of them. It is to bad we all live so far apart ☹ We love you all and we very much missed all the family who couldn’t come that week. We are thankful for all our family and friends! God Bless!

P.S sorry for all the typo’s it was a long quick “write” specially since I am so behind! ☺

10/30/09 POWER down!!

So here I am sitting in the dark by candle light. I just finished my left over fried rice and chow mein from dinner in Forks. I am drinking a little Scotch and Powering Down. Why? Well fortunately and maybe a little unfortunately I am forced too. The power is out for the third time this month in Kalaloch. I don’t know about you but I love it when the power goes out. It forces you to relax.

Back to the Scotch, it warms the soul, I am drinking a MacAllan Cask strength scotch from the highlands. A sip warms your body all the way down to your toes.

Isn’t the power out a blessing?

First you need Candlelight, you know how a flame no matter how small or big relaxes the mind. There is something about the color and magic of a flame. The rhythm it flickers across your eyes must slow the heart rate down. The shadows it moves across your apartment and the different shades of light it shows.

Second, you are more in tune to the noises, hear in Kalaloch there are a lot of different noises if you listen. you have a steady roar of waves on the ocean beach, you can always hear them. It’s a low continuous roar, it doesn’t seem to change much. I believe it sounds the same on a sunny day or a stormy night but it’s beautiful! It like the background of a picture, you notice it if you want too.

Third, the wind, I guess the winds tonight could get up to around 50 mph, they have already taken down a few trees on the roads. But, the wind makes a different noise then the waves, it’s a little higher pitched, sometimes a little whistling mixed in, you can hear the fluttering of the leaves move from far to closer, amazing. If you listen really close you can here the trees creek and crackle, a thump now and then from a broken branch or maybe a whole tree fell.

When I look out the window, I can see sheets of rain moving across the ground, though now it’s hard to see cause it’s pitch black outside, So the rain is easy to hear because my apartment has a metal roof so I can hear the quick rhythm move across the ceiling, it gets quicker then slower, moves left then right and gets louder and softer always changing.

Another sip of scotch ☺

I decided to add John Denver to this soundtrack I am listening too. (Technology (with the power out), here I am typing on a computer while listening to music from it, I am glad it is helping me capture this night) John Denver is some great stuff to listen too with his stories of the outdoors, I love John!

Well to move on, today I spent the day in the wind and rain doing firearm qualifications. I was a little nervous, I was shooting with all the permanent Rangers, plus we don’t shoot very often, if you know what I mean. The permanent Rangers here have all been really cool and helpful, they don’t do anything to make me feel nervous, but I can’t help feeling it, this is there year round job and they see many seasonals (that’s me) come and go. You feel like a rookie showing up for the first day of practice, you want to show them what you got and blend in with the chemistry. The shooting went well, I passed all my qualification on the first try. I do enjoy shooting, I hope to own a couple guns so I can practice in the off time, it would also be nice to get into hunting. We all left the range really wet but hey you never know what the situation will be like when an unfortunate time comes when you have to un-holster your weapon.

I got back to the apartment around 7:30 pm, (you see we are required to do a night shoot when its dark, the qualifications is a all day event with at least 3 different weapons) I quickly put on a comfortable pair of sweats and through on some hot water for a french press coffee. I needed energy! Janelle is coming tomorrow and I have not had anytime to clean up. Now I know what your thinking, but it’s not true. I don’t clean up because I am worried about Janelle’s response, no, I clean up because if I don’t Janelle will spend most of her time here cleaning instead of relaxing. Her last visit she did not move from the couch for maybe 8 hours straight, it consisted of mostly naps and reading. It makes me feel real good when I see her relaxed. I remember another time this summer when I had borrowed Ernies Wii (it’s for activity style video games). Janelle spent the WHOLE day playing the drums on rock band, she’s really good. I would take a break from work to say hi and she would be sweating. She wouldn’t stop playing she would just talked to me while playing. That was fun, if I can attach a video I will, I recorded her playing on my phone, good stuff!

Anyways, I was cleaning the apartment, I have laundry still wet in the dryer waiting for power and I am about 75% done with the cleaning, though I need power for the vacuum too. I could not resist this chance to relax when the power went out. I hope it’s out tomorrow too so I can share this storm with Janelle.

Another sip of Scotch, mmmm. By the way, if you are a Scotch drinker you have to have a Scotch glass, it tastes better! It look better! It feels better! Trust me.

I wish I could record the sounds here... amazing, you all should come visit! Maybe for Thanksgiving we can have another power out, well after the Turkey’s cooked!

OK well I better finish up, I going to try and clean a few more things by candlelight and then I am going to read until I fall asleep. God Bless!

AND Yeh for my Uncle John, he is doing much better! John! get up here and show me how to hunt!

Good Night ALL!

Our New Home and a little past info!

As most of you have hear Janelle and I moved to Port Angeles at the start of October. It has been so nice living here. Our living room window has a view of Mt Angeles and we can hear the ferry horn blow (but not to loud). Janelle has started her practice and she is quickly getting through the growing pains of getting her new business on its feet. I am so proud of her. She spent 9 years in school to become a Doctor, but only received maybe a 16 hour lecture on how to be a business woman. Now she is tackling both at the same time. GO JANELLE!!! She gets most joy from seeing her patients, it's all the other stuff that tightens the curls in her hair, but she is doing it. As she gets further into the business things will become more simple. Your prayers are much appreciated!

I am still working in the Southwest District, stationed in Kalaloch, it's about a 1.5 hour drive. It has been everything I have been looking for in a job. It has many dimensions and you never know what the next day is going to bring. Some of the focuses during the summer were beach patrol (consist of walking the beaches during the day and night. The night usually found the most situations as you would step into a groups fire light and surprise them with "Good evening, Park Ranger" as you could imagine the underagers, drugs and drunks etc.. There are also around 300 campsites in the Southwest District, so campground patrol gave a lot of variety as well, once again a night walk through the campground a hour after quiet hours usually had the most interesting situations. Patrolling traffic was good experience, we have highway 101 going right through the park, so you could work traffic as much as a person could want, it's a 13 mile stretch that goes from 60 to 45 to 55. We did have a few motor vehicle accidents which puts you into 2 roles (Law Enforcement and EMT). This summer we had a dozen plus EMS calls (heart attacks, broken hips, alcohol poisoning, knife wound, car accidents etc, our ambulances are 30 minutes away so it gave you plenty of time to work on the subjects. We also have some back roads that are used for fishing, if they are not fishing or sight seeing they usually are up to something they are not supposed too. In Quinault there are in-holders (people that own houses on park land) it's a neighborhood so we get 911 calls for DV's and loud neighbors and etc etc, so I was able to enter a few houses, even retrieve to people wanted with warrants in Florida, that was cool since one tried to hide. I had a dozen warrants I came across, most were releases because county jails were full. Now, our focus is mainly on hunting around the boundary of the park and fishing. You see you can't hunt in a National Park but hunter comb the outside of the park and sometimes illegally on purpose or accident shoot a nice Elk (or other animal) just inside the park. These are the big numbers of people we are seeing, we still do the other stuff but it's a lot quieter. Anyways that was my summer of work in a nutshell, I have about 2 more months left to work before I am done till next May.

BUT.....I wrote this to tell and show you our house and neighborhood. We have a 3 bedroom place with a large fenced in yard and a garage that is separate from the house. The people before had many flowers around the house as well as tomato plants, we have had tomato's growing out our ears. They are wonderful but are just coming to an end. THere was also some corn and cucumber plants which we have utilized as well. We have heard P.A (Port Angeles) is a great place for gardening, Janelle is really excited for spring, she will have lots of space to repeat her gardening experience from this summer, I will post that picture as well (from her garden in Seattle) I am loving having a garage, I have been trying to organize it. I love having a place to use my tools! I will build Janelle a gardening corner. Our 3 rooms have been designated as bedroom, office and spare bedroom, it's nice to know we can house company since all our family and friends live at least 2 hours away.

P.A is a beautiful little city (I believe around 18,000 people). The restaurants have a lot of character to them, they are all like the little places in the city you fall in love with, real food! The ocean is no more than a mile away, a easy walk. There is a ferry that goes to Victoria, Canada. I do think everyone should try and visit Victoria at least once. The ferry drops you off in downtown so you don't need to bring a car. It's a big city with personality. It is great for shopping, restaurants, theatre, art, or just sight seeing. It is also a great Island to scuba dive off of!! On the other side of us are the mountains. The Olympic National Park (my employer)we are a 30 minute drive to hurricane ridge a beautiful spot that looks over ALL the mountains, I will post a good picture of Janelle from this summer on the ridge. There are more hikes than we could probably ever do in this park, but we will try!!! This area is also the best river fishing area in the state, some beautiful rivers flow out of the peninsula. So I look forward to learning all of them, I have learned two already and I will post a picture of some fish I pulled from one. Lake Crescent is 20 minutes away, it's a crystal clear blue lake that is around 600 feet deep carved from glaciers. I scuba dived it this summer and the underwater rock cliffs and walls are beautiful, they go forever down!! So are are many beautiful lakes to kayak on, as well as the ocean (because our beach runs east and west, we don't get much for waves). There is amazing hunting here as well but I have not gotten into that hobby "yet". I have gotten into mushroom hunting, I have learned the Morel, chanterelle, oyster, shaggy main, bolete (porcini) chicken of the wood, and the different russula's plus of course some poisoness mushrooms, a fun hobby!! Everything in the town is within about 5 miles from our house, Janelle has road her bike to work a few times. We live a half block from the main field where soccer takes place, football games etc. I have already walked over there once to try and pick up a soccer game. We also live a few blocks from our new gym, the YMCA, it's a nice community place. Janelle is in the middle of rating her favorite coffee shops, I think she has at least 4 rated so far. This seems like a warm community and Janelle and I are looking forward to becoming part of it. Here are some pics of our house!


our front view from window, Mt. Angeles

living room left half

living room right half

bedroom

office

spare bedroom south side

spare bedroom northside

living room into dining room/kitchen

dining room (sorry for the angel

stove view of dining room

kitchen and wife

kitchen view over sink

patio with BBQ and fire pit

backyard

alley view of garage and back of house

OUR HOME!

Diggin It!! 10/19/2009

Wow am I happy! Do you ever have that really content satisfying feeling after putting together some new food dishes for yourself? Well I want to share my experience.

Yesterday was the last of 2 days of razor clam digging on the Kalaloch beaches. This was the first “dig” in a long time because the beaches have been closed for about 5 years to try and help the razor clam numbers grow. For work I had to patrol the beaches for the last 2 days, checking peoples counts and making sure they were following regulations. It was a good shift, a little variety from the past shifts (which is a big part of being a Ranger (Variety)). I have my shellfish license and watching all the people (hundreds) have fun with there families and kids really made me wish there was one more day open, maybe a day I would have off. Well.. the tide was a late one, close to 7:30pm and by then it was already really dark, most everyone had left. The other Rangers and I made a few final sweeps across the beach and headed out. My shift ended at 9:30pm and I decided to throw on my waders and head lamp and make a dash back to the beach to try and dig my limit.

While combing the shoreline for “nipples” (razor clam lingo for the little hole they make in the surface of the sand) I notice maybe 3 other lights out on the beach looking for the prized clams. It was so dark I couldn’t see much more than my light showed me. One of the lights made it my way. It was a gentlemen who worked at the local correction facility and got off work late both last night and tonight. The guy shared that last night he couldn’t find any in the dark, uh ohh.

We worked together and had a great time and great conversation as we took turns digging as we came across many “nipples” ☺ We both limited after about an hour, it was awesome. I can’t wait to take Janelle clam digging, I know she would have a hoot!

Well if any of you have ever caught razor clams, well they aren’t like normal clams where you leave them in a bucket of water to clean themselves. No, you have to basically dissect them to clean them and take them from the shell (creating razor clam steaks). That was what I was up to tonight after work. Just after work I helped my Ranger friend with her bike and looking at her ocean view yard I made a discovery. I saw my first King Bolete and a couple admiral boletes. You may say, HUH?? Boletes have another name you may have heard… Porcini, the king boletes are the most prized and many say the best mushroom overall. They have a nice nutty flavor to them, so I have heard. That was my second project clean and prepare these boletes.

I cooked a few of the razor clams. What I did was I dipped them in egg yolk and then in a flower mixed with many seasoning and fried them golden brown and wow did they taste good. Then I sautéed a little bit of the two different boletes, separately, but both in butter, garlic and salt and pepper.

I am telling you these to “appetizers” were amazing. There is a wonderful nuttiness to the boletes and there texture is great. The razor clams were nice and tender in the middle with a crispy outside. I had to maintain my self not to cook up them all!

I am looking forward to bringing some home to share with Janelle tomorrow for dinner. There is something really satisfying to finding or catching your own food. I have put a lot of time into identifying mushrooms and I have learned a whole lot (and yes mom I am really careful). If I had a choice to be doing one thing it would be to be with my wife. If she wasn’t around, my second choice would be to be doing something in the outdoors. I feel really lucky to have so many amazing blessings in my life!!

FISH ON!! 10/05/2009

Well I have a lot of time to make up on the blog, but since I am not in the mood to think back too far into my summer yet, I will start with the last week.

Last week was my salmon week. I landed my first ever river salmon on the Queets river. I had a day off and decided to make a whole day out of the adventure. I walked down from the Salmon Bridge to the mouth where it dumped into the Queets. A week earlier my dad had a HUGE fish on which decided to wrap itself around a branch underwater and escape.

I got to the river and it was a gorgeous cloudy day, perfect for fishing. I brought myself a six pack, some homemade jerky and spicy cheese-its, a meal any fishermen could enjoy. The fish were rolling and I was excited for my chances. I tried everything, finally throwing on the wiggle wart, 3 hours later all I had was about 3 beers and a lot of jerky and cheese-its. I went for the impossible cast over a branch knowing the wiggle wart floats until you reel I felt it was a good chance to get it into a deep hole. Well… I over threw it and it went across the river and stuck into a tree. I couldn’t believe it, those things cost 6 bucks! I decided I needed a break from fishing. I had noticed some broken lines in various spots on the other side of the river, so I decided I would get my wiggle wart back and improve my tackle box. It was hard to cross the river but I made it without getting wet. The far side bank was covered with downed roots and trees from winter storms. It was hard maneuvering and climbing and at times, I put total faith into my balance a few times I probably shouldn’t have but it worked out. In the end I retrieved my wiggle wart and also gained 7 more lures/spoons. I was pretty happy about my find! I got back to my side of the bank and I knew I was going to catch a fish. It didn’t happen. I had been on the river for 6 hours and no fish, I was ready to head back to my truck I wanted to pick chanterelles before it got dark. On my way up the river I spotted another lure stuck across the stream, I decided to go for it, I took my rod with me and after securing the lure I tried one more cast while I was standing in rushing knee high water. I through the cast….I got ticked I got snagged….oh……but……wait! My snag jumped out of the water a waved its tail at me. FISH ON!! Now all I needed to do was get back to shore, I still don’t know how I managed not to fall but I got to shore and landed my first Silver caught on a river. I then raised my hands in the air to accept the applause, I turned south and north, east and west, yelling "thank you, thank you" Of course no one else was out there but it felt good! Half of it fed four Rangers that night, I served it with some pan seared chanterelles in a garlic butter sauce mmmmm, I ate the other half the next day for breakfast lunch and dinner.

Few day later Ernie, Christina and I went to the Hoh and fished by the mouth. I caught 4 fish that day and Ernie caught one MONSTER fish. I think I would of traded Ernie my four catches to get to reel in that large Silver. I sent one fish to Ernie’s dad to get smoked, 3 fillets to Janelle and I have been eating the other fillets daily. I also caught one last salmon yesterday. So I have made a chanterelle broth salmon soup, I have been playing with different sauces to top the fillets and I have also taken slices and soaked them in a light salt water solution with cayenne and a drip of liquid smoke, today I dehydrated them and they turned out to be a tasty salmon jerky. I have kept the eggs for future fishing trips but the next hen I catch I will use the eggs to make caviar

Chanterelles and salmon have been about 70% of my diet lately and it still isn’t getting old!