Fortunately, we are good at going with the flow, so this morning we are listening to the Eagles game on the radio. The Eagles are ahead at the moment, but they are playing dismally as usual. Messy. We may have to switch to watching the Phillies only, and forget about the Eagles. Go Phillies!!
I am going to take you back to Missoula, Montana. While we were there, we drove downtown to the city park, which is on the Clark Fork River. Clark Fork flows through the middle of Missoula, so it seems to be everywhere. The day was overcast.
We were entertained for quite awhile by several people who were practicing whitewater kayaking. Although the Clark Fork is rated a Class I through Missoula (ie, not much whitewater), there is a small falls that seems to be a favorite place to practice. These small canoes are highly maneuverable. The guy in the green canoe was really good, the best of the bunch. Here, he is steering by using the paddle as a rudder over the back of his head.
They took turns. There seems to be a well-established etiquette.
Here's the guy in green again. He was very good at surfing above the whitewater for a long period of time, and turning quickly from one side to the other:
The guy in the blue kayak was fun to watch too. He turned upside down every time he went out, and it took him awhile to turn upright. Either he was practicing turning upright, or he was really bad. I shouldn't talk - I'm sure I couldn't do it!
The two dogs on the shore seemed concerned. They watched their masters very carefully!
These were taken with my iPhone, so aren't the best. The guy in the blue kayak had to dump the water from his kayak. There was a lot of water in it:
The Eagles just lost. They must be the worst team in football history! What a lousy team. It was the Eagles 23 the other team 3 at half time!! The other team is rated 32 in defense, one of the worst! The Eagles need serious work. ~sigh~
Eagles announcer: "This broadcast cannot be reproduced without permission. Who would want to see it?"
The other team, by the way, is the San Francisco 49er's. They used to be my favorite team, when I lived in the SF Bay Area and the quarterback was Joe Montana and the receiver was Jerry Rice. It was an easy team to love.
I have to admit though, Philadelphia sports teams are fun to watch because of the fans. The mood of the city is palpable from week to week, depending on whether the Eagles are winning or losing. Thank heavens for the Phillies! By the way, are you people from the West Coast familiar with the Phillies Phanatic? He is the best sports mascot ever:
(Not my photo. Borrowed from Web. Please don't use for other purposes.)
Please excuse my outburst and off-topic babbling. Blogs are good for narcissistic outbursts of self-expression.
Now back to our trip. I was talking about Missoula and the Clark Fork River. The Clark Fork flows west into Idaho, and eventually into the Columbia River. Lewis named it the Valley Plain River. It changed names at least 8 times through the last 200 years. Here is a little bit more of the Lewis and Clark story, through interpretive signs next to the river in downtown Missoula:
Lewis and Clark returned through the Bitterroot Mountains and the Missoula area in 1806, but the trip was much easier this second time:
As I said, we are currently in Ellensburg, Washington, just east of the Cascade mountain range. It is very dry here, similar at this time of year in much of California. I took the following photo half way between Spokane, in eastern Washington, and Ellensburg:
The town of Ellensburg itself is in a large valley, used primarily for agriculture. The Yakima River flows through the town, and eventually flows into the Columbia River. The Yakima Valley is less rocky than the area where the photo above was taken.
Don't feel sorry for us. There are some good restaurants in town. Last night I had clams on linguine, cooked in wine and garlic, with Creme Caramel for desert. I had a very good Riesling, from the Seven Hills Winery, located in a valley next to the Columbia River. Not bad!
