Elk Hunting

Going elk hunting has really changed over the years.  Some of our first trips were in a summer tent and the freezing weather would make icicles on the inside of it.  For a few years, Bill packed in with our horses and stayed in wall tents.  Sometimes, he would just drive to and from the hunting areas.  Well, for the last four years Bill and I and Kay and Lee (Teri's sister and her hubby) have taken our travel trailers to elk camp.  Bill and Lee do a great job of doing whatever needs to be done around camp so that Teri and Kay will be warm and comfy.  It's a good system.  The gals cook dinners but the rest of day we enjoy reading, visiting and walking and the guys get to hunt all they want.

We very comfy in our travel trailer and spend a lot of time using it.  Our travels, fishing trips and elk camps which always include family and friends have created a lot of special memories for us.

The success for this elk season was Jason's boss, Chad Hummel, filling his special cow elk permit.  The only glitch in Chad's hunting trip was when a rock fell on his travel trailer on his trip home.  He said it sounded like something exploded when the rock hit it.  The rock was about 6 x 18 inches in size and caused about $8,000 of damage which fortunately his insurance will cover.

The last two years we have camped in a gravel pit which keeps us out of the trees (not so worried when the wind blows) and provides good drainage when it rains or snows.  We got to watch this truck driver load some gravel with the front end loader, leave to deliver the gravel somewhere and then come back to get the front end loader.

The last campfire of the elk season.

Lee and Kay are hooking up their trailer to make the trip home to Puyallup.  We were happy that the weather was good as it takes some time to break camp.  Actually, the weather was quite good for the two and a half weeks that we camped.  We had a couple of wind storms but the guys had the awnings and everything else anchored well.   

Had to have some pictures before we headed our separate ways - Kay and Lee to Puyallup on the westside of the mountains and Bill and Teri to Tieton on the eastside of the mountains.

Jason was drawn for a special deer permit for the Tacoma watershed.  Once he was drawn for the permit, he had to complete a lot of forms to be able to hunt in the watershed which he was happy to do.  It's like a private hunting area because only a limited number of hunters are allowed to hunt there.  This special hunt was after the regular elk season.  Bill really wanted to go with Jason but he was on jury duty.  After several days of hunting as he was heading home for the day, this buck ran in front of him.  Good job, Jason, and thanks to Beau Burkett who hunted with Jason during most of the season.

Fall Fun

We always enjoy watching the hummingbirds out the kitchen window.  This particular hummingbird seems to have forgotten to migrate.  He was still hanging around and it was almost the end of October.

On a recent trip over White Pass, the fall colors were beautiful.  The road work continues in spite of all the color and beauty around it.  They have done a lot of improvements on the pass recently.  New paving in places and shoring up the slopes to prevent falling rocks.

Brandon is preparing his trumpet for a fall concert.  Their band is huge and we applaud the teachers for the great job they have done with students.  Each concert shows much improvement in skills.

Courtney and Megan always enjoy the pumpkin patch.  These are great pictures taken at Hunter's Pumpkin Patch near Olympia.  (Thank you, Facebook, for letting me borrow them.)

Bill and I and Kay and Lee spent a little over two weeks camping near Rimrock Lake on White Pass so the guys could go elk hunting.  There will be a separate post on elk hunting.  Kay and I took one day for a field trip.  The first thing we did was to meet our sister, Coralee, in Graham at the Mongolian Grill to celebrate Coralee's birthday.  We got together on her actual birthday, October 26th.  We enjoyed visiting since it isn't often that we are all together in one place.  It was fun.  We had a server take this picture, and all I can say is, we aren't getting older we are getting better.  This is probably my favorite picture of us.

The next stop on our field trip was at my granddaughter's, Merry, fastpitch softball game in Yelm.  She was walked several times but made it around the bases for runs for her team.  Their team only lost 1 game during the entire season.  This loss was to the team from the other school from Yelm.  They will combine the two teams at the high school.  They should be a really awesome team.  Look forward to watching some of the games next year.

The last stop on the field trip was to Brett's new residence.  He is renting this park model home near Yelm which has everything that he needs in a home.  It's brand new and really cute.  We enjoyed seeing him and his place.  We also delivered a TV to him that was given to him by his sister, Becky.  Following a stop at Subway in Eatonville for dinner, Kay and I got back to camp about 9:00 pm without a hitch.  It was a very good day.

While Jason was with us at elk camp, Courtney went to a Halloween costume party at her friend's, Dynnette Brill, place.  Courtney is the flapper on the left.  Isn't she cute and funny?  We think so.  Look for the post on elk hunting near Rimrock Lake.