I have been looking forward to my month of babysitting and now it has begun! Silas’ summer babysitter is back in school and his parents don’t want to put him in daycare until he is one year old (Sept 28). That gives Grammy the opportunity to spend quaility time with the little guy for a month. Because of Kerry’s schedule, Silas only needs care 3 days a week, max. Kerry works 12 hour days then has 3 days off and then the next time, 2 days off. He has two weekends a month off as well. It is a great schedule but the tradeoff is those long work days. Meghan is off on weekends. It all works out.
Still, even a few days at a time is exhausting for Grammy! I am using muscles that apparently have been dormant, like the ones used for lifting him up and sneaking hugs all day long! And walking upstairs while carrying his 25 pounds! It is all a great work out for me and I am thankful to call upon those muscles.
On my day off yesterday, I drove about an hour north towards Colville, WA, to Little Pend Oreille Wildlife Refuge. If I went much further I would have been in British Columbia; in fact, the mountainous terrain and wide valleys reminded me of Southern BC, where I crossed over last spring on my way to Alaska.
Unlike most refuges that are centered on water habitats, this one is heavily forested, with the LIttle Pend D’Orielle River running through the middle. Unlike Western Washington, which has the Cascades, the Rockies run through here as they wander into Canada. The Ponderosa Pine terrain is super dry and the fire danger high. The refuge is due for a wildfire, which will rejuvenate it. Anyway, Tango and I hiked on some of the closed roads and explored along a small lake.
Wolves are not on the refuge but they are making a comeback in the area. Unfortunately, they have been preying on cattle and were going to be killed off until a court intervened for now. It is such a sad thing, with no easy solution. Black bears live there, so I dug out my Alaska bear spray and carried it in the fanny pack.
I have visited most of the northern part of Washington state (east to west) and am excited to find that it is so remote and wild. Except for the fertile valleys, much of the land is protected in National Forests and National Parks.I crossed intto BC last spring through Omack and the Okanagan Valley. I returned near Seattle and explored Mt. Baker and part of the North Cascades. Now, I am wandering around the Northeastern border and it is still so beautiful. Every section is unique – familiar but I have never seen anything quite like it before.
Olympic Peninsula, far left, assorted mountain ranges across the northern border
I have not yet explored the coast and the Olympic Peninsula. Soon! I have a reservation for November and December in Sequim, WA (pronounced Sqwim). It is on the northern section of the peninsula in a rain shadow. I have read that Sequim gets very little rain compared to the rest of the area, so I am hopeful that I will enjoy it there. It is the lavender capital of Washington and is also quite coastal. It is my first stop in the experiment of finding a winter location closer to Spokane.
So, life is good, and I still have time to explore, which is what Tango and I enjoy the most. I had been thinking seriously about starting an Etsy shop with home-sewn things for RVs, but I did one more cost analysis and decided I would barely even break even and so decided against it. It is so difficult to make money on hand-made items. I don’t need busy work. Some have been successful on Etsy, but I decided that I don’t want to invest the time! I may play around again with starting another website or I may look for some kind of real work—just a few hours a week. I want to do some overseas travel in the near future and want to start saving for that! It was in the budget before, but the cost of living in WA is higher so I have to start getting creative for my travel money!
In the meantime, I am enjoying my relatively quiet fall!
