Off Into The Gray's River

Happy 4th of July. Stay safe this holiday season. Be checking in with you later!

Long Lines, Demobilization and the Drive Home

Thursday evening found supervisor Dick and myself touring the flood areas north of Lander. It was a stunning evening. The waters and flooding threat in Lander had receded. Folks were starting to amp up to get out. They call it the "glide path". When the direction changes from getting 'er done to getting out, it becomes a race to be the first ones out! I waited an hour and a half in the Finance line today as workers, equipment operators, and staff plodded through the archaic process of handwriting and hand checking numbers.

Concern shifted to the north with the Big Wind river rising thanks to a significant rain Wednesday night in the Togwotee Mountains which feed this river. I drove along this river on my way home today admiring the river's giant round boulders with raging foamy water rushing downstream. There was plenty of water, but it looked like a normal spring runoff.

So, just like that, I am home, the threat seems over and I ponder all I have learned from this experience. Many folks very willingly offered-up suggestions and I will compile these notes should Teton County see a flood. The week was an amazing experience in watching the Incident Command System at work, the willingness of 43 agencies to work together, the local support and appreciation and my gratitude at being a part, albeit a very small part, of the Freemont Flood of 2010. Thanks for sending me, Chief!

Click here for slide show

The Second Flood that Did Not Come

Today's report; 289 people on the ground working with 72 pieces of equipment. Two Blackhawk helicopters. 500,000 filled sandbags and that many more unfilled. The rivers rise, but ever so slightly!

Just the two of us on the night time shift. Originally it was thought that tonight might be the big night of rising waters and evacuations. Not so. At least right now. I have made my river rounds, doing a visual on river height. Our job, as the only two mobile with eyes on the river streams, is to alert the higer-ups should there be a significant change in water flow. They say it takes 8 hours for the water to make it to town from the mountain cirques.

Now, I am parked next to the Holiday Inn Express, poaching the wireless to make this late post. Before it fell dark tonight, Dick Terry and I scouted the low lands of concern in the light. My time to post is best suited for right now.

Photography is limited on night time shifts. Our scenario with the Guard went great last night. Dick and I even got in there and moved sandbags with the crew. It was nice to get the heart rate up and work side by side with the guys and gals from the Guard throwing bags. The word came down today; no more sandbags. Most likely, many filled here will end up in other parts of Wyoming in need.

I will demob on Friday after the 10am briefing. The drive back to Jackson won't be easy, having been awake all night. I'll pull over and sleep if needed. Even though everyone hopes this second flood won't come, much work has been put into protecting the town. Everyone wants to be a hero and those here are no different; a bit of let down will be felt if the waters don't even try the dikes and sandbags that were placed to foil the river's encroachment.

Time to go. Time will tell if the second flood will come to this 32 square mile event.

Calm before the Storm?

Temperatures went up to 80 plus degrees today and the waters are responding equally. Tonight's night shift may very well see high waters, although tomorrow night is the big concern. Day crews are building up sandbag dikes, reinforcing the weak spots. A practice emergency scenario will be conducted with the night crew and National Guard. Much concern exits (amongst us fire folks) that the lack of communication with the Guard sets us all up for disaster. Ummmm, LCES, right? Should be a good scenario tonight. Sorry that pictures may be impossible. This night work is tough on the photographer!

Accommodations are found at the local high school. I have procured a Red Cross cot in a very dark gymnasium with just the right white noise. No one else is sleeping at 1 in the afternoon. Awake at 4pm, rested and ready to go! A nice shower in the girls locker room and a meal of sushi from Safeway. Life is good!!

The sandpits are where the real work for this flood gets done. Thousands upon thousands of sand bags are filled 24-7 by local volunteers and Guardsmen. The guard folks are amazing to watch. Like a team of ants, they fill, tie, toss, pile, move and move the 50 pound plus bags from pit to the place of need. They are a working machine. Well rehearsed and orchestrated.

Gotta go! The boss needs to make a plan!

Sandbags, sandbags, sandbags.....

After a cold and wet weekend, the rivers that converge on Lander, Wyoming look to flood once again.

Jackson Hole Fire/EMS was requested to send resources to the flooding area, about a 3 hour drive from Jackson. Upon direction from Chief Watsabaugh, I arrived in Lander this morning and reported into Command. For some time, it was unclear what my job would be. There was talk of a night shift and then Operations found me and directed me to Division Bravo. There, I found the local county fire chief waiting for the power company to turn on power after a back hoe had hit the power line above. Fortunately, no one was hurt. I got the tour around Squaw Creek (beautiful Utah-looking country) and then around to a drainage whose name I can only remember started with "B". The landscape is flourescent green and lush. Mules ears are blooming yellow and red paint brush reach up toward today's sunlight. After so many days of overcast and cold, in today's sunny, warm weather one could almost see things grow! The warm weather, however, has the rivers rising again. We'll see what the early morning hours bring; that's the time when the river will crest.

The Army Corps of Engineers started building the "Wall of Lander", as named by the workers, last Saturday. I have been unable to determine exactly how far it streches, but it is an impressive fortress!! Lander is the confluence of several waterways spilling out of the lovely Winds, the mountains that grace the western horizon. Many homes have, and may again, flood. Ranch trucks covered in the local brown/red mud roam town. About 1500 hours, it was determined that, alas, I would be part of the night crew!

I understand the crest of last week's flood was on Tuesday. I will know more from tonight's planning meeting to be held at 2100 hours (argh, when my shift will start), but worry seems to focus on tonight and tomorrow night's runoff. Weather is reportedly moving in and that could cool things off. Another day like today, and tomorrow I will have pictures of the "Lander Wall" in action!!

I have heard there are over 200 National Gaurd troops here. Fellow worker Butch Gosselin is here, but I fear I may never find him. The operations of managing the flood are spread out over at least a 30 mile area. Troops are everywhere - and they all look the same!! Butch had better be looking for me in my bright, green JH Fire truck!! Who knows where he might be!

Time to rest. This is all I'll get before the night's work. Put my site on your favorites; I'll try to update every day; probably around this time.

Big News, BIG FISH!!

This beautiful 35 pound lake trout was caught around 2pm this afternoon (June 8) out of Jackson Lake by the Captain, Mike Trumbower. After weigh-in, pictures, and measuring, the magnificant fish was released back into the waters to live on. It was a thrilling catch and release!!

Woman's Best Time Work Capacity Test Record Holder

Six minutes, four seconds.

Raising Chicks, 101

Step 1. Drive to nearest Cal Ranch store (Idaho Falls, 110 miles) and find chicks.

Step 2. Spend a great deal of time convincing your mate you really have to have 6 chicks but will compromise with four.

Step 3. Buy chicks in a box and transport to Jackson.

Step 4. Find appropriate box, place in warm bathroom with food and water, wood shavings and chicks.

Step 6. Keep dogs and cats from eating chicks.

Step 7. Watch chicks grow!

Step 8. Return box to local post office in clean condition when chicks start jumping out (any day now!).

Today I Graduate!

I now have an Associate's Degree in Fire Science!! Feels good!!

Addie's Amazing Cookies!

My friend Addie is an amazing cook. What's really amazing about Addie is that she is willing to share her amazing recipes so we can all be amazing cooks like her!! I love this recipe. As the last batch cooks in the oven, I send you out the ingrediants so you too can be like Addie; an amazing cook!

Don't bother making these if you don't like ginger - all three types are within; dry, fresh grated and minced crystalized! Wow! I take a microplaner to the fresh ginger and just chop the crystalized up into small little pieces. The combination of butter and shortening give these cookies just the right texture too.

Addie's Ginger Cookies

2 1/2 c. flour
1/3 c. minced crystallized ginger
2 t. bkg soda
1 1/2 t. ground ginger
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. ground cloves
1/4 t. salt

Mix all dry ingrediants together then cream:
6 T. butter, unsalted and room temperature
6 T. shortening
1 egg
1/2 c. packed golden brown sugar
1/2 c. packed dark brown sugar
1/4 c. molasses
2 t. grated fresh peeled ginger

Sugar for rolling cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degress. Mix flour with creamed mixture. Roll cookies into 3 T. sized balls. Roll in sugar in an bowl. Place on sheet and bake 10-12 minutes.

Thanks for sharing! My friend Addie at Enos Lake Hunting Camp.

Enough, Already!!

I like winter, but come on!! It's MAY!! The view out the back door. 20:30 hours. Wednesday night, May 5, 2010.

100 Years and Amazing!

This is my Great Aunt Ione. She turned 100 years old in April. "What was the most amazing thing that happened in your lifetime?" I ask her. "Electricity," she replies, without hesitation.

Uncle John (age 86), Aunt Betty (age 90) and Aunt Ione (age 100) and myself as driver all packed up and headed to the Kinzer Farm on Monday. The day went perfectly with a stop at the LaSalle Nursing Home to visit brother Key (age 96).

After our lunch together, we left Key to his afternoon nap and headed to the Kinzer Farm. It was a lovely day for a drive through the country side.

With the old farm house in the back, father Ken (he'd rather I not mention his age, but he did turn 70 this year!), Uncle John, Aunt Betty and Aunt Ione.

A short but wonderful visit with friend Diana Carlson and Mom joining us for dinner on Tuesday made for the close of a great visit back to Illinois during such a beautiful time of the year.

Next on the calendar of events - graduation from Casper College Fire Science program. Mom and friend Evie will be driving out to join the graduation festivities! Can't wait!

Spring - Kind Of!

A lovely Friday off work! We walked the 3/4 mile down to the Hoback River to get a line wet yesterday afternoon! What a beautiful place. The dogs joined us and waited patiently. Just as we were about to declare the stream fish-less, Michael got one on the line! A cute trout got a sore lip and released back into the chilly water.

This morning's frosty 14 degree temperature has prompted indoor chores; cleaning, check book reconciliation, fish tank cleaning, ect. We wait for the temperature outside to increase. The garden is still frozen rock solid. This time of the year is a stand-still for so many projects. Waiting for the garden to thaw. Waiting for the temps to get decent to go horse back riding. Waiting for the lake to thaw to go fishing. One's life is in a state of anticipation, trying to best fill the time with what activities can be enjoyed!

I leave you with one more picture of the Hoback River area.

Hill Climb and More Winter

Sort of like a NASCAR race on snow, last weekend's World Championship Snowmobile Hillclimb rocked the face of Snow King Mountain as snowmobiles made their way up the steep face of the rutted course.

Michael and I visited both days, equiped with fold up chairs and binoculars on Sunday. The crowd was huge! Folks in Skidoo, Artic Cat, and Polaris jackets walked about with their darkest sunglasses and "team" ballcaps. Most carried a beer; it's a big party! Of course, Jackson liberals rant about stupidity and drunkedness in the editorial pages of the paper this week (okay, there is some of that), but the event brings in a whole lot of needed money to Jackson's ailing economy. That's really not such a bad thing.

We made a run to the Walton Ranch after the King of the Hill earned his sought-after title and visited the horses and the mule. The furry critters are starting to shed their winter hair; a fact they certainly have come to regret this week as we have had quite a bit of snow and 15 degree morning temperatures. Brrr. The ski hill over the Pass got 22 inches of snow in the last 24 hours. We just got the best snow storm of the season in the last two days.

Michael finished the snowmobile work season on Wednesday, washed and dried his gear and put it away yesterday. The snowmobile company had a fun end of the season party yesterday afternoon and just like that, it's over. He is looking ahead at the weather to find a window of opportunity to begin the roofing project on our little cabin.

Changing of the Seasons

Just in the nick of time, Michael got me on a snowmobile to make sure I didn't miss a year of 'biling! Saturday took us touring the Gray's River area; a place I had never been. We rode 90 miles in 2 1/2 hours and viewed some lovely country.The next day we went out again, this time to country I remembered well. Funny, I spent the day recalling wrecks from the past - the tree the woman from Tennessee ran into, the edge the guy from Monsanto dropped off (and didn't die!), ect. The picture above is from Togwotee. Friend, Coralia Miller, got us a great deal on transceivers so we can ride feeling a bit better in avalanche country.

Spring came quickly and we are going fishing this afternoon! There are a few patches of snow left at our elevation, but it is melting fast.

Michael was a featured speaker at this weekend's Anti-Wolf Rally which was held on Jackson's Town Square. A crowd of over 300 people stood to hear speakers talk of the dramatic impact of the reintroduced predator on the elk and moose population. He did a great speech, highlighted with comments of his degree in biology, "That and a buck and a half will buy you a cup of coffee!" Many laughs from the crowd!

We head to Casper on Wednesday and will return home Friday night after three presentations by very notable folks in the fire world. Should be a fun get away! Have a great changing-of-the-seasons week!

Fast DC Weekend!

One of the advantages to being out east for two weeks is the weekend! Mom made the trip from Illinois to spend about 40 hours with me here in the DC area, including a day of walking around the national monuments in Washington, DC. What a thrill to figure out the Metro, get the fare right, and get to the right place. We felt so "metro"!! A brisk wind kept Mom's hood up and my hat on as we walked out way west to the Word War II monument (pictured above). I love this picture of Mom next to the columns of the Lincoln Memorial (below)looking east toward the Washington Memorial and the White House.

We walked on to the Korean Memorial, a spooky, erie, and enchanting monument to the soldiers of that war. Then north back over to the Vietnam Memorial past the long wall of names. A park ranger presentation helped us learn a bit more about that emotional tribute.

We then began walking to the east. Landing at the back entrance of the Natural History Museum, we (especially me) had one thought in mind and it wasn't a woolly mammoth; it was lunch. Amongst a crowd of squalling children we dined. I liked it much better outside! So there we went, in search of the aquarium. In a dark space filled with bubbling aquariums, we viewed electric eels, poisonous frogs and the coolest sea urchins ever!! On then to the Red Cross headquarters to realize there was no reason to come there!! Our feet were very tired.

We turned directions and sighted in to a southeast trek back to the Washington Monument. A pause on top of the polished white marble benches and onward to the Metro. Our day was completed with a fine meal shared with Michael's family; father Earl, mother Janet, brother Steven, sister-in-law Victoria,and nephew Taylor. As I write this, she is still traveling. Thanks Mom, for a great weekend! It was a wonderful diversion from the week of study ahead here at the National Fire Academy (final picture).

Happy Weekend!

Ah, the joy of a day off! Some of you should get this posting immediately, if all works. I'm trying to upgrade my blog site. Please try to "become a follower". It may require a yahoo or google account, but both are free and easy to set up.

I have been advised that I should be on a wheat free, dairy free, egg free diet due to allergies. I've worked at this for a month now and am somewhat convinced that I might actually feel better. But can you imagine that kind of diet? So today's posting is for any of you who want to try a non-wheat bread (trust me, if you don't have to, don't!). The recipe requires strange ingrediants as follows:

2 1/4 cup white rice flour
1 cup brown rice flour
2 1/2 t. xanthan gum
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
3 T. sugar
1 T. egg substitute
1/2 c. dry milk powder (I used water)
2 1/4 t. yeast
3 eggs (I used 3 T. ground flax/12 T water pureed)
1 t. cider vinegar
3 T walnut oil
1/2 c. warm water

The process of making this bread began with the discovery that Butch, the garbage can hound, snuck off with the bag of xanthan gum last night while we were out to celebrate Jason Wright's 43rd birthday (how did he get so old???). I found the torn open bag in the back yard with enough left for the recipe. I wonder how that is making old Butch feel today? So far, he seems fine.

Anyway, you throw the drys together (mix them up well) and the wets together (give the yeast time to grow), put it all in the big mixer and try for something that looks like bread. Spray a bread pan, plop the stuff in and let it sit somewhere warm a good hour or more to rise. Bake 30-40 minutes at 325 and you're set. Here's the actual link if you want to check it out. Just click on Rice Bread.Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday and we are party-bound in the afternoon to Spotted Horse Ranch for the festivities! Michael found a GREAT chicken wing recipe which you can find at this link Great Wings. I don't know why you'd even waist your time of rice bread when you could be making these wings!

So enough for now. Let me know if you actually got this new posting and have a great weekend!!

Frosty Winter Landscape

How could one not like winter in its beauty?

Okay, so it's cold out there, but look, the landscape is stunning!

Mid January Ponderings

So, I came up with the name for the class I will be teaching at the April Trauma Conference, "Staying out of the Body Bag". Thanks to all of you who sent in with ideas!

Thank goodness for the day off today. I am weary after travels to Illinois and quick turn-around for a week of teaching in Casper. Getting caught up this morning on blog posts (have you ever seen the Teton County Civil Air Patrol blog site? Check it out at CAP Blog. Just click on CAP Blog to go to site.)

We are all watching the weather reports to see if the big winter storm will actually hit us. No one is too optimistic. It has been a very bad snow year for Teton County so far.

If you haven't see Avatar yet, go! Although it's not much of a plot, the visuals and sound are amazing!! I would have loved to have seen it in 3-d!

Micheal is off snowmobile guiding. The dogs are wishing we were out for a walk and the chickens have laid three eggs already this morning. Yesterday we took a fun drive with the Breens to look at some mules. Unfortunately, the one I want doesn't look to be for sale!

This picture that I took with Addie Hare's camera (thank you Addie!) is in the 2010 Ferrara (company that builds these trucks) calendar! Ah, the sweet feeling of being published again!! Ha, didn't get a penny for it either!

Help Me!!

Today, I had the honor of getting asked to teach a one hour class at the upcoming Trauma Conference, April 15ish 2010. (At a later moment, I realized I had plugged a spring break into this very time slot, which now, I will have to change - argh!). This is hosted by our EMS folks and brings people from all about Wyoming, some even from Idaho, to be entertained and learn some good and often gorey EMS stuff. My quest - to combine something EMS with something Fire. To educate and entertain. To be a dynamic speaker because it is difficult to find dynamic women speakers. Dynamic, I have. Topic, I do not.

So, always up for a challenge, I have accepted the mission. And always willing to look to my friends for help, I send you this blog site. Any and all ideas will be considered!! Pleeeeease, people, help me out here!! Of course realizing many of you are neither firefighters nor EMTs, I realize this may be a desperate plea. So following are some pictures of our Fall 09 Tour to Illinois and back! It was a splendid trip, indeed. Happy 2010 - I feel good about this year!!

Is Anyone Looking?

Thanks for the picture Diana!

New Picture - Our Place From The Air!!