To finish up the Brothers trip, enjoy the complete photo album of the trip. Just got a call from Minnesota and Dave is home. A special thanks to Vern and Kathy Grussing who put us up, fed us, and taught us how to fish steelhead trout.
Monthly Archives: October 2011
Brothers Traveling Together 2011…Day 10
We left at 0510 from Winnemucca, NV and the car was covered with ice. 
The temperature was 30 degrees. We ate a great breakfast and then head out. Fastest 515 miles of the trip even with a stop in and Schatt Bakery. We were home before 4 PM and filled up with gas and washed the car. Great trip and glad to be home.
Taking Dave to LAX tomorrow. Leaving here at 7 AM.
Brothers Traveling Together 2011…Day 9
We are on our way home. We packed up the car and went down to Vern and Kathy to say goodbye, thank them and have a light breakfast. We were on our way by 7 AM and had a 489 mile drive on highway 95, a
two laner.
We drove out of the river valley up into the wheat fields of Idaho. We then started up a long climb up a mountain range and then plunged into Hell’s Canyon and the roaring salmon river. What a drive and what a view. We stopped in Weiser, UT at the Behive Café where we had the best hamburger we had for 20 years.
We then drove through Southern Utah’s potato and onion country…a slow process with all of the farm traffic. Finally into the high desert of Oregon and Northern Nevada.
A couple of large mule deer slowly ambled across HI way 95 and we had to slow down to miss them. Finally we arrived in Winnemucca, NV for the night. A long day. One more to go.
Brothers Traveling Together 2011…Day 8
Up at 630 AM and down to Vern and Kathy for breakfast. Dave, Vern, and Kathy headed out fishing and caught 5 more steelhead while I headed out to Moscow, Idaho and the University of Idaho. On the way to Moscow, I took some photos of the confluence of the 
Clearwater and the Snake rivers as they meet in Lewiston, ID.
Lewiston is dominated by a huge pulp plant. The sky opened up and it started to rain on my way to the U of Idaho. It was a very nice campus with a mixture of new and old buildings that were very well kept. 
The people on the campus treated me very well and I enjoyed touring the basketball
facilities. One of our basketball players, Jason Johnson, is touring the campus this month.
I headed back to Vern and Kathy’s place and we took an hours rest and then headed to the Nes Perz Indian museum. Very interesting . Went out to eat at the Rooster Restaurant in Clarkston, WA. Good food. We are about packed for our trip home tomorrow. We could see the moon through the clouds as we headed to the boathouse.
Brothers Traveling Together 2011…Day 7
Up at 6 AM and down for a hearty Idaho breakfast with Vern and Kathy. I slept like a log but Dave who had the cot said he did not sleep so well. I offered to trade with him
tonight…he gets the queen size bed…and I would get the cot. He said no and wants to try the couch.
Kathy made homemade pumpkin pancakes and pork sausage. Nearly everything they eat is homemade and grown on their land. Kathy guaranteed that the pancakes would be hold us till mid afternoon. They did!
The weather was overcast but dry as we loaded the jet boat on to the trailer and headed down the road to unload it near the best fishing hole on the Clearwater River. Unloaded we did and in spite of Vern’s warning that catching one steelhead a day
was great fishing, the fish went wild. Vern caught the first fish, an 8 pounder; Dave caught 3 in a row all around 5-7 pounds, and then bang!!!! I battled in a 15 pounder. What a thrill! Dave caught 2 more 5-7 pounders, and Vern a trout, and it was two in the afternoon and we were hungry. All of the beautiful steelheads were released as per law. What a thrill.
We headed up the river in the jet boat and shot through two small sets of rapids and moored the boat below their house. We headed up the steep trail and Kathy had a big lunch waiting for us. She had been working in their raised garden.
We put on their TV and starting watching the baseball playoffs and you can imagine after 6 hours of pulling in the hardest fighting fish in the world, the clearest air in the world, on a full stomach, we fell asleep in the three big recliners. What a life.
We headed out again and fished two hours on the river just below their house from 5-7 PM and the fish were still in their recliners. We had a 
great dinner meal of 3 inch thick grilled pork chops, home made beans, a baked potato and a salad. We could not eat the homemade apple crisp so Kathy said, “This will go good for breakfast.”
It was a great day and we can’t say enough about Vern and Kathy’s hospitality. The only negative is that time is going too fast.
Brothers Traveling Together 2011…Day 4
We had a great trip to Vern and Kathy’s
home. Pretty much all 2 lane all the way. It was dark when we left Portland and we headed up the Colombia River. up, it was clear that it reminded me of the Rhine River in Germany but about 3 times as wide. Libby and I stayed on the Rhine in an apartment for two weeks last year. Dave and I noticed that there were many vineyards on the Washington side of the Columbia River and other crops on the Oregon side.
As we made it up the Colombia, we saw a sign for Walla Walla, Washington wow, it was a surprise and a joy. Great food, wine, onions and great weather. The town has two colleges, a minor league league baseball team the “Sweets”, many candy and wine
stores. A real find.
We passed through about 5 small villages in the countryside before we reached the Idaho borders. We got our fishing licenses and then headed out to Vern and Kathy’s gorgeous river home.
It is a beautiful location. After a long visit, Vern started the BBQ and fresh salmon went on the grill. With that we had fresh tomatoes and lettuce out of the garden, home made rice, and finished the meal off with a fresh baked rhubarb piece alamode. 
We all talked into the evening and then headed up road to their “boat house” where we slept. What a fun day.
Hood River Stop
We woke up at 0539 AM and on the road along the Colombia River. We were about out of gas so stopped in Hood River and a cup of coffee at McD’s. 53 degrees and overcast. Back to the road. Trying to talk Dave into getting a cat.
Brothers Traveling Together…2011 Day 4B
The drive from Medford Oregon was stereotypic; grey sky, light rain and
many pines in the mountains.
We arrived in Portland about 1 PM and got our hotel near the airport and had a light lunch. We rested about an hour and now are getting ready for our jaunt to downtown Portland. The hotel van takes us to the rail station at the airport and we will be taking a train to downtown 
Portland. Sightseeing, shopping, eating and hopefully a few photos.
We hopped the train and 45 minutes later we
were in downtown Portland in the rain. I found a gift for Libby and then we ate a great meal. Now back home and getting ready for bed. Nice day.
Brother’s Traveling Together 2011…Day 4(AM)
Good grief! We found out that we don’t much like TV so we read our books and fell asleep at 9:30 pm and guess what? We slept in till 0630 AM. Nine hours of sleep! We are finishing showering, shaving, and soon breakfast. Should be on the road by 8 AM.
Brothers Traveling Together 2011…Day 3
We awoke at 0525 this morning in the dark at Morro Bay, California. We loaded up the car and listened to the harbor seals barking in the bay just two blocks from our motel. We headed out through the coastal range of mountains in the dark and headed across the brown hills and California Oaks toward highway 5. The sun was coming up in the east in the partly cloudy skies and it was a nippy 41 degrees.
We finally hit hiway 5 and ate a light
breakfast and headed up a semi-truck filled highway through the nations bread basket. Nut trees, pumpkin fields, cabbage fields abounded. We knew it was going to be our longest day 612 miles to Medford, OR.
We stopped for dinner(lunch) and I
introduced brother Dave to In and Out Burger. After our light breakfast, a double-double animal style really hit the spot. Back on the road we hit two very heavy rain storms that slowed us down a bit and my eyes really were getting heavy about 2 pm and Dave took over at the wheel. I put the seat back and slept solidly for an hour and we were close to 70 miles down the road. That is what brothers are for!
We hit Redding, California and the San Joaquin Valley ended and we entered 90 miles of spectacular mountains. The mountain tops were covered with snow and then we saw mount Lassen. A really scary
looking snow covered volcano. We rolled on into Oregon and finally arrived at Medford at 630 pm. A little more than 12 hours. A health food dinner(supper) of all meat pizza and a pitcher of beer. Don’t think brother Dave is used to these long days as I write this at 801 pm he is sound asleep with all of his clothes on at the bed. Maybe it was the health food.
Short driving day tomorrow. Only 250 miles to Portland, OR. We are planning to use their train system to explore the city. Should be fun.
Dave is up…he said his sinking spell was due to the health food.
Traveling Retired 