07 September, 2020 - A Day Off & Got Out of Town

 Dear, Mom -

I had a day off from the city today. It was a really lovely day and I got to spend it with my best friend in the whole world, Kimmie!

This is a typical picture of Kim and I. A couple of hams.

Even when we try to be normal-ish, we still look like a couple of dorks.

These pictures were taken at this amazing park called Camp Wilkerson. It is a huge, 280 acre camp that is often rented out for weddings, retreats, Boy and Girl Scout troops, and other random events. It is very serendipitous that we stumbled upon it. We were just looking for a place to eat lunch after an early day of rockhounding in the Nehalem River. When we got there and looked around, I realized it is the PERFECT setting for me to have my “Vets and Pets 4th of July Annual Retreat”. Hopefully, by next year, or at least by 2022, I can reserve the whole camp and have a safe place for people, specifically veterans, to come over the Fourth of July holiday. Not only are veterans invited, but so are people who need a retreat for their dogs who area traumatized by fireworks. I figure that the dogs can be therapeutic for the veterans as the overcome a hard time of year that may give them unwelcome memories of war due to firework explosions. This has been an idea of mine for 3 years. After the horrible Fourth of July we experienced this year, I would really like to get on this idea and make it come to fruition within the next two years. I already have one sponsor from my neighborhood. Nature’s Pet Store is where I buy Elsa the dog’s food and bones. The owners are lovely people and said they would donate food and treats for the animals. I think if I get the right people to help with promotion and marketing, I could have the VFW and other veteran’s associations help out with the monetary end and renting the camp and also the food that will need to be supplied. So, I will be asking the non-profit organization that helped me start my business to help me with the logistics of starting a non-profit specifically for this event. It is a passion that I really want to try. It is important to help our veterans and animals when they have no choice but to suffer through the annual event of fireworks every year. If it is a success, I might try and figure out something for New Year’s Eve, too (that will be much harder due to weather at that time of year).

Hard to see, but this is where the campfire is with the benches surrounding.

A picture of the lodge from the big lawn it looks out over.

A closer picture of the lodge. Kitchen, huge fireplace, picnic tables under shelter and opens onto the lawn.

When you are standing at the lodge, you see this. A huge lawn with woods all around.

Our trip was great, especially due to the above finding of the campground. Also, we rockhounding in the Nehalem River and found, well, nothing. That water felt lovely and we have an amazing time of just hanging out together and doing what we do best, snacking and entertaining each other. As we walked back to the car, about a quarter of so from where we went via the river, we saw a family arriving at their car behind us. A man and woman and their two children. They all had long, wooden poles with little baskets on the end. Apparently, they had been just up the river from us. How we never saw them, I have no idea. The first thing the man said to us was, “If you are going up the river, take your pistol!”. I said, “Oh, we just came back from the river.” He continued, “Well, I saw a man that said there have been bears sighted here. He said he turned around and a black bear had walked right up to him.” I guess that is what the pistol is for. Now, when dealing with a black bear, you just gotta make yourself look big and be very loud. That is usually enough of a deterrent to get them to run away. A brown bear or a grizzly? That’s time to have a pistol. Anyway, I thanked him. I told him we had just been up there rock hounding, but didn’t find anything. He opened up his backpack and pulled out handfuls of plum agates, jasper, and carnelian stones. I couldn’t believe it. We didn’t see anything. Not even a piece of quartz. He told us we hadn’t gone quite far enough. If we would have walked another eight of a mile or so where a stream came down from the mountain to join the river, that is where you can find tons of rocks. BUT you gotta did for them. That is why he and his family all had sticks with baskets on the end. You scoop out the sand and rock, put it in your basket, rinse over it with water, then see what you found. Next time we are totally doing that, but we aren’t going to take a pistol. I don’t see the need (famous last words...). Just kidding. We know the procedures to follow when confronted by bears. Don’t you worry.

This is mainly what was all over the riverbed instead of agates and jasper and the occasional carnelian.

Mom, I will continue this long letter tomorrow. I am quite tired and there is a horrible pollution awareness and wind advisory tonight. When I took a break from writing to take Elsa out for a quick potty, it smelled like I was in the middle of a forest fire and I had small ashes swirling through the air, making it hard to breath. I had my N95 mask with the respirator and a bandana on to help keep the air I breathed in cleaner, but felt horrible for Elsa who had to breathe it into her little dog lungs. 1

😘I love you with all my heart. Have a wonderful day. I will talk to you soon! Your Girl, —-Sally Ann😉

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️