On the Divide-Wallowa Witman National Forest Oregon

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRED

Fred and Marsha live in the green area marked National Forest south east of Joseph within the red loop marked 39. This is where we will spend the next amazing week. The nearest town is Joseph which is about an hour away-it only has a small market and no fast food or Starbucks. What it lacks in modern convince is far surpassed by serene wilderness beauty.

The kids headed to breakfast and I headed for a nap,
Fred gave the kids a "red neck carnival ride"
he is quite amazing in how he handles this thing,


Owen caught a snake! A boy after his mom's heart,
there is a huge huckleberry patch on Fred's property,

"moose moss"

they found a deer skull...the teeth found their way home...

grasshoppers everywhere-they make great fish bait!
Uncle Clint is a policeman, here he is giving the boys weapons training,



a neighbor stopped by and we got a family photo,


then we headed off to Erik's first house-a 3 mile hike further back into the wilderness,





butterflies everywhere,

and wild flowers,
I believe this is where Fred is telling the story about when Tanya was a baby, she went flying down the hill after they crashed in a blizzard, they did find her,
it's actually a funny story to hear it as Fred tells it,
Fred has about 180 degree view of mountains,
still walking back to the old house,
Erica kept picking up caterpillars, Me: don't they might be poisonous or the spines will stick in your skin! Erica: no, they are so soft and fuzzy,
Erik: Look! Two grasshoppers stuck together!
family picture with the mountains in Idaho behind us,
the very gorgeous seven devils in Idaho,




we are there!
Fred built this entire house himself, Karen, pregnant with Tanya had to live in a tent for a bit-luckily Fred is a pretty fast worker, the snow would get up to the eaves-that's why he has this huge structure over the front door,Fred used the tractor to put the beams up, he built the stone wall, it's the original tv over on the left hand side (electricity is generator only),
first he poured the concrete foundation and then built the stove...by hand...welding it,
he did all the brickwork,
and deck,
this is the original generator,
this was Erik's little cabin, he slept here and has stories about the chipmunks cozy-ing up for heat,

there is a trap door on the floor for a root cellar, it was really cool down below,
it's a pretty big space,
Fred built the garage,
had to use huge beam to support the engine from the Cat so he could rebuild it,
behind the garage is an apartment that was for Erik's grandma,
there was supposed to be a badger around here but we didn't get to see it, I really wanted to see a badger,


Erik said they used to swing on the gate for fun, Fred builds things pretty solidly-30 years later everything original is still there,




more huckleberries,



this is Cold Springs-Fred found water bubbling out of the ground here, took pipe and made it so the water comes out of the hose-still original, it's very cold-about 42 degrees-they all showered here this night. Fred used to fill a 500 gallon tank that sat on a trailer and then drive it the 3 miles back to the old house then siphon it into at tank there. This spring sits down the hill from where Fred lives now.
Fred was a cowboy for years, he taught Erica how to rope,
and she roped,
and roped,
Tanya, Clint, Kimber, and Dane in their trailer ready for bed and the end of Sunday, Aug, 21st.