ebb and flow: Howard Prairie 2009

Every spring, since the girls were little, Roger took them fishing at Howard Prairie Lake near Ashland. Sometimes I went, sometimes I didn't. The tradition continues with Tami's family. Tawni lives too far away, or else she would most certainly be bringing her family along, too. I always go now, of course, because there are grandkids....! This year the fishing was the best it's been in several years. Kerri kept track and, according to her calculations, there were about 68 fish caught altogether. Along with the trout, they also caught several nice bass.

Mark and Sylvia Baker went with us. They had never been, and thought they would go check it out. It was a good thing, since Mark brought his nice boat along! They have a camper on the back of their truck, and since Tami & Bill bought a trailer this year, and we pull a trailer, there was no one to tow over our bigger boat. We loaded the old aluminum one on top of our truck, but it won't hold everyone any more since the girls have grown, and it doesn't have a cover of any kind -- Mark's, however, was big enough AND had a covered area, so it was used for most of the trips out.

We experienced all kinds of weather this year, which is not unusual - rain, snow, cold wind, and even a teeny tiny bit of sunshine...

The campsite - Tami's & Bill's trailer on the left, ours in the middle and Mark's & Sylvia's camper on the right (above Bill's red truck)

LOTS of fish!!!

Meggie's catch on one trip.

Kerri loves the whole process of fishing...with the exception of worms (but they don't use them at HP)...she won't touch a worm, but doesn't mind fish guts in the least!

Harry & Barbara Horne came over from Grants Pass on Saturday and spent the day. They used to live in Brookings, and were members of our church. It was really good to see them again. This is Barbara, Mark and Harry at the campfire (along with the girls' dog, Reese).

Britt, looking through the campfire smoke. It didn't matter where I stood, the smoke got between her and me :)

Britt, Bill & Megan -- I can't believe I didn't get a single picture of Tami!! I'll have to snag one of Britt's and put it in here later - she took several hundred pictures this weekend, so she's bound to have at least one of her mother....! And I just discovered I don't have any of Sylvia, either.... oh, Brittney...!

Mark took Sylvia, Harry & Barbara, Kerri and I out to the island on Saturday. Tami, Brittney and Megan opted to stay and do some exploring around the campground (they figured they would go to the island the next day, but it was snowing by then, so they never made it over there this year.

We startled Canada geese off their nests a couple of times. The island must be a really good place for them to nest - not much in the way of predators over there.

Waaay up high on a rock outcropping

Picture of Roger fishing, taken from up on top of the rock.

Kerri on a stump at the island shoreline.

Didn't take long for the snow to change the looks of the landscape Sunday morning -- within a few minutes after it started, everything was white.

Something new this year were the pelicans. We've never seen them there before. There were several, but I never could get down to the lake in time to get pictures of them, except one time (they were always too far away, or just going around the point out of sight). They were huge birds - and not sure where they came from, unless they were brought in... Whatever, they were very pretty, and usually traveled in pairs - this one was by himself, though, when I was able to finally get some pictures.