Salmon River..AKA..Sam-in-river.

Click on images for larger view.

In one of my more recent posts, I spoke about the incredible day of fishing I experienced on the Salmon River when a massive rush of salmon entered the river on the very day that I happened to be fishing. It was an amazing experience I'll never forget. On this trip, we didn't hook up a single fish and yet, it too will be a trip that I never forget.

A new tradition was started this past weekend. For the first time ever, Sam joined me for a fishing trip to the Salmon River. We were joined by my brother Ray and his son (my nephew) Colin. Note on Colin, if you want to know anything...ANYTHING...about sports, just ask Colin. He's a live version of ESPN news. We left for the river early Saturday morning and by late afternoon, we had purchased our licenses' and extra tackle, grabbed lunch, checked into our motel and found our way down to the river for some steelhead trout fishing.

For background information; The Salmon River has a run of salmon that come into the river beginning in September and they continue to run up the river through most of October. By November the salmon have stopped running and started spawning. It's at this time that the steelhead make their way into the river to feed on the salmon eggs that are floating down the river. These are the fish we are trying to catch.

This was Sam's first fishing trip to a river and it was also his first time in waders. When we first approached the river, he watched me go walking right into the water and the look on his face indicated that he didn't understand that the waders would keep him warm and dry. He asked if it was OK to walk in the water wearing his waders and when I told him sure, it was as if I had told him he could go ahead and eat an entire quart of ice cream, right out of the box. He loved the fact that he could walk through the water without getting wet. The harsh reality came when he found out that you have to be careful when you're walking through the water because you cannot always see the submerged objects that might trip you up...like a log. Sam got pretty soaked but fortunately we had already been fishing for a while and it was almost time to leave anyway. I cannot recall where I heard it first, it might have been Sam or Ray or Colin but none the less, it was after this incident that we decided the river should be renamed The-Sam-in-River.

One thing that I enjoy most about these trips is the conversations that Ray and I have. At one point Ray mentioned that it was too bad that we weren't catching any fish. It made me think about what these trip truly mean to me and although catching fish is fun, I told Ray that it was also fun being there with people I care about, getting outdoors and breathing fresh air, going to the run down places for breakfast and lunch, eating at some of the nicer places for dinner, and creating memorable experiences that will last a life time. I'm so glad that Sam is a part of that experience now.

I'm looking forward to the day when Abby and Hannah can join us up there as well. I also hope that maybe next year, David and his son Brian will come along too.

We weren't catching fish but we were having a blast.


Ray and Colin on a very cold Sunday morning.

To see more images from the trip click here.

In addition, a short video clip can be seen here.

Halloween 2007...

Is it Halloween already? Didn't we just celebrate the 4th of July? Thanksgiving and Christmas will undoubtedly be upon us before long. Maybe it's part of getting old but it just seems like the space between each holiday is getting shorter and shorter. It's as if someone is secretly throwing away a week here, a week there, without my knowledge. Ugh.

The weather for this year's Halloween was perfect, that's three years in a row now. The mild temperatures made it so much easier to deal with the costumes. No need to have arguments with the kids about putting on jackets and gloves which always hide their well crafted outfits. Instead, the kids wore just the costumes and there were no complaints registered about it being too cold. Yeh!

It was my turn to walk around with the kids this year. It's beginning to look like this may have been the last time for that ritual. The kids are getting older and having your parents with you is so un-cool. There's a part of me that won't mind staying home yet another part of me will miss it. It just means that they are growing up. It was bound to happen but I think we did our best to enjoy it while it lasted. It's still fun handing out the candy, especially to the really little kids who are amazed over the fact that their parents are encouraging them to beg candy from strangers.

This year we had two pirates in the family and one...I'm not sure what she was. Sam and Abby were the pirates, Abby was reported to be "A doll that once belonged to Hannah that she had drawn a funny face on" so I was told. I have to admit, she was creative.


Click on images for larger view.
Sam was dressed as the Pirate Jack Sparrow yet he refused to wear eye liner.



Abby and her friend Marissa who was dressed as...another pirate.

Hannah was dressed as a pirate but she didn't manage to achieve that pirate"Intimidation" factor. She looked more like a wait person from Long John Silvers. "Table for 4 tonight?"