Launching your boat, pickup and trailer

This man was one upset fishermen as his boat was afloat but the pickup and trailer did not float very good.

This is his canopy and you can just see the top of the pickup, the trailer is totally under water. After the pickup was launched the strong wind blew it over and around the end of the dock.

This is where he wanted to go fishing not swimming in ice cold water trying to stop his pickup from going further out.

This is his boat floating nice and pretty as the crew from the wrecker, Fenders by Endres, uses the boat to stretch the cable out to the pickup to keep it from floating further out.

Nothing to do now we are hooked up to the pickup but set around and watch and visit until the scuba diver shows up.  I mean it was cold. The wind felt like ice and went right to the bone with a chill. You can tell kids are tough as he is in shorts.

Here he comes to save the day, the diver has arrived. Phil Johnston, a local diver who also works for the local fire department and scuba diver in his off duty time.

The diver and wrecking crew accessing the situation and how the best way to do this. Have to pull the pickup around the dock but the trailer is jack knifed under the bridge too.

Testing to see if the pickup is still floating or on the bottom and it is on the bottom.

Thinking, thinking, thinking.

Not the position he expected to see this view from.

Pickups do not float well.

Here we go!

 Figuring how how to unhook trailer

 Taking a closer look

Deciding the trailer is going to have to come out backwards from what the truck does.

Lucky for all that Joe has brought the small wrecker and the large wrecker as he positions the small wrecker for the boat trailer while the big wrecker in the back is still hooked to the pickup.

The boat trailer is unhooked and hooked up to the small wrecker just waiting until they can get the pickup out.

Joe has the bed of the big wrecker backed down to where he has to lay on the bed of the wrecker to operate where he is not in the water as the diver hooks the pickup up.

 Steering the pickup

 Here it comes!

 Once they got hooked up this operation was as smooth as butter.

 Almost there!

Keep steering Phil!  You are almost there.

And the actual upward trip starts.

You could see the stuff inside the pickup floating around.

Diver Phil adjusting the tow line to a different direction.

A good job by Phil (Diver) and Joe (tow truck) to get that thing to turn just perfect and line up perfect to come right up onto the tow truck.

Even the lights are full of water.

Water starts to pour out of the door and every other opening in the pickup.

On the truck!

All done, nope, still have a trailer and boat to get out.

Here comes the trailer.

Trailer is out!

loading the boat up to the wrecker.

I thought Fenders by Enders and Phil Johnston did an amazing job of getting this vehicle out. You would have thought they had lots of practice. Once they figured out the best way to do it the job was done is a matter of minutes.

Unexpected exercise

I have been trying to get in shape so I try to walk and ride my bike. Today I went for a drive and saw a grave up on the hill in the middle of a pasture.

I love Oregon history especially Central Oregon history and anything about the Native Americans history in the area. Knowing that in this area many old graves have a lot to do with the history of our area and all of them are interesting and this was a nice little hike. Or so I thought!

Now this is the photo from the grave back to the Jeep. GEE WHIZ that hill was so much steeper then it looked from the bottom up to the top. I was panting like an old steam engine when I got to the top but I was determined to get there once I started. That has always been a big fault of mine. I start something and I will kill myself or cause all kinds of problems but the original problem will get done one way or another.

The walk was worth it as it was a grave of a local rancher that died in 1875 at the age of 65 years which made him born in 1810.  I looked him up on the internet when I got home and sure enough he was on there with pictures of the grave.  What a cool find and worth my unexpected exercise of climbing a steep hill that I had thought was a gentle slope.

Central Oregon spring

I just had to post a photo of Central Oregon's spring taken March 10, 2013.

There is a saying that if you don't like the weather in Central Oregon hang around 5 minutes and it will change. Sometimes we have a 40 degree different from day to day or from day to night.  I found out living last winter in Arizona that I like the change. I don't like every day just like the day before. Last time I lived where the weather did not change much I swore I would never live somewhere that did not have 4 very different seasons and where everyday was alike.

I know one year in June going over the mountain we had to chain up due to a snow storm.  It doesn't always last long but it sure can put it down in a hurry, the same with rain. It might not rain often but if it cuts loose you are flooded in a matter of minutes.

The day before this it was 63 degrees.

All I can say is "I love Central Oregon".

Volcanic past of Central Oregon formations

The volcanic past of Oregon has caused so many different shapes in Central Oregon. I so wish I knew more about it and how each rock was formed so if anyone knows info it sure would be nice if you would comment.

The palisades of Central Oregon are probably the most known rock formations that people like to see especially the ones around The Cove State Palisades Park.

 The Cove is known all over the northwest and a favorite designation for campers in the summer for fishing and water skiing and house boat rental.

 These rocks show that they really aren't one rock but several layers of different volcanic events.

This photo shows you how rocky some of our hillsides are. As a child on a farm in this country all of us hated picking rocks every spring. I guarantee that they grow every year. You pick them and by fall a whole new crop has arisen. It is a never ending battle.  You can see from the wild horse that there still is a lot of feed for the wildlife as this horse is in good shape from someplace you would swear has nothing on it but rocks.

A view of one of the most prominent mountains and the mountain our county "Jefferson" was named after. It shows the mountain and the cinder hills from our volcanic past.

 These photos reminded me of a road that was built by man but it is a lava flow in this area that is so level and the same thickness clear across this section of hill.

After all the dry and rock it is a surprise to come around the corner and see a beautiful little creek running down through the sagebrush. What a welcome relief for the explorers and settlers though the Native Americans were well aware of where the water was at and that this was not a dried up useless area.