as we traveled to meet up with our ship, the M/V Columbia in Bellingham, WA on May 23rd.
The S/V KAIA was built in the 1950's by a Norwegian (Finn Nilsen) in Minnesota.
He designed it (mentally) while being held as a captive by Germany during WW-II - it kept his sanity he says.
After the war he moved to Minnesota. The trees are from his land.
Alan acquired it in 1986 from the Nilsen family.
Alan, getting it ready. This is the first time it has been out since last September, and has a "new" engine in it, which he discovered, to his delight works beautifully!
Alan re-built this engine - completely - and it runs sooo s.m.o.o.t.h.l.y
Ready to push off...
Off we go, upstream toward Sacramento.
Our "PC" up in the RV Park on the levee as we leave the dock.
Alan at the helm, assisted, of course by Jean.
Several images of the interior...
Yes, complete with a wood stove.
The Pride of Sacramento on an evening dinner cruise.
We catch some wind, and the engine is shut down.
San Francisco Bay is just 99 miles down stream, about a 3-day hop, where the Kaia has gone several times to enjoy the activities there, as well as Pacific Ocean sailing.
We spot a cell phone tower "tree" as we sail along.
Alan trusts me with the helm (for just a bit).
Note the cloth tied to the wire (red circle).
One year when the river was at flood stage, Alan tied the cloth to the wire to remind him to watch his head/neck as he was getting onto his boat.
Due to the great, occasional, wide variations in river flow & height - is why we see all those tall piers at the marina's.
The Sacramento Yacht Club lies just upstream from Alan's dock.
His dock is just above Chicory Bend on the Sacramento River. Here we are starting up-stream on our 2nd day on the river,
as seen on his computer navigation chart screen with GPS tracking.
Here is Jean, in the special stern command chair, totally "in control" as we embark for the day.
We approach Sacramento's vehicular golden Tower Bridge, which must be raised to permit our passage.
Up top, where the Bridge Tender hangs out 24/7. Alan has radioed him to alert him of the need for our passage.
Soon, all vehicular traffic is halted, and it starts to raise.
We start our passage.
OK - made it.
And, next is the combination rail and vehicle I Street Bridge.
Same routine. They check for oncoming rail traffic (commuter & freight), blow the whistle,
then let down the barriers to stop the vehicles and walking traffic, and soon it is swinging out of our way.
And away we go again.
After passing under the bridges, we pull off and drop the hook to have lunch at the confluence of the American and Sacramento River's.
Alan and Mother Dear Bertha, who is 93 years young.
Uncle Irving's balance scale, along with other examples of bulbs that he worked on.
Family members will know (of) Uncle Irving well. For others, Google "Irving Langmuir" to learn more.
A photo of Uncle Irving, with some of the light bulbs that he had a large part of inventing/perfecting while working for the GE Labs.
We left 100 degree heat in Sacramento , and headed for Oregon & Washington.
Here we are viewing Mt. Shasta, still in California - and unfortunately, when we took this - it had dropped all the way down to 98. That's much better, 2 degrees
Our next stop was a multi-day visit Jean's niece Carola (Norton) Van Wagenen, and husband Richard, in Olympia, WA.
Traveling with Carola, we headed east toward Mt. Rainier (14,401').
Some snow melt splashed down on the highway.
A bit of a cloud cap...
Here is Iron Mountain (6,283'), in between the trees.
At the Mt. Rainier National Park visitor center we see an over-view of predominant glaciers and slopes of Mt. Rainier.
Through the visitor center window, we see The Castle (left) and Pinnacle Peak - @ 6,562' (right) of the Tatoosh Range.
Clever use of snow shoes as part of the overhead lighting in the Visitor Center. As is the use of...
... Ski Poles, and ...
... Ski's.
Outside there is still a fair amount of snow to contend with.
We had dinner on the 20th with Dale & Bonnie Lipke, who live in Tacoma. (With Molly, their small Jack Russell Terrier).
They were our next door neighbor's at the RV Park in Elkhart, Indiana
last September, when we attending the Phoenix Cruiser owner's gathering.
On the 22nd, Beth Paneak joined us for lunch in Bellingham. (Beth is the sister of our dental technician in San Diego.)
Beth lived from 1973-4 as a school teacher in Barrow,
where her husband was the superintendent of schools (Barry Waldo); They moved to Anaktuvuk Pass in 1975.
(We visited Anaktuvuk Pass in July of 2006 see link).
Her husband and son were both killed in an airplane crash, as they were headed south to Fairbanks for medical treatment.
Some years later, she then married a Nunamiut native, Roosevelt Paneak and lived
in Anaktuvuk Pass for 17 years. They moved to Fairbanks in 1989, and just a few days ago, she moved to Bellingham.
(To learn about 1949 era - Anaktuvuk Pass, we suggest you read "Nunamiut - Along Alaska's Inland Eskimos" by Helge Ingstad,
which we found to be an interesting history, written on a personal level, by Helge, a Norwegian explorer,
who lived with the natives in Anaktuvuk Pass for several months. Beth's husband, Roosevelt, knew Mr. Ingstad quite well. )
We had a very nice lunch together, and talked about her experiences living with the native people - she has led a very interesting life.
Thank you Beth for sharing with us.