Our travels this summer was a meandering circle-ish route: Seattle, WA: Maupin, OR; Prineville, OR; Donnelly, ID; Spokane Valley, WA; Sandpoint, ID; Coeur d'Alene, ID; the Magruder Corridor (ID / MT); then back to Maupin then Seattle. Thank You! to all of our hosts & hostesses; we love seeing you and appreciate your generous hospitality!

Wide-spread forest fires were the fly-in-the-ointment; a good part of northern Washington, North Idaho and western Montana burned in what some say was the worst fire season in the region since 1910. Others say since 1957; either way it's been an especially bad year. The silver lining was great weather from the very start of summer, and up close air shows of helicopters picking up & dropping water, and airplanes dropping retardant on one of the fires in the Maupin area.

The fires made for some less-than-ideal cycling during the worst of the air quality days. Nonetheless we logged over 1,000 miles on our road bikes this summer, inclusive of the Ride Idaho miles which included the Trail of the Coeur d' Alenes and Route of the Hiawatha. We especially enjoyed the Trail of the Coeur d' Alenes and will return for additional rides.

Another outdoor activity highlight was camping in the Magruder Corridor, a 100+ mile wilderness dirt road (rugged, high-clearance vehicles only) which runs between the Bitterroot Wilderness Area and Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area. Even with the smoke from nearby fires it was a pretty drive with small, Forest Service-maintained campsites dotted through-out. Another will-return place.

One repeat performance was purchasing a whole salmon (25 lb Chinook) at Cascade Locks, caught by native fishers earlier that day. We used the entire fish - head (minus the gills), tail and fins made stock for salmon chowder and the larger fillets were grilled or smoked. Yumm!

Select photos in the Photo Gallery.

On the Mintaka Duo front, the National Weather Service ordered 150 units for their Volunteer Weather Observation ships. How great is that! This order necessitated a new manufacturing run, and if you're going to do that, you may as well make needed updates and desired improvements, right? And so, Jerry spent many hours and days making those changes and improvements. The resulting instrument and software is spot-on. After a considerable team effort to assemble, test, calibrate and package the instruments & peripherals, the first shipment was received by the NWS last week. The balance of the order will be shipped by early next week. A milestone achievement for sure. Plus, it continues to sell onesy-twosy to others, and receiving increasing interest from distributors. All good things!

With our time in the Land of Plenty coming to a close for the year, the usual spending and packing is in full swing. Already shipped to the RioD are the zipper for the new mainsail cradle (hopefully it's complete when we arrive), repaired and new watermaker parts, new bow trampolines and the fabric for replacement outdoor cushion covers. We'll bring in the new Garmin VHF radio and autopilot, along with various other electronics, tools, lines, filters, spares, foodstuffs, and household supplies. The usual luggage-stuffed-to-the-limit story.

It's been a productive, active & fun summer, and break from Vida Dulce. With the weather turning colder and Fall rains around the corner, we're now looking forward to returning home to start the many boat projects needing to be completed before we set sail again. This year's itinerary in a separate posting.