air force

10/21 Palouse-

In the early a.m we had anchored up the Palouse river which confluences with the Snake. There were three choices for our guests this day; kayak up the river, bus ride to a waterfall, or a guided zodiac tour up the river. Only 4 people chose to kayak, which was the boat operation that myself and the 3^rd mate were responsible for. Being my first small boat operation I was beyond excited. The 3^rd mate and I unloaded all the zodiacs and then loaded 4 kayaks onto one of them which we drove 1 mile up the Palouse. The river lies at the bottom of a steep rim rock canyon. Waterfowl exploded out of the river the entire time. Never had I seen so many ducks concentrated in one area. A few hundred yards from where we dropped off the kayaks followed by the guests I could hear a Pheasant calling and got up a cubby of 45-50 quail. It was very beautiful terrain and empty shotgun shells scattered the ground proving excellent bird hunting ground. While heading back towards the main boat, a thunderous sound was chasing us up the canyon...Out of nowhere a fighter jet came flying bye only 100-120 yards off the ground. The sound was deafening and the proximity was mind blowing!

10/22 Hood River

I consider myself to be pretty familiar and knowledgeable with the state of Oregon, but the areas that I know the least about are exactly where we paralleled during this adventure. Finally mid-day on the 22^nd I got my first real glimpse of the town I had heard so much about; Hood River, land of breweries and wind surfing! Approaching Hood River from the once mighty Columbia is beyond breathtaking. A snow covered MT Hood towers in the background looking down on gentle slopes covered with homes and yellow and red leaved trees. Seeing these brilliant colors and dense forests is quite the contrast to the bare and rocky slopes that live to the east.