Elwha River Restoration, WA.

For Travel Tuesday let's see what is going on in WA State:

Putting things right.  Celebrate dam removal.

Tearing Down The Elwha River Dam…. Going….. Going…..

"Elwha River Restoration will restore the river to its natural free-flowing state, allowing all five species of Pacific salmon and other anadromous fish to once again reach habitat and spawning grounds."

"The Elwha watershed is the largest in Olympic National Park; restoration of salmon to more than 70 miles of river and tributaries will return vital nutrients to the watershed, restoring an entire ecosystem.

For the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, this project will bring cultural, spiritual and economic healing as salmon return after a century’s absence and flooded sacred sites are restored."

 

Great video of the history of the Elwha: http://www.nps.gov/olym/naturescience/elwha-ecosystem-restoration.htm

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""TEARING DOWN THE DAM IS THE EASY PART,"

"The world's biggest dam removal will return Washington's Elwha River to its free-flowing state. But the colossal three-year project proves there's a lot more to deconstruction than tons of TNT."

Click here to download a FREE pdf showing the six phases of the Elwha Dam project.

""TEARING DOWN THE DAM IS THE EASY PART," says fisheries biologist Brian Winter, gesturing to the 108-ft.-tall, moss-streaked concrete wedge of the Elwha Dam, which plugs a forested river valley on Washington state's Olympic Peninsula. With a wave of his hand, Winter dismisses the three-year effort required to remove the spillway gates, the hoists, the crane, the enormous steel tubes that channel the river into the hydroelectric plant below, the plant itself and the reservoir that stretches up the valley, not to mention the 210-ft.-tall Glines Canyon Dam upriver and its reservoir. "That's essentially construction in reverse," he says. The hard part of the world's biggest dam removal project was the nearly three decades it took for multiple interests to agree to deconstruction, overcome bureaucratic inertia and find $184 million in funding.

 
The Elwha River Restoration Project, scheduled to begin in 2008, represents an extraordinary about-face in a nation that has been swiftly erecting dams since before the Declaration of Independence was signed. All told, more than 2.5 million dams--both publicly and privately owned--now block U.S. streams and rivers. More than a quarter have passed their 50-year average life expectancy; by 2020, that figure will reach 85 percent.
Once past the half-century mark, dams begin to degenerate: Concrete walls degrade, earthworks erode and seep, spillway gates rust and lose tensile strength, and sediment clogs reservoirs, reducing their capacity. In the worst-case scenario, an aging dam could fail, causing catastrophic flooding.

 
As maintenance and liability costs rise, economic returns drop. Many older dams are obsolete. Many others, including the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams, need upgrades such as fish passage structures that would cause the power they produce to soar above market prices.
Because of growing pressure from conservation groups, fishermen, tribal councils, and state and federal agencies, more dams are now being considered for removal in the United States than are being built. Nearly 200 have been torn down in the past six years. Most were small, low or involved a single stretch of waterway. The Elwha project, however, aims to restore an entire river system.

AS IT PLUNGES 4500 ft. from the snowfields of the Olympic Mountains to sea level west of Port Angeles, the Elwha River spans 45 miles. Fed by up to 240 in. of precipitation yearly, it was once phenomenally productive. Making 11 annual spawning runs were hundreds of thousands of fish: coho, pink, chum, sockeye and chinook salmon, plus steelhead, bull and cutthroat trout.

The creation of Olympic National Park in 1938 preserved the upper watershed, but by then the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams, finished in 1913 and 1927, respectively, had blocked all but the lower 4.9 miles to upstream migration.

Winter, project manager for the National Park Service, lets his gaze drop from the spillway gates to the pools at the base of the Elwha Dam, which has been generating up to 14.8 megawatts of electricity for the local paper mill since it was first constructed. "When the light is right," he says, "you can see them down there--adult salmon, waiting to swim upriver, waiting for the dam to be gone." The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, which has lived on the river for at least 2700 years, has objected to the dams since the early 1900s. Over the decades, conservation groups joined the protest. In 2000 the federal government purchased both dams for $29.5 million, setting in motion their removal under the oversight of the park service.

 
In the fall of 2008, Lake Mills, the 415-acre reservoir above the Glines Canyon Dam, will be lowered 50 ft. Then the dam's curving center arch, a section of concrete just 4 ft. wide at the top but 21 stories tall, will be cut out using diamond-wire saws. About a year later, the gates atop the Elwha Dam will be cranked open to drain 18 ft. from its reservoir, 267-acre Lake Aldwell. Crews will lower the stepped gravity dam--108 ft. tall and 100 ft. thick at its base--in 7- to 10-ft. increments. All traces of the dam will be removed by the fall of the third year.

Destroying both dams involves breaking up and recycling 35,000 cubic yards of concrete--more than half the amount used to construct the Empire State Building--along with hundreds of tons of metal. "We want to use as much of the material on site as possible," Winter says. Earth fill and crushed bedrock will be used to reshape the slopes around the dams to their original contours. The Elwha hydro plant and penstock tubes, with inside diameters that could comfortably accommodate an elephant, pose thornier problems. Some parts, such as the turbines, might be preserved as historic exhibits.
The two reservoirs must ultimately be drained of 48,600 acre-ft. of water--enough to flood Safeco Ballpark in Seattle, the home of the Mariners, to the height of a 130-story skyscraper. Then there is the reservoirs' sediment, 18 million cubic yards of the stuff, an amount so large that scientists have studied the debris flows from the explosion of Mount St. Helens to gauge how aquatic life will react to it washing downstream. Reservoir drawdowns will be carefully timed to manage turbidity.

 
By late 2011, both dams will be history, reservoirs drained and raw banks softened by sprouting trees. It will take three to five years for the river to flush out excess sediment, but the fish, Winter says, will likely reappear in a few months. It will be 30 years before the population is fully restored.

 
BEFORE THE ELWHA River Restoration Project can begin in earnest, the National Park Service must build two new water plants and intake structures for Port Angeles, which draws its water from the river. The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe must raise and lengthen the flood control levee for its reservation at the river's mouth. The tribe also must build a new sewage plant, as post-dam water tables will flood septic systems.

According to Robert Elofson, program director for tribal river restoration, both the wait and the work will be worth it. "We lived for the salmon," he says. "The river reflects who we are." Standing on the levee under a canopy of towering alder trees, he notes the rounded rocks packing the river bottom. "No gravel for the fish," he says. "And no sand for the beaches either. The ocean eats it all away and the river isn't bringing any down."

Since the dams were built, the swath of sandy beaches, where locals once earned money digging clams, has slowly disappeared. So has the river delta, which buffers the coastline from storm surges and supports emerging life from fish to crabs. The dams' removal will re-establish the cycle of nutrients from the river's headwaters to its mouth, sweeping sediment downstream, while opening 70 miles of the Elwha and its tributaries to the upstream migration of salmon. Winter calls the fish "packages of fertilizer with fins," because after spawning their carcasses supply the ecosystem with nitrogen and phosphorus.

Dam removal advocates will be watching the restoration of the Elwha River closely. Its success may provide the impetus to tear down other aging dams, including the four massive structures that block the lower Snake River in eastern Washington, and the 168-ft.-tall Matilija Dam on a tributary of Southern California's Ventura River.

Elofson will be keeping an even closer watch on the free-flowing waters. Like Winter, he got involved in the Elwha project right out of college. Now 53, he hopes to hike upriver and catch a coho before he retires."

Read more: Tearing Down The Elwha River Dam - Popular Mechanics

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Olympic National Park and its partners are ready to Celebrate Elwha in September.

"A weeklong series of events for all ages and interests will be held in and around Port Angeles, Sequim and the Elwha Valley from Sept. 10-18 to commemorate the Elwha River restoration and the beginning of the nation’s largest dam removal to date."

Celebrate dam removal. A week of events such as art installations, symposiums and street fairs mark the beginning of Elwha River restoration in September.

"Activities will range from Elwha-themed art installations in area galleries, a two-day science symposium, venues to watch live-streaming of the ceremony commemorating the beginning of dam removal, poetry readings and tribal storytelling, music performances and a street fair with educational and interactive booths showcasing the North Olympic Peninsula.

“This weeklong series of events will give people a chance to experience Elwha River restoration through a wide variety of media and activities,” Superintendent Karen Gustin said in a news release. “From poetry to science, from music to outdoor family activities, there will be something for everyone at Celebrate Elwha.”

On Sept. 17, nationally syndicated radio program eTown will record its weekly show at the Port Angeles High School Performing Arts Center. The program is a weekly radio broadcast heard on NPR, public and commercial stations. The shows are taped in front of a live audience and feature performances from musical artists as well as conversations and information. More information is available at celebrateelwha.com.

The Elwha River Science Symposium will be Sept. 15-16. It will feature presentations of recent scientific studies, as well as lectures from nationally recognized scholars in the fields of fisheries biology, geomorphology, ecosystem health, and dam removal and river policy."

More information can be found at elwharesearchconsortium.wildapricot.org.

Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/08/07/1774081/celebrate-dam-removal.html#ixzz1USjDmBxj

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Jerry & Gloria Quincy's account of when they were there in February this year:

 

World United States Washington Elwha

Adventures In Our American Dream ADVENTURES IN OUR AMERICAN DREAM

 

Elwha River Dam Removal    Feb 22, 2011

 

 

Elwha River Dam

Dam

Dam

Warning Sign

This is why they have warnings :-)

Another view

Elwha RV Park near the dam

It is a beautiful park

Elwha River

Walking trail over the river

Info

Model

Dam Restoration

Info

Info

Last one!

"When we first visited the Olympic National Park, we stopped at the visitors center for information. The lady working there told us about history in the making. She told us not to miss visiting the Elwha Dam. It is scheduled to be removed. It is a huge project, the largest dam removal in U.S. history.

It will free the Elwha River after 100 years. Salmon populations will swell from 3,000 to nearly 400,000 as all five species of Pacific salmon return to more than 70 miles of river and stream.
Returning salmon and a restored river will renew the culture of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. Tribal members will have access to sacred sites now inundated and cultural traditions can be reborn. We feel blessed to have been here at the right time to see it before it's removal. We also hope to return and see the effects afterward. See photos for more information." http://www.mytripjournal.com/travel-576696

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Elwha Web Slide Show:   http://www.flickr.com/photos/americanrivers/sets/72157619571249871/show/with/345729517/

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Yesterday:

 

What do pleasure do people derive from making spam comments? I have been plagued by a lot of Anonymous spam comments in all languages.  I thought about cutting out all Anonymous comments, but there are genuine folks who don't have, or want, and internet ID.  As Al gets a lot of comments, I searched his blog (http://thebayfieldbunch.com/) to see if I could glean some insight as to how he handles this problem.  He looks at his Blogger dashboard.   Well, I would forget to do that, so I will just stick to the email notification of a new comment to moderate them.  I know the hoopla of the word verification would stop most of it, but why should one have to go through that!

 

By the way, I am with the board on their choice of homes for Lexi, the Border Collie that Al and Kelly wanted for a new member of the Bayfield Bunch.  The other family's dog didn't mind being herded around, even seemed to like it, but Motormouse would not have appreciated that at all.  Sorry Kelly and All, but that is the way I feel about it, as an SPCA foster mom.   Matching canines is just as important as matching 'hoomans'.   A better match for y'all is out there.

 

Misty rode while I drove down to pick up Jay.  She took her usual little walk-about, went across the street to see Muffie, with me on a leash, of course.  Once Jay was in the car I drove over to where she used to live with her late Dad on the other side of the subdivision, over 4-1/2 years ago.  She seemed to vaguely remember the lady and the dog next door, but not very well.

 

When we got back here, Jay and I were going through the 'garden hose parts box', looking for a way to connect my front lawn sprinkler system to the timer that operates the back yard sprinkler and underground waterer for the hedge.  There is a diverter, so I turn either one on manually when I need them, and it shuts off automatically after an interval which I can set on a dial on there.   It is right on the pathway beside the house where I take Misty out to the back yard, so it is easy to use.

 

But the front lawn doesn't have a timer, and it's faucet is an awkward place, also that faucet comes off the guest house meter, so I hardly ever use it.  If I do walk around there to turn it on, I forget that it's on and overdo it.  That area is in the blazing sun during the hottest part of the day, so that is a bad time to water, so it needs to be done early or late.  It would be so convenient to have it right there inside my fence, on my walkway.  We found a very long heavy duty garden hose, attached it to that sprinkler, and strung it around all the way back and across the rear of the RVport, where it won't get tripped on or run over, to my side walkway where the other timer is located.  But I needed one more two-way hose adapter with shut-offs, so that was put on the list.

 

Ray did the final painting on the outside front of the cargo trailer, and fixed some scratches from when we towed it from the side lot to the morning shade in the front, as some of the branches of the felled trees touched it.  Now he is working on some places on the back.

 

Jay and I were so grateful for the shade tarp that we had 'hillbillied'  over the outside work table while we "buttered" the cargo trailer's table top and Formica with Contact Cement.   Then we went inside to clean one of the air cleaners, cut and installed new filter material for it, while we were waiting for the Contact Cement to dry.  That air cleaner had been missed on our last 'Monthly List', and it needed it.

 

Time was up, so we laid dowels across the table top, and laid the Formica on the dowels.  Making sure it was all in the right position, starting at one end, Jay pulled the first dowel out and I smoothed that end down with the roller.  We worked our way along until it was all stuck. It was put on a table in the workshop with a rug and some heavy blocks on it for the rest of the day.

Wheelchair Dogs. "Kandu". Jake's Leg. Elephant's New Foot. Tonka's Wheels. Vermont Labs. Iceland Whales. Battling The Sun.

Mammal Monday: Some "Special Needs" Mammals:

"Saving just one pet won't change the world. . . but, surely, the world will change for that one pet . . . "

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"Heartwarming, Informative Movie shows how the invention of a new type of dog wheelchair changed the lives of three dogs and their families.

Watch Lucy run, Nina play, and Denali hike in the woods and go for a swim with his children! "

 

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"Kandu", One Brave Little Dog

His new 'parents' made him new front legs out of skate board wheels, and even a skid for the snow.

Just watch him go!!  Video of "Kandu", the dog with no front legs.    http://www.dogwork.com/kan6/  

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Jake, The Terrific Three Legged Dog

This pet video lifts your heart and makes you feel good!

Read about Jake at http://www.StoryOfJake.com
"We always knew Jake the dog was special. Once he lost his leg in a tragic accident, we knew for sure. Jake has shown us a three legged dog can do anything a four legged one can do. Leg amputation is not the end of the world. "

Dogs are strong, they can overcome!

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Handicapped Elephant

 

"In 2007, orphaned baby elephant Chhouk was found wandering alone in the forests of Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia. Badly emaciated and separated from his mother, this endangered Asian elephant had lost his left front foot due to injuries sustained from a poacher's snare.
Now his lifestyle has improved with the help of a prosthetic foot. Today, Chhouk is a healthy bull elephant, able to take long walks in the forest, frolic in the pool, and play with his adopted big sister Lucky."

Chouk's story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/28/prosthetic-foot-elephant_n_912164.html?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl5%7Csec3_lnk3%7C220510

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The fastest tortoise on THREE legs: How injured Tonka races around on her toy truck

"Meet the tortoise on wheels who could give any hare a run for its money despite having her leg bitten off by a dog.

When vets found the female wild red-footed tortoise her left front leg was in tatters and they feared she would never be able to move properly again.

But after patching her up one rescuer had an ingenious idea to help the little reptile - using wheels from a child's toy truck."

 

"Tonka the tortoise had one of her legs savaged by a dog, but was given a new lease of life after her new owner strapped her up on the wheels of a child's toy truck"

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1188910/The-fastest-tortoise-THREE-legs-How-injured-Tonka-races-toy-truck.html#ixzz1TjL4JsUn

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A mother-son yellow Lab combo are inseparable

"Most people have heard of a Seeing Eye dog for blind humans, but the case of Daisy and Duke, a mother-son yellow Labrador retriever duo, shows how Seeing Eye dogs can also help their fellow canines, Today's THV reports.

Daisy, 10, is completely blind, and her 6-year-old offspring has been leading her around for his entire life. The two have always been together, from the time they lived with a family to the six months they spend on the cold concrete floor of a shelter in Nebraska when their family had to foreclose on its home, the Prior Lake American reports.

 
The dogs were 24 hours away from being euthanized because they hadn't found a suitable home when a rescue group in Iowa, Secondhand Hounds, brought them to Minnesota, where they spend their time with a foster parent.

When the two dogs get too far apart, Daisy barks and Duke runs to her side, the news source reports. He watches her and guides her through the house and yard, teaching her how to maneuver the doggie door at their current home.

Secondhand Hounds is looking for a family who will adopt these pooches, and their trainer says their strong bond requires that the family take them both together."

From: http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/ars/article/A-mother-son-yellow-Lab-combo-are-inseparable640&adId=78245&placementId=206735&origin=ERA_090309_ARS

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Dozens of Dogs Saved from Deplorable Conditions in Vermont by David Sokol July 27, 2011

"Our animal rescuers have gone on hundreds of deployments–responding to crisis situations for animals in natural disasters, saving dogs from puppy mills, delivering horses from severe neglect, and coming to the aid of all kinds of pets from hoarding situations.

 
When animals end up emaciated or forced to live in filthy, unsafe conditions, we and other animal welfare groups have to respond. And it’s tough work. Our team puts in endless hours in all kinds of weather, they enter into often squalid and filthy conditions, and are known to engage in truly heroic rescues, whether scaling rooftops or crawling under houses to remove animals and bring them to safety.

On July 26, our Animal Rescue Team helped remove 54 Labrador retrievers from a Vermont puppy mill, working with the Vermont State Police, the Humane Society of Chittenden County, and the Franklin County Humane Society. This facility was selling dogs over the Internet and through classified ads.

The HSUS encourages people to adopt dogs from animal shelters or buy from reputable breeders they have screened in person rather than purchasing a puppy from a pet store or online seller, where dogs may come from puppy mills.

 

Our deputy manager of animal cruelty investigations, Ashley Mauceri, is no stranger to the sight of animals who have been living in misery before our rescue team arrives. Today, she sent an account of what stood out to her from the scene:

"The large property was littered with trash, old toys and bicycles, appliances and vehicles, with some dogs roaming outside and others kept in filthy wire pens and sheds. I could easily feel the ribs of many dogs when I ran my hands over their sides, and some had untreated injuries.

Inside the house were two litters of puppies kept in plastic baby pools, who were severely dehydrated and received immediate veterinary attention on the scene. Attached to the house was an enclosed porch where 10 or 15 dogs were confined. The glass of the closed windows had become so caked with dirt that I could just barely see through to the faces of the dogs. The porch and the rest of the house were thick with ammonia fumes from the animals living in their own waste.

Other dogs were living outdoors in wire pens, standing in inches of mud and feces and left with only dirty, dank tubs of water to drink. But what upset me the most were the dogs kept further back from the road, on the edge of the woods. There, dogs were living in windowless, nearly airless buildings. When we opened up the doors there was an overwhelming stench, and it looked like these dogs never got the chance to leave that place or breathe fresh air. The idea of these animals living their entire lives in complete darkness just broke my heart." " Help support our animal rescue work here.

 

From: http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2011/07/vermont-dog-rescue.html

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Urge President Obama  to Sanction Iceland for Defiant Whaling 

 

"Urge President Obama to Sanction Iceland for Defiant Whaling

Despite an international moratorium on commercial whaling, Iceland is one of a small group of countries that continues to kill whales commercially. In the past, the U.S. has taken the diplomatic route in an attempt to negotiate with Iceland – but these efforts have failed.

Iceland continues to undermine an international conservation agreement and has killed even more whales than it did last year, ignoring the scientific advice for these endangered animals, and has no plans to stop.

Now, on the heels of the 2011 International Whaling Commission meeting, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke has certified that Iceland is undermining the IWC. The next step is for President Obama to impose trade or other economic sanctions on Iceland. This would have a negative impact on Iceland, forcing officials to reconsider whether continuing to kill whales is worthwhile.

TAKE ACTION
Now is the time for the U.S. to take this significantly stronger measure – Iceland must be sanctioned for its actions. Please urge President Obama to pursue sanctions on Iceland and protect whales.

Be sure to edit the text below and add your own words, so your message will stand out."

To learn more, read the press release»   More at: https://secure.humanesociety.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=5135&autologin=true&s_src=ha072911&JServSessionIdr004=zcsa90xkz7.app304b

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Yesterday.

There is a new Coachmen Class B Mods Album for your viewing on the left hand side. Finally took the time to do it as I had to send some pictures that are in my Picasa Web Albums of my son's place of business, to him.

 

Not a very interesting post, but this is what we did.  Ray showed up promptly at 9.00 AM, as he wanted to work.   I had just watered the front lawn and the cargo trailer was still a bit wet from the spay of the sprinkler, so painting was out of the question for a while.

 

But the ACs in the house all needed a good clean so we worked on those.  The big one didn't take long, but the newest one where the computer is, gets used the most, and it was not doing a good job. The set thermostat temperature on it does not match the temperature in the room.  We took the front off, and washed all the little fins and things that direct the airflow.  We carefully cleaned the metal fins on the inside with a soft brush, and vacuumed everything that we could. Hopefully it will work better now.

We wash the fronts of the ACs and the filters in the workshop sink, and I dry the filters by putting them in folds of a heavy bathmat and stepping on it.  Because we were running in and out to the attached workshop, so that Prime wouldn't get in there she was locked up in a big cage, she made a couple of pleading meows, until I told her "That's Life, Get Over it", and she accepted that. Neither Misty or Bobbie cat will go down the steps into the workshop, so I don't have to worry about them.

 

The main problem is that there is so much sun on that side of the house for most of the day, especially since those 5 dead pine trees were felled. Even worse in this record heat.  The said window is just at the very right of the picture, you can hardly see it, above that brown thing, don't remember what that was.

We installed a thicker mini blind, but a sliver had to be hack sawed off the width while it was chucked up in the vice. There is also a pull down insulating shade, and a cellular blind on that window, but the heat still comes through that window above the AC.   The AC itself has a metal awning over it on the outside, but I can see that whole window needs to have an awning, now.   It was always in the plans to build a big, wide, permanent, lean-to storage/sitting area all the way along that side of the house to shade it.  Maybe, this winter that will get built. 

Then I can install the other two windows in the workshop.  It would be unbearable in there without the added shade, at the moment.  Dizzy-Dick wondered what I will have to do once the cargo trailer is done….like I told him, there is plenty to do around here!! 

 

The kittens were locked up in a cage while we ran in and out of the grooming room to clean that AC, they just settled down, as they have been raised to accept that as part of life.

 

We had intended to clean the air cleaners, too, but Shay called Ray to quit for the day.

Proof of Jesus Outside The Bible. Non-believers. Adoption Day.

"Is there Proof for Jesus Outside the Bible? Randall Niles looks at ancient accounts of Jesus of Nazareth outside the biblical texts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, James, Paul, and Jude." (Part 1 of 2)

"You give them the Bible, it isn't enough, they need more.  You give them more, and that isn't good enough. 
Well guess what, no other text in history has been preserved as well as the Bible, but that still isn't enough for some people.  
You cannot see things you do not want to see.  At the very least an atheist if he wants to be fair to Christians should debate them, look at evidences, but also ask God (honestly) the source of the faith to show Himself to them."
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Can You Make Someone Believe in God, Jesus or The Bible?
"Witnessing for Christ is a great way for Christians to be of service to the Lord.
But at what point do you have to draw the line and walk away from those who simply refuse to believe?"

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Yesterday,
Was Adoption Day, so I was hoping that I would be feeling up to taking my three foster cats into Conroe's Petco, now that I am taking the meds for the bronchitis.   I was, so we took them.  Jay rode his 3-wheeler up here, so he hid it in the RVport, covered it, and chained it to a pole.

Prime didn't want to go, she meowed a couple of "Oh! No's" as she was being crated.  She is getting so tired of being on display, and never getting picked, but she behaved once she was there. 
I just don't understand it, she is the most laid back, loving, good traveling, well behaved cat.  She never struggles when crated, comes when she is called, meows 'thank you' for her dinner, never put a claw on anything but her cedar board, never put a tooth on anything but her food, gets along with other animals, but nobody has ever put in an application for her.

I would adopt her myself, but she would outlive me, and be looking for a new home as an older cat.  I suppose she thinks of this as her permanent home, as she sleeps so still at the foot of my bed. I had to teach her not to play with my toes through the covers!  She is a fast leaner, and understands "No".  People just do not understand what an outstanding cat she is.

Jay had bought a special turquoise watch and watch band on eBay, and as it was in The Woodlands, we thought that we could go pick it up after we dropped off the cat and two kittens. There are a couple of big warehouse type thrift places down there, so we could visit them at the same time. But the seller never came forth with her address, even though she had "Local Pick-up No Charge" on her listing, so we just stayed in Conroe. 

At the Salvation Army store at the south end of town, I reaped some drawer type plastic containers, and some more fabric for my light weight bedspread, to be added to the floral bed skirt I bought the other day.  It will be better than the floral fabric that I was going to use, as this is plain.  Jay got a boot jack, once he knew what it was! And a thing for putting your change in at night, plus some elbow and knee pads for his three wheeler.  Well, not for the three wheeler, but for the rider!  There was a m/c helmet, but the strap was broken, it was fixable by a leather shop, but Jay didn't get it.

We dropped Jay's broken lawn mower off at the Western Auto near there.  Labor is $50 + parts!  We will see what their diagnosis is.  The next thrift shop had nothing we needed.

We ate at China Delight.  Their portions are so large, that we shared one.  We had Sweet and Sour Shrimp, but by the time I had picked off all those big wads of white flour fried batter off mine, there was hardly any shrimp. We wished we had gone to China Buffet, at least they don't make portions look huge, when they are not.  As I had finished the drink that I took with me, I downed two glasses of ice water while I was there, it was so hot going around town.  Jay ate all his shrimp as they were, breading too, and didn't feel well afterwards.

Then on to the Dollar Tree, it is the only store in town that sells the stronger reading glasses.  I picked up several pair for a neighbor and myself. I could hear a 'wing' cracking on mine, they break momentarily at that stage, so time to replace them.

We were at the stage where we didn't have time to go anywhere else, but were still too early to pick up the cats.  But we went back to Petco anyway.

We were quickly headed home as the foster moms already had my cats in their carriers, they packed up early, as it had been a very slow day.