Up and out early from Ian and Sara’s, coffee across Oregon’s eastern high desert. Memories of my days as judge for the Burns Paiute Tribe. Stop at Oard’s east of Burns. Bought something for my granddaughter; she’ll just need to guess.

Onward to Weiser and up, up through gorgeous farmland then to mountain streams and conifers and smells of the mountains. Warm, sunny skies all the way. To McCall and 5,000 feet elevation and Payette Lake, and the boat I mentioned yesterday, which receives a no vote.

(Amid a vast pasture of tall, green grass I see a clump of 20 or so bright red poppies. Who put those there, I wonder?)

Dinner at McCall includes homemade spaghetti and two meatballs as large as my fist, served by a waitress named Kassandra. Great food was mitigated by the martini I slurped down.

Kassandra asked if I wanted a second of those “bad boys” but I said no; if yes I would have needed to be carried out on a palanquin, which might have been a gas because (1) I would have loved saying “bring me a palanquin, please”, (2) it would have been fun to see if anyone there knows what a palanquin is, and (3) I would have loved the ride back to the hotel.

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There was a comment today from my first troll, one “Jerry”. Jerry is my good pal, old Wisco oar, Best Man at my wedding to Karen and therefore a facilitator to that union. Don’t pay him any heed. He is retired and therefore without much to do other than to heckle.

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Tomorrow morning early it’s out on Lake Payette for a row, then over Lolo Pass and into Montana…