River day

We really loved today’s roaming around the backroads, just following a river. When Steve saw a spot he’d like to fish for a while, we’d just pull over. He suited up in his gear, and Josie and I would either break out a riverside camp chair, or if space around the van was a little tight, I’d just flip the passenger seat around and pull out the big side screen.

Steve got his “river legs” back, and I even have photographic evidence of him catching a little brown trout. But he’s thinking maybe it’s time to start fly fishing from a boat vs trusting his balance standing in rivers!

I also roamed around and checked out wildflowers and other plant-y things. I even had to bag some young roadside mullen to take home and dry for a herbal compote project I’m working on. No one will miss it - it’s literally an invasive weed.

I think I had as much fun as Steve did, because I got to reboot a cross stitch project I started last year, a set of mini scenes from each National Park. The problem last year was the scale was so tiny and my eyes are so horrible, plus trying to work it in the bumpy car was impossible so small - I could not do it. So I upped it to a nice, large gauge super stiff fabric, making it so enjoyable to stitch by the side of the river and in the van. This first one will be of Yellowstone, but I hope to do one for every park we visit.

We have never wavered from the Keig family travel tradition of bologna sandwiches for lunch.

Bonus nature lesson of the day - this is a stone fly sunning itself on a rock, one of the bugs that fly fishermen covet and try to replicate with their flies.