Opening Camp

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Dave here. Melisse got a preseason stay at Ali's and Bill's camp at Cazadero about a month back while I was job searching in Seattle (no luck to this point). This past weekend, while Melisse is in Alaska on assignment, we went back to Caz for the official opening of camp. We pulled all the utensils and plates and such out of the shed and set up kitchen in the open ala a cowboy camp. We also put out the cushions on the couches around the campfire for the open air living room. This is a very comfy place to be. The beginning of the season coincides with the beginning of the dry season. However, as I write this passage, it is raining and threatens to for the remainder of the week. Quite unusual. The weekend gave us a chance to assess how the winter rains affected the area. There was a rock slide on the creek which will create a different swimming hole situation this summer. The wildflowers are enjoying the late rains. The birds are sitting on their egg filled nests. We had to give wide berth to the open refrigerator where a flycatcher has built her nest in the door shelf. The pileated woodpeckers (think Woody Woodpecker) have also set up home in a truncated redwood trunk beside the straw bale barn. We set up a couch in the meadow to spend a morning observing them.
All in all, it was wonderful to be back in Hell Hole Canyon.

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