I got so caught up in dealing with the aftermath of our garage fire, and insurance inventory, I totally lost track that the Wyoming cleanup event was moved out 1-week for a COVID off-again-on-again wedding situation.  Suddenly I found myself a week ahead of schedule instead of a week behind!  Time to hit the Dakotas!  I was further south than I would have been had I planned this but nothing like making the drive through Montana longer than it already is!  I specifically did not dive in Montana this leg as I want to hit Glacier and Flathead towards the end of summer, so I just meandered through enjoying the scenery. Next stop - Lake Sakakawea in North Dakota.

First, what's up with the spelling - is it Sacagawea, Sacajawea or Sakakawea?  "Sakakawea" spelling, use and meaning are based on the fact that Charbonneau told Lewis and Clark that one of his wives’ name was “Bird Woman” which translates to Sakakawea in Hidatsa. The three affiliated tribes, Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara, concur that this is the correct spelling and it is widely used in North Dakota. Certainly not what I was taught in history many years ago.

I found my way to Lake Sakakawea State Park and got myself situated. I planned to dive the next morning however I woke to a crazy thunder and lightening storm so I made more coffee and decided to wait it out.  As I ventured around looking for the best dive site I started to get a little confused (a large do not scuba sign).  So I contacted Randy at Scuba One in Bismarck to get some information on diving Garrison Dam.  Randy happened to be in the area and met me at the dive site and provided a great dive brief.  Later he called me to see if I wanted a "job"!?  Apparently a gentleman lost his wallet at the marina and I was the only diver he knew of in the area.  Long story short, it was in the other State Park so I agreed to retrieve it the next morning and hoped to be able to get back in time to still dive Garrison Dam.  

The next morning I was off to Fort Stevenson State Park, about 5-miles as the crow flies but a good 40-minute drive.  I got lost in the sunflower farms for a bit, they were too beautiful to pass up.  When I arrived at Fort Stevenson Marina, I checked in with the Ranger on duty to get his okay for me to dive the marina. After receiving my green light and a sarcastic "good luck in that muck" I found the location and gathered my gear.  There were definitely a couple of dock lines to avoid but the water was still and the shoreline was rip-rap, so I thought there might be some hope in finding this wallet.  Hot as can be already and guess who brought her dry suit!  As I dropped below my buoy, I certainly did not experience a chill - it was more like bathwater.  I positioned myself and shined my dive light. It was a nice rock bottom, very silty and BOOM - there's a wallet, a fishing pole, a reel holder, etc.  I checked my dive computer and sure enough I was 1-minute into my dive!  Now what to do?  My dive light was attracting lots of little fish so I played for a bit, collected a couple items and then decided it was just too boring to waste any more air on.  I ascended and made my way to shore with buoy in tow (cause that law).  Getting out was the hardest part as I climbed the rip-rap rockery in my gear.  I called the owner of the wallet and we rendezvoused just outside the park.  He was happy, or maybe his wife was happier since he blamed her for dropping it! Unfortunately, it was getting too late to pull off a second dive considering elevation and my need to checkout of the campground timely, so I just stopped by and did my dive site cleanup and off to shower and pack up camp.

As a was pulling out and rounding the corner I saw something in my rear-view mirror that I didn't recall being in the roadway...but what could I have dropped??  I parked and took a quick shower, then to the garbage and dump facility where I spotted my DIVE boot on the rack of my truck!  Oh crap - now I know what I saw!  So around the park with the trailer again, only no boot!  I talked to a couple of different campers but nobody saw it.  I stopped by the Ranger Station where Ranger Greg called around to the camp host and then after no luck he took down my information and said he'd send it my way if it turned up.  Two-days later Ranger Greg called me to let me know it was found!  Ranger Greg to the rescue!! I guess I'll be diving a wet suit until I get back to Spokane.  ​

It was a lovely evening for a dive and great to take a break from trying to inventory the damages of our garage fire!  Even the rest of the family joined in above the water.

Special thanks to Jake's Scuba Adventures for letting me crash their weekly fun dive. With a handful of divers picking up a few items and a few more dedicated to the task with bags in hand, we manage to quickly accumulate 35 pounds of trash! Just imagine how much is actually down there!! So sad!

I was also successful in having a weight distribution hitch installed to address the sway I was getting on my trip back from Seattle with the little trailer.  While the trailer is super light, I carry a lot of scuba gear and I think things were just slightly out of whack allowing the semi-trucks to cause me some fishtail grief!  We should have the fire stuff wrapped up here and I'll be heading down into Wyoming for the creek cleanup being hosted by the Wyoming chapter of the IOC!  I'll have to back-track a bit with the delay to address the fire issues - but it will all work out!!

Cheers and happy bubbles!!
Pam

Sometimes life throws more curve balls... and maybe just because it's the year 2020?

Our Redondo Beach cleanup dive was a success thanks to Northwest Dive Club and other local PNW Divers.  Redondo was actually looking so much better underwater than it has over the past couple years thank to diver's like Scuba Jess and LeAnne Livingston who have been cleaning more frequently.  We gleaned a beautiful sunset, a couple of spiny dog fish shark visits, found a full beer with a tip, and lots of other diver shenanigans. ​

Afterwards, I headed back to my BFF Kathy's to decompress - literally and figuratively.  Earlier in the week, the very first night on the west side of the state, I was up late trying to photograph the comet when I received a frantic call from my daughter informing me the neighbors work shed was on fire and the firefighters woke her to get inside our detached garage to shut-off the breaker box. Only before anything could really transpire the entire upper portion of our garage went up in flames as the fire spread.  Luckily they were able to contain it there and thankfully nobody was injured.  While the neighbor's house was damaged externally and another neighbor's fence, it was just the initial work shop and our detached garage the took the brunt of it.  As a diver I cringed a bit when I learned they suspected batteries to be the blame. Ugh!  We just can't leave these overnight!!

Sadly - everything we owned was stored in that garage as we traveled in our RV's. You name it, it was in there.  

I headed back to Spokane the next morning and have been here working with my family to inventory and recreate the best we can what was stored in there.  We had high hopes of salvaging a few things but after talking with insurance and the salvage company they educated us on the reality of what can and can not be salvaged.  Basically if it wasn't burned, it was damaged by heat, water, foam, smoke or the fiberglass insulation that fell.  We will be lucky to save a few tools and will try to have a couple of antiques evaluated - but at this point I'm not holding out hope.

I feel very fortunate to find a ton of photos still intact. While the outside of the albums burned the inside photos were wet but salvageable for the most part. We had some warm weather to dry them out (now they are all curly) and will eventually need to scan them all as they all smell noxious.  

Starting to input the inventory into a spreadsheet the insurance adjuster provided.  Can I just say PITA!!  Oh, well.... we've been working for about a week now and probably have at least another week as we dig deeper upstairs where things are less recognizable, if at all.  This is one cleanup I had never imagined on my route - but here it is!