Wuv. Twue wuv.

Presenting Mr. & Mrs. Nash

James and Danielle Nash tied the improved-clinch-wedding knot last weekend. I know events such as this take a lot of prep, but it sure seemed like this wedding planned itself. Happy couple? Check. Picturesque setting by the river on the home ranch? Yep. Gorgeous weather? Uh-huh. Fabulous reception in the enormous riding arena? Yes.

James did some trips with us before going in the Marines as a tank commander over in Afghanistan. Great to see him home safe and all the best to the Nash family.

James guided Paul, Jared Wilcox and I around with flyrods just the other day on the same stretch of river he got married next to. I learned watching James take a few casts that my mending technique may need a little work. My timid approach to mending line looks like a little girl with low blood sugar playing jump rope with an imaginary friend who’s also tired. James mends line like he’s calling in an air strike. And guess which technique is moving the fly? The imaginary friend.

James is guiding morning or afternoon half-day fishing trips on this private stretch of Wallowa River that got rehabbed with a stream restoration project years ago. Find out more here.

Mr. Arentsen, Tear Down That Blacksmith Shop

Seen those lovely old barnwood accents in the Boathouse Shop? That’s courtesy of the ongoing Winding Waters barnwood reclamation project. Todd Kruger makes lovely work from reclaimed boards, Paul has a devoted following for his ski chairs and other woodwork. And I . . . ahem . . . make custom splinter delivery devices from old boards in my spare time.

Wood carver extraordinaire Steve Arment recently bought an old mansion house outside of Lostine and an old building on the property, previously used as a blacksmith shop, had to go. Here it is, false front and all:

And here’s my Toyota T100 moments before I adjusted the rear axle, transmission and who knows what else by trying to pull down a blacksmith shop that had no interest at all in being pulled over by a Toyota truck:

Cue the Chevy truck music. We hooked up Paul’s rig and got somewhere:

Cue the Terminal Gravity music and also the Crowbar As Beer Opener music, as Paul takes the heavy machinery approach to opening a celebratory beer:

Todd and I launch on a Grande Ronde trip here pretty quick. I hear there’s still open seats for the Buzz Holmstrom trip, which is going to be a dandy. Get on board for that and we’ll see you on the river.

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