Glad to see not everyone has succumbed to the heat. 103 here in the Heart of the Inland Empire. It's tooo hot to fish. That's bad.

This is a normal year for WA weather.

The first normal one in about 10 years or so.

Lived here all my life. It's hotter than "normal."

Ich,

By definition, record setting temperatures, which the past several days have been, are above normal, since normal is defined as average.

I've sort of succombed to the heat. No fishing this weekend. Putzing around the house with a few odd jobs, dressing a few flies for the upcoming Alaska trip. A dozen deer hair mice should get me by. Still have the various sculpin streamers I didn't use last year. I'll tie a few more coho flies in case we get lucky near the end of the trip. Finished my second garden shed of the summer - did one for a co-worker a few weeks ago, and did this one for my girlfriend's sister. She's a widow and has no male relatives. Sat in the heat and watched enough of the Lakefair parade Saturday to remind myself why I don't go every year.

Lived here all my life, too. I still remember what to to when you come to a flashing RR crossing and the Log train is only 25 yards away.

I distinctly remember driving a pea combine in high school summer break during 105 degree heat. You dont forget stuff like that.

Just got back from Vegas where the Strip is registering daily temps @ 110+. Hoover Dam even hotter @ 117+. Glad to be back home to these cool and refreshing temperatures.

Supposed to hit 120 inland SoCal today.

F#*% THAT!

All sounds familiar. Never drove a combine in the peas but plenty hours on an old International sidehilling wheat. HOt yes, dirty, yes. No air conditioned cabs in those days,

Your youth sounds much like mine Stam. 12 years old and driving a horse drawn buck rake in the timothy, then the mower as I got a little older. Then needling on the Case bailer. And finally when I was a truly young animal, bucking bails on the skid behind the bailor.. I know about the uncle's loaner too. Oh well, pocket money+ board and room for the summer and no green card needed.
Back to school sun bleached blond and brown skin from the sun. Arms pumped from bucking bales.It did have some fringe benefits.

I got to do a little haying, but it wasn't a regular thing. I was always super impressed by the farmer's wife's lunches. I'd never seen anything like that, and ours didn't even include beer. So you 'spose all that dust has anything to do with respitory conditions these days? I also remember wearing my school shoes out in the field a few times for the super spit shine they got from all that hay brushing them. Random weird trivia thought I hadn't remembered all these years until just now.

Three days in Kalispell...102, 103, 105...and the 105 came with a little thunderstorm, just enough to get the humidity up to 100%.

Brutal.

I was pretty enthused to cross Snoqualmie Pass and find it *only* to be 90 degrees here today...it was in the high 90's, low 100's, all the way from Kalispell through Spokane, and all the way to Cle Elum...pretty much sucked.

I can think of a lot better ways to spend 9 hours than driving in that heat.

Fish on...

Todd

Air conditioner does blow the mileage figures out the window.
Heck I got paid 75 cent an hour for staying downwind of that damn horse. They say a farting horse is a working horse. must be true. Green house gasses weren't even a subject then.
By end of summer I had earned $300. Big buck in those days. 12 plus hour days that is.
I did love the lunches and in those days it was breakfast, dinner, and supper, If you were in the fields then lunches were delivered. Trouble is I never saw a beer. Nesbitts' Orange, Nehi Colas and Grape Crush were on the wine list. Oh yes and water, tepid and from a dust encrusted canvas, evaporatively cooled bag.
Too bad the kids now days cannot have the same chance to learn about acquiring a buck the accepted way. And that eggs come from a chicken's ... or was that the Easter Bunny?

No A/C for me in the van...I get bad enough mileage as it is, and driving around with a full load in that heat keeps the temp gauge at about 80% of max even without the A/C.

Windows open, cold drinks in the cooler, and the usual two hour swimming break at Vantage...stay in the water until I'm shivering, then drive like hell for the mountains before I start sweating again...unfortunately, we don't usually even make it back to the freeway before it's 110 degrees in the car.

Fish on...

Todd

OOOh. NO Ac. I just spent two days coming back from Owatonna, Land of 50 billion Mosquitos. It was hot although we had A/c and it was not as hot as it is now. Stay hydrated Todd.

Go out into an open, dusty field on a triple digit day, put a running diesel engine under you, then lock yourself in a glass box from sun up to sundown, wearing the L&I required steel toe boots, jeans, shirt & hardhat.