I learn something new every day

That is one thing I love about my life. I really do learn something new every day. In my work (I'm an RN in the NICU at Primary Children's Hospital) we are required to be perpetual learners. Isn't that great! There are always new advancements in medicine and technology. In nursing it is important to follow "best practice" and "evidence based" learning. Not all my ah-aha moments are at work. I learn many things from my children....even more so as they try to bring this old lady into the techno world. I also learn great things from my parents, and of course my greatest teacher is my hubby. He always shares great wisdom and discoveries he has had throughout his day with me, and it enlightens me.
I was thinking about the fact that so often I think, "I learn something new every day," today.... when I learned about Salmon.

Lake Tahoe October 9, 2012

Greg and I are on a vacation in Lake Tahoe Nevada/California. It is fall, our favorite time for a get away, until winter, when January is....if it is to somewhere warm! Anyway, we decided to rent bikes and ride along a bike path. There were scenic stops along the way. One was at Taylor Creek that feeds into Lake Tahoe. We happened upon a great even. The Salmon are spawning! I've heard about it but never seen it before.


So this is what happens. Salmon "spawn" or reproduce in the rivers, and then the after they hatch they swim out to live in the lake. When they are 2-4 years old they return to the river of their birth to "spawn" They have to swim upstream to get up the river to their birthplace. They jump up rapids, and finagle the beaver dams to get to their original home. It's really quite amazing. They find their way by taste and smell of the water and surroundings. The males start to morph. Their mouths become hooked and they get a hump on their backs. All the fish turn a bright red.

Salmon at Taylor Creek off of Lake Tahoe

So besides learning that they return to there birth to spawn, or to give birth again, I learned that after they spawn they die. The creek was full of dead fish. I thought something was contaminated in the water! One guy said to Greg, "I'm glad I don't die after I spawn!" True that!
After they die, the insects and other fish eat them and the circle of life is started all over again.
How about this picture...gross but kind of cool.

Crawdad eating the dead salmon :(

Lava Hot Springs

Just got back from an outing to Lava Hot Springs. Greg and I went with Lauren and her friend Laura Wouden. We camped at the KOA campground....I would not recommend it...noisy with a train that passes every hour or so day and night, and a major highway with trucks that have screechy breaks. Not to mention our site backed the river that made me feel like I needed to go potty all night! But the trip was fun enough to write home about so I will overlook the campsite!
Lava Hot Springs is a little sleepy town in Idaho. There are natural mineral springs minus the sulfur that is often in hot pots. The town has some fun things to do for a quick get away. There is a large olympic sized swimming pool with platform diving boards and water slides. We didn't try out the platform diving boards...too old and too chicken! My sister did it when we were young and ended up with a few stitches...bad memories.

The next thing we did was soak in the hot pools. There is an area that has been cemented in and there are about 6 large hot pools. Kind of like massive hot tubs. They range in temperatures of 102 to 110. They made me a little sick to my stomach after sitting in them for too long, but they were fun, and if it would have been a chillier day I would have enjoyed them more.

The final thing we did was tubing on the Portneuf river. It was a blast. The river is fairly shallow, not to swift, and the hot springs feed into it making the water fairly warm. There are tube rental places all over town. It was swift enough with a few rapids to keep things exciting, but not too dangerous that I was scared. I'd definitely recommend it. I think Lava Hot Springs would be a great place for a youth activity. Either a Youth Conference or a girls camp.