Driving in the Snow

For anyone that doesn't live here in this area, you probably won't know what Leavenworth is. It's a town here in Washington that got together a few decades ago and decided that they should become totally Bavarian. They got it right too--When you go there you'd swear you were somewhere in that part of Europe. It caters to tourism. There are lots of shops and restaurants, as well as special parking for tour buses.

This is the time of year when the town really comes alive. There are so many places in the world that celebrate the holidays in a special way, but when you start with a town like Leavenworth and throw in some snow, it adds quite a bit of crowd appeal.

Sarah has been after me to go there for a while now. She has been 3 times during special school events, but was frustrated at the lack of freedom and time during those outings. Her friends and classmates were never "on the same page" and might end up wasting too much time in one store and not have time to see anything else. Sue and I talked about it last weekend and decided that we'd "give it a go" this weekend much to Sarah's delight. We took her boyfriend too of course.

We lucked out. The sensationalism-driven media in our area was calling for (insert bold, announcer-type voice here) "Winter Storm 2008" and was promising lots of snow and freezing temperatures. They were making it sound pretty bad as they usually do. Well, as it usually is they were wrong. Yes, there was snow, but no it was nothing like they predicted. As such, I'm sure it kept most of the people off the roads. We took Suzie's little old 1990 Camry wagon on the trip this time. It has ample space, it's nice riding, and has great winter tires on it. We drove over Snoqualmie Pass and over Blewitt Pass on the way over, and drove across Stevens Pass to Monroe on the way home, and it was much packed snow all the way. It was also snowing pretty much the whole way with a little break here and there. On the way back last night we drove in heavy snow for much of the trip. Some of the biggest and heaviest snow we encountered was when we got closer to home in the lowlands!

There were a couple of Lions Club tents selling freshly roasted chestnuts for a couple bucks for a cup full. It was the first time any of us had ever eaten them and I believe we all liked them. They were very unusual. I thought they had a somewhat "meat-like" flavor, but the others agreed that they tasted more like sweet potatoes.

After we all agreed to meet back at a certain place and I'd buy us all dinner, the two couples split up to go wandering. Suzie and I went on a hunt for a place to eat something . I was frustrated more than once because we couldn't get into a restaurant. Place after place we entered, only to find them overfilled or understaffed. Finally we ended up wandering down "food alley" (every town event has one) where the food vendor tents were set up. We were just about to get something "ala carte" when we spotted a Mexican restaurant. It was situated far enough off the main drag and was on a second floor that it wasn't crowded at all. We got to sit and enjoy a beer and a plate of nachos. It was the perfect thing to tide us over until dinner time. After all, it was already 2pm and we hadn't eaten lunch...

Everywhere you looked there were people pulling kids on toboggans and sleds. There were all manners of strange hats too, thanks to a hat shop in town. That hat store is so renowned for its unusual hats that people that come into town always put it on their "must see" list. So much so that this time there was a huge line out into the street for people going in. Did we? No. I hate lines, and neither of us needed to see hats that badly.

I didn't end up taking too many pictures. Sometimes the mood isn't there for me. I think it was partially the cold and partially the fact that everything was "flat" and nondescript from a white sky. Had there been a blue sky or something then maybe things would have been different. Here are a few so you can get an idea of things:



When we got back together, we agreed that we would go back to the car and drive to a restaurant across the main drag that Suzie knew of. It was just right. There was a parking place for me right out front, and there was no waiting to be seated. Add to that the fact that they had free wireless, so I got to use my PDA to check on the pass conditions before we left.

All in all, it was a very good trip and we had a good time. Would we do it again? Probably not. Even though Sue overheard a shopkeeper say that the crowd was about half of what it usually was, the place was just too crowded.

It's kind of nice to wake up this morning to snow outside. It gives a whole new look to the boring vista of rooftops that is my bedroom view. Although snow is a nice change, I'm sure it will get old fast.

I'm Home!

It was a long, boring trip home. Boring because I like to travel with Suzie and she remained behind. Long because, well... It was long. I got home yesterday at about 1pm. It felt good to sleep 12 hours last night--I needed it badly.

I left their house at about 5:30pm on Friday. They are not all that far south of downtown Los Angeles--About 20 miles or a half hour normally. To give you an idea of what a bonehead I was to leave their house at 5:30 on a Friday, at 8pm I was just going past downtown LA. That's pretty bad. I guess the usual Friday LA commute was made much worse by one of the freeways having some overturned hazmat truck or something on it that shut it down completely. At least I made my break. I was going to leave there Saturday morning, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted two nights in my bed before going to work on Monday. I guess I'm fortunate because all the times I drove us all around that area during the week or so I was there things went pretty well. I only had one other time when traffic sorta sucked, and that was just a rush-hour thing too.

Naturally, I was in the dark for the majority of my trip. The sun just started coming up in lower Oregon, but it was no less boring. Almost the whole time I was in that state it was foggy--REAL foggy. It finally cleared up somewhere near Salem I think. I was glad I had the portable mp3 thing going. I plugged in a DVD of my mp3's that I made that was all loose songs, grouped by artist name, and started it at the E's. When I got home it was just into the J's. Pretty handy to have music play for that long without being having to change a disk!

It felt so good to be home. I don't remember the last time I'd had 2 weeks to burn--I really don't. I went to make my coffee pot up before bed last night and stood there puzzled for a moment, wondering what the ratio I use was. I really couldn't remember. Okay, that may have just been a senior moment--I dunno... Fortunately the weather was pretty good here, because I turned my heat completely off and my house was cold. I could have been much colder I'm sure. I was so grubby and dirty that the first thing I did was run a tub and sit down in it. I had been living in flipflops almost the whole time I was there, and wore them for my trip home as well. Considering my feet were almost black on the bottom when I started my trip, it didn't help that I was in the car for another 19 hours in addition to that.

When I felt human again, I drove over to give Sarah the treasure trove of art supplies I got for her from Suzie's uncle Eugene's estate. Being the artist he was, he had a lot of supplies. As a matter of fact, it's too bad Sarah couldn't have had the fun of picking through it in person--She would have had a blast. Some of the things we (thanks to Suzie and her mom for their generousity) gave to her were things she probably wouldn't buy for herself, let alone all at once. For example, a really large, zippered portfolio to transport your artworks around in, a 17" x 24" (pretty big!) clipboard (two clips made onto it) for clipping sketchpads and single sheets onto while you're working, a nice assortment of brushes, a really beautiful folding wooden "kit" containing 144 large pastels (that item was the nicest artist thing in the house!), and several other assorted pads, sketchbooks, and things. She also got a few really nice books. She was very happy with her goodies.

Thanks so very much to Suzie and her mom (mostly her mom) for fixing me up like that. It meant a lot to me to be able to pick several items from the "cream of the crop" that would have added to their garage sale earnings. That was really nice of them.

Things are going very well down there as far as their sale goes. Almost everything has been exposed to the buying populace at this point. Things that we all worried about selling, such as the large, the obscure, the heavy--All sold or are selling. It's been a very good, organized attack at the estate, considering the state everything was in. Kudos for Maggie (Sue's mom) and Suz herself for being the organizers that they are. The legalities and the logistics of liquidating an estate can be very daunting.

Anyway, after I gave Sarah her goodies, I drove up to Suzie's house and unloaded her stuff. Her stuff actually made up the majority of what was in my car by volume. I had to pack the car very carefully to get it all in. The main thing I had of hers was a really nice folding card table set from the 50's (we think). Not only does the table fold (like they all do) but the wooden chairs all fold too! As a matter of fact, when they are unfolded and sitting upright, they look like any other wooden chair. They are real, working pieces of art in their own right. It's a wonder they've survived this long considering how many parts there are making up each one.

I still haven't unpacked everything from my suitcase and all--I'll do that shortly. Laundry is in order--I know that for sure. It was nice having the ability to do laundry while I was staying down there in Lakewood. Today will be a day that hopefully allows me to "sync" myself. Although I feel pretty good physically, I still feel totally discombobulated.

And I miss Suzie. I don't know when she'll be home really, and neither does she. Although we originally thought she'd fly home when this was all done, it's looking at this point like she will rent a car and drive. She has accumulated some artworks that she wants for herself and her kids, in addition to a few other things that she will bring home. That will also give her the ability to visit her friend in San Fransisco on her way home.

Yep, the trip is over. I drove the little red Neon (which performed flawlessly I might add) 3,944 miles, filled up the tank 11 times, and took 1,265 pictures. Yes I'm anal, but aren't stats cool?

Bryce Canyon and More

Boy, a lot has happened since I've blogged last.

We ended up staying in Torrey just as I said we would. We were anxious to see the road that was so highly touted by the folks we talked to on the road the previous day. You know what? Beauty is very subjective. They thought it was the ultimate road for scenery, but almost any highway in Washington State would blow it out of the water. Clearly, the road we were so in awe of the day before was the most beautiful road to us. No question. While the scenery was okay, it wasn't anything amazing. It was really nice as far as the trees went. There was some variety of white tree that I don't know that was everywhere on the mountain we went over. They stood naked and stark against the cold, blue sky and game me several really cool pictures like this:


Another thing that was cool was when 4 wild turkeys ambled across the road in front of us. A little ways farther up the road we saw a group of about 20 more, just hanging out next to the road, enjoying the morning air.


As usual for our day, we still occasionally stopped for a picture here and there as we went, but for the most part we drove pretty steady until we hit Bryce Canyon.

Words or pictures can't begin to describe Bryce Canyon. Like the Grand Canyon, you have to experience it in person. We were fortunate to get there on a beautiful sunny day after a light snowfall the previous night. It was spectacular! We still don't have our pictures uploaded to our pictures site, but here are a few samples so you can see what I'm talking about. Click them for a larger version:



From there it was pretty much non-stop to Las Vegas. We got there just after sundown, and at Suzie's urging, took a detour to the Vegas strip. I don't think there is ever a time when that city isn't under construction. We got lucky and made the right turns so we didn't have too much trouble. We didn't have any luck with a motel though. Based on what I paid for one when I was there with Sarah last year, we weren't in any hurry to find one really--We would have been happy to have driven farther up the highway. After a brief look, that's exactly what we did--We drove to the next exit after Vegas. The exit is called Jean, and it was apparently named for the only thing there--A casino/hotel. Okay, there's also a gas station and something else, but the casino dominates the WHOLE exit. It's called Jean Nevada. We stayed there for $35! We couldn't believe it--Every place we had stayed on this vacation got cheaper and cheaper and cheaper. Anyway, we had a good time there. We hung out and had some drinks in a bar in the casino and made fun of the live act that was singing. The place was huge, gaudy, and flashy. Apparently, it was also a haven for truckers, as there were lots of them parked around the place. Although the place is much bigger than this picture shows, it will give you an idea of how much it looks like an adult theme park:


When we got up the next morning we hit the road bound for Los Angeles. Instead of going to Suzie's sister's house right off the bat, we went directly to her deceased uncle's house where her sister was helping her mom with cleanup. After a great reunion, we followed her sister back up to their house where we stayed the night. They have a cool cabin up in the San Bernardino mountains.

Since that time I've slept on the living room couch here at her uncle's house. I haven't seen this much stuff in one house in any time that I can recall. There are piles, boxes, and all kinds of things heaped everywhere, both inside and out. We have had fantastic weather here (after all, it's SoCal) so I can't complain. I'm actually having a good time doing all this stuff. I think it's the exploration part of it, the "Hey, I wonder what's in here?" sort of thing.

Last night Suzie and I drove up to my son Mark's house in Thousand Oaks. We had a great visit and dinner with them. I got to meet my new grandson, Ethan. He is such a cutie! Both of us were in awe of how much Emma was yakking. She is about 3 ½ years old and talking up a storm, with manners included. I really had a great time with them. We left at Em's bedtime as to not create too much of a deviation from her bedtime schedule. I know how kids are. Besides, Mark had to get up early this morning for a flight to Utah.

So here it is, another beautiful, sunny day in Lakewood, California. Another day of garage sale action, box exploration, compiling Craigslist ads, and all sorts of other related stuff.

It's been a very interesting vacation!

Exploring Another Planet

That's what it felt like during our two days in Moab exploring the Arches National Park. How can you describe something that words or pictures can't really do justice to? To be fair you can't--You have to experience it. It's like the Grand Canyon--You can take the best pictures in the world, but until you see it in person you can't really grasp it. That's what it feels like here in this part of Utah.

Although a perfect day is certainly subject to interpretation in a different way by everyone, one thing is for sure: You sure can't lose by being able to wander wander all day long in shorts and tank tops or t-shirts in November! It ended up being 71 degrees, and it was the perfect day for picture-taking and hiking. During yesterday and today combined, I shot over 500 pictures!

It was so much fun to be able to explore the park with Suzie. Being both an avid hiker and photographer that she is, she was like a kid in a candy store--Always eager to explore and amazed by what she saw. I mean, where else on earth will you find a giant sandstone penis? Here's a shot of it, followed by another one with Suzie in it to show scale:



The Arches National Park is best seen in more than one day. The obvious reason is the time is takes of course, but another not so obvious reason is lighting. There are parts of the park where the scenery comes alive in the morning hours when it's lit by early sun, and there are parts that behave the same way during the afternoon hours. When you hit them during the wrong time of day they can look flat and less interesting in a picture. You can't believe how much of a difference it can make. Some of the hikes take more than an hour or two to see also, so you'll need at least two days to see it all. There are only a hand full of arches that you can see without hiking a trail to see them. Although there are several trails that take you to the coolest places, you can drive through the park without being a bit disappointed. There are lots of turnouts for picture buffs to pull over when that perfect moment of awe will hit you (and it will hit you!)

Suzie and I both agreed that the best was Delicate Arch. It took us an hour to hike the trail to Delicate Arch, and some of it was pretty demanding. When we got there we were treated to a most amazing sight! It's truly something to behold. We got there just before the sun set so we got some pretty dramatic pictures. If that weren't enough, we climbed another ridge (not a recognized trail) and ended up high above the arch on the opposite side from the rest of the crowd. It was a whole different perspective, and they ended up being some of the best pictures we took of the arch! It was also fun to do a Gomer Pyle "hooty-hoot" yell from atop the ridge and listening to the echo.

Suzie never tired of offering to take pictures of a couple whenever she could. Whenever she'd see someone taking a picture of their significant other with scenery in the background, she'd offer to take their picture for them so they could both be in it. She loved doing it and it was never refused.

When our first day finally came to an end, we were treated to this on our way out:


Day two (today) was much the same: Awesome scenery and pictures. One major difference was the weather: It was about 5 degrees cooler, windy, and cloudy instead of sunny. It was still great weather, but we opted for long pants this time. It's probably just as well considering the fact that we encountered quite a bit of blowing sand in hikes though slot canyons. When we finally finished up today, there was only one item we didn't get to see: The Fiery Furnace. It's a place made out of the same amazing sandstone as the rest of the Arches park, but it's more like a giant maze. It's so weird that they won't let anyone in without a permit. They actually encourage people to go on the ranger-led tours so they won't get lost. Because it took 4-5 hours for it, we didn't get to do that.

We checked out of our $62 a night Sleep Inn motel and headed up the road. Here we sit in our ultra plush (not!) $52 a night motel in beautiful downtown Blanding, Utah. We chose this over another motel because it had wireless internet, but the funny thing is, their wireless won't let us log on because they have their settings all wrong. Instead, we're using a wireless signal that comes in from here from somewhere else.

Tomorrow: Back on the road!

Moab!

What a nice trip we had! We drove 14 hours, only stopping for gas and eats. We had great weather (for November 1st). The air was clear almost everywhere we went, and even though it rained much of the time it was very minor. Actually, the rain was kind of enjoyable for a couple of reasons:

• I put new wiper inserts on the car before we left and they worked beautifully
• The light rain only needed medium intermittent wipers to keep rain clear, which was just the right amount to keep any bugs from clogging up the view.

We had all our cool techie gadgets to keep us going. The new portable DVD/mp3 player I bought for the trip worked perfectly. Suz spent half the trip with that thing on her lap, playing with it. At one point she commented on how geeky we were--Having a portable dvd player, three digital cameras, two laptop computers, and two cell phones. Yep, traveling geeks.

We ended up driving straight through to Utah and staying overnight at Suzie’s half-brother’s house with he and his family for the night in Salt Lake City (Lehi actually). When we got there last night she and Mark (her half-brother's name) spent a couple hours swapping stories of relatives they had in common. We slept in sleeping bags on the floor of their rec room. After Suz and Mark had spent a satisfactory bunch of hours again this morning swapping stories and pictures, we shoved off and thanked them for their hospitality. It was weird because Suzie didn't really know anyone any better than I did. It was kinda weird though--They're Mormons. Normally I wouldn't think much of it, but the fact that they don't drink occurred to me last night when Suzie and I polished off a couple beers before bedtime. It was further reinforced this morning when we got up and found they didn't have coffee or a coffee maker. DOH! It was tough... I need my morning coffee. It was also one of the weirdest breakfast meals I've ever seen. Vanilla ice cream, homemade "applesauce" (more like apple pie filling if you ask me), cool whip, and biscuits. Very unusual. His wife works late and the ice cream/apple stuff was also their dinner when she got home last night at 11:00. Again--Weird...

I had my doubts about the weather this morning when we got up at their house. It was rainy and windy and cold. When we turned off the main road and headed towards our Moab, Utah destination, the weather got better and better.

We took a bunch of pictures on the road between Interstate 15 and Moab where we're currently sitting. We encountered tons of very dramatic lighting conditions. It was the kind of weather that had intermittent rain squalls, so every now and then there were some pretty cool cloud formations too. At one point I took us off the road onto a dirt road and we headed away from the highway and across the valley. It was a lot of fun and we got some very good pictures during that side trip. Here's a shot we took while we were out there:


We are going to have tons of pictures put up on our SmugMug picture site, that's for sure, but probably not until after we're back home.

We checked into a motel here in Moab (the same one Sarah and I stayed at last summer) at about 5pm. We're going to stay here two nights as we're planning an awful lot of hiking/photo outings in this area in the next two days. For those of you stuck in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, eat your heart out--Here's tomorrow's forcast for Moab:

The Anacortes Oyster Run

When we awoke Saturday morning I still hadn't decided whether or not I wanted to go up to Anacortes a day early or not. As we sat there drinking our coffee and talking about it, the day got nicer and it sounded more and more like the best scenario. I did quite a bit of digging online to find a room in the general area because we waited so long, but I succeeded getting one in Mount Vernon for a relatively good price. Okay, with the help of my ol' man AARP discount...

While Suzie ran up to her house to throw some things together, I hit a couple stores in Auburn, hoping to find a better (read that legal) helmet before we left. I had heard stories that the coppers were starting to crack down on bogus helmets. I didn't find anything and went back home. Suz was back by the time I returned. I also changed the oil in the bike before we headed out. When it came to packing our stuff, the rack that I bought on Craigslist a few months back proved to be very valuable. The bag strapped around the backrest and sat on the rack just as pretty as you please.

The day was beautiful--No doubt about that. We didn't stop until we hit the rest area up around Smokey Point, at which time Suzie exclaimed how much she loved the new seat. That was what I wanted to hear! I think she said it a couple times while we were there. I have to say, as many miles as she has put on the little pillion pad on our previous rides shows her character. She deserved a new seat.

As she mentioned in her blog, Suzie was amazed at the motel room. Hell, so was I--I've never been in a motel room with two floors. I didn't even know they existed. When it comes right down to it though, it was still a motel room: You still hear things that let you know there is someone else nearby.

After we dumped our stuff, we hopped back on the bike for a cruise around the area, hoping to find a good spot to sit and eat an early dinner. Mount Vernon is divided into two halves--The "new" half with all the shopping stores and fast food, and the "old" half with all the brick buildings and small shops. That's where we ended up. We stopped downtown because we saw the main drag blocked off for some sort of event and we figured we'd walk the street and see what was going on. During our walk through their arts & crafts show (or whatever it was) we found a sports bar that looked like our spot. We went in and ate a delicious meal. To the best of my knowledge, it was the only time in recent history that I didn't finish a meal at a restaurant. The burger itself was so stuffed that I had to set it on edge in the fry basket and leave it there as I ate, stretching my mouth to the limit with each wide bite.

We finished our evening with a ride out Chuckanut Drive, a road famous enough in the area that it has it's own website. I had heard about how nice it is for years, but never drove it. Well, I shouldn't say that... I drove half of it once, way back when during my tenure as a food delivery driver. We picked a good time of the night for it--The sun was waning. My intent was to go to the end and turn around and come back. For some reason I thought it was basically a dead-end road. When it took us into downtown old Bellingham I was surprised. At any rate, we turned around and went back, this time stopping at every turnout so Suz could snap pictures. She got some beauties!

The next day we got ourselves together and checked out of our room at about 8:30. It was a beautiful morning, but cold enough that I had to mop the bike off with a towel before we could sit on it. We got to Anacortes just before 9, and even that early it was apparent that the town was going to fill up quickly. We wandered around quite a bit, taking in all the sorts of weirdness that make it one of the best places I've ever seen for people watching. I made it a point to stop by the Oyster Run t-shirt booth, but was dismayed (and I voiced my feelings to them) to find that all but one color of t-shirts they had were 50/50 blend instead of 100% cotton. I mean come on, is a cotton t-shirt too much to ask? Apparently so. I did manage to buy a couple other shirts from other vendors though, and at a much better price. How can you lose with a $10 t-shirt? After all, I practically live in them.

Suzie's blog (the link is over on the right on this page in case you didn't know) describes things pretty well, but I think it's probably the only time I've ever actually seen the Cossacks' whole show. I've seen them doing bits here and there at different events, but this time I saw the whole thing from start to finish. It was quite the deal. I love their bikes! I would so love the opportunity to be able to ride a tank-shift Harley some time before I die, but I doubt that will ever happen. That's not something someone will just let you do for the sake of doing it. Speaking of old bikes, we walked around an antique bike show that was in a bank parking lot too. There were some beauties! Vincents, Harleys, Indians, a beautiful BSA Lightning that looked like it had just rolled out the showroom door--They were great. I love the old machinery.

When we finally decided we needed to get out of town it was late. Well, not late actually, but much later than I had ever left the Oyster Run before. Add to that the headache that I was getting and I was feeling more like could just avoid the ride home altogether. We we started to leave town it was apparent that it was going to be stop and go all the way. Yep, it seemed like it was an hour later by the time we finally reached the turnoff for Whidbey Island. At first I just wanted to blast by and go home, but by the time I got to that turn I decided I needed to "open it up" a little and let the bike cool back down (they are air-cooled you know) and give Suzie the opportunity to see Deception Pass. She had never seen it before and I knew she'd like it. We did talk about taking the ferry across from the bottom of Whidbey Island, but after seeing that traffic I'm sure the ferry would have been an all-night affair. When I got back to the Anacortes highway (20) after our detour to Deception Pass, the traffic hadn't thinned much if at all. Even after turning off and taking farming roads (the back way as I call it) we still hit traffic a lot. Hell, even on I-5 we still hit traffic a lot. There were slowdowns here and there all the way into Everett.

By the time I got home, I was exhausted. I rode us straight through without stopping and I was totally wrung out. I collapsed on the floor. After all, supporting a passenger and a heavy pack on a bike in stop and go traffic is not an easy thing to do for any length of time. I was tired, I had a splitting headache, and I was chilled to the bone with flu-like symptoms. I get that sometimes when I get sun-baked. When I went to the mirror before bed and looked, it was apparent that I did indeed get too much sun on the head.

All in all, it was a most excellent weekend. Suzie and I both had a great time. Would we do it again? Of course we will, but will we stay that long next time? No way baby! Leaving the Oyster Run at later than 1pm is a no-no in my opinion...

Be sure to check out the pictures page... Suz has already uploaded a bunch of hers and some of mine will follow as well soon.

Fun in the Sun!

Wow, our summer actually came back yesterday! I was having doubts whether or not to expect anything this weekend, but I was pleasantly surprised. I guess I was so grateful of sun yesterday that I blindly ignored the use of my sunscreen. Normally, it wouldn't matter all that much, but yesterday was Nudestock!

Yes, I made it to Nudestock yet again this year. For three years in a row I have savored the freedom of being clothes-free while enjoying a day of music. This time it was different though.

This time Suzie went with me!

I really never expected it. While Suz is not a prude by any means, for me to just assume that she would like going to a nudist park would have been a stupid assumption to make. Just because myself and others love it, that doesn't mean it's for everybody. Based on common sense I was actually only considering two scenarios for yesterday:

1. I would forgo the whole thing and not worry about it. After all, I would be spending it with my favorite lady anyway, right? I'm sure we would have enjoyed ourselves somehow. We always do.
   
2. I would go for a little while and leave. I really wanted to continue the annual t-shirt series that I had started in 2006, and I wanted to buy the 2008 Nudestock t-shirt to add to my amazing wardrobe of white trash wear that fills my closet.

What changed yesterday? Well, in a nutshell it was a matter of her wanting to avoid the possibility of impending family conflict. Her daughter Rachyl and her husband Tony are going to be moving to the Ohio area (where he's originally from) soon and they are in the process of putting some of their things in "storage" in Sue's garage for the time being. She just didn't want to have to deal with frazzled nerves, frustration, and arguing, and basically just wanted to not have to be drawn into their little situation in any way. I was surprised when she suggested that maybe we could go to "your Nudestock thing" to escape.

One thing we wanted to do yesterday was drain her hot tub so we could work on it and possibly change its heater element, so we had to at least go to her house to get that started no matter what else we did the rest of the day. Before we left my house yesterday morning we discussed what to take in case we did actually go to Nudestock. (We still didn't know at this point that we would actually go or not.) I filled a cooler with beer and we grabbed our sunning blanket and a couple of outdoor (aka "ratty") towels. I put a little shaving kit together as well, including sunscreen. She decided to take her shortie overalls and when we went to her house she would add her bikini to it. That would give her some layering options. Well, we got the hose siphoning started on the hot tub water, and the more she thought about it the more she didn't even want to deal with moving stuff on such a nice day. Apparently, she had talked herself into going to Nudestock by that time. I was happy because I knew she would like it whether she dropped her clothes or not.

We got there after the first band had finished--Shortly after noon I think. Having been there before and therefore in their computer system, I had to pay $13 to get in. Because Suzie is new and it was her first visit, it was free for her. I don't know what she was feeling up to that point really, but I'm assuming she was nervous. Who wouldn't be? After all, at this point there were sporadic nudies walking around, and for the most part were just men (after all, we were in the parking/gate area still). It only takes me seconds to lose my clothes, so they never even left my car. We made our way to the grassy area and spread out our blanket among the other people. At that time she was able to relax, grab a beer, and take in the scene. The second band was setting up so it was relatively quiet. The place was not all that full so that was good. The first year I went it was packed, and last year when it was drizzly and bad weather it was the other extreme. This year was perfect.

She dumped the overalls as soon as we hit the blanket, and the bikini top soon after that. It really didn't take her long before she was comfortable enough to lose the bottoms too. Toward the end of the band's act I suggested a dip in the pool to which she agreed. One thing that new visitors probably worry about is how to disrobe and make it look casual. If you're a newbie it's something that probably weighs on your mind. I didn't ask her if that was the case, but instead suggested she could leave it off when she came out of the porta-potty. Emerging from the pee pot with a towel around her worked out perfectly. I ended up swimming but she opted out. She got wet with the "pre-pool" shower, but otherwise just sat on the edge of the pool and dangled her legs. The water was a little cooler than she could tolerate.

As the day wore on Suzie's comfort was more apparent. At one point she remarked, "I could do this once a year." She was having a good time! We wandered around a little here and there. I was a little miffed that I was not able to buy a 2008 Nudestock t-shirt though--My size sold out quickly they said. I did, however, buy a "Wired" t-shirt. That's the name of the band that closed the show at the end of our perfect day. I had seen them play the previous year and liked them a lot. I bought Sue a Nudestock t-shirt dress. You know--Those things that are like a long, long tank top? This year's design was a psychedelic butterfly design, and was on black cloth like the previous two were. She's not sure how family members will react when (or if) they find out she went, so she's not sure when and where she'll be able to wear it though. I bought a 2005 shirt off the clearance rack though for only $5. That was the year before the first one I attended. All their shirts and stuff are cheap. $10 for a t-shirt at any event these days is a bargain, and that's their regular price. Her t-dress was only $15. She also bought a candle from the soybean oil candle guy that's there every year. The scent she chose was Dragon's Blood. It reminds me of an oriental gift store. It's sort of like the smell of incense before you light it.

The first band we saw was so-so. Maurice the Fish was their name, and they played common, everyday songs that you hear most bar bands play. The music was good, but they just weren't tight, well-oiled performers. One exception was when they closed with two Pink Floyd songs back-to-back. They played those very well and we both liked those a lot. Both of those songs totally synced with the "feel" of the place. They were perfect. The second act we saw was a solo gal with an acoustic 12-string guitar. She was awesome! We both agreed that she sounded a lot like Melissa Etheridge. Her music was flawless from start to finish. The last act was the one I already mentioned, called Wired. Their rockabilly style was pulled off perfectly. They are very talented and were very good this year. The previous time they played there was a shorter act and they never really got to "shine" like they did this year. This time as the closing act proved them to be more than worthy. I hope they are there next year to close out the day as well. Great stuff!

So back to the first paragraph: My ignorance of sunscreen. I packed it and didn't use it. You'd think a 52-year-old guy would have more common sense than that wouldn't you? Apparently I don't. I ended up pink. Not everywhere mind you--Only the places that don't usually see sun (or at least that much sun). My ass and the sides of my waist and upper thighs got it the worst. Penis? Yep, it got it too. Face, back... You name it--It all got a little pink. There's not much doubt that I'm going to peel. I can sit around naked and comfortable now, but the question is how will I feel when I have to go to work tomorrow? Fortunately for Sue, she was already a lot more brown than I was so she escaped harm for the most part.

It was truly a great day though. Great weather, great music, great atmosphere--I enjoyed it immensely and Suzie did too. It looks like it may be a regular event for her like it is for me.

Isn't that cool?

More Police Weirdness!

Yes, Auburn's Police Blotter strikes again. Here are a few of the choice excerpts from recent history:

Police blotter

Aug. 12

Cruising under the influence: 9:04 a.m., 1500 West Valley Highway N. Police arrested a male person for driving under the influence after he fell asleep at the wheel while waiting for congested traffic in a construction zone.

Assault: 10:55 a.m., 1300 block of 69th Street Southeast. A female called to report that a girl had assaulted her in some undisclosed way at Sunset Park.

Aug. 11

Unhand those shorts dude: 12:25 p.m., 900 block of M Street Southeast. On a hot summer day in an apartment on the south end of the city, two men came to blows over a pair of basketball shorts. One guy winged a metal chair at the other guy, hitting him in the forehead. Before being separated, each combatant landed hostile blows on the other, opening up a cut on one head that demanded subsequent care at a local hospital. The prosecutor’s office charged both men with fighting in public.

Shoplifting: 10:30 p.m., 2115 Auburn Way S. Police arrested a woman for shoplifting an undisclosed something or other from the Muckleshoot Smoke Shop.

Trash talk on a Dumpster: 11:32 p.m., 600 Oravetz Road S.E. Somebody spray-painted a Dumpster, thereby vandalizing said Dumpster.

Aug. 6

Shoplifting: 9:10 p.m., 1702 Auburn Way N. A young man stole two Tilt alcohol beverages from the Top Foods, earning himself an arrest for shoplifting and for being in possession of a fermented beverage before he had accumulated enough years in his life to make that legal.

Lewd dude: 5:30 a.m., 4200 block of A Street Southeast. Somebody drew lewd pictures on three different vehicle windshields in grease paint. Nothing permanent, however.

Aug. 5

Forgery: 5:37 p.m., 1500 block of Auburn Way North. Police arrested a man cashing a check with a stolen account number on it. Although the guy said he had received the check in the mail, he still couldn’t explain to the satisfaction of suspicious officers why somebody should have sent to him a check for that amount.

Aug. 4

Egg boy: 10:30 p.m., 1300 block of E Street Southeast. Police arrested a boy for malicious mischief in the third degree after a night spent egging.

Plant breaker: 10:38 p.m., 500 block of 21st Street Southeast. A woman told police that her adult daughter had broken several potted plants. She declined to press charges.

Explosive device: 11:58 p.m., 1100 block of 17th Street Southeast. Police arrested a man after a traffic stop for driving with a suspended license. Police took the passenger into custody after finding a home-made bong at his feet inside the vehicle. In a search of the vehicle incident to arrest, officers found a high-powered explosive device underneath the passenger seat. Both males knew about the explosive device but neither would cop to owning it.

Assault: 6:05 p.m., 31200 block of 124th Avenue Southeast. A woman reported she was in an argument with her husband, said she slapped him and he returned the compliment.

Isn't it great to live in the USA?

From One Nerd to Another

I used to be a nerd. No wait--Okay, you got me. I still have huge nerd moments. But back in the day I was one of the "new followers" of the computer generation. I was mesmerized and totally awestruck by the notion of computers. We were the "hot rodders" of the silicon era. In the 50's guys used to hang out in each others' garages swapping stories and trying new hop-ups and upgrades. The computer age was no different--Only cleaner. I never stopped loving playing with computers, but I did manage to tone down my ardor by a smidge over the years.

Back in the day I tried to experience as much of the new wave of technology as I could. I read magazines all the time, trying to stay abreast of the fast-moving introduction of all the new bits and pieces of the computing age. At one point I even had a job as outside salesman for a small computer store in Enumclaw, Washington whose specialty was Kaypro computers. That was back before IBM had even made an industry standard for the masses to follow. Unfortunately, I wasn't exactly "in the right place at the right time" to take full advantage of the new boom. I didn't make a lot of money, and money was essential if you wanted to be a computer geek. If people knew now what some of the computer equipment cost then they would probably think the nerds of the time were totally devoid of any brain cells. Yes, I was a poor man then, and poor men couldn't really own computers.

I did manage to connect with the computer age, but I had to start out cheaply--With an Atari computer. Even so, I never stopped reading and watching and learning about what was out there. Because the age of computers was changing so drastically from month to month, it wasn't long before "dinosaurs" of the era started popping up in places like the Goodwill, St. Vincent de Paul, or Salvation Army stores. Occasionally I would have the opportunity to buy something in one of those stores--Something that was so outdated and slow that nobody wanted it. Those "somethings" spoke to me. When I happened across a deal in a junk store, I had to buy it. I couldn't bear something as classic as that (whatever it happened to be) to fall into the hands of a total idiot. I had to buy. It was like a collector's item. It was a sign of the times. It was my last chance to grasp hold of something I couldn't afford when it was in its prime. Things like that were cool.

Tonight the last of my computer collectibles left my home. Tonight a man that might have been a giant back then had he been born a decade sooner left my home with a treasure trove of computing history. I sold, in one lot, three Osborne computers, a Zenith add-on monitor for Osbornes, a new-in-the-box modem for Osborne computers, and a bunch of books and software. The monitor had been carefully wrapped in a garbage bag for the 20-years or so I had owned it, and the software was all still in the genuine Osborne sleeves they came in. I'm $160 richer and they went to a good home. As a matter of fact, I'm totally convinced that this guy was related to Napoleon Dynamite. I'm serious--The resemblance was truly unbelievable.

Actually, the guy was a good negotiator. I respected him. I had the package on Craigslist for $250 obo, but after much haggling, we arrived at the price of $140. When we had carted it all out and he was loading it all into his truck with tender loving care, I told him I was going to run in and double check my bookshelf upstairs to see if there wasn't anything else I may had missed. I grabbed an issue of a magazine that I had been keeping since way back: The premiere issue of PC Computing magazine (geeks go nuts over something as anal as that). I gave it to him and told him something like, "Here, I'll bet you're a person that can appreciate something like this. It's yours if you want it." Apparently I struck a chord with him because he gave me an additional $20, saying that he "wanted us both to be happy with the deal" or something similar.

Yep, that was the last of my old stuff, but it will live a happy life I'm sure. I'm sure it's in good hands. After all, you know how it was handed over:

From one nerd to another.

The Story of a Lost Ham

Okay, some of you may be grossed out.

Let's rewind a few months--Back to another time. Back to a time that was December 21st, 2007. Some of you may recall that it was the last day of work before Christmas vacation. It was the day that me and my coworkers spent speculating as to what amazing thing that the Brothers LaCroix would bestow on their minions for sticking with them and doing their job. The thing they called the Christmas "bonus".

We got a ham, and it was a real big one. It was a Kirkland brand, from the shelves of Costco. It was a big, spiral-cut, bone-in ham. Because the various family functions of the holidays had feasts and meals going on, I opted to cook mine up at a later date. I figured to wait a while--At least long enough for me to "forget" what a ham feast tastes like. I thought maybe for Easter or something. I wasn't sure at that point.

So there it sat--In my refrigerator--Staring at me from the bottom shelf every time I opened the door. I know what you're thinking: "Whoa! You didn't freeze it?" No, I didn't. I don't like ham that has been frozen. Ham has a high moisture content and when it's frozen it destroys the firmness of the meat. At least that's my reasoning. So, like I said... There it sat. Through winter and into spring. Through spring and into summer.

Suddenly it's August.

I had been assured by my coworker Elaine (a very "meat-knowledgeable" lady) at one point that it was still good. I think that it was back in April or May she said that. She assured me that cured hams are able to last a long time. I still never got around to cooking it. Now it's months later and I still hadn't even unwrapped it.

See, at this point it has been covered. In addition to the vac-pack wrapper that it's packed in, it was also wrapped in a shiny, red foil-looking material, and that in turn was covered by the plastic netting that all large hams seem to have. Because of these things I was never able to actually look at the meat. For whatever reason, I had decided this last weekend that enough was enough. I had to know. I purposely chose the weekend because Monday was my garbage day. That way I had an "out" if it suddenly came alive and sprang for my throat when I opened it.

Saturday I took the ham out of the fridge. It was the first time it had moved since sometime during the Christmas vacation when I had removed it to weigh it (I wanted to see just how much "bonus" they had given us) before putting it back. It was a weird feeling picking that ham up, knowing that it hadn't been touched for (gasp!) over seven months. I had actually touched it from time to time just to make sure it still felt as it should (you know, the "bloat"), but had never moved it. I put it on the counter and cut the net off it. I was sort of afraid to take the shiny, red wrapper off it. Although it was still nice and firm to the touch, I was afraid to see what it actually looked like (I don't like incorrect colors on meat). I cut the wrapper off.

It was perfect! It looked like a new ham--I was amazed.

Yes, I cooked it. I put in in the oven and baked it for 2 hours (like I said, it was a big ham) to bring it up to the right internal temperature per the instructions on the label. Suzie came over and we feasted on an antique pig. I'll tell you--That was some kinda great-tasting ham. After I took it out of the oven and cut it off the bone I was surprised at how much meat I had in front of me. I had to scrounge the biggest container I had just to hold it all. The bone and some of the meat went into the freezer for winter soup. Now the ham is back home in the same place in the fridge that it occupied for months.

Let that be a lesson to you. Cured hams last a long time.

So where's the gross-out in the story? Some of you will undoubtedly think that I should have my head examined for eating something that old. Others may think it's no big deal.

I just figured I know how to make my Christmas bonus last.

Seeing Washington on Two Wheels

I'm pretty sure the motorcycle ride that Suzie and I took yesterday didn't cause my sore back (I was a little sore yesterday morning too), but it certainly didn't help any either. I failed to write down our starting mileage when we left here yesterday morning at 8am, but based on our gas stops and trip resets, I figured that we had ridden about 320 miles or so when we finally rolled up into the driveway at 11:30 last night.

Yep, I woke up pretty sore.

It was a previously-planned trip of sorts. We were going to Mt. St. Helens for something to do. Sue's daughter Rachyl and her husband Tony were at the controls of their Tahoe, and riding passenger with them was her son Denny, his wife Heather and their son Hunter. Suz and I opted for a two-wheeled adventure. It was supposed to be a nice day and we wanted to take advantage of it.

It seemed to take almost forever to finally escape the holds of civilization--To finally put the stoplights and traffic behind us, but it felt good when it finally got to that point. The weather was cool and overcast still, but it was good to be out on the bike nevertheless. We headed south out of Puyallup, continuing down through Eatonville and on to Morton. When we made a "butt stop" there in downtown Morton the weather was looking good. The sun was coming out and it was getting warm. We hooked a left on Highway 12 and continued on to the town of Randle, at which point we turned south. That's when the trip really got nice. Traffic was thin and the sights were many, even though at that point it was mostly farmland. There were closures in effect from recent weather-related events of the past that put us onto an alternate path. Lucky that Rachyl had a good map from the web printed out because we never would have found our way. The road we ended up on was a paved, single-lane road that meandered through the dark woods, intersecting with a river here and there. It's roads like that that make you appreciate riding on a motorcycle. We had the sweet smell of pine needles constantly tickling our noses as we rode, and had the benefit of a 360-degree view. When the road finally intersected with the little highway again we started the curving climb that eventually was to have taken us to a lookout area called Windy Ridge. Unfortunately it was closed a few miles in, still afforded us good shots of the mountain. Here's one (click it):


The ride took us on a loop that went south around the mountain, through the town of Cougar and down along the Swift Reservoir where the road finally intersected with I-5 once again at the town of Woodland. There's a decent little online map you can check out here if you want. While in Cougar we all sat down and enjoyed a leisurely lunch. It was funny that the digital age still hadn't touched the only gas station in town. Their gas pumps were the old analog kind, and they had a notice on the gas pumps explaining that because their pumps wouldn't go any higher than $4 a gallon the actual price would be automatically doubled when you went inside to pay. We said goodbye to out travel partners in the SUV at that point because Suzie and I were planning a stop in Chehalis where I could introduce her to Melinda and Danny.

After a butt-numbing ride up Interstate-5, we arrived there about an hour before the sun finally dropped. We wandered around their farm for a while and had fun taking pictures of all her critters. Their farm has recently gone the direction of miniature donkeys and we loved them. I'm not sure how many she had (old guy--Bad memory) but I think they have 7 of them. They are the most friendly little things! Add to that the chickens, horse, dog, kittycats and who-knows-what-all, and it's a pretty cool place to visit. We had a great time there and would have loved to have stayed longer. They loved Sue and she felt the same way about them.

Our trip back home was in the dark, but fortunately wasn't all that cold. It was actually a pleasant ride--Albeit the previously-described boring freeway riding. We were however blessed with the cool sight of a full moon rising over the horizon on our right. It was so big and so yellow it looked like a slightly-distorted egg yolk or something. It was very cool!

There will be pictures of our trip posted on our picture site soon. Keep checking it!

The Annual Seattle Fremont Solstice Parade

It's hard to put into words what you experience when you attend the Fremont Solstice Fair and Parade in Seattle. The Fremont district is quirky in itself, but every year the best of the weird show up to turn their ideas into substance and their bodies into human art.

This was the first year I managed to make it to the event. Imagine that--Living here all my life and never attending such an event before, but yet knowing full well how zany and cool it is. For whatever reason I just never made it. Maybe there was something else going on that same day, maybe it was not great weather, maybe I just forgot about it until it was too late. Add to that the full knowledge of the madness of traffic to and from the area, and I probably chose not to go several times just for that reason alone.

Yesterday I finally made it.

Although I dearly wanted to take Suzie with me, she had obligations both yesterday and today and couldn't make it. It was truly a photographer's bonanza. Never have I been so inclined to spend all day at an event, just wandering and taking pictures. I guess the timing was right for it considering that I'm so into my photography hobby and the number of pictures I can take these days is practically unlimited. Well, although I could have stayed all day, that was not to be the case. Again I was struck with the same notion that I had during my vacation trip with Sarah last summer when I decided then that she was not anywhere near the adventurous type. Sarah is not a good partner for my kind of adventures. Although I love her dearly she is just not fun to travel with. You can just see it in her face all the time--The pained expression that, punctuated with an occasional burst of interest, reflects the fact that being there at that particular place and time is not convenient or fun. I'll be first to admit that attending some events can be tedious and you have to have a certain attitude to make it pleasurable. Sarah apparently hasn't got the right attitude for anything that takes her out of her comfort zone.

Anyway, back to the event.

Fortunately I know Seattle well, so given the traffic and such, we were able to approach the area from the best direction. The bad part was that because we were less than an hour from the start of the parade we had to park a good mile or so away. That's the trouble with parades and similar events--There are no parking lots like fairgrounds have. It's first come, first served--All residential and city street parallel parking. In the process of walking towards the area of the parade we saw quite a few interesting people. We probably saw a good half dozen naked bike riders go past us at various times, their bodies turned into a painted canvas. By the time we got to the beginning area of the parade where the floats and other interesting performers were staging, the nude bicyclists had just departed. Alas, we were still a half a block away from seeing that strange and colorful visual close enough for pictures. I don't know how many there were, but I'm sure there were a couple hundred easily. Some were painted head to toe, some just had designs and markings, and others were fully nude. Basically full nude to fully painted, and everything in between.

We continued walking and walking, trying to find a good spot to view the parade from. We still had a half hour or so before the parade actually started, and we used that entire time searching. It was at that time that Sarah first became annoyed. She was voicing her desire to get off the street. I think she was totally embarrassed to be walking on the street right in front of everyone, but that was really the only option. The sidewalks were totally jammed and nothing was moving. It's not like we were the only people walking on the street--That's pretty much how it had to be done if you wanted to move. At one point I detoured off the street and onto the sidewalk. That was a mistake. After a little of that I took us back to the street. The temperature yesterday was in the upper 70's, and when you add wall to wall bodies in a crowd scenario it felt like 95. Anyway, we finally found us a decent place and she lightened up a bit. There was actually a nice, wide concrete railing we could hoist our butts up onto and that helped us cool down a bit too. We had to be careful though--It was probably 30 feet down behind us.

Sarah shot about 200 pictures with her camera, and by the time we were finished I had taken 369 myself. The difference was that I was taking them all the time and she only took them from our parade viewing point. My favorite pictures are all the ones that I took before and after the parade. They truly captured some of the freedom of expression that the Fremont Solstice Fair is all about. Thousands and thousands of people, all out there to see or be seen. I only wish I could have stayed there longer. I missed you Suz!

The Toppenish Run

Boy, where do you start when you're trying to blog such a great weekend?

I think it's fair to say I was probably more nervous that Suzie was about it--After all, this was her first "biker" event/weekend, and it could make or break how she feels about ever doing it again, right? Here we were both sacrificing a vacation day by taking Friday off, and that's not to be taken lightly beings that we don't get anywhere near the amount of time off that the Boeing people get. I mention that because we were the only "non-Boeing" people in our group. For them taking a day off is nothing.

It was cloudy and cool when we left, but all signals pointed to it getting better as we went. I was starting to have my doubts about the group early on. A few of us met at Steve's house in Puyallup, then rode up to a place out past the Roy "Y" on highway 7 to meet the rest of them. The people we met were sitting in there having drinks, so then the people in our group went in and had drinks. When we finally go going, we ended up stopping for drinks again in Morton. A few miles later we stopped again, this time in Packwood, and this time for lunch (and drinks of course). I was beginning to wonder if we would ever get over the pass...

Well, we did get over the pass, and it was a beautiful ride all the way. We chose to go over White Pass on the way down, and that was good because I really didn't remember the last time I had been across White Pass. It wasn't without mishap, however. One of the guys in our group (I can't remember his name) had a problem crop up. Right as we crested the pass his bike started spewing oil out the breather. Fortunately we were in the very back, but even we ended up with a light dusting of oil on the front of our Harley. Everyone in our group seemed to have trouble stopping when that happened. They stopped too frantically or too quickly or whatever. At any rate, some of them were lucky to get stopped without crashing into each other like idiots. Maybe it was their drinks? After "oil slinger" (as Suzie and I refer to him) got going again, it happened a little ways up the road again, only this time the stops were even more haphazard--This time making us even have to do some power braking. I'd say Suz is lucky I have some riding under my belt because it was like a comedy of errors every time the group pulled over like that.

We finally got to our motel in Toppenish at about 6pm. The ride was pleasant other than what I've noted already. The weather got warmer as we went, and it was about 80 or so in Toppenish when we got there. There were bikers everywhere in town. The event was only about 8 blocks or so from the motel, so it was very easy to find. All of us in our group were staying at the same motel except for two couples that brought their tent/gear with them. They were staying on the grounds of the bike event. What did I think about Toppenish? You can have it. After hitting two stores to buy some beer and having no luck, I finally asked someone why. It turns out that where we were standing was the edge of the Yakima Indian Reservation and there was no beer unless you went farther up the street. Weird. The town has "The City of Murals" as it's slogan. Apparently a town that has absolutely nothing going for it needed something to be proud of, so they have a lot of buildings downtown with full wall murals painted on them. We were going to get a bunch of pictures of them the following day, but due to unforeseen events, that never happened.

I guess a few of the guys got together and decided that we were going to ride out to a place near the Columbia River where there was a replica of Stonehenge. We all met outside the motel at about 11am, all , all amped up for a nice ride in beautiful sunny weather--Most of us in t-shirts. As usual we were in the rear, but this time Suzie had her little Canon pocket camera in hand. As we were headed up a long hill, a passing lane opened up and an opportunity presented itself. Suz and I sped up and slowly passed each of the riders, taking pictures of each of them as we did so. When we finally got to the front, we slowed back up and took pictures of each of them again as they slowly passed us. I haven't seen the pictures yet, but everyone was totally excited about the possibility of great riding shots of them. Action shots of people actually on their bikes are the hardest ones to get! You know what the only downfall was? Nobody got shots of us.

About a half hour further up the road after cresting Satus Pass, guess what happened? Yes, "oil slinger" strikes again. This time we were a little farther back than most folks, but it didn't unfold quite like the previous events. The guys were a little closer together this time, and when they pulled off the road they did it too quickly. They did avoid crashing into each other, but Sean and his wife Tracy took a spill when the front wheel slid out on the shoulder gravel while they were in the midst of panic stopping. Fortunately they were almost stopped when it happened. Sean sustained 3 broken ribs, and Tracy ended up with bad scrapes on her entire left side. She was not dressed for bike riding--She was dressed for summer. Needless to say, we ended up with paramedics, State Patrol, and Sean and Tracy got a ride to the hospital in Goldendale. Although that was a severe damper on our day (not to mention theirs), things came out all right. Sean and Tracy got a ride back to Toppenish by a family friend of one of our group that lived near Toppenish that drove out and picked them both up.

We did end up eventually seeing the replica of Stonehenge. We all took a bunch of pictures of that and had a good time in the sun. At that point, the rest of the riders took off on their own, and that was just as well with us. We both saw what traveling in a group had gotten us--A series of near-misses. Although sometimes a group is good, sometimes it's not. We really enjoyed our solo trip back at a leisurely pace, and was able to make a couple more picture stops on the way.

We did manage to make it to the actual biker event on Saturday night. It was fun! We sat and partied with a few of our group at their campsite a couple times, and wandered around taking pictures and stuff. Funny--We even ran into a prior La Croix Industries employee over there while we were sitting in the beer garden. After a couple hours of listening to the band, watching burnout tire smoke wafting over the crowd, and generally just taking it all in, we went back to the motel and hit the hot tub. It was a very interesting day to say the least.

We left at about 10am for our trip back, bidding goodbye to the remaining members of our group that were still milling about. Apparently Sean had gotten hold of a friend that was coming over with a pickup and trailer to get his damaged Gold Wing that was still at a home nearby where his accident occurred. We rode leisurely toward home, looking for a good breakfast spot, finally stopping at a place in Naches. Sitting there waiting for their food to show up was Mark and Joyce, one of our group. We left there after they did and immensely enjoyed our ride over Chinook Pass, stopping a couple times near and at the summit for pictures. We stopped at the Naches Tavern in Greenwater for a beer, and right after we sat down in the sun of their outdoor seating area, here came Mark and Joyce again! Funny how we think alike eh?

We made it back in plenty of time for Suzie to get to the graduation ceremony of her youngest son, Keith. It took place at Auburn High School, so it was just a walk through the park from my house. Her daughter Rachyl dropped by and accompanied her. Sarah came over right after they left, and the two of us walked over to visit with my folks on their porch. It was a nice day for it.

All in all, a very good weekend. We rode about 500 miles, had excellent weather, and the bike ran flawlessly. Although Suzie had the misfortune of witnessing an accident, she also experienced the good parts of motorcycling. She had a great time and I'm so glad. We both agreed that a new seat for her was in order though. Stay tuned for pictures on our pictures site--There are many coming up!

The End of a Great Weekend

Suz and I got home this afternoon after spending a fantastic weekend together exploring a little culture in Walla Walla. I drove about 575 miles and took about 500 pictures.

After we got moving yesterday after our nap, it became even more apparent that we had overextended ourselves during the car show pictures. Both of us were somewhat rubber-legged in the thigh area. As a matter of fact, we still are. My legs haven't ached this much since I don't know when. Anyway as I was about to say, after relaxing for a while we got ourselves together and took off once again for the balloon/fireworks finale over at the fairgrounds. We got an awesome parking spot right near the gate in a "no parking" zone that had only just then been commandeered by the masses. I didn't even hesitate to pull in behind all the cars in front of me that instantly filled the previously bare side of the street. We watched in amusement as the cars behind us did the same. When we got out of the car it was obvious that this was going to be one huge mob of people. What brings it out--The fireworks or the colorful balloons being lit by their burners at night? We lucked out and got a great spot to sit up in the grandstand right in the middle. We no sooner finished chowing down a couple of great Italian sausage sandwiches when showtime arrived.

The balloon event wasn't nearly as cool as the one earlier in the day but it was fun nonetheless. There were only about a dozen balloons at the night event. Neither Suzie or myself knew what we were doing when we started snapping pictures. We each took a huge pile of pictures of both the fireworks and the balloons. We kept changing lenses and settings, trying to get the perfect combination of things to make a great picture. One thing we really needed but didn't bring was our tripods. Nevertheless, we ended up with some pretty interesting shots. Here are a couple:

When we got back to our room and perused our newly taken pictures, we weren't nearly as pleased as we are some of the times we're out snapping away, but there were some pretty good ones. When it was bedtime we did exactly what we had thought about doing: We took the mattress off the bed. Sleeping on just the mattress on the floor turned out to be one really good night of sleep. It made a huge difference!

When we awoke this morning it was a little cooler than it was yesterday but still beautiful looking. Instead of the whitish, high-cloud day we had yesterday, we had a blue sky with floating clouds in it. In addition it was a little blustery. It was pretty obvious to us that there would be no more balloon launches that day. After all, wind is critical when you're in a balloon--It has to be in your favor.

We checked out at about 10:30 for our drive back home, but before getting on the freeway we investigated Washington State Penitentiary, Washington's only federal prison. While we couldn't get too close to it, we did manage to get a few good pictures thanks to long lenses and such. Here's a sample:

The whole thing was surrounded by more concertina (razor) wire coils than I have ever seen in my life. It's hard to tell how high the coils actually are, but it's safe to say that it's not a fence that anyone is going to be going through. This shot taken with my 300mm zoom will give you an idea. I really don't know how tall the fence actually is, but it's pretty tall.

We stopped at a really cool nursery right along that freeway near the town of Mabton. We spotted it on the way out and kept an eye out for it. It was totally cool!

The place had lots of rusty old cars placed strategically here and there, and had an "Old West Town" that they were in the process of creating as a tourist stop. We each took over 100 pictures there. Again, here's a sample:

We finished off our weekend with one last stop at Subway for dinner, and we enjoyed it alongside a nice river under sunny skies. I great ending to a weekend for sure!