Day 11
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Day 12
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Day 13
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Thursday, June 19, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Day 13 - 06/14/2008
I slept with my sleep goggles last night, and after such a long day yesterday, it was 8:45 when Todd finally knocked on my door. Breakfast would be ready in 25 minutes, and we were having company. I was glad for the advance warning because I had just enough time to get a shower in before breakfast. So much for walking the centennial trail (the walking trail Amy showed me my first night here) early this morning.
I met Lisa, a good friend of Amy’s. She is graduating from the community college here and will be entering the Moody Aviation program midway later on. Her parents Ron & Julie had flown up from California for her graduation and to move her back down there for the time being. So we had a breakfast with all Californians that morning. Roxie mentioned that Brian would be sorry to have missed this. Being from San Jose, he loves it when everyone in the group is from California. I would later learn that Brian is also dating Lisa.
I typed for little while down in my room, trying to catch up on my travel blog. I had considered going to donate blood plasma, and pestered Mike S. for most of the morning with specific questions about where, how long it takes, etc. The first time going can take up to four hours (reduced by more than half on return trips), and I knew I didn’t have that much time on my hands before Amy would be off of work.
After typing some more, I went upstairs to forage for a mid-morning snack to tide me over until lunch. Roxie called out from the living room that I was part of the family and should act accordingly, so I made a sandwich from what I found in the fridge.
I saw Grayson in the backyard raking pine needles. At first I went out to talk with him for a little while and to get some pictures of their spacious backyard, but I ended up picking up a rake to help him. It was a nice time for us to hang out, talking about how God brings people together. We had over half of the yard raked when Amy called to tell me to hit the road and to call for further directions when I had reached a certain interim destination. Imagine my Type-A glee at only having part of the directions to where I was going.
Amy had planned for us to meet at Subway, but learned that there wasn’t one near her work. So the lunch locale was changed to Pita Pit. Poor Amy was very distracted as she had been trying to coordinate the arrival of five people for the day’s adventure. She was also trying to order food for us while directing us all. I missed a turn during a “hold on” moment, but Amy recovered me, and I arrived unscathed. She apologized for her bad mood, and was quickly able to snap out of it through some good company and conversation. Ruby was already there, and Lisa and her parents showed up soon after I did.
Lisa told us that she had wanted an ice cream sandwich, and found that it was cheaper to buy a pack of six than one from the standalone freezer. So she brought the rest to share. Ruby, Amy and I each had one, but her parents passed. Trying to decide what to do, Amy suggested offering them to the people working at Pita Pit. I didn’t think they’d be able to accept them, but realized that FDA regulations probably wouldn’t apply since they wouldn’t be selling them. They were very grateful. That felt nice to do that since we had stayed so long after ordering our food.
Ruby had to go to work, and Amy and I would see her later. But the remaining five of us were going in the meantime to Manito Park (after leaving my car at Amy’s work), which had specific garden areas: a Japanese garden, Lilac garden, Rose garden, greenhouse, outdoor courtyard, etc. We all loved it. Ron and I were taking probably every picture possible, and the women were very patient with us. Amy was really great and would take one of our cameras periodically so that we would be in our own pictures.
From there, Lisa and her parents left to go do a little more sightseeing and packing, and Amy and I would go see Ruby at Starbucks where she was working. Amy remembered that we had passed St. John’s Cathedral, and we had wanted to stop and see it. I looked at Amy’s car clock and saw that it was 4:40. The marquee said that there was a Eucharist at 5:30. I hoped we’d get a tour in before they started. We went around the back and tried a few doors. A very nice woman (I forgot to ask her name) came to the door, and said our best chance for a tour was after tomorrow’s service, as there was one going right now. This puzzled me, but I wasn’t going to argue with the woman. I thought about this as we rounded the church, and finally exclaimed loudly, “Oh! Your clock is an hour behind!” I had forgotten from yesterday that Scott and I had noticed and tried to fix it. Amy had yelped out, “Don’t! You’ll mess me up!” So we took a lot of pictures of the gorgeous Gothic exterior.
We noticed an open door, and people coming and going occasionally, and couldn’t resist trying to see how far in we could get unnoticed. We saw the pianist with her back to us, but couldn’t see around to the congregation. Amy got her attention and asked which way the congregation was facing. They were facing away from us, and the pianist graciously said we could walk quietly around to other areas of the cathedral, as the Eucharist was only in one small sectioned-off area.
We quietly moved around and were amazed at the beauty surrounding us. Amy had wanted me to see a prayer labyrinth that she, Roxie and Kayla had found on a prior tour. They were very puzzled and concerned by the unclear information describing it, and she wanted my opinion on it. But when we got to where she remembered it being, it had been replaced by pews.
Walking to the foyer, we saw the visitor book. We had no idea that this would be our favorite part of the church. We flipped through to see who had visited on each of our birthdays: 4/23 (mine) and 8/1 (hers) in years past. As we would read some of the comments, we found some that were absolutely hysterical! “This church rulz!” “Gothic Rocks,” “Congratulations Paul,” and so many others.
Leaving the Cathedral, I only had about 20 picture slots left on my memory card, so I attempted to ration my pictures to make it to day’s end.
We wandered through Spokane, trying to find Ruby’s Starbucks. Ruby had told Amy the cross streets, but she had forgotten, and was so glad that I had listened in. I hadn’t completely remembered myself, so we called Sarah M., who didn’t really know either. But somehow between the three of us, Amy drove us there. When we arrived, Amy bought me a Captain Crunch drink. Ruby had teased us with mention of it at lunch, and I was desperately curious to try it. She modifies a Strawberries & Cream drink, and somehow it tastes and smells exactly like a bowl of Captain Crunch berries cereal. It’s amazing! Amy had Ruby surprise her, and got a mocha-something that I think would have tasted good if not for the coffee aftertaste.
We were hanging out waiting for Sarah M. to arrive, and walked around. This is the biggest Starbucks I have ever seen, probably double the size of the average one, allowing a lot more seating. We found it interesting because we were two of a few patrons that evening. There was a story on a huge posterboard on the wall that started well, became strange & confusing, and ended mid-sentence. We asked Ruby (as Sarah M. would also) where the rest of the story was, but she didn’t know. She only recently started working there, and hadn’t noticed the incomplete nature.
I saw a chess set in the corner, and asked Amy to join me in a game. Amy knows the mechanics of Chess (what pieces move in which fashion), but has no care for strategy. Somehow, though, she would manage to confound most every strategy I attempted, by mere accident. I was clearly winning by points, but really was having a hard time getting after her king. I reminded me of the Adventures in Odyssey episode where Eugene is beat at Chess by Bernard, and goes into a manic state trying to figure out how it could happen. I did win, finally opting for the simple strategy of just dwindling her other pieces.
Sarah arrived later, and after talking for awhile, we discussed what next to do. Sarah really wanted to go see The Happening, but I really didn’t have an interest in being on the edge of my seat all evening. We finally decided to meet back at Amy’s and watch Pay It Forward, since we all liked tear-jerkers. Since we hadn’t eaten, Amy and I stopped at Safeway to pick up some pasta and sauce for spaghetti.
Amy needed gas for her car, and insisted she knew where to get $3.99/gallon. I was impressed, and we actually found it at another station, sooner in our path than she expected. After subsequently picking up Serena, who was also getting thirsty, we just headed further back to her apartment to find her known place. As it turns out, that place was $4.02/gallon. She felt bad that she had gotten a better deal and offered to lead me to another place, but I have gotten to where I don’t care about the extra 3 cents per gallon in an 11-gallon tank. I’ll avoid surcharges of similar amount by paying cash if possible, but I won’t continue driving and burning gas to hopefully find a cheaper rate.
We were planning to go straight to Amy’s apartment, and I was following her, but my eyes suddenly became very dry. Since I needed eye drops and they were all back at the Elton House, I diverted course. I tried to get Amy’s attention by calling her cell, honking, and flashing my lights, but it was almost five minutes before she noticed me missing and pulled over to call me. I told her I’d meet her at her place and headed off in the other direction. I grabbed my laptop along with my drops, and after a few minutes of talking with the family, I headed out.
Amy cooked dinner, and really didn’t want my input as to when the sauce was done. She says she doesn’t boss me around in my kitchen and that I should reciprocate, but I seem to remember her being somewhat stubborn in my kitchen, too. I picked my battles, though, and didn’t pick this one. The dinner was very good. I used the cooking time to free up my camera’s memory card by moving pictures over to my laptop. I have taken over 2,400 pictures thus far, requiring 2.7 GB of hard drive space.
Mike S. came over to watch the movie with Ruby, Sarah M., Amy and myself. I usually cry at touching movies, but the waterworks really came on for this one. The scenes that hit me the hardest were when Helen Hunt’s character pays it forward to her mom, and during the candle vigil.
During the movie Ella came out to join us. She came right up to me and touched her nose to my ear, which caused me to jump up because I was so shocked at something wet touching me. She darted away, but later even let me pet her. I didn’t find out until the movie that it was Ella and not Rock. I had heard Amy say that it was three weeks before Ella let Amy pet her, and I figured Rock had been let out for while.
After the movie, Sarah M. told us a work story. As I mentioned, I think she works for a vet or an animal shelter. Don’t read the rest of this paragraph if you are a severe animal lover. She told a story about this older woman who brought in her tiny sick dog (a chihuahua) wrapped in a blanket like a newborn, with pink liquid dried all over its mouth. The woman had been giving it Pepto-Bismol because it had been having diarrhea. Before even finishing checking them in, the receptionist took a look at the dog, and asked to see him. She showed him directly to the vet standing nearby, and confirmed her suspicions. The dog was dead. Long dead. At least a full day, probably longer. This dog was stiff. This poor woman had been force-feeding Pepto-Bismol to a dead dog, and she had no clue. So she had come in expecting to have her dog restored to full health, only to be told that her dog was already dead. Forgive our lack of humanity, but we were howling with laughter. I’m not back to laughing at death unfortunately, but this story was a nice reminder of those days when I did.
Mike S. had taken off immediately after the movie because he was leaving for Wisconsin tomorrow. Ruby and Sarah soon followed. I stayed behind a little longer to copy my pictures from the past two days over to Amy’s computer. We went over to her computer desk, and I plugged my flash drive into the back of her tower. She said it might be better for her to do it because it was so slow and I might get frustrated. I didn’t think it could be too bad, and stayed at the controls. The slow speed didn’t bother me too much, but the mouse was terribly sticky. I told Amy she needed to clean it, and she insisted that she only needed a mouse pad. I turned it over, and without even pulling out the ball, I saw fuzz on it. Like I mentioned, I pick my battles.
After I transferred the pictures, we discussed our church plans. I realized I’d need an iron for my church clothes again. Amy had an iron but no ironing board, and I realized I could just use her kitchen counter, cushioned by a placemat.
So I went back home (the Elton House has begun to feel like home) and let myself in the back with the key they’d given me since all the lights were out. I opened my computer and tried to catch up on my journals and e-mail, but I didn’t make too much of a dent before calling it a night. Thankfully church didn’t start until 11, so I wouldn’t have to be up too early.
I met Lisa, a good friend of Amy’s. She is graduating from the community college here and will be entering the Moody Aviation program midway later on. Her parents Ron & Julie had flown up from California for her graduation and to move her back down there for the time being. So we had a breakfast with all Californians that morning. Roxie mentioned that Brian would be sorry to have missed this. Being from San Jose, he loves it when everyone in the group is from California. I would later learn that Brian is also dating Lisa.
I typed for little while down in my room, trying to catch up on my travel blog. I had considered going to donate blood plasma, and pestered Mike S. for most of the morning with specific questions about where, how long it takes, etc. The first time going can take up to four hours (reduced by more than half on return trips), and I knew I didn’t have that much time on my hands before Amy would be off of work.
After typing some more, I went upstairs to forage for a mid-morning snack to tide me over until lunch. Roxie called out from the living room that I was part of the family and should act accordingly, so I made a sandwich from what I found in the fridge.
I saw Grayson in the backyard raking pine needles. At first I went out to talk with him for a little while and to get some pictures of their spacious backyard, but I ended up picking up a rake to help him. It was a nice time for us to hang out, talking about how God brings people together. We had over half of the yard raked when Amy called to tell me to hit the road and to call for further directions when I had reached a certain interim destination. Imagine my Type-A glee at only having part of the directions to where I was going.
Amy had planned for us to meet at Subway, but learned that there wasn’t one near her work. So the lunch locale was changed to Pita Pit. Poor Amy was very distracted as she had been trying to coordinate the arrival of five people for the day’s adventure. She was also trying to order food for us while directing us all. I missed a turn during a “hold on” moment, but Amy recovered me, and I arrived unscathed. She apologized for her bad mood, and was quickly able to snap out of it through some good company and conversation. Ruby was already there, and Lisa and her parents showed up soon after I did.
Lisa told us that she had wanted an ice cream sandwich, and found that it was cheaper to buy a pack of six than one from the standalone freezer. So she brought the rest to share. Ruby, Amy and I each had one, but her parents passed. Trying to decide what to do, Amy suggested offering them to the people working at Pita Pit. I didn’t think they’d be able to accept them, but realized that FDA regulations probably wouldn’t apply since they wouldn’t be selling them. They were very grateful. That felt nice to do that since we had stayed so long after ordering our food.
Ruby had to go to work, and Amy and I would see her later. But the remaining five of us were going in the meantime to Manito Park (after leaving my car at Amy’s work), which had specific garden areas: a Japanese garden, Lilac garden, Rose garden, greenhouse, outdoor courtyard, etc. We all loved it. Ron and I were taking probably every picture possible, and the women were very patient with us. Amy was really great and would take one of our cameras periodically so that we would be in our own pictures.
From there, Lisa and her parents left to go do a little more sightseeing and packing, and Amy and I would go see Ruby at Starbucks where she was working. Amy remembered that we had passed St. John’s Cathedral, and we had wanted to stop and see it. I looked at Amy’s car clock and saw that it was 4:40. The marquee said that there was a Eucharist at 5:30. I hoped we’d get a tour in before they started. We went around the back and tried a few doors. A very nice woman (I forgot to ask her name) came to the door, and said our best chance for a tour was after tomorrow’s service, as there was one going right now. This puzzled me, but I wasn’t going to argue with the woman. I thought about this as we rounded the church, and finally exclaimed loudly, “Oh! Your clock is an hour behind!” I had forgotten from yesterday that Scott and I had noticed and tried to fix it. Amy had yelped out, “Don’t! You’ll mess me up!” So we took a lot of pictures of the gorgeous Gothic exterior.
We noticed an open door, and people coming and going occasionally, and couldn’t resist trying to see how far in we could get unnoticed. We saw the pianist with her back to us, but couldn’t see around to the congregation. Amy got her attention and asked which way the congregation was facing. They were facing away from us, and the pianist graciously said we could walk quietly around to other areas of the cathedral, as the Eucharist was only in one small sectioned-off area.
We quietly moved around and were amazed at the beauty surrounding us. Amy had wanted me to see a prayer labyrinth that she, Roxie and Kayla had found on a prior tour. They were very puzzled and concerned by the unclear information describing it, and she wanted my opinion on it. But when we got to where she remembered it being, it had been replaced by pews.
Walking to the foyer, we saw the visitor book. We had no idea that this would be our favorite part of the church. We flipped through to see who had visited on each of our birthdays: 4/23 (mine) and 8/1 (hers) in years past. As we would read some of the comments, we found some that were absolutely hysterical! “This church rulz!” “Gothic Rocks,” “Congratulations Paul,” and so many others.
Leaving the Cathedral, I only had about 20 picture slots left on my memory card, so I attempted to ration my pictures to make it to day’s end.
We wandered through Spokane, trying to find Ruby’s Starbucks. Ruby had told Amy the cross streets, but she had forgotten, and was so glad that I had listened in. I hadn’t completely remembered myself, so we called Sarah M., who didn’t really know either. But somehow between the three of us, Amy drove us there. When we arrived, Amy bought me a Captain Crunch drink. Ruby had teased us with mention of it at lunch, and I was desperately curious to try it. She modifies a Strawberries & Cream drink, and somehow it tastes and smells exactly like a bowl of Captain Crunch berries cereal. It’s amazing! Amy had Ruby surprise her, and got a mocha-something that I think would have tasted good if not for the coffee aftertaste.
We were hanging out waiting for Sarah M. to arrive, and walked around. This is the biggest Starbucks I have ever seen, probably double the size of the average one, allowing a lot more seating. We found it interesting because we were two of a few patrons that evening. There was a story on a huge posterboard on the wall that started well, became strange & confusing, and ended mid-sentence. We asked Ruby (as Sarah M. would also) where the rest of the story was, but she didn’t know. She only recently started working there, and hadn’t noticed the incomplete nature.
I saw a chess set in the corner, and asked Amy to join me in a game. Amy knows the mechanics of Chess (what pieces move in which fashion), but has no care for strategy. Somehow, though, she would manage to confound most every strategy I attempted, by mere accident. I was clearly winning by points, but really was having a hard time getting after her king. I reminded me of the Adventures in Odyssey episode where Eugene is beat at Chess by Bernard, and goes into a manic state trying to figure out how it could happen. I did win, finally opting for the simple strategy of just dwindling her other pieces.
Sarah arrived later, and after talking for awhile, we discussed what next to do. Sarah really wanted to go see The Happening, but I really didn’t have an interest in being on the edge of my seat all evening. We finally decided to meet back at Amy’s and watch Pay It Forward, since we all liked tear-jerkers. Since we hadn’t eaten, Amy and I stopped at Safeway to pick up some pasta and sauce for spaghetti.
Amy needed gas for her car, and insisted she knew where to get $3.99/gallon. I was impressed, and we actually found it at another station, sooner in our path than she expected. After subsequently picking up Serena, who was also getting thirsty, we just headed further back to her apartment to find her known place. As it turns out, that place was $4.02/gallon. She felt bad that she had gotten a better deal and offered to lead me to another place, but I have gotten to where I don’t care about the extra 3 cents per gallon in an 11-gallon tank. I’ll avoid surcharges of similar amount by paying cash if possible, but I won’t continue driving and burning gas to hopefully find a cheaper rate.
We were planning to go straight to Amy’s apartment, and I was following her, but my eyes suddenly became very dry. Since I needed eye drops and they were all back at the Elton House, I diverted course. I tried to get Amy’s attention by calling her cell, honking, and flashing my lights, but it was almost five minutes before she noticed me missing and pulled over to call me. I told her I’d meet her at her place and headed off in the other direction. I grabbed my laptop along with my drops, and after a few minutes of talking with the family, I headed out.
Amy cooked dinner, and really didn’t want my input as to when the sauce was done. She says she doesn’t boss me around in my kitchen and that I should reciprocate, but I seem to remember her being somewhat stubborn in my kitchen, too. I picked my battles, though, and didn’t pick this one. The dinner was very good. I used the cooking time to free up my camera’s memory card by moving pictures over to my laptop. I have taken over 2,400 pictures thus far, requiring 2.7 GB of hard drive space.
Mike S. came over to watch the movie with Ruby, Sarah M., Amy and myself. I usually cry at touching movies, but the waterworks really came on for this one. The scenes that hit me the hardest were when Helen Hunt’s character pays it forward to her mom, and during the candle vigil.
During the movie Ella came out to join us. She came right up to me and touched her nose to my ear, which caused me to jump up because I was so shocked at something wet touching me. She darted away, but later even let me pet her. I didn’t find out until the movie that it was Ella and not Rock. I had heard Amy say that it was three weeks before Ella let Amy pet her, and I figured Rock had been let out for while.
After the movie, Sarah M. told us a work story. As I mentioned, I think she works for a vet or an animal shelter. Don’t read the rest of this paragraph if you are a severe animal lover. She told a story about this older woman who brought in her tiny sick dog (a chihuahua) wrapped in a blanket like a newborn, with pink liquid dried all over its mouth. The woman had been giving it Pepto-Bismol because it had been having diarrhea. Before even finishing checking them in, the receptionist took a look at the dog, and asked to see him. She showed him directly to the vet standing nearby, and confirmed her suspicions. The dog was dead. Long dead. At least a full day, probably longer. This dog was stiff. This poor woman had been force-feeding Pepto-Bismol to a dead dog, and she had no clue. So she had come in expecting to have her dog restored to full health, only to be told that her dog was already dead. Forgive our lack of humanity, but we were howling with laughter. I’m not back to laughing at death unfortunately, but this story was a nice reminder of those days when I did.
Mike S. had taken off immediately after the movie because he was leaving for Wisconsin tomorrow. Ruby and Sarah soon followed. I stayed behind a little longer to copy my pictures from the past two days over to Amy’s computer. We went over to her computer desk, and I plugged my flash drive into the back of her tower. She said it might be better for her to do it because it was so slow and I might get frustrated. I didn’t think it could be too bad, and stayed at the controls. The slow speed didn’t bother me too much, but the mouse was terribly sticky. I told Amy she needed to clean it, and she insisted that she only needed a mouse pad. I turned it over, and without even pulling out the ball, I saw fuzz on it. Like I mentioned, I pick my battles.
After I transferred the pictures, we discussed our church plans. I realized I’d need an iron for my church clothes again. Amy had an iron but no ironing board, and I realized I could just use her kitchen counter, cushioned by a placemat.
So I went back home (the Elton House has begun to feel like home) and let myself in the back with the key they’d given me since all the lights were out. I opened my computer and tried to catch up on my journals and e-mail, but I didn’t make too much of a dent before calling it a night. Thankfully church didn’t start until 11, so I wouldn’t have to be up too early.
Day 12 - 06/13/2008
I dutifully woke up for breakfast at 6:45, but couldn’t help wondering why it was planned for so early. It turns out that the guys who were still around had to go check in at Moody for the day just be available for things that might come up or to turn in projects.
Todd asked me how I slept, admitting that he had forgotten to warn me about the trains. I simply replied “What trains?” I am sleeping well here. I didn’t awake to any planes either. We had steak and eggs for breakfast, and took it outside for Todd to lead a devotional time for the guys. It was a reflective time, looking back at God’s blessings over the past year. Todd discussed the proper perspective in looking back, as Paul tells us in Philippians 3 not to look back, but Peter tells us to look back. We need to look back at our lives with a heavenly perspective of what God has done, not with a view of own accomplishments. It was a beautiful morning, and the fire pit in the backyard was a perfect setting for this.
I was up for the day, and knew I wouldn’t fall back asleep, so I started about my day. I showered and got a load of laundry going. Then I went upstairs and opened my laptop. I continued my blogging, alternating between that and knitting some more. I talked with Roxie, Grayson & Kayla a lot that morning. Kayla and Frank knit also, so they were interested in my progress on Victoria’s scarf.
Roxie homeschools Grayson and Kayla, and they were having a slow start to the morning. Their routine is off because the guys are now out of school. Roxie and Kayla hadn’t gotten up for breakfast this morning, so they ate and Grayson & I joined them with a snack. Frank, Mike #2 and Bryce came back from Moody and joined us for lunch. They only had to check in today and were allowed to leave almost immediately after arriving, which was a pleasant surprise to them. Lunch was make-it-yourself, so I put together a quick PB&J sandwich, noticing they had Lingonberry jam (Swedish berries you find incorporated into food at Ikea). We all talked about Frank leaving for Africa today, and he seemed so at ease about the whole process. He was going to spend four days in Maine with family before leaving the continent, but it’s still an imminent big change for him. That’s a peace I want to find.
I saw a Dehydrator for the first time. This road trip has been full of firsts for me, and this is a cool one. This machine sucks the moisture out of food to make things like dried fruit or beef jerky. The interesting thing is that its process speed is affected by the moisture in the air. On dry days, I can do a thing of beef jerky in 6-8 hours, but with a lot of moisture in the air it can be over 14 hours.
Breakfast and lunch dishes were cleared, and Roxie began the morning school devotional with Grayson and Kayla, allowing me to join in as well. I want to get as much as I can out of my time here. They are doing a progression through the Bible, starting three years ago in Genesis. Sometime recently Roxie decided to bring in the New Testament concurrently, alternating days between Old and New. So today is a New Testament day, meaning that we were in Matthew 10 (they’re in Psalms in the OT).
We each read a verse, only going through the first four. This is the part of the story where God calls the original twelve disciples and gives them the power to cast out evil spirits and heal diseases. We talked about how all the power originates from God, and that none is from the disciples themselves, teaching humility and reliance on God. I brought up the saying “God doesn’t call the qualified; he qualifies the called.” We discussed how this condemns pride, but it also erases the excuse of fear of inadequacy. God will equip us to do what He has in store for us. We even found something in the naming of the disciples as Roxie brought up the point, “How would you like to be remembered in the Bible as the one who betrayed Jesus?” referencing the appositive attached to Judas Iscariot. We then prayed, each taking time to thank our Savior and make requests of him. I love this family!
Roxie also gave me some more background on their ministry here and Moody as Grayson and Kayla did their school work. Missionary Pilots are a unique type of missionary. Their training and education requires an exorbitant amount of funding to become licensed as a pilot. And they become a missionary usually primarily only to other missionaries, who then are directly working with unreached people. Missionary pilots exponentially enhance the ministry effectiveness of those other missionaries because pilots can get missionaries to their target areas so much more quickly and safely. What may take days or weeks to traverse by ground in the wilderness of Africa may only take 20 minutes to fly. The need for missionary pilots really became apparent with the martyr of Jim Elliot and his four team members. Roxie mentioned how difficult it can be to understand this different nature (particularly in raising support) unless it can be seen firsthand.
I’ve been really impressed with Grayson and Kayla. I would get to know them more over this visit, but I could already see some terrific character traits in both of them. Kayla is 10 and has an incredible sense of faith. That girl believes in Christ and His power with everything in her. The saying “God Can Move Mountains” comes to mind. If we needed God to physically move a mountain, most would watch to see “if” God would actually move it. Kayla would watch with a look of waiting for “when” God will decide that it’s His time to move it.
Grayson has a quest for knowledge, information and personal growth. This 9th grader has an unquenchable thirst to know more about the world around him, and constantly seeks to try his best with a mature enthusiasm that inspires me. He’s a gifted photographer as well, showing me some incredible pictures of a spring snow storm that happened a couple days prior to my arrival.
But what I like even more than their individual strengths and gifts is the way they support each other. They are both learning to play the fiddle, and have made incredible progress, and in that and everything else I saw them do together. They did play several songs while I was around, many for practice and a few as a performance for me. Roxie had them play one last “foot-stomping” one before resuming book work, and told me she’d know there was something wrong with me if I didn’t end up tapping my foot to this one. I was tapping my feet, but didn’t see her tapping hers. I didn’t bring up the implication. ;-) But maybe she’s just not as kinesthetic of a person.
Amy is getting a new cat. She has a girl cat Ella who is extremely skittish, and she is taking in a boy cat (both are “fixed”) named Rock Hudson. She was supposed to be getting Rock tomorrow, but something happened that she needed to get him today, so she was going to be slightly delayed in starting our adventure today, and called to tell me of the delay and that she would call me again to tell me when to come over and see her apartment.
Brian and Frank took a break from their activities, and joined me on the couch as I typed. With Brian sitting next to me, I noticed the piercing in the cartilage of his left ear. He only had the plug in because he had noticed it getting infected. He said he had always wanted a piercing, but didn’t know where to get it. When he mentioned his eyebrow, I interjected to make sure he was going to do the right eyebrow for the proper connotation. He knew about the left ear being the heterosexual side for piercings, but he didn’t know that it was reversed for eyebrows. I’ve considered re-piercing my ear on this trip, but decided the time just wasn’t right.
Amy called while I was hanging out with the guys and gave me the signal to come over. I told her about the plans for everyone to go to Olive Garden, and also asked if Frank was going to get another chance to see her. It was almost 3 p.m., and Frank was about to leave for the airport. They had said they’re good-byes last night, but she still told me she was sending a phone hug to Frank. I told him this and held up the phone so he would be the recipient of the phone hug. He appeared as bewildered as I was as to what a phone hug is, but I told Amy that he was deeply touched. I quickly gathered my stuff and got on the road to her apartment, only 2 miles away.
As I neared her apartment complex, I noticed that my Google Map directions ended on a different street than the one for her address. And I was surrounded by apartment complexes (complices?). I called her and figured out I needed to go down one more street and I would arrive at her complex. She then told me to come in the back door because she wanted her neighbors to see me and think I was her boyfriend and that I lived there, too. This obviously surprised me. I interpreted it as her neighbors thought she was a prude and she wanted a different reputation. I told her this and she started cracking up. She wanted to give the appearance of protection, to make her less of a target for crime as a woman living alone. So I called out casually, “Honey, it’s so good to be home!” as I walked up just to amp up our show.
After I entered the back door, she closed it and started piling her exercise equipment back against it and locking it. She showed me her beautiful and spacious apartment, and I met her cats, Rock and Ella. Ella currently has run of the apartment, but mainly hides in Amy’s bedroom. Rock is set up in the bathroom for the time being, as Amy was told to keep them apart for a few days for them to gradually get used to each other’s presence, among other reasons.
Scott arrived shortly thereafter, and we were introduced. He’s in the Moody Aviation program here as well, but he doesn’t live at the Elton House (Todd & Roxie live on Elton Street in Spokane, and they call it the Elton House rather than by their last name because so many others call it home as well). Amy handed Scott her keys, saying that he should drive because he and I had long legs and should be in front (she has a two-door 2005 Honda Civic, and had to crawl into the back). Between the two of them, they figured out which way to go to pick up Ruby, who was waiting outside her apartment for us.
Ruby is a new friend of Amy’s, having just moved here from New York by way of Texas. She moved here with her best friend Sarah M. (to be introduced later), whose brother D.J. (to be introduced much later) is attending Moody Spokane. Ruby is an amazing chef. She makes everything from scratch. I mean EVERYTHING. If she wants fries, she starts with potatoes and makes them herself. Amy gushed for five solid minutes about Ruby’s chocolate chip cookies.
We were headed to Moody for a tour of the school and the hanger. We got there around 4 p.m. and it was Friday after classes had ended. It was looked but someone inside let us in, and a guy named Jim graciously agreed to give us a short tour (that became longer than he expected because of all of our questions).
We saw the main building, with classrooms, planning rooms, flight simulators, maps, and offices. A glass enclosed bookcase at the top of the stairs displayed several of the Bible translations that Moody had a hand in getting translated. Jim then took us out to the hanger, and we saw so many different types of planes. The one of special interest was the Kodiak. It’s a new plane (only two or three are built and operational to date) designed almost specifically for missionary pilots. The Kodiak uses a more efficient type of fuel, holds more passengers than the model it’s replacing, and I think is able to land on smaller airstrips (a crucial component for third-world countries). It was incredible to see how Moody has the first one to use and train its future pilots. Its serial number is 1, there was a prototype, and the next one almost complete and will be going somewhere else unaffiliated with Moody.
Upon leaving, we discovered there was a train stopped on the tracks across the nearest intersection. Scott, Ruby and Amy apparently thought nothing of this and Scott started driving way out of the way to get to the next available crossing. It’s a different way of life here. Our next stop was Olive Garden.
Todd & Roxie had a gift certificate there, and they wanted to have a celebratory dinner with everyone for the completion of another year, so they had decided to do an en mass unlimited soup & salad dinner there with everyone, and with the gift certificate, it would only cost about $3/person. We were a little late, but it was a wonderful time with everyone. Bryce had the idea of skewering his breadstick on his fork, and his straw from there, delighting in being able to suck warm air from his breadstick. Roxie, in an unconventional mother’s fashion, really liked the first part of the idea, and invited everyone at the table to skewer their breadsticks. I’m sure Emily Post was spinning in her grave, but it was hilarious to see most everyone at the table follow suit.
The meal was delicious, and a great chance to spend more time with everyone. Mike #1 (hereinafter Mike R. as I have learn both their last names) was there, and I was surprised to learn that he and Amy hadn’t met before. With as connected as Amy is with Todd & Roxie and the whole Elton House, I would figure she’d know everyone connected with Moody by now. I noticed some tape on Mike S.’s arm, and asked if he’d donated blood, to which he responded that he’d donated plasma, for which you can get money. That perked my interest, and I asked him a bunch of questions about it, wondering about doing it myself.
From there, Amy’s plans for my visit included going out to Coeur d’Alene, which I learned is in Idaho. We wanted to bring a big group, and we got enough people that we would take two cars. We rendezvoused back at Amy’s apartment (after our group ambled aimlessly through the parking garage trying to find where we had left her car).
I got there, and met Sarah M. She works in some veterinary assistant’s capacity, and was giving Amy some feedback on Rock and when to let him and Ella both run around freely. I had to use the bathroom that Rock is shut up in, and I discovered that he is a very friendly cat. I had a difficult time in there because he seemed very self-confident that he was the reason I was in there.
When everyone arrived, we decided we could split the group by gender. Amy was driving the girl car and I was driving the boy car (except that Serena is a girl, but she wanted to see Idaho, so she was okay with it). Sarah M., Ruby and Amy were in the car following Bryce, Brian, Jonathan, Scott and me. I found it interested that I was leading since I’ve never been there, but Brian was able to direct me. We had a blast even on the freeway teasing each other’s cars. Brian led us in a fine formation of flapping our wings (arms out the opened windows) up and down (except for Bryce, who decided to have a defective wing.
We crossed into Idaho (“No, you ‘da ho!” was a common overused joke there) about twenty minutes after departure. Another ten, and we pulled off the freeway to park at Coeur d’Alene, a lake in Northwestern Idaho. We paid for parking and then decided to walk the Boardwalk there. It was beautiful to see, and a lot of fun with a group of people.
We took a lot of pictures, and ended up at a hotel there, messing around in the glass turnabout doors (it’s a wonder that we weren’t asked to leave). We started trying to go up in the hotel, first with the goal of getting as high up as we could, and later with the goal of the best vantage point for pictures of the lake. Jonathan was the only one dressed “nice,” and so it really was miraculous that people weren’t ruder to us and our roaming. We were finally told that the best place for pictures might be from the top of the parking garage, and so we meandered over to there.
We took the elevator up, and the restaurant hostess was right: it was an excellent place to take pictures. We walked around to all of the different edges of the top level, looking out at the scenery. Brian wanted to be back by 10ish, and we were a little late leaving. As we left, Amy randomly found a wine glass on the ground. I somehow got the hiccoughs and could not get rid of them. Before we got in the cars, I even tried swallowing upside down, but it didn’t work like it normally does. I was worried I might hiccough all the way home, and lo and behold, I did. When we finally arrived at Amy’s, Bryce helped me try his technique. He pulled down firmly on my ears as I slowly drank some Gatorade, and it worked. Thank goodness! Thirty miles is a long way to go with hiccoughs.
Bryce had to get back to the house because he was doing the paper route the next morning (the family does one as a group, with the boarding guys helping out), and so he and I left quickly after dropping everything off to their cars back at Amy’s. The drive back was one of many good talks between us. Bryce is in a unique position in the Elton House because he lives as both a biological family member and a boarding student, and I think that’s afforded him a very insightful life perspective. We talked about commitment to God, and some more specifics of the Moody program.
We arrived to find all the lights out. I followed Bryce around to the back of the house, and we went in the back door on the lower level of the house, which led us right to our respective rooms. I stayed up typing and unloading pictures for awhile, but went to bed around 12.
Todd asked me how I slept, admitting that he had forgotten to warn me about the trains. I simply replied “What trains?” I am sleeping well here. I didn’t awake to any planes either. We had steak and eggs for breakfast, and took it outside for Todd to lead a devotional time for the guys. It was a reflective time, looking back at God’s blessings over the past year. Todd discussed the proper perspective in looking back, as Paul tells us in Philippians 3 not to look back, but Peter tells us to look back. We need to look back at our lives with a heavenly perspective of what God has done, not with a view of own accomplishments. It was a beautiful morning, and the fire pit in the backyard was a perfect setting for this.
I was up for the day, and knew I wouldn’t fall back asleep, so I started about my day. I showered and got a load of laundry going. Then I went upstairs and opened my laptop. I continued my blogging, alternating between that and knitting some more. I talked with Roxie, Grayson & Kayla a lot that morning. Kayla and Frank knit also, so they were interested in my progress on Victoria’s scarf.
Roxie homeschools Grayson and Kayla, and they were having a slow start to the morning. Their routine is off because the guys are now out of school. Roxie and Kayla hadn’t gotten up for breakfast this morning, so they ate and Grayson & I joined them with a snack. Frank, Mike #2 and Bryce came back from Moody and joined us for lunch. They only had to check in today and were allowed to leave almost immediately after arriving, which was a pleasant surprise to them. Lunch was make-it-yourself, so I put together a quick PB&J sandwich, noticing they had Lingonberry jam (Swedish berries you find incorporated into food at Ikea). We all talked about Frank leaving for Africa today, and he seemed so at ease about the whole process. He was going to spend four days in Maine with family before leaving the continent, but it’s still an imminent big change for him. That’s a peace I want to find.
I saw a Dehydrator for the first time. This road trip has been full of firsts for me, and this is a cool one. This machine sucks the moisture out of food to make things like dried fruit or beef jerky. The interesting thing is that its process speed is affected by the moisture in the air. On dry days, I can do a thing of beef jerky in 6-8 hours, but with a lot of moisture in the air it can be over 14 hours.
Breakfast and lunch dishes were cleared, and Roxie began the morning school devotional with Grayson and Kayla, allowing me to join in as well. I want to get as much as I can out of my time here. They are doing a progression through the Bible, starting three years ago in Genesis. Sometime recently Roxie decided to bring in the New Testament concurrently, alternating days between Old and New. So today is a New Testament day, meaning that we were in Matthew 10 (they’re in Psalms in the OT).
We each read a verse, only going through the first four. This is the part of the story where God calls the original twelve disciples and gives them the power to cast out evil spirits and heal diseases. We talked about how all the power originates from God, and that none is from the disciples themselves, teaching humility and reliance on God. I brought up the saying “God doesn’t call the qualified; he qualifies the called.” We discussed how this condemns pride, but it also erases the excuse of fear of inadequacy. God will equip us to do what He has in store for us. We even found something in the naming of the disciples as Roxie brought up the point, “How would you like to be remembered in the Bible as the one who betrayed Jesus?” referencing the appositive attached to Judas Iscariot. We then prayed, each taking time to thank our Savior and make requests of him. I love this family!
Roxie also gave me some more background on their ministry here and Moody as Grayson and Kayla did their school work. Missionary Pilots are a unique type of missionary. Their training and education requires an exorbitant amount of funding to become licensed as a pilot. And they become a missionary usually primarily only to other missionaries, who then are directly working with unreached people. Missionary pilots exponentially enhance the ministry effectiveness of those other missionaries because pilots can get missionaries to their target areas so much more quickly and safely. What may take days or weeks to traverse by ground in the wilderness of Africa may only take 20 minutes to fly. The need for missionary pilots really became apparent with the martyr of Jim Elliot and his four team members. Roxie mentioned how difficult it can be to understand this different nature (particularly in raising support) unless it can be seen firsthand.
I’ve been really impressed with Grayson and Kayla. I would get to know them more over this visit, but I could already see some terrific character traits in both of them. Kayla is 10 and has an incredible sense of faith. That girl believes in Christ and His power with everything in her. The saying “God Can Move Mountains” comes to mind. If we needed God to physically move a mountain, most would watch to see “if” God would actually move it. Kayla would watch with a look of waiting for “when” God will decide that it’s His time to move it.
Grayson has a quest for knowledge, information and personal growth. This 9th grader has an unquenchable thirst to know more about the world around him, and constantly seeks to try his best with a mature enthusiasm that inspires me. He’s a gifted photographer as well, showing me some incredible pictures of a spring snow storm that happened a couple days prior to my arrival.
But what I like even more than their individual strengths and gifts is the way they support each other. They are both learning to play the fiddle, and have made incredible progress, and in that and everything else I saw them do together. They did play several songs while I was around, many for practice and a few as a performance for me. Roxie had them play one last “foot-stomping” one before resuming book work, and told me she’d know there was something wrong with me if I didn’t end up tapping my foot to this one. I was tapping my feet, but didn’t see her tapping hers. I didn’t bring up the implication. ;-) But maybe she’s just not as kinesthetic of a person.
Amy is getting a new cat. She has a girl cat Ella who is extremely skittish, and she is taking in a boy cat (both are “fixed”) named Rock Hudson. She was supposed to be getting Rock tomorrow, but something happened that she needed to get him today, so she was going to be slightly delayed in starting our adventure today, and called to tell me of the delay and that she would call me again to tell me when to come over and see her apartment.
Brian and Frank took a break from their activities, and joined me on the couch as I typed. With Brian sitting next to me, I noticed the piercing in the cartilage of his left ear. He only had the plug in because he had noticed it getting infected. He said he had always wanted a piercing, but didn’t know where to get it. When he mentioned his eyebrow, I interjected to make sure he was going to do the right eyebrow for the proper connotation. He knew about the left ear being the heterosexual side for piercings, but he didn’t know that it was reversed for eyebrows. I’ve considered re-piercing my ear on this trip, but decided the time just wasn’t right.
Amy called while I was hanging out with the guys and gave me the signal to come over. I told her about the plans for everyone to go to Olive Garden, and also asked if Frank was going to get another chance to see her. It was almost 3 p.m., and Frank was about to leave for the airport. They had said they’re good-byes last night, but she still told me she was sending a phone hug to Frank. I told him this and held up the phone so he would be the recipient of the phone hug. He appeared as bewildered as I was as to what a phone hug is, but I told Amy that he was deeply touched. I quickly gathered my stuff and got on the road to her apartment, only 2 miles away.
As I neared her apartment complex, I noticed that my Google Map directions ended on a different street than the one for her address. And I was surrounded by apartment complexes (complices?). I called her and figured out I needed to go down one more street and I would arrive at her complex. She then told me to come in the back door because she wanted her neighbors to see me and think I was her boyfriend and that I lived there, too. This obviously surprised me. I interpreted it as her neighbors thought she was a prude and she wanted a different reputation. I told her this and she started cracking up. She wanted to give the appearance of protection, to make her less of a target for crime as a woman living alone. So I called out casually, “Honey, it’s so good to be home!” as I walked up just to amp up our show.
After I entered the back door, she closed it and started piling her exercise equipment back against it and locking it. She showed me her beautiful and spacious apartment, and I met her cats, Rock and Ella. Ella currently has run of the apartment, but mainly hides in Amy’s bedroom. Rock is set up in the bathroom for the time being, as Amy was told to keep them apart for a few days for them to gradually get used to each other’s presence, among other reasons.
Scott arrived shortly thereafter, and we were introduced. He’s in the Moody Aviation program here as well, but he doesn’t live at the Elton House (Todd & Roxie live on Elton Street in Spokane, and they call it the Elton House rather than by their last name because so many others call it home as well). Amy handed Scott her keys, saying that he should drive because he and I had long legs and should be in front (she has a two-door 2005 Honda Civic, and had to crawl into the back). Between the two of them, they figured out which way to go to pick up Ruby, who was waiting outside her apartment for us.
Ruby is a new friend of Amy’s, having just moved here from New York by way of Texas. She moved here with her best friend Sarah M. (to be introduced later), whose brother D.J. (to be introduced much later) is attending Moody Spokane. Ruby is an amazing chef. She makes everything from scratch. I mean EVERYTHING. If she wants fries, she starts with potatoes and makes them herself. Amy gushed for five solid minutes about Ruby’s chocolate chip cookies.
We were headed to Moody for a tour of the school and the hanger. We got there around 4 p.m. and it was Friday after classes had ended. It was looked but someone inside let us in, and a guy named Jim graciously agreed to give us a short tour (that became longer than he expected because of all of our questions).
We saw the main building, with classrooms, planning rooms, flight simulators, maps, and offices. A glass enclosed bookcase at the top of the stairs displayed several of the Bible translations that Moody had a hand in getting translated. Jim then took us out to the hanger, and we saw so many different types of planes. The one of special interest was the Kodiak. It’s a new plane (only two or three are built and operational to date) designed almost specifically for missionary pilots. The Kodiak uses a more efficient type of fuel, holds more passengers than the model it’s replacing, and I think is able to land on smaller airstrips (a crucial component for third-world countries). It was incredible to see how Moody has the first one to use and train its future pilots. Its serial number is 1, there was a prototype, and the next one almost complete and will be going somewhere else unaffiliated with Moody.
Upon leaving, we discovered there was a train stopped on the tracks across the nearest intersection. Scott, Ruby and Amy apparently thought nothing of this and Scott started driving way out of the way to get to the next available crossing. It’s a different way of life here. Our next stop was Olive Garden.
Todd & Roxie had a gift certificate there, and they wanted to have a celebratory dinner with everyone for the completion of another year, so they had decided to do an en mass unlimited soup & salad dinner there with everyone, and with the gift certificate, it would only cost about $3/person. We were a little late, but it was a wonderful time with everyone. Bryce had the idea of skewering his breadstick on his fork, and his straw from there, delighting in being able to suck warm air from his breadstick. Roxie, in an unconventional mother’s fashion, really liked the first part of the idea, and invited everyone at the table to skewer their breadsticks. I’m sure Emily Post was spinning in her grave, but it was hilarious to see most everyone at the table follow suit.
The meal was delicious, and a great chance to spend more time with everyone. Mike #1 (hereinafter Mike R. as I have learn both their last names) was there, and I was surprised to learn that he and Amy hadn’t met before. With as connected as Amy is with Todd & Roxie and the whole Elton House, I would figure she’d know everyone connected with Moody by now. I noticed some tape on Mike S.’s arm, and asked if he’d donated blood, to which he responded that he’d donated plasma, for which you can get money. That perked my interest, and I asked him a bunch of questions about it, wondering about doing it myself.
From there, Amy’s plans for my visit included going out to Coeur d’Alene, which I learned is in Idaho. We wanted to bring a big group, and we got enough people that we would take two cars. We rendezvoused back at Amy’s apartment (after our group ambled aimlessly through the parking garage trying to find where we had left her car).
I got there, and met Sarah M. She works in some veterinary assistant’s capacity, and was giving Amy some feedback on Rock and when to let him and Ella both run around freely. I had to use the bathroom that Rock is shut up in, and I discovered that he is a very friendly cat. I had a difficult time in there because he seemed very self-confident that he was the reason I was in there.
When everyone arrived, we decided we could split the group by gender. Amy was driving the girl car and I was driving the boy car (except that Serena is a girl, but she wanted to see Idaho, so she was okay with it). Sarah M., Ruby and Amy were in the car following Bryce, Brian, Jonathan, Scott and me. I found it interested that I was leading since I’ve never been there, but Brian was able to direct me. We had a blast even on the freeway teasing each other’s cars. Brian led us in a fine formation of flapping our wings (arms out the opened windows) up and down (except for Bryce, who decided to have a defective wing.
We crossed into Idaho (“No, you ‘da ho!” was a common overused joke there) about twenty minutes after departure. Another ten, and we pulled off the freeway to park at Coeur d’Alene, a lake in Northwestern Idaho. We paid for parking and then decided to walk the Boardwalk there. It was beautiful to see, and a lot of fun with a group of people.
We took a lot of pictures, and ended up at a hotel there, messing around in the glass turnabout doors (it’s a wonder that we weren’t asked to leave). We started trying to go up in the hotel, first with the goal of getting as high up as we could, and later with the goal of the best vantage point for pictures of the lake. Jonathan was the only one dressed “nice,” and so it really was miraculous that people weren’t ruder to us and our roaming. We were finally told that the best place for pictures might be from the top of the parking garage, and so we meandered over to there.
We took the elevator up, and the restaurant hostess was right: it was an excellent place to take pictures. We walked around to all of the different edges of the top level, looking out at the scenery. Brian wanted to be back by 10ish, and we were a little late leaving. As we left, Amy randomly found a wine glass on the ground. I somehow got the hiccoughs and could not get rid of them. Before we got in the cars, I even tried swallowing upside down, but it didn’t work like it normally does. I was worried I might hiccough all the way home, and lo and behold, I did. When we finally arrived at Amy’s, Bryce helped me try his technique. He pulled down firmly on my ears as I slowly drank some Gatorade, and it worked. Thank goodness! Thirty miles is a long way to go with hiccoughs.
Bryce had to get back to the house because he was doing the paper route the next morning (the family does one as a group, with the boarding guys helping out), and so he and I left quickly after dropping everything off to their cars back at Amy’s. The drive back was one of many good talks between us. Bryce is in a unique position in the Elton House because he lives as both a biological family member and a boarding student, and I think that’s afforded him a very insightful life perspective. We talked about commitment to God, and some more specifics of the Moody program.
We arrived to find all the lights out. I followed Bryce around to the back of the house, and we went in the back door on the lower level of the house, which led us right to our respective rooms. I stayed up typing and unloading pictures for awhile, but went to bed around 12.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Day 11 - 06/12/2008
I woke up very sore this morning. So sore that I could not lift my right leg more than an inch off the ground without incredible pain. Walking, taking a shower, and getting dressed were all huge chores. And somehow I was supposed to drive to Spokane today! I didn’t even know if I’d be able to move my leg between the accelerator and the brake.
I was able to stand still while cooking some eggs for breakfast. But I knew I was going to need some help getting through the day. My parents and I used to have this joint rub ointment that we found at a drugstore that helped with pain like this. It worked better than Ben Gay, but they must have stopped making it because we haven’t been able to find it in stores for at least a year. I had seen commercials for something that seemed similar, and wanted to try it. So I was going to Walgreens, and Grandma asked if she could tag along. I failed to realize then what a blessing her presence would be.
We moved slowly out to the car, and I eased myself in to drive it around to the curb for her. Since I could switch pedals just by pivoting my foot off my ankle, I would be able to do this. She got in—faster than I had—and we were on our way. When we arrived, I figured out the perk of having her along. She has a handicapped parking placard to hang in my windshield. We had used it the other day at Costco, and it was nice to have the car so close with all she bought. But today, it was Heaven coming down to park right in front of the store.
Grandma bought a book of wordsearch puzzles, and I found the stuff I was looking for, and almost grabbed a thing of Ben Gay too. But I didn’t want to buy both and mess with returning something to a Walgreen’s in a different state, so I didn’t. We slowly left, got home, and then went back inside. I was very disappointed to learn that this new stuff did nothing for me. But getting out and moving around had helped to loosen it up a little, making it somewhat easier to walk.
I said good-bye to Grandma, and she sent me off with some more muffins and rhubarb sauce. I have had so much of while I’ve been here. I got on the road, and decided I would stop by Seattle. I really wanted to see Pike’s Public Market and the Underground City, but knew I wouldn’t be able to handle both. I decided I would do Pike’s, and that I would just stay a little while.
I called Uncle Dan because he had talked about showing that to me, along with a motorcycle he has that used to belong to my dad, and my grandfather before him. Dan works in Seattle, and said he had about an hour’s worth of work to finish up, but then he’d be free. Since it would take me a half hour to get to him, I was fine waiting for half an hour. He’s a mechanic, so I’d be able to see his shop. He gave me directions, and I pressed on. I followed his directions without issue, but was surprised that the directions led me down an alley in a residential neighborhood.
It turns out that Dan rents the garage facing out the back of a duplex as his shop. When I pulled up, he signaled for me to keep my engine running. He quickly locked his shop, and jumped in my passenger seat. He needed a part, so I drove him over to Schuck’s, which goes by Kragen down in California. It was weird to see a new name on a familiar logo, similar to Carl’s Jr. being “Hardy’s” on the East Coast. Dan didn’t end up finding his part there, so he had me drive him back to the shop. He said he could get it later, and so we could go down to the market.
But I wouldn’t be driving. We were taking the motorcycle. I had never ridden on one before, so I was pretty excited. Dan had two sets of leathers, so I donned one over my clothes, as did he. I took a picture of the two of us all decked out. Then he gave me my only job: not to lean when he turned. I had to staying in straight vertical alignment with the bike, and he would balance us out. I knew that this might be a problem for me: surrendering control and trusting someone else, but I kept my mouth shut and resolved to try.
Swinging my leg up onto the seat brought a groan out of me, but I got on. Dan had said the bike would give me enough balance that I didn’t need to hold onto him or anything, but that just didn’t feel okay, so I put my hands on his waist. And off we went. Surprisingly, I did okay with not leaning. He was very complimentary about that actually.
Dan drove through and gave me a tour of parts of downtown Seattle. We drove around for awhile when he stopped under a bridge. He was going to try and get that part at a place nearby. He thought I might want to get off here and take some pictures. He had brought me to the Fremont Troll. Underneath the overpass, someone had constructed a huge troll, with its left claw encasing an actual VW bug. Sorry Peanut, but one of your own was being held against its will. The art of it was incredible. Dan later told me that people would keep stealing the VW, so it eventually had to be bolted in. Dan took me around to some other artistic monuments in the city, and then we went down to the market.
Pike’s is an amazing place, and really something that should be done with a local. Dan knew everything there that a tourist should make sure to see. He used to live down in this area when he was married and was living down here. He said he hadn’t been back in awhile, so this brought him back a little. It also just gave us more of a chance to just talk. We hadn’t done that before this trip, so it was nice to really get to know him like I’ve gotten to know Uncle Dave over the years.
I saw the throwing of the fish. I had forgotten until Dan reminded me that seeing that was a big deal here. So I saw three fish thrown with lots of yelling surrounding the process. We walked around, seeing a lot of the stores, stands, and booths. There were a few street performers sprinkled around the Market. Dan said that permits were required for them to perform there, and most were actually pretty good. There was one pair doing a Bluegrass/Folk-style set, with the guy on fiddle, and the girl on vocals & doing some tap work. Dan had remembered seeing them many times before and said that all of their music was in that style, so I bought their CD. It was $10, folded up in a cardboard holder, and I was surprised to see that there were 16 songs on it.
As we walked around, Dan saw someone he recognized. Nancy runs the dairy shop, which is all decked out in cow paraphernalia. Shelly would love it. Dan had been a guide when Nancy went whitewater rafting. At first she didn’t recognize him, but then remembered who he was, and they talked like they were old friends. Her mom lives in Fresno, and so we had something in common there. Nancy owns this store, and welcomed everyone coming in as old friends. She had an out-there side to her: not a full-on hippie like Carleigh (see Day 1), but was pretty New Age-y. The biggest evidence of this was Sarah, her huge dog that was lying in the middle of the store, and would frequently get up to follow customers or to just wander around and visit other stores.
Dan and I were getting hungry, and so we stopped at Three Girls, a sandwich shop for lunch. We eat got a delicious baked salmon sandwich from there and walked out to the edge of the Market where there was an outdoor picnic area looking out on Puget Sound.
Dan drove us back to his shop, and he gave me some advice on taking care of my car. I really need to pay more attention to Serena. Just because I don’t go to doctors doesn’t mean she should go to hers (a mechanic). She apparently is overdue for a new timing belt.
I started the long drive to Spokane, and encountered a little traffic as I was leaving Seattle. Once I got on the 90, I was fine though. It wasn’t long before I started getting sleepy, and so I pulled over at the first exit I found. As I was parking, I realized my tank was nearing empty. For the miles I’d driven, I guessed I had about another gallon, meaning I could only go about 30 miles. Normally this isn’t an issue, but this freeway was looking pretty rural as it crossed the middle of the state.
As I was stretching to wake myself up (I didn’t need a powernap at this point), I saw a couple (I would later learn their names to be Lucas & Jenny) getting some water from the back of their blue station wagon. So I walked over and asked if they knew the area and if there were gas stations in the town coming up. They didn’t know, but they were heading the same way, and Lucas offered to follow me and pick me up if I ran out to take me to the next town to get some gas and bring me back. I had AAA, but knew that waiting for them if I had to call could take hours. I didn’t want to take the risk of running out when Amy was expecting me. I was very touched by their offer and accepted.
We talked for a few minutes as they packed back up their car, and I found out they were headed to Weiser, Idaho for a folk music festival that was to last a few weeks. I commented that they were hardcore to go for something like that for that long, and Lucas admitted they weren’t going to stay for the whole duration. But Jenny was quick to agree with me that they were hardcore, and Lucas flexed his bicep to add credence to her claim. Lucas also told me I should forget wherever I was going and go on to Weiser for the festival. I was anxious to check a map to see how far it would be from Spokane because I was hoping Amy and I might be able to go out there on her day off.
I got back on the freeway, and they followed me until we got to the next town. It looked developed enough that it might need a gas station, so I honked twice and pulled off, waving good-bye to my new friends. I really wish I could have gotten them more, and hoped going to the festival would be a possibility. I did find a gas station and filled up my tank. I had to go to the restroom, and went inside to find it. It was currently empty, I was surprised to see that all the stalls were contained by saloon-style doors…that didn’t lock…that were high enough off the ground that a small child would have an unobstructed view if he walked in (this wasn’t a locking, single-occupancy restroom). It was very uncomfortable, and if I thought there was someplace else, I would have waited. So I just hurried, and no one else came in.
Pressing on, I began to feel drowsy again. This time I could sense that just a stretch break wouldn’t do it. So I pulled off and tried to get a power nap in. I had to move my car soon after parking because I had parked with the sun hitting my eyes. I didn’t get completely to sleep, but I rested. After getting out afterward to stretch, I felt safe enough to continue.
I couldn’t believe it, but I actually caught Adventures in Odyssey on the radio as I was nearing Spokane. It was an episode I recalled hearing before, where Jessie has a crush on Jimmy, and he tries to figure out how to get away from her unwanted affections.
Entering Spokane, I gave Amy a warning call. She then told me to go straight to where I’d be staying during my visit instead of her apartment, which I would see tomorrow. I was doing fine with the directions, I turned onto the final street, and that’s when the problems started. Very few of the houses were numbered, and after two passes on this small street, I finally had it narrowed down to two houses. So I called Amy to find out the color of the house, but she pulled up as we were talking.
We hugged and then went inside. I would be staying with Amy’s pseudo-family that moved up here from Coarsegold. Todd & Roxie are homeschooling their two youngest children, Grayson & Kayla. But that’s not their story. This family is also a boarding house for six guys attending Moody Aviation School, a five-year program to train missionary pilots and flight mechanics. The school is a part of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, but the Spokane program only offers a B.S. in Mission Aviation Technology. Boarding students is the family’s ministry, and one of the students is one of their two other sons Bryce. It’s a two-story house, and the family unit lives upstairs while the guys live downstairs. Of architectural interest, the front door opens to a landing at the middle of the stairs between the two floors. As the semester was to officially end tomorrow but finals were over, two of the guys were already gone for the summer. I would be staying downstairs with the remaining guys.
As I walked in, I saw verses and quotes written on cards on the walls. The whole family was very welcoming. As I arrived, dinner was being prepared, but it was put on hold for family devotions. Todd explained to me that devotions never get done after dinner, and so they started doing them before eating. I’m not sure how Roxie would still manages to serve a warm meal sitting next to Todd for the entirety of the devotion time, but she did. We read from the Bible about God having Samuel anoint David to replace Saul as king, and how Saul tried to subvert that and place one of his sons on the throne. We discussed this at length about how God didn’t want Israel to be ruled by kings, and after giving the people what they wanted (a king), He still had his own plan for the structure of it. This was probably the most in-depth family devotional I’ve ever experienced.
We then walked into the kitchen for dinner. Dinner was ham, baked beans, salad, and bread, served buffet-style. I found out that not only are the boarding students fed here, but several other students also frequently come for devotions and dinner during the school year. Tonight it was just Todd, Roxie, Bryce, Grayson, Kayla, Amy and me. The other three students still around were working and making their plans to depart for the summer. Frank would be serving on an internship in Africa, and Mike #2 (there will be a Mike #1 introduced later who isn’t in the school and doesn’t live at the house) would be spending the summer with family in Wisconsin. The dinner was amazing. I shared a few stories about my trip thus far, and also learned a lot about the family here.
Bryce gave me the tour of the house after dinner, and I really started to see what a ministry-centered house this is. I could feel an encouraging spirit in everyone here. I dragged in my stuff, and Todd made up a bed for me in the smaller of the two bedrooms. It was a vertically small bunk (I couldn’t sit up in it), but after my adventures with that sophomore year at FPU, I knew it wouldn’t be a problem. And this bed was taller than mine that year. Even more, it was a bed. Todd and Roxie warned me about the noise of planes flying over the house, but I doubted they’d be a problem.
After socializing a bit more, Amy drove me out to the beginning of a nice hiking trail that I could enjoy tomorrow while she was at work. The time out gave us some time to talk about the latest news with our families, and really encourage each other. Amy is an amazing friend, and I’m so glad to be visiting her here. She’s going to be working from early morning to midday the next two days, but we’ll have the afternoons and evenings, along with all day Sunday to spend time together.
Amy dropped me off at the house and drove home. I went inside, and saw Todd talking to another guy. Todd started to introduce him, but this guy cut him off and said, “Wait. Don’t ruin it.” as he walked down the half-staircase, and gave me a hug. He then told me that he was Brian, and I found out that he’s from San Jose, and we got to know each other a little. He goes to Moody, but doesn’t live here. I then talked with Roxie for a little while about their friendship with Amy and their ministry here, was told that breakfast was at 6:45, and then I retired to downstairs. They had said I would be able to do laundry, which was a blessing from above because I was nearing desperate times. I would take care of all that tomorrow.
I pulled out my laptop to catch up on my journaling, and went into the common room to see what the guys were doing in there. I met Frank and Mike #1 (who is #1 because I met him before meeting #2). Mike #1 was here to give Frank some pointers for Africa. Mike #1 is in the military, has served overseas, and as a Christian really has a heart for missions and equipping those with that call. I really enjoyed talking with him and the other guys there, too (Bryce, Brian and Mike #2 came in later). I ended up staying up until 1 a.m. talking and typing. It was reminiscent of college conversations, and I loved it.
I was able to stand still while cooking some eggs for breakfast. But I knew I was going to need some help getting through the day. My parents and I used to have this joint rub ointment that we found at a drugstore that helped with pain like this. It worked better than Ben Gay, but they must have stopped making it because we haven’t been able to find it in stores for at least a year. I had seen commercials for something that seemed similar, and wanted to try it. So I was going to Walgreens, and Grandma asked if she could tag along. I failed to realize then what a blessing her presence would be.
We moved slowly out to the car, and I eased myself in to drive it around to the curb for her. Since I could switch pedals just by pivoting my foot off my ankle, I would be able to do this. She got in—faster than I had—and we were on our way. When we arrived, I figured out the perk of having her along. She has a handicapped parking placard to hang in my windshield. We had used it the other day at Costco, and it was nice to have the car so close with all she bought. But today, it was Heaven coming down to park right in front of the store.
Grandma bought a book of wordsearch puzzles, and I found the stuff I was looking for, and almost grabbed a thing of Ben Gay too. But I didn’t want to buy both and mess with returning something to a Walgreen’s in a different state, so I didn’t. We slowly left, got home, and then went back inside. I was very disappointed to learn that this new stuff did nothing for me. But getting out and moving around had helped to loosen it up a little, making it somewhat easier to walk.
I said good-bye to Grandma, and she sent me off with some more muffins and rhubarb sauce. I have had so much of while I’ve been here. I got on the road, and decided I would stop by Seattle. I really wanted to see Pike’s Public Market and the Underground City, but knew I wouldn’t be able to handle both. I decided I would do Pike’s, and that I would just stay a little while.
I called Uncle Dan because he had talked about showing that to me, along with a motorcycle he has that used to belong to my dad, and my grandfather before him. Dan works in Seattle, and said he had about an hour’s worth of work to finish up, but then he’d be free. Since it would take me a half hour to get to him, I was fine waiting for half an hour. He’s a mechanic, so I’d be able to see his shop. He gave me directions, and I pressed on. I followed his directions without issue, but was surprised that the directions led me down an alley in a residential neighborhood.
It turns out that Dan rents the garage facing out the back of a duplex as his shop. When I pulled up, he signaled for me to keep my engine running. He quickly locked his shop, and jumped in my passenger seat. He needed a part, so I drove him over to Schuck’s, which goes by Kragen down in California. It was weird to see a new name on a familiar logo, similar to Carl’s Jr. being “Hardy’s” on the East Coast. Dan didn’t end up finding his part there, so he had me drive him back to the shop. He said he could get it later, and so we could go down to the market.
But I wouldn’t be driving. We were taking the motorcycle. I had never ridden on one before, so I was pretty excited. Dan had two sets of leathers, so I donned one over my clothes, as did he. I took a picture of the two of us all decked out. Then he gave me my only job: not to lean when he turned. I had to staying in straight vertical alignment with the bike, and he would balance us out. I knew that this might be a problem for me: surrendering control and trusting someone else, but I kept my mouth shut and resolved to try.
Swinging my leg up onto the seat brought a groan out of me, but I got on. Dan had said the bike would give me enough balance that I didn’t need to hold onto him or anything, but that just didn’t feel okay, so I put my hands on his waist. And off we went. Surprisingly, I did okay with not leaning. He was very complimentary about that actually.
Dan drove through and gave me a tour of parts of downtown Seattle. We drove around for awhile when he stopped under a bridge. He was going to try and get that part at a place nearby. He thought I might want to get off here and take some pictures. He had brought me to the Fremont Troll. Underneath the overpass, someone had constructed a huge troll, with its left claw encasing an actual VW bug. Sorry Peanut, but one of your own was being held against its will. The art of it was incredible. Dan later told me that people would keep stealing the VW, so it eventually had to be bolted in. Dan took me around to some other artistic monuments in the city, and then we went down to the market.
Pike’s is an amazing place, and really something that should be done with a local. Dan knew everything there that a tourist should make sure to see. He used to live down in this area when he was married and was living down here. He said he hadn’t been back in awhile, so this brought him back a little. It also just gave us more of a chance to just talk. We hadn’t done that before this trip, so it was nice to really get to know him like I’ve gotten to know Uncle Dave over the years.
I saw the throwing of the fish. I had forgotten until Dan reminded me that seeing that was a big deal here. So I saw three fish thrown with lots of yelling surrounding the process. We walked around, seeing a lot of the stores, stands, and booths. There were a few street performers sprinkled around the Market. Dan said that permits were required for them to perform there, and most were actually pretty good. There was one pair doing a Bluegrass/Folk-style set, with the guy on fiddle, and the girl on vocals & doing some tap work. Dan had remembered seeing them many times before and said that all of their music was in that style, so I bought their CD. It was $10, folded up in a cardboard holder, and I was surprised to see that there were 16 songs on it.
As we walked around, Dan saw someone he recognized. Nancy runs the dairy shop, which is all decked out in cow paraphernalia. Shelly would love it. Dan had been a guide when Nancy went whitewater rafting. At first she didn’t recognize him, but then remembered who he was, and they talked like they were old friends. Her mom lives in Fresno, and so we had something in common there. Nancy owns this store, and welcomed everyone coming in as old friends. She had an out-there side to her: not a full-on hippie like Carleigh (see Day 1), but was pretty New Age-y. The biggest evidence of this was Sarah, her huge dog that was lying in the middle of the store, and would frequently get up to follow customers or to just wander around and visit other stores.
Dan and I were getting hungry, and so we stopped at Three Girls, a sandwich shop for lunch. We eat got a delicious baked salmon sandwich from there and walked out to the edge of the Market where there was an outdoor picnic area looking out on Puget Sound.
Dan drove us back to his shop, and he gave me some advice on taking care of my car. I really need to pay more attention to Serena. Just because I don’t go to doctors doesn’t mean she should go to hers (a mechanic). She apparently is overdue for a new timing belt.
I started the long drive to Spokane, and encountered a little traffic as I was leaving Seattle. Once I got on the 90, I was fine though. It wasn’t long before I started getting sleepy, and so I pulled over at the first exit I found. As I was parking, I realized my tank was nearing empty. For the miles I’d driven, I guessed I had about another gallon, meaning I could only go about 30 miles. Normally this isn’t an issue, but this freeway was looking pretty rural as it crossed the middle of the state.
As I was stretching to wake myself up (I didn’t need a powernap at this point), I saw a couple (I would later learn their names to be Lucas & Jenny) getting some water from the back of their blue station wagon. So I walked over and asked if they knew the area and if there were gas stations in the town coming up. They didn’t know, but they were heading the same way, and Lucas offered to follow me and pick me up if I ran out to take me to the next town to get some gas and bring me back. I had AAA, but knew that waiting for them if I had to call could take hours. I didn’t want to take the risk of running out when Amy was expecting me. I was very touched by their offer and accepted.
We talked for a few minutes as they packed back up their car, and I found out they were headed to Weiser, Idaho for a folk music festival that was to last a few weeks. I commented that they were hardcore to go for something like that for that long, and Lucas admitted they weren’t going to stay for the whole duration. But Jenny was quick to agree with me that they were hardcore, and Lucas flexed his bicep to add credence to her claim. Lucas also told me I should forget wherever I was going and go on to Weiser for the festival. I was anxious to check a map to see how far it would be from Spokane because I was hoping Amy and I might be able to go out there on her day off.
I got back on the freeway, and they followed me until we got to the next town. It looked developed enough that it might need a gas station, so I honked twice and pulled off, waving good-bye to my new friends. I really wish I could have gotten them more, and hoped going to the festival would be a possibility. I did find a gas station and filled up my tank. I had to go to the restroom, and went inside to find it. It was currently empty, I was surprised to see that all the stalls were contained by saloon-style doors…that didn’t lock…that were high enough off the ground that a small child would have an unobstructed view if he walked in (this wasn’t a locking, single-occupancy restroom). It was very uncomfortable, and if I thought there was someplace else, I would have waited. So I just hurried, and no one else came in.
Pressing on, I began to feel drowsy again. This time I could sense that just a stretch break wouldn’t do it. So I pulled off and tried to get a power nap in. I had to move my car soon after parking because I had parked with the sun hitting my eyes. I didn’t get completely to sleep, but I rested. After getting out afterward to stretch, I felt safe enough to continue.
I couldn’t believe it, but I actually caught Adventures in Odyssey on the radio as I was nearing Spokane. It was an episode I recalled hearing before, where Jessie has a crush on Jimmy, and he tries to figure out how to get away from her unwanted affections.
Entering Spokane, I gave Amy a warning call. She then told me to go straight to where I’d be staying during my visit instead of her apartment, which I would see tomorrow. I was doing fine with the directions, I turned onto the final street, and that’s when the problems started. Very few of the houses were numbered, and after two passes on this small street, I finally had it narrowed down to two houses. So I called Amy to find out the color of the house, but she pulled up as we were talking.
We hugged and then went inside. I would be staying with Amy’s pseudo-family that moved up here from Coarsegold. Todd & Roxie are homeschooling their two youngest children, Grayson & Kayla. But that’s not their story. This family is also a boarding house for six guys attending Moody Aviation School, a five-year program to train missionary pilots and flight mechanics. The school is a part of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, but the Spokane program only offers a B.S. in Mission Aviation Technology. Boarding students is the family’s ministry, and one of the students is one of their two other sons Bryce. It’s a two-story house, and the family unit lives upstairs while the guys live downstairs. Of architectural interest, the front door opens to a landing at the middle of the stairs between the two floors. As the semester was to officially end tomorrow but finals were over, two of the guys were already gone for the summer. I would be staying downstairs with the remaining guys.
As I walked in, I saw verses and quotes written on cards on the walls. The whole family was very welcoming. As I arrived, dinner was being prepared, but it was put on hold for family devotions. Todd explained to me that devotions never get done after dinner, and so they started doing them before eating. I’m not sure how Roxie would still manages to serve a warm meal sitting next to Todd for the entirety of the devotion time, but she did. We read from the Bible about God having Samuel anoint David to replace Saul as king, and how Saul tried to subvert that and place one of his sons on the throne. We discussed this at length about how God didn’t want Israel to be ruled by kings, and after giving the people what they wanted (a king), He still had his own plan for the structure of it. This was probably the most in-depth family devotional I’ve ever experienced.
We then walked into the kitchen for dinner. Dinner was ham, baked beans, salad, and bread, served buffet-style. I found out that not only are the boarding students fed here, but several other students also frequently come for devotions and dinner during the school year. Tonight it was just Todd, Roxie, Bryce, Grayson, Kayla, Amy and me. The other three students still around were working and making their plans to depart for the summer. Frank would be serving on an internship in Africa, and Mike #2 (there will be a Mike #1 introduced later who isn’t in the school and doesn’t live at the house) would be spending the summer with family in Wisconsin. The dinner was amazing. I shared a few stories about my trip thus far, and also learned a lot about the family here.
Bryce gave me the tour of the house after dinner, and I really started to see what a ministry-centered house this is. I could feel an encouraging spirit in everyone here. I dragged in my stuff, and Todd made up a bed for me in the smaller of the two bedrooms. It was a vertically small bunk (I couldn’t sit up in it), but after my adventures with that sophomore year at FPU, I knew it wouldn’t be a problem. And this bed was taller than mine that year. Even more, it was a bed. Todd and Roxie warned me about the noise of planes flying over the house, but I doubted they’d be a problem.
After socializing a bit more, Amy drove me out to the beginning of a nice hiking trail that I could enjoy tomorrow while she was at work. The time out gave us some time to talk about the latest news with our families, and really encourage each other. Amy is an amazing friend, and I’m so glad to be visiting her here. She’s going to be working from early morning to midday the next two days, but we’ll have the afternoons and evenings, along with all day Sunday to spend time together.
Amy dropped me off at the house and drove home. I went inside, and saw Todd talking to another guy. Todd started to introduce him, but this guy cut him off and said, “Wait. Don’t ruin it.” as he walked down the half-staircase, and gave me a hug. He then told me that he was Brian, and I found out that he’s from San Jose, and we got to know each other a little. He goes to Moody, but doesn’t live here. I then talked with Roxie for a little while about their friendship with Amy and their ministry here, was told that breakfast was at 6:45, and then I retired to downstairs. They had said I would be able to do laundry, which was a blessing from above because I was nearing desperate times. I would take care of all that tomorrow.
I pulled out my laptop to catch up on my journaling, and went into the common room to see what the guys were doing in there. I met Frank and Mike #1 (who is #1 because I met him before meeting #2). Mike #1 was here to give Frank some pointers for Africa. Mike #1 is in the military, has served overseas, and as a Christian really has a heart for missions and equipping those with that call. I really enjoyed talking with him and the other guys there, too (Bryce, Brian and Mike #2 came in later). I ended up staying up until 1 a.m. talking and typing. It was reminiscent of college conversations, and I loved it.
More Pictures
I'm working on the blogs, but here are some more pictures. I'm relisting Day 8 since I added some more pictures to that album.
Day 8
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2002651&l=33c43&id=150900395
Day 9
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2002671&l=d89c3&id=150900395
Day 10
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2002672&l=2f9ba&id=150900395
Day 8
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2002651&l=33c43&id=150900395
Day 9
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2002671&l=d89c3&id=150900395
Day 10
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2002672&l=2f9ba&id=150900395
Friday, June 13, 2008
Day 10 - 06/11/2008
I woke up and started getting ready for the day. I was taking everything with me just in case I stayed the night at Craig’s brother’s place. Also, since I only had a general idea of the day’s plans, I wanted to have everything available just in case. Craig had told me to meet him and Kristin, a friend of his also on the road trip, around 10 a.m. (we are all on vacation) up in Burlington. So I had a little time in the morning to have breakfast and discuss routes with Uncle Dan. I had no idea, though, how glad I would be that I did not force myself to go out and run that morning.
I had no trouble finding the apartment complex in Burlington. Scott, Craig’s brother, was at work, but I did meet his wife Amy that morning. Scott has a summer internship up here in Washington, but they both love it up here and may move after he finishes his last year of school back in California.
As I was grabbing stuff from my car and putting it in Kristin’s, I asked Craig how long he thought we’d be in the car. When he said five hours, I said, “Okay. I’m bringing my knitting.” They both got a kick out of that. I knew I wouldn’t want to type the whole day, so I figured I’d better have something else planned.
So Craig, Kristin and I set out in Kristin’s 2003 Honda Civic (I don’t know what its name is; I forgot to ask). Our first task was to find internet access somewhere to find out how exactly to get to Olympic National Park (ferry schedules, highways, etc.). Craig tried to find somewhere free, but ended up going to Kinko’s. Since we were fast, it was less than a dollar.
We made another stop at the Post Office for Craig to mail someone’s ID to them. I never got that full story, but this stop was significant because with Craig inside, I had Kristin turn the bass down on her car stereo. Since I was in the back seat, I knew I’d lose my hearing with Craig manning the radio. This way I’d be better able to tolerate the higher volumes.
Driving west on highway 20, we aimed for the Ferry to transport us from Keystone to Port Townsend. We talked for awhile about our respective trips up here. I took my time, but they drove it straight. They had left at 8 a.m. this Monday morning and arrived at 2 a.m. on Tuesday. They made no stops other than as necessary for gas.
Craig noticed a European Subaru on the road. At first I couldn’t tell what he was talking about because I saw a Washington license plate. But looking inside the car, I saw that there was only one person in the car, and she was sitting on the right side driving. We got a few pictures of her, but you have to know what you’re looking at to notice she’s on the other side of the car. We also encountered a red pick-up towing a classic car, an olive green Barracuda. I had never heard of this model before, and even Craig was fascinated by it.
Before we left my car, I asked if I should bring some food for us for the day. Craig said they had us covered with snacks and lunch, so I left my stuff behind except for a Gatorade. This trip did something else for me: it gave me a reason to start shopping at WinCo. They had gone there and purchased a very healthy and delicious snack. They had a bag of soy nuts and a bag of dried raspberries (WinCo has self-serve dispensers of these and many other items). Craig had me put out my hand, and dumped a bit of each into my palm, and instructed me to mix and eat. WOW! That was the perfect sweet & salty, soft & crunchy, protein-filled snack.
We finally arrived at the ferry, and a rather disgruntled woman asked us if we had reservations. We didn’t, and asked about the likelihood of getting on. She said our odds were good, and we pulled into lane 5 as directed. Getting out, we stretched and took some pictures of the view as we waited. The ferry arrived about 30 minutes later, and we did get on. After parking we got out of the car, made some sandwiches out of the food in the cooler they had in the trunk, and made our way up top to enjoy the ride. The ferry rocked side to side a fair amount, and you felt it more the higher up you went on the ferry. None of us were getting sick, but we had a hard time not weaving as we walked.
Because of the cold, I borrowed a sweatshirt from Craig. It has been really strange to look over some of my pictures and see myself wearing clothes I am not long familiar with. I borrowed a red University of Nebraska sweatshirt from Leroy in Tacoma, and now a black one (representing some surf shop) from Craig.
After getting across, we then had to drive to the park. I had scribbled down directions from the Google Map we quickly accessed at Kinko’s, and combined with my AAA map and Tourbook, we eventually found our way to an entrance. I had thought Craig had an all-parks annual pass, but it turns out that his is only for Yosemite. We considered paying the $15 for the 7-day pass that we would only use for about three hours, but then decided to try a path that was running off to the right just ten feet before the park entrance.
Driving less than half a mile, we arrived at a trailhead rest stop. The sign said Lake Angeles was 3.7 miles away. That seemed doable for us, so we grabbed some waters and headed out. We would later learn that we were hiking up Mt. Angeles, which has an elevation of 6,454 feet.
Stepping onto the trail was like entering Narnia. The sun wasn’t shining through the clouds, and so there was just a continuous white glow filtering through the dense trees. All the foliage was lush with growth, and moss covered everything not moving. The humidity was dense, but not uncomfortable for how cold it was. As we climbed higher, we were walking through the mist of the clouds.
We hiked briskly at first, stopping frequently to take pictures in the many landscapes we were offered. Kristin has an Olympus camera too (albeit a nicer model than mine), but she and Craig taught me a few new techniques to enhance my pictures. Craig climbed out on a few fallen trees that were stretched above the trail or across the valley below us. He said one was very wobbly, and we later saw that the end of it rested in the air—it was not secured to anything. Craig is a daredevil, growing up as a missionary kid in Indonesia. With all the accidents he’s had in his youth, it’s a miracle he’s not dead. I wonder sometimes why I hang out with him, but then remember that all of our times together are an adventure.
We continued climbing. The trail was well maintained, with only small rocks and roots to watch out for, as the moisture makes them wet and slippery. It wasn’t long before we ditched the sweatshirts and waters behind a tree for retrieval on the way back down. With the moisture in the air, we didn’t think dehydration would be an issue.
We aren’t sure exactly how long we climbed because we don’t recall the time we started (we guessed 3 p.m.), but we were surprised not to have made it to the lake by 5 p.m. Even with our stops, we kept a brisk pace, and should have made it in two hours if we were averaging 2 mph. We were disappointed not to make it to the lake, but we were getting tired and needed to save our strength for the trip back down. We also had to consider the ferry schedule. We were going to miss the 6:45 one, and had to make sure to catch the last one of the night at 8:30, provided it wasn’t full. If it was, we’d have to sleep in the car tonight, or drive the long way back around to get back to Burlington.
So we began our descent. Walking downhill is not as easy as it would appear, especially when the ground is slippery due to rocks, roots, and mud. On the way up, I had slipped and fallen into a push-up position to prevent a full face-plant into the ground. Somehow Craig got it in his head to try running down the mountain. And I was desirous enough of exiting to agree to the notion, and thank goodness I did! We spread out, and Craig and Kristin alternated being in front, calling out the potential dangers in the trail. They are both in much better space than I, but I kept pace with them. I did have troubling braking once, but Craig saw me coming, and we locked palms in a high-five position for him to drag me to a stop. We would run for stretch, and then walk for a short period through some of the rougher parts of the trail before running again. We ran most of the way, and were out in 45 minutes.
Arriving back at the car, Craig made sure we stretched. He’s a personal trainer, so I was glad to have his expertise along for the trip. He probably saved me from a twisted ankle with his tutelage. We gobbled up the rest of the food, and then climbed in the car.
I had been fortunate with the mud and my shoes up until the very end of the trail down, when the front two inches of my left shoe streamlined into a patch of mud. I didn’t fall, but my toes were now wet. It didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. I asked them to pull into a Walmart on the way back to the ferry. Socks were the only thing I had run out of, laundry-wise, and so it made sense just to buy another pack. Back in the car, I peeled off my shoes and socks. I had put a light layer of Vicks Vaporub on my toes this morning. That was a running trick I picked up and still use because of how prone to blisters I am when running or hiking. No blisters, but a few tender spots. I’m so glad I did that this morning.
We arrived at the ferry an hour before departure, and a much friendlier man in this toll booth assured us that the ferry would not fill up. We stretched some more, but because of the cold, we quickly climbed back inside the warmth of the car. After some time, Craig got out to smoke his pipe, inviting us to join him. We would have, but we both needed more food in our stomachs. So Kristin and I walked over to Subway, back near the entrance to the ferry dock, and each ordered a foot-long turkey sub. We didn’t realize until paying that turkey is not on the $5 sub menu. There had been a list on the board, but we hadn’t looked because we assumed that the basic lunch meat sandwiches were the $5 ones. We figured that turkey must be a high-demand item, and that’s why the price wasn’t reduced. Oh well, lesson learned.
The ferry took us back, but we didn’t get out of the car this time. We then began the long drive back to Burlington. We arrived back around 10:15, but it would have been ten if Craig had listened to me and made a left off the highway instead of a right. We were all so tired, though, that I can’t blame him. I put my stuff in my car, said good-bye and thanks for a terrific day, and then drove back to Everett.
I got a lot of knitting done today, on the drive up and back (Kristin and Craig alternated driving—I was always a passenger). I really need to finish this scarf for my sister Victoria. Good grief, I started this thing three and a half years ago. I’m not very consistent with it. I have learned a few things along the way, though. To go back, I wouldn’t make it so wide because that’s one thing that really slows me down. I would still use size 7 or 8 needles because I like the look of the tighter knit.
Back home, I regaled Grandma with tales of my adventurous day. By then the soreness had set in, and I could barely walk because my hip flexors with so sore. So I quickly ambled over to the couch and went to bed.
I had no trouble finding the apartment complex in Burlington. Scott, Craig’s brother, was at work, but I did meet his wife Amy that morning. Scott has a summer internship up here in Washington, but they both love it up here and may move after he finishes his last year of school back in California.
As I was grabbing stuff from my car and putting it in Kristin’s, I asked Craig how long he thought we’d be in the car. When he said five hours, I said, “Okay. I’m bringing my knitting.” They both got a kick out of that. I knew I wouldn’t want to type the whole day, so I figured I’d better have something else planned.
So Craig, Kristin and I set out in Kristin’s 2003 Honda Civic (I don’t know what its name is; I forgot to ask). Our first task was to find internet access somewhere to find out how exactly to get to Olympic National Park (ferry schedules, highways, etc.). Craig tried to find somewhere free, but ended up going to Kinko’s. Since we were fast, it was less than a dollar.
We made another stop at the Post Office for Craig to mail someone’s ID to them. I never got that full story, but this stop was significant because with Craig inside, I had Kristin turn the bass down on her car stereo. Since I was in the back seat, I knew I’d lose my hearing with Craig manning the radio. This way I’d be better able to tolerate the higher volumes.
Driving west on highway 20, we aimed for the Ferry to transport us from Keystone to Port Townsend. We talked for awhile about our respective trips up here. I took my time, but they drove it straight. They had left at 8 a.m. this Monday morning and arrived at 2 a.m. on Tuesday. They made no stops other than as necessary for gas.
Craig noticed a European Subaru on the road. At first I couldn’t tell what he was talking about because I saw a Washington license plate. But looking inside the car, I saw that there was only one person in the car, and she was sitting on the right side driving. We got a few pictures of her, but you have to know what you’re looking at to notice she’s on the other side of the car. We also encountered a red pick-up towing a classic car, an olive green Barracuda. I had never heard of this model before, and even Craig was fascinated by it.
Before we left my car, I asked if I should bring some food for us for the day. Craig said they had us covered with snacks and lunch, so I left my stuff behind except for a Gatorade. This trip did something else for me: it gave me a reason to start shopping at WinCo. They had gone there and purchased a very healthy and delicious snack. They had a bag of soy nuts and a bag of dried raspberries (WinCo has self-serve dispensers of these and many other items). Craig had me put out my hand, and dumped a bit of each into my palm, and instructed me to mix and eat. WOW! That was the perfect sweet & salty, soft & crunchy, protein-filled snack.
We finally arrived at the ferry, and a rather disgruntled woman asked us if we had reservations. We didn’t, and asked about the likelihood of getting on. She said our odds were good, and we pulled into lane 5 as directed. Getting out, we stretched and took some pictures of the view as we waited. The ferry arrived about 30 minutes later, and we did get on. After parking we got out of the car, made some sandwiches out of the food in the cooler they had in the trunk, and made our way up top to enjoy the ride. The ferry rocked side to side a fair amount, and you felt it more the higher up you went on the ferry. None of us were getting sick, but we had a hard time not weaving as we walked.
Because of the cold, I borrowed a sweatshirt from Craig. It has been really strange to look over some of my pictures and see myself wearing clothes I am not long familiar with. I borrowed a red University of Nebraska sweatshirt from Leroy in Tacoma, and now a black one (representing some surf shop) from Craig.
After getting across, we then had to drive to the park. I had scribbled down directions from the Google Map we quickly accessed at Kinko’s, and combined with my AAA map and Tourbook, we eventually found our way to an entrance. I had thought Craig had an all-parks annual pass, but it turns out that his is only for Yosemite. We considered paying the $15 for the 7-day pass that we would only use for about three hours, but then decided to try a path that was running off to the right just ten feet before the park entrance.
Driving less than half a mile, we arrived at a trailhead rest stop. The sign said Lake Angeles was 3.7 miles away. That seemed doable for us, so we grabbed some waters and headed out. We would later learn that we were hiking up Mt. Angeles, which has an elevation of 6,454 feet.
Stepping onto the trail was like entering Narnia. The sun wasn’t shining through the clouds, and so there was just a continuous white glow filtering through the dense trees. All the foliage was lush with growth, and moss covered everything not moving. The humidity was dense, but not uncomfortable for how cold it was. As we climbed higher, we were walking through the mist of the clouds.
We hiked briskly at first, stopping frequently to take pictures in the many landscapes we were offered. Kristin has an Olympus camera too (albeit a nicer model than mine), but she and Craig taught me a few new techniques to enhance my pictures. Craig climbed out on a few fallen trees that were stretched above the trail or across the valley below us. He said one was very wobbly, and we later saw that the end of it rested in the air—it was not secured to anything. Craig is a daredevil, growing up as a missionary kid in Indonesia. With all the accidents he’s had in his youth, it’s a miracle he’s not dead. I wonder sometimes why I hang out with him, but then remember that all of our times together are an adventure.
We continued climbing. The trail was well maintained, with only small rocks and roots to watch out for, as the moisture makes them wet and slippery. It wasn’t long before we ditched the sweatshirts and waters behind a tree for retrieval on the way back down. With the moisture in the air, we didn’t think dehydration would be an issue.
We aren’t sure exactly how long we climbed because we don’t recall the time we started (we guessed 3 p.m.), but we were surprised not to have made it to the lake by 5 p.m. Even with our stops, we kept a brisk pace, and should have made it in two hours if we were averaging 2 mph. We were disappointed not to make it to the lake, but we were getting tired and needed to save our strength for the trip back down. We also had to consider the ferry schedule. We were going to miss the 6:45 one, and had to make sure to catch the last one of the night at 8:30, provided it wasn’t full. If it was, we’d have to sleep in the car tonight, or drive the long way back around to get back to Burlington.
So we began our descent. Walking downhill is not as easy as it would appear, especially when the ground is slippery due to rocks, roots, and mud. On the way up, I had slipped and fallen into a push-up position to prevent a full face-plant into the ground. Somehow Craig got it in his head to try running down the mountain. And I was desirous enough of exiting to agree to the notion, and thank goodness I did! We spread out, and Craig and Kristin alternated being in front, calling out the potential dangers in the trail. They are both in much better space than I, but I kept pace with them. I did have troubling braking once, but Craig saw me coming, and we locked palms in a high-five position for him to drag me to a stop. We would run for stretch, and then walk for a short period through some of the rougher parts of the trail before running again. We ran most of the way, and were out in 45 minutes.
Arriving back at the car, Craig made sure we stretched. He’s a personal trainer, so I was glad to have his expertise along for the trip. He probably saved me from a twisted ankle with his tutelage. We gobbled up the rest of the food, and then climbed in the car.
I had been fortunate with the mud and my shoes up until the very end of the trail down, when the front two inches of my left shoe streamlined into a patch of mud. I didn’t fall, but my toes were now wet. It didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. I asked them to pull into a Walmart on the way back to the ferry. Socks were the only thing I had run out of, laundry-wise, and so it made sense just to buy another pack. Back in the car, I peeled off my shoes and socks. I had put a light layer of Vicks Vaporub on my toes this morning. That was a running trick I picked up and still use because of how prone to blisters I am when running or hiking. No blisters, but a few tender spots. I’m so glad I did that this morning.
We arrived at the ferry an hour before departure, and a much friendlier man in this toll booth assured us that the ferry would not fill up. We stretched some more, but because of the cold, we quickly climbed back inside the warmth of the car. After some time, Craig got out to smoke his pipe, inviting us to join him. We would have, but we both needed more food in our stomachs. So Kristin and I walked over to Subway, back near the entrance to the ferry dock, and each ordered a foot-long turkey sub. We didn’t realize until paying that turkey is not on the $5 sub menu. There had been a list on the board, but we hadn’t looked because we assumed that the basic lunch meat sandwiches were the $5 ones. We figured that turkey must be a high-demand item, and that’s why the price wasn’t reduced. Oh well, lesson learned.
The ferry took us back, but we didn’t get out of the car this time. We then began the long drive back to Burlington. We arrived back around 10:15, but it would have been ten if Craig had listened to me and made a left off the highway instead of a right. We were all so tired, though, that I can’t blame him. I put my stuff in my car, said good-bye and thanks for a terrific day, and then drove back to Everett.
I got a lot of knitting done today, on the drive up and back (Kristin and Craig alternated driving—I was always a passenger). I really need to finish this scarf for my sister Victoria. Good grief, I started this thing three and a half years ago. I’m not very consistent with it. I have learned a few things along the way, though. To go back, I wouldn’t make it so wide because that’s one thing that really slows me down. I would still use size 7 or 8 needles because I like the look of the tighter knit.
Back home, I regaled Grandma with tales of my adventurous day. By then the soreness had set in, and I could barely walk because my hip flexors with so sore. So I quickly ambled over to the couch and went to bed.
Oops! Forgot this one: Day 8 - 06/09/2008
I decided to sleep in because I’m on vacation, and I’m pretty much in charge. I know that writing it doesn’t necessarily make it true, but sometimes it’s nice to think so. I was able to take my time this morning because I would just be leaving the key behind in the mailbox, and Gram Helen wasn’t expecting me at any particular time. I showered and dressed, and after journaling a little while longer (I was getting behind), I packed and left.
It was raining as I loaded my car. I’ve decided that if I ever move here, I would need an attached garage. I love being in the rain personally, but I wouldn’t want to constantly have stuff that needed to be kept dry to walk back-and-forth from a house.
It really started to come down as I started the drive to Everett. The sky was so beautiful, just littered with clouds of varying shades. But an even more beautiful sight was that of my grandmother. I hadn’t seen Helen in just over a year, which we both deemed too long. I had called her on the way up, and she said she’d have lunch ready when I arrived. There’s something to understand about Gram Helen. Actually, there are a lot of things, but this is the first of many. No recipe ever stays the same with her. Because of health reasons and taste preferences, she alters EVERY recipe she is given to remove all salt, sugar, and some other things. Her herb collection surpasses Martha Stewart’s, I’m sure. She sends me recipes every now and then in our correspondence via snail mail, and I always wonder what they originally looked like, and if they were simpler the original way. They’re always good, though, but noticeably different.
Anyway, one part of lunch was potato soup, not the creamy kind that’s usually thought of, but a broth-based soup that you’d expect to find meat as the primary solid. It’s very good, and I made it once when she sent me the recipe a few years back.
She had also asked me if I liked rhubarb, to which I said that I had never tried it. She had chopped some up, and mixed it with jello mix and applesauce to make a sauce out of it. She had also mixed some in cornmeal muffins with dried apricots. Both were heavenly additions to the meal.
After lunch, she surprised me by asking me to take her to the store. She rarely goes out, and has only recently resumed outdoor walks. Prospector Liquidation is a combination of Grocery Outlet (less perishable goods), a thrift store and Big Lots. Very cool combination. She stayed just in the grocery section, while I wandered around everywhere. I found some greeting cards (all 2 for $1, just like the Dollar Tree), and some fish seasoning for Dad and I to try out when visit Orange County again. The also had furniture, clothing, and a menagerie of other things. I noticed some Kirkland stuff, so they must be an outlet for the Costco remnants.
We returned home just in time to catch Judge Judy. Grandma loves her no-nonsense style and the fact that there are no lawyers. I’m not a fan of how so refuses to let people tell their sides of the story and insults them freely, but I stayed and watched as I typed, trying to finish yesterday’s journal. After an hour of listening to the Harpy, I had finished yesterday’s journal, and Grandma and I sat down to play a game of Cribbage. She was at 120 and I had 119 when she got 1 more point and crossed the finish line.
For dinner, Grandma had boiled some chicken breasts and marinated them in a homemade barbeque sauce. We just pulled pieces out of a bowl onto our plates. Grandma put hers on bread with some mustard, but I just ate mine off the bone. There was also more Rhubarb sauce, and I eagerly gobbled up some more of that.
After dinner we sat down to watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. I love them, but never catch them anymore because it drives me crazy to spend an hour of my time with a show that doesn’t have a plot. So I was glad Grandma liked them and that I had good reason to sit and watch them. We only got through Wheel of Fortune when Dave called Grandma back to tell us to come over and visit.
Uncle Dave is Dad’s younger brother and lives with his wife Carol in Marysville a few miles north of Everett. We got in my car, and I drove Grandma up there. I didn’t remember how to get there, any she enjoyed being in charge of telling me where to go. When we arrived, without going inside to say hello, she got out and headed straight through to the backyard to show me the rhubarb plant they had. On her way back in, she saw a miniature rose bush and pinched off a few buds to take with her, knowing that Dave & Carol wouldn’t care.
Then we went inside to say hello, and their two tiny dogs barked like crazy over the prospect of company. It was wonderful seeing Dave and Carol again (not so much the dogs), and their daughter Amy was even able to come over for awhile. Carol gave Grandma a plastic bag with a little water to hold her pilfered flowers. We sat and talked for awhile before heading back home. Dave, Carol & Amy all work a lot, and we didn’t want to keep them up too late.
When we had left, my Uncle Dan (Dad’s youngest brother) had just returned to Grandma’s apartment, where he is currently staying. When Grandma and I returned, he and I had a chance to properly catch up. I hadn’t realized he was so health conscious, but I found out. He keeps himself on a very stringent and organic diet. The three of us sat down to play a game of Cribbage, which was far different from playing between just two people. Interestingly, we were all tied at 120 (in the stink hole, as Grandma called it), when I caught a pair during play and crossed the finish line.
Afterward Dan brought out some pictures and gave me some background on him. The last time I had seen him was in 2002, and had only met him once before in 1994. He’s led a very interesting life, working for awhile as a whitewater rafting guide and more recently as a mechanic. He also exercises both as avocations, still rafting (though rarely as a guide) and collecting and rebuilding motorcycles and cars. He’s a hardcore environmentalist with a deep knowledge of alternative fuel uses (e.g. running cars on vegetable oil, biodiesel, etc.).
After talking for awhile, we all retired. I’m sleeping on the couch in the living room, and they each have a bedroom in the apartment.
It was raining as I loaded my car. I’ve decided that if I ever move here, I would need an attached garage. I love being in the rain personally, but I wouldn’t want to constantly have stuff that needed to be kept dry to walk back-and-forth from a house.
It really started to come down as I started the drive to Everett. The sky was so beautiful, just littered with clouds of varying shades. But an even more beautiful sight was that of my grandmother. I hadn’t seen Helen in just over a year, which we both deemed too long. I had called her on the way up, and she said she’d have lunch ready when I arrived. There’s something to understand about Gram Helen. Actually, there are a lot of things, but this is the first of many. No recipe ever stays the same with her. Because of health reasons and taste preferences, she alters EVERY recipe she is given to remove all salt, sugar, and some other things. Her herb collection surpasses Martha Stewart’s, I’m sure. She sends me recipes every now and then in our correspondence via snail mail, and I always wonder what they originally looked like, and if they were simpler the original way. They’re always good, though, but noticeably different.
Anyway, one part of lunch was potato soup, not the creamy kind that’s usually thought of, but a broth-based soup that you’d expect to find meat as the primary solid. It’s very good, and I made it once when she sent me the recipe a few years back.
She had also asked me if I liked rhubarb, to which I said that I had never tried it. She had chopped some up, and mixed it with jello mix and applesauce to make a sauce out of it. She had also mixed some in cornmeal muffins with dried apricots. Both were heavenly additions to the meal.
After lunch, she surprised me by asking me to take her to the store. She rarely goes out, and has only recently resumed outdoor walks. Prospector Liquidation is a combination of Grocery Outlet (less perishable goods), a thrift store and Big Lots. Very cool combination. She stayed just in the grocery section, while I wandered around everywhere. I found some greeting cards (all 2 for $1, just like the Dollar Tree), and some fish seasoning for Dad and I to try out when visit Orange County again. The also had furniture, clothing, and a menagerie of other things. I noticed some Kirkland stuff, so they must be an outlet for the Costco remnants.
We returned home just in time to catch Judge Judy. Grandma loves her no-nonsense style and the fact that there are no lawyers. I’m not a fan of how so refuses to let people tell their sides of the story and insults them freely, but I stayed and watched as I typed, trying to finish yesterday’s journal. After an hour of listening to the Harpy, I had finished yesterday’s journal, and Grandma and I sat down to play a game of Cribbage. She was at 120 and I had 119 when she got 1 more point and crossed the finish line.
For dinner, Grandma had boiled some chicken breasts and marinated them in a homemade barbeque sauce. We just pulled pieces out of a bowl onto our plates. Grandma put hers on bread with some mustard, but I just ate mine off the bone. There was also more Rhubarb sauce, and I eagerly gobbled up some more of that.
After dinner we sat down to watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. I love them, but never catch them anymore because it drives me crazy to spend an hour of my time with a show that doesn’t have a plot. So I was glad Grandma liked them and that I had good reason to sit and watch them. We only got through Wheel of Fortune when Dave called Grandma back to tell us to come over and visit.
Uncle Dave is Dad’s younger brother and lives with his wife Carol in Marysville a few miles north of Everett. We got in my car, and I drove Grandma up there. I didn’t remember how to get there, any she enjoyed being in charge of telling me where to go. When we arrived, without going inside to say hello, she got out and headed straight through to the backyard to show me the rhubarb plant they had. On her way back in, she saw a miniature rose bush and pinched off a few buds to take with her, knowing that Dave & Carol wouldn’t care.
Then we went inside to say hello, and their two tiny dogs barked like crazy over the prospect of company. It was wonderful seeing Dave and Carol again (not so much the dogs), and their daughter Amy was even able to come over for awhile. Carol gave Grandma a plastic bag with a little water to hold her pilfered flowers. We sat and talked for awhile before heading back home. Dave, Carol & Amy all work a lot, and we didn’t want to keep them up too late.
When we had left, my Uncle Dan (Dad’s youngest brother) had just returned to Grandma’s apartment, where he is currently staying. When Grandma and I returned, he and I had a chance to properly catch up. I hadn’t realized he was so health conscious, but I found out. He keeps himself on a very stringent and organic diet. The three of us sat down to play a game of Cribbage, which was far different from playing between just two people. Interestingly, we were all tied at 120 (in the stink hole, as Grandma called it), when I caught a pair during play and crossed the finish line.
Afterward Dan brought out some pictures and gave me some background on him. The last time I had seen him was in 2002, and had only met him once before in 1994. He’s led a very interesting life, working for awhile as a whitewater rafting guide and more recently as a mechanic. He also exercises both as avocations, still rafting (though rarely as a guide) and collecting and rebuilding motorcycles and cars. He’s a hardcore environmentalist with a deep knowledge of alternative fuel uses (e.g. running cars on vegetable oil, biodiesel, etc.).
After talking for awhile, we all retired. I’m sleeping on the couch in the living room, and they each have a bedroom in the apartment.
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