June 19, 2005

Monday we played golf.  Not well and we only played nine holes.  Nancy bought a special club while she was in California and this was the first "road test".  The new club had some effect but the score didn't change much.  The next step will be to spend more time on the driving range, learning how to get better performance from it.  By the way, the new club is a seven-wood.  The club has a great paint job and is nice and shiny.

We could hardly wait to get back to beach for "Clean up".  The neighbor, Olstein, brought over his chain saw and cut up the pieces that were difficult to get down to the beach.  We tried to keep Olstein busy with his saw, so every time he looked like he was going put the saw down, we would grab the piece he was going to try to carry and whipped it away.  Olstein also loaned us a wheelbarrow and both Nancy and Pam took turns dragging stuff to the water?s edge.  Dragging is the right word.  The sand is so soft that the wheels will not turn.

Tuesday we went to the Space Needle.  It is still impressive, it was the Thompson's first time and Nancy still will not go up.  I had forgotten how flat Seattle looks from up there.  The cloud cover had moved in, so we couldn't see any mountains.  The only thing unusual about this little adventure was the price.  The adult admission to the Space Needle is thirteen dollars, just for the elevator.  Both Pam and Bruce thought it was worth the price.

After the needle we cruised out to West Seattle and did a mini-tour of the hot spots, had lunch at our favorite "fish and chip" restaurant, The Spud, and then crossed over the new floating bridge to highway 405.  The 405 wasn't built 'til after we left Seattle and I can't think of anything that gauges the growth of the region better than the traffic on the 405 highway - 4 lanes each way and jammed in midday.

Wednesday, we packed up by noon and headed out for Eastern Washington.  The trip was uneventful except that we did stop at Roslyn.  Roslyn was used as

the Alaskan town of Cicely during the television series ?Northern Exposure?.  The town was a lot bigger than what showed in the television show, but the main street had all the landmarks of the TV Series: The Brick, the doctor?s office, the radio station.  The only thing was the moose walking down the middle of the street. The real town of Roslyn is an old coal-mining town with a couple of hundred little houses, many with sheet metal roof and weathered paint.  The town does get a fair amount snow, so the steep metal roofs have their value - shedding snow. We lunched in the public park (with restroom) and then headed east.

Before getting to Desert Aire, we stopped at a roadside orchard fruitstand and bought fresh cherries.  Outstanding!

We final got to my brother Randy's house about four o'clock.  Since we were there last, Randy and Linda have added a new 2-car garage.  Spent the evening admiring the new environment, surroundings and temperature.  Hot and dry.  In this case warm and dry.   A storm was blowing in from the west and was cooling things off and threatening worse.

We checked in with Don and Jerry?s Mom, Val.  Grandma is now in a hospital bed in the living room. She?s unable to walk unaided and is sleeping most of the time. Several times Nancy reported that my mom was awake and alert. I would rush over and she would be sound asleep.  I?m not sure if recognizes anyone or where she is, but she appears to be in no pain and one day just not wake up

Thursday morning, after a leisurely breakfast, we played a round of golf.  Both Randy and his next-door neighbor have electric golf-carts so we did the course in style.  Mom?s new golf club still hasn?t kicked in completely ? but when it does ? watch out!  We started on the tenth hole, played the back nine first, had a nice lunch at Randy and Linda?s house and then played the front nine.

We were able to get someone to come and stay with her so Don could come for dinner on Thursday night.  Cooked a nice dinner and he appreciated it very much. I had a opportunity to talk with Don in private and find out his problems.  Don had some worries about his financial situation ? cash flow.  He was also concerned with what to do should Grandma die.  I told him that I would check thing out and report back to him next Tuesday on our way back to Camano.

Friday morning, we cleaned up and headed to Cindy and Terry's in Kennewick in the Tri-Cities area and got there for a late lunch.  Did some touring and settled in.

Saturday, Cindy, Terry and Nancy gave Bruce and Pam the full Chamber of Commerce treatment and the complete lowdown on housing areas, prices, did a couple of open houses, etc.  I stayed at Cindy and Terry?s and got on the phone.  I found that Don and My Mom have several bank accounts, mutual funds and an annuity, but Don has forgotten how to access them.  I also found that they are way over insured on auto insurance and that they have a credit card that Don thought he had canceled.  I also will be able to give Don names and contact information on appropriate crematoriums.

Sunday, all but Cindy (boat only holds 5) went out for a boat trip on the three rivers.  First we went up the Snake River to Ice Harbor Dam and turned around, and then went some ways south on the Columbia River and up to where it joined the Yakima River.  Then, we met Cindy at a public park for a picnic lunch and Bruce and Pam and Terry continued with Terry and went up the Columbia River to near Hanford.  Cindy and Terry?s son, Ryan, joined us for dinner with their two kids, Quentin and Megan, Joined us for a swim in the pool and a salmon dinner. The pool, with only solar heating, was in the mid 80?s and delightful.

Bruce and Pam will head home on Tuesday and we will stop at Desert Aire on our way back to Camano.  The manager on our house has reported that the renters are in and doing well. Randy had surgery on his sinuses and will be on limited duty for six weeks.

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