September 19, 2002
Last day of "working" today. Ahhhhhh, no alarm clock tomorrow morning! That's about the only drawback of doing these 3-week volunteer projects. I really hate alarm clocks. Not that I like to sleep in late, I don't. I just like waking up naturally between 5 & 6 and casually getting up, enjoying a cuppa decalf, doing some bible reading, maybe answer some e-mail or work on the website, and have breakfast around 8 or so.
We'll entertain some very good friends tomorrow evening after getting new shoes for Moby Dick and getting his front end aligned ($OUCH$), and spend Saturday getting ready to travel to Turner, OR.
After church brunch with our SOWERS (Servants of Wheels Ever Ready) Group Leader, Jim and his wife Elaine. And Jim and me on the just-completed bridge replacement project. The bridge is on a neat nature trail, and the stream it's crossing is an outlet for Lake Retreat.
The dining hall and beach from near where we're parked, and then the huge tire swing, also near our site.
The GVJ building being re-modeled (again) for a staff couple to live in; that's Cliff and Lowell up there on the deck, and me with some sandpaper in my hand waaaaaay up on a ladder. Well, OK, it's only a 12' ladder and I'm only 1/2 way up. But for me, that's a lot! That's the dining hall I'm working on.
Ruth, Donna, and Barb holding still from their painting duties (must have been a warm day - me in my headgear and BJ in her shorts) and then Jim carefully painting the trim.
Elaine getting more paint, and most of the crew hard at it. The 1989 Suzuki FA50 moped was a gift to the camp, and it was my good fortune to figure out how to make it run. It sees lots of use because of the layout of the camp. Lanny, the maintenance supervisor (and retired pastor), and Jim, Group Leader, used it to keep up with those of us with all the questions.
Ruth and Donna with the never-ending painting. Now in the picture on the right, you have to look carefully, and when you do, you'll see a pair of feet sticking out from under that bay window on the right side.
Those feet belong to Gordy, a full-time fireman for Maple Valley and part-time camp worker. He was under that porch/building killing hornets. When I came up to help paint, I noticed that Elaine was cleaning around the steps and there were hornets flying around. I casually suggested she be careful, and took a swing at some with the shirt I was holding.....and promptly got stung on my arm for my insolence. Being brave (or just naive), Gordy was easily recruited as the official hornet killer. Only they'd managed to nest inside a wood beam making it difficult to rout them. He managed to get stung on the leg for his efforts, but he did manage to kill enough of the pests to enable us to continue painting and find two more nests! And then, there's the whole crew is taking our morning coffee break. It's not all hard work.
Well, isn't this fun. After I pushed her around for a while (one of the very, very few times I can get away with that), she discovered it was easier to get in than it was to get out. Much like many things in life, I submit. Trying to sell our rig being only one example.
Well, when an RVer gets a day off, what do they do? Why, they visit another RV park, of course. This is a yurt and fountain (and grass and blacktop -- whoopee!) in a park just North of Bothell called Lake Pleasant. Used to be a bog, but the owner scooped the muck out and turned it into a very nice useful lake and park.
And here's one of the reasons we're here. Recognize that rig? It belongs to Ray and Kay. A couple we met in Quartzsite, AZ, in January. And the reason we met them was because friend John suggested we look them up and they're here with John, whose rig is parked a few spaces over (and I didn't include any pictures of it because at the moment John is having some trouble with it and doesn't like it very much). John and Ray and Kay are all part of the parking crew for the LOW (Life on Wheels, an annual event for folks interested in RVing) seminar in Moscow, ID. It was Ray who "made" us buy a Cherokee by letting Barb drive his in the desert. And then the "pin board" in the window of Ray & Kay's rig. Just one of several good ideas they have incorporated into their home.
And here's a couple more. What a wonderful computer desk they've built! Fireproof file cabinet underneath. And on the right, a very clever way to hold/store spices. Much easier to get at then the little drawer I built for Barb. It seems to us that one of the favorite pastimes of many full-timers is comparing ideas with other people, and "stealing" the good ones. I'll have to try to remember to include some clever little cabinet locks Ray built for when underway that I duplicated for us.
It's a sightseeing day. We're going to show John one of our favorite cities, Seattle. Ray and Kay raised their kids here and lived in the Greenlake area for about 30 years. It was fun to see where they used to live before going full time. John had lived in Bothell for a while when he was a teenager, and while Barb and I used to live here as well, Ray and Kay were the quintessential tour guides. It's off to the Chittenden Locks, and Barb managed to sneak in a shot of some unusual (to us) flowers there.
Believe it or not, we were actually doing some shade-seeking. While not hot in the AZ or FL sense, it was plenty warm for Seattle. Haven't a clue what I'm pointing at. And then to the Sound. Puget Sound that is. We're standing across the street from one of Kay's earliest friend's home (they were in grammar school together) in an area called Golden Gardens. This picture is looking toward the Northwest, and that range of mountains in the background is the Olympic Range.
We can see Shilshole Marina from here, where we used to have a small time-share yacht business for a while. I'm told there's still a 5-year waiting list for a slip down there. And then Barb caught me without my glasses, and good grins from everybody else. That camera John is holding is my dream camera. It'll take 7 shots per second for something like 9 seconds before needing to stop to process them. It has interchangeable lenses, and of course is a SLR digital. He tells me he paid "real" money for it whatever that means, and I can believe it. I've looked at them. If we'd ever buy a lottery ticket and win, we might get one.
Ah, yes. The center of the universe. And that's not all that makes Fremont an interesting little place. In case you can't read it, the last line on the sign says, "Throw your watch away". And we're standing under the Aurora Bridge with its interesting patterns.
And here's the reason we're standing under the bridge! To harass the troll, of course. That VW in his left hand is a real one, too (so's the lady standing there, Barb). A baby blue 1967 model besides. It was nice to see a minimal amount of graffiti in the area too. Those pink/purple things on his knuckles are troll dolls that someone donated. And then it was off to West Seattle. The tall dark building used to be the Columbia Tower, when Marty Selig built it, but now it's the Bank of America Tower. Wonder why.
Not only is this a good view of some of the Port of Seattle, it's also a view of the two stadiums some people are happy to have. The whitish domed structure on the left is the Seahawks Stadium, built (mostly) by Paul Allen of Microsoft fame, and the darker one is Safeco Field, built (mostly) by King County taxpayers even though they voted it down at least twice. Safeco is an insurance company with headquarters in Seattle. What a bunch of crooks so many of our politicians are. Truly sad. When I was a little kid living in Sacramento, CA, the taxpayers voted down parking meters on two different occasions, and when the city installed them anyway, I got an early lesson in how the world works. And then the rail-apes. Still grinning. Anybody'd think we were having a good time or something.
Hummmmm. I guess Barb is right. I am going bald. Oh. It wasn't the back of my head so much as the prettily painted garbage cans. Or maybe even the totem pole at the end of the railing. They were unique and looked like some school kid project with all their pretty free-flowing designs. On the right is a very unique and very old ferry. As you may know, ferries are an important transportation device for the Seattle area. The Kalakala was built in the '30's if I remember correctly, went through several transitions after retiring from ferry service in Seattle, and was recently found sitting in the mud in Alaska where it had last been a fish processing facility. Some enthusiasts gathered up some donated money, extracted her from the mud, and towed her to Lake Union where this picture was taken. They are still taking donations to restore her to her original grandeur. While Barb and I enjoy looking at old restored things like this, we don't really understand why people do it. An old motorcycle or car now, we can understand. But a ferry boat? Well, why not a ferry boat, eh? She deserves to live in dignity too I suppose.
And a nose shot of the Kalakala. Wonderful design. We hope the money is raised and volunteers come forward to restore her. Dinner that night, John announced, was on him. Whoopee! We gladly accepted! And another Seattle landmark was enjoyed in the process. Ivar's Salmon House. Alder smoked salmon being the specialty. Barb and I first started enjoying this place in 1974 or 1975 when we first moved up here, and it has always been a part of any tour we gave friends and family. To have Ray and Kay suggest it was perfect. Those are dugout canoes hanging from the ceiling, and one of them is 53' long! Seal and whale hunting canoes, racing canoes, and of course, fishing canoes are all displayed here along with many pictures of the local indigenous people from when the first European settlers came in. And a special display of pictures that rotate, using the talents of local folks, all historical in nature.
Just part of the view this place offers, and please note the highchair by our table. It's for John's camera. Does he baby it? Naw, not John. But before he yells at me, I'll confess (he's buying dinner, right?), it was the server's idea to use it for a safe depository for all the cameras.
In one of my former lives, I had an office here on the lake and belonged to the Lake Union Rowing Club. Never did get good enough to do any competing, but enjoyed the activity nonetheless. At first we thought it might be the University of Washington rowing team, as this is the area they practice in. Turned out to be some other group. And speaking of groups, there's the moochers. We're standing on the barge that has outside dining for the restaurant, and the ducks and geese and seagulls come looking for (and getting) handouts.
The rowers had their coach with them in that funny looking little white boat, and then a beautiful example of a bygone era of yachting. These are often referred to as Lake Union Dream Boats.
The Argosy was out for its evening cruise with its complement of partyers. And a view of the city from this same place. Opposite side of the view we enjoyed earlier from West Seattle. When we lived aboard our boat, we used to love to cruise the lakes this time of day and watch the lights all come on as the sun set.
While much of the area has changed in the past 25 years, the reflections of the lights from the University bridge are the same. Beautiful. And how fitting that Steve and Sharon Wilkins (other dear friends from the area) should enjoy an evening meal with us just before we leave. They were the first to visit us when we got into Western Washington. That's Norm and Evelyn with us. Norm is a national trainer with the Christian Businessmen's Committee and a full time RVer besides. We met them for the first time in Yuma, AZ, this past January when we were parked next to each other. Norm also has a thing I need to investigate. It's a MasterCard that he paid $160 for and he can buy $200 worth of fuel with it. That's my kind of deal, and you can bet I'm going to investigate it.
Back to our SOWERS project. Lake Retreat Camp and Conference Center was started in 1946, and many of the original people are still attending seminars here. This particular week we were privileged to meet many of those people as it was the seniors' retreat. They really ate well, and we (the SOWERS) were encouraged to mingle with them during meals, and we had the chance to meet the son of the fellow who found the property and got the investors together to build it. It had a tavern on it then which burned down. His last name was Johnson, he was of Nordic heritage, and of course many of his friends were also. As buildings were built and dedicated, many of them carry the Johnson name. The picture on the left was taken during the talent show the seniors have each year, and the fellow at the microphone is our own Cliff. Since Cliff was raised in Minnesota, he knew something of the Nordic traditions, and he was telling the crowd about something that happened shortly after his family moved there. Seems part of the welcome to the farming community included a gift of lutefisk. They weren't sure what to do with it, but since they had a family of skunks living in their cellar, they decided that if they put the smelly fish down in the cellar, it would perhaps drive the skunks out. When they went down the next morning to see if the experiment worked, they found that indeed they had no more skunks. All the lutefisk was gone as well, but the cellar was now full of Norwegians! All this was told with the appropriate accent, of course. The next day as we were working, I finally had to ask Cliff if the excellent accent was learned or had been "un-learned". He confessed that actually both were true. When they moved to the area, he didn't have an accent, but as he went to school in the one-room schoolhouse and lived in the farming community, it soon became a natural way to talk. Only later did he realize he'd picked it up, and "reverted" to talking without it. That "Thank You" box is a trash can, discarded by McDonalds, and remodeled by Cliff and Jim. SOWERS have an amazing array of talents!
There goes Elaine with the "painters wheelbarrow." It's loaded with everything they'll need for our last day of work. The other women sometimes helped push it up the hills, but I never saw it! And then the traditional group picture. That's Cliff (with the talented accent) and Donna, Elaine and Jim (group leaders), Barb--wearing an apron from working in the kitchen--and me (the only ones of the group who had never worked with any of the others), and Ruth and Lowell. Lowell was amazing to work with. He could multi-task and carry on a running conversation with whoever was around all at the same time. I spent 3 days working with him and was never without a grin on my face. I could harass him while he was working and talking along to himself if nobody was nearby, and he'd just toss a quick wisecrack back at me. The group had a nearly instantaneous cohesiveness no matter which job we were doing, and Barb and I loved working with them. So much so that we're doing something we thought we'd never ever do. We're planning on working November and December in Stanwood, WA, at the Warm Beach Conference Center helping them get ready for their Christmas Lights extravaganza. Not sure how my arthritic old joints are going to enjoy it, but I know my spirits will be doing just fine.
That's Cliff and me up on the deck, and Donna getting ready to come upstairs to see what the expansion looks like from the inside. And then me watching Cliff trim up some paneling that was a tad too large. Seems to me I watched a lot on this project. I've never done anything quite this complicated, and I learned a lot. While all this picture taking was going on, Lowell was under the building running wires up through the floor for a light in the closet part of the room. We could hear him talking away, punctuated with an occasional "Oh, man!" which would almost always elicit a rude comment from either Cliff or me as Lowell's "Oh, man!" either meant he had a nearly impossible problem to solve, or he'd cut a board in the wrong place, or something else amusing. At least it was amusing to us!
We're leaving Sunday the 22nd and heading to the SOWERS reunion in Turner, OR, near Salem. Then to Springfield to get the water pump replaced in the truck, and then to Coos Bay to visit with Marc and Claudia. The next posting should be done from their place on a high-speed line rather than the cell phone at 19.2 bps.