September 30, 2001
Seems like forever since I updated this. I guess it's because we've been running around so much enjoying friends and getting "stuff" done while parked near where we used to live and work.
Bill and Josh on the left. Bill was appropriately impressed with the "calling card" from the prairie dogs that I presented him with. His comments won't be repeated here. Bill and I spent the better part of the day sorting through some of his/my/our "toys". It sure felt good to be able to play with some reloading equipment as well as verify serial numbers on the gun collection he's storing for me while we're out traveling like we are. And Ken came by to harass us and try to talk us into going to the range to actually use some of the toys. The very idea! Seems both Ken and I were infected by Bill's disease--a love of the shooting sports. Pretty truck, eh? Well, except for the nose maybe.
Not only did Ken come by to show off his new truck, he had to show off his old boots as well. Amazing how much the three of us have in common.....and just as amazing as to how we never seemed to really get it together to enjoy our hobbies together. Priorities, I guess.
And speaking of trucks, there's Steve with his new one. Real hot-rod, this one. It was Ken's 61st birthday, and his wife Cher managed to pull off a pretty decent surprise party. I say pretty decent, because Ken had spotted Moby Dick on the freeway heading in his direction, and while Al had parked his distinctive truck down the street a ways, Ken had seen it too as he came home. Ken was wondering just what was up, but didn't expect to see us all there. The company we all used to work for (well, at least Ken and I used to--Bill, Steve, Karen, Terri, Al, and maybe some others there at the party still do) was having some computer problems, so lots of people who'd have liked to have been there were MIA. Seems that for years Ken has managed to avoid any kind of celebration, particularly at work, regarding birthdays. He'd either be out of town on vacation or a business trip or some other lame excuse. But this time we really got him. Now, I'm not sure of the story, but Ken is sitting on the rude-noise chair he had in his office. Somebody snagged it and brought it over as a birthday present. And Ken wasn't beyond making rude noises with it for the rest of the day, much to the consternation of all of us who are polite, and don't make rude noises like that in public. Yeah, right.
On the left are those who were the last to leave the party. Good time had by all. On the right is friend John, who was passing through the Seattle area on his way to Edmonds. He was kind enough to not only pause for the night at the local Wal-Mart so we could catch him for a short visit the next day as we were running errands, but also kind enough to come visit us the day after, driving all the way from Edmonds. He was interested in our "motorcycles," the little folding DiBlasi mini-bikes we carry under the nose of the trailer. And I was able to get some good information about this computer that confuses me so often, and then he bought us dinner besides. Friends like this are what makes this lifestyle so much fun. He's "semi-retired" living mostly in CA where we'll catch him on our way down later next month.
We're parked in the Thousand Trails preserve in Seaview, WA, just a tad south of Long Beach. It's been here a day or two, and while the spaces are a bit smaller than we'd like and the sewer connection is on the "wrong" side of the Road Abode, it's extremely quiet and peaceful. Just what we need to get caught up with paperwork (annual budget review, e-mail, web page update, etc.), take some good naps, and walk the beach.
On the left are some restrooms and the trash barrels. Between them is a little building put there just to agitate me. It's a fish cleaning station!!! I have no plans to fish, but if we stay here longer than a week and I get all caught up with paperwork, who knows. I told Barby I could hear the surf perch calling me as we walked down to the beach, but she didn't believe me. The fellow on the right was doing an excellent job of flying his kite, and made me wonder where I stashed mine. I know we have it with us, I just don't know where. And before I can devote much time to looking for it, I've got to figure out how to make our sewer hose stable so "stuff" will flow down hill all the way rather than having to go up for the last little bit to get over the hump caused by the raised connection point .... sigh.
Well, it may not be a mermaid there on the left, but she sure is fun to live with. Besides, she cooks! And when we got to the beach she said, "Let's go over to that point and see what's there." And I said, "Why?" Stupid question. Because it's there, that's why. Besides, there were several 4X4 vehicles parked down there and I thought that maybe, just maybe, there would be some fishermen I could talk to. Long Beach is one of the rare beaches that people can still drive on, and it still surprises me to see tire tracks in the sand.
And then there are always the mysteries on the beach. Like where did this piece of line come from. Why is it that particular length? Does it mean that some dingy lost its painter or that some small boat lost a line it had been using to tie up with? And then, just to make sure we could find our way back to the campground as we were walking toward the point of rocks, I took a picture of where we were coming from. Right. Like this is any help. Long Beach is a loooooong beach, and we're near the southern end of it at this campground.
See where the little wavelets are making that cross-hatched pattern? Well, in just such a crossing we came across a little fish about 6" long, that was flopping mightily trying to get back into water deep enough to swim in. I picked it up while the seagulls who had been advancing on it scattered, and flipped it out to sea. Only it didn't make it. In a flash, a seagull had it and with a quick toss of its head turned the fish around and swallowed it head first. Poof, gone. And on the right is another of my beach mysteries. Why all the broken crab shells along this one stretch of beach but no place else? The beach looks all the same to me, but for some reason there are (were) a bunch of crabs here.
One shell had been around a while. Slid enough on the sand to wear holes through it. And among the kite flyers there was this group, rigging what looked like a parasail. Flipping sand up on the trailing edge so the wind wouldn't prematurely catch it while they rigged it.
Their dogs were running back and forth, and even came over to us for a quick sniff before chasing each other off in a different direction. Picture on the right shows what looks like an overgrown skateboard. It has fat tires, loops for the rider to hook their toes into, and a cable with a handle and lever that looks for all the world like a brake.
Kite's up, and as you can see by the angle of the fellow holding the lines, it pulls pretty good. I'd judged the wind to only be about 3-5 mph at this point. We were walking into it, and it was noticeable, but when we came back with the wind to our back it was hardly noticeable unless we stopped.
OK. Set to go. Only the kite crashed. You can see Mr. Greenshirt holding that cable/brake thing while Mr. Kiteflyer was trying to get onto the wheeled thingy. After several aborted attempts, we gave up on them and continued toward the rocks. Which weren't barren at all, but covered with vegetation. And would you believe it? Dandelions! Actually, they looked pretty with their bright yellow flowers against the gray rocks.