31AUG-12SEP08 - Monroe, WA

We arrived back at the Monroe Fairgrounds on the last day of August just in time for last two days of the Evergreen State Fair. This meant that all the RV facilities at the fairgrounds were full, but luckily Corrie had made a reservation. The bad thing was that the “powers that be” had a ridiculous policy that no one (including RV’ers) could leave the fairgrounds in their vehicles without paying to park upon return! That meant should we decide to go shopping or to a restaurant, we had to pony-up $7 for each re-entry! Finding this to be unacceptable Corrie went off to do battle with the powers that be. We can’t tell you how, but once again she was able to solve the issue, even if it meant the rules were bent (if not broken).

We chose to return to the fairgrounds, rather than the Peters, so we could be closer to our property in Sultan. We needed to be closer because we needed to be their almost daily. First we needed to make the barn weather tight so we could store our recently purchased Ferguson tractor in it; and also to check on the progress of the removal of some trees. Dan noted that early in the morning our property was home to five or six deer; and there were small tracks and scat indicating a small bear was around somewhere.

On Friday we stopped by the Peters to help set up for “The Pig Roast” to be held on Saturday 06SEP. The Pig Roast was started by cousin Steve Kiesel sometime in the 80s, and was held almost annually usually right before or after Labor Day weekend. When Steve & Bonnie left the Seattle area to live on the east side of the Cascade Mountains in Kittitas, cousin Paul took on the tremendous amount of work (not to mention cost) necessary to continue the tradition.

We assisted in setting up tables, awnings and tents, and a general clean-up of the yard. But the main item Paul needed assistance with was preparing the 150 pound pig to go on the spit, so it could be slow smoked/BBQ’d in the homemade smoker. Since this is a family show, we won’t go into the anatomical details of driving a six foot spit through the pig; then driving steel rods through its spine; and then wrapping the whole thing in chicken wire.

The next day at the roast was a gathering of Dan’s cousins & nieces & nephews from his mother’s side of the family; neighborhood friends of the Peters; and Shannon & Paul’s coworkers. Not to mention all the second & third cousins. Since we hadn’t been to a Pig Roast in about 15 years, there was a lot of catching up to do. Sadly, all the Harris cousins (Dan’s mom other sister) were not there, since uncle Bob Harris had recently passed away. Dan’s middle brother, Shawn, showed up briefly on his way to work. Maybe next time, youngest brother Gary will make it.

Later in the week we headed into Seattle for another field trip. Our first stop was a part of Seattle called Capitol Hill. This was the location of Dan’s paternal grand parent’s (Fred & Jean Ryan) house. The Ryan grandkids and many other cousins spent a many a sleep over here, roaming the local area (especially Volunteer Park) during the day. We also roamed the main commercial street of Capitol Hill, Broadway, where we discovered the Seattle Museum of Mysteries. This is a very small museum the size of two living rooms and contains mostly books on Paranormal Science, and for strange reason an Oxygen Bar. In general it devotes itself to “mysteries” centered on the Pacific NW; for example Big Foot, or DB Cooper the skyjacker.

http://www.seattlechatclub.org/museum.html

From Capitol Hill we headed over to a Seattle neighborhood called Ballard. As you cross over the Ballard Bridge into Ballard there is a small brick building with a sign that advertises Mike’s Chili Parlor & Tavern. In all the times Dan has passed this sign, he never stopped into sample the chili; a situation he planned on correcting this time. As we crossed the bridge we could not see the building or the sign. Even so Dan exited the main road and circled the block. Turns out the Tavern is still there but is surrounded by a large building being constructed so as to block the view from the bridge. Apparently the owner of the Tavern was asked to sell his property but declined. The chili had a layer of grease on top, the onions were strong & watery; and the cheese was cheese “food” not real cheese; all-in-all a perfect Tavern chili. They even had a spot at the end of the bar labeled “The Office” just in case you needed to tell someone – you were still at the office.

http://mikeschiliparlor.com/

From Mike’s we headed to the Archie McPhee Catalog Store. This store is one of the biggest collections of gag & novelty items we have ever seen! Not only does it have the standard items like whoopee cushions, itching powder, plastic vomit, etc, but other things like Nihilist breath mints (ie they have no flavor). In addition they have some items that you wonder why they carry them and who would buy them – radiation meters, old vacuum tubes, cooling fans for computers, etc?
http://www.mcphee.com/