12MAY, Thursday, we departed our almost permanent RV spot at Evergreen State Fairgrounds for four days. We did this because the semi-annual western Washington car swap meet was scheduled to start Friday & run thru Sunday at the fairgrounds. This swap meet, & the one in the fall, are very big events; & we just didn’t want to be bothered with the late night noise (ie parties), people not controlling their dogs, etc.
After deciding not to stick around during the swap meet, the next decision was – where to go? Since it was still pretty wet throughout most of western WA, we decided to re-visit a couple of the Indian casinos we visit every now & then. First stop was Angel of the Winds, in Arlington, WA. But at the very same time we received a call from our daughter, Rebecca, voicing some concern about possible flooding in Houma, LA, from the approaching high waters of the Mississippi River. Dan spent some time researching on the internet & talking to some inside sources from his Coast Guard days; then re-assured her, & gave her some phone numbers to get latest info & suggestions on how to prepare for absolute worst case scenario.
After checking in at Angel of the Winds; we received two coupon books, one for each day of our stay. As we have previously described in this BLOG, we feel these coupon books are an excellent deal (if you control your gambling)! You pay $17 for an RV spot each night, but you get a coupon book for each night. The coupon book has one coupon for a “free” $5 bill, one coupon to match your $5 bet on any table game, one free $1 Keno game, one $1 snack food item, $3 off at the restaurant, & $5 off their shrimp feast.
Saturday morning after loosing more than our fair share at Angel of the Winds, we moved to Northern Lights Casino (aka Swinomish Casino). After setting up camp, we then took a scenic drive through the North Cascade Mountains & the towns of Sedro Wooley, Concrete, Rockport, Darrington, Oso, etc. The most scenic town was Concrete. The town of Concrete has undergone several incarnations, the earliest being a settlement at the northwestern junction of the Baker and Skagit Rivers, known as "Minnehaha". In 1905, a settlement across the Baker River came into being due to the building of the Washington Portland Cement Company and was named "Cement City".
After the Superior Portland Cement Company plant was built in 1908, it was decided to merge the two towns. Inhabitants of the new community settled on the name "Concrete" and the town was so christened and officially incorporated on May 8, 1909. We wonder why the town isn’t called Cement, since concrete was never manufactured there; & everyone knows there is a big difference between cement (which was manufactured there) & concrete - right? The name of the town is more representative of the construction material of most of the buildings in town. After two devastating fires in the early 1900s, most of the buildings were rebuilt out of poured concrete (not cement). Upon first glance from the street, the buildings look like they were built out of wood siding in the early 1900s; but upon closer examination (ie touching) you discover they are poured concrete. For some reason Concrete believes it is the “center of the known universe”! We are not sure what the difference between the “known universe” & the “universe” in general is? 
Saturday & Sunday nights were spent at the Northern Lights Casino; which didn’t give anywhere near the freebies that Angel of the Winds did & cost much more for a RV camping spot. The nice (or lucky) thing was that Corrie did very, very, well on the penny slots; such that, we almost broke even for gambling on all four days. One evening we went into the town of Anacortes for dinner & a walk about. On our previous visit(s) we notice they had city trash cans decorated to look like “old time” packaging on cans of packed salmon in homage to the numerous salmon packing houses that existed in Anacortes at one time. This time we noticed they also had painted “cutouts” of people, cars, boats, etc, etc, on the sides of various buildings. The 3-D effect is something different than the “usual” wall murals you see in a lot of other cities.
After deciding not to stick around during the swap meet, the next decision was – where to go? Since it was still pretty wet throughout most of western WA, we decided to re-visit a couple of the Indian casinos we visit every now & then. First stop was Angel of the Winds, in Arlington, WA. But at the very same time we received a call from our daughter, Rebecca, voicing some concern about possible flooding in Houma, LA, from the approaching high waters of the Mississippi River. Dan spent some time researching on the internet & talking to some inside sources from his Coast Guard days; then re-assured her, & gave her some phone numbers to get latest info & suggestions on how to prepare for absolute worst case scenario.
After checking in at Angel of the Winds; we received two coupon books, one for each day of our stay. As we have previously described in this BLOG, we feel these coupon books are an excellent deal (if you control your gambling)! You pay $17 for an RV spot each night, but you get a coupon book for each night. The coupon book has one coupon for a “free” $5 bill, one coupon to match your $5 bet on any table game, one free $1 Keno game, one $1 snack food item, $3 off at the restaurant, & $5 off their shrimp feast.
Saturday morning after loosing more than our fair share at Angel of the Winds, we moved to Northern Lights Casino (aka Swinomish Casino). After setting up camp, we then took a scenic drive through the North Cascade Mountains & the towns of Sedro Wooley, Concrete, Rockport, Darrington, Oso, etc. The most scenic town was Concrete. The town of Concrete has undergone several incarnations, the earliest being a settlement at the northwestern junction of the Baker and Skagit Rivers, known as "Minnehaha". In 1905, a settlement across the Baker River came into being due to the building of the Washington Portland Cement Company and was named "Cement City".
After the Superior Portland Cement Company plant was built in 1908, it was decided to merge the two towns. Inhabitants of the new community settled on the name "Concrete" and the town was so christened and officially incorporated on May 8, 1909. We wonder why the town isn’t called Cement, since concrete was never manufactured there; & everyone knows there is a big difference between cement (which was manufactured there) & concrete - right? The name of the town is more representative of the construction material of most of the buildings in town. After two devastating fires in the early 1900s, most of the buildings were rebuilt out of poured concrete (not cement). Upon first glance from the street, the buildings look like they were built out of wood siding in the early 1900s; but upon closer examination (ie touching) you discover they are poured concrete. For some reason Concrete believes it is the “center of the known universe”! We are not sure what the difference between the “known universe” & the “universe” in general is? 
Saturday & Sunday nights were spent at the Northern Lights Casino; which didn’t give anywhere near the freebies that Angel of the Winds did & cost much more for a RV camping spot. The nice (or lucky) thing was that Corrie did very, very, well on the penny slots; such that, we almost broke even for gambling on all four days. One evening we went into the town of Anacortes for dinner & a walk about. On our previous visit(s) we notice they had city trash cans decorated to look like “old time” packaging on cans of packed salmon in homage to the numerous salmon packing houses that existed in Anacortes at one time. This time we noticed they also had painted “cutouts” of people, cars, boats, etc, etc, on the sides of various buildings. The 3-D effect is something different than the “usual” wall murals you see in a lot of other cities.
2 comments:
Sure hope there is no serious water problems back houma.
thanks for your concern. things are looking better. area will be at risk from what they call back flooding from the Atchafalay; but should be no problem as long as secondary levess hold. - corrie & dan
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