14-31MAR15 - Sultan, WA

Saturday, 14MAR, was a late morning start back to Sultan, WA.  Although this was a record dry winter in the Pacific NW; it appears we have brought the rain with us, because we experienced heavy rain once we crossed over Snoqualmie Pass.  In fact, this winter was so mild, that the ski areas are already shut down & they lost about 50% of their season due to lack of snow.  After our arrival in Sultan we spent rest of day emptying the RV & re-occupying house.

We awoke Sunday morning to a record rainfall ever recorded for 15MAR & the 3rd wettest day in March ever – welcome home!!!  Even in the rain, Corrie starts gardening & clearing the yard/property.  Although it was an extremely mild/dry winter for Seattle area, there must have been some strong winds because many branches & small trees are down.  Dan continues emptying the RV & assembling one of his “toys” he purchased back in September 2014, while in Canada; & we have carried in the RV for six months!

On 20MAR, in the late afternoon we headed to Redmond’s Marymoor Park for the Cirque du Soleil show KURIOS.  This show was one of the best Cirque shows we have seen; much better than one we saw in November, in New Orleans!  The costumes & staging were unique even for a Cirque show, but several of the acts stood out:  1) a group of acrobats are sitting around a dinner table & start stacking chairs on the table higher & higher w/one acrobat always balanced on the top chair; BUT another group of acrobats are suspended high up on the ceiling mirroring the group below, & they starting stacking their chairs downward until the two acrobats meet in the middle & pass the salt & pepper!  2) three performers only use their fingers, hands & small props to recreate famous scenes; these scenes are projected up on to large screens & were mesmerizing!  3) a guy with nothing but Yo-Yo’s performed tricks that we still think were impossible.

Another unique aspect, was they had a large “swinging” bridge that stretched from backstage all the way to the front row of the audience.  We noticed that every few minutes before the show, audience members would get to backstage & then walk across the bridge to their seats?  We assumed these customers had paid extra for the VIP tickets?  But Corrie asked one of the ushers & found out anyone could do it by just asking!  So naturally we had to do itJ!

https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/kurios/default.aspx

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2014/12/07-30nov14-houma-la-with-camp-trip-to.html

Sunday, 22MAR, we headed over to Dan brother Shawn & Cindie’s for a visit & late lunch.  Turns out not much has changed in their life other than they are now married & have bought their own house!

One thing we planned on doing different this year, is to start buying gardening materials (mulch, beauty bark, etc) in bulk; rather than the small bags sold at the big box stores.  To do this Dan started modifying the flatbed trailer we purchased back 2012 to move our furniture out of storage, by adding plywood walls that can hold five cubic yards.  It was a good thing he did this, because his cousin Bob called & asked if we wanted any rocks as we discussed in our last visit of August 2014.  So on Friday, 27MAR, we headed over to Bob & Patties to get some “free” rock.  Even though a small amount of rock, it was definitely easier to load with a tractor, than to unload by shovel!

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2014/08/04-31aug14-sultan-wa.html

The remainder of the March was spent:

>Corrie constantly gardening between mowing & thatching sessions

>Dan trouble shooting why photo electric eyes on three outside porch lights stopped working?

>preparing homemade jerky & smoked salmon

>cleaning out the annual mess made by mice & rats in the old barn

>semi-annual visit to dentist, where Dan is told he now needs a “mouth guard” at night because he supposedly grinds his teeth in his sleep?

>Corrie starts a raspberry “patch” with starters from the neighbor

>Doctor visits
>etc