After two months of great weather (for Seattle), July turned out
to be very cool & wet compared to “normal”.
Not much done of note during the month; just the usual things of
gardening, endless mowing, medical/dental, volunteering at Habitat for
Humanity, house projects/maintenance, minor repairs to RV, battling
blackberries, etc.
One big project was trying to make our new solar array less visually
intrusive. First Dan installed cedar
lattice work across the front, & then Corrie spread mulch in front & on
both sides for the future planting of small shrubs/plants. The first of July was the six month of
anniversary of our solar array installation & its performance has met our
expectations! Because of federal, state
& utility incentives, along with reduced electric bills; forty percent of
our installation costs has been returned to us at this pointJ We will no longer receive any federal
incentive; but with remaining incentives & reduced bills we still expect
the entire cost to us to be returned in five more years.
Saturday AM, 09JUL, it was off to Marysville, WA, for Junk in
the Trunk. Junk in the Trunk is a city
sponsored yard sale, where people can pay for a small spot to sell unneeded
stuff. On the way back to the house we stopped
by Dan’s cousin Bob & wife Pattie Harris (last seen 03JUN) for a nice visit.
Sunday, 10JUN, early AM it was into Seattle to Gary Boyer’s (who
we last saw 16MAY15) for coffee & pastries, before heading to the Ballard
Seafood Fest. For lunch Dan went with a
Norway Salmon sandwich from a food truck called Tumble Swede; Corrie & Gary
went w/wild Alaskan weathervane scallops from the folks of Wild Salmon Seafood
Market.
“In 1971, leaders from Ballard’s industrial and fishing community joined forces with the Ballard Elks to start Seafood Fest. The event began as a two-hour barbeque to raise money for a financially strapped Chamber of Commerce. By 1978, the event had grown into a daylong affair held in Bergen Place Park. In 1979, the event was moved from September to July, branded as “a tribute to the Washington State Fishing Industry and the Scandinavian heritage of many of the settlers of the Northwest Seattle community.”
By 1982, more seafaring elements were added. At Stimson Marina, visitors could tour the crab boat “Rosie G” and a 1913 deep sea, wooden hulled halibut schooner. The next year, local businesses hosted a fishing industry photo exhibit. Pacific Fisherman offered shipyard tours. Seafood Fest became a Seafair sanctioned event, and the date was changed to coincide with Seafair. In 1984, the event was called Pacific Seafood Fest and included restaurant vendors that specialized in seafood. Two contests co-sponsored by the Ballard Chamber: one judged recipes for pickled, smoked, dried, canned and marinated seafood. The other, the Great American Seafood Grill Off, challenged grillers to cook the best recipe using Pacific fin fish.
Through the 1990s, Seafood Fest continued to evolve. Instead of an emphasis on seafaring activities, more festival-oriented elements were added. A music stage featuring popular local bands, a family entertainment stage, a beer garden, and more arts and crafts vendors brought an entire new audience to the festival. What started as a two-hour dinner in 1971 is now an iconic two day event that draws over 60,000 people.”
The Seafood Fest was followed by the Ballard Sunday market, with
more tempting food vendors. Finally back
to Gary’s for coffee & reminiscing before heading home to veg on the couch.
Late Thursday, 14JUL, Corrie took Dan to SeaTac airport for a redeye
flight to Albany, New York. Dan was
flying there for a memorial for Coach William Stowe, a 1964 Olympic gold
medalist & former Coast Guard Academy crew coach. Dan was a crew team manager (aka boat driver)
for Coach Stowe for four years (see below BLOG for our visit with Coach Stowe
& wife Barb, & more of the Coach’s bio).
Dan arrived at Albany, NY, airport Saturday morning, where he
was to meet-up with a former Coast Guard Academy classmate & varsity
heavyweight oarsman, Bill Albert (who we last visited at his home in Woodland,
CA, 11MAR). Dan proceeded to the rental
car desk & to find out he reserved a car for Albany, Georgia, not Albany,
NYL. And it turns out many of the rental cars cannot
be driven because of the Takata airbag recallL Luckily he got a car & now had six hours
to kill before Bill’s scheduled arrival.
So he headed to Famous Lunch in Troy, NY, for some “troy” hotdogs.
“In 1932, the Quick Lunch, now Famous Lunch, opened its doors for the first time at 111 Congress Street in Troy, NY. On August 28, 1958, however, an event would change the name forever. A local marine, twenty-year old Corporal Gordon Gundrum, stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia, just had to have his Troy hot dogs. Several dozen dogs were flown to the embassy by KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines, and were served for lunch that day to Gundrum and the U.S. Ambassador at his 54th birthday celebration. The news of “Operation Hot Dogs” made the national and local newspapers, and so the Quick Lunch became “World Famous.” Today, this historic hot dog shop still lives up to the famous name. Today, Famous Lunch sends hot dogs via Fedex to states throughout the U.S.A. and around the world. Some people will go to any length to satisfy their hunger for a “Famous Hot Dog.”
Then it was back to airport to wait. Naturally Bill’s plane was delayed. End result was driving thru the Adirondacks
in the dark, & getting to the Faust Motel in Upper Tupper Lake, NY, around
10:30PM. Upper Tupper Lake was small
& apparently “safe”; because the motel office was closed, but the light to
our cabin was on & the key was in door.
Most of the day Saturday was spent sightseeing in the local area. The hi-lite was “The W!ld Center”. As their website says:
“The Wild Center is a not-for-profit organization overseen by a Board of Trustees with the assistance of its Advisory Board. The Center is based out of an 81-acre site in Tupper Lake, NY near the geographic center of the Adirondacks.
The region is unique in the world. Surrounded by people, the Adirondacks house great expanses of nature interspersed with small towns and communities. They can be an example for a future where man and the rest of the natural world thrive together.
The Center, dedicated to understanding this rare place, is committed to helping people explore not a small collection, but one that lives and breathes across the entire expanse of the Adirondacks.
The Wild Center is science-based, and its experiences, exhibits and programs are designed to open new ways to look into our relationship with nature.
There may be no more important issue facing humankind than discovering better ways to thrive with the rest of the natural world, and there may be no better place to understand that effort than in the Adirondacks. The Center is a great place to be part of that vital experiment.”
Saturday evening was the memorial ceremony & remembrance for
Coach Stowe. It was an excellent affair
with a very large turnout. The event was
held at the Big Wolf Lake Club outside of Upper Tupper Lake. Big Wolf Lake & the surrounding property
was bought by a wealthy lumber man, Ferris Meigs, in the early 1900s; not for
the lumber, but to preserve the area in its natural state. The Stowe family has had a “cabin” on the
lake for generations (and still does).
The attendees consisted of members of Bill’s & Barb’s
family; friends of the Stowe family from the Big Wolf Lake Club; Bill’s fellow
oarsmen from Cornell University; members of the 1964 Olympic team; many oarsmen
from Coast Guard Academy teams coached over ten plus years; & friends he
made throughout his travels & during all of his philanthropic work in &
around his home in Lake Placid, NY.
Especially poignant was at the end of the evening when many people
discussed special events/stories they had with Bill during their association
with him.
Sunday, 17JUL, Bill & Dan got to the Albany airport in plenty
of time, but the flight to Newark, NJ, was delayed. Because of this Dan missed his connection to
Seattle, & had a seven hour wait for the next flight. Resulting in Corrie having to pick him up
late at night & getting back to house almost at midnight.
Saturday morning, 30JUL, our neighbors Hans & Martha Dankers
came by with an invitation to their annual end of summer neighborhood potluck
on 28AUG. We took the opportunity to
show them all that we had done in last five years. Dan’s cousin Bob & wife Pattie come by
for lunch. It was very nice, long visit –
with the women discussing gardening, & the guys discussing home
improvements. Early that evening we spotted a bobcat just sit on the road to
the barn just checking everything out (might be same one we saw last year?).
