01-30JUN19 - Sultan, WA

Saturday AM, 01JUN, we head into Everett for Schack Artists Garage Sale which we last visited 03JUN2017.  As we quoted in 2017:

“100+ artists are cleaning out their studios for this annual street sale in front of the Schack Art Center.  Become an art collector without breaking the bank. You'll find incredible bargains on old and new stock including glass, ceramics, watercolors, oils, acrylics, recycled art, photography, garden art and much more.”

Unfortunately Saturday was also some sort of early morning charity run on one of the city’s main streets, making it almost impossible getting to the art sale coming from the westL!  After finally getting there, we discovered the event is fifty percent bigger.  Before we left the event we stopped at the Grand Avenue Marketplace which we visited 31JUL2018, for lunch.  Turns out they closed their doors after 4 months in operation.  Then we checked out a supposedly major subdivision garage sale – definitely a waste of time; even the home owners were upset at the poor organization & no central location.

https://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2017/06/01-30jun17-sultan-wa-summer-solstice-in.html

https://www.schack.org/events/artists-garage-sale/

The next day Dan’s cousin Steve Ruttner stopped by on his way back from his annual golf outing with the guys in Leavenworth.  We got him to stop briefly way back in 05JUN2014.  This time was much longer & a great visit, but still too short!

https://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2014/06/01-10jun14-sultan-wa-preparing-for.html

Sunday, 23JUN, daughter Rebecca shows up w/the kids (aka grandkids).  Both kids (Jaxson & Mason) are now out of school for summer; & due to Rebecca & husband Raymond’s work schedule, they will be staying w/us for a week.  Rebecca will also stay for the first three days.  First thing for the grandkids is picking salmon berries & huckleberries from the property, then picking raspberries & blueberries from the garden.  Later that day was painting w/oma on the deck, followed by a movie & popcorn.

Monday, 24JUN, Dan, Rebecca & kids head to Iron Goat Trail last visited JUL2017.  Not sure why, probably budget cuts; but trail is very overgrown making for treacherous footing.  Back home it was time to play Lawn Darts & Bocce Ball; followed by spaghetti dinner al fresco.

https://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2017/07/01-31jul17-sultan-wa.html

Tuesday Rebecca headed back to their house & we took turns keeping the grandkids entertained (aka busy) with evening fires in the fire pit, helping with yard chores, movies & popcorn at night, etc.  But it wasn’t that difficult because they were very happy to run around the property, climb trees, & come up with their own “adventures”.

Thursday rain & lightning & our new above ground pool arrived.  The one Rebecca purchased last year is now at the boy’s house.  So even though it was raining, Jaxson & Mason wanted it assembled immediately & filled.

Friday we finish filling pool; water is cold but grandkids were in & out throughout the day.  But it appears the boys enjoyed the shipping boxes more?

 

Early that evening we went to our neighbors, Jeff & Eileen’s, for welcome to the neighborhood for our new neighbors Mike & Adrian.  Mike & Adrian had purchased our good friends, Bob & Sara, place immediately across the street from us.  Bob & Sara had decided that this time in their lives to get out of boarding horses & downsize.  It was sad to see them leave.

Saturday, 29JUN, we returned the grandkids to Rebecca & Raymond.  Other than the grandkids, our two main activities were Dan volunteering with Habitat for Humanity on building a house in Gold Bar (the site is only 10 minutes away, compared to driving 45 minutes to an hour one way); & Corrie constantly working on garden beds & vegetable garden.

01-31MAY19 - Sultan, WA (small engine maintenance)

Wednesday, 01MAY, Dan starts the month off by finishing the garden shed extension project, & raising our new fence to six feet high all around by adding what they call hog panels on top of the existing cedar picket bottom (just leaves gates to be installed?).

But first thing that morning he had to get a crown installed as a last step on his latest root canal repair.  Thanks to computers/modern technology – no more taking a plaster impression & sending it out to manufacturer the crown.  Then the crown comes back & dentist spends an hour fine tuning it.  Now, they take dozens & dozens of pics/measurements straight to a computer & the crown is “machined” on site, glued in place, with almost no fine tuning.  Just a one hour visitJ!

Saturday AM, 04MAY, we head to the Redmond Saturday Market celebrating its 44th season.  Redmond being the world HQ for Microsoft & over 30K plus employees, the market was large & pretty impressive.  Unfortunately by the time we finished at the market & walked over to City Center for a walkabout, we missed the weekly Saturday gathering of Exotic CarsL  Again thanks to the nearby Microsoft HQ/Campus, it is supposed to be very impressive?

http://redmondsaturdaymarket.org/

https://www.exoticsat.com/

Saturday AM, 11MAY, Corrie returns from babysitting the grandkids.  We then meet Dan’s brother Shawn & wife Cindie at La Premira for lunch.  Sunday (mother’s day) we had dinner reservations at Adam’s NW Bistro.  They had two special fixed price meals or you could order off the menu.  We went with the specials.  They were both very good; but Corrie only got three scallops for here main course – hardly an appetizerL

Thursday AM, 15MAY, Dan headed to Bremerton for babysitting duties; Corrie stays at house w/dogs.  Saturday, 17MAY, Dan, Rebecca & grandkids go to the Poulsbo Viking Festival.  Very nice small town festival; but due to Rebecca’s work schedule, we could not stay for the parade.

http://www.vikingfest.org/

Saturday, 25MAY, we headed to the Edmonds ferry terminal to pick up Rebecca’s dog Gracie for dog sitting.  On the way there we had breakfast at a 85 degree bakery.  This is a worldwide chain that started in Taiwan.  Pretty good, worth a visit.

“In 2003, the founder of 85°C Bakery Cafe, Mr. Cheng-Hsueh Wu visited a cafe in a 5-star hotel. While enjoying gourmet pastries and drinks, he realized that the prices were set way too high for people to enjoy on a whim. From that moment, Mr. Wu has envisioned a cafe that provides premium coffee, bread, and cake at affordable prices. Thus the 85°C Bakery Cafe journey begins… Today, 85°C has over 1,000 locations worldwide. In 2008, the first U.S. store opened in Irvine, CA. The location quickly became an overnight sensation, with over 5,000 Yelp reviews and lines out the door. Featured on TIME, CNN, NPR, and Travel Channel, 85°C Bakery Cafe has become a culinary phenomenon and a new cafe experience for all.”

https://www.85cbakerycafe.com/

Sunday, 26MAY, we headed to the Formisano’s for BBQ & bocce ball.  If you have read our BLOG, you may remember that Rich is a CG Academy classmate of Dan’s; & the Rich & wife Jan have a yearly gathering at their house for family & friends (see below BLOG link).  The ladies, Jan & Corrie, have tried to get together since last gathering, but something always crops up?  But this time the planets aligned & the weather was great.  Excellent time & food; only negative was ladies were the bocce ball champsJ

https://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2018/08/01-31aug18-sultan-wa-many-trips-on-wa.html

Off & on during May Dan worked on preventive maintenance on our gas powered gardening equipment.  Back in the day we survived with just a push mower & weed whacker.  Now we have rid’em mower, large walk behind mower, regular mower, two weed whackers, hedge trimmer, chain saw & pressure washer (and don’t forget the generator).  Almost all of this equipment came out of the box (ie factory assembled).  The rid’em mower & large walk behind mower were floor models (ie assembled by the store).  Dan discovered none of them was 100% in accordance with the owner’s manual.

>not one sparkplug was gapped correctly.

>some sparkplugs were not on the approved parts list.

>three pieces of equipment were supposed to have air foam pre-filter before the paper filter.  They didn’t.

>both the weed whackers didn’t have any air filter, even though clearly shown in owners manual.

>two pieces of equipment had no parts list for engines, requiring you to go engine manufacturers website, find the engine info & download it.

>etc.

After far too many hours on computer/internet, Dan sorted it out.  Then it was time to buy the parts.  Turns out that big box stores that sold the equipment, often didn’t have the parts.  If they did, the prices weren’t competitive; for the cost of one sparkplug in the store, you get at least four off the net.  So now we have everything “tuned”; & enough spares for the future!

01-30APR19 - Sultan, WA

On Monday (april fools) Rebecca & grandkids, Jaxson & Mason, arrived to stay with us during school spring break.  On Wednesday Rebecca departed back to Bremerton for her job on Thur/Fri/Sat.  So we tried to keep the grandkids entertained with the usual – family fire pit, videos, gardening w/oma, ninja line, swing, etc.  Sunday it was back to the Edmonds/Kingston ferry & mommy.

On Monday, 08APR, Dan headed into south Seattle for another luncheon with some of his 1974 Coast Guard Academy classmates.  There are about 15 of his classmates in or within a few hours of Seattle.  For the last couple of years, they have had luncheons to reminisce about their time at the Coast Guard Academy & their lives since.  See below internet link for last luncheon.

https://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2018/11/31oct18-sultan-wa.html

The next day another classmate, Jim Garrett - aka Stumpy, stopped by our house to visit.  Jim had driven up from San Fran for the luncheon, but completed the drive after the luncheon occurred.  So he decided to visit three classmates in the Seattle area before driving back to the bay area – we were one of the lucky onesJ!  Great visit but way too short.

After the rains stopped the middle of the month was spent assembling a greenhouse kit Corrie had purchased at a deep discount.  Instruction were pretty poor, but we only had to disassemble it once.  A few days later Dan went to the Endodontist for the replacement root canal they started treatment of the infection of in March.  Second “bad” old root canal in less than a yearL?

The 18th of April was a sad/somber day for Dan.  He & his classmate Jeff Garrett (aka not stumpy) car pooled to Astoria, OR, for a memorial & celebration of life for their classmate Dick Lang who passed away 09APR.  (see 10/11AUG2018 BLOG for Dan’s visit with Dick)  Dick had made the last two class luncheons in Seattle, but was suffering significant health issues resulting from his lung cancer treatment fifteen years ago.  We unfortunately learned on the 10th of April, Dick had passed in hospice care due to lung failure.  Jim & Dan were invited to represent the Coast Guard & the CG Academy class of 1974 at a private memorial service being held by Dick’s wife, Betsy, & the immediate family in Astoria on the 18th.

https://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2018/08/01-31aug18-sultan-wa-many-trips-on-wa.html

Very early Thursday morning Jeff Garret & Dan began their carpool drive to Astoria, OR, for the memorial events in memory of Dick.  Being well trained coasties they naturally arrived early (very early).  Dan suggested they drive over to Hammond, OR, to see one of the last projects Dick was working on.  Being an avid fisherman living in Astoria, sometime ago Dick started a search for a large warehouse/storage building that was large enough that he could easily drive his boat & trailer into; & very near to the Hammond boat launch.

Eventually he found the ideal building less than 1/2 mile from the launch.  Dick fixed up a sleeping area upstairs with a small kitchenette; & washer & dryer downstairs.  This not only allowed him to spend the night when fishing several days in a row without driving back to Astoria; but provided a spot for poker games with friends from the Moose Lodge.  Dick’s last step was to install a boat rinse facility to earn some income from the hundreds of boats that use the Hammond boat launch.  But since we are a much more environmentally aware society (& this being Oregon) there were many, many, hoops to jump through!  First off the facility was only for “rinsing” not “washing”, there would be no water runoff, & water would be treated before entering the sewer system.  The facility has been completed, but not sure Dick ever got permit to operate?

From there, Jeff suggested they head to Fort Clatsop - one of 12 installations of the Lewis & Clark National & State Historical Parks around the mouth of the Columbia River in Washington & Oregon.  The park was created in 2004 & consists of 12 individual areas that ring the mouth of the Columbia River & stretches some 40 miles along the rugged Pacific Coast.  It is joint venture between the National Park Service & the states of Oregon & Washington.

https://www.nps.gov/lewi/index.htm

https://www.nps.gov/lecl/index.htm

After a quick change into their Service Dress Blue uniforms, they drove to the Astoria Maritime Memorial immediately below the south end of the Astoria-Megler Bridge.  At 2PM a small group of family & friends gathered for a Memorial Ceremony for Dick.  This was in keeping with Dick & wife Betsy’s wishes.  Their wishes were for this intimate ceremony, followed by the installation of maritime plague in Dick’s name on the walls of the Maritime Memorial; at a later date Dick’s ashes will be buried at sea from a CG Cutter.  Jeff & Dan were honored to be invited to represent the Coast Guard & the USCGA Class of 1974 at the Memorial.  Unfortunately the installations of the memorial plagues occurs once a year, & the Lang family missed the due date by two weeks.

At 3PM there was an open invitation to the “Celebration of Life & Potluck” for Dick at the Astoria Moose Lodge.  In addition to more family, there were people who sailed with Dick on CG vessels; 911 personnel from the Astoria call center that Dick was key in upgrading & modernizing; fellow volunteers from local Disabled American Veterans office; Moose poker buddies; Relay for Life team members; a lady whose first high school date that her parents allowed was Dick; and lots of fishing buddies.

During the event there was a microphone at the front of the hall that anyone could spontaneously use to reminisce about their memories of Dick.  Most of the recollections were humorous, some were sad (mostly about opportunities missed).  But the one that really caught Dan’s attention was when Dick was 12, he and his 14 year old brother went on a multi-day bicycle trip in the UK without any adult supervision!

All too soon, Jeff & Dan had to start their drive back to the Seattle area.  It was an emotional day, but they were satisfied that their classmate had a fitting send-off by family & the many friends who were touched by his life.  Jeff & Dan were honored to represent the Coast Guard & the Class of 1974 on this special day in Dick's memory! 

Easter Sunday, 21APR, Dan went to Stevens Pass for the last day of the ski season.  The conditions weren’t the best & Dan only skied for two hours.  The most interesting part of the day, was all the people in costumes?

During the month, after the rains stopped, we finally got most the fence & garden shed extension pretty much doneJ