01-30JUN18 - Sultan, WA (empty nester's again)

The weather in June was close to a typical “Junuary” for Seattle (ie periods of sunshine mixed w/June gloom & rain).  Even with the rain, the two month period of May/June was the driest on record?  Anyway, June was filled with lots of trips on ferries to help Rebecca & Raymond transition to their new house in east Bremerton, while kids finished school/pre-school, & t-ball.

So in chronological order:

Friday, 01JUN, early AM Raymond heads to MEPS (Military Entrance Processing System) in Seattle to re-enlist in the Army Reserve.

Sunday, 03JUN, Rebecca, Raymond & kids spend day at new house in preparation of moving household goods in; Rebecca & kids drive back to our house that evening.

Wednesday AM, 06JUN, Rebecca, Corrie & Mason head to Bremerton house w/truckload of stuff & cleaning gear.  Dan babysits Jaxson.

Friday, 08JUN, was Jaxson’s school carnival early that evening in lite rain.

09JUN, Saturday AM last t-ball game (in lite rain).

Sunday weather worsens; Rebecca, Raymond & kids take off for house in Bremerton to do more prep work, Rebecca & kids return that evening.

12JUN, Tuesday evening is Jaxson’s “graduation” ceremony from kindergarten.

Saturday, 16JUN, Rebecca & Raymond pick up Penske truck & we pack it with their remaining household goods at our place.  We (Corrie & Dan) go to Adams NW Bistro & Brewery for early fathers day dinner (two thumbs up).  Early that evening Rebecca, Raymond & kids depart w/Penske truck & one car to their new house.  When they get to Edmonds ferry terminal they discovery they can’t get on Edmonds ferry because of police activity/crime scene investigation.  Rebecca & kids in the car catch the last ferry of the night out of Seattle to Bremerton; Raymond drives the Penske truck around, thru Tacoma.

http://www.adamsnwbistro.com/

Early Sunday AM Dan catches Edmonds ferry & drives Raymond’s car to their house; helps unload the Penske truck; & returns the truck to the Penske Everett location where Corrie is waiting to take him home.

Tuesday, 19JUN, after lunch Rebecca & kids show up in prep for her airplane trip to Phoenix tomorrow (this is part of her online studies for a graduate degree).

Early Wednesday morning Dan takes Rebecca to SeaTac airport.  Soon after getting back to house it was off to Lake Sammamish State Park w/the grandkids.  The grandkids really liked the playground especially the zipline!  There were many swimming dips in the lake, but the grandkids felt the water was a little too cold compared to their pool still at our house.  (Note to Selves – bring more snacks then you think they will eat!!!)

http://parks.state.wa.us/533/Lake-Sammamish

Thursday was spent at Woodland Park Zoo.  We know the zoo is highly regarded, but we found the layout of the paths confusing & the signage was very confusing.  Many of the most popular exhibits are at the end of oneway paths; that forces you to back track, not something you want to do w/kids starting to weardown!  Especially aggravating was getting to end of oneway path, only to find out no animal(s) present for the entire day; & zoo staff knew this & couldn’t be bothered to post sign at beginning of path.  We don’t plan on going back.

https://www.zoo.org/

Saturday AM, 23JUN, Raymond picks up kids to take them to the house in Bremerton.  Sunday late afternoon Raymond brings grandkids back & departs.  That evening Dan picks Rebecca up at SeaTac airport; Monday AM Rebecca & kids depart back to Bremerton.

WHEW!!! once again empty nesters.

01-31MAY18 - Sultan, WA

May was a very quiet month for us.  Only “event” of the month was Mother’s Day weekend.  We decided to go out for Mother’s Day breakfast/brunch one day early on Saturday, 12MAY.  We chose the Maltby Café in Maltby, WA; supposed home of the world’s largest cinnamon roll.  We were last there almost ten years ago July 2008.  Unfortunately many other families decided to also take their moms out “early”, & we had a one hour wait.  But it was great weather & the food (especially the cinnamon roll) was worth it!

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2008/07/06-10jul08-monroe-wa.html

http://www.maltbycafe.com/

The rest of the Mother’s Day weekend was pretty much spent on our deck & enjoying the great weather by:

>setting up the pool for the grandkids (for some reason no adults were interested diving in?)

>jigsaw puzzling

>BBQ’ing

>campfire

During the month Dan also worked on project he has meant to do for some time  -  installing electric brakes on our trailer.  You may remember we bought trailer to help move our house hold goods from storage in Texas to the house in Washington, back in March 2012.  We have used it now & then, but have felt it would be safer if the trailer had its own brakes.

And now with the need to move Rebecca & Raymond’s stuff from our place to their new house, Dan needed to do it!  So Dan ordered the parts to:  removed original wheel hubs; installed new hubs & drum brakes; installed new electric wiring/control; & installed break-away system.  He finished modification night before first load of stuff was hauled to house in BremertonJ

At the end of the month we made a short trip into the Seattle Center for the annual Northwest Folklife Festival.  We last attended this festival in 2016 with Corrie’s sister-in-law Elaine.  One thing that stood out was that the Space Needle covered in scaffolding.  Turns out the needle is being renovated for over $100M plus.  The rotating restaurant at the top will now have floor to ceiling glass walls & (wait for it) a GLASS FLOOR:(!!!  We will be adding that to our bucket list (NOT!!!).  As usual the food from around the world was a hi-lite!  The following is a description of the festival from their website:

“Every year since 1972, the Northwest Folklife Festival has brought a celebration of diversity and tradition to the heart of Seattle. The Folklife Festival exists to celebrate all forms of cultural expression practiced in the Northwest. There are no headliners and all of the performers donate their performance. The Festival is community-powered through donations, sponsorship and volunteers. There is no admission charge to attend, thanks to your donations!”

“Northwest Folklife has stimulated interest and activity in traditional arts in the Northwest. In 1999, Northwest Folklife was selected as a Local Legacy by the Library of Congress in celebration of the Library of Congress’ 200th Anniversary. The Festival has become a major focal point for many traditional and ethnic performing groups and communities in its forty four years of existence. Over the years, the Festival has evolved to reflect the ever growing number and diversity of communities that call the Northwest home. Featuring hip hop MCs, Irish cloggers, Middle Eastern dancers, bluegrass fiddlers, West African drummers, ska bands and more, Northwest Folklife has built an artistic outlet that artists and audiences look forward to each year. For over a decade we have presented what we call the Cultural Focus, a “festival within a festival” that features a Pacific Northwest community through special performances, panels, workshops, exhibitions, demonstrations, and activities.”

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2016/07/01-31may16-sultan-wa-street-fairs.html

https://www.nwfolklife.org/

Turns out while the month of April was third wettest on record, May tied the record for driest May!  Because of the great weather, most of the month was spent on outside activities – gardening, many t-ball games, staining deck, campfires, etc, etc; & one more trip to take stuff to Rebecca & Raymond’s new house.