Rainy Last Day

Today was our last day with our friends in Olympia. Tomorrow we leave on our journey to Spokane. It rained all morning, not a hard rain, but steady. We were glad to see that so far we have no leaks.

In the afternoon, the sun came out, and we headed out on the Chehalis Western Trail for our walk. Of course after a bit it started to rain again. Neither of us had brought an umbrella, but it really didn't matter. The rain was light and intermittent, with periodic sightings of the sun.

Ken and I and Tom and Nanci all got in our truck--but not to go anywhere. We just sat in the driveway with Tom at the wheel, showing off all the features of our new truck and talking about the issues we face with clearance. Tom has a 450 also. He ordered it originally with a hauler body by Fontaine Modification. It's a really good looking model, and we'd really like to have one like it, but Fontaine is no longer dealing with medium duty trucks.

Ken and I went to Safeway to pick up some things we needed to fix dinner. We made spinach salad, Asiago garlic bread, broccoli, and a pasta recipe I got from the Splendid Table, called Pasta with Instant Fresh Pesto and Balsamic Vinegar. We took everything over to Tom and Nanci's to cook and ate there. We really enjoy looking out the back window and seeing the birds and squirrels.

That reminds me that earlier in the day we saw a hawk sitting on one of the bird feeders--probably a Cooper's Hawk. Nanci admitted that they sometimes found feathers scattered in the grass. The hawk was a beautiful sight.

Rob, Tom's son, came by bringing a turnip from his garden and a couple of pints of strawberries. We all enjoyed the fresh strawberries and vanilla ice cream, one last time. While we sat in the living room eating our ice cream, Tank appeared, looking up expectantly. He loves to lick out the ice cream bowls. Tom jokes that they end up clean enought to put back in the cupboard.


One of the wildlife specimens we saw was less than 100% delightful--a giant slug was trying its best to get in the front door. Tom used the tried and true method to deal with it: he poured salt on it. We decided not to watch it.