Last Day of Dancing

When our shuttle bus was approaching the Convention Center this morning, we could see that the area had been transformed. People were streaming towards the Hoopfest gathering. A whole series of basketball hoops had been set up. We watched for a bit. Each goal had two teams of three pitted against each other, with referees and onlookers. It was a very festive atmosphere.

We danced with Bob and Barb in the Advanced hall and the Challenge hall.

Bob and Barb Schultz

Jim and Ronni Carroll

We got an email message from Terri. They arrived safely in Tokyo, exhausted but excited. Tomorrow they'll be househunting.

This evening we shared dinner with our friends. Ed and Marlyn grilled salmon and everyone contributed something to the feast. How many RVs will seat eight for dinner? Ed and Marlyn's did (with a little help from Wes and Jenske--they brought over some chairs and two very interesting square TV trays). It was wonderful to spend time with our old Rogues friends. We only wished that Tom and Nanci had been able to be there.

Darlene and Jim Kellerman

Ed, Jim and Darlene, and Ken

Wes fixing delicious rootbeer floats

It was a great ending to the 2012 National Square Dance Convention. Read more!

Beautiful Day & Great Dancing

We woke up this morning to another beautiful day, with blue skies and sunshine. Ken wanted to fix the LP tray using Wes's file, but found there wasn't enough room to maneuver. He ended up using a smaller nut and bolt.

We took the 9:20 a.m. shuttle bus to the Convention Center. Because of a horse show, the gate we've usually been using was closed, so the buses have been re-routed. That's good for us--our bus stop is now much closer to our coach. We arrived in time to dance in the C hall from 10:00-12:00. Then we had a two-hour lunch break, because the 1:00-2:00 p.m. hour was C-2.

We went outside and found a bench to sit on and share a picnic lunch. Then we walked along the waterfront and checked out the unique play space--a huge Radio Flyer wagon. The handle forms a slide, and overhead bars underneath the main wagon challenge older kids to swing hand over hand. Under the handle are lower bars for smaller kids. I was impressed by how strong all the little kids were. I could never swing myself along overhead bars.

We ran into Wes and Jenske and walked along with them for a while before heading over to the A hall, hoping to find some of our friends there. We danced with Ruth and Jerry and Wes and Jenske and Joe and Chris Viers (from St. George, UT, but also former Rogues). We saw Sharon Flower and Ed and Marlyn and Jim and Darlene too.

The floor wasn't quite as crowded as it is in the evening, but still pretty tight. Even staying in your own square could be a challenge! The caller, Hunter Keller, decided to call a singing call, which Ken is trying to avoid because they're harder on his back, so I danced with one of the solo guys who was sitting nearby. I enjoy some high energy dancing with twirling, but after several twirls, I start to get a bit dizzy.

It was time for us to move to the C hall for C-1 dancing at 2:00 p.m., so we said goodbye and headed out on our ten-minute trek to the C hall, where we danced a tip with Randy Dougherty and Darlene. They had their cute little therapy dog with them. It's small enough to carry around in a purse sized carrier. Randy called for half and hour, but ran into some difficulties with the sound equipment. When he left the hall, he said that his $1,000 computer had been fried. We're hoping it will recover. We were very happy to have a chance to dance with Klaus and Uuschii again for one tip, along with David and Heidi.

Our shuttle bus ride back to the fairgrounds was delayed by a long train, so after a quick dinner, we headed back to the Convention Center in time for the 8:00-10:00 p.m. C dancing. We danced with Max and Susan. They said they had enjoyed the city tour they took this morning. The tip we danced with them and caller Doren McBroom and his partner and another couple was rather frustrating. We spent most of the time standing in lines. The rest of the evening we were much more successful. Max and Susan moved to a different hall. We were lucky to have some solid couples.

We were surprised to find out that Scot Byars started calling at age 11 in 1970. In his rakish hat and outfits, he looks much younger than 50 something. He did a great job of calling C-1 for the last half hour. However, when he started out he called a C-2 call. Of course the dancers expressed their consternation. Scot said that he'd been told he was calling C-2, but he segued right into C-1. Read more!

More Dancing

Terri called this morning at 6:35 a.m. When my phone rang, I thought it was my alarm, so I tried to hit snooze. It quit ringing, but then Ken said he had heard someone say hello. Sure enough, Terri had just called, so I called her back, still only half awake. She wanted to say goodbye--they were on their way to Tokyo. Hope they had a comfortable trip. It's hard to think of them being so far away again for three years.

After breakfast, we headed over to the Convention Center on the 10:00 a.m. shuttle. The ride was on time, the driver was friendly, and we got to the dance in one piece--all to the good. The schoolbus suspension leaves something to be desired.

When we arrived at the Challenge hall, we found out that C-1 was scheduled from 10:00 to 12:00. We saw Kit and Marty, two of our friends from the Rio Grande Valley, and several couples we had danced with last year either at AACE or Nationals in Detroit. Our first square included a very weak couple, so we ended up standing around most of the tip, but later we had more success.

When the session ended, we went to the Vendor hall. We saw lots of square dance attire and shoes for sale, but nothing we needed. I was looking for a black short skirt of the sort that I could wear for other things and not just square dancing. We don't need attire in the Rio Grande Valley--all the Advanced and Challenge sessions are casual dress. The only thing we really need square dance attire for is something like Nationals, where "proper square dance attire" is required for the evening dances.

We went outside and found a wall to sit on while eating our pb&j lunch. We watched the seagulls and the ducks in the river. There are not many benches in the Riverfront Park area. After lunch we danced in the Advanced hall planning to dance from 1:00 to 3:00 because the Challenge hall was dancing C-2. We ended up leaving at 2:00 because an Intro to A-1 hour started, and a flood of plus dancers arrived.

We walked over towards the C hall and sat at some tables in the registration area, chatting with Max and Susan. Ron and Margie and Ruth and Jerry joined us, and we all went to the C hall from 3:00 to 5:00. Then home for supper.

This evening we went to the Advanced hall and danced a tip before going to the Challenge hall, where C-1 was called from 8:00 to 9:00. The A hall was extremely crowded. One square was even dancing outside the door, on the carpet in the hallway.

C hall--Klaus and Ushii (from Germany) are in the far square.

Scott Byars calling C-2 for one square in the C hall this evening
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Friends at the Fairgrounds

We woke up this morning to steady rain and cold winds. Brrrr! Not our favorite weather to move in, but we didn't melt. We met Wes and Jenske and Ed and Marlyn at the fairgrounds, and we all went in together. We're camped side by side in the dry camping area (a grassy field, now getting pretty soggy). It's supposed to be a bit warmer and dryer tomorrow.

What a joy to meet up with our friends whom we have not seen in almost three years. In 2009 we caravanned with them and several other friends to Calgary and beyond. We were so excited to see them that we forgot to take any photos, but we'll make up for it tomorrow. Wes and Jenske now have a playmate for Peaches, a little spitfire (Jenske's words) named Blossom. They also have a beautiful new (to them) Alfa motorhome. It is gorgeous (and it even came with a shiny Krups coffee maker). Ed and Marlyn are still in their Alpenlite, which we have always liked a lot because of its large rear window. Johnsons' motorhome has more and larger windows than we have ever seen in a motorhome. It's very light and attractive.

Everyone came over after lunch for a tour of our new home and a visit. It was just like old times. After supper we went to Wes and Jenske's for a tour and a nice evening of talk and laughter.

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Spokane Valley

We moved from the Moses Lake Elks to the Spokane Elks lodge today. When we arrived, the host couple came right over and greeted us warmly. The RV spaces were nearly full, and many of the folks were there to attend the National Square Dance Convention. We got a nice site in the shade by a line of trees. Of course that meant that the DirecTV dish couldn't find the satellites, but the over the air TV was fine.

View of the Spokane valley from the Elks Lodge.

One of the many marmots in the area

We drove over to the fairgrounds to check out the RV camping situation. There's a large area inside the gate where we can meet Evans and Johnsons so that we can camp together.

The truck has started to give us notice that our DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) is about to run out. We stopped at the Flying J at Broadway and I-90 and found out that they have the 2.5 gallon carton for $13.99. We'll need two.

I talked with Terri. She told me about her visit to the hospital. It reminded me a lot of the final hours of Mom's life, holding her hands and hoping that she knew we were there loving her. Kathy called. She had seen the kids' postings on Facebook about Fran's passing and wondered what had happened.
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On the Road to Spokane

Today was a very sad day for the Shaffer family. The kids' Aunt Fran passed away after a brief sudden illness.  Terri flew to Nacogdoches to see her one last time before flying out this week to Tokyo with Blake and Molly for a three-year tour of duty. The family will all miss her very much.

We got up at 7:00 a.m. today as usual on our travel days, but somehow we didn't get out as early as we had expected. In fact, it was noon when we pulled away from the Rowes' home and headed towards Moses Lake, where we planned to spend the night.

We enjoyed the sunny weather for our last walk along the Chehalis Western Trail. When we returned to the house, we found Nanci cutting fresh flowers for us to update the bouquet she picked yesterday. What really took more time than we had thought was hooking up and backing our huge rig out of the driveway without running over any grass (and raking the gravel back into place). Tom provided the directions to Ken, who was driving. Nanci and I stayed on the sidelines. Next time we visit, we're thinking it might be easier to back the rig in so that we can pull out of the driveway facing forward!

Our first stop was the Sea-Tac Rest Area on I-5, where we dumped our tanks and had lunch. There were three lanes at the dump station. We were behind a guy who was emptying two blue boys from the back of his enclosed truck. We traveled across I-90, passing from landscapes full of trees and very green and mountainous to barren desert. When we came upon the Vantage Bridge over the Columbia, it was like an aparition in the desert. We stopped at a vista point to see the Wild Horse Monument and look down at the mighty river.

Approaching the Vantage Bridge over the Columbia

Wild horse monument near Vantage on a bluff overlooking the Columbia

Another view of the Vantage Bridge from the vista point for the Wild Horse Monument

Wind turbines seen from rest area along I-90 catch the desert winds at the Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility

When we arrived in Moses Lake, we stopped first at the Walmart, hoping for a quick and easy place to spend the night, but their parking lot was rather small and unlevel. The Moses Lake Elks Lodge was across the street, so we went over there. The lodge was closed, but one motorhome was parked in the "RV area"--actually just a part of the parking lot with utility posts offering 30 amp electricity and water. We walked along the street and a path along a part of the lake, where we found this sign and fountain.

When we returned from our walk, we found that the electricity was not on. The electrical management system was showing an error: PE01--reversed polarity. Ken went and moved the plug to a different outlet, and all was well.
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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.
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Home Bodies

We didn't do much today. It rained on and off this morning and again this evening. We did celebrate its being Friday by going to Lattin’s Country Cider Mill and Farm for some of their famous apple fritters. Tom and Nanci took us here on our last visit, so I guess now it's a tradition. The fritters were delicious. They also have produce, some of it grown on their farm. If we hadn't just been to two farmer's markets, we'd have bought some.

We had to go right past a nice Goodwill store on the way home, so of course we had to stop and check things out. Ken found a National Geographic book on Australia and New Zealand called Surprising Lands Down Under. Nanci found a nice black lightweight wool sweater. She likes to layer. I found a small vase to hold some of Tom and Nanci's lovely flowers.

When we got home, Ken and I got ready to go for a walk on the trail. I looked for my rain jacket, and it was nowhere to be found. We decided that it must be at Goodwill, so I called the store to inquire. After being on hold for ten minutes, we decided to drive back to look. As I walked through the garage on my way out to the truck, I suddenly spotted the rain jacket lying on a shelf where I evidently stashed it when I got out of the car.

Crisis averted, we were ready to go on our walk. We took our umbrellas but didn't need them. It was a cool, overcast day, but not unpleasant, since there was no chilling breeze.

Terri called today. We talked about their upcoming move. They will be in a hotel for five nights before flying to Seattle on Wednesday and then to Tokyo on Thursday. Terri will be making a quick flight to East Texas to see her Aunt Fran who is in the hospital and not expected to leave. Aunt Fran is one of Terri's favorite people in the whole world, so this is a very sad time for her. We saw Fran and John at Kelley's graduation party. At that point she seemed to be doing pretty well, though of course she was using an electric scooter.

Tonight's supper was soft tacos. Tom had hamburger in his, and the rest of us had cubed chicken breast. Nanci made some really delicious guacamole.
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Happy 15th Anniversary!

We didn't walk at all yesterday. We had a plenty full day moving to Olympia (not to mention trying to extricate our Majestic from the mud). Today we wanted to be sure to get out and walk on the Chehalis Western Trail. There's a trailhead parking lot near the intersection of Fir Tree and Summerwood, but Tom and Nanci can access the trail via a path near their house. The trail is nicely paved and wide. It's part of the Rails to Trails initiative.

Later, Tom and Nanci took us to the Olympia Farmer's Market. We saw lots of produce and flowers.

Tom drove us to Boston Harbor, where we watched the starfish (or "sea stars") clinging to the pilings. We saw some crabs too, including one little one that was scrabbling around a piling. Some kids were on the dock celebrating the last day of school. One of the moored boats was playing Beach Boys songs

Tom and Nanci again prepared a great dinner, including Omaha Signature steaks sent to Nanci as a get well gift by one of her long time friends.
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Good Friends

Today we moved from Stan Hedwall Park to the Rowes' house in Olympia. We did some grocery shopping and stopped in at I-5 Uhlmanns RV to pick up a replacement bulb for the one that burned out under the sink. While we were at it we picked up some extras. The bulbs have an unusual cone shape.

We drove to Tom and Nanci's, where we got a warm welcome. We pulled the coach into position and unhooked (after testing to make sure the DirecTV dish could see the satellites). When Ken pressed the "autolevel" the system started behaving very strangely. It lifted the coach completely off the ground, but never leveled it. After trying this a couple of times, we called the tech again, and he said that it sounded like the system had lost its level point, so we had to calibrate it again. He walked us through the process, and then all was well. Thanks to Jim Armstrong at Quadra Manufacturing for his great assistance.

Now we could finish setting up in the Rowes' RV Park, using their 30 amp electrical outlet. Then we adjourned to the patio for some decompression time with mojitos mixed by Tom and lots of conversation with Tom and Nanci. Their back yard is such a beautiful and peaceful place, surrounded by trees and lovely landscaping, and the birds and squirrels that they feed provide a never ending show.

We gave them the grand tour of our new home. We love to show it off, and they were nicely appreciative. We also got a chance to see all of the new features in their lovely home, like Tom's woodwork over the windows and Nanci's curtains, and their new dining table and chairs.

Tom grilled salmon for dinner, with a butter sauce recipe similar to one his mother used to make--absolutely delicious with an interesting rice combo, broccoli, and slaw. We ate on the patio, watching the birds and squirrels. Later we had some wonderful local strawberries with ice cream.

Nanci seems to be doing very well, three weeks post surgery. She has a corset-style brace to protect her back and has to be careful not to bend over, so she uses here reachers (she has different styles). She has a couple of walkers borrowed from neighbors, but she doesn't use them in the house. Of course she's still healing. She tires easily and is taking pain pills, although fewer than at first. We're delighted to see her recovering.
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Quiet Day

Not much happening today. We slept in until 9 a.m., walked around the park, watched the News Hour, listened to the train whistle, enjoyed the sunshine slanting through the trees, finally figured out where the "organic dump" is, had meatloaf and baked sweet potato and broccoli and salad for supper.

Tomorrow we'll head to our friends the Rowes house--just a hop, skip, and a jump from here. We are looking forward to seeing them after three years (three years???). Nanci is recovering from her recent back surgery, so we'll have to be careful hugging her.

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Move to Chehalis

We decided to find a quiet place to catch our breath and catch up on some chores. Stan Headwall City Park in Chehalis is just off I-5, but far enough that the RV park is quiet (except when the infrequent trains blow their horns).  It's on the way to Olympia, our next destination, so we figured it would be a perfect place to hang out.

We also realized that we had one empty 40 lb. propane cylinder, so Ken called a propane dealer in Chehalis who directed us to I-5 Uhlmann RV, located just off exit 76 (the exit we were planning to take for the city park). The folks at the RV place were friendly and efficient--and we paid only $1.60 a gallon for propane. Filling one tank and topping off the second brought our total up to 7.5 gallons for $12.96, far and away the least expensive and friendliest propane fill ever!

When we arrived, we saw only one RV in the 29 spaces. We picked out a spot (site #4) which was long enough to fit our rig and where we thought our TV dish would be able to find the satellites. We filled out a registration envelope and paid for two nights at $15 a night--a good deal for a peaceful spot. One more RV came in later, and on our walk we spotted a tent in one of the sites, so now there are four of us.

After we set up, we started to clean the bugs off the front cap and the front of the truck. One thing led to another, and we ended up spending an hour scrubbing road tar and bug splats. Satisfied that our vehicles looked much better, we went inside to kick back for a bit before taking our walk.

Much of the park is devoted to playing fields--baseball diamonds and soccer fields. When we took our walk, we saw lots of kids out practicing kicking soccer balls.

We walked along Rice Rd. adjacent to the park and came across these cute and quizzical looking characters.

After a bit I realized that the reason they looked so unusual to me is that they've been sheared. I've never seen a sheared llama before. It makes their necks look very slender.

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Father's Day at the Park

We packed up our picnic stuff and headed over to join Chris and Shawn and Annie. We rode in Shawn's SUV to Kelley Point Park, at the confluence of the Willamette and the Columbia. Jeremy planned the Father's Day picnic and reserved a group picnic area for it. (Jeremy is my erstwhile nephew Dave Briggs's son, which makes him Chris's first cousin once removed, but he calls Chris "Uncle Chris.")



When we got to the park we discovered that the picnic area was at a distance from the parking lot along a paved path. Actually, it turned out to be .4 miles from the car, a long way to slog with heavy picnic supplies--coolers and chairs and baskets and boxes and a grill and a large bag of charcoal. When Jeremy arrived, he had brought a dolly, which made the second trip from the car to the picnic area much easier.



Chris and Annie and I had gotten together with Jeremy and Tanea and Austin and their roommate, Russell, for pizza last year when I flew out to Portland. It was nice to see them again and to meet baby Rainyn.



We had two grills, Chris's vegetarian and Jeremy's for "carnivores." The veggie grill included portabella mushrooms, veggie burgers, and veggie sausages. The other grill held hot dogs. Of course there was plenty of other food: lots of chips, dips, cheese, nuts, potato salad, baked beans, cherries, grapes, and lots more.

Kites!

Like father, like daughter...

On the beach

Beavers on the beach...

Food and fun



The kids had fun, playing frisbee, kicked soccer balls, flying kites, climbing trees, and playing with the dogs. Ken, Shawn, and I walked along the beach on the Willamette River side. We saw a small yellow bird, probably a finch, and some evidence that beavers are active in the area.



As the afternoon drew on, more friends showed up. It got progressively colder too--at least it was quite cold for us southerners. The Portlanders claimed that the weather was great!





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PSU Farmer's Market

We are staying at Clackamette Park in Oregon City, just south of Portland. The RV park is pretty basic, but the river is beautiful.

We were taking our bikes over to Chris's, so we moved the bike rack and got out the new hitch pin receiver lock we bought yesterday, only to find out that the shaft was too large to fit through the holes in the receiver. The lock we've been using wouldn't work because the shaft is not long enough to go through the 3" receiver and adapter sleeve and still have enough sticking out for the lock to fit on.

Now what? We needed something to fasten the bike rack to the truck. Then we realized that the pin we had would work--we just couldn't use it to secure the cable lock--the loop on the end of the cable was too thick. We ran the cable through the bikes and then used a padlock to secure the loop back to the cable. Not the way the thing was intended to work, but it got the job done.

We got to Chris's a bit later than we had hoped, but Annie had just finished breakfast, so all was well. Shawn was at her art class. The rest of us biked down to the PSU Farmer's Market. It's a large and impressive market, even this early in the season. We saw lots of cherries and strawberries.

We rode home from the market, only to discover that Ken had lost his Grand Canyon water bottle somewhere along the ride, unfortunately.

Chris fixed a Mexican lunch. It was all ready when Shawn came home from her art class. She had painted an interesting Western landscape, which her teacher suggested she frame for an upcoming show.

After lunch we went to say hi to some of Chris's friends who were playing games in their backyard. They have two chickens, and naturally Annie was happy to help feed them. Michael and Kathryn are planning to be married the Monday after we return from the Alaska cruise. Chris and Shawn have been taking East Coast swing dance lessons so they can dance at the wedding.

Then we walked over to Washington High School to see the Pedalpalooza Star Wars vs. Star Trek ride gathering. The organizer had a bike fitted with a complete sound system that was booming appropriate music. We had hoped for more extensive costuming, but it certainly looked and sounded like everyone was having fun.

We all went out to Clackamette Park for supper and to give Chris and Shawn and Annie a chance to see our new Majestic. It was fun to show it off. After supper we played a railroad game called Paris Connection. It turned out close, but of course Chris won.

We took a walk along the river, which was full of boats. A jet boat similar to one that Chris and Annie and Ken and I took in 2009 was passing by. The pilot thrilled his passengers by turning quickly and spraying everyone (that's part of the fun).

For dessert we had strawberries and blueberries with some Blue Bunny Rocky Road ice cream.

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