A Day Like All Days

WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY
We caught Uber to South Everett Freeway Station about 7:15 PM and sat in our usual seats by the luggage shelf downstairs on the 512 bus. When we arrived at the platform at Northgate Station, a short 2-car train was parked on the northbound track with a sign saying Out of Service. Our train soon arrived on the southbound track. At University Street Station, our buddy James Mulvaney boarded and we talked about travel, hockey, and bartending until he left at Tukwila International Boulevard Station one stop before the airport. At Sea-Tac Airport Station we took the shuttle to the terminal. There was almost no line at security and it didn't take too long to get recombobulated. As we made our way to the end of the A concourse where our gate was, I noticed all of the restaurants and most of the shops (except for Hudson News) had already closed for the evening (it was after 9:30) which interfered with our plans for dinner at the airport. Fortunately Gary found an open McDonald's in concourse B and fetched our dinner from there while I watched our bags. There was a delay in boarding while the aircraft was cleaned and sanitized, which resulted in a chaotic queue at the gate that an arriving passenger characterized as "Jesus, what a clusterf**k". But we managed to board the plane (a wide-body Airbus with two aisles and eight seats across) without incident and our seat belts fit nicely. I put on a playlist on the seat-back monitor and slept much of the flight to Atlanta, except for a few moments when the dude seated in front of Gary carried on a loud conversation with the crew about his malfunctioning monitor; they ended up making a paper shield to hide the screen because it wouldn't turn off.

When we arrived in Atlanta I realized we wouldn't have time for breakfast before boarding the flight to Augusta. Instead, after a stop in the bathroom, we caught the train from concourse E to D and walked to our gate at the extreme end of the concourse. We were seated together on one side of the small aircraft from Bombardier and, of course, the seat belts were too small. The chief flight attendant handed us extensions and suggested I take the vacant seat across the aisle. Beside us, there were two other big bears on the flight; the one in front of us in First Class was waving to his grandchildren seated in the back of the plane. When it came time for the safety briefing, the chief flight attendant pointed out her assistant on our flight was her granddaughter (who looked a bit embarrassed by the attention). The flight was too short for drinks to be served; it seemed we had only just reached cruising altitude when we began our descent.

We arrived at the gate in Augusta (one of two with jet bridges and six overall) and it was a short walk to baggage claim (where we saw two unusually long bags which were clearly for golf clubs) and the Hertz counter. The car was parked right across the street from the terminal, and we were soon on our way. Our first stop was Waffle House near the airport, where I had coffee and a bowl of grits with bacon, scrambled eggs and cheese on top, and Gary had iced tea and a bowl of hashbrowns with sausage, eggs, and cheese. While we were eating, someone called Gary from Lillie's house phone and when he returned the call, he spoke with his aunt Charlene and we drove to the house and met her, his uncle John (Lillie's older brother), and a family friend Sharon. We sat and talked with John in among a string of phone calls.

About one, Gary called the hotel and found a room was ready for us, so we headed there to check in. We zonked out on the bed until about 3:30, when Gary took a call on the room phone and headed for the lobby to meet some family members. Later he called me to come down to meet him. Lillie had arrived with her other siblings and some of their children, and they brought Popeye's chicken and fixings so we had a late lunch. I also texted Alan Braden and we decided since he's hosting a game stream (About Us) at 8 PM it would be a squeeze to fit in a dinner out, so I suggested we make a day of it tomorrow since he and Alan are off work. Lillie went home to grab a few more things. After we finished eating,  the ladies present brought out the liquor.  Gary's cousin Tamecka, her brother Damien, and sister arrived with beer for themselves, and moscato wine for uncle John  of which we shared a taste. After a nice chat, John, his brother Larry, Gary and I played a game of dominoes with Charlene kibitzing with Gary. (John won rather handily.)

As it was getting close to eight and we wanted to grab dinner, we excused ourselves,  returned to the room for pills and a bathroom break, then drove to Texas Roadhouse just down the highway. I ordered my usual steakhouse meal (sirloin, loaded baked potato, and chili) and Gary ordered a grilled chicken salad.  Our waiter was a lean young black dude wearing a form-fitting shirt, and a simply huge bear passed by in the next aisle. After dinner we stopped by Kroger for distilled water and Powerade Zero, then returned to the hotel and turned on the Kraken game on Internet radio when it started at ten. Gary was fast asleep by the time the game got underway. He woke up during the first intermission (when the Anaheim Ducks were leading the Kraken 1-0) as I prepared for bed about 10:45. Then I fell asleep and woke up when Gary got up to do his bedtime rituals he'd skipped, and the Ducks had just scored an empty net goal to lead 6-4; they scored *another* empty-netter for a final score of 7-4. (Cue TPIR loser horns.)

SUNDAY, August 29

Got up around quarter to seven to pee. Gary's alarm went off at 7:30 and we had some quality time before my alarm went off 45 minutes later. I prepared for the day and started packing up, but reached a point where I wasn't certain how to make everything fit. Gary folded up all our clothes, clean and dirty, and we packed clean clothes in Gary's suitcase and dirty in mine.

We left the room about 11 AM, checked out, and drove to Sheila's house for brunch. We arrived just before Colleen. At the table, Len announced his intention to retire, having been laid off yet again. We brought Sheila the fresh grapes we'd stashed in our hotel fridge and the rest of the aluminum cups we hadn't used. She had fixed a breakfast casserole, sugar-free banana nut bread, and fruit salad, served with bagels and pumpkin rolls. We sat and talked for hours until we had to leave about quarter to four.

We dropped off the rental car and checked bags without incident. At security, a big young bear TSO barked instructions on my lane while Gary chose the opposite lane. My lane moved slowly because of the number of children in line ahead of me. It didn't take long to get recombobulated, aside from putting on my suspenders. That settled, we descended into the transportation hall two long flights of escalators below. The east train was shut down for safety inspection and the monitors over the doors quoted appropriate song lyrics: "Walk On By", "You'll Never Walk Alone", and "These Boots Are Made for Walking". We took the train to concourse A and soon found our gate. We didn't have long to wait for boarding because of our First Class tickets.

Soon after takeoff, I noticed we were climbing over some huge stacks of fluffy white clouds, brilliantly lit from above. I settled in to watch an episode of House Hunters set in Dallas, with a cute cublet looking for his first condo with the help of his female BFF from college. The episode ended just as dinner was served: ravioli with asparagus and diced squash, a green salad with vinaigrette (non, je ne vinaigrette rien), and a buttered roll. After dinner I listened to some music, journaled, and went back to the TV section. About a half hour's worth of home improvement shows and a trip to the bathroom later, I decided to get some sleep. I put on A Charlie Brown Christmas and slept for at least one cycle through the album. The flight attendant served warm cookies and drinks while I listened to my GALA Festival VIIe recording from 2004, followed by the American Choral Masterpieces recording from 2007. Gary got some nice shots of Mt. St. Helens and Rainier and of the sunset over the Olympic mountains as we prepared to land at Sea-Tac.

We got our bags and retrieved the car from WallyPark, and arrived home just after nine. It had been a very long day and I ended up falling asleep in the recliner.

FRIDAY, August 27

I woke up just after seven to pee and didn't fall asleep again, so I got up and started my day around 7:30. Gary slept through his alarm so I woke him about 20 to nine. He told me he wasn't feeling like having the hotel breakfast so we went to a local diner in Fairfield called Lindenwald Station. The place was decorated with model trains on tracks at the ceiling. I ordered the cattle car omelet (three meats, cheese, and smothered with sausage gravy) and Gary the cheese omelet. Everything tasted very good. The manager was a cute muscular cub with dark hair and beard in a U of Cincinnati polo shirt, blue jeans and boots. Also a young dude with dark hair in a man-bun peeked out of the kitchen to serve customers at the counter. We hurried a bit so they could seat a party of six at our table.

From there we sat in the car and looked for a park to explore and get some exercise. Then Gary remembered we had skipped the butterfly show at the Krohn Conservatory in order to visit Devou Park, so we drove there directly from the diner. We arrived just after 11:30 so the lady in the ticket booth gave us timed tickets for 12 noon. We explored the Fern Room and the Palm Room before getting in line for the main show. I noticed a tall young dude with impressive (and a little scary) ink on one arm and both calves, as well as a big, long-haired dude who reminded me of David (Schönebär). The butterflies were everywhere: little white ones with orange wingtips; huge gray ones revealing splotches of brilliant blue when they flapped their wings; and every size and color in between. Early on, one landed on Gary's phone; later he caught one on a card we were provided, and still later one landed on the leg of my jeans. When we were ready to leave the butterflies, we exited through the bonsai exhibit and the cactus room, then sat on an outdoor bench and planned our next steps. I was getting hungry and suggested a little tavern on nearby Mt. Adams with a view of downtown. Gary wasn't quite as hungry and suggested we head to the Banks instead.

We drove to the Banks garage and walked the long block of Freedom Way between the museum block where we were parked and the Great American Ball Park. I was struck by the empty street and the number of places which were closed. Eventually we stepped into Condado Tacos, immediately across the street from the ballpark, for lunch. We had chips with guacamole and corn salsa, and Gary had one taco and I had two. They were almost as good (but smaller) as the ones from Agave and Rye.

As we left the restaurant, there was a moderate rain shower but it moved off and dried up in a few minutes. We ducked into the nearest entrance to the garage and quickly found the underground passage to the car. On the way back to the hotel, Colleen called to update us on the plans for the evening. We arrived at the room about ten to four.

Gary decided to lie down and relax, while I prepared for a dip in the pool. After my first lap, a little girl in water wings insisted on racing me the length of the pool. Once I figured out what was going on, I let her win, twice, after which she swam over to her mother and suggested I could go on by myself because she was tired. I got in a good swim and then checked my text messages. Matt wanted to know what kind of pizza we wanted, so I returned to the room to ask Gary, and we agreed on sausage and mushrooms (our go-to toppings). I half watched the news while Gary napped. Matt texted us again to let us know Colleen was stuck in traffic so we agreed to travel directly to Matt's and Colleen could meet us there.

We left about six and arrived about 6:30, just after Colleen. Milo was being fed through a tube and Ella was barking her head off the first few minutes after we walked in the door. We took a brief tour of the main level of the house, then sat down to dinner. Over dinner and for several hours afterward, we swapped stories and watched Milo (who was uncharacteristically wide awake at 9 and 10 PM) and Ella (who was as usual asleep on the couch). As ten PM approached, Gary was getting sleepy, so Tristan showed us the walk-out basement before we went our way. I got a splitting headache on the way back so I took my contacts out and otherwise prepared for bed.

WEDNESDAY, August 25

Gary set his alarm for seven, so I ended up getting up then to pee and sat up in bed for a bit. After a while I finished preparing for the day and journaled while Gary did the same. We hurriedly stowed away our medication and other things so housekeeping could service the room as requested, and left for breakfast around nine. While we ate, I noticed an alarm going off some distance away, followed by a heated dispute between the desk clerk, maintenance, and a father and mother who were apparently being evicted from the property because their child had been playing with the fire alarm. The father's beef was concerning the fire inspector allegedly barging into the room while the child was changing clothes. The clerk pointed out that they could have had everyone involved arrested. Gary was uncomfortable and suggested we leave right away, but as it happened we ended up following the parents out of the hotel.

Our first stop was Mount Airy Forest. On the way there, we saw a brown minivan with a message painted on the back window about supporting one another rather than gunning people down. Surrounding that vehicle, two white cars jockeyed for position as though one of the drivers wanted a race and the other wasn't having it. The first driver eventually misjudged and ran a red light, thus temporarily removing himself from the situation to everyone's relief. We sat in the Vasey Green Garden and relaxed, surfed the net and journaled. A maintenance crew were working around the building, including a young dude with an epic dark beard. We walked over to the Clematis Garden and took some pictures there, and on the way back we noticed the maintenance crew had put a big 360° sprinkler in the middle of the Vasey Green Garden so we detoured around it and returned to the car. I needed to use the bathroom and saw a "WC" notation near the Oval so we drove there just as it started to rain. So after using the facility, we left the park and headed downtown.

We parked in the Central Riverfront Garage underneath the Banks. When we emerged from the elevator, it was raining fast and furious and we hurried to the streetcar station. My phone warned me the charging port was wet from the rain. We took the streetcar past Music Hall and left it at Findlay Market on the Elm Street end; by then, the heavy rain had stopped. The street was blocked by a sign and a police car, while a woofy blond-bearded dude in a hi-vis T-shirt who reminded me of Jay Buhner waved cars away. The officer drove the car aside whenever a bus or a streetcar arrived as these vehicles were allowed past the roadblock. We later discovered the reason for the roadblock was a utility crew making saw cuts in the pavement. We stopped by a counter where a bearish Greek-looking dude sold us gyros, fries, and bottles of Fitz's soda from St. Louis. We walked around the building to find a table, and ended up wiping down the wet table and chairs and, for good measure, sat on the bags our meals came in. After lunch and a few pictures across the street, we stopped by the restroom on our way to the Race Street end of the market, where we caught the streetcar south.
We left at Washington Park and walked across the park to Music Hall where we'd arranged for a 2 PM tour.

We were met by a tour guide named Bill who was interested in the fact we hail from Washington state. Shortly thereafter our tour guide, Gayley, arrived and the two tour groups went in different directions for social distancing purposes. Gayley first showed us the grand lobby with its original 1878 marble and slate tile floor intact, then escorted us into the auditorium where the CSO were about to rehearse, with the large instruments already on stage and the others laid out on tables backstage (as she mentioned at the time and we later saw firsthand). She mentioned a fresco on the ceiling surrounding the chandelier which wasn't visible because the lights weren't turned on, but by the time she finished her talk, the lights came on and we got some pictures. We then took the long walk around to the backstage crossover and the rear of the North Hall. The auditorium was originally much longer than it is wide, but a proscenium arch was built toward the middle of the hall to make a deeper stage for ballet and the back wall was moved forward for acoustics. She said the proscenium made the grand pipe organ at the back of the stage obsolete, and it was dismantled and thrown away. However, some of the carved wood panels from the organ case were recovered over the years and used to panel the Taft Suite of meeting rooms (which we weren't able to see because they were in use). Backstage otherwise reminded me of McCaw Hall in Seattle, except for the occasional bit of original duct work and the half-hexagon where the organ used to be. We got a glimpse of the May Festival rehearsal hall which I remember visiting in high school. Our next stop was the grand ballroom in the South Hall where I attended at least one dance in high school, and where the Friends of Music Hall maintain a "Mighty Wurlitzer" theater organ rescued from the Albee Theater. From there we visited the Corbett Tower which was originally the classroom space for the College of Music next door, then the original studio for WCET (the first licensed public broadcasting station) before being restored to its original grandeur in the 2017 renovation. We made one last attempt to visit the Taft Suite but it was still in use, so we returned to the box office and parted ways.

After the tour we crossed Washington Park again and, after a pause to try to straighten out some shipping issues, caught the streetcar back to the Banks. Gary wasn't hungry so we wandered around Smale Park and the Roebling Suspension Bridge before returning to the car. We hit I-75 during the evening rush hour and noticed several places where cars and big rigs were lined up for miles, but despite a few unsafe lane changes, we made it back to the hotel without incident.

After chilling out in the room and checking in with Colleen, we left for dinner at Quaker Steak and Lube off Colerain Avenue. I had a nice steak with baked potato and beans; Gary had the biker chicken salad but they appeared to have left out the chicken. From there we stopped by Meijer (pronounced like Meyer) for more beverages, cookies, grapes, and the Enquirer. We returned to the room for the night, and I finished my journal around 11 and relaxed a bit before bed.

MONDAY, August 22

I woke up about quarter after five to pee, and again just before seven so I turned off my alarm set for 7:30. Gary woke up just after eight as I finished showering and dressing for the day. We went downstairs for breakfast around nine. At breakfast I suggested we visit Mount Airy Forest on the west side of Cincinnati. Since Gary hadn't packed sneakers, we decided to visit the Skechers store at the nearby outlet mall in Monroe. The mall didn't open till 11 so we returned to the room to wait and watch Let's Make a Deal.

We left just after 11 for the outlet mall. I-75 was a little scary with a mix of too many 18-wheelers and too many cars jockeying for position around them with unsafe lane changes. Gary found a good pair of brown walking shoes and a pair of black casual slip-ons. I tried on some water shoes but they didn't have any in my size. After making the purchase, we stopped by the food court (built to resemble the historic Union Terminal) for lunch at Charley's Philly Steaks. They only had two people working so the tall, scruffy youth behind the counter had to divide his time between the counter and the kitchen. I had the Fiesta cheesesteak and Gary had the Philly chicken. On the way out we stopped by the Lids store (it appeared there were two in the same mall, but this was on our way) to see if they had any hockey hats. They didn't, but I found an Ohio State cap in charcoal gray and purchased it.

We decided to return to the hotel so Gary could change socks and shoes and relax before we attempted any walking in the forest. There was an old episode of Jeopardy on the TV so we watched the last half of the show. I texted Colleen to make plans for the evening as Gary nodded off on the couch and eventually got up to nap in bed. With arrangements made, I changed into my swimsuit and headed for the pool. No one else was there. I did my five laps face down and five face up, then had an extended float on my back before lounging poolside to air dry and surf the net. After a while I was getting a bit overheated so I hopped in the water once again, did a couple more lazy laps and a brief float, then air dried thoroughly. While I was there, a large dump truck rather cleverly backed up into a space in the extreme corner of the parking lot so cars and other trucks could still get around. Also, a lean young black dude came to stock more towels. Once I was dry I returned to the room and turned the news on with the sound low and the captions on until Gary woke up. James texted me and we made arrangements to meet for dinner Taco Tuesday at Agave and Rye in Covington at 6:30. By then it was six and time to prepare to leave for Colleen's.

When we arrived at Colleen's, she and Rab were busy cooking so we sat in the family room and watched the parade of photos on the networked digital picture frame. Soon Sheila arrived and dinner was ready. We had a curious dish of chicken Marsala with a chicken tikka masala spice packet added, poured over egg noodles and served with curried cauliflower and garlic naan. It was wonderful. Sheila brought a blueberry crumble and vanilla ice cream. Kate arrived as we were finishing dinner and we all chatted for hours until Sheila had to leave about quarter after 11. We went down to the basement and looked over the stacks of memorabilia. I suggested we look into giving Kevin and David's yearbooks back to the Elder Alumni Association if they needed more copies of those years, as they would be expensive to ship to Washington state. We took a couple pairs of Dad's shoes, a bag of special socks, and the sign for Dave's bar back to the hotel with us, after arranging to return after noon tomorrow to dig deeper. We reached the hotel after midnight and took care of various loose ends until about one AM.

SATURDAY, August 21
I heard Gary's alarm go off about quarter to eight, so I turned off mine, got up and dressed. Gary woke up about quarter after nine and agreed we should skip the hotel breakfast and eat at Frisch's instead. I finished unpacking and updated my journal while Gary showered and dressed.

At Frisch's we were served by a petite lady with a thick but pleasant Asian accent. We ordered omelets instead of the breakfast bar, mine a Western with a side of bacon and iced tea, and Gary's a ham and cheese with lemonade. Unusually, there was no need for a signature on the bill, so the waitress asked for the tip amount verbally to enter into the machine when running the card. I had a brief Messenger chat with Zach from Portsmouth during which he mentioned he hadn't decided which day to drive to Cincinnati, but was committed to meeting us before we return to Seattle. My take is it will be nice if it happens, but I won't be crushed if it doesn't.

From the restaurant, Gary plotted a course on Google Maps to the Cincinnati Art Museum in Eden Park. The museum requires masks for all guests to protect the children who cannot be vaccinated. As we approached the museum on Gilbert Avenue, we passed the historic Baldwin piano factory which is now an apartment building. We bought tickets for the special exhibition of art preserved by the Monuments Men depicted in the film of that title, and proceeded directly to that exhibit. 202 of the artworks were ordered to be shipped to Washington D.C. for exhibit at the National Museum. These were eventually, by act of Congress, sent on tour around the country before being returned to Germany in three waves. Chief among the Monuments Men was Walter I. Farmer who hailed from Cincinnati. He led an effort by the Monuments Men to object to the order to ship the art to the USA called the Wiesbaden Manifesto, but it never reached their superior officers. The exhibition space opened onto a balcony overlooking the main entrance, where a Dale Chihuly glass sculpture hangs over the reception desk. From there we made our way around the second floor. Around two I was getting hungry and it must have showed, so I suggested we head downtown for lunch and return to the museum (which is free to visit apart from the special exhibition) later. Fortunately we found the Terrace Cafe inside the museum and had lunch there: Gary had a chicken salad sandwich and I had the Terrace Club, both with fruit and raspberry iced tea. Satisfied, we toured the first floor and took a break in a hallway lounge, where Gary took care of some neighborhood business while I took some pictures of the nearby courtyard. That done, we left the museum and returned to the car.

We drove the short distance past the Krohn Conservatory to the Eden Park Overlook. There was more than one family picnic going on, and occasionally a car with a loud stereo passed by and we bopped along to the beat. We got some pictures and Gary asked if there's a place to get a photo like the opening scene of The Edge of Night. So we decided to skip the Conservatory and plotted a course for Devou Park Overlook.

Because the I-71 ramp to the Brent Spence (I-71/I-75) bridge is closed, we took the Clay Wade Bailey bridge (US 25/42/127) to Covington and followed KY 8 the short distance to the park entrance. When we arrived, the lot closest to the overlook appeared full so we parked in an empty lot atop the hill and walked to a spot on that level. A wedding was going on in the pavilion to our left, and another party just to the right of the overlook, so we stayed up top and got pictures from there.

When we were done, I suggested we return to the Ohio side of the river via the Anderson Ferry. The toll taker/traffic director was a cute young cub. When we landed, it took a few traffic light cycles to get across the train tracks and River Road to ascend the hill into Delhi. I detoured briefly to drive by my childhood home and parish church/school before descending the hill on the other side and returning to River Road. I noticed the old steel viaduct had been replaced with a modern concrete one, with the support pillars painted bright red, and the old Amtrak shed had been demolished. We picked up I-75 north and returned to the hotel without incident.

After briefly checking out the pool, we returned to the room and chilled for a bit, watching the end of the Sounders match at the Columbus Crew (Seattle won, 2-1) and noshing on the snacks we bought last night. Around eight I suggested we look for a place to eat dinner, and Gary suggested Bob Evans' but they had already closed for the night. I suggested Rooster's where Rab used to take Dad when they visited (Colleen later confirmed it's his favorite place). It was pretty busy when we arrived but we only had to wait 15 minutes or so. They had a soccer match from April of the New York Red Bulls vs. NYCFC because the two teams were supposed to play tonight but the match was postponed due to Hurricane Henri. Also there was the Steelers-Lions game which had been blacked out at the hotel and a UFC fight card. After the football game and UFC were done, those screens switched to Cincinnati FC at the New England Revolution and Portland Thorns vs. Lyon (France) in the final match of the Women's International Champions Cup. Gary had a grilled chicken salad and a cup of chili, while I had 10 boneless wings and an order of fried mushrooms. By the time we finished eating, the place had largely cleared out.

Back at the hotel, we had some quality time and watched Portland win the Champions Cup with a 1-0 match over Lyon. I caught up with Colleen and made arrangements to meet James and Shib for dinner on Tuesday. I journaled and prepared for bed, where we watched ESPN till one AM or thereabouts.

FRIDAY
I rose at 4:30 AM to knock off work at 1:30 PM. It took until almost 4 to pack the VUE and get on the road. When we arrived at TRC, the Google navigation app told us to turn left into the RV area. After a slightly harrowing drive around the RV sites, we parked and eventually found the host hut across the Mountain Loop Highway by the river. Our friend Steve checked our IDs and vax cards and gave us wristbands. Next we went to check out the campsite we'd reserved. I went ahead of Gary and was greeted first by two big dogs, then by my Chorus buddies Chris and Andrew and Chris' husband Cory. It was nice to see the site was clothing optional as neither Chris nor Cory had a thing on. Gary went back across the road to retrieve the car and we unloaded our gear. While Gary was across the road, our other camp neighbor Charlie came back to the site and introduced himself. We set up the tent a little loosely because it's a bit big for the site. After that I was dripping with sweat, so I made my way to the river nearby. There was a little creek with a dodgy log bridge across, so I ditched the shoes and socks and forded the stream barefoot. Unfortunately the beach had a lot of sharp rocks in among the sand. I ditched my clothes by the river and decided to put just my socks back on to navigate down the rocky bank. I sat in the river for a few minutes and let the water wash over me, then carefully climbed back up the bank to take pictures.  There were no other bathers, although I did see a couple guys make the attempt to cross the creek on my way back.

Because my clothes were so wet,  I ended up walking all the way back to camp in only stocking feet, and ended up collapsing into the Christmas chair. Charlie made some chicken and shrimp pad thai so we didn't cook our bratwurst for dinner. After dinner one of the camp staffers, Rusty, came by with a tablet and noticed we hadn't been properly checked in; he was relieved to find we'd already gotten our wristbands and set up camp. Throughout the evening we sat in camp and chatted, sang along with Andrew's guitar, and had a great time,  especially when our neighbor Roberto stopped by and played with the dogs. As it happens, Charlie is almost 69 and his husband Jim passed away recently; they met after being married to women (one in Charlie's case and three for Jim). He divides his time between Hood River, OR and Puerta Vallarta, Mexico. Roberto hails from Portland as well. Cory has really nice ink on his right upper arm. The dogs were getting really scrappy with each other, likely because one was sleeping and didn't like being disturbed. After a lot of fascinating conversation and just a sip of Brown Sugar Bourbon, I took my cue from Charlie and Gary and went to bed about 11:30. Because the day had been so hot, I didn't bother zipping into my sleeping bag, just using it as a mattress with the microfiber blanket on top.

SATURDAY
I woke up shivering in the middle of the night and belatedly zipped into the sleeping bag, which worked well. I got up around 6:30 to use the Honey Bucket (that's Bouquet, darling...), partly because I thought I needed to sit down and partly because watering the tree is not advisable in a crowded campsite with bears (of the 4-legged variety) wandering around. I sat in the Christmas chair to journal and listened to the river running a few hundred yards over yonder and the occasional camper headed for the Honey Bucket or the food vault. I returned to the tent to possibly go back to sleep, but ended up just laying in my bunk relaxing for a bit while Gary got up to use the Honey Bucket and returned to his bunk to write. After a while I got up for the day, put away my CPAP, tested, and put on a T-shirt and my swim trunks in lieu of shorts. I went to grab the food from the vault and sat with Corey, Andrew, and the dogs (Andrew's is Zuco and Chris and Cory's is Lizzie). Lizzie has a rope toy and the two dogs had a brief tug-of-war with it.

Notes for next trip: Be sure to bring water shoes, as neither the beach nor the river bed are safe for bare feet. Also bring coffee mugs (the Kodiak ones will do nicely) and instant coffee. Finally, be sure to bring plastic cooking utensils for the nonstick pans in the camp box.

We had breakfast burritos with scrambled egg whites I cooked on our stove, fried potatoes and beans with bacon Cory cooked, and an array of salsas. After breakfast I took the cooler, snack box and stove to the bear box, then ditched the T-shirt and Gary slathered me in sunscreen. Then we all headed upriver from the spot I'd explored yesterday.

John and Drew who were in site 10 had a shade cover tied to a pile of driftwood on the beach which they let us use. Gary sat on a big rock on the riverbank and put his feet in the water; I sat in the water nearby. After a while, Gary returned to camp and I sat under the shade with Chris and Zuco while Andrew and Cory attempted to play cornhole with a set with beanbags too big for the boards. Around then, Charlie arrived and we headed for the swimming hole upriver. There I met Andy (who reminds me of Goody) and Dave; Calyn from site 4 next door, who was nursing a new tattoo; Gaelen who was a bit reluctant to go in any deeper; and Ian (who sported a Tom Selleck mustache and a festive ball cap) and another Dave. Over the course of the afternoon I alternated between the shade and the swimming hole. I caught up with Steve in the swimming hole and introduced him to Charlie. Also, I mentioned the large number of rock cairns constructed on the beach and in the water, and someone said "We have a lot of Cairn Carpenters." When I returned to the shade, John and Drew arrived and there was a quick reshuffle of chairs. Later, John fell asleep in his doughnut float, showing off a light but uniform blanket of fur all over. After a third dip in the big swimming hole,  I returned to the shade and prepared to leave as I needed to set up the kitchen and rehydrate. We all set out for camp about 4:30.

We played a game of Guillotine before dinner; Gary and I hadn't played since Rochester. Charlie cooked up on his grill all the meat we brought (marinated in Yoshida sauce) and some hot dogs and corn on the cob as well. I brought the potato salad and there were baked beans and fresh fruit. Charlie poured us all some nice wine with dinner. Afterwards I ran the food back to the bear box and vegetated in the Christmas chair for a while, sipping water and noshing on grapes. I also took my wet sneakers off to allow both them and my feet to dry. Andrew pulled out his guitar and played a few scales for practice. Gary showed me what he'd written while he read my journal so far. After a while Andrew started playing "No Rain" by Blind Melon and I whistled along. Chris and Cory went to a friend's campsite across the street, and Charlie went to the river.  When he returned, he broke out the Qwirkle dice and we played the game, which I won by a few points. After the game ended,  Gary and I stopped by the Honey Buckets and returned to camp to chat with Charlie and Andrew. Charlie went to bed about quarter to 11 and we all soon followed.

SUNDAY
I woke up about five to visit the Honey Bucket and sit down this time. As I returned to the tent, Gary got up for the same reason and I was soon back to sleep - but not for long as my CPAP battery ran out of power about an hour later. So I sat up around quarter to seven and packed up the equipment, then made an attempt to go back to sleep. About quarter to eight I gave up, went to pee, and while Andrew packed to go, I retrieved the kitchen gear and food from the bear box, and fried up the bacon and eggs. These went into another set of breakfast burritos with hash browns, refried beans and salsas. Once breakfast was done,  we cleaned up the kitchen, packed our bags and struck the tent.  Charlie asked a passerby to take our picture together before saying his goodbyes and leaving for Oregon. Very shortly (by 10:30) we had everything packed and ready to go, except the Christmas chairs where we took a much-needed rest. Gary went to retrieve the car and we were packed and on the road around quarter after 11, after hugs all around with Chris and Cory. As we approached Verlot, there were a lot of pedestrians because parking at the trail heads was full. A rather cute ginger ranger was talking with a group of people at their car, probably to tell them not to park there.

So the plan was to head to Seattle and see some folks I hadn't seen in a while. Gary is not one who enjoys crowded bars so he stayed home. I fixed stir-fry salmon and vegetables for dinner and left for Seattle on the 7:30 bus from Everett Station, stopping by the box to drop off our primary election ballots on the way. There was a dude strumming a guitar at the stop, and he was pretty good at it. He had a big upper body in a black T-shirt, a stubbly shaved head under a black ball cap, and wore skinny jeans which made his lower legs look out of proportion. An angry dude across the street in the ET bus stop shouted at his buddy; apparently they got stood up for a ride. Next to me, just outside the shelter, a sk8r girl was sitting on her board. Blonde, in all black, wearing a pink backpack and carrying a black one.

When the bus arrived, the guitar player sat in my usual place behind the staircase, so I sat opposite him on the upper deck of the Double Tall. A couple of sk8r dudes boarded at South Everett with heavy bags that bounced off every seat as they passed. Dude with Weird Al hair and a lot of ink visible under the tattered remnants of a shirt, wearing a Dodgers cap on backwards, boarded at 145th and sat in front of me. I used to have a shirt like that, it was my high school class jersey. By the end it was looking like David Banner's shirt after becoming the Hulk. There was a huge campsite north of Ravenna Blvd on the west side of the freeway. The guitarist left at 45th street.

I arrived at Westlake Station and had to use the elevator at Nordstrom because Westlake Center was closed. There were long lines at the ORCA machines so I decided to top up at Capitol Hill Station instead. I saw the two sk8r dudes on the train.

After topping up my ORCA card, I descended the hill to CC's. It was fairly busy but not packed. I just missed James Mulvaney. They've built up the area by the windows along Olive Way; it looks like the upper deck at Diesel except there's only one entrance/exit. I wasn't seeing anyone I know except Chris, and he was obviously busy, so I finished my drink and walked over to Pine Street, then caught the 11 bus toward Diesel. They don't stop at Rancho Bravo anymore, because of the BLM mural in the street.

At Diesel, I said hi to Red Mike. Hanging out while he checked out something in the kitchen, I met a dude named Matt who reminds me of Sugarbear. When Mike returned, he was chatting with a dude with a puppy in his bag. He liked my response to "Cheers." --"Seinfeld." Mike pointed out James sitting at the opposite corner of the bar and we chatted for a good while. Matthew who I know from Kenneth at Games Day came over, and I later found Kenneth and Thomas are his "boys" and his partner is Jimmy, who I met for the first time that evening. Matthew is a choral director by trade and I let him know of the opening at Puget Soundworks. Jesse was there as well, and introduced me to his friend Freddy. As it happens, Jesse works for an endoscopy practice and we talked about "getting it from both ends" and the fact they are recommending colonoscopy at 45 instead of 50 now. I was feeling good and texted Gary to meet me at Steamworks after the bar closed. I also met an Asian dude new to town named Jeff, who wanted to know about the Choruses so I texted him a link. I later saw Sean and had a brief chat with him. Against my better judgment I had a couple shots of Fireball in my apple cider, and at some point suddenly came over really drunk and stumbled. Mike was nice enough to call me an Uber to get to Steamworks safely, and I met Gary there and fell asleep in his room.

In the morning, about six, we got dressed and left to catch a bus to Northgate Transit Center where Gary was parked. I was not feeling well enough to drive so I asked him to take us home and we went immediately to bed. About three in the afternoon we went to pick up my car at Everett Station, and I watched TV for a while but soon nodded off and went back to bed about 5:30. Before falling asleep I called Colleen and caught up on her vacation. She told me that metformin metabolizes alcohol so you don't feel the effects right away, which might explain the sudden symptoms at the end of the night. Gary and I split a Mod Pizza around 8:30, and I went to bed for the night around 10:30.

Before starting my work day I sent Mike a message to thank him for the Uber ride. I decided to nap again about 8:30 during a gap between meetings, knowing I would make up the time during scheduled patching. As it happened, though, the SA who was to do the patching was out of the office and no one was available to reschedule.

The past couple days haven't been too bad, considering the temperatures and lack of air conditioning in the house. We took very different approaches over the past three days.

Sunday we spent much of the day driving around in my relatively new, air-conditioned car. We visited Gene Coulon Park on Lake Washington across from our old apartment, then a drive-by at Snoqualmie Summit and a crossing of Lake Washington on the floating bridge which we hadn't done in a while.

Yesterday I shifted my work day earlier to take advantage of cooler morning air, then closed the curtains and windows. As a result the house stayed about 10 degrees cooler than outside all day, even when it reached 100 degrees here in Everett (better than 107-109 in Seattle or the 110s in Portland).

Today I kept the early work shift, but left the windows open as it was much cooler than yesterday. The change in schedule allowed for a much-needed afternoon siesta.

Longer term, I think this fall when prices and availability are closer to sanity, we should consider central air conditioning with enhanced filtration. Not only is this necessary for the odd heat wave, but also for wildfire season which seems to get worse every year.

Gary and I took a drive to Granite Falls, about a half hour's drive from home. We explored the old fish ladder which allows salmon to bypass the falls on their way upstream. There's a high cliff on the other side of the river and a lot of graffiti on the concrete structure of the fish ladder. The sound of the water made it difficult for me to hear Gary and vice versa. (Two minutes for interference...) There were several family groups, including two ladies with a silver Lab, a spotted brown dog of mixed breed (both almost ten), and a small child who screamed with delight on seeing the falls; a big Hispanic family including la abuelita; and a family of five including mom, dad, grandpa, and a small boy and girl. The latter dad wore a black denim vest with Black Flag among other bands in white print, black shorts, and a black and red ball cap with the brim bent up; he had impressive ink on both arms and both calves. He carried his small son most of the way. When we returned to the car we had to wait a while for both foot and vehicle traffic to clear behind us before we could pull out to return to Everett. Rather than returning home right away, we parked at Everett Station and caught the 512 bus to Seattle, intending to visit Volunteer Park which we hadn't visited in a while. We got a Double Tall and sat upstairs toward the back.

We switched to the 10 bus up the Hill to Volunteer Park.  Along the way a couple pushing a stroller boarded; neither of them appeared old enough to have a child. He was a twinkish dude in a black vest and no shirt, carrying a backpack and wearing a black ball cap; she had pink hair tied in a tiny bun. The child appeared to be not quite two.  We alighted at 15th and Prospect and followed the path to the center of the park by the Black (Hole) Sun sculpture and the Asian Art Museum. There were quite a few ducks in a small pond to one side despite the efforts of the groundskeepers to exclude them (for fear of drowning their little ducklings). There were also lots of people reclining in the grass throughout the park. I stopped to use the bathroom by the conservatory, which was one of a pair of cute little cottages connected by a covered bench.  From there we exited the park and walked north on 15th to Lake View Cemetery to pay our respects to Bruce and Brandon Lee who are buried there. We waited for a large group of people to vacate the railed off enclosure leading to and surrounding the gravesite. Afterwards we exited the cemetery and spent some time at the nearby Louise Boren Lookout,  where a nice lady visiting from Idaho inquired about the taller mountain to the north, and I told her I believe it's Mount Baker (a closer look confirmed that, as Mount Shuksan which we visited last fall is partly visible to its west).

After a few pictures and a much-needed rest on the benches, we returned to the bus stop at 15th and Galer and waited for the driver to finish a layover. A party of three boarded the bus ahead of us, and one dude revealed a New York City MTA Metrocard as he paid his fare, while the lady with him carried a New Yorker bag.

We took the bus a few stops south and exited at Mercer Street for lunch at Olympia Pizza. We were seated on the Harry's Bar side, and ordered hot sandwiches with lentil soup; I got the sausage and Gary the meatballs. Our waiter was a lean and cute young dude with a modest Afro hairstyle, while the other waiter had nice ink on his forearms. We watched the A's at Mariners game while we ate; the final score was Mariners 6, A's 5.

After a pit stop we returned to the bus stop and rode a few more stops to the Capitol Hill Station, then walked down the hill to C.C. Attle's for a drink or two. There were quite a few folks already there only a few minutes after they opened at 4 PM. Because proof of vaccination is required for entry, no one needs to wear a mask, which is nice. The bartender on our side was a cute cub with a thick, dark beard, wearing a pink Nasty Pig cap backwards and a blue T-shirt that read "Easily Corrupted" in white. We sat in the back corner and checked some items on our phones while we drank (Coke for Gary and Angry Orchard for me) and people-watched. Chris, the owner of the bar, came over and we had a nice long chat and attempted to solve the world's problems. As he left to go clean the trash room, Andy from the Chorus arrived and we chatted briefly before I went to use the bathroom and we left.

We climbed the hill to Capitol Hill Station, where I topped up my ORCA and we caught the train to Chinatown and didn't have long to wait for the 512 back to Everett.  At Olive and 6th I vacated the double seat I had to myself so a tall, older gentleman could have it, and sat with Gary instead.

We arrived home without further incident and I soon nodded off in the recliner. Around ten I woke up and had a leftover hamburger to take my medication with. I finally got to sleep just after midnight.