Joe's Retirement Travels

Another fun day .. starting with the kids' first automatic car wash experience! What a good way to warm-up to front-seat hockey viewing. 15th year of Everett hosting a Labor Day pre-season WHL hockey tourney. Bruce and I attended year-2, and stayed in Jeanette's and Matt's apartment on the 'runway' called Stoneway Avenue while they went on their honeymoon. 11:30 game featured the Vancouver Giants and Seattle Thunderbirds. This gives teams a chance to evaluate some of their 15 and 16 year-olds. We were up next-to-the-glass during the first period. Then, after a lot of glass rattling and a near-skirmish of teenage hormones, we moved up a little higher. I surprised Cameron and Maggie with some Everett Silvertips' souvenirs during the 1st period break. After the game, everyone needed more refreshment before the drive home. What a FUN time in Seattle!!   Next up .. hockey in .. Okinawa! and visiting in Seoul.

Jeanette's and Matt's church friend, Ken, offered to give us a tour on the water. We met him downtown, South Lake Union, just off of Westlake Ave.  Not far, were the Argosy Cruises boats and the Kenmore Air seaplane base. We got underway and headed up to the Fremont Bridge.  Cameron wanted to go underneath. On the way Ken pointed out the floating home as seen in "Sleepless in Seattle". We entered the Fremont Cut and were met by an Alaskan trawler, the Northern Hawk out of Chevak, Alaska.   341-feet long, 52-feet wide, with a tugboat in front and one behind. We squeezed by under the bridge. We then proceeded over to Lake Washington through the famous Montlake Cut.   The Univ. of Washington uses this narrow passageway between the lakes for crew races. If you get a chance, read "The Boys in the Boat", an excellent true story.   We went right by the UW boat house.      On to Lake Washington and under the Evergreen Point...

110th year of the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe.  We went on family day. Jeanette prepared snacks and lunches and water bottles for everyone.  $12 for our group was a bargain to see and enjoy so much!  We hightailed it to the turkeys, roosters, chickens, and rabbits building.   A fun eye-opening start!   A brief stop in the dog agility stands to have a banana and a drink of water. On to the goats, sheep, pigs, and cows buildings.   Sent a pic of Cotswolds sheep to RA. We enjoyed some horse shows both inside the grand arena and in the outside covered arena. This is where we ate our lunch and enjoyed an elephant ear for dessert. We finished our adventure in the 4H buildings looking at quilts, and crafts, and photographs, and especially the cats and dogs cages.     We enjoyed the different fruits and vegetables displays by Granges in Snohomish County. and .. here are the munchkins posing in a cut-out frame : Eve...

Travel Day.    Started with a fun early golf outing with Pablo & Jack at Glendoveer-West. Pablo and Jack were on 'fire' on the first nine.    I gained some confidence in my driver on the back nine.    We had a good lunch afterwards in the course restaurant. Left home at 1-pm and started the drive north on I-5. Always have fun pronouncing (as best I can) the many Indian place and river names along the way. Minnehaha, Kalama, Coweeman, Cowlitz, Toutle, Newaukum, Chehalis, Skookumchuck, Tenino, Nisqually, Tacoma, Wapato, Tahoma, Puyallup, Tukwila, and Seattle. Arrived around 5:30.    Cameron and Maggie wanted books read and stories told .. immediately. See their anxiousness ?  I entertained the kids while Matt cooked dinner.     Jeanette was at a church meeting. After dinner, they wanted a play-acted story, so we donned our helmets for entering a pyramid to look for 'lost' or void spaces that could hold treasures...