Scarecrows!

Wow! Great wifi...fastest pic uploads I've experienced on this trip. On the other hand, I'm in a blank zone for my cell phone. No service. I asked the waiter and he said it's always problematic service in this neighborhood.

But I digress. Here I am in East Middlebury, Vermont - just sixty miles or so southeast of where I was yesterday. But I'm now off Lake Champlain and in the foothills of the Green Mountains. Lots more color.

I drove down this morning and got here around noon. Going through the Town of Shelbourne I was greatly amused by all of the fancy pants scarecrows on the main drag. A custom of this particular burg apparently. I laughed out loud on a number of occasions and pulled-off the road to get pics of a couple of representative examples.

A typical Shelbourne scarecrow family

The Shelbourne Vineyards scarecrows

Once in Middlebury I located my lodgings but it was too early to check-in. So I drove up Highway 125 which crosses the Green Mountains. A beautiful drive. LOTS of color and a sizable elevation gain. They may have some snow at the higher elevations tonight...

Some real fall colour

Welcome to Ripton, Vermont in the Green Mountains

The Ripton Church - pretty much the classic New England fall pic

After the drive I had a two-and-a-half hour workout at a local gym. First time in a real gym in a couple of weeks. It felt good.

Tomorrow it's off to Bretton Woods, New Hampshire and the Mount Washington Resort. Should be a fabulous drive - the foliage should be near its peak as I head east.

Later gang.

Rain, Rain Go Away...

Woke up with sun streaming in the window this morning and hit the road before 9 AM for Fort Ticonderoga. I drove north almost to the Canadian border (a mere 50 miles from Montreal, in fact) and then south along the west side of Lake Champlain. It was the best color I've seen so far - but no place to pull-off the freeway to take pics. Damn!

I got to Fort Ticonderoga before noon and had a fine time wandering the fort and the nearby gardens. Sadly it started to rain just before I left and POURED all the way back to North Hero. And it's still coming down...

The fort was the site of important battles in both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. Artillery captured at the fort by the Americans early in the War of Independence were hauled to Boston in the dead of winter and when placed on Dorchester Heights forced the British to withdraw from the city.

The fort was destroyed by the British after their defeat at Saratoga and serious reconstruction did not begin until early in the 20th century. It's a very cool site - operated by the National Park Service.

Fort Ticonderoga battlements

Staff prepare to fire a "Brown Bess" - standard issue musket of the British Army for most of the 18th century

The "Kings Garden" - biggest damn dahlia I've ever seen

The garden was well past it's seasonal prime - but still quite lovely

The North Hero House Inn

Moosefest in Bennington, VT

The Bennington, Vt Battle Monument

Well, almost supper time. I had a great baked walleye last night - I've been eating lots of fish on this trip for some reason. And lobster! YUM.

Finally, an anecdote that demonstrates how friendly everyone has been in this neck-of-the-woods. This morning I asked if I could do some laundry - haven't had a chance since Redmond, Oregon. The owner said that his dryer was broken; but he'd ask if one of his housekeepers would be willing to take my laundry home and wash it. I said fine, left two sacks of laundry and a twenty dollar bill. When I got back late this afternoon all my laundry was laid-out in my room. Shirts and pants pressed. Excellent.

I went down to the front desk to thank them and the gal said the owner's MOTHER had come over to get the laundry. She didn't want to take the money - but fortunately her son insisted - since I had been insistent on that point. All the staff here are great.

Change of Plans

Well, a slight change of plans...

I just couldn't bring myself to drive six hours on the freeway to see J.P. and then ten hours back on the freeway two days later... I called him last evening and requested a rain check. He took it well...but it may be that I owe him a Yankees game the next time I'm back East.

In any event I am now sitting in a very pleasant 1891 vintage inn north of Burlington, VT in a place called North Hero. I have a panoramic view of Lake Champlain from my balcony. The ride up here through the Green Mountains was very scenic. The foliage is turning nicely - although it actually appears to me to be more colorful south of here than in North Hero. Must be warmer near the lake...and we're at a lower elevation too.

I spent an hour or so in Bennington, VT just west of Wilmington. The picture of picturesque. Lots of color, a museum chock-a-block full of Grandma Moses originals, a nice Revolutionary War Monument, and lots of highly decorated moose. No, they're not war veterans. They're actually pieces of artwork - similar to the Seattle Pigs of a few years back. The moose are apparently a key element of the Bennington Moosefest - whatever that is... A moose or two on nearly every street corner. I have photographic evidence which I will share with you later.

Once out of the Green Mountains the terrain becomes just gentle rolling hills. Lots more agriculture. It was partly cloudy and nice for most of the drive; but as I approached Burlington the weather begin to deteriorate. It's blowing 20 knots or so on the lake and the weatherman is predicting afternoon thunderstorms. I believe he may be correct...in fact I see there are now raindrops hitting the window.

The weather is supposed to be better tomorrow although relatively cool. I may drive over to the New York side of the lake - I don't think it's too far to the Fort Ticonderoga historical site...although I'm not sure what's there. Need to do some Googling...

The plan is to spend two nights here and then connect to my original itinerary. My next stop is only an hour or so from here. And after that it's on to the White Mountains.

Finally, some very sad news from Terry Harrigan. Her beloved Irish Greyhound, Pogo, passed-away a couple of days ago. I am sure she is very sad. Hang-in there T...

Later kids.

What a Difference a Day Makes...

A couple of pics from the past couple of days...

"Peacefield" home of Abigail and John Adams in their Golden Years

Provincetown Harbor from the deck of my hotel room

The main drag in Provincetown. Lots of fun stuff!

The White House Inn in Wilmington, Vermont

Sunday morning at the White House Inn. I just had a very satisfactory breakfast accompanied by the New York Times. Very pleasant. It's a very rainy and foggy day and I was distressed to see that the 10 day forecast has deteriorated markedly. Not looking very good for the week. But I shall persevere.

The Inn has a full dining room and bar and last evening I enjoyed an excellent rack of lamb. Wilmington is having a local fall festival this weekend and the White House Inn's contribution was to sponsor a wine tasting supper last evening. The place was jammed. I do believe a good time was had by all. There's a very cozy bar on the front of the house that looks down into the village. Pretty as a picture with the sun setting behind the town.

The rustic and sedate atmosphere of the White House Inn stands in marked contrast to the edgy weirdness of P'Town. Yesterday morning in the lobby of the Boatslip Inn I typed my blog entry to the beat of Queen's "We Will Rock You." This morning's breakfast musical fare included "A Tisket, A Tasket" and other such standards from the 1930s and 40s.

The clientele of the respective establishments is equally divergent... Mostly couples here of varying ages and from various locales although I believe I am the only West Coast guest at the moment. A vaguely Agatha Christie like atmosphere prevails...

God I love vacations!

Well, there's a half-assed gym in the basement so guess I'll go have a half-assed workout. If it stops raining I will see about a short hike. I expect the men folk will be gathering in the TV room/library for the afternoon Patriot's game - although I did hear one of the younger guys say something about a sports bar down the hill. I believe tea is served in mid-afternoon.

Tomorrow it's off to Hornell, New York to see my ol' buddy J.P. Will be a bit of a drive. I don't think he has a computer so I may not post again until Wednesday evening from northern Vermont.

TallyHo!

Bye Bye "P" Town

Greetings from Provincetown, Mass. A beautiful day - although it's cooled down a tad. I'm about to hit the road for Wilmington VT and the Whitehouse Inn.

I had a great trip from Boston on Thursday. Stopped to pay my respects to Abigail and John Adams in Quincy. A very different setting from his Virginia associates. The Adams House got about 40,000 visitors a year until the McCullough biography and PBS series were released. Now it's about 250,000 a year. They plan to build a proper visitors center - which would be a good thing. Took some pics - but this connection isn't sufficient to upload.

The drive to Provincetown was kinda boring. I thought it would be on the water much of the way; but you don't catch a glimpse of the sea until you arrive in town.

I had big time fun in "P" Town. It's a classic seaside resort. Lots of funky stuff - good restaurants, galleries, bars and so forth. All within convenient walking distance. I have tried to stay off my feet - hope to be healed-up enough to do some serious hiking later in the week. We'll see...

There is a Tennessee Williams theater festival in town this week. The visitors are thus even more colourful than usual in a town that is plenty colourful on the dullest of days. It is quite a spectacle. Last night I found myself in the company of a troupe of trans-gendered folks. They were a serious hoot. I left them at the bar in the hotel around midnight. They were just getting warmed-up...

It's supposed to cloud-up tonight and rain tomorrow. But back in the high 70's on Monday. Then fall-like for the rest of the week. I saw on the TV this morning that the fall foliage is in full swing in northern Vermont and New Hampshire. So I'm optimistic for lots of good picture taking later in the week.

Well, gonna hit the road. Having a ton of fun.

I Need a Spa Day

My feet need to go into intensive care. They never recovered from six consecutive days of golf. Yesterday's forced march on the Freedom Trail didn't help. And today's hike to Harvard Square sealed the deal. My feet hurt. They're tired. They're blistered. They're a bloody mess...

I bet they have spa treatments for this in Provincetown. I will be there tomorrow...

But...I DO need to keep my public up-to-date. So here we go...

I walked up to Harvard today. I'm guessing it's about 4 miles or so... On the way I passed through the MIT campus. Very interesting. Everyone was speaking Chinese (some REAL Chinese - plus a Babel of other legitimate languages of which German and French stood out). The remainder (probably a majority) were speaking English - but in a dialect of which I am ignorant. The subject of most sentences seemed to be something like "particle" or "matrix" and the meaning unintelligible to me. On any given street corner one half expected an impromptu Star Trek convention to occur spontaneously.

The Harvard campus, by contrast, appeared quite conventional. A diverse student body, to be sure; but everyone appeared to be speaking regular late teen/early 20 something American English.

I spent a couple of hours in the Harvard Museum of Natural History. It was quite fun. A tad musty but well worth the time.

Our Family tree

Got back to the hotel tonight and had supper. Met a very interesting fellow at the bar who illustrates the global import of this particular neck of the woods.

Mr. Dieter Ortmann, Global Head Quality Management, Novartis Pharma AG strikes me as a very good egg - in a German sort of way. He lives in Basel, Switzerland. He heads a unit that does audit/IT/quality assessment work at Novartis research facilities. Cambridge is one of his primary facilities. Indeed a walk between the hotel and Harvard takes you through a jungle of biotech, pharmaceutical and other research facilities.

Mr. Ortmann was discreet in discussing the nature of his duties. But he was very forthcoming in talking about managing a truly international unit. His group includes a young Egyptian woman, several Germans, a Brit, and several Americans. I flat-out asked him if the benefits of obtaining culturally divergent advice and opinions outweighed the costs associated with managing a culturally diverse staff and the answer was an unequivocal "yes". And this from a German!

An interesting conversation...

Well, I'm going to soak in the tub.

May not post again until Friday...

Walk 'Til You Drop

Greetings from Boston. I had a good flight out on Monday...but it makes for a long day...up at 5 AM PST and arriving in Boston around 5:30 PM EST. It was 9 PM before I got checked-in and had supper. Felt a little jet-lagged yesterday...

My stupor did not stop me from having big-time fun however. I hit the Freedom Trail yesterday - walked every inch and much of it twice. I was on foot for almost 8 hours with only an hour or so off for a pint and pub grub lunch.

Walking the Freedom Trail in Boston

I'm staying in Cambridge. So I walked across the Longfellow Bridge, down Charles Street to the Public Garden, through Boston Commons and then hit the trail.

Downtown Boston is an odd mixture of old and new. Many of the streets are narrow and winding and were laid out in the 17th century. You will come upon an historical site - the Old State House for example - and it will be surrounded by glass and steel skyscrapers.

The Old State House built in 1713. It was the seat of Colonial Government

Traffic downtown is fierce - and pedestrians take absolutely no notice of the "Walk" "Don't Walk" signs. Don't think I'd own a car if I lived here...

The Trail winds through the financial district and then to the North End. The North End contains Paul Revere's house and the Old North Church. It is largely an Italian neighborhood and is way cool. About six Italian restaurants on every block - all with tables set with linen and, of course, wine glasses. Italian bakeries, markets, pizza joints, and other specialty shops everywhere.

On the side streets folks were sitting on front stoops chatting-it-up. Lots of Italian being spoken. Municipal elections are underway and lots of campaign stuff going on. I walked by a Knights of Columbus hall that was jam packed for some sort of rally.

The Old North Church of "One if by land, two if by sea" fame.

From the North End the Freedom Trail heads across the Charles River to Charlestown and the Bunker Hill memorial. Charlestown was burned to the ground during the battle in the spring of 1775. In the 20th century it was the site of a huge naval shipyard and is now the home port of the U.S.S. Constitution - "Old Ironsides."

Commissioned in 1797 as a 44 gun frigate - U.S.S. Constitution

From Charlestown I backtracked to the city and had a late pub grub lunch near the memorial to the Irish famine. While I was eating a big Irish looking guy came in - dressed in classic politico garb of dark suit, red tie, and very shiny shoes. All of the wait staff promptly deserted their posts and gathered 'round. The owner of the pub soon appeared. There was much back-slapping, laughing and general carrying-on.

I perceived the dark-suited gentleman to be an emmisary from the mayor's office on the classic ward-heeling mission. He seemed genuinely well received... He eventually sat at the bar...bought a bunch of drinks for the locals who were clearly appreciative.

The Irish immigrants to Boston were not made to feel very welcome...

...but their descendants have done quite well.

I got back to the hotel about 7 PM and my dogs were yappin'. Don't know how many miles I logged; but it was quite a few and I was thoroughly pooped. I was in bed by 10 PM and slept soundly until about 1:30 AM when all guests were roused by the clanging of the fire alarm.

Abandon ship! Five hundred or so of us trooped down the stairs (8 flights in my case) and stood in the courtyard until the local fire department sounded the "all clear." Don't have any idea what caused the alarm - and when I rolled-out this morning I wasn't even certain it had really happened - seemed kinda dream like. But I believe it did.

Well, time to plan the day. I think I'll wander up into Harvard Square. Maybe some museum action. And looking at the weather forecast for the next ten days perhaps I should find another sweater at the mall across the street. Don't think I'll have any trouble amusing myself.

Tomorrow it's off to the Cape with a stop at John Adam's place in Quincy for a photo or two.

Finally, Boston is a city of plaques. One on every corner it seems. Here is my favourite from yesterday.

Next post: dateline Provincetown MA.

Frozen Treats

A wonderful couple of days in the Emerald City. I took yesterday off - healed golf wounds, worked out, watched a little football.

Last night Terry and I went to Assagio - a very good Italian joint down on 4th Avenue a block or so from the Mayflower Hotel. She had heard it was a great place from a co-worker. It is a great place. It's also the same place we went to last fall. T. was embarrassed. I was just fine.

Her embarrassment increased, however, with the desert course. She ordered a lemon sorbet. The sorbet arrives; but it is as hard as a rock. She taps on it. I tap on it. Hard as a granite. And it doesn't appear to be melting. Hmmmm. The plot thickens.

After we largely devour my readily accessible gelato, we inquire of the wait staff as to the concrete-like nature of T's desert. He reaches over, takes the top off of the whole lemon in which the sorbet treasure resides. "Oh", we say. "Now we get it."

Today I joined the Elder Harrigan and T at Anthony's at Shilishole Bay for a great brunch. I had a classic eggs benedict which was very good. We watched sea lions frolic in the entrance to the Ballard Locks. It was a beautiful morning.

This afternoon T and I did a classic Seattle tourist gig - took the DUK tour of Seattle. The DUKs are WWII vintage amphibious assault craft. It's two parts tour and one part street theater. The locals have adopted the DUKs as a city symbol and are amused by them. Lots of loud 80's rock 'n roll tunes, much clapping and carrying-on. One of our "Captain's" gigs was to point out all the Starbuck's Coffee Houses - he'd say "Hey kids, there's a Starbucks" and our job was to do a vertical fist pump and say, in unison, "Kah-Ching." It was quite fun...

This evening I met up with Brent Long for supper on Capital Hill. We had a fine time... Brent is currently hosting his brother and sister-in-law who are here for the all too familiar medical drill on pill hill. Brent's dad still lives in Juneau. We compared notes on elders...

Brent will be up to Juneau over the Christmas holidays. I have promised him a home cooked supper.

Pics to follow kids.

Next post: Dateline Boston!

Fall Memorial Classic

A Motley Crew - Juneau Golf Club Group Portrait

A tad drippy in Seattle today - almost a quarter of an inch fell last night. It's supposed to taper-off today and back to sunshine tomorrow. The only event planned is supper with Ms. Harrigan this evening at Assagio - just a few blocks from the hotel. I think I'll have a workout and maybe mosey down to Nordstrom's Rack for a look-see.

But first, a moment to reflect on the past week.

This is my third Juneau Golf Club event and it was every bit (maybe even more) fun than the first two. My golf game has not improved (I shot better last year than this year); but since I play so infrequently I am not surprised.

The company is excellent. Everyone gets on well and I have yet to have an unpleasant experience on the course notwithstanding the fact that I play so poorly. Most folks are just enjoying themselves and not working themselves into fits over their game. This is a good thing.

Cousin Dick had a great time at his first tournament. I suspect he's hooked. Now if we can only get Eric and Jim Larson on board...

Alison successfully defended her Women's "B" Flight title for the second time - she's now won three years in a row. I know for a fact she is quite pleased...

Cindy Schlaufman hit a hole-in-one on the last day of the tournament and cadged a set of new golf clubs and much notoriety.

A hole-in-one on the 16th Hole. Way to go!

It was an excellent week!

It has occurred to me that I've now been in the Bend/Redmond area for five years in a row. This suggests that I like the place. The high desert of Oregon with it's Juniper and Pine landscape and mountain views is much preferable to my mind than the cactus filled Arizona low desert. Perhaps I should look into a condo in the area...

Dick and Candy just bought a vacation home at the Eaglecrest Resort. It's very nice. And they get the landscaping taken care of through their Association dues and have access to all the other resort amenities - the pools, gyms, biking trails and so forth - and of course an inside rate on golf.

Dick and Candy Behrends host cocktails and appetizers at their new home at Eagle Crest

Of course no location is without its downside. I expect July-August are mighty toasty and the winters can be cold - although with 300 days of sun a year I don't believe they get a lot of snow in Redmond. All things considered, it's a beautiful place

Whew!

Dateline Seattle: Got to my hotel about 6:30 PM after leaving Redmond around 10 AM this morning. A long day. It was a beautiful drive down from Redmond to Portland (except for the 45 minute delay for an accident). But I-5 was jammed all the way from PDX to Seattle...and there were more accidents just north of Olympia and again in the middle of Tacoma. Took me over 5 hours from Portland to Seattle.

I stopped briefly at Leah's digs in Portland to drop off my golf bag. Good riddance. So I'm traveling a bit lighter from this point forward.

I will reflect upon Redmond and post some pics this weekend. But I'm too fagged-out at the moment to fiddle with a download/upload.

I just had a very mediocre meal at the restaurant at the hotel; although the bar was OK and I chatted-it-up with a number of folks including an elderly couple from New England who thought my upcoming itinerary was well conceived. We'll see...

I also chatted with a young guy from San Francisco who downed two double whiskeys in about 10 minutes waiting for his parents to arrive for supper. He's going to the UW and the folks came up from California to watch the UW/USC football game this weekend. I thought the double doubles were a bit much - until his mom flounced into the room, threw her arms around him, and made a seriously embarrassing big scene. He gave me a very wan smile as he was led to his table. I wished him luck.

Next up in hapless college guy's seat was a very attractive gal in a striking dress with no back (I once knew what this style was called - but have forgotten). Hmmm. That still doesn't sound right. The point being she had a very attractive back - not encumbered by any dress. I got interested enough to offer her a sample of my smoked salmon with asparagus ravioli appetizer (not nearly as good as a similar dish I had in Portland) - which she graciously accepted.

But while I was distracted ordering my main course she struck up a conversation with a younger and more affluent appearing guy - who rudely planted his ass on the other bar stool next to her and who wasted no time putting-on the moves. She left with him after a very light supper and what I perceived to be a conversation that was contractual in nature.

Oh yeah - and the night cap. A melon infused grappa with a couple of small melon balls wrapped in prosciutto on a toothpick! Sweet, salty, and very tasty. Bacon in a drink. Gotta like it.

God I love the city!

Hah!

But It's a Good Sore...

Four days of golf down and two to go. It's going to be a pretty closely run thing - whether or not I will be able to get out of bed on Thursday - much less swing a club. I'm a tad sore...in fact a LOT sore. And my game stinks. But it's big time fun nonetheless.

Cousin Dick Behrends has joined us for the Fall Memorial Classic. Dick and Candy are now owners of a three bedroom house here at the resort. Candy just flew in today and we'll see her tonight at the BBQ. Dick took a lesson this morning and then played in the tourney. None of us are exactly burning-up the course.

The weather has been great. Probably close to 90 again today. Not much wind. Got a tad sunburned.

I did learn a lesson today. When you have an unplayable lie you should take the one-shot penalty and move your ball so you can actually hit it. I flailed away at a ball in deep grass to the tune of about 6 strokes. Could have got out in 2 if I had used my head. Live and learn...

Alison had a great round today. But in fairness to Dougie, Dick, and I - she plays from the women's tees which in some cases are a 100 or so yards further up the hole than where we tee-off. On some holes I cannot even make it to the fairway which is very discouraging...

Well, Dougie needs to check his email...will sign-off for now.

Cheers!

Greetings from Eagle Crest

Well, here we are in Redmond. I got in late Friday afternoon after a nice drive from Portland that included a quick stop in Parkdale, Or to check-out Nancy Slagle's new digs. The house will be beautiful and should be finished this fall. They are at the FOOT of Mt. Hood...no more than 10 miles or so from the base of the mountain. Very spectacular.

Nancy and I had lunch at a diner in Parkdale and I then legged-it into Redmond. Alison and Dougie were right behind me. Yesterday and today were practice rounds...and all of us sure need the practice. I'm now sitting at the resort clubhouse where registration for the tournament is about to commence. Our condo does not have wifi so my posting is going to be spotty this week.

In fact, I need to sign-off and see if I can help with registration.

The weather's beautiful. Having a ton of fun.

Later kids!

Beast

Well, another fun day in Portland and in an hour or so it will be off to the races in Redmond. I spent most of yesterday wandering around downtown. I love the river walk.

Jane and I had a very good lunch at the Italian joint in the Vintage Park Hotel. I had salmon-stuffed ravioli with a lemon cream sauce. Very tasty.

Last evening Leah, Chris and I went to "Beast" - one of the most highly rated restaurants in the city the past couple of years. I cannot say it was the best meal I have ever had (it was VERY good); but I can say it was the most elaborate meal I've yet experienced. We ate for over 2 1/2 hours. Each of the six courses was accompanied by a carefully selected wine.

In fact, there's only one way to really explain this meal:

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 10th 2009

END OF SUMMER GAZPACHO
SHAVED CHORIZO & FICOIDE GLACIALE
Domaine Des Terrasses Gaillac Blanc - 2007

CHARCUTERIE PLATE
FOIE-GRAS BON-BON, SAUTERNES GELEE
STEAK TARTARE & QUAIL EGG TOAST
CHICKEN LIVER MOUSSE, PICKLED SHALLOT
PORK, PORK LIVER & SOUR CHERRY PATE
Nittnaus Heiderboden Pinot Blanc - 2007

PAUPIETTES DE VEAU
STUFFED VEAL ROLLS WITH TAILS & TROTTERS PORK
SUMMER CHANTERELLES & SAUTEED GREENS
Simon Bize Savigny-Les Beaunes Les Burgeots - 2005

FRISEE AUX LARDONS
POACHED EGG & SOFT CROUTONS
Copain Rose Tous Ensemble - 2008

-SELECTION OF STEVE'S CHEESE-
ANISE & FLEUR DE SEL SHORTBREAD
BITTERSWEET FARMS HONEY
FIGS & CANDIED HAZELNUTS
Karlsmuhle Geiben Riesling Spatlese Nies'Chen - 2003

BROWN BUTTER CREPE
HOUSE CHOCOLATE & HAZELNUT SPREAD
VANILLA ICE-CREAM
Quinta Do Perlada 10 yr Tawny Port

SUBSTITUTIONS POLITELY DECLINED

So there you have it.

I'm still full this morning.

To the Nines

Yo! Greetings from The Nines Hotel in downtown Portland. It's a pretty cool place sharing a building with Macy's. Newly completed rooms with a big comfy bed and huge HD TV. The lobby - atrium - restaurant- bar is located on the 8th floor. Good wine list.

There's also a very hip asian/fusion restaurant and bar on the top floor called "Departure." Don't know where they're departing to; but I stuck my nose in last night and it was packed. Looked too young and hip for me in any event - although I would have been willing to have a night cap and people watch for a bit had there been a place to sit at the bar. Perhaps tonight...

I sure enjoyed visiting with the Snowdens. Their house is in Laurelhurst, a very stately neighborhood with some beautiful old homes. It's within walking distance of some good neighborhood eateries and Laurelhurst Park is very pleasant. You can catch a downtown bus right outside their door and the MAX line is only a short walk away.

Last night I had supper with Jim Larson and Tim Wilson at Pok Pok, an outstanding Thai restaurant in what I believe is called the Hawthorne District. They serve Thai "street food" - the kind of food you might get from a city pushcart vendor and it is delicious. We sat outdoors which is always a treat for this Southeast Alaskan boy - so I don't really know what the inside of the place is like. Also great whiskey sours...the perfect sweet/sour drink accompaniment to the food which was a bit spicy but well within my tolerance. Pok Pok will make the blog sidebar for worthwhile Portland eateries.

Jim and Tim are doing well. Jim is still conducting a long-distance romance with the Yellow Rose of Texas. She was up here a couple of weeks ago and they had a great trip to the coast. He's headed down in a couple of weeks. I think I detected a bit of a Texas twang in his speech and he's complaining about Portland being a tad chilly. This probably bodes well for his relationship - but maybe not so much for those of us who enjoy visiting him in Portland. Time will tell...

Tim and Luann are healthy and busy and their wine and deli shop, Foster & Dobbs, is holding-up reasonably well in the recession. Tim just got back from his big annual performing arts conference which was held in Phoenix and it sounds like that book of business is weathering the storm too.

My Portland pals are slowly wearing me down on the question of where I ought to relocate. Next spring I hope to spend a couple of weeks here and I suspect Jane will be more than happy to be my personal escort on an extended tour of Portland neighborhoods. Arthur kept brandishing a flyer for a beautifully remodeled 1912 Craftsman home in north Portland that is (barely) in my price range. It looked VERY attractive. Sunny location near the Rose City Golf Course. I almost let him talk me into driving out to take a look; but fortunately I resisted the temptation.

I'm going to have lunch with Jane today and this evening it's off to "Beast" for supper with Leah, Chris, and Mathew. Should be a ton of fun. This afternoon I'll have a workout at the very nicely appointed gym in the hotel and probably take a walk down by the river. I like this town!

Dining in Olympia with Tim and Mary Lou Milnes

Putting on the feed bag with Sher and Arthur Snowden

More groceries - with Tim Wilson and Jim Larson

The half-assed photoshop program on my laptop automatically "fixes" redeye when pics are downloaded. It's idea of a "fix" in this instance, was to give me a black eye instead.

Well, think I'll go poke my head into the Nordstrom's Rack before lunch. And I see the morning fog is burning-off. It's supposed to be in the low 80's today.

I see that there's a big fall storm in Juneau today - southeast winds to 40 knots and rain, heavy at times. Sure hope Dougie and Alison get out this evening...

Welcome to Portland

A very pleasant morning in the City of Roses. Coffee on the deck. Good company. Life is good.

I did just discover the FIRST thing that I forgot to pack however. The cord for my camera that allows me to download pics to my computer. Will visit the camera shop on Broadway later today.

Had a good flight down to Seattle...although the plane was jammed. Lots of fisher persons with many, many, many boxes of fish stowed down below. There were about 20 folks who had been over in Gustavus at some lodge.

I drove to Tenino and spent a delightful afternoon and evening with Tim and Mary Lou Milnes. They have a great place on the edge of a big tract of timberland. Lots of logging roads to walk on and had a nice outing. We went to supper at Anthony's on the waterfront in Olympia. Good food and an outstanding setting.

It was great to visit with Tim...another one of those old friends who even though I hadn't seen him in a decade it took only two minutes before it seemed like we had been in touch the whole time. That's what it's like with certain folks who you have known for decades. I promise it will NOT be another decade before we get together again!

Drove to PDX yesterday. It was foggy when I left Tenino; but by the time I got to Portland it was beautiful. A few clouds this morning; but it's supposed to be in the mid-70's today and in the 80's by the weekend. YIPPEE!

Gonna go downtown in a bit and do some shopping. Need to track down Tim Wilson and see about supper tonight.

Stand by for pics - Tenino and the Chateau Snowden. I'm sure I'll have wifi at the hotel later today...

TallyHo!

Wheel's up tomorrow morning for America. I'll fly to Seattle, rent a car and then drive down to Tonino to visit Tim and Mary Lou Milnes. Then Tuesday morning on to Portland and Chateau Snowden. Don't know if I'll be posting until I check-in to The Nines on Wednesday.

Got all my chores done so now I'm going to watch TV for an hour and then off to bed. Dawn patrol...

Auntie Emilie appears to be enjoying her stay in Victoria. She has been spending a lot of time snacking on fruit and vegetables - I suspect she will be ready to return home once she has stripped the garden bare. She's been very diligent about keeping us posted via email. The following is a representative sample:

"Sandra & Denis canned pickles today. I grazed in the garden. I had lots of cherry tomatoes, some black berries, several light figs, & one or two dozen cherry tomatoes, I do believe."

Life's simple pleasures... Now why in the world would she want to return to Juneau?

Her emails are amusing on several levels. Yesterday's missive started out stating it was 9:50 PM. Toward the end of the email she notes that it's 1:40 AM - a little nap at the keyboard is not unusual for Auntie.

Next post: dateline the City of Roses!

The Other White Meat(s)

Gotta get into high gear today. Lots of pre-trip stuff to do including paying bills. And dad has a clinic appointment later this morning. Mom's going to come along too. We need a briefing on the pros and cons of blood thinner... We had a good lesson on the cons last week; but dad needs to understand the possible consequences of NOT taking the drug given his problem with blood clots.

This evening I'm taking Leah, Chris, and Leah's long-time Juneau friend, Kira, to Zephyr for supper. Chris got in from Portland late Wednesday and yesterday Leah and Chris hiked up to the John Muir Cabin in Spaulding Meadows to spend the night. Tomorrow they're going to take the fast ferry to Sitka and will return to Juneau on Sunday. They head back to Portland on Tuesday. I very much enjoyed Leah's company this summer.

A couple of days ago I received an email from Tim Milnes, one of my best buddies from high school days. I have tried several times to find an address for him online without success. Apparently Kurt Ahrensfeld, a mutual high school pal, sent him a link to this blog. It still amazes me that people actually read this damn thing...

KURT - DON'T BE BASHFUL - WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU TOO!!!

Tim and his wife, Mary Lou, live in Tenino, Washington - just south of Olympia. I am trying to figure out how to pay them a visit next week. Tim, Mary Lou and their five kids (now young adults) were in Juneau ten years ago for a visit and we all had a great time.

It sounds like Tim is a serious gardener with a LARGE formal Japanese garden. Way cool!

Finally, another anecdote from dad's archives...

While dad was in the hospital this past week the Kensington Mine folks were running an ad in the Juneau Empire announcing the beginning of recruitment for positions at the mine which is scheduled to open next year. The Kensington Mine is located in Berner's Bay at the site of a mine that previously operated there early in the 20th century.

Dad recalled a trip to the area with Fred Newman who had a room at the boarding house Grandma ran (he subsequently became my father's step-dad after the death of Eli Lindstrom). Dad and Fred walked around the old mine - this would have been in the 1920s and it was already closed - and were invited to supper with an old codger who was living at the site and eeking out a living panning for gold. They had a very tasty stew. Compliments were given to the chef who graciously accepted the accolades saying something like "you just can't beat fresh porcupine."

Dad laughed like hell at the recollection which prompted another short story.

Dad fondly recalls his aunt, Annie, the sister of Eli Lindstrom. Annie and her husband, Jack, lived on the beach on Douglas Island across from Sunny Point. Dad would spend time with them in the summer when he was quite young. Auntie and dad would slog across the wetlands, cross the Gastineau Channel Bar, and leg-it to the dairy on the mainland to get fresh milk. Seems to me that would be quite a hike with a pail of milk...but I digress.

One summer Auntie was amusing herself by feeding a marmot that would appear at the cabin most days. She became fond of said rodent.

One night at supper, Auntie commented that she had not seen her furry pal in several days. Her husband commented that Mr. Marmot had been featured on the dinner menu several nights previously. Dad laughed like hell again...

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Have a great weekend everybody...

Quality Time with Dad

Well, six hours or so at the hospital with the ol' coot on Tuesday and another six hours yesterday. He was sprung from the joint late yesterday afternoon. Took him home and when I last saw him he was drinking coffee, eating a big slab of carrot cake and inquiring about the dinner menu.

After much delay the urologist finally took him down to the operating room on Wednesday afternoon for a video tour of his urinary tract. Since he had his bladder removed about 16 years ago it was a short tour - and the doc said everything looked just fine. So...we really do not know what caused all the bleeding. Maybe an infection....or maybe not. Who can say?

The bottom line is everything is back to what passes for normal at the elders and I am back on track for a vacation beginning Monday. Lots of stuff to do between now and then...

But first an historical item from Dad's memory bank. We spent a lot of time together the past few days and every once in awhile I hear a story that I had not heard before. I don't recall what triggered this particular story - but I chuckled for the rest of the day...

It seems that Dad's graduation from Juneau High School in 1932 was a pretty closely run thing. His credit cushion evaporated when he failed a bookkeeping course. The reason for the failure, however, was NOT his lack of interest or enthusiasm for the subject as I would have predicted; but a serious personal conflict with the teacher whose name shall remain anonymous.

At the time Grandma Newman was running a boardinghouse on Second Street - right across from the Baranof Hotel. There were a dozen or so boarders - single miners - many quite colorful characters I'm sure. One gentleman, who we shall call "Al," apparently had a habit of sneaking a female friend into his room late at night. This practice offended Grandma Newman's Victorian/Lutheran morals and/or the posted rules of the establishment and late one night she confronted Al's visitor, read her the riot act, and tossed her out of the boarding house.

The next morning she took dad aside and apprised him of the situation fearing, no doubt, that it was possible he would receive some feedback as a result of the midnight heave-ho since the visitor happened to be his bookkeeping teacher.

Grandma's instincts were correct. Dad said that he immediately became the teacher's whipping-boy and suffered cruelly in class. Finally one day he had enough - told the teacher to go to hell and marched out of the classroom. He spent a week or so sitting in study hall during this class period until the gym teacher finally sought him out and convinced him to go back and sit in the bookkeeping class. And that's what he did - sit in the class without speaking to the teacher or doing any of the class work. Not surprisingly he failed the class...but graduated with EXACTLY the minimum number of credits required.

Dad shared a couple of other interesting tales; but I shall save them for another day.

Time to head to the elders...and I need a haircut today...

Busy, Busy, Busy...

I was feeling kinda bored late last week. Crappy weather, nothing much going on... That changed on Saturday morning with "action stations" sounded about 9 AM when mom called to tell me that there was "a problem." Overnight dad had started to show a considerable amount of blood in his urostomy pouch. So I immediately legged-it over to see what was happening.

After a consult with the home care on-call nurse, we were off to the ER for about five hours. His blood work didn't show any problem - so late in the afternoon we returned home with instructions to cut-out the nightly dose of blood thinner. Hope for the best...

The following morning was much worse...and he was feeling very weak. So another consult with the on-call nurse and this time transport by ambulance to the hospital. A REALLY long day with more blood work and a CT scan. Consultations with a radiologist in Minneapolis and a couple of urologists in Anchorage. More medical head-scratching. Ultimately the decision was to admit the old boy and wait for an exam by our local urologist upon his return to Juneau Monday morning.

Yesterday the bleeding had subsided although not yet stopped. Dr. Singsaas came in early Monday afternoon and said he'd like to take a look inside dad's urinary tract but could not effectively do so while he was still bleeding. So dad remains in the hospital and we'll see what's what today...

The good thing about all of this has he has no pain and says he feels "fine."

On Sunday I felt my vacation slipping-away. Yesterday I was a little more hopeful - the best outcome will be that he simply has to quit the blood thinner medications and will be back to what passes for "normal" albeit with an elevated risk of heart-attack or stroke due to the blood clots in his legs. Stay tuned...

In other much more positive news, I spoke to daughter Amanda for the first time in a long while this weekend. The season is over at the Paul Newman camp and she has been hired at another camp near San Bernardino. Apparently its a recreation camp for rich kids in the summer and an outdoor education facility during the school year. Kinda an Inland Empire version of "Sea Week" here in Southeast Alaska.

Here's the link: http://www.paliinstitute.com/

Amanda will be teaching a variety of subjects including rocketry and something to do with reptiles - they apparently have a number of live specimens. Part-time rocket scientist and part-time snake handler. I like it. She will be working at the institute at least until December...

Well duty calls...I'm off to the elders and then the hospital. Dad will be waiting for his home-brewed coffee and a slab of my carrot cake...