Family Fun in Washington

Dear friends,

We’re back at work after three weeks of pretty much non-stop socializing. Mother and I made our annual road trip to Eugene, seeing friends and relatives. We spent a little time with my cousin Gary, and had a happy meeting with his daughter Denise, with whom I’ve corresponded, but never met. It was a great connection. My brother Steve hosted a couple of dinners so we could spend time with his kids and their kids. Steve’s wife Jane was laid up with foot surgery, so when I say he hosted, I really mean it. He was great. Dave’s sister Carole lives in the same town of Bothell, WA; her son Kurt very generously let us park in his driveway. It was just a 20 minute trip from Kurt’s place to Mother’s apartment if I hit the traffic right. We enjoyed time with Carole and her kids and their kids. Kevin and Morgan and Shelly are about an hour from Bothell and we spent as much time with them as we could. Morgan is 16 now, driving and has a friend who is a boy. I don’t know if Ian is her boyfriend but we liked him. Kevin is dealing with the transition of his baby into a lovely young woman as best he can (“ …mmnnngggrrhhh … he touches her … nnnnggrrrahhhhg”) We gave Ian a lot of points for courage.

A highlight was going to a Mariner’s game at Safeco Field. It turned out to be a 15 inning ball game and was a fantastic experience. Kevin got us tickets, Honey-Ma too, and we all got to sit in the handicapped section. Mother looked really cute in her fancy Mariner’s jacket even though she doesn’t like to use a wheelchair. (“I€™m 93 but I’m not an invalid!) Kevin and Shelly are so good with her. One time they took her to a Mariner’s game and took her scooter. Kevin said he could hardly keep up with her as she zoomed down the concourse. He also wondered if she should have the two martinis she ordered. Wuh!

We’re at Lake Sawyer-Sunrise Resort outside of Black Diamond, Washington. Black Diamond was established when a California coal mining company moved the company, and the families in the town, to this coal-rich area of the Maple Valley just north of Enumclaw. The “resort” is a membership park and totally meets our standards of funk. The spaces are so cramped the RVers can’t all open their awnings all the way. The membership rules state that members can only stay two weeks at one time but new owners are commercializing the venture by letting people stay as long as they want, as long as they pay a commercial rate and move spaces every two weeks.

Mr. Snider, down the row went to move his 5th wheel a couple of days ago, left his slides out because he wasn’t going very far, and clipped our bus. Broke the right rear awning off but fortunately didn’t damage the bus body. It was very unsettling. We’re at the end of the row, which we thought would give us some space, but we feel very vulnerable as this Rubik’s cube of movement goes on nearly every day. We’ve got a good repair guy (I sold him an ad) but I’m sure we’re probably not through dealing with Mr. Snider and his insurance company.

This weekend we had a choice (not really) between the Pacific NW Chihuahua Festival and the Black Diamond Miner’s Day celebration. We had been looking forward to Miner’s Day but it turned out to be seven garage sales and a chili cook-off. And you couldn’t buy a bowl of chili; you just bought a little pill cup and a spoon and went around and sampled. So we went to Michael’s Pizza and Deli. I tried to sell Michael an ad the day before and made the mistake of asking if he delivered to the park. “NO I don’t deliver! If people are too goddamned lazy to come and eat in my place they don’t deserve my food!”

And the beat goes on.