More time on website stuff – oddly enough things that were wrong with the forms last summer, but now fixed.
A run to Safeway to discover that they still hadn’t received my Ambian prescription… got their card with fax number on it to email my PA (Physician’s Assistant). Nice that this could be done through email rather a call or worse yet, an office visit.
While at Safeway I found them gearing up for June 1st when they start selling booze.
At the moment they have cases on cases of chips stacked in front of the stocked shelves.
A little after 1 it was off to the Longhouse Gathering. Camping. Just for the night as I have to work tomorrow.
My tent is the one with the red lobster sitting on top of it.
Not a bad meal tonight for dinner — a chicken dish – made better by the fact that I didn’t have to cook or clean.
Spent the morning dealing with bounces from last night’s email blast about the gathering. No bad – 42 bounces out of 800+ emails sent out. Printed more postcards to send out and swung by the post office to get the remaining stamps. Now all that has to happen is to make the “private” registration page “public” tomorrow at midnight.
Dinner tonight is with Swanda, but first I have to build his new chair that arrived in the mail to replace the one that had a catastrophic failure (the Humpty Dumpty moment from several posts ago). Interesting that the dead chair was rated at 1000 pounds (as is this one). Let’s hope it doesn’t meet the same fate.
Dinner tonight (which I started at 2) was a salad with asiago cheese and little plum tomatoes, steamed King Crab legs with garlic butter, and Osso Bucco to round out the plate. Think “little plates” on a big plate.
It’s a website called Shoes of Prey. Woman’s shoes, but I’m a size 12 (in womans). I love the typography of this custom shoe that I designed, not the $205 with shipping cost.
But if I wanted a heal ($355), I could go for this…
You can’t see it in this picture, but the heal is actually purple fur (like the tongue which you can see). And yes, I could make it a stiletto:
Â
But I don’t think I’m the heel kinda guy. I’m still going with the soft leather first version.
Enough playing around after a coconut tilapia over salad dinner.
Lots of time working on making a PDF form that you can fill out, and then click and submit. All day, three versions, none working yet. Frustrating.
This is before and after a wine tasting downtown – wines from the Loire Valley in France. Mostly whites, with a few bland reds. 77 wines later at the Palace Ballroom (a Tom Douglas venue). It didn’t hurt that there were three different “terrines” there to feast on: rabbit/pistachio, duck, and country. Great for a low-carb diet.
And with the rain today, we have today’s picture of the combination of water and blooms on the Empress Tree:
I’ve been thinking of chopping down the big one as a new smaller one is coming up two feet further from the Arbutus/Madrona by the walk, allowing it to grow away from the walk, and towards the sun. The Madrona does not transplant well, so the fact that one self-seeded itself in my front yard is a lucky break – funny that there was an old Madrona in front of the church on Lopez as well.
And, of course, the star of the photo is the out-of-control rosemary tree at the front left.
Slow day at the shop even an hour into the Greek Wine tasting, then it picked up – blame the weather? Finished out the day not too bad – half of our Saturday take. Guess I should really thank our bus driver customer who can’t come in the shop but gave me his credit card number and told me to pick out of case of interesting and varied white wines for him to try as he’s switching from red to wine to cut down on the teeth stains. A little Gruner, a couple of different style Pinot Gris, an unoaked Chardonnay, a little vino verde, a Torrontes – a nice mix. In the box I also put the tasting notes for all of the bottles so he can keep track of what he likes.
Today’s picture:
Hard at work picking wines.
After work (Jim stayed to close) which I’m thinking about moving to 6PM on Sundays as we always have a little rush at the end, it was off to see Bliss for cocktails and dinner. A little salad, some grilled asparagus, some grilled pork loin and three partial bottles of wine from the tasting – a white with the salad course, and the two reds with dinner.
A stop at Swandas to fix his CPAP machine and it was home before 11.
Today we were tasting Italian Wines – I’m surprised Jill didn’t show up, or maybe she did after I left. Two whites and three reds, and by the time I’d left, all but one of the bottles of frizante (slightly fizzy white wine) had walked out the door. Great work by our wine rep who used to own his own wine shop not unlike our own (12th & Olive) who emailed his old list of clients and had them come in for the tasting – and many did. Nice to have new customers in the door – can’t wait to see the totals for the day.
One of the interesting things that he mentioned was about histamines, which contrary to what most blame on sulfites, is what gives certain people headaches from drinking red wine. What I didn’t know was that histamines decrease over time in the bottle. So, after three years, almost none remain which is why people often say that they don’t have problems with European wines – because the Europeans hold theirs back for a couple of years whereas most US wines tend to be released young (mostly for cash-flow reasons).
There is your wine lesion (lesson according to Jill) for today.
After work it was home to change for the opera. Playing dress-up two nights in one week. Damn.
Wonderful picked me up and off to dinner were we – made a little more challenging by the closure of Highway 99 this weekend. It made the Mercer Mess messier.
Dinner at Bahn Thai where it was actually warm enough to sit on the front deck:
Then it was off to Madama Butterfly:
Think Italian take on American Imperialism. As you can see from the picture, she certainly doesn’t look 15 as the story goes, more like +30 on that and the sets cheap (I think they are saving all the money for the next Ring cycle). And, of course, she dies in the end. Lovely music though.
Home to bed after the news and Saturday Night Live with Mick Jagger hosting. Speaking of +30 (or would that be +60).
Got back around noon from Olympia. Logged in for email, found approval from the QRs for the summer gathering so it’s time to print the postcard call for the gathering.
Basically it’s a 500 postcard mailing, most in the US, some in Canadaland and six overseas.
By 5:00pm the cards were printed, taken to FedExOffice to be cut, then to the post office for $185 in postage, reverse side mail merged from the mailing list complete with return address, and finally stamped.
Next stop is the post office on the way to a birthday party/house centennial party with friends of my from Dublin (Ireland, not Ohio) attending.
Good to see the kids, but I ducked out of the party around 8 and headed home with the top down – our run of sun continuing for another couple of days yet.
Spent the rest of the evening making changes to the Gathering Website (http://www.cascadiafaeries.org) for the summer gathering. Now all that’s left it the true pain-in-the-arse electronically submittable PDF of the registration form.
Left town around 1 headed for Olympia, with 2 stops at Safeway to restock the freezer – my meat supply is dangerously low – down to only half the freezer.
Tonight’s gig at The Evergreen State College is the annual recognition dinner – and it being the 40th anniversary of the college, I thought I’d go and drag CaddyDaddy along with me.
Time to get dressed up (though I left the sport coat at home):
We clean up pretty good, and the food was pretty good as well.
Needless to say, I’m spending the night down in Olympia with all the free wine that was flowing.
Well, several odd coincidences… I was checking out the cost for the ferry between Tawassan and Duke Point on Vancouver Island to send to Wonderful and CaddyDaddy, two possible roommates for the Colonels 2-bedroom condo the first full week in June, only to find out that the days we need to travel are 25% off (though a portion is eaten up by the $15 reservation fee, but I’ve missed enough boats on Fridays to not want to risk it). That’s almost as good as the 15% off Round-The World airfare that I passed on.
So, reservations made for both Fridays (8th and 15th), now I just need someone to use condo with who can go up on Friday and then pick me up at the Clipper terminal (using my 50% off coupon) on Monday so I don’t have to ask for Saturday and Sunday off. I suppose that I could just delay checking in until Monday assuming they permit that.
Other reservations made and unmade:
Turned back in my frequent flier mile First Class ticket from SF to Cabo San Lucas for after my birthday cruise
Booked Rich and I from SF to Seattle for after the birthday cruise (still need to make train reservations to get to Vancouver) using miles, though I might buy tickets if the price comes down
Booked Rich and I from Seattle to Cabo San Lucas the next day using my $99 companion fare, coach down, but used my last two Guest Upgrades to return us in First
Booked myself to Santa Fe early next month to go through the parents’ house to see if there is anything else besides speakers and the sewing machine that I want
Whew. Still need to tell everyone else what’s happening.
Finished up weed-eating the rest of the yard now that I have more trimmer string. Hopefully the sun will stay out and just turn the lawn a nice brown.
Dinner with Wonderful tonight. Braised lamb shanks – the two hour cook time melt in your mouth recipe. Now what to do with all the leftover stock/soup/liquid that it cooked in. Lamb stock? Just add more vegetables and make soup? Who knows.
Long after dinner call with RobinHood over the planning of the summer gathering at Breitenbush. Looks like I’ve roped myself into sending out the call – at least it’s via postcard this time.
Dinner with Swanda tonight. Steaks, asparagus in Alfredo sauce, cole slaw. All good until the Humpty Dumpty moment but all was fine by the time I left.
There are times I think apartment living would be good – like after spending an hour or so mowing and trimming the lawn. Luckily the trimmer ran out of line so maybe I’ll finish it tomorrow.
I looked into that “Around The World” fare on United to get some of those 107,912 miles I need. I made one itinerary of about 23,000 miles for $3-4K, or almost 39,000 miles (which I could do in a week and a half) for $7K. The later equals 18 cents a mile which is a little high, the former is close to 15 cents a mile. What I didn’t add is the 25% bonus which would be a free first class ticket in the US for the 39,000 mile option.
If you are curious about what 39,000 miles looks like on a map:
The routing was Seattle-Sydney-Tokyo-Dubai-Johannasberg-Panana City- Seattle. That and a week and a half in the air and in airports.
After a lamb and salad dinner I took a stroll around the neighborhood to check out the construction on the new bridge:
They are working on the new approach and a lot of the concrete approach stuff is done so hopefully the streets will be open again soon.
The most amazing thing I saw was the recycling of street paving bricks, hopefully for use in the neighborhood.
In theory a 2013 opening for the bridge.
Maybe I’ll finish the weed-eating tomorrow. Or not.
Sounds like Jimmy had a wild day in the shop yesterday for the local May Fair parade and festival. Last year was kinda dead, this year, with the sun out, was well attended. Not that I could have changed my plans (unless I few home from Winnipeg!) but with bottles open all day, he certainly went through every glass in the shop. Time to pick up some more since we have another empty rack.
Not quite that wild for me. It was a respectable day and a nice cap to the week.
Closed the door at 5, headed down the hill for some last minute shopping for dinner, got home about 5:35 or so. By a little after six I’d done the prep work for a dinner for five and was waiting for the guests: Erik, Hunter (a Facebook friend of Erik and now mine), and two friends of Hunters. All but Erik are in from Atlanta.
Mixed grill. Some pork, chicken, salmon (which the vegetarian Erik actually ate some), stuffed portabellas, grilled bell peppers, saffron/cranberry rice (not as good as I was hoping) served with a salad and SodoVino wines.
Ever had one of those dinner parties where it just doesn’t click and you are relieved when they all leave – that would be tonight. Nothing I can put my finger on, just relief.
With the boys gone, it gave me a chance to ponder something that hit me yesterday while I was travelling. I need 107,912 more flight miles on United to attain lifetime Premier Gold status (three free bags, advanced economy plus seats, bonus miles, easier freebie upgrades). Considering I haven’t flown revenue miles with them for at least a year… and the feeling that I’d have to hold my nose to fly that much more with them, I’m in a quandary. I certainly can’t get the 100,000 this year, I’d be lucky to bag 25,000 to keep my Premier status.
Maybe I just need to fly around the world and deposit the miles.
As for the worries of weight gain on the trip with the combination of being out of stock with Alli and 4 days of three full meals a day on the train. Not bad. The number below is only one pound up, but well within the usual swing of daily numbers.
Rolled into Toronto on 15 minutes late which is good for those with tight connections to make. For me, it just means less of a nap after breakfast. Lordie knows what this trip is going to do to my weight loss program.
After disembarking, it’s off to the Panorama Lounge to check email and sync up the Ken Doll.
They did a stunning job renovating the space.
But before I go further, a couple of pictures from last night when I dragged the Aussie ladies to the far end of the train to see the bullet shaped “Park Car. The first shot is of us in the bar section:
Looks like we are having way too much fun. It might be because of our bartender Sebastian:
And now back to our regularly scheduled blog post… put a couple of hours in the lounge confirming that United hadn’t once again moved my flight forward, posting blog stuff, checking mail, retrieving two more New Yorkers for the plane right home, and swilling down free espresso and Diet Cokes.
For CAN$3 you can catch the subway right across the street from the station that takes you to the airport. VERY convenient even if it is two transfers along with way. An hour door to door. Maybe next time I can figure out how to do this trip in the reverse order.
No troubles with checking in, or customs, though their Nexus machines were down so I had to do global entry, which might actually be easier. Luckily I was travelling with my passport, nexus, passport card AND enhanced driver’s license.
Picked up a liter of scotch at duty free and stuffed it into my carryon – the advantage of having already cleared US customs/immigration – you get to take it when you buy it because when you land in Chicago you fly into the domestic terminal rather than the international.
Lunch at the Molsen pub – cheeseburger, but swapped the fries for a Greek Salad to cut down most of the carbs.
Uneventful flight to Chicago arriving early so my worries about a 55 minute layover being too short did not come to pass.
The last leg to Seattle was much more amusing having a pretty gay boy as my seat companion. The only reading I got done was when he passed out for a bit, the rest of the time we were chatting like a couple of old hens (well, one old hen, on chicken). He’s a bag designer for Detour, a bike bag company here in Seattle. His partner was stuck in the back of the completely packed plane, at least in an aisle seat. He was nice enough to take a fresh baked cookie and a glass of red wine back mid-flight (with the blessing of the really funny girl stew). He and his partner like near the Arboretum and know the wine shop on 15th that Jim used to be partners in. I might have just added two more customers to our database. I also steered them to the ViaRail Express Deals and the Quillayute River Resort.
Our flight got into Seattle a little early, nice to get a jumpstart on heading home to my own bed.
Since the car was at the apartment, texted Swanda to see if he was up (yes), for a visit (yes, again) so I stowed my bags, picked up some food for me (dinner was a long time back) and headed up for a short visit. Actually managed to get home before the 11 o’clock news, but didn’t make it past the monologue for Saturday Night Live, something about it being 2:30am East Coast time.
Want to see all the pictures from the trip? Click on the link below:
What I was craving after breakfast was a nice big salad, and I was rewarded with a Greek Salad with braised shrimp on top. Apparently I’ve been a good boy this week.
A little update from yesterday after I posted. When I was checking email there was ANOTHER email from United telling me that they’d changed my flight to the morning flight AGAIN. Luckily we had a little time (45 minutes versus the standard two hours) in Winnipeg for me to track down a pay phone and get it settled with United that:
No, I couldn’t take the morning flight as it leaves at the same time as my plane gets in
Yes, 55 minutes is enough time for a connection as I clear customs in Toronto, not Chicago, and
Yes, the flights do come into the same terminal.
Much typing later with notes in my reservation, I’m back on the 4:30pm flight, but by this time I’d lost my bulkhead aisle seat, but at least got a bulkhead window seat.
I’m blaming this on the United/Continental merger and different layover requirements. They are now answering the phone “The NEW United, how may I help you.” Answer: quit changing my flights.
I’m doubtful this post will be made at Hornepayne as it’s a fairly small town. But I’ll try (and fail). But I did pick up a little more soda – to bad I missed seeing the larger grocery store where I might have picked up another half pint – guess it’s to the bar for me tonight after dinner.
ggg
Also as of Winnipeg, we have new train staff. Meet Jeremy, my new Porter (and his trainee, Paul), who are MUCH more responsive with the ice, and even brought me clean glassware:
Dinner tonight was again with the Aussie ladies – I’m beginning to like them – and they like me as well because I have my father’s flirting skills. The ladies had the rack of lamb (in short supply – wish I’d had it) and I opted for the substitute of the rib eye, which if it was twice as thick and half the width would have made for a better meal, but they did manage to get parts of it medium rare – as opposed to the ladies who wanted their lamb “ala Helene”, a.k.a. well-done. Chowder and a spinach/mandarin salad before, dessert in the room later – guess this diet just went down the tubes.
Woke up in Saskatoon and didn’t even bother to get off the train for two reasons. No wi-fi, and it’s breakfast time.
Breakfast: same as yesterday but with ham. Should have had the mushroom/bacon/cheese omelet yesterday as today’s it total vegetarian. Maybe tomorrow as the omelet changes daily depending on what the chef has left over from the day before.
As is my train routine, up early, eat, back to bed – like a baby cow being prepped for veal.
Today’s big stops in addition to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is Winnipeg in Manitoba, where “in theory” we have two hours. With the number of “sidings” today, should be interesting. It is also the next wi-fi/supply stop (more Diet Coke). When the train isn’t in sidings it is going like a bat out of hell with every crossover track it encounters a large clank and a side sway. In the evenings one has to find a sleeping position that one doesn’t tend to roll – for part of last night the only one that didn’t bother my knee was on my back. Luckily the cabin has a door to cut down on the noise of me snoring.
Three pictures for you today.
This is what all of Saskatchewan looks like. Think western Kansas/Nebraska and eastern Colorado. Flat wheat fields mixed in with oil wells.
This is what all of Manitoba looks like. Think eastern Kansas/Nebraska and Missouri. Rolling hills.
And this is my porter Joannie, pronounced Jo-aann-e (that’s French, you know) on her last trip to deliver some ice for the lobster. New crew in Winnipeg, time to start the ice training all over again.
Finished the book on Fred Harvey, which appendix one is the tail of a recent trip on the Southwest Chief by the author and his wife, and then we roll into Appendix Two which are some of the recipes from the Harvey House restaurants. One that I grew up on is for Angels and Horseback:
Dry large oysters with towel, season with salt and cayenne pepper. Wrap in parboiled strips of bacon and tie with toothpick. Dip in flour, eggwash, and fresh breadcrumbs. Place on skewers, and fry in hot lard a golden brown. Serve on toast, and garnish with quarter lemons and parsley.
Not exactly my mother’s recipe as I remember it, especially the lard, but it would have been generationally appropriate.
The book itself is about 400 pages before you get to the back matter (including the Appendixes) of about 50 pages before you get to the index and citations, another 50 pages. I mention this because I think there are a number of other people who would like to read this book. The current list is Swanda, The Colonels, Dwight, Dad (maybe even Mom and Helene for the recipes).
Guess I should have thrown in a couple of more books as I’m down to the KenDoll and its couple of issues of the New Yorker and odd freebie eBooks.
Dinner is served early tonight so that the crew can get cleaned up for our supposed 2030 arrival (that would be 8:30pm). Not sure how this fits into the 7pm wine tasting which I might have to miss.
Caesar salad, prime rib, and beyond al dente vegetables was the dinner, with a split of Cabernet from Australia. Damn it, I hate paying restaurant or even retail wine prices these days. But it’s good for my heart.
And for the last picture of the day – toilet top dessert. I got mine to go since the Prime Rib filled me up and I knew I’d want a little sweet after checking email in Winnipeg.
That’s it for the night. Think I’m going to have to bing and purge when I get home.
Late night update to day two with dinner details, assuming there is wi-fi access in Edmonton. I didn’t check last month because it was 0’dark-thirty in the morning.
Dined tonight with three elderly (or at least more so than I) ladies from Sydney. They all had the chicken; I went for the pork tenderloins and only ate one of the smallest baby potatoes and all the broccoli and red peppers. The main was preceded by chowder and salad with a glass of wine, and followed by coffee and cake.
Running about 45 minutes late into Jasper, so we only have a 45 minute stop which is enough for me to snag some more Diet Coke and some AAA batteries.
Here is a great shot of the train standing about mid-way (which is where my car is, and they stopped it right in front of the station). Looking towards the end of the train:
Looking towards the head of the train – train for as long as the eye can see.
Â
Running late into Edmonton as well, so we’ll see if this post makes it.
Rolled out of the compartment in yesterday’s clothes at 7:30am and was fed and back in bed by 8:30am for another two hours sleep since I didn’t go to sleep until 1:30am this morning. The rough life on a train.
Mr. Lobster decided to take the upper bunk and share it with my coffee mug.
After a shower, headed to the Panorama car to look at the scenery and start on this trips must finish book: Appetite For America: Fred Harvey and the Business of Civilizing the Wild West – One Meal at a Time (Stephen Fried). A nice relaxing place to read:
Especially when we come up to Triangle Falls:
Too bad didn’t have my camera out in time for the remains of a derailment a week and a half ago – containers in the river, beside the tracks. Quite a mess.
To give you an idea about how long this train is, this was taken from the first dining car with is I believe the fifth car in the train (out of twenty, unless you are counting the engines).
Way in the distance you can see the final dome car (the bullet shaped one).
Breakfast was eggs sunny side up, one half of a slice of toast, breakfast sausage that only the Canadians can love, a mouth full of hash browns and a glass of grapefruit juice. Like I said, trying to avoid those carbs as much as possible.
Lunch was vegetable soup where the vegetables still had some crunch, so I’m guessing train made and the frittata of asparagus and smoked salmon, even topped with some lox. Quite tasty. Passed on dessert.
Filing this from Jasper in the late afternoon as it’s the only wi-fi spot from here to Winnipeg as I don’t remember Edmonton as having wi-fi. Parting shot, Valemount, AB – at the beginning of the Rocky Mountain trench:
And Mount Robson, or at least what you can see of it.
The blog post sounds confusing… Checking out, checking in, boarding, all The Canadian?
The WorldMark is at The Canadian, across from Wall Centre (home of the Sheraton). The Canadian is also a beer slogan (Molsen?), which BamBam had four of while we were hanging out waiting for The Canadian, the train that runs from Vancouver to Toronto.
Apparently, the Canadians like to call everything “The Canadian”.
My day, after The Canadian, and before The Canadian.
Up at nine, packed and out of the condo at noon. Off to the train station (via SkyTrain, C$2.50) to drop off my bag so they could put it in my “stateroom”, a.ka. a “roomette” on “The Canadian”. Damn, I’m about to wear out the ” key.
After dropping the bag (C$3, which they didn’t charge for the last time, but still totally worth it), I still had time on my SkyTrain ticket – got back on the train to go to the end of the Zone One area, but realized that the first stop was Commercial Drive where I know has nice restaurants for lunch (breakfast was a Slim Jim basically). Basically I have until 8:30pm when the train leaves to amuse myself. Commercial Drive here I come.
My buddy Pucci would like all the old Italian espresso bars, not turned sports:
My favorite memory of this place 20 years ago was of a couple of old Italian guys eating sushi, drinking espresso, and chatting in Italian.
Got off the train and remembered my buddy TomTuma often works from home. Called, and he was home, at least for a glass of fizzy ice water on the rocks before his next appointment:
Damn. Lose 25 pounds and you still look fat next to the skinny one.
Lunch at the Memphis Blues BBQ place close to Toms:
On the way back to the station, stumbled across this lovely duo busking on the street corner… cello and accordion. Can’t wait to check out www.sidewalkcellist.com to see if the accordion player is listed. He’s HOT.
Had to buy another SkyTrain ticket so I started exploring Zone One which is as far as you can go in an hour and a half. Down to Chinatown, Waterfront Station, Marine Drive, and eventually, back where I started: the train station.
The boyz (Hummingbird and BamBam) showed up at 4:30 for one last get together – and off we go to the place across from the train station which is part:
Parted with the boys so they could have an evening, and for me to deal with the excitement of the journey. It’s a long train we have…
We have a seriously LONG train – and I’m in Car 213 which is smack dab in the middle of the train. There are THREE Vista Dome cars, and all-glass Panorama car (we lose that in Edmonton for the west bound run) and bloody TEN sleepers. Now I really see where all the old cool pre-Amtrak equipment went… to Canada. Good thing I’ve got the knee brace on as it’s a long way from one end to the other. Hell, there are even TWO dining cars on this run. 23 pieces of equipment – three engines, a baggage car, two coach cars and all the stuff I mentioned before. We lose the other engine and the Panorama car in Jasper tomorrow at 4 (thought I think we are running late).
The train was so long that to get it into the yard they had to split it in two – the coach/baggage/engines on track 4 and all the rest of the cars on track 5 – it still made for a half mile walk for the folks in Sleeper Car 210.
First – a shot of the Panorama Car which I have never seen on ViaRail before:
Sorry for the crappy picture, but it’s still better than AmTrak’s just for the number of people who can actually sit there… not a bubble dome, but can hold three times the people.
And I’m flummoxed over the last picture of the night, of the room (after the champagne and several cocktails).
So I did both.
One of the most interesting conversations on the train was with the “Bullet Lounge” car attendant who repeatedly had to answer… “Is this where I get breakfast”… “No, that’s the dining car, ask your room attendant.” That the Express Fares have filled up the train with many people who haven’t done this before (I’m channeling Swanda to not be snarky – it took me three times to rewrite that sentence.) Considering that normally my fare would be C$1800 and I got it for C$575 – it’s opened up rail travel in a sleeper to a bunch more people, hence, TEN sleeping cars and TWO coach cars (those were on sale as well).
[? ? ?] The last Alli® pill was on Sunday with my noon meal. And now I’m on a trip with three meals a day, doubtful any carb free. Started this trip at 210 and hoping not to come back as a blimp.
Or maybe I should call it “My Day In Pictures” since Swanda informed me that I was not to bitch about having to get up early to make the train. It was my decision to take the train, rather than the bus at a more civilized time. That said, from the pictures, you’ll know why I took the train:
Actually nicer than the Talgo coach seats – two feet of leg room between you and the seat in front of you, foot rest, leg rest and two outlets. I didn’t check for wi-fi.
A couple of 737s headed to Renton for final assemble (they start out in Wichita).
The view from my seat.
For better or worse (better because I slept through it), we were stopped for an hour and a half in Mount Vernon due to the freight train ahead of us needing to split apart their train to remove a freight car with a bearing that was overheating.
Met Hummingbird at the train station and we headed towards The Canadian.
My room is on the 22nd floor on this side of the building, the corner closest to this view.
My room wasn’t ready, but Helene was on her way to meet for lunch. Off to Davie street we go, and the gay Fountainhead restaurant and bar. After last night’s sauerkraut, what I really needed was a big old Caesar salad. Club for Hummingbird, quesadilla for Helene. Wine for me, cider for Hummingbird, Stella Artois for Helene.
After lunch it was back to the condo to meet up with Epick, who can’t come to dinner (oddly enough, no one can so I’m solo), but does have a couple of hours to hang out and catch up.
That also give you a nice shot of what the 2-bedroom condo looks like.
Went to the IGA for some prepared food for my dinner, and a little snack for breakfast and settled in for a quiet night in the sky. The mostly full moon was out again, but the shots weren’t as good as the first night, so that shot doesn’t get included today.
For the last shot of the day, a little slightly cropped self-portrait:
ggg
I would have been there, but for the fact that I was in Boise. Next time you do Italians, please consult my travel schedule first.
And, I’d rather not get “wine lesions”