Our planes were full. Both flights overbooked and passengers complained about checking their roller suitcases. As we touched down at Sea-Tac, the sun warmed the air and energized the landscape with color and texture. Judy took me to Arnies for a wonderful dinner. I did not take the camera in but wished I had. Every table offered breathtaking views of the sound, Cascade mountains, and local color. The line of cars waiting for the ferry to Whidbey Island stretched 90 minutes long. Here we see the excellent education system of Washington State! I look forward to taking the kids on a ferry boat ride. On the south edge of Lake Union we walked the MOHAI museum. These are but a few of the fine ships on display and being refurbished at the Museum. Another destination for the kids and Jason!
The last day of school in Wichita was this Wednesday, so we had a lot of end-of-the-year activities. Monday, May 14th was the Robinson Middle School orchestra final concert. They held it at East High School, and had a picnic on the front lawn before the concert.
After we ate, the kids all ran around the lawn playing. Here are Étienne, Carl, Veronica, and her friend Emma sitting on the East High sign:
The final orchestra concert was casual, with the students in jeans and their orchestra t-shirts. Here is the conductor, Ms. Carpenter:
The sixth grade orchestra. Veronica is on the left, and her friend Isabelle is on the right, on bass:
During the concert:
The sixth grade played three songs by themselves. All Star:
Star Trek:
And Wipe Out
Then they played Moondance with the seventh-grade orchestra.
Then, last Sunday, Veronica finally got to play the cello at church. She played cello for the first service, then both cello and piano solos for second service.
Steve and I are headed to Seattle to house-hunt, so Seattle photos should be coming up soon!
Just last month we drove the wagon through Missouri on a three day trip. I have known for a while that the car shifts a little funny first thing in the morning. I set the transmission to "W"inter mode and it starts in second gear unless you really step into it. That worked fine and I thought nothing of it. My car does not have a transmission dipstick so I intended to take it to the mechanic before our next long trip and have them check the fluid level. In fact I talked face to face with them last Tuesday the 8th.
The next day I played racquetball in the morning and parked in my driveway until early afternoon when I teach swimming at the local Y. As I put the car in gear it really did not want to move. It felt like I had two gears engaged at the same time. I tried neutral and got a slight grinding noise. Then I tried reverse and got some forward motion from the car!
Enough is enough. I called the mechanic and told him the car was stuck on my driveway and he was to come get it, fix it, and call me when he was done. He assured me that it was probably a bad gasket in the valve body and he would call me Thursday morning.
The service manager himself started the car when they got it off the tow truck. COMPLETE AND CATASTROPHIC FAILURE OF THE TRANSMISSION. Well, if it is going to break I am happy it happened in my driveway, not in another state on a long trip.
Today I got the car back. New transmission, torque converter, and a lower ball joint. The shop took extra care to flush out the transmission cooling lines of all the debris before installing the new parts.
The shop knows me all too well. Last time I had a major repair I did not use their complimentary loaner car service. I commented that with a major repair (the shift console: who thought a little spilled coffee would disrupt the electronics) they could throw in a wipe down of my dirty dashboard, or perhaps a coffee cup. After all I did not cost them the expense of a loaner car.
This time the weather was so nice, Judy and I managed with the scooter and her car. Again, I went a week without utilizing their loaner car. Sure enough, I got the car back with a super detail, inside and out. I neglected to tell them that my son was car sick last month and I never did get it completely cleaned up. Now it is. They even did a headlight polish for me. I have the kit and planned to do it again. I already polished them three years ago. They do a super great job but charge for it. My comment last year paid off. The repair bill was softened with a complimentary detail and headlight polish.
On April 25, I spent a long weekend fishing Trout in Arkansas. Our mens group from church makes an annual trip. I try to keep on the good side of Pastor and studied up for the trip. Here I am waiting to pack our gear for the eight hour drive.
We rent a cabin in the Calico Rock area and rent boats from Lyndsey Trout Dock. We fish all morning and afternoon. The dock is first class and dresses the fish for us. The boats seat two or three. We motor up river and drift down with powerbait or cast a jig. Rainbow and Brown trout are plentiful. Here is a typical catch.
In the evening we must fellowship. The campfire is lit and we contemplate the vast expance of our universe and swap recipes! I sit back and enjoy a little peace and quiet.
This year my best friend from High School, Bryce, joined us.
Gene captained our boat and Bryce showed us how to catch brown trout. My view all day looked something like this:
I brought my famous Trout Cheesecake and about a case of wine. I also canned my catch for long term storage. The jars are cold packed with clean fresh trout. There is nothing else added to the jar. After processing 110 minutes at fifteen pounds the jars are ready to store. The fish is a little softer than canned salmon. The backbone can be pulled right out and the smaller bones dissolve. I often add a few drops of liquid smoke to my recipe. I make a smoked trout spread, salad, and of course the savory cheesecake. I add fresh dill to the filling and make the crust with crushed pitta chips. This six inch cake feeds ten to twenty as an appetizer
The trip is titled "Mens" fishing trip so of course we fill up two quad cab pickup trucks. I offered to drive my Mercedes E-class diesel but nobody took me up on the offer. After the trip we calculated each truck burned about $200 in fuel. My car could have made the whole round trip on a little more than one tank of gas! What I glean from this is "men like trucks."
Lifetime
