Today was Aunt Carol-Ann & Uncle Carroll's annual cider press. This year there were other Goering relatives visiting from Wichita, Nebraska, and San Francisco!

500 pounds of apples, friends, great food, and smiles all around. The Goering family tradition lives on.

Uncle Rod was visiting from Wichita, he cuts up apples to fit in the chopper. Judy and Étienne stay out of the lovely Seattle rain waiting to help.

Étienne adds apples to the chopper, cousin Scott from San Francisco mans the press.

Aunt Carol-Ann and Judy catch up, Cousin Dan and friends.

Étienne, Carroll, and cousin Colleen from Wichita.

Thanks for the fresh cider!

Thursday was the 6th XC meet this season. Veronica (fourth in this picture) is still running varsity and did very well.

Crossing the finish line in 4th, Veronica ran this 5,000 meter course with a season best of 19:46. That is just fifteen seconds off her personal record set last year. Adding the place value of the top five runners on a team results in a overall score for Ballard of 40. Once again, Ballard High School girls take first place.

Seattle Public Schools started Wednesday! Carl and Étienne are wearing clean clothes and Veronica is sporting a new skirt in Ballard colors with the Beaver mascot. Thank you grandma Nancy.

Day 1: The boys arrived. Let the clean "shirt watch" begin.

The boys are off to camp today. Camp Orkila is on the North end of Orcas Island. Both are signed up for traditional camp with one overnight in the woods. I think Carl will overnight on another island. While at camp, they can receive e-mail. Contact mom and dad for the particulars.

Étienne appears very passive for his 7 AM departure. Once I get him loaded on the bus and they perform a "head" check, I will not see him for 7 days. The bus has about an hour to get to the Anacortes ferry terminal. Then it is about an hour ferry ride before the bus drives another 20 minutes to the camp.

Carl's bus left at 9 AM and will follow the same route. By 6 PM tonight, we should see pictures posted of their arrival on the Orkila Smugmug account. We will be watching to see that they wear a clean shirt each day. I am requesting the option to send a howler if we see the same shirt tomorrow. My thought is for a $20 donation (I would pay $50!) a staff member would approach the offending camper at mealtime, unroll an official looking scroll, and in a loud voice read my e-mail expressing our displeasure in their choice of attire that day. Last year the pictures on Smugmug showed a particular camper wearing the same shirt all week!

We love Camp Orkila and our boys.

Saturday morning, Étienne and dad drove to Yakima for cherries. Every year we try to preserve twelve quarts of pie cherries. That gets us one cherry pie per month. Sometimes this is hard because the rhubarb is quite prolific. When I get into my pie crust mode, we may hit a pie a week!

To keep the cost down we used to frequent the U-Pick orchards. Three years ago the pickings were pittiful. I gave the cashier my long sad face and commented that our seven pounds would not satisfy the annual pie needs of the Redpath family. She pointed to a cooler with several twenty pound boxes of mechanically picked organic pie cherries...at the same price! I was sold. Ever since I make this annual pilgrimage to Barrett Orchard to pick up my 40 pounds.

I pride myself on being as eco/cost effective as practical. After 287 miles of driving, Judy's car showed a cumulative fuel consumption of 40 miles per gallon. After driving the remaining way through city traffic, I pulled up to the house with 39.6 mpg and 308 miles. Gotta love that 2006 E320 CDI!

By noon, we got to work pitting the cherries. Bria helped along with Linda and Quincy. Would you believe we had fourteen quart processed and cooling by 5 PM? Judy did a great hot pack with less than a cup of cherries to spare. Each jar contains about two and a half pounds of cherries with their juice and a scant two tablespoons of light sugar syrup to keep the color. That is it. Nothing else. Cherry Pie, Here We Come!!

We all know it as the 520 floating bridge ride. The state updated the bridge and added new lanes. A previous post shows the pontoons passing through the Ballard Locks. Before opening the new lanes to motor vehicles, The Cascade Bicycle Club put this ride together. It sold out! The whole family rode and had a fabulous time.

The very packed Ride start. The middle shows us queuing up along the edge. Étienne and I rode my friends Kuwahara tandem.

The ride started about 4 miles from our house. We had two friends from Whidbey Island spend the night to make the early start more palatable. Four miles may sound far but I know it is all downhill. Add the downhill to a cool humid morning and it took about two minutes for the kids to complain of frozen hands. So much for all my prep work the night before. I handed over my brand new Specialized rain gloves. Bummer. Once we arrived, things started looking up. With so many riders, people that drove were parking up to a mile away. The ride start was being staggered every 5 minutes to relieve some of the congestion. As it was, we rode about 35 yards and then walked two tenths of a mile. I could feel the frustration but was glad people kept the conversation light. I took time to admire the many other tandems.

View of 520 Floating Bridge. View from Interstate 5 Express lanes crossing Lk Union. Chinatown Rest Stop.

After walking at the start, the route turned to get on the 520 bridge. That is when the congestion opened up and we could ride. We still rode shoulder to shoulder and several riders should not have been permitted to ride a single. Unskilled riders were weaving, skidding tires, and not looking ahead. A tandem, tag-a-long, trailer, or just staying home would have been the prudent choice for these moving road hazards. As it was, we navigated the commotion without incident. We opted for the longer ride and sure enough, as soon as we passed the Start/Finish, most of the riders (all of the wobbly ones) stopped.

We continued along the second loop to enjoy a unique chance to ride the Interstate 5 Express lanes. These lanes occupy the lower level of a very tall bridge over the ship canal and Lk Union. We all have driven these lanes but to ride a bike and stop to enjoy the vista...WOW!!! Five lanes to ourselves. The best part was when I realized that Étienne and I were on a tandem! Sounds like a carpool to me. So we headed over to that far left lane and let it go. The Kuwahara has something called half step shifting. Running through the gears I cranked the bike up to a smooth 45 miles per hour. Étienne blew the train whistle with all his might but we still startled a few riders. We blew by so fast they never had a chance to catch our wheel. Great stoking Étienne.

Meanwhile, Veronica, Carlton & Judy took their time and enjoyed the view. At one point Veronica was riding in the middle lane of I5, coasting downhill with her hands outstretched. No photos, but here were some Twitter updates from other riders experiencing the same joy.

I-5 Express Bike Lane. #SEAbikes #BikeEmeraldCity pic.twitter.com/xgrjvablA4

— Seattle Bike Blog (@seabikeblog) April 3, 2016

https://twitter.com/seabikeblog/status/716654068727328769

Sunday morning commute on the express way. @CascadeBicycle @seattledot #BikeEmeraldCity pic.twitter.com/QgGmjzZZPL

— Kyle (@suppliesattack) April 3, 2016

https://twitter.com/suppliesattack/status/716663815715172356

This last picture shows sad Veronica. Remember I said the route from our house to the ride start was downhill? About a half mile from our house, Veronica dropped her chain. She hopped off and walked the rest of the way up the hill. Sad Veronica. Once home I had to hop on the bike and show her how easy it is to shift the front derailleur and get the chain back on. I have since adjusted the derailleur. Oh, that is happy Étienne showing off that we rode 45 MPH!

Today the Loyal Heights Elementary production of The Wizard of Oz opened at Ballard High. Étienne played a jitterbug and our friend Madeline played Nikko, leader of the flying monkeys.

Étienne makes his entrance as the wicked witch orders the jitterbugs to soften the brains of Dorothy, tin-man, scarecrow, and the lion.

Here, Étienne dances with Dorothy. The plan is to have Dorothy dance the shoes right off!

I captured this great video of Étienne's dance.

Maddie did a great job playing Nikko. She seemed jubilant as the wicked witch sent her off to capture Dorothy and Toto. Then changed her loyalty when the witch melted and gave Dorothy the broom.

Here are the closing shots as the cast takes a bow.

It was a full house, great job Étienne and Madeline.

Judy has been cutting her finger on the door handles of her car. The 2006 has a chrome plated plastic handle. My 1999 is cast metal. You can see the chrome peeled back leaving a very sharp edge. Both driver and passenger side have this issue. I looked online for replacements but could not find one.

Today I was half way downtown and decided to cruise by the dealer and ask if there has been any Technical Service Bulletin on these parts. The answer was no but they had them in stock! Great price and easy to install. Judy's car is back up and running!

I would have let Carl replace them but he is spending the morning at a confirmation retreat. Two months ago, he replaced the radiator thermostat on Judy's car and did a great job. He had to tighten steel bolts into the aluminum head so I taught him the beauty of the digital torque wrench. That was more for me so my heart would not stop when he tightened them down.

Ballard High performed the Winter Musical "Children of Eden" tonight. This was the fifth of six shows. Veronica performs in the chorus, and Étienne got a children's part. Our house has been very quiet with all the evening rehearsals. The Thursday shows make for a tough Friday at school. The shows last till about 10:30 and Étienne is still up and at school by 8.

One week before opening, Veronica came down with a virus. She came home from a Saturday rehearsal running 102 °F. On Monday it spiked to 103 but soon subsided. She made opening night but lost her singing voice for the first week.

Veronica was in charge of the water and often sprinted off stage to move the water out of the way of other dancers. On the right, you see her framed by Eve and God.

The large chorus filled the auditorium with song and dance. There multicultural costumes represent the people and lands that span the globe.

Étienne is standing next to Kate. In the show Kate played the mother of Étienne. Étie also played a drum in several scenes. Étienne was a big hit with the cast. He was the only grade school boy and considered a fashion icon with his Seahawk glasses and knit beanie he wore to rehearsals.

On the risers, both Veronica and Étienne listen to Noah. That is the orchestra lurking underneath. On the right we see the animals ready to board the ark. Veronica made an excellent Flamingo, and Étienne a Lion.

This is Veronica at the meet and greet immediately following the show. She supplemented her costume with a pair of her own earrings. By tonight (show #5) she regained her voice and thoroughly enjoyed the show.

You can ask Veronica and Étienne about the meaning of their biographies.