I Didn't Do It!

Rainbow Warrior

Running today, the roads were slick but real purdy.

Off to college!

About a week or so I dropped Ike off at WWU. I thought I might be kinda sad. Instead I was really happy. What a great experience this is going to be. Bellingham is beautiful and the people I met at Western were all very nice. Rain always motivated me to study. Maybe Ike will be the same way.

I stayed close to home for all my fancy book learnin'. The first I ever left home for any length of time was for USAF OTS in Texas and I was pretty homesick for a while. From the way Ike is not returning my calls, I don't think he is very homesick at all.

Spokefest 2011

Another great Spokefest. So far, we are four for four for four!





It was a hot day last Sunday - 9-11-11. There was a nice tasteful 9-11 remembrance at the star. Great words by Mayor Verner. And probably one of the best renditions of the National Anthem I have ever heard. Dixieland jazz too.

Wattson, the nuclear-powered vampire dachshund.

Otto, the Spokane Indians' "What the F@#kasaurus."

Cookies and music.


And our fantastic councilman, Jon Snyder, who was still doing city business as he peddled. Always a professional.

Neighborhood Hardware Store Opens!

I had been watching and waiting for the Ace Hardware to open on 9th and Lincoln for a long time. A hardware store is about the only thing missing from our neighborhood. But somehow I missed the grand opening! Better late than never. Sarah and I walked down there a few days ago to see where we will be spending many hardware dollars.

Hardware stores hold a special place in my heart. When I was a wee lad, my dad would often tell me, "Get in the car Johnny. We're going to the hardware store." And I was stoked! I didn't know what most of the stuff was or what it was used for. All I knew is this where you went to get the stuff to make the stuff. And that was enough.

When we visited our family in Minnesota, my aunt and uncle would put me to work stocking shelves occasionally, in exchange for a fishing trip or two. They owned a hardware store in a really small town.

So there is a lot of good emotional baggage I brought with me to the new Ace by Huckleberry's.

Yes, this looks like something from the drugstore that used to be in this location. Like the drugstore, it looks like they don't keep a lot in inventory. But, that's not true. One of the guys working there said that they have a lot of inventory in the basement. So, if you see just one of an item on a shelf, chances are there's more downstairs.

Everything was laid out pretty well. For a small space, they have done a good job making sure there is a good assortment of merchandise. The only thing I needed that they didn't have, something I consistently buy at the Ace on Regal, is lump charcoal for the Big Green Egg. They told me they could order it. They also wrote it down on a list they were making of possible items to stock.


Hardware stores are places to figure things out. Or, at least, partially out. I am one of those who enter into a trance in the aisle and start imagining what I need to build and what I will need to build it. It's not a very efficient process, but it's enjoyable. That's why I am glad I will be able to ride my bike back and forth to fill in my gaps in planning.

School backpack clean out day!

Ike is heading for college, so he thought he should clean out his backpack. Lots of memories and a container of Yoplait yogurt. Notice the sell-by date:

We don't have air conditioning and Ike's backpack has sat in his room all summer. I had to open it.

Not only did it look fantastic. It smelled just like it was just off the shelf of your local monger of yogurty comestibles.

I didn't taste it. Nor could I trick Ike into trying it because he is college material.

Parkade Ticket has great instructions on the back

Dirty Dash Team Photo

Tony Yuen's BBQ Sauce and Video wins TreeTop Prize!

A while back ago, I told you about this contest. Well, we won! A big function at Stn 13 yesterday. Lots of VIPs from TreeTop were there, as were the local media. Somebody said it will be featured on HGTV. I was invited because Tony had me write the script and direct the video. Dean Pearcy, the fire department's AV guy was responsible for the awesome editing and effects.

And as usual, Tony was the cook and everything tasted great!

Thanks for everyone who voted. Gleed received the most votes, so it received a $1000 check from TreeTop.



Here is the video again, if you haven't seen it:

Yellow Jacket Traps

Cleaned out the traps yesterday and it didn't take long. First video is after 15 minutes, the second after an hour.



I would say there are more yellow jacket condos like the ones Sarah destroyed here.
BTW, I do believe these traps are manufactured out at the industrial park in Spokane Valley.

Dirty Dash

A great time out at Riverside State Park yesterday.

For those of you who might have been wondering why it took an hour to travel from Downtown Spokane to the intersection of Ft Wright and Government Way, it was the Dirty Dash. There were thousands of people nicely spread out, with a start about every 20 minutes for the 10K course. Mudpits, balance beams, straw bale obstacles and mud-filled culverts were climbed up and through and over. There was even a quick dip in the Spokane River.

Tons of families and groups of friends were doing this together. I was lucky that my son, Kirk, let me hang out with him and his cool friends. My other two boys (Ike and Aidan) hung out at the finish line and took pictures and cheered us on. Thanks again for that! Sarah was stuck in traffic for half an hour and u-turned home. I think we are all on-board for doing it together next year.

There were plenty of cyclists and runners who made it to the start quicker than we did by car. File that one away for next year. No car. Although, it might be a miserable ride/run home covered in dried mud, or it might be kind of fun.

Any run that starts off with a beer is a good one. There was also a beer obstacle at about mile 4.5 featuring some of my favorite.





There were a lot of out-of-state license plates at this event. I would imagine it pumped a lot of revenue into Spokane's coffers. Again, Spokane shows itself off as a place where we can stage big events. The traffic stuff will have to be worked on.

Near the finish line it looked like a mass casualty incident. Lots of IVs. Apparently there were some broken bones and other afflictions. AMR had their hands full, but were doing a great job.

Here's the Dirty Dash website.

Hey New Belgium, look at us! Bring the Tour de Fat here. We've got to be more fun than Boise!

Hodge podge from a busy week!

We've been members of the MAC since it first opened. Never noticed this sculpture of an owl riding a fox riding a deer on top of a platform, until today. It reminds me of my favorite cereal from the 80s - Big Mixx.


We were there to see the DaVinci displays. Very nice. The LC kids who were docents did an excellent job. Totally worth it!

Yep, he invented the bicycle chain. Why not?

These folks were having a good time.


Sarah and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. Before and after photos.

I look more scared, 20 years later. When we were married, I made 20 bottles of mead. Every anniversary, we opened a bottle and these are glasses poured from the last one. I have to start brewing again.

Every year, the mead tasted a little different. Just like the bitterness of our tears. No, not really. It has been a great 20! Looking forward to more!!!

On the roof of the Ridpath Hotel. It is beautiful up there, but a very long way down.


The garden is looking good, except the tomatoes are nothing.


Sarah went on a killing spree, digging up the ground and destroying an entire generation of yellow jackets. Sad :(
Lastly, been helping a guy who wants to help the world with his gift of sage advice. I am helping him start a blog. So, I will link it up here if it gets better.

Sandpoint Long Bridge Swim Last Saturday!

I wanted to write up a more extensive post on the Long Bridge Swim. This morning was the planned day to do this. But then the phone at home was answered at 9 or so this morning, while I was sipping coffee in my PJs, and off I went to go to work at the three alarm fire. And it was work, I will tell you what.

So, I will give you a very abbreviated account of the swim, as I feel pretty darn tired right now.

Here is the official route:

I think it is 1.7 miles long.

Here is the route I swam:

I don't know how long that was.

Sarah watched me and Susan, our friend, swim - plus chauffeured us all over N. Idaho. While she was watching the spectacle, she saw a kid approaching his friends. They shouted, "Dude, you're already done?" His reply - "I freaked out at the beginning," his voice cracked with emotion, "I don't know why, but I was so freaked out I had to get out of the water and call it quits." This kid looked like a triaathlete, Sarah said. His friends looked at him with curiosity, a "you've got to be shittin' me" glare. They weren't too sympathetic.

My friend, I hope you know that this was a very prevalent theme of conversation on the bus ride home to the parking lot. There were so many people talking about having the same feeling - not being able to breathe right, feeling like swimming was not natural and fighting for every stroke. Many felt the urge to quit, not because of physical reasons, but because the psychological weirdness was overwhelming.

That's how I felt too. It was weird. I was really creeped out for the first quarter mile. However, by about three quarters of a mile, I was having the time of my life. I was so into it that I wasn't watching where I was going and was way off course, repeatedly. I finally ran into a kayak. Literally. The helpful paddler apologized. She also said that the finish line is "back there." So I turned around and went back.

I want to do more open water swims. I had a very good time, after the whole freaking out thing subsided. I sure didn't expect that.

Weird clouds the other night!

Annual Family Rafting trip - GLACIER!!!

I think the last time I had been to Glacier was when I was 14. I don't know why it has taken so long to go back. Well, I wasn't able to drive for the first two years after that for one thing, I guess.

By car, from Spokane, it's only five hours away, and not a five-hour drive through the Columbia Basin. Not that the Columbia Basin isn't beautiful in its own way. It is just that as you head east out of Spokane, mysterious and wondrous things happen. Things that make five hours fly.

First off, if you head east, you know in your heart that you are from the BIG CITY - SPOKANE, until you start getting Minneapolish. If you head west, you will always be the hayseed. So, it's good for your self esteem, plus it puts you in the city slicker driver's seat for the feast that awaits. This ontological reframing heightens the experience of an eastward trek through roadtrip Americana - national parks, quirky museums, drive-through bear prisons, life-size fiberglass dinosaurs, pioneer sod houses, gold mine tours and always the 50,000 Silver Dollar Bar - where you must stock up on edged weapons and everclear. Head east and you are the Griswolds. Head west and you are just self-conscious and suspicious.

Plus when you travel east, you hit the no-shit Rocky Mountains, big waterfalls, and incredible roadkill.

The destination of Glacier Park/ Glacier National Park/ Glacier International Peace Park would be well worth it if the drive were twice as long. Great hikes. Unbelievable mountains and waterfalls. And the people!

Lots of people. Glacier is so beautiful, so unique, so much of a destination, that its visitors are from all over. Hiking up a trail, you witness America's verbal accents from Bronx to Southern Belle. There is Japanese, German, Spanish, Dutch, Portugese, French and Italian sprechen on the trail. Sometimes it's quiet. Young families and grandparents not speaking a word, just being there in the movement and in the splendor. They get to share with another generation what they think is important and beautiful to them. And they don't need to say much because, well, holy shit, look at that.

So we were there to do some day hikes and to do some rafting.

Our family has made a practice of going on a rafting trip every year for quite a few summers now. This year, we rafted the middle fork of the Flathead. This river separates Glacier from the Bob Marshall. The temperature of the water was 38F while the air was pushing 90. Rapids were kind of subdued because the water was so high. And it was beautiful. We have rafted enough, over the years, that we could probably get our own raft, but I really like having a guide, having someone cook for you and all that. There is something really cool about all of us rowing together really well after having done it so much. It's nice.Here is a bear "experience."
It's a place where you can pay $15 a head to drive around some black bears. I really liked their sign and its philosophic intent:

Amen. Amen.

When you go through Polson on Flathead Lake, make sure you visit the Miracle of America Museum. I heard the owner telling a German lady how much he hated President Obama because "he's not very American." She told him that she didn't like her leader very much either. The fellow has it all figured out with displays like this:




I don't agree with his politics and some of his beliefs, but my hat is off to him. Incredible stuff:


There's a new distillery with a tasting room in West Glacier, too. Wow!