September 11, 2009 – Bothell, WA

Hi, folks! Sorry about missing the posting last night, but Geri and Don got home from dinner so late that it was already my bed time, after a particularly exciting and exhausting day. So, I really didn’t feel like staying up long enough to channel my thoughts to Don; I could tell he was a little tired, too. So, I’ll catch you up to date now. First, I have to say Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, Uncle Mikey! I’ll let you know later what that’s all about.

After our usual morning routine, we got in the truck and headed over to Lynnwood to meet up with David (Craig) and Jane, who are not jerks. That’s my final word. Today. We struck out, caravan style, for Mukilteo, where we caught the ferry over to Whidbey Island. I had to stay in the truck, because of some stupid rules about dogs on the passenger deck, but I had a good view of Puget Sound as we chugged across. When they came back to the truck, just before we landed in the slip, I heard Don talking to Geri about not finding the Builder’s Plaque for the ferry, which was called the Kittitat. Don has a thing about photographing ship’s Builder’s Plaques, and he knows where they are usually mounted on the ferries. No Plaque; he even asked a crew member, who was ignorant of the Plaque altogether. Oh, well. Once off the boat, we headed up the highway to a winery so that they could do some tasting and buying. When we got through there, we headed further up the island to find the house where Jane used to live in another lifetime, back when she was young. It was still there, had not fallen down yet, in fact it looked pretty good for its age; but then, so does Jane. We found another winery, and Geri got me out of the truck so that I could look around a little bit. They did some more tasting and buying of wine, and were just heading back to the truck when Don noticed a car in the winery’s garage. “That’s a Cord!” he yelled, and sprinted off to talk to the vintner in the tasting room. The two of them came out, walked down to the garage, and had a long discussion about the car. Another, older guy walked into the garage, and Don got into a long discussion with him. After awhile, Don got his fill of information on the car, and came back to join us. Turns out he had a very similar car when he was in the Maritime Academy, and loved it dearly. He wishes he still had it. He’ll probably post a picture of the Cord. Then we headed for a place that looked like a big collection of barns, which turned out to be shops and restaurants. They bought some crackers and cheese and made snacks on a picnic bench. I got my regular lunch, which they had brought, and a few crackers besides. So then it was time to head back to the ferry, which was just pulling out as we approached the ticket booth. But it was a nice place to wait for the next ferry, which turned out to be the Kittitat again. We got a spot on the ferry that gave me another nice view of the Sound, and Don went in search of the Builder’s Plaque again. This time he accosted one of the senior Officers on the boat, who walked him over to where the plaque was supposed to be; the Officer was shocked to see that it wasn’t in it’s proper place! I think there will be a major inquiry into the missing plaque; you may see a feature on it on the evening news broadcast.

I need to insert here: Thanks again, Uncle Mikey! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

So, we headed back to the rig, I got my dinner, and they took off for a big gettogether with Craig (David), Jane, Gary, Carol and beloved Uncle Mikey. Apparently they had a very good time at Arnie’s, a nice fish place at Edmond’s harbor, as they got back pretty late, as previously mentioned. I got my usual going-to-bed cookies, and went to bed.

This morning, Don put me in the truck and we went to a big sports park next to a school. I got to do some running and rolling, which I needed badly. We went back to the rig, Don dumped me, and took off to get the truck washed. He knows that I hate riding through car washes; I think we’re under attack by strange monsters spewing soap and water. We spent the rest of the day being lazy, while Geri did some cleaning in the coach. Don and I sat outside under the awning for awhile, and he read to me from a book on the Geology of Oregon. Something about Permian formations from the Crustacean Period, overlaying pearlitic tufa from the Jurassic, or something like that. It put me to sleep. When Geri let us back into the coach, we watched some TV about the Terrorist Attack on New York and Washington in 2001. I was only eight days old when it happened, so I don’t remember anything about it, but Don has told me what an awful day it was, and I hope that nothing like that ever happens again.

I got my dinner, and they took off to meet Gary, Aunt Carol and Uncle Mikey at the Outback Restaurant up by the 405. They were back early enough so that I could work with Don on the blog, and they had a little carton with them; Uncle Mikey couldn’t finish his steak, so he sent it home with Geri as a treat for their favorite canine nephew, me! One more time, Thank you, thank you, thank you, Uncle Mikey! I went to bed very happy.