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IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

It's not really Friday - I am writing this journal a day ahead of time as we will be in Port Orchard, Washington attending the annual Northwest Steam Society steam meet. We are leaving on Thursday and won't be back until next Monday. Dave has been working like crazy trying to get the steamboat working all week. As I said in last week's entry, the engine stopped shortly after we launched it, so we hauled it out of the river and brought it back to the shop. Dave and his friend Ray have been putting their heads together trying to figure why the boat wouldn't run and after working their way through the entire steam system, they finally found a pump that was plugged up. So, after pulling that pump, cleaning out the blockage and then re-installing everything, the engine worked just fine. Dave just about tore everything imaginable apart on the boat trying to figure out what the problem was. Then he had to put everything back together again which took more time. Then, as if that wasn't enough, while all that was going on, the people who were making us new canvas curtains for the boat showed up to fit and install the new curtains this week. We had given them our order last April and they promised us that they would have it ready for the meet. They made it, but there was a lot of last minute activity to make it happen. Four Winds Canvasworks is in Astoria, so each time they came to work on the curtains, it was over an hour each way. Of course, because Dave and Ray couldn't work on the steamboat while the curtains were being fitted, that cut the working time even shorter. So a lot of "boat" stuff has been going on and hopefully we will be out steaming this weekend with everybody else instead of tied to the dock wondering why the boat won't run. Dave's been keeping his own journal of everything that has been happening at the Captain Bell website.

I spent another Wednesday at the Waterfront Park for our Park Committee work party. The park is really looking great and everyone is enjoying the flowers when they stroll through the grounds. It is very rewarding to see that with all the work that our little volunteer group puts in. We schedule an hour and a half each Wednesday and we were actually able to go home early as we had the place in top shape!

We are not taking Stanley with us on this trip. I discovered a friend who has a small kennel and she will watch him while we are away. I took him over there on Monday for a "play date" to see how he would act around the other dogs. I left him there to get acquainted and came back a half hour later. He hadn't missed me at all. I was pretty sure that was going to be the case, but it was nice to know that he has a place to stay if we're going to be away. I also was able to finally get his nails ground down after waiting for the dog groomer to return. He has been out with pneumonia and is just now getting back on his feet. Of course, while he was getting over the pneumonia, Stanley's nails were getting to look like daggers! I was glad we could get that taken care of as I was getting tired of Stanley's toe nails dancing on my floors! Speaking of that dog, I am afraid that I am really spoiling him. Not only does he get a cooked meal of boiled rice, chicken, carrots and peas but he gets his ears cleaned and teeth brushed daily, plus a walk to the park. Is he a lucky dog or what? I figured that he won't be around forever (he is 11 years old) so why not pamper him? He loves to get his ears cleaned but he's not so crazy about the tooth-brushing. Still, he's been good about it. He has been up to some mischief though, I came into the house and found him rummaging in the garbage and he can't resist chasing the cats once in awhile. Naughty boy!

Lara and her girls left last Saturday for a road trip to California. Their first stop was at the Wildlife Safari in Roseburg. She sent us a picture of them riding a camel. Then they spent some time at Crater Lake and Mt. Shasta before they met up with her sister, Leslie and her girls in Oakland where Paige is in a soccer tournament over the weekend. Paige's team is playing in an invitational tournament in the Bay Area, so Leslie has known for a while that they were going to be going to California. Lara decided to take the opportunity to take her girls on the road trip and work in the games at the same time. Since Lara was driving, she picked up Leslie and the girls at the Oakland airport. I'll be interested to hear how her drive through Bay Area traffic was in the middle of afternoon drive time! After the tournament, Leslie, Ashtin and Paige have to fly home but Lara and her girls will continue down to LA to visit a close friend of hers. I am sure that they are having a great time on this trip.

Oh Lord, give me patience. Now that summer is here, the traffic on Highway 101 has been awful. It can take several minutes to just get out on the highway and get in line. I have been allowing myself fifteen minutes extra for what normally is a half-hour trip. Not only that, but half the time the cars have no idea where they are going and don't have a clue how many other cars are lined up behind them. Also, the fishermen are busy out in the bay and we can't find a place to park at Waterfront Park on Wednesdays for our work party. One car was parked illegally and blocking the handicap space. The fishermen back their empty boat trailers unevenly taking up two precious parking spaces and then climb in their boats and are gone all day!
Rant complete. Thanks - I feel better!