January 1- Hung out at Steve and Peggy Sue’s, with their Korean extended family. Their son, Christopher, is married to Hejung, from Korea. Hejung’s sister, B, and her husband, Stefan, were there, as well as Hejung’s parents.
January 2- Skied Snowqualmie with Steve Juergens. Steve said, “Nice to rediscover this place.”
Slept at Steve and Peggy Sue’s
January 3- Biked and swam at Mercer Island Country Club, visited Peggy Sue at her office and went for a mountain-view walk on Mercer Island and met Dale Nienow and Steve for drinks and dinner at McCormick and Schmitt’s in downtown Bellevue. Dale leaves Thursday for Spain, to live with a Spanish family, study with a one-on-one Spanish tutor and to take a cooking class in Spanish.
Peggy Sue in her elder law office on Mercer Island
January 4-Had lunch with Dave Westgor, after a tour of Microvision, and then met Peggy Sue at 3 p.m. for a lovely walk on Mercer Island, with views of the Cascade and Olympic Mountains.
January 5- Packed up on Mercer Island, took care of bills, and picked up Murray Reid at his Century Link office in downtown Seattle. Chicken teriyaki take-out and we watched the Gonzaga/ San Francisco basketball game. I have been a fanatic Gonzaga fan since 1998, but this year, with traveling, I have only seen two games. They’re good. Possibly VERY good.
Slept at Murray’s in Everett
January 6- Skied Stevens Pass with Steve and Peggy Sue. Sunshine, great snow, no crowds and no wind. So, despite a temperature of eight degrees, we had a great day! My “new” ski jacket, purchased at Gear Fix in Bend, is warm and wonderful.
Slept at Murray’s
January 7- Football playoffs begin. Swam at the Everett YMCA and picked up groceries for dinner.
January 8- Left Everett at 6 a.m. to drive to Vancouver, B.C., where I skied (one run:) at Cypress and stayed at a hostel downtown. It was icy and raining and packed with people.
Slept at Hostels International in downtown Vancouver
January 9- I decided not to ski, but walked around Vancouver, wrote and read and listened to conversations and watched life at Starbucks, and swam at the University of British Columbia Aquatics Centre, which is open to the public.
- Working at Starbucks…with people coming and going from the four-person table i hogged
Slept at Hostels International in downtown Vancouver
January 10- Wrote and read at Starbucks, ate dinner at Score, a sports bar, talked to Jenny several times and decided to stay in Vancouver one more day.
Slept at Hostels International in downtown Vancouver
January 11- The free breakfast at the hostel is good! Bagels and cream cheese, muffins, toast, oranges and coffee! I walked around Vancouver for three hours and gave 25 $1 donations to homeless people (see my post about the day).
Slept at Hostels International in downtown Vancouver
January 12- Left the hostel in the morning and drove to Brian Nagel’s home in Portland, Oregon.
Slept at Brian’s home
January 13- Lunch out with Brian, talked trash about Trump, watched politics and basketball.
Slept at Brian’s home
January 14- Drove from Brian’s Tualatin, Oregon home, over Santiam Pass, to Bend, Oregon.
Slept at Emily and Aaron’s
January 15- Skied Mt. Bachelor, by myself, on a glorious day! Quit early to watch the Packers/ Cowboys game. What an ending!
Slept at Emily and Aaron’s
January 16- Skied Mt. Bachelor with Aaron. Gorgeous day! After skiing, we went home and got Emily, rented skis and CC skied at Virginia Meissner Sno-Park. I don’t know if I’ve ever downhill skied and CC skied on the same day. 🙂 Went out for dinner at The Drake in downtown Bend- a delicious new discovery.
Slept at Emily and and Aaron’s
January 17- Worked out at the Juniper Center. Emily made a delicious stir fry dinner.
Slept at Emily and Aaron’s
January 18- Drove from Bend, Oregon to Reno, Nevada. Left 6:15 a.m. in snowy, slushy weather, past Summer Lake, into California, and arrived about 5:30 p..m. Along the way, I received a call and rented my house in Coeur d’Alene. Great relief! Started the visit with a beer and Chip’s historically great pizza!
Slept at Chip Sievert’s and Terri Elliot’s in Reno, NV
January 19- Skied Northstar with Chip and Terri. They have had 10′ of snow in the past week!
Slept at Chip Sievert’s and Terri Elliot’s in Reno, NV
January 20- Skied Northstar with Chip’s doctor friends- Joe, Paul, Evan and Steve. Paul and Joe helped me greatly with powder skiing. Started to feel it, for the first time ever. Keys: Think of your skis as a platform. Don’t use the edges to turn; turn both feet together, skis flat. Keep your calves in contact with the front of your boots, but lean back a bit. Powder skis make a huge difference, says Joe. Skied 9:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. and I was exhausted.
Paul and Karen and Joe came to Chip’s for beef stew dinner, made by Terri. Juggled and everyone made some progress. 🙂
Slept at Chip Sievert’s and Terri Elliot’s in Reno, NV
January 21- Chip, Terri and I went to the women’s march in downtown Reno. It was moving. After the march, we went to a cozy coffee shop, and then to Chip and Terri’s lots on the Trukee River, and then to their lot near Lake Tahoe. Mountains of snow!!
Slept at Chip Sievert’s and Terri Elliot’s in Reno, NV
January 22- Drove from Reno to LaGrande, Oregon and slept at a nice Super 8. At a mediocre meal at Bud Jackson’s Sports Bar. Left at 6:15 a.m. and arrived about 5:30 p.m.-538 miles.
January 23- Drove across the Wallowa’s, through Walla Walla, to Spokane. Jenny met me there and we went to Mizuna’s for a delicious dinner.
Slept at Pam Babb’s in Spokane
January 24- Jenny and I went to the Apple store in Spokane and she bought an iPad, then to The Elk for lunch and on to Chelan! Delicious dinner at Campbell’s Resort with our “Date Night” package- $160 for a very nice room and $50 toward dinner at their restaurant. We’d do it again. 🙂
Slept at Campbell’s Resort in Chelan, WA
January 25- Rode the ferry from Chelan to Stehekin- about three enjoyable hours, with stops at Field’s Point and Lucerne (Holden Village). Mary, the manager of the lodge, greeted us with, “You must be David.” There aren’t many guests in the winter.
Slept at the North Cascades Lodge in Stehekin, WA
Slept at the North Cascades Lodge in Stehekin, WA
January 27- Started the day at Stehekin School, with their teacher and five students. I taught juggling and Jenny and I joined in their line dance class. Fun!
Ferried from Stehekin to Chelan and then drove to Coeur d’Alene. Back in my wonderful home town for the first time since September 1. Great to be in Coeur d’Alene!
Slept at Jenny Wayman’s in Coeur d’Alene
January 28- Jenny and I went to yoga class at The Kroc Center, shopped for groceries and then made a salad and vegetables to go with flank steak and apple crisp for dinner at Jenny’s with Scott and Moira DuCoeur. Great night!
Slept at Jenny Wayman’s in Coeur d’Alene
January 29- Jenny and I had a slow day at her house, rode the stationary bike at The Kroc, and Jenny got ready to go back to work after six days off.
Slept at Jenny Wayman’s in Coeur d’Alene
January 30- Jenny worked. I had lunch with Darrell Dlouhy at Capone’s! So great to catch up with him and all of the exciting things that are happening with Daft Badger and Daft Badger Productions! Got a lot of paperwork loose ends finished, made dinner for Jenny and me of squash with parmesan, mushrooms and butter, roasted potatoes and leftover flank steak. Jenny hasn’t been a squash lover, but might now add it to her “likes.” 🙂
After dinner, I joined my weekly “meeting” at Capone’s, a group that has met for about 10 years. It was great to see Scott DuCoeur, Scott Krajack, Mike Dolan, Dale Gephart and Dwight Bershaw.
Slept at Jenny Wayman’s in Coeur d’Alene
January 31- Jenny worked and I baked a triple batch of chocolate chip cookies- for Emily’s birthday, for the Sorensen staff, and to tempt Jenny and me. We each ate many over the next few days!
I also made pizza to take to Katie and Randy Palmer’s for dinner. So great to be with them!
Slept at Jenny Wayman’s in Coeur d’Alene
