Chapter 427

Happy Birthday, Ryan!

 Yes, I messed up last week. Somehow I published my rough draft rather than the final product. While I was trying to figure out what the heck I did, I sent out the final by accident this evening. No, it's not exactly the same stuff, there are some new things in it that didn't make it in the first go-around. Ooops.

It's a cold and rainy evening and it's a good time to snuggle into my chair with my cat. Nitro has just recently discovered how warm it is to sit with someone. As he gets older, he likes to be warmer and he's had to compromise some of his unreasonable kitty standards to be comfortable in his old age. Welcome to the club, Old Man!

This week I went to visit my parents in their "new" mobile home in Clackamas, they have only been there about a month so I had to go check it out. As I passed the site of the train disaster, and it looked like nothing ever happened. Just some environmental fencing that could be for any construction. There doesn't even appear to be a scratch on the freeway where that massive locomotive engine crash-landed. It's amazing it was cleaned up so thoroughly and so fast!

Dad and Bobbie now live in a nice park with lots of friendly folks so they aren't so isolated as they were in their apartment. Their address is:

Noel and Bobbie Keefer

13640 SE Hwy 212 Clackamas, OR 97105

Space #67

405-255-0895

Hopefully Bob and I won't have to be moving around while we are in our 80's as both my mother and father and their spouses have been doing.

While I was I was heading down the freeway, I started to get kind of sleepy so I pulled over at the Gee Creek Rest Area and started walking around. Then I thought I'd check for nearby caches and found I was, literally, feet from one. It was an old sand blasting (or something) booth and you had to reach in with the gloves and open the log box and sign the log with the big stiff gloves on. That woke me up!

 Of course when I got to Dad and Bobbie's I forgot to take many pictures. One I did take was of my place setting where I sat primed and ready to eat my microwaved steak and slow-cooked stir fry. I'm glad I had a good knife to work with!

Since there was a cache right across the highway from their park, I had to grab it. It was a typical guard rail hide. I took a pic of this, but not of my parents. Wow.

When Gram and Gramp and Dad were living in Japan during the 50's, they each bought a the carved camphor chest. I have had Grams for many years and I brought home Dad's for Kyanne. I managed to stuff it into my little Impreza, and use the cargo tie downs Subaru so thoughtfully added to secure the load. We dropped it off at Kyanne's and she was surprised to see that it contained a random calf hide that Bobbie stuck in there.

 I also found a photo of Dad and I when Auntie Karen and Bobbie went all makeover on me and tried to fix me up for Christmas. I kept looking to crawl under something like the dogs do when they are embarrassed about a bad grooming job.

Kyanne also got a pair of carved wooden temple dogs at no charge with her trunk too. I bet she was loving being stuck with those babies and all of you readers are jealous!

When I got home, I looked in my cedar chest and found the original sales receipt for her trunk. This chest was meant for Kyanne because they were bought on her birthday in 1955. Kyanne is the 4th generation of the family to have that chest. Now if I could only find a home for mine...maybe Kyanne wants a matched set???

While we were dropping the chest off, we got to meet Kyanne and Ryan's current guest. Once again I can't remember her name, but she's a cutie, even if her glowing eyes say otherwise.

It's like she's living in another realm while human life continues around her. 

Sally's like "What the heck. I can't see anything anyways, I might as well just stare at the floor."

Bob's creating a new batch of beer, "Platform 2 Porter" with the Jag levitating in the background. I'm assuming the name has to do with the train theme in Snoqualmie where we got the recipe and beer fixin's (and another cache).

Guess who is trying to get warm again??? 

And in the spirit of the quickly approaching winter Olympics: