You have probably noticed there has been an absence of my blog postings lately. Reason being, things have been a little slow around here. Work related things you know. Even though I’m retired, there are still things that need to get done, things that I just can’t seem to avoid.
Rather than deprive your minds eye of some literary relief , I would like to submit to you a short story which I wrote to our grandchildren back in the fall of 2004.
It seems an appropriate story at this time with the uncertainty of it all, what with all the gangs, the drive-by shootings and muggings that are occurring daily in our cities. I had written this article to our grandchildren after a particularly upsetting incident that happened to Sharon and I while out on an evening walk one day.
Drive-By
by Gary Hyde
October 2004
Your grandmother and I were out walking Pippin this evening, enjoying each others company along with the early appearance of our northwest fall weather. A stiff breeze came up sending fragile fall leaves tumbling from nearby trees covering lawns and roadway with a carpet of red, yellow and gold. What a great time of year it is with the nip of fall in the air, the colors of autumn leaves, and the fading light of early evenings. The occasional car driving past would send waves of fallen leaves flying across the road in a jumble of intricate patterns.
Walking along the side of the road I could hear an automobile approaching from behind. I thought I detected a strange noise emitting from it, almost as if a large dog were howling at the blaring siren of a fire truck. As the car drew near a blast rang out! Heads turned; a flock of birds launched into a frenzied flight. The noise grew louder, taking on the distinct sound of one of Jonathan’s trombone practices. Just as the car passed by I caught a glimpse of the business end of a brass trombone sliding in and out of the driver’s side rear window. We had just been tromboned!
It all happened so fast we didn’t know what to do, and by the time we got our wits about us the automobile had sped off into the evening dusk. As he disappeared down the road and into the night, I thought I could hear, just for an instant, the maniacal laughter of Jonathan, much as if he were involved a game of Pippin bowling.
Needless to say, the whole incident has us quite unnerved and we are both wondering if Jonathan had come home on weekend leave from the Air Force Academy. If not, I don’t quite know what to do. What has the world come to when an innocent citizen can be tromboned like that without warning? I only hope that all of you are OK and I want you to know that, even though we are shaken, we’re both alright.
Love,
Grandpa
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
First of all I must thank you all for your comments on my Blog. I am truly delighted and amazed. Most of the comments were on the Oyster Burgers, instead of the actual content of the blog, but what the heck, if you are reading it and enjoying, then my mission is accomplished. Personally I thought I would get at least one request to borrow my new set of bolt cutters, but you comment about those things that interest you and what you have a need for.
One person has told me that they are going to take a trip to the Grayland area for their birthday; Sept 14. Happy Birthday Ann. As a birthday present she will be treating herself to an Oyster Burger, and of course a trip to Ugly Ed's. Another has indicated that he will also be taking a trip to the area and using my blog as a guide. Now this is just the purpose behind the introduction of this blog.
Not to get all puffed up though, because there was actually one individual who wrote "Oyster burger???!!! That sounds ... disgusting!!! " Not to worry, as she is a landlocked individual and has no idea as to the great tastes of fresh seafood.
Now, to get on with the trip;
Wednesday
DAY 4
Today is the day! All you can eat at the Shoalwater Bay Casino Seafood Buffet. We got up late, strolled the beach and then headed for Tokeland and the Shoalwater Bay Casino. I have no interest in their gambling, but I am a great fan of eating. So into the casino we go. We are greeted at the door by Security. First we must get the Shoalwater Bay Casino card, a credit card sized card with our names on it which proclaimed that we are now the proud members of the Players Club.
It also gave us the senior discount to the buffet.
In order to get to the buffet, we first had to wind our way through the smoke filled rooms of the slot machines. Ding! Ding! Dining, ding, ding! Bells and whistles were sounding at each machine giving the impression that each and every player was a winner. The expressions on the players faces told of a different story. Glassy eyed and comatose, they blankly starred at the whirling numbers or designs on the machine, anxiously awaiting their turn to win, which did not come during the time we were watching them.
After arriving at the buffet, we presented our cards and were handed two plates, a small one for salad and the larger one for the entree. A plump server touted the breaded shrimp. We loaded up both plates, multiple times. While the food was OK, I think I prefer the Oyster Burgers.
We finished up at the casino and headed for the beach for one last day of kite flying. Still no wind. Four days at the beach and not able to fly a kite once; now that's pathetic.
One person has told me that they are going to take a trip to the Grayland area for their birthday; Sept 14. Happy Birthday Ann. As a birthday present she will be treating herself to an Oyster Burger, and of course a trip to Ugly Ed's. Another has indicated that he will also be taking a trip to the area and using my blog as a guide. Now this is just the purpose behind the introduction of this blog.
Not to get all puffed up though, because there was actually one individual who wrote "Oyster burger???!!! That sounds ... disgusting!!! " Not to worry, as she is a landlocked individual and has no idea as to the great tastes of fresh seafood.
Now, to get on with the trip;
Wednesday
DAY 4
Today is the day! All you can eat at the Shoalwater Bay Casino Seafood Buffet. We got up late, strolled the beach and then headed for Tokeland and the Shoalwater Bay Casino. I have no interest in their gambling, but I am a great fan of eating. So into the casino we go. We are greeted at the door by Security. First we must get the Shoalwater Bay Casino card, a credit card sized card with our names on it which proclaimed that we are now the proud members of the Players Club.
It also gave us the senior discount to the buffet.
In order to get to the buffet, we first had to wind our way through the smoke filled rooms of the slot machines. Ding! Ding! Dining, ding, ding! Bells and whistles were sounding at each machine giving the impression that each and every player was a winner. The expressions on the players faces told of a different story. Glassy eyed and comatose, they blankly starred at the whirling numbers or designs on the machine, anxiously awaiting their turn to win, which did not come during the time we were watching them.
After arriving at the buffet, we presented our cards and were handed two plates, a small one for salad and the larger one for the entree. A plump server touted the breaded shrimp. We loaded up both plates, multiple times. While the food was OK, I think I prefer the Oyster Burgers.
We finished up at the casino and headed for the beach for one last day of kite flying. Still no wind. Four days at the beach and not able to fly a kite once; now that's pathetic.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
DAY 3 (Addendum )
I completely forgot to tell you about one of the highlights of our trip; Raymond, WA. This great little town is the home of the Dairy Queen Oyster Burger. That’s right; five delicious fried oysters plopped atop a hamburger bun complete with secret sauce. This is the only Dairy Queen in the entire U.S. that has oyster burgers on the menu. Well worth the trip.
Unfortunately a few of the museums we wanted to visit were closed, so we turned to The Visitors Guide book. Here’s a jewel right here on page 26. UGLY ED’S AND DEB’S NEW & USED. How can you miss? We walked up the ramp to the store and sure enough, there was Ugly Ed perched on his wooden stool ready to greet us. “Welcome to Ed’s; tools ‘r in the back” he growled. Oh yes! This is meeting all my expectations and more about the place. Inside, the store was packed with “memorabilia”; old pictures, dolls, clothes, trinkets, just about anything you think you would want or need. I ventured back into the tool room where I started to look around. Ed had wandered in and wanted to know what I was looking for. “Do you have any bolt cutters” I asked? “Over there” he said, with a waive of his hand, and then he abruptly turned and walked out. A young girl came over and said “Oh don’t mind him, he’s always a grouch. I think we have some bolt cutters over here”.
The reason that I need a bolt cutter is because during a recent family outing at our son Michael’s home on beautiful Lake Geneva, our grandson Jonathan locked up the paddleboat and then promptly fumbled away the key into seven inches of muck, never to be seen again. And at this very moment, he is attending Air force Fighter Training School at Vance Air Force base in Oklahoma. Go figure.
Well anyway, she led me over to the largest bolt cutters I had ever seen. A brand new pair of red handled bolt cutters with a pair of jaws like Godzilla’s. I’m telling you, these babies could cut through any bolt made by man. With these things I could be the Paul Bunion of locksmiths. For only $29.95 I now have the key to the city. Any city!
I completely forgot to tell you about one of the highlights of our trip; Raymond, WA. This great little town is the home of the Dairy Queen Oyster Burger. That’s right; five delicious fried oysters plopped atop a hamburger bun complete with secret sauce. This is the only Dairy Queen in the entire U.S. that has oyster burgers on the menu. Well worth the trip.
Unfortunately a few of the museums we wanted to visit were closed, so we turned to The Visitors Guide book. Here’s a jewel right here on page 26. UGLY ED’S AND DEB’S NEW & USED. How can you miss? We walked up the ramp to the store and sure enough, there was Ugly Ed perched on his wooden stool ready to greet us. “Welcome to Ed’s; tools ‘r in the back” he growled. Oh yes! This is meeting all my expectations and more about the place. Inside, the store was packed with “memorabilia”; old pictures, dolls, clothes, trinkets, just about anything you think you would want or need. I ventured back into the tool room where I started to look around. Ed had wandered in and wanted to know what I was looking for. “Do you have any bolt cutters” I asked? “Over there” he said, with a waive of his hand, and then he abruptly turned and walked out. A young girl came over and said “Oh don’t mind him, he’s always a grouch. I think we have some bolt cutters over here”.
The reason that I need a bolt cutter is because during a recent family outing at our son Michael’s home on beautiful Lake Geneva, our grandson Jonathan locked up the paddleboat and then promptly fumbled away the key into seven inches of muck, never to be seen again. And at this very moment, he is attending Air force Fighter Training School at Vance Air Force base in Oklahoma. Go figure.
Well anyway, she led me over to the largest bolt cutters I had ever seen. A brand new pair of red handled bolt cutters with a pair of jaws like Godzilla’s. I’m telling you, these babies could cut through any bolt made by man. With these things I could be the Paul Bunion of locksmiths. For only $29.95 I now have the key to the city. Any city!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Monday
DAY 2
When I visit a new place, or go on a little vacation like this one, I generally like to stop in at the local visitors’ center and pick up some of their brochures. It saves a lot of time rather than just wandering around in order to find something interesting. After reading the brochures I can plan out what I want to do and then pursue it in a systematic way. Along the way we invariably find some unique spots of interest that are not in the brochures.
Our first stop would be to visit the nearby town of Westport; the Salmon Capital of the World, the Sport fishing Capital of the World, and who knows what other “Capital” they may lay claim to.
Grays Harbor Light Station
Since lighthouses dot the Oregon and Washington coastline, we decided to visit the Grays Harbor Light Station first. The lighthouse was commissioned in 1898 and its Third Order Frensel lens rotated continuously until 1989.
After a brief history of the lighthouse by a charming “host” couple from Arkansas we headed up the 135 steps of the 107 foot tall lighthouse. This is the tallest lighthouse in Washington. Its Fresnel lens would shine twenty-eight miles out to sea as a navigation aid for passing ships. The lens is no longer used today; in fact the whole lighthouse has been replaced by a completely automated beacon no larger than a five gallon bucket, located outside a window atop the lighthouse.
The Shellflair Shell and Marine Museum
The lighthouse keeper had told us on an interesting place just down the road; The Shellflair Shell and Marine Museum. While the museum was an interesting place, it was no match for its owner and curator. this 82 yearold lady had been collecting shells and buying shell displays for the last thirty years. She and her husband had combed beaches; dived the oceans, and bartered and traded for shells the world over. She could tell the story behind each and every shell in the small museum and was well versed in the scientific names and quality of each shell. Just talking to her for an hour was well worth the trip.
Westport waterfront
Our next stop was to be on the Westport waterfront. This is where we would find the fish markets and the fishing charter boats, but our first destination was to be the Westport Maritime Museum. We arrived at the museum but decided first to take a brief visit across the street to the waterfront and check out the harbor and boats. The first boat to catch our eye was the Tuna “Hustler”. The crew was unloading the catch of the day, albacore tuna. The fish was brought on deck where a man immediately began filleting them. We watched for a while and then ventured down to ask about buying some tuna or salmon. After asking him how to prepare the tuna, he said he had some recipes he could give us or if we wanted to taste some we could go just across the street to the One Eyed Crab restaurant. The latter seemed like the easiest thing to do so we ventured over to the One Eyed Crab. It was a simple setting with about 10 tables, a cashiers counter with a small bar and a pass through window back to the kitchen. A pleasant girl came to the table to take our order.
She suggested the garlic prawns but we had our tastes fixed on the freshly filleted tuna. We ordered two servings of deep fried albacore tuna, one pan seared albacore tuna sautéed with mushrooms, and one deep fried cod burger. I started off the meal with a cup of clam chowder. The food was great. The tuna was moist and firm, the cod was fresh and the tuna and mushrooms was done just right. All the orders came with an order of fries, and what fries they were. Lightly battered and then deep fried. Probably the best fries I had ever eaten. So good I even ordered and extra side of them.
DAY 2
When I visit a new place, or go on a little vacation like this one, I generally like to stop in at the local visitors’ center and pick up some of their brochures. It saves a lot of time rather than just wandering around in order to find something interesting. After reading the brochures I can plan out what I want to do and then pursue it in a systematic way. Along the way we invariably find some unique spots of interest that are not in the brochures.
Our first stop would be to visit the nearby town of Westport; the Salmon Capital of the World, the Sport fishing Capital of the World, and who knows what other “Capital” they may lay claim to.
Grays Harbor Light Station
Since lighthouses dot the Oregon and Washington coastline, we decided to visit the Grays Harbor Light Station first. The lighthouse was commissioned in 1898 and its Third Order Frensel lens rotated continuously until 1989.
After a brief history of the lighthouse by a charming “host” couple from Arkansas we headed up the 135 steps of the 107 foot tall lighthouse. This is the tallest lighthouse in Washington. Its Fresnel lens would shine twenty-eight miles out to sea as a navigation aid for passing ships. The lens is no longer used today; in fact the whole lighthouse has been replaced by a completely automated beacon no larger than a five gallon bucket, located outside a window atop the lighthouse.
The Shellflair Shell and Marine Museum
The lighthouse keeper had told us on an interesting place just down the road; The Shellflair Shell and Marine Museum. While the museum was an interesting place, it was no match for its owner and curator. this 82 yearold lady had been collecting shells and buying shell displays for the last thirty years. She and her husband had combed beaches; dived the oceans, and bartered and traded for shells the world over. She could tell the story behind each and every shell in the small museum and was well versed in the scientific names and quality of each shell. Just talking to her for an hour was well worth the trip.
Westport waterfront
Our next stop was to be on the Westport waterfront. This is where we would find the fish markets and the fishing charter boats, but our first destination was to be the Westport Maritime Museum. We arrived at the museum but decided first to take a brief visit across the street to the waterfront and check out the harbor and boats. The first boat to catch our eye was the Tuna “Hustler”. The crew was unloading the catch of the day, albacore tuna. The fish was brought on deck where a man immediately began filleting them. We watched for a while and then ventured down to ask about buying some tuna or salmon. After asking him how to prepare the tuna, he said he had some recipes he could give us or if we wanted to taste some we could go just across the street to the One Eyed Crab restaurant. The latter seemed like the easiest thing to do so we ventured over to the One Eyed Crab. It was a simple setting with about 10 tables, a cashiers counter with a small bar and a pass through window back to the kitchen. A pleasant girl came to the table to take our order.
She suggested the garlic prawns but we had our tastes fixed on the freshly filleted tuna. We ordered two servings of deep fried albacore tuna, one pan seared albacore tuna sautéed with mushrooms, and one deep fried cod burger. I started off the meal with a cup of clam chowder. The food was great. The tuna was moist and firm, the cod was fresh and the tuna and mushrooms was done just right. All the orders came with an order of fries, and what fries they were. Lightly battered and then deep fried. Probably the best fries I had ever eaten. So good I even ordered and extra side of them.Beach walk
By now we were too full to go to the museum, so we decided to walk the beach. There were only about seven other people on the beach, so we let the dogs loose and watched them enjoy themselves. This was Jaspers first encounter with a sandy ocean beach. He had to sample biting at the sand and every little clump of seaweed he could find. Then he would run down the beach nipping at the waves as they lapped upon the shore. After a couple of mouthfuls of water he soon gave up that bit of excitement. We walked, the dogs played and the sun set. It has been a great day.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
You are about to enter the blogosphere with the Travlinman. This is my first attempt at a blog so I hope you will bear with me for a week, or more, if I can keep you interested.
I thought I would start off with a travelogue of our recent week long RV trip to the Washington coast where we stayed at Grays Harbor at the Twin Harbors State Park............
Monday, Aug 31
DAY 1
We packed up our 5th wheel trailer in preparation for a five night trip to Grays Harbor on the Washington coast. It is always a pain to pack up the trailer after leaving it sit for more than a few months. There is always something that doesn’t seem to work as well as I would like it to. It either leaks, it's stuck, it leaks, or maybe it isn't even there. So there is always at least one hour spent in getting things back into optimal working condition.
Just after 10:30 AM we pulled out onto the road just in front of the house, where we parked, and then spent the next half-hour searching for the dogs leash and Sharon’s sun glasses. Found the sun glasses but who knows what happened to the leash. It was on the kitchen counter waiting to be packed just minutes before we were ready to leave.
We left Gig Harbor and took the back roads on our way to Grayland, WA, a trip of about 100 miles. The weather was perfect; 73 degrees, sunny with a few clouds, and the scenery was magnificent. The road meandered through alder and fir covered hills, then it would tuck in close to scenic vistas of the Puget Sound.
The road took us through Alyne, home of the Big Bubbas Burger, then on to Shelton, where just a few weeks earlier we had stopped in for a scrumptious all-you-can-eat seafood breakfast at the Little Creek Casino. It was just after noon as we passed the casino, but we had the big-rig on and besides we had just eaten before we left home.
The scenery, the distance and the time passed quickly and before we knew it we arrived at the Twin Harbors campground, space number five, our home for the next week.
I thought I would start off with a travelogue of our recent week long RV trip to the Washington coast where we stayed at Grays Harbor at the Twin Harbors State Park............
Monday, Aug 31
DAY 1
We packed up our 5th wheel trailer in preparation for a five night trip to Grays Harbor on the Washington coast. It is always a pain to pack up the trailer after leaving it sit for more than a few months. There is always something that doesn’t seem to work as well as I would like it to. It either leaks, it's stuck, it leaks, or maybe it isn't even there. So there is always at least one hour spent in getting things back into optimal working condition.
Just after 10:30 AM we pulled out onto the road just in front of the house, where we parked, and then spent the next half-hour searching for the dogs leash and Sharon’s sun glasses. Found the sun glasses but who knows what happened to the leash. It was on the kitchen counter waiting to be packed just minutes before we were ready to leave.
We left Gig Harbor and took the back roads on our way to Grayland, WA, a trip of about 100 miles. The weather was perfect; 73 degrees, sunny with a few clouds, and the scenery was magnificent. The road meandered through alder and fir covered hills, then it would tuck in close to scenic vistas of the Puget Sound.
The road took us through Alyne, home of the Big Bubbas Burger, then on to Shelton, where just a few weeks earlier we had stopped in for a scrumptious all-you-can-eat seafood breakfast at the Little Creek Casino. It was just after noon as we passed the casino, but we had the big-rig on and besides we had just eaten before we left home.
The scenery, the distance and the time passed quickly and before we knew it we arrived at the Twin Harbors campground, space number five, our home for the next week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
