A Fun Surprise

Posted on March 3, 2017 by Jerrie Cate

Yesterday evening we had a little fun at the house when Jennifer, our daughter, called asking if she could come up and print something. She does that once in a while and knows she doesn’t have to ask but she always does. What a gal. When I heard the car arrive I went to the door in an effort to keep the dogs from making a huge amount of noise but it was a waste of time. Any time they see someone heading for the front door they think it’s a signal to cut loose. So, they do. And it’s annoying. But I seriously suspect that anyone attempting to enter the house without permission would be a little intimidated.

With barking in progress I let them out to greet Jennifer but turns out she wasn’t alone. At first all I noticed was more than one person exiting the limping Envoy but it wasn’t until they made it to the door that I realized that with Jennifer, Lydia, Ahmed, and Solo (their dog), was Cedric. Apparently he planned this surprise with his Dad, Daniel, a week ago after his ship returned to Bremerton. He has a friend who has family in Portland and makes the trip on a regular basis when the ship is in port and she offered Cedric a ride to St. Helens which is on the way. How nice. He freaked his Mom out when he just showed up and walked into the house around 5 pm yesterday.

Then they came to us to share the surprise.

What a fun way to end the day.

Note: For those who don’t know, Cedric is a Navy cook stationed aboard the USS Nimitz (CVN-68), the Navy’s oldest nuclear aircraft carrier.

The Mother Ship

Posted on February 24, 2017 by Jerrie Cate

I opened this because I was sure I had something profound to share but all that comes to mind is stifled with a confusing blur of naps, trips to the bathroom, meals, and trips to various places around town. That means I’ll have to share something that may or may not be true because I’m just not sure any more what’s what.

One interesting things is that the alien abductors are getting new ships. I learned this, I think, during my last trip up from my friend Arnold. Yes, they have names like ours but that’s only because they got them from watching TV. In their native language they all sound alike, to me. Arnold came from “Happy Days,” in case you’re wondering.

A few months ago Arnold told me that he was from the Aquarius constellation so you can imagine my surprise when scientists recently reported their findings about Trappist-1, the dwarf star around which 7, yes seven, earth-like stars orbit. Normally that would be a coincidence but I don’t believe in coincidences. I look at it as validation of what Arnold told me, and it would explain why we look so much alike.

I look forward to my next trip up so I can see what kind of equipment they are getting to replace the fancy things they already had. I asked him what they were going to do with the old ships and he said they would probably donate them to various governments around the world like they have in the past. Donations of this sort are the source of much of the new technology we enjoy. If you are a fan of some of the new gadget oriented TV programs you are probably aware of the technology these actors supposedly use. Just know that it isn’t fake stuff. The actors don’t know this because, well, they’re actors, but the folks who make create the shows have input from the mother ships, taking advantage of this large stage where they can showcase some of the things to come.

What fun. Perhaps I’ll be able to expand on this further after my next visit with Arnold unless they forbid it. Normally they don’t care what we share about our trips to the Mother Ship because they are confident that no one will believe them. I’m especially curious to find out how long it takes for Arnold’s co-workers to transit to and from Trappist-1 and to find out what they call it.

So, when I return with more info on this, believe me or not. Your choice.

My Brain

Posted on January 23, 2017 by Jerrie Cate

I guess it’s time to come clean with the results of the CT Scan of my head. That was administered at 0945 on Friday the 13th. It took us an hour to drive to the hospital and took about 2 minutes for the tech to do the test. That meant we had lots of time to do ‘stuff’ in Portland. First up was breakfast at Elmer’s Pancake House. From there I don’t remember what we did. Shopped, I think.

Apparently that short CT scan worked because my doctor left a message on our home phone at 1110 requesting that I call so she could talk with me about what the scan revealed. Since we were roaming around Portland I didn’t listen to the message until we got home, after the doc’s office was closed. Then I had to wait until Monday because I didn’t want to talk with the office’s answering service over the weekend.

I have to say that I was a little concerned hearing from the doctor so soon after completing the test, and that allowed my little brain to go through all kinds of gyrations and permutations about the possible results. Seeing all that going on im my infected head put me into overdrive which just made it worse.

So, I had Diane take me to town and drop me off at the Pastime Tavern and told her I’d have the bartender call her if I didn’t think I could walk home. She was happy that I didn’t just take the truck, like I’ve done many times in the past. I quit doing that when they moved the jail from the old court-house to the Sheriff’s Office on Old Portland Road. The old location was better because it wasn’t such a far walk for her to come bail me out. So, she dropped me off and I’m sure she was hoping I’d just forget our home phone number. But, I fooled her because a long time ago I had the number tattooed just above my left knee so I can read it when I’m sitting in the bathroom.

The evening of Friday the 13th, however, didn’t result in an arrest. Nope. I just sat around talking with people, drinking beer, playing pool, and pushing away all the touchy-feely women who seemed to think they could make it all better. Well, I’m here to tell you that I don’t put up with that kind of undisciplined behavior and I told them so. The fellows to whom I was kabitzing thought for sure that CT Scan was going to turn up something really terrible because at least 4 of the hand on ladies were easily 2BB’s. That’s code for 2 Beer Beauty. It means that after only 2 beers she’s a keeper. Normally it takes 7 or 8. So I’m told.

Anyway, after talking with the guys for a while I just decided to walk home and save Diane another trip. I’m that kind of guy, always looking for ways to make things easier for my one and only Love. Yes sir. I’m that guy.

On the way home I stopped by Diane’s Mom’s (Jean’s) house to use the bathroom but it was late and she wasn’t up. Fortunately, her property borders Milton Creek and it’s dark back there so I decided to take advantage. I didn’t have a choice, really, because Mom’s house is about halfway between the Pastime and Home.

The creek was rolling along nicely, and lots higher than normal with all the melting snow and rain, so I was very careful when I approached the water and made my way to a flat cemented area. I went there because I figured the rocks along there would be slippery and I’d no doubt wind up falling into the water.

Falling in wouldn’t really be a problem because the creek really isn’t very deep. It was, however, flowing very fast so dealing with the current would have been a challenge I didn’t want to face. That, and I really didn’t want to get wet.

As I was relieving myself the lights went on in the house directly across from where I was exposing myself. Before I could put myself back together I saw this bright flash that caused me to lose my place in space. The result, of course, was that I fell in the water and was swept away on a fairly long winding journey to the Columbia River.

I did everything I could to stop my forward motion but nothing I grabbed would hold me. I just managed to rip things from the banks as I swirled and swiveled downstream. Giving up isn’t normally my nature, but I decided to just relax and enjoy the ride even though it was dark and I couldn’t see much. That really didn’t matter, though, because most of my relaxing was staying afloat so I could continue breathing. I’m a fairly good swimmer so it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. At this point, I have to admit, that it really scared me when I fell and I’m sure I wet my pants. By the time I made that realization, it was a moot point because I was wet all over.

After rushing downstream for 15-20 minutes, it kind of got to be routine so I was pretty sure I would make it to the Columbia, and calmer water in pretty good shape. I got so relaxed with all the bumping and such, that I pulled my iPhone 7 out of my hip pocket. I was surprised that it was still there, to be honest, and I was very happy to discover that it really is water proof. I turned it on and checked my email as I glided under Highway 30. Then I opened bejeweled which really relaxes me more. Currently I’m on level 221 and I have 6,055,170 points. That’s an absolute truthism.

Finally, just as I finished another level, the current took a brief turn for the worse as it intersected with the Columbia, and I made an abrupt left turn towards Astoria, 62 miles away. I closed up my phone and returned it to my hip pocket and planned my escape from the river at the St. Helens Marina down by the Old Court House, where the jail used to be.

Staying afloat on my back, to conserve energy, I made paddling motions that would aim me for the docks. Knowing that the current could easily suck me under the pilings, I remained very alert as I approached the first dock, but got sucked under it anyway. Luckily, that put me into calmer water, but I still banged my head on one of the boats that always seem to be parked there. By the time I came to my senses I’d been sucked under all the docks, and 11 of the 13 houseboats that populate the marina. At the 12th houseboat I became entangled in a net that halted my progress downstream.

Getting out of the water in that flimsy net was a real chore and I know I was making a horrible racket. My thought was that perhaps someone would hear me and come to my aid. They eventually did, but only after I made it all the way onto the deck of the houseboat.

The owner finally came out to see what was going on, saw me, and went right back inside to get his gun while I just lay there trying to catch my breath. I was pretty tuckered out so I wasn’t too concerned about the gun.

Standing there, pointing his pistol at me, the owner looked around and discovered the net that had saved my life. His eyes went wide and he yelled at me, “You ruint mah net!” which, in fact, I had so I didn’t argue. I figured the manner of his speech and his excited manner didn’t have room for me to try to explain just exactly why I was laying there on his deck. Next he got his phone and called the police to report me as trespasser which is a terrible crime in St. Helens. At one point, while talking to them, he covered the the microphone portion of his phone, leaned toward me and said, “What’s yer name?” I promptly said, “My name is Doug O’Peal, but you can call me Jerrie.”

“How the hell do you get ‘Jerrie’ out of Doug O’Peal?” he bellowed in a questioning manner.

“It’s my mother’s maiden name,” I replied, calmly.

“Your mother’s maiden name was ‘Jerrie’?” he asked, with his eyebrows raised.

“Yes.”

“What’s her first name?”

“Diane.”

“Diane Jerrie?”

“Yes.”

The conversation, such as it was, deteriorated from there until, finally, the police arrived to find us verbally engaged with the guy still holding his thumb over the phone’s microphone. I guess he forget he was on the phone with the police. They weren’t happy about it, either, because they came in full tacitical assault mode, not knowing what to expect. Lots of flashlights and yelling people. Soon the contents of all 13 boathouses were standing on the walkway connecting all the houses to the shore and it quickly devolved into a party.

Five of the guys got out their guitars, a little blond highschool girl dragged out a complete set of drums, and one of the wives just happened to have a huge bass fiddle. The hoedown was on.

While that was going on I told my story to the police and it was evident they didn’t believe much of it because, I had to admit, it was a bit far fetched. So, just to make it easy on themselves, they cuffed me and hauled me away for trespassing, and for ruining this guys illegal gill net. After depositing me at the jail I have no doubt they returned to the marina to participate in the party.

Jail was no fun at all. I never is no matter how many times you wind up there. It always sucks. The only really good things about it were I got to take off all my wet clothes, I discovered that I didn’t have any contraband stuffed in my butt, and I got a nice set of clean orange overalls and a pair of socks.

I’m just gonna skip to the chase right here and get to the really bad part of the evening. That’s when I had to call Diane and ask her to please come bail me out again. She wasn’t really surprised but I was surprised when she agreed without any negotiating at all.

After all the paperwork was done, I was released into Diane’s custody. They let her keep the handcuffs and she made me wear them the rest of the night, chained to my table saw in the basement. It was not a good night.

I made it through to Monday, chained to that saw, and she finally let me loose to use the bathroom and to call my doctor about that CT Scan. Instead of talking with the doctor, they made me an appointment for Wednesday the 18th at 0725 in the morning. So I waited. Patiently.

On Wednesday, at 0725 in the morning, I was at the office and talking with the doctor. She’s really great, and I like her, so of course she’s moving to another state to practice medicine and I have to find another primary care. But, that’s not important here. She told me that they didn’t find anything catastrophic on the scan, but they did find some (insert really complicated Doctor Words here) that are common in people my age. She converted the doctor words into something I could understand. Apparently I got many small areas of dead blood vessels in my brain, none of which indicate that I’ve had a stroke, or that I’m failing due to alzheimer’s disease. I just have little shrivled up veins that aren’t a concern.

Really? Dead blood vessels in my head and I shouldn’t worry? Well, OK. I won’t worry. What’s the point? It is what it is and the only downside, apparently, is that the areas damaged in my brain are important to those who don’t wish to be injured. That’s just a guess, of course. I definitely have the injury problem but I think it’s in my genes, not because of some little dead blood vessels.

So, there you have it. My brain is fried.

I’m sure no one is surprised.

Cheers.

OH – PS – none of the foregoing is true except for the doctor’s analysis.

Did I Turn Left, Right, or go Straight?

Posted on January 16, 2017 by Jerrie Cate

I’ve figured out what’s going on that makes me appear to be off-balance and cause me to walk into walls.

It has to do with our multi-dimensional universe. What’s happening is this – when I turn a corner I partially step into another dimension where my leg, on the side I turn towards, is a bit shorter than I’m used to. For instance, if I turn left, my left leg moves into the other dimension as I turn the corner, then when I move to take a step forward, the shorter leg causes me to move to the left instead of straight. Once I realize what’s happening, I return to normal. Well, kinda normal. The same thing happens when I turn to the right, with my right leg.

The reason my leg seems shorter is, I suspect, because by not transferring completely into the other dimension, which is normally transparent to the traveler, my body is a little out of sync with what I perceive to be the natural order of things. It’s been proven, somewhere, that when a body completely transcends the boundaries into another dimension they are replaced in the vacated dimension by a duplicate that chose a different path.

It’s only logical that dimensions are accessed when we come to a point where we must make a decision. In the one that to you is reality, you turn one way, your duplicate does not. Look at it as if you split into two people at the point of decision and you actually go both directions. You do this over and over throughout a normal day and never realize it. Until you get old and apparently lose the ability to completely transfer your entire body in the direction you chose.

I only know when this happens to me when I go to look for something right where I know I left it, but it isn’t there. It’s not there because I’m in another dimension. There are two ways to return to the proper dimension where the missing item dwells. One is to dwell on the misplaced item to the point that you become fanatical about your inability to find it. Eventually the nature of dimensions gets tired of your whining and returns you to the proper place in space. The other way is to just ignore the loss of the item because you know it will be returned at some point in time.

Oddly, no matter which choice you make, whine about it, or forget about it, it takes the same amount of time for the universe to right itself. I’ve timed it so I know this is true.

OK. I know. Sounds crazy, right? But, I am unable to prove me wrong.

Now I’m going to intentionally transition into a different dimension by going to bed and commence to dream about that other reality where one of the other me people traded all that ENRON stock I had for Microsoft and Apple stock before it all disappeared. I’m doing really well in that place.

Cheers.

My stupid iPhone made me do it

Posted on January 2, 2017 by Jerrie Cate

Please forgive me for using a tragic 2014 “accident” in Dallas, on Christmas Eve, as the basis for my first 2017 post. But this caught my eye and it won’t get out of my head.

A little 5-year-old girl was killed by a driver who was distracted while using Facetime on his iPhone. Now, two years later, the parents of the little girl they lost is suing Apple for not configuring the iPhone to disable Facetime while traveling at highway speeds. The police confirmed that Facetime was still active on the driver’s iPhone when they found it.

It boggles my mind that Apple could potentially be held liable because the offending driver was simply stupid. Many states have outlawed cell phone use while driving but Texas isn’t one of them. So, the offending driver was legally using his phone and apparently wasn’t cited for it, but he was charged with manslaughter because he caused the death of the little girl.

I’m stunned that this is a lawsuit that will apparently be going to trial.

Thanks for ‘listening’.

Day 26 – Virginia Beach & Day 27 – Little Creek Naval Amphib Base

Posted on October 16, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

Days 26 & 27 are a hodgepodge in my head so I’m just going to lay it out as I remember stuff. Just understand that what you read probably isn’t in the order it occurred. I suspect that’s probably not an issue so I have no idea why I felt it was necessary to clarify. Just ignore this part.

We got up late again this morning, around 0830, just in time to watch the USS George H. Bush sail away to sea – it was a very majestic site.

Then, while standing at the rail of our porch “Pink People” started running by, going north, on the boardwalk. Their numbers grew quickly to thousands, really, as we watched. I couldn’t figure out what was going on until Diane explained that it was The Race For The Cure. It was quite a stupendous sight. I think pretty much every woman and little girl who went by was wearing a pink tutu. I’m sure there were some guys wearing pink tutu’s, too, can’t say so with confidence. There were too many pretty girls for me to consider looking at the guys.

After the runners and walkers dwindled to none, Diane and I took a trip all the way to the north end of Virginia Beach, then followed the road around to the Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek. I visited the area a little when I was here in 1966, but don’t remember anything about it. Just know I was there. While roving around the base we came across a Navy Lodge and decided to see if they had a room we could rent. The logic for that was that we are leaving very early Tuesday morning and NAB Little Creek is essentially at the north border of the Norfolk airport so it’s a quick trip instead of the 45 minutes it took us from Virginia Beach. My concern was about getting the car back to the rental place for turn in on time to avoid additional charges. It was horrendously expensive in the first place so I don’t want to give them any opportunity to tack on more, ya know?

The Navy Lodge had a room for us but the gal at the counter said all they had available was a suite. That was OK with me, so I booked it. A suite to me is a bedroom with a living and kitchen area. Turns out the suite we got, cheaper than our tiny VB room, is really a 2 bedroom condo that sleeps 6. Too bad the family isn’t here.

We returned to Virginia Beach via the I-264 freeway, instead of back streets, to see if it was any quicker getting to Little Creek. It actually didn’t matter because we would only make the trip one time, but it was an exercise “just to see…” What we saw on our east-bound trip was that the west-bound lanes were a parking lot on this Saturday afternoon. That immediately made the case for going north up the beach and around the corner.

At 1600 yesterday we Cleveland crew members held our annual meeting to hear how much money was in the kitty, how much was spent, and to decide where we’re going next year. During the course of the meeting someone asked why mailings cost $1,000 when pretty much everyone has email. It was a good question and the answer because evident when it was revealed that there are at least three lists of people being used by three different people for three different reasons. That’s a sure-fire way to get data screwed up. So, one our members raised his hand and suggested that we form a committee to combine all this data into one useable source of information. What an inspiration! It should have been done years and years ago. Then, since I’m a real sucker for committee’s and data bases, I raised my hand and offered to help. What an incredibly stupid thing to do. Volunteer. It’s going to be a momentous task and being retired takes up most of my time. I’ll give it my best effort but can’t make any promises.

Another aspect of the meeting was to decide where we will hold our reunion next year. The rule, decided long ago, was that we go East Coast, West Coast, Middle. Since we’re on the East Coast, West Coast is next. The first suggestion for the West Coast was Santa Fe, New Mexico.

OK. I couldn’t let that slide, so I raised my hand and pointed out to Jack that New Mexico does not have a coast. It’s two states removed from the coast. Jack, however, was convinced that Santa Fe qualified for West Coast because it was West of the Rockies. I couldn’t sway his thought process at all and I think he quit listening to me when I asked if the USS New Mexico was moored in Santa Fe. Some others, who perceived the concept of “coast”, suggested, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Portland.

“But wait,” you might say. “Portland isn’t on the coast, either.” Well, that’s true, but it’s close enough because it was the runaway favorite choice. So, we’re going all the way to Portland next year. Go figure. The problem with that, of course, is that I’ll probably get sucked in to helping organize it.

After the meeting we all hung out until it was time for the banquet. A few of us wanted to hang out in the banquet room while they set up but we were summarily kicked out after I knocked a glass over and it broke. I didn’t see the problem. It was just one glass.

The dinner was good but not exceptional and I’ll just leave it at that.

Then we had our raffle which generates a lot of money for the reunion organization. Raffle items are donated by those who attend. Diane and I bought 7 tickets for $20 and won three times. First time ever. We got me a new hat, and two window stickers.

Then we went to bed because it was late and I was scheduled to get up early, like 0430, to take Gary & Cindy to their Amtrak pick up point on Virginia Beach. Since Amtrak doesn’t run trains on the peninsula, the pick up point was actually a bus stop. We got there in plenty of time, like 0450, then Gary checked his ticket and learned the pickup time was 0610. So, we went back to the hotel where he figured it would be good to print out the ticket. That because a frustrating evolution that was eventually resolved by the hotel clerk getting involved. Then, at 0550 I took them back to the bus stop and bid them farewell.

Cindy was mortified but she didn’t need to be. I was glad to help them get to their appointed destination. Even if it was only, like 6 blocks away from the hotel. We had a good time waiting for the time to pass so it was all good. Diane was a little concerned when I didn’t return right away, but that was resolved, too.

After returning from my marathon delivery, I went back to bed and read my book for a bit before falling asleep again. Diane woke me up about nine so we could gather our belongings, check out, and head for the Navy Lodge. Which we did. At 1100.

We stopped by 24th street in VB on the way out so we could visit a set of monuments we noticed during our travels. It was all a tribute to Naval Aviation. Very interesting.

This photo is an excellent example of diplomatic tools available to us.

It had such an impact on us that Diane bought me the t-shirt. I love it.

While visiting it, we took some extra steps to the boardwalk and dipped our feet in the sand, just to say we did it.

Since it was still early, we skipped the Navy Lodge on the way by the base because check in time isn’t until 1500. No guarantee the room would be ready. Instead, we drove to the airport so we’d know where the rental car return was located. Thankfully, it’s just before the departure gates so getting the car returned and to the gate at the proper time isn’t going to be a problem.

On the way back we stopped at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens, because we like botanical gardens, and to kill a little more time to allow Navy Lodge to ensure our room was ready. It was a nice, pleasant stop for us. Very enjoyable. We got to ride a tram around the 600+ acres of flowers and trees while a nice young lady explained everything to us. No walking involved. Doesn’t get much better than that.

This is the only flower I took a photo of because we didn’t know what it is and there was no little sign sticking out of the ground near it to tell us. So, what is it?

This is a photo of one of many, many water-color paintings in the main facility at the garden. I was totally amazed at the realize this artist obtained with water colors. Totally changed my perception of what can be done with this medium.

So, now we will be lounging around in our condo for the remainder of the evening the begin the process of devouring all of the food we’ve accumulated over the past three weeks. That’s going to be a daunting task because we have a lot of it. We’re not going to be hungry for the trip home.

Day 25 – Norfolk Naval Station & Naps

Posted on October 14, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

This morning started off with an alarm clock going off, not something we normally do on vacation. But, we had a bus to catch at 0830 so sleeping in until 9-10 wasn’t going to work. The bus was for a tour of Naval Station Norfolk.

The significant aspect of this trip for our group of former USS Cleveland (LPD-7) crew members is that 50 years ago this month those of us who were in the 1st crew were on the base to board the ship and take it to her home port in San Diego, via the Panama Canal. So many changes have been made to the base over those 50 years that none of us could definitively say, “I remember that!” Nope, it was all new, and very, very different. It’s truly a new Navy.

The tour bus we rode is apparently a frequent visitor to the Naval Station because our tour guide, a Petty Officer 3rd Class, said he did tours with our bus driver about every other day.

Jack, the president of the Cleveland Reunion Association, has been to all of the reunions as you can see by the length of his name tag. Each row has the name of the reunion location for each year. There have been 19 of them. Diane and I have only been to about 5 of them, counting this one.

Our bus tour of the naval station took us by most of the piers but we weren’t allowed to take photos up close. Instead, the bus pulled over a safe distance away from the piers and people were allowed to stand in the open door to take pictures back at the USS George Bush. Can’t see much, but there it is.

Before leaving the vicinity of the Naval Station we stopped by the NEX food court for lunch. Diane, Marsha, and I ate Panda Express. I’ve been craving Chinese food for a while and that just hit the spot for all of us. I ate far more than I should have.

After leaving the naval station the tour bus took us to downtown Norfolk and dropped us at Nauticus where we could tour the USS Wisconsin BB-64. They wanted lots of money to visit the ship so Diane and I chose to skip a trip aboard since we had recently visited the USS New Jersey BB-62. And, in past years we’ve been fortunate to visit the USS Alabama BB-60, and USS Missouri BB-63. That’s enough battleships for us. In our experience, once you’ve seen one battleship, you’ve seen them all. Still, there’s something special about going aboard one of those behemoths and walking those teak decks. This time, however, we chose to save the knees for another day.

Another aspect of Nauticus is a Navy Museum which is free and we found it to be very interesting. Upon entry we were greeted by a gentleman in an authentic civil war naval uniform. He introduced himself as a LCDR whose name I can’t remember but his delivery was current tense as if were there. He was a wealth of knowledge regarding those times and it was a delight to talk with him. It was a new experience for us in a museum and we liked it.

The displays included this torpedo which was interesting just by itself.

Making it more interesting was the placard sitting by it.

This is Gary and Dan who were also aboard the USS Cleveland. I suppose you could tell that by the hats they’re wearing. Dan and I were part of the commissioning crew in 1966 and Gary was aboard some time after that. Notice that I lined this up so you could see the mermaid between them. An intentional photo bomb.

This one adds Cindy to the mix. She’s Gary’s significant other and one of our favorite people.

At the end of the tour we all retired to our rooms. Diane and I promptly fell asleep and didn’t wake up until around 6 pm. By then we felt the need to refill some of the depleted food storage units but didn’t want to go out for another meal. We were told that the flounder in the resident eatery was pretty good, but that didn’t appeal, either. So, we discovered where the nearest Food Lion was and went shopping for simple things to tide us over for the weekend for breakfast and supper needs.

Both Diane and I are tired of traveling and look forward to getting home next week. Even if it’s going to be stormy and wet. We watched the videos on the weather channel of the tornado that hit Manzanita today. Nasty. Still, we will be glad to get home.

Maybe we’re getting too old for these long trips.

Thanks for listening.

Day 22 – Laundry Day at Fort Lee Lodge, and Lunch

Posted on October 11, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

Yes, we must do our laundry while traveling. I suspect most people do except Jack Reacher, who just buys new outfits when it’s time to change clothes, then throws the old stuff away. Before we left I suggested that we take nothing but old underwear, the ones with rips and holes, of which I have a few, and just toss them each day. Diane nixed that idea, at least for her, because you just never know when you might wind up at the doctor’s office in one of those backward gowns.

Me? I brought old underwear.

Even so, we have outer clothes that get soiled and isn’t something we’d throw away until it falls apart because they are always good for working in the yard. Since we are checking out of here tomorrow we need to get things washed today. Matter of fact, the washing machines are running as I write. I might have 15 minutes or so remaining before I must make that long trip down the hall to put them in a dryer. My phone will bark when it’s time.

The upside of doing laundry at the Fort Lee Lodge is that it’s free to use the machines. There are 6 sets on each of the 7 floors, 3 at each end. That’s a lot of washers and dryers, my friend. There’s even a TV in the laundry room. And an A/C unit. A person could just take a book down there and hang out all day if they wanted to.

Diane didn’t want to. She chose to scour the base in search of the thrift store she saw a couple of times during our trips and left me alone to deal with the drying aspect of laundry. She loaded the washers, kissed m on the cheek, and headed for the parking lot. She took all my quarters, too. So, here I am, unsupervised, tasked with ensure that two special blouses do not make it to the interior of a dryer. The penalty is severe for failing this simple rule.

Thankfully I remembered because when I got back to the room she was sitting on the couch and I had the blouses in my hand. She said the thrift store is not open until Wednesday so we’ll have to go in search of a Goodwill in the civilian world this afternoon, to see what folks in Virginia give away. I can see it in the stars. Really, I can.

On my trip to the laundry room I took this photo so you could get a sense of how long the hallway is. It’s easily 200 yards. That means it’s 100 yards either direction for us because we’re almost dead center in the middle. By the elevators, which is really handy. The young lady, Brittany. who gave us this upgrade did us an enormous favor unless the room is haunted. I don’t think it is, but you just never know in a hotel.

This is looking the other direction from our room.

It’s hard to judge the distance in these crappy photos because the lights by the rooms just run together at the far end. Perhaps that’s a good indicator.

The dryers taker 45 minutes to run their cycle and I only have 26 minutes remaining until my phone barks at me again. I feel like I should take a nap, but it’s too early. That’s what I have to keep telling myself. It’s too early.

I’m sure you find all of this very interesting, and can tell that I’m not really full of fun stuff to share. I will, however, share this tender moment that I failed to include on one of the evenings Cedric spent with us.

Diane caught us both sleeping and snuck up on us. It was very peaceful sitting there with him, knowing he was relaxed and in a good place. Reminds me of when he was little and would do the same thing.

With the laundry done Diane said it was time for lunch and that I should get busy. She reminded me that yesterday I said I’d cook today. So I did. We had 8 eggs, half an onion, half a potato, 8 pieces of bacon, and a brand new green pepper. There’s no toaster in the room so I improvised by using a pan to toast English muffins on one side. Diane took care of the bacon while I prepared the eggs and everything else.

Since we only have a two burner stove, it was tricky getting it all done in a manner that nothing got cold. Since eggs were last, Diane stacked everything else in the microwave to keep them warm. When the eggs looked done enough to eat I flung a few pieces of cheddar cheese on top and put a lid on until it melted a little. I’d already turned the burner off but hat was just long enough for the bottom of the eggs to crisp up more than I had intended.

It was still good.

Now I really do think I’m going to take a little nap. Jerrie’s tired and his eyes burn.

Day 21 – Maymont Park – Richmond, Virginia

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

Today we left the base and embarked on an adventure to Richmond to visit Maymont Park based on the recommendation of the nice lady with the German accent behind the reception desk at our exceptionally nice abode.

I programmed our destination into my phone’s GPS, plugged it into the car, and away we went on I-95 North. It was a quick trip because Richmond is only about 29 miles from Fort Lee. Since Columbus Day is apparently a holiday for most folks in Virginia there was very little traffic on the freeway. That was true for the side streets in town that we had to traverse at the insistence of Veronica, our GPS expert. It’s actually SIRI, not Veronica. I was just trying to trick you.

Richmond has some very narrow streets that I’m sure haven’t been widened since they were primarily used for horses and buggys. With the only available parking is on the street for most of the housing we saw, like this, the situation doesn’t get any better. There actually are individual houses around, and we saw some, but row houses like those in this photo are all over the place. These are actually separate homes with about a 5-6 foot space between them, but on first look they appear to be joined at the hip. There are others that are obviously newer, made of brick, that I would call town homes because they are physically joined. I didn’t take a photo of any of those because I didn’t want to. That, and my phone/camera was connected to the car for the GPS. That’s why I didn’t want to.

Getting to the park took us directly through the heart of VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University). At least that’s what it seemed like because we were surround by buildings with the VCU logo on them for a mile or so through town. If those were indeed university buildings, I’d hate to have to make it from one class to another across that campus. Maybe they have some sort of underground delivery system for students.

Once we got to the park the first thing we discovered was that the welcome center wasn’t welcoming anyone because it’s not open on Monday. So we followed what looked like a group of Richmond natives down a walk that led waaaay down into a valley on this 100 acre estate.

At the bottom Diane stopped to rest her knees, which hurt all the time, and she was in need of a restroom. Fortunately, Dave was just about to pass us and he was dressed, to me, like someone who might work on the estate. I know his name was Dave because I asked and told me. Before that, however, I asked him if he knew where a restroom might be. He did, of course, because he volunteers his time at the park working in Raptor Valley where the birds live. He said he was heading that way and to follow him. Naturally that led to a conversation about where we were from. When he discovered that we were from out West, he slowed his pace to match ours and gave us a comprehensive history of the Maymont property and its original owners, the Dooley’s. What a guy!

Dave said James Dooley made his millions in a variety of enterprises, including the railroad industry, and built this incredible mansion on a hill in Richmond. When he and his wife died they had no family so left the property to the city of Richmond. Unfortunately, the property didn’t come with money to maintain it. That required a group of wealthy Richmond folks to step up and begin a program for that reason. The result is beautiful Maymont Park that includes the mansion and all of it’s grounds. It’s worth a trip. Oh! and it’s free.

Diane and I wandered around the winding paths and stairways to the tune of between 4-5 miles, depending on whose fitbit you want to believe. Mine came up with 3.97 miles but Diane’s was 5. My fitbit also said that I climbed up and down 15 floors of stairs. That one is absolutely true, I’m pretty sure. We did some ticking up and down hills. Diane’s knees will never be the same after today.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the Wal-Mart* super center a little south of Fort Lee to get some required items, then stopped for a Pizza Hut dinner at the facility on base. When we got to the room I was a little shaky because I hadn’t had anything to eat for approximately 6 hours. As a newly crowned diabetic I could feel the need for food and confirmed it when I checked my BS level. It was 73.

The pizza was good and we demolished the entire thing, each eating half. That’s significant for Diane because she normally can only eat 3 pieces.

Now we’re settled in for the night and I need to stop because Monday Night Football is about to start. Since Cam Newton is out with a concussion for the Carolina Panthers our home town boy, Derek Anderson, will be in at quarterback. They are playing Tampa Bay with Jamis Winston at QB. It would be fun to see Derek beat them.

I will terminate this with some photos from today’s trip.

This is a terrific little stone bridge at the bottom of the trail, just before we met Dave.

Wandering through the Japanese Garden.

At the to, near the mansion, we found a large stone barn that has huge bird houses for dormers.

More out buildings with a really pretty fountain.

A comprehensive view of the estate buildings. This was taken from a wicker chair tied to 3 large weather balloons. It’s secured to the ground with a very long rope, thank God. It was still a little breezy up there, but it provided a terrific view of the James River and the estate. Those descriptive words just magically showed up when I imported the photo.

This is the last shot I took as the handlers were hauling me out of the sky.

Inside is the freakishly weird Swan Bed in Mrs. Dooley’s bedroom. I’m guessing this feature of her choice in bedroom furniture was a large factor in their childless marriage. I mean, really?

The kitchen is huge and finely attired. Looks very functional.

The living room is very ornate. Lots of wood that needs lots of pledge to keep it looking like it does.

Outside Diane walks through the arches where the Dooley’s, and guests would access the home from their carriages without getting wet, in case it was raining.

That’s Diane standing at the top of the steps on the front porch. She thought it was pretty nice, but that it should be screened in. Still, pretty classy.

On the way out, pondering the best route back to our car, Diane stops to consider how long it would take me to mow all that yard. It’s massive.

Lastly, here’s a pretty nice looking tree standing all alone so it could flourish in all directions.

Ta-da.

Day 20 – Part 2 – Beyond the Gate

Posted on October 9, 2016 by Jerrie Cate

About 2:30 this afternoon we decided that it was time to get something to eat and we had pretty much exhausted the on-base eating opportunities so it was time to escape and see what’s out there, outside the gate. We walked out of the hotel into cool air, light breeze, and a beautiful cloudless sky.

We went looking for an exit. Turns out there are quite a few of them, unlike the JBAB base in Washington D.C. That makes it easy to leave but knowing which gate to use for an exit would take some practice to learn where they are in respect to where you want to go. Since we didn’t know where we wanted to go it really didn’t matter which exit we took. So, we took the second one we found. The first one we tried ended at a fence and looked like it hadn’t been used for many years.

The second exit was on Sisisky Blvd, a street with which we are familiar because we’ve crossed it many times on trips to the commissary, the PX, and the gas station. We didn’t actually pick it because we knew it would get us off base. It just turned out that we saw the gate and noticed it was, gee, Sisisky Blvd.

Once out the gate, which is easy to do because no one has to stop on the way out. All the ID checking happens on the way in. There’s a stop light just outside the fenced area on Highway 36. Sisisky Blvd actually becomes Highway 144 on the other side of Highway 36 if you go straight through the light.

Not know which way to go, Diane stayed in the middle lane to go straight through then changed her mind at the last second and forced her way into the left turn lane. That was easy to do because there were any other cars making a left turn.

We drove a little ways while I got Maps up and running on my phone to see what I could find in the way of slow food instead of fast food. You know, a nice place to have a sit down meal on a Sunday afternoon.

When I got Maps up I discovered that all the fairly close places to eat were behind us. We should have turned right. So, the logical thing to do was turn around in the middle of a major highway, right? Well, Diane went to a light to do it. It was all legal and everything. Honest.

Once we got turned around all the normal food places started appearing: McDonalds, Papa John’s Pizza, Waffle House, and places like that. But, like I said, we were more interested in something that more closely resembled a restaurant. With a hostess, and waitresses.

Diane spied a Ruby Tuesday to her left as we buzzed along Highway 36 so I looked it up. Looked like good food so she started looking for a place to turn around. She always finds that place, but the legality of some of the places she uses to turn around are questionable. This one wasn’t. It was perfectly legal. And safe.

Now we’re going the other way on Highway 36, back toward Fort Lee and we’re having a conversation that made me think Ruby Tuesday’s was between the opposing lanes of the semi-freeway we were on. Thus, since Diane had seen it on her left the first time, logic in my head said it would be on the left, again. So that’s where I was looking when she made a right turn into what she thought may be a back way into Ruby’s that was on our right. Very confusing, right? You should have been there.

After driving up Cousins Avenue about half a mile, about where it make a right turn toward I-295, she figured it wasn’t a back way into Ruby Tuesday’s. This U-turn was illegal. Just had to say it. But she made it safely and only had to accelerate just a little more than normal to stay ahead of the car that appear magically behind us.

At the light she turned right and spied the opening into the parking are for Ruby’s just past the local Pizza Hut. We made it.

Upon entry, we were greeted by Samantha, a very bubbly young lady with a very distinctive cowgirl drawl, and she led us to a booth, got us seated, explained all the rules, then brought us tea for Diane, raspberry lemonade for me. A quick look at the menu was all I needed to determine what I was going to eat, and Diane did the same. She ordered a New York steak, baked potato, and salad bar. The have a really good salad bar just inside the door so it was an obvious choice no matter what else we ordered. Diane’s came with the salad bar. I ordered the triple shrimp place. They called it a trio-something, but it was just three kinds of shrimp in three small square bowls. One had two skewers with 3 shrimp each on a bed of linguine, one had 4 large deep-fried fantail shrimp, and the other had about 13 small battered and deep-fried shrimp in some sort of creamy pink sauce all layered on shredded lettuce.

Here’s what we got …

The steak doesn’t look very big, but it was a big knife.

I would have taken a photo of the salad bar but figured everyone’s seen those things. They’re all over the place. Diane sent me first because she said I usually take so long to figure out what I want so, to throw her off a bit, I did a speed run through the line and was in seconds. I was like The Flash going through the line with shredded lettuce, egg bits, pieces of beets, and carrots flying all over the place, and came back with a small plate adorned with a professional looking salad. It was awesome because I was wearing light-colored slacks and a nice shirt and didn’t get anything on me.

Halfway through the salad, Caleb arrived with our main courses. I knew it was Caleb because that’s what Samantha called him. I’m alert that way. Sometimes.

It all looked really, really good so we just dove right in and got to work. All of my shrimp were awesome and Diane said her steak was exactly what she was hoping for. Perfectly cooked, tasted great, and very, very tender. She didn’t even have to use ketchup or anything.

She ate the entire steak, all by herself. She never does that. There’s always a little bit left for me. But not this time. So all I got was a bunch of shrimp and I was looking forward to at least a couple of bits of steak. She offered me a bite about halfway through the meal, but I was determined to finish all those shrimp and the linguine, which I did. When I was done I discovered that it was a good thing Diane ate all her steak because I couldn’t eat another bite of anything. Really.

When we were done we bid Samantha adieu and headed back for the base. Upon entering our room I plopped down on the sofa bed, burped, and may have even farted a little, then texted Cedric to see how his day went. He hadn’t contacted us because he’s been working on qualifications to perform his assigned jobs while on duty and that’s important.

Tomorrow he has duty so we made arrangements to hook up after he gets out of class Tuesday afternoon. I bribed him with food and he was all for that.

Since tomorrow will be another free day for us we may venture off base for a new adventure so I’ll have something to tell you at the end of the day. Need to take some new photos, too. It’s always nice to have photos.

The weather today was cool (65) but bright and sunny. Last night, however, and all day yesterday, the rain hammered us mercilessly. By Oregon standards it wasn’t bad at all, but apparently the ground is pretty saturated from previous rain storms so today there was quite a lot of standing water. It was most evident at the on-base golf course we ventured through on our search for a way off the base. Most of the sand traps were full of water. It would have been fun to play, but I didn’t bring my clubs.

Now it’s late, once again, and I must terminate.

G’nite.