On Tuesday my week in Washington ended with a somber departure from David, Theo and Ruby.
Especially Theo, who you see in front of me.
If there are a cuter trio of kids on the planet, I would like to meet them.
Eventually I will return to Texas with a thumbdrive bursting with material from Washington, material in the form of photos. Along with material consisting of my impression of what I was seeing when I was in Washington.
I will likely wait til I am back in Texas with a computer connection to the world, with which I am more familiar, before I blog that aforementioned material.
Suffice to say, though the reason to be there was a sad one, I had the best week I have had in a long long time, this time, in Washington.
On Tuesday, on the way to the airport, David, Theo and Ruby took me to Tacoma's Theo Foss Waterway. An area I will later photo document and refer to as the Tacoma Waterfront Vision (a vision which you can actually see, with no weeds or rusted re-bar or polluted water or drunken inner tubers) unlike another town's vision, which few sane people are seeing. Tacoma's real vision has an actual real signature bridge, built over actual real water. What a concept.
But, I digress.
Back to my last day in Washington.
After we left Tacoma we stopped in Fife at the Pick Quick Burgers Drive-In for burgers and blackberry milkshakes, and views of Mount Rainier.
With the sky finally clear of smoke the Mountain came out spectacularly on my last day in Washington, including a direct overhead view as my flight to Phoenix routed over the Rainier summit. I will save the full mountain view for later. Suffice to say, for the first time ever, I saw the Mount Rainier summit, and could make out markings of some sort at the summit, which you can sort of see below.
I arrived in Phoenix with a thud.
Literally. To use my nephew David's favorite word.
The plane landed with a jolt worthy of a theme park ride. A few people screamed. I was not one of the screamers. But the lady from Terlingua, next to me, was.
I was surprised as I exited the Sky Harbor security zone to suddenly see my mom and sister Jackie, sitting, waiting for me. Mom had walked her walker in from the parking lot, a couple elevator levels below or above. I'm not sure. I was sort of too tired to pay directional attention.
Wednesday morning I went swimming with what remains of the Sun Lakes Ladies Swimming Club. Most have let Arizona, temporarily, for cooler climes. Yesterday, post swim, I drove mom and Jackie to Maricopa to see Penny and to have ourselves a McDonald's feeding.
Today mom and I boxed up a lot of dad's stuff and took it to Goodwill. Then we went on a long drive to Coolidge, a town right next to Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. We did not go see the ruins. I've heard there is not a lot to see. That they are sort of ruined. Which would seem to me what one would want ruins to be.
Eventually we made it back to Sun Lakes, where I left mom, to go to my current location, my sister Jackie's house, which I have all to myself, because Jackie is up north, in Prescott, playing in a Pickle Ball Tournament. Tomorrow mom and I return to my current location, that being sister Jackie's, at six in the morning, to chauffeur Jackie's first husband, Jack, to Dodson Ranch, so he can pick up a ride to Prescott, where he Pickle Balls tomorrow.
I am enjoying Arizona. But this is not the scenic wonderland of natural air conditioning, large bodies of water, and towering mountains, which is the reality in Washington.
Mom and I are making BBQ Ribs tonight. I have never seen three freezers so stocked with frozen stuff as what currently exists at my mom's abode....
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