Hank Frank Visiting Grandpa Jake In Washington

I text messaged my little brother this morning, wondering if he was still in Washington, enjoying that zone's heat wave, or back in Arizona enjoying that zone's heat wave, and recent dust storm.

Quick came a reply telling me my little brother is still up in Washington, and is in no hurry to return to the Valley of the Relentless Sun.

I then asked if my little brother was somewhere in the Skagit Valley, or elsewhere.

The reply to that probing question was an address on Beaver Marsh Road, in the Skagit Flats.

Seeing that address I then knew my little brother was staying in the Jones Family Compound, in nephew Jason's house, next to nephew Joey's house.

Which is also where Hank Frank lives.

After I replied saying, oh, you're currently living next door to Hank Frank. And asked if he was having fun playing with Hank Frank, who is my little brother's youngest grandson, the next text informed me that Hank Frank drives over for a visit, frequently.

That final text message included the composite photo you see above, with on the left we see Hank Frank doing the aforementioned driving to visit grandpa, followed by his walking mother, Monique. 

I do not know where Hank Frank is in the photo on the right. Inside grandpa Jake's temporary domicile, or at home in his own domicile. I suspect the answer is the latter....

Hank Frank & Grandpa Jake

My little brother has been escaping the HEAT of Arizona by enjoying the HEAT of Washington, which is HOTTER than the HEAT he left behind in Arizona.

I knew my little brother had made his way from Hood Canal on the Olympic Peninsula to the Skagit Valley, on Monday, so I asked this morning, via text message, if he had been able to see Spencer Jack and Hank Frank yet.

Those being the two who turned my little brother into a grandpa.

The reply to my probing question came in the form of the picture you see above. 

I replied "Now that that is one cute pic!!!"

To which Hank Frank's grandpa replied "He is a cutie patootie. He calls me Poppa Jake. He is a happy little boy."

Well, now, this all just made my day...

Happy Late Birthday To Hank Frank & Grandpa Jake (UPDATED)

I really have been a bit distracted of late. Somehow I forgot that September 26 was the Happy Birthdays of my little brother, also known as Grandpa Jake, and the youngest Jones boy, Henry Francis, also known as Hank Frank.

Happy Belated Birthday Grandpa Jake and Hank Frank!

UPDATE: After sending Hank Frank a belated happy birthday text message Henry instructed his dad, Joey, to send his great uncle photos of Hank Frank's first birthday party...

Hank Frank's First Truck Driving Moving Task With Grandpa Jake

On Friday Hank Frank and Spencer Jack's Grandpa Jake made it from Washington to Arizona without a minute of delay, unlike what Grandpa Jake's brother experienced trying to make it from Texas to Arizona.

In the photo here we are looking at Hank Frank driving the moving truck he rented to move from Clear Lake to his new home located in the Skagit Flats, I think somewhere near Roozen Garde, information which only would mean anything to someone familiar with Skagit Valley geography.

Grandpa Jake's return to Arizona was necessary to help facilitate a subterfuge scheduled for Thursday, July 25. Miss Daisy and her primary driver will drop me off at Sky Harbor around 10 in the morning. I will then enter the airport departure door, then exit that door as Miss Daisy and her primary driver drive away, with me then getting in Grandpa Jake's vehicle, which I assume will be driven by Grandpa Jake, not Hank Frank.

Miss Daisy and I have had no news from Hank Frank and Spencer Jack's cousins, David, Theo and Ruby. We guess their current location is somewhere in Southern California. Possibly Santa Monica.

Or maybe David, Theo and Ruby have already found Aunt Jackie and Uncle Jack somewhere in the San Diego zone, where they will be especially vigilant whilst dodging Pacific Ocean waves and the recent epidemic of stinging jellyfish.

Decades ago I remember a stay at San Clemente State Park where David, Theo and Ruby's Uncle Jake and Aunt Nancy got stung multiple times by jellyfish. The stinging jellyfish left their other uncle alone...

Touring With Spencer Jack & Grandpa Jake To Great Lake With Shrinking Viaduct

Spencer Jack and his grandpa have been taking me on some virtual tripping the past several days.

With Spencer Jack and his Jason dad in various locations in the Wisconsin part of America, while Spencer Jack's grandpa has been taking me to various locations in our old home state of Washington.

Earlier today I blogged about grandpa Jake in Seattle, after he asked me when I was last at that location, with the precise question not clear as to its precise meaning.

This afternoon fresh photo documentation arrived on my phone from both the Spencer Jack entourage and Grandpa Jake.

Both instances of photo documentation were sparse with the verbal details.

For instance that photo you see of Spencer Jack standing on a beach at the edge of what looks to be a lake simply said "Beautiful day at the lake."

This looks like a really great lake, likely one of the Great Lakes, most likely Lake Michigan, since I was previously informed that that particular Great Lake was going to be visited.

The next photo was a bit more informative, saying "Spencer and I at the Miller Brewery sampling product and finding a souvenir for Grandma Cindy."

And then the next photo, though free of any explanatory text seems to indicate Spencer Jack had found the appropriate Miller Brewery souvenir for Grandma Cindy.

Now, let's leave Wisconsin behind and head back west to Washington and Grandpa Jake.

The text with the above photo from Grandpa Jake simply said "And the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Which is coming down."

This is rather convincing evidence that Grandpa Jake does not read this blog, what with the number of times mention has been made of the Alaskan Way Viaduct and that other aspect of that project, that being the world's biggest boring machine's digging a tunnel under downtown Seattle.

Which is a public works project which began boring in 2014, the same year Fort Worth had a TNT exploding ceremony to celebrate the start of construction of three simple little bridges, built over dry land, with a then astonishing four year project timeline, now extended into the next decade.

While the new tunnel under Seattle has been completed and in use for months now, and with the Alaskan Way Viaduct almost all removed, followed by the rebuilding of the Seattle Waterfront.

In Grandpa Jake's above photo you can see remains of the Viaduct on the left, with the new open space on the right, where the Viaduct is now long gone.

I wonder if Grandpa Jake made his way up the Pike Street Hillclimb, and then ventured to see the Amazon Spheres. Ruby took me to see the Amazon Spheres the last time I was in Seattle. They were not yet open at that point in time. I believe they are now completed and open. But, I do not know if they are open to the public.

Well, I wonder where Spencer Jack and Grandpa Jake are gonna take me next?

Grandpa Jake In Seattle Remembering Kurt Cobain & Elvis

Incoming to my phone this morning from Spencer Jack and Hank Frank's grandpa, who is also my baby brother, Jake.

Jake is currently escaping the warmth of Arizona's Valley of the Sun by enjoying the record breaking heat of the Pacific Northwest.

The text that was attached to this photo asked...

"When were you last here?"

Well.

I am not sure what location, precisely, Jake is referring to with the word "here".

I can see Jake is on a ferry boat, in Elliott Bay. Which would make that the skyline of downtown Seattle behind him. The Space Needle on the far left is a major clue.

If by "here" Jake is asking when I've last been to Seattle, the answer to that would be a couple times during August of 2017.

If by "here" Jake is asking when I've last been on a ferry boat in Elliott Bay, I think I may also know the answer to that question, precisely, even though the date is way back in the previous century.

April 5, 1994, to be exact.

Why would I remember that date?

Well.

On that day Jake's two sons, my favorite nephews Jason and Joey, took me to Seattle where we rode the ferry to Bainbridge Island. While on that ferry Joey saw a big headline in the Seattle Times.

NIRVANA'S COBAIN DEAD

Joey read enough of the story to quickly deduce Kurt Cobain had killed himself. Joey was particularly upset at this news, asking his favorite uncle why Kurt Cobain would do such a thing. I had no answer.

And then Joey and Jason told me something I did not know previously, or had forgotten. That being whilst their cousin Alan was a teacher in, if I remember right, Montesano, he taught Kurt Cobain in 7th grade.

And so this is why I know the date I last rode a Washington ferry.

And on another death of an American music icon note, with the news learned on a Washington ferry.

On August 16, 1977, before Jason, Joey, Spencer Jack and Hank Frank joined the earth's population, I ferried with grandpa Jake from Anacortes to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, on a product delivery run.

We were not long out of the Anacortes port when we learned Elvis had died. I do not remember if this was learned via a newspaper headline, or an announcement over the public address system. I suspect the latter.

Anyway, I hope this answers Spencer Jack and Hank Frank's grandpa's "When were you last here?" question..