Remembering Birch Bay Sandcastling With Theo & Ruby

Continuing on with this week's Microsoft OneDrive Memories from this Day, which I remember, from a week in August, way back in 2017, several days of which were spent at Birch Bay, a few miles south of Washington's border with British Columbia, Canada.

Whilst the tide was still way out, Theo, Ruby and I started building a sandcastle.

In the above photo, I cannot tell if that is Ruby or Theo shoring up the sandcastle as the tide starts to threaten the wall of our castle.

The Birch Bay tide eventually breeched our wall defenses, after a long, valiant effort.

The morning after sandcastling Theo and I elevatored to the roof of the place in which we were staying.

Theo was quite pleased to see that we could make out the remains of our sandcastle, still visible, after an incoming and now outgoing tide.

You can see those sandcastle remains pretty much at the dead center of the photo documentation.

That week up in Washington, back in 2017, was one of the best times I had had in a long time. From the moment I exited security, at Sea-Tac, to see David, Theo and Ruby, for the first time, and the days which followed, getting to be uncle to kids was something I thought was history, but almost instantly, upon meeting the Tacoma Trio, I found myself in full uncle mode.

I have not seen the Tacoma Trio, or their parental units, since March of 2019, which was another fun week, in Arizona. And then in 2020, COVID hit.

I do not think I have had a mighty fine fun week since COVID, that I remember...

Fondly Remembering Birch Bay Driftwood & Other Things Like Slotemaker Road

Apparently, this week's Microsoft OneDrive Memories from this Day are going to be ones I actually remember, due to the fact these photo memories are from a memorable week in August, back in 2017.

It was Saturday, August 12, 2017, when the Tacoma Trio of David, Theo & Ruby, their parental units, mama's Kristin and sister Michele, and little brother Jake, were staying in a large condo type place located near the middle of Birch Bay.

Birch Bay is a super popular touristy location located a few miles south of the border with Canada.

Growing up in Washington, with many relatives located in Whatcom County, where Birch Bay is located, going to The Bay was a frequent occurrence.

Often camping at the state park located at the south end of Birch Bay.

Birch Bay is shallow. When the tide goes low a large expanse of sand is exposed. That sand heats up, then when the tide rolls in the water gets heated, making Birch Bay, when the conditions are right, almost a tropical-like swimming venue.

As kids we would spend hours playing on the Birch Bay beach. At the state park part of the beach there was a big chunk of driftwood which we would climb on, over and over again.

That Saturday, back in 2017, we were scheduled to be in Lynden, at the Monumenta Cemetery, that afternoon. Brother Jake was my ride to Lynden that day. We decided to leave Birch Bay early so as to try and see some of the locations which were such a big part of our lives as kids.

Starting with me asking brother Jake if he thought that big driftwood still existed at the state park part of the beach.

There is one way to find out, said my little brother.

And so, we drove to the south end of Birch Bay to find ourselves pleased to see that all these years later that chunk of driftwood was still there. 

But, somehow, all those years later, it looked way smaller than it seemed when we were little kids.

That is the driftwood you see photo documented above, in the photo I took that day.

After leaving the driftwood we continued on to find a location we simply called the Van's. A farm we frequented frequently, with the Van's being our cousins. We often camped and vacationed together with the Van's. I remember the Van relatives relatively fondly.

Continuing on we made it to Lynden, to Grandma Vera's house. Grandma Vera was my mom's mom. The house seemed HUGE when we were kids. Did not seem so huge in 2017.  And then it was a block to the north, to Grandma Slotemaker's house, the one we most associated with that grandma, though there were several others. It was at Grandma Slotemaker's I first learned of The Beatles and saw them on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Then Jake and I tried to find our way to Slotemaker Road, the location where our ancestors first settled in Washington. We gave up after a while.

Later, will a couple hours later, when Jake and I verbalized our inability to find Slotemaker Road we were told its location, and how easy it is to find, barely out of town.

Eventually Jake and I ended up following David, Theo, Ruby and their parental units to the Slotemaker Road location.

And here we see Ruby Slotemaker, on top of me, almost reaching the top of the Slotemaker Road sign.

Ruby's cousins, Jason and Joey, somehow managed to come into possession of the Slotemaker Road sign, a time, or two.

At my ripe old age, I sometimes wonder if I shall ever see Whatcom County and Slotemaker Road, again.

That and Birch Bay....

Once Again Remembering Pedaling A Tacoma Cab With David, Theo, Ruby, Kristin & Michele

In the incoming email this morning, more photos from a week way back in August of 2017.

In Tacoma.

Touring the Tacoma waterfront, from Point Ruston, via a pedal cab, with Kristin, Ruby and Michele in the driver's seat, while Theo, David and me are backseat drivers.

I think I have opined before that the town I am currently in, Wichita Falls, Texas, needs a pedal cab franchise so people can have themselves a mighty fine time pedal cabbing along the Circle Trail.

I do not remember if the Tacoma pedal cab had a braking system, or simply relied on ceasing to pedal to cause the cab to stop.

If there are no brakes, pedal cabs of the sort I pedaled in Tacoma would be problematic if the pedal cab franchise was located at the MPEC (Multi-Purpose Event Center) due to the fact that the Circle Trail near that location has a couple semi-steep hill sections, of the sort where I could see it might be a bit problematic pedaling up the hills, that, and speeding out of control going down the hills, if the pedal cab had no braking method.

But, a pedal cab franchise located at Lucy Park would work just fine, what with the Circle Trail circling around Lucy Park being pretty much flat.

If you pedal cabbed out of Lucy Park, on the Circle Trail, heading to the Wichita Falls artificial waterfall installation, there is a slight elevation change of the going up and down a hill sort. But, not too drastic an ascent, or descent.

A pedal cab in this, at times, HOT town, might not be too popular during the blistering summer months, but the cooler other times of the year, getting too HOT does not happen too often...

Microsoft OneDrive Remembering Me, Theo & Ruby At Point Ruston

Today marks a rare occurrence of the daily Microsoft Memories from this Day actually being a memory that easily did happen on August 11.

The year was 2017. I flew to Washington on, I think, August 8 or 9. One of the days following my arrival, prior to driving north to Birch Bay, the Tacoma Trio of David, Theo & Ruby, and their parental units, took me to Tacoma's Point Ruston.

If you are ever in Tacoma, drive the Tacoma waterfront north til you reach Point Ruston and Point Defiance. You won't be disappointed by what you will find there.

It seems to my memory that I recently shared the above photo which showed up in my email today. That is me between Theo & Ruby in a Point Ruston ice cream parlor.

This is one of my all time favorite photos.

Where in the World are the Theos?

On the right, that is Ruby's twin brother, my Favorite Nephew Theo, known in Tacoma as Theo S. Next to Theo S is Theo's best friend, known in Tacoma as Theo C.

The two Theos are currently in Spain. I know this because a couple weeks ago Theo S's mom, my little sister, Michele, told me Theo was going to Spain with Theo C, with Theo's C's mom, to visit Theo C's sister, who is attending a university in Spain.

Now, I think the answer to that where in the world are the Theos question is fairly easy.

I believe the two Theos are in Casa Botin, founded in 1725, determined by the Guiness Book of Records to be the oldest restaurant in the world.

The restaurant's specialties are suckling pig and lamb roasted in the Castilian style.

If I find out what the Theos had to eat at this restaurant, I shall let you know...

Happy Birthday From Toothy Great Nephew Cade

Incoming text message from young Mr. Cade Weston, this second Sunday morning of August.

The text message accompanying the photo of Cade....

Happy Birthday Great Uncle Durango! Grandma told me to show you my teeth for your birthday!! Happy Birthday!!

Great Nephew Cade looks like his papa, my Favorite Nephew Christopher. Christopher was always such a smiley kid when he was a young one.

Fort Worth Is Not One Of America's Nature Lovers Cities

I saw that which you see here via a Microsoft New photo gallery of the 15 Best American Cities For Nature Lovers.

I do not know if the link will work in all browsers.

Most of the towns on the list were the usual nature suspects, Denver, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Santa Fe and Seattle.

Some of the towns on this list just seemed odd, nature lover-wise. Indianapolis, Columbus, Cleveland, Boston and Atlanta.

How are both of America's Portlands not on this list, particularly the Portland in Oregon?

And, no nature loving towns in Texas? Shocking. Not even Fort Worth, with its nature loving inner tube floating in the polluted Trinity River? 

This nature loving article's description of Seattle seemed totally accurate to me...

In Seattle you’ll already feel like you’re in nature, even in the midst of skyscrapers. But despite the natural surroundings, including forests, water and mountains, there’s still a distinctly urban feel to the city with its innovative tech scene, a walkable waterfront full of shops and restaurants, and plenty of attractions. One highlight is the Seattle Center, where you’ll find the distinctive Space Needle and Museum of Pop Culture.

I wonder if Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision ever becomes something one can see, if upbeat verbiage might result about that sad sack of a town's imaginary waterfront, verbiage of the sort used to describe Seattle.

But, other than all that, what actually struck my eye about this Nature Loving Cities article was the photo of the Seattle skyline.

A time of two I have opined that I am not a fan of the distorted, zoomed photos of Seattle, showing Mount Rainier looking way closer and bigger than it actually is, sort of misrepresenting the view tourists might see if a cloud-free sky allowed such, as in, a view of Mount Rainier in the distance.

This photo, the one you see above, that photo actually looks like what Mount Rainier actually looks like, from Seattle.

Still totally impressive, and the likes of nothing I see on the horizon at my current Texas location...

Big Chill Brings Wichita Falls Relief From Being Way Too HOT

On this second Friday of August we are scheduled to get a chilling relief from being heated to well over 100 degrees HOT.

Currently there is some clouding happening, doing some sun blocking.

I suspect in a couple hours I shall venture out to an outdoor venue for some much-needed salubrious endorphin acquisition acquired via walking fast.

Currently we are chilled to only 78 degrees, well below the predicted high today of 92. It is so chilly I have not heard the A/C come on yet this morning.

I do not recollect ever looking forward to winter as much as I currently do...

Birth Certificate Searching Finds Mom & Dad Getting Married

A couple days ago I made note of the fact that that day, August 6, was the date my mom and dad got married, long long ago.

This morning, I was searching through a box of photos and documents, searching for my long missing birth certificate, when I came upon what I assume is a photo taken on the day mom and dad got married.

Dad was in the Army, soon to be stationed in France. Or was it Germany? Or both? 

Mom and dad look so young. Because they were. It was a couple years after this photo that I arrived, in Eugene, Oregon...

Already Hotter 'N Hell In Wichita Falls

Yesterday, the first Wednesday of August, the temperature was nearing 100 at the time of my regularly scheduled communing with nature via fast walking somewhere outdoors.

But, with the outer world being so HOT, I opted to drive to Walmart for my nature communing and anthropological observations.

Then, yesterday, around 5 in the afternoon, I decided to get HOT again, via driving to ALDI.

As you can see via the photo documentation, above, the temperature, as measured by my vehicle's temperature measurer, was way over 100 degrees HOT.

124 degrees.

That is a Death Valley level of HOT.

The biggest Wichita Falls event of the year, the Hotter 'N Hell 100, takes place the last week of this month. This is a big event. People come from all over the world to ride their bikes 100 miles in super HOT conditions.

Last year the weather did not cooperate, with the temperature being lower than 100 degrees.

This year I suspect the weather will be cooperating.

And it will be HOT.

I have not attended the Hotter 'N Hell event at the MPEC (Multi Purpose Event Center) since before COVID. It is quite entertaining, with multiple things to see, and a lot of people.

Just the triage tent where all the injured bike riders get treated. 

There are dozens of vendors vending various products. Others giving out free samples of this that and some other thing. Bike related artworks. Music. A HUGE beer garden.

And, I suspect there may be a political component this year, what with it being election season...