What A Valley We Have!

Driving down the last of the three humps between Ellensburg and Yakima is awe inspiring. It's what attracted ME and I to move here 15 years ago. Especially on an evening like tonight. Off to the left was a huge, harvest moon coming up so bright you could read by the light. To the right were the mountains with an orange sky, Mt Rainier and Mt Adams were etched like no other. And then, bam!, you hit the valley floor and any view you had is gone because you can't see out your windshield because of the darn bugs!

I wandered away from ME today, feeling confident that she was being well care for and, more important, she had great company throughout the day. Thank you all for allowing me to break away. Everything I heard throughout the day was great.

I did a quick jaunt to Bellingham this morning at O Dark Thirty. The headlights of the Mountaineer were pointing to the sky with "stuff" for Paul's apartment at WWU. Paul and I made quick work of unloading the rig. His digs are really cool, right off campus with a view of Mt Baker from his deck. We then made the necessary ME shopping trip to Freddy's. ME would have been proud of the list Paul made. All of the items that guys normally don't think about when living in a dorm room.

Right on schedule, Maris, Mary Alice's husband(my Sis), showed up in Bham with two twin beds. These were quickly deposited in Paul's bedroom and a "kit" was installed to convert them to king size bed. Paul has never experienced this sleeping arrangement. He was really stoked! Not only did they give him a new bed, he popped down to Mt Vernon this evening for a great steak dinner. What a lucky guy to have such a great Aunt and Uncle!

I swung through Seattle on my way home to meet up with Caitlin and Dayton. Oddly enough, we ended up meeting in the parking lot of Ivar's, on Lake Union. The last time we were there was the Saturday night before Caitlin's wedding. Traffic was typical for Seattle with the Dogs playing a home game and the sun being out, crazy! The two of them were running errands and just happened to be near the "U" when I hit town. We had a great chat about many things. Dayton has been really great, advising us illiterates on purchasing new computers. Caitlin had an another great week in school, spending four hours on Friday with an anesthesiologist, observing multiple procedures.

Next month, Paul turns 21 and Caitlin will be 24. What amazing people they are. ME and I are extremely proud of what they have accomplished and what they have yet to accomplish. We are blessed.

PS Now that ME is in a more accessible room, it is easier to pop in for short visits, which I encourage you all to do. However, we will all become more involved with her care in preparation of moving ME to rehab. Please, if you want to see ME, contact Judi Brown. She continues to maintain a calendar of visitors. Her phone number is 966-7873. Her email address (preferred) is rjbrown03@msn.com. This logistic really helps me to know that ME has someone with her throughout the day. Thanks!