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Monday, October 1 A jaunt over to Ellensburg... 1st shot: The Stewart Range as seen from the Indian John Rest Stop on I-90 East, east of the Cascades. 2nd shot: Also from the Indian John Rest Stop... smoke from the Table Mountain fire north of Ellensburg. 3rd shot: Back in issaquah... houses on a hill... |
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Wednesday, October 3 In Crossroads Starbucks... looking over at the Daily Planet News Stand as it was going out of business (after a 27 year run). Not sure where I'll pickup my monthly copy of Cowboys & Indians now... |
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Friday, October 5 At Les Schwab on Bel-Red... rear brakes and popcorn... |
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Saturday
morning Biscuits & Gravy at Crossroads Cafe in Bellevue...
and another good find from Half Price
Books - On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods (A Geological Field
Guide to the Mid-Columbia Basin). 2nd shot: Pulling out of Crosroads, bound for Issaquah and the Issaquah Salmon Days festival... with The Stanley Brothers on the player and a tall mug of coffee at hand... |
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In Issaquah... Issaquah Creek and the Darigold Dairy on Front St. So far, so good... |
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Then... a sea of people... too many people... |
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It took way too long to get to an espresso stand and the bridge at the Salmon Hatchery was packed and almost impassable... |
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It was with a sense of relief that I arrived at the Hatchery Stage, also known as the Bluegrass Stage, where the Voetberg Family Band had just started. Regretfully, I must report that the sound reinforcement was terrible. The Voetberg Family Band played two old hymns - "How Great Thou Art" and "Just A Closer Walk With Thee" - which I'm sure I would have enjoyed had the sound been good. The volume was way too loud for bluegrass and the bass overpowering to the point of annoyance. Basically, the soundboard was producing a festival "rock" mix for "front porch" acoustic music. Disappointing... and I felt bad for the Boetberg Family Band having to perform under bad sound conditions... |
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Being driven away from the Hatchery Stage by irritating sound reinforcement, I headed through the throngs with the Rogue Brewery as my beacon.. |
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Having beat a hasty retreat to a relatively peaceful spot in the Rogue Brewery, I enjoyed a delicious Kobe Burger... which turned out to be the highlight of the day... |
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Monday, October 8 With Nancy at the Crab Cracker in Kirkland... |
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Tuesday, October 9 Another jaunt over to Ellensburg... a wind farm along the way, in the vicinity of Elk Heights Road. I can't say that I've ever noticed "Watermelon Rind Pickles" before. The Dilled Pickles brought Ward to mind... |
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Thursday, October 11 Team lunch at Crossroads to mark the fast approaching end of yet another contract... Left front to back: Xuejun, Shawn, Steve's Bento Box, Herb, and Lorrie. Right front to back: Jeff, Chris, Chris, and Jay. |
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The local red maples have reached
their Fall color peak... 1st shot: 2nd Shot: |
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Bai-Tong Thai Restaurant in Redmond... |
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Monday, October 15 At the Redmond pony Express... having received a little package from Jake Berger in Charlotte. "Beware the Cuckold" will soon be posted... |
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Thursday, October 18 Bellevue, WA... at Crossroads... perched where the Daily Planet stood (until recently)... |
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Saturday, October 20 Bellevue, WA... at Microsoft Advanta... seems a little early for ice to be falling, even if only a smidgen... |
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From the 4th floor of Advanta-C... facing east... |
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Ground level at Advanta-C... |
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Bellevue, WA, at Crossroads... biscuits & gravy with teammates Jay, Herb, and Joe... |
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The ceremonial last cup of coffee at Microsoft Advanta-C... Seattle's Best, Henry's Blend... and then it was done... |
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Sunday, October 28 With Sweet Jane at Salon West Wind... or was it Delilah? The beard that started on December 25, 2011 ended up on the floor... swept into history... |
