Truths About the Everyday Housewife

Hey !  You!  You with the kids running around the house teasing one another,  shrieking and screaming:  

"Mommy make Ashley  give me back my Superhero Golly-Bog Transformer."

 "Mommy Billie just hit me."

 "But Mommy, Ashley hit me first!"

Yeah I'm talking to you, the one sweeping up Fruit Loops from under the kitchen table.

This is the life of most moms and especially the stay-at-home mom.  This is reality.   A stay-at-home-mom isn't lounging on the sofa watching daytime soaps and nibbling on chocolate bonbons.  She's lugging a 30 pound basket filled with dirty laundry to the washing machine.  Instead of wearing opera length satin gloves she 's wearing elbow length rubber gloves and is scouring out toilets, scrubbing  bathtubs and mopping floors.  

 Most of all she's tired. 

 

Tired of the cyclic routine that seems endless.   Fix breakfast , wash breakfast dishes, clean-up kitchen.  Fix lunch, wash lunch dishes, clean-up kitchen.  Fix dinner, wash dishes, clean-up kitchen.   Tomorrow do the same thing and the day after that and the day after that and the day after that . . .

In the mornings it's make up the beds . . . in the evening she crashes  into bed, exhausted ... the next morning it's make up the beds again.  Once a week she strips the beads , then makes up the beds with fresh clean sheets and launders  the used sheets,  folds them neatly and puts them in the linen closet so they'll be ready for the next time.  This is repeated weekly;  week after week, month after month, year after year.  The repetitiveness is numbingly monotonous.   There are moments when she'd like to scream or even run away, but she doesn't.  She bears the drudgery out of love and devotion for her family.

 She's not one of those gorgeous, 20 or 30 something  models on TV, posing seductively in a form-fitting, low cut, little black dress telling us that if we used this or that facial cream we too will look years younger, be more radiant and just as beautiful as she is.   While Ms. Beautiful Model  is touting a sixty or seventy dollar bottle of potion that's just one part of a multi-hundred dollar beauty routine,  Stay-at-Home-Mom is worrying about how they're  going to afford their monthly  mortgage payments and also pay for little Timmy or Beth's much needed braces.  It's tough living on  one income.  Yes she could go out and get a paying job but she knows most of her income would go to pay for child care.

As Ms. Beautiful Model 's perfectly manicured hands caress a sensuous  bottle of Firming Lotion, Stay-at-Home-Mom nonchalantly sits on her own hands to hide her chipped nails and ragged cuticles and tries to think of ways to live from one paycheck to the next. 

Do we really need meat this week?  How about a big pot of beans and some cornbread?  Later in the week  I could cook up some rice and add the leftover beans to them, maybe splurge on a head of lettuce and make a salad?  Or I could fix a huge tuna and elbow macaroni casserole.

Always struggling to stretch that paycheck far enough to cover expenses and then, just when she thinks she's  got it made . . . Why the blazes does the car need a set of new tires now ?  What do you mean the washing machine is broken ?   Is it just me or does the refrigerator feel a bit warm inside?   

Sure, I've been there, I know what I'm talking about.   I used to laugh with Phyllis Diller (notice I said with and not at) when she told a joke about how she had 5 children and had her milkman deliver  nine quarts of milk.  Six quarts to drink and three to spill. 

I don't think there was a single day that one of my kids did not tip a glass of milk over and I had to run to get something to sop up the flood of milk with before it ran off the table and onto the floor.  Seems I was never quite fast enough so there was always at least one meal that  required my having  to mop the floor around our kitchen table. 

And living on one income, paycheck to paycheck?   I've been there too and know just where you're at. You get that monthly credit card statement and think; "Just a couple of more payments and we'll have all of last Christmas's gifts paid off."   And then it strikes you, "Oh Dear Lord !  In just a few short months it will be Christmas AGAIN !"

 It's like being on a never-ending merry-go-round.  Round and round we go, like a dog cashing its tail.  Is it any wonder that we have those annoying  little lines at the corner of our eyes or those furrowed creases across our forehead?

From Ugly Duckling . . .

Picture (snagged from online source) of a large, faceted tigerskin quartz bead.

Dull, bland and totally lacking character.  These were the words going through my head as I inspected my last remaining tigerskin quartz pendant.   It had been on a short strand with seven other trapezoidal (like a triangle with the top cut off, creating a stone with 4 corners) shaped stones but unlike the other stones that boasted eye-catching patterns and vivid swirls of fiery reds and rich gold and browns, this one lone stone was dull, bland and totally lacking any interesting detail.   It was merely a translucent, quartz trapezoid with a small cloud of white in its middle, along with a smudge  or two of  brownish tan.

Unfortunately I did not take a photo of my tigerskin pendant bead but found this photo online showing some tigerskin beads that have very little pattern and color - my bead would have been similar to the last bead on the right side of this picture.  Clear and uninteresting.

Back when I purchased this pendant bead I was new to the game of  bead shows and wholesale buying and admit that in those  tenderfoot days I made some bad purchases.  Certainly some of the less honorable vendors could see my inexperience and took advantage of my naiveté  but most were honest and helpful. Even back then I was reluctant about this purchase but it was a local bead and gem show, small in comparison to most national shows, and the show was on its last day of a 4 day  event.  Naively I roamed the exhibition hall looking for treasures and vaguely aware that most had been snatched during the show's first couple of  days.  What I was  now looking at were the dregs, the leftovers. 

When I spotted the  Tigerskin pendants they were new to me and I was fascinated by them and asked the vendor what they were.  He replied that they were Tigerskin Quartz.  There where were only 3 strands remaining, 2 of the strands had pendants that were badly chipped and the 3rd strand had the ugly duckling bead.   Hoping for a discount I pointed out the chipped pendant beads.  The vendor shrugged and indicated that the 3rd strand didn't have any chipped beads.  Obviously he wasn't interested in cutting me a deal so I was left with 2 choices; walk away and not purchase any of the strands or opt for the strand with the ugly duckling.  You've probably guessed which option I chose.

The ugly duckling sat in my supplies for several years, all of its siblings had been used in one or another of my necklace creations.  Reluctantly I took it out and studied it debating if I should just toss it.  Since there was little to lose, I began to experiment with it and attempted polishing it with my Dremel tool and polishing compound to buff out any scratches, trying to give it a high, gloss shine. After hours upon hours of polishing, ugly duckling looked as pathetic as ever.  On the verge of throwing it into my wastebasket I suddenly remembered I had a small assortment of patinas and glazes.  So began another experiment. 

Photos above and below shows my enhanced tigerskin quartz pendant with beaded bezel in progress.

Gold alcohol ink was gently dabbed on the back side of Ugly Duckling.  After the alcohol ink  dried,  I was impressed with the transformation but decided to carry it further.  The next coat was a light dabble of copper alcohol ink and then a coat of African bronze patina.  The layers of glazes and patinas created wonderful depth to this pendant, which is, unfortunately,  hard to perceive in my photos.

To protect this finish I applied a couple of coats of epoxy resin.  Once the resin was thoroughly cured, the task of creating a beaded bezel began.  Using dark bronze, metallic glass beads and Swarovski crystal pearls to create and embellish the bezel.  I then fashioned a rope necklace with lush Czech glass seed beads using a twisted herringbone stitch.  The beaded pendant bail is rich with a fringe of more Swarovski pearls, bronze glass beads, seed beads and Czech firepolished beads.

 

 

 

I do believe the Ugly Duckling has become a graceful swan or maybe it's a butterfly.  What do you think?

LOST - One Slightly Used Mojo

View from a hill on U.C. Berkeley campus - the city of Berkeley is unfortunately covered in a haze of fog - which is rather common for this area.

It doesn't take a astrophysicist to deduce that I've been offline for quite some time now.  I seem to have lost my mojo and just can't figure out where it's gone . . . but if you should happen to see it would you be so kind as to direct it back home to me ?

I've sort of left my trip out west unfinished and up in the air.  Though admittedly many of the photos that remain are less than stellar.

 

Photos above and below - more views of Berkeley from hilltop vantage point.  From up here one can see "forever" . . . well one can see as far as the bay. 

DAY TRIPPING

Picture above from Wikipedia source, and photo is Public Domain.  The cluster of tall buildings near the water's edge happens to be the condo complex that my sister recently  moved to. 

The following day was spent touring the area around my sister's new home.  I freely admit that she has a plethora of  good eateries and fine restaurants in her vicinity.  There is also abundant shopping and a fantastic mall devoted completely to oriental cuisine and shops, which could have been an all day adventure in itself.   Unfortunately during this excursion my camera was left back at my sister's condo, not on purpose - just an oversight or a case of forgetfulness on my part.

Once my sister, Norma, gave us a taste of the area close to her condo, she then took us to The Legion of Honor,  where we viewed their exhibition of,  "18th to 20th Century Neoclassical through Post-Impressionist Art".   Though my camera was with me this time,  I felt it was inappropriate to take photos of these famous pieces of art, especially if a flash would be required.  

Above - Dancer by Edgar Degas

Now here I must make a confession.  First of all I am not a person who can spend 30 or 40 minutes staring at and studying a painting, I'm doing well to spend 5 or 10 minutes in deep contemplation. Secondly, my hubby, though he can appreciate art, is hard pressed to spend 5 or 10 minutes in an art museum period ! 

Above - Still life by Paul Cézanne

Therefore after having spent a couple of hours wandering about looking at the incredible works of Seurat, Cézanne, Renoir, Degas, Monet, Picasso and many other impressionist artist,  John and I had more than our daily quota of high brow culture for the day.  So when Norma suggested several other, highly cultural, exhibits we could tour, it was no surprise that both John and I voted unanimously to see the "Rosie The Riveter" exhibition.

 

I won't go into extensive detail about this exhibit but I will tell you we all enjoyed it immensely and I would not hesitate to recommend it to others who are visiting the San Francisco area.   

The exhibit is primarily dedicated to women's contribution in the work force during WWII, theirs' was an era when women were thought of as wives, mothers and homemakers and society, as a whole, felt that a woman's place was in the home.  It was an eye-opening revelation to see how many women back then defied this stereotypical conception and came out in force to help their country.

 

 

 

Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park was established in 2000, and their visitor center opened its doors in May 2012.

This is a national park, which explores and honors the efforts and sacrifices of American civilians on the World War II home front.  Come to the Visitor Center, watch a film, view exhibits, to find out how Americans lived, worked and got along. Many faces, many stories, many truths weave a complex tapestry of myths and realities from this time of opportunity and loss.

Address: 440 Civic Center Plaza, Richmond, CA 94804
Phone: (510) 232-1542



Moving on - Finally

As far as the progress of my trip out West is concerned, I believe I left everyone at a rest stop in Oregon.  4th of July came into focus, along with a couple of July birthdays and a few health issues and I became distracted . . . it could be that I suffer from undiagnosed ADHD, though I'm not at all sure about the "hyperactivity" part.

My hubby and I spent the night in Medford before driving the rest of the journey to San Francisco, where my youngest sister, Norma, lives. 

After trying unsuccessfully for several years to sell her large home in Novato, California, Norma was finally able to sell it this time around and for a much fairer price than she would have gotten a couple of years ago.  She has now purchased a smaller condo that over looks San Francisco Bay.  The view is spectacular, and the area around her offers a lot to do and to see but I'm sure the downsizing is going to take a bit of getting use to.

Photo above - View from my sister's balcony overlooking San Francisco Bay. 

Photo below - Even though there was summer fog, we were able to see the City of San Francisco from Norma's condo.

Photo below - The Bay Bridge that connects the city of San Francisco to Oakland and Berkeley.

 

Photos below - And then of course there's the Golden Gate Bridge.  Yes I know it's a long ways away but with my cheap little point and click camera, my zoom capacity is about 3X or 5X, which is almost nothing.

 

 

 

 

Happy 4th

 

 

 

May we take a moment to honor all the wonderful men and women who have given so much to make our world a better place.  Overthrowing tyrants and terrorists so that freedom could prevail.  God bless them one and all.

 

Wishing each of you a happy and safe 4th of July. 

 

A Piece of USA History Dying - please have your sound turned on.

History passes, if it is not recorded or preserved in some way it is soon forgotten and lost forever.

Heading South

photo above - Blue Star Memorial plaque, Oregon.

 

It's time to head South and make our way toward California.  As we drove through the state of Washington, I kept noticing wonderful sunny, yellow wildflowers that remind me of California's yellow Scotch Broom . . . only the ones in Washington are gigantic.

Unfortunately when my hubby is driving he drives with a mission in mind; "Get where we're going without delay"  so I missed many an opportunity to photo these impressive wild flowers.

Somewhere in the state of Oregon, John pulls into a rest stop where I manage to retrieve my little camera and snap a few photos. 

Photo above - Emblem of USA flag at the base of "The Blue Star Memorial Highway" plaque.  Flag is made using red, white and blue stone chips and wood.  Looks like it could use a bit of straightening up but I'm sure that both the weather and the tourist are hard on it.
 

photo above - Wildflowers at Oregon rest stop.

 

I'm lucky at this particular rest stop as there is an area lush with yellow Scotch Broom and beautiful Queen Anne's Lace.

 

 

Back in my high school days, one of my assigned science projects was to collect wildflower specimens, and press and dry them.  After they were adequately preserved, I had to take the pressings and make them into a notebook.  It took weeks of work, first to collect the many samples of flowers, along with their stems and some leaves, and then the time consuming process of pressing them between sheets of paper and under a fair amount of weight, and allow them to remain untouched until thoroughly dry.  Since a flower press was not among my possessions, I had to round up all the biggest, heaviest, books available in our home.  Thankfully we did own a set of Encyclopedia Britannica and they really carried their weight  during this school assignment.   [pun intended] :)

 

I gained a lot from that science project, it taught me the names of many of my area's wildflowers and I learned a bit about each plant.  For instance I learned that the stems and branches of these yellow flowered Scotch brooms  were indeed once used to make brooms for sweeping.

 

Photo above - Close up of the Scotch Broom flower cluster.  It is considered a noxious weed but what a pretty weed it can be when blooming.

 

Photo below - I have never before seen such a large and beautiful Queen Anne's Lace blossom.  It was huge, about the size of a dinner plate and absolutely perfect.

 

When I see all the divine flowers that are grown up in the Northern states it makes me envious.  Deep in South Florida our soil is sandy and lacking in rich compost, the humidity is high and encourages mold and mildew on plants and our southern heat discourages many plants from establishing themselves.  As for bugs, they are pleantiful and ravenous for anything with a tender green leaf or stem.

 







Day Tripping Back to the 50's and 60's":

photo above - Part of the interior of XXX Root Beer Drive-in.

In my last post I told you about how  John's old school chum, Ken,  spent the day with us and how we toured some of their old stomping grounds.  Today I'm continuing with this saga but felt it deserves its own separate post.

After spending a good portion of the afternoon driving up and down  little roads that led into lakeside neighborhoods  we headed back towards town.  Suddenly Ken was struck by an idea.

"Do you like root beer?"  He asked, with an obvious motive in mind.

I nodded affirmatively while John was slightly less enthusiastic.  "Well, I like an A&W float every now and then."

"I'm not a big fan of A&W "  Ken went on " To me it has a sharp flavor.  The best root beer, bar none, is triple X.  I find it has a smooth, creamy taste.  Whenever I'm in Issaquah I always have to stop by the triple X to get my Root Beer fix."

Like me,  John had never heard of triple X  Root Beer,  but Ken was quick to fill us in on all the pertinent facts.

photo above - It was a busy place, granted there are many empty booths but the majority of the customers were outside having their gigantic burgers  and frosty mugs of famous XXX Root Beer "al fresco" on the outdoor patio.  I found it difficult to get a clean shot of the interior without someone walking by - here I caught the flying hair of a hurried waitress.  Must admit she has lovely locks - long and shiny.  

XXX Root Beer's history is long, dating back to 1895, it's long but it's an interesting history;  the following is my synopsis . 

Basically XXX  began as a beer brewery but diversified into soft drinks.  With the onset of prohibition, XXX Brewery switched over from beer production to solely producing its line of soft drink.  There was a period of rapid growth and popularity and XXX Root Beer Drive-Ins were quickly spread across the continent.  But as fast food establishments emerged they began nudging out the smaller local drive-ins and diners,  XXX began to experience a decline in its number of locations.  

photo above - As is apparent, the interior of XXX is chock full of vintage memorabilia and tons of retro pieces. 

In 1960 it was suspected that Sassafras, an ingredient used in the making of a number of soda fountain drinks, was a carcinogen, therefore the government banned its use in all food and drinks.  Companies were given a one year "grace period"  in which to convert over to safer ingredients.  It took time but eventually  "flavor chemists" were able to find safe alternatives that would keep XXX Root Beer's historic creamy flavor along with the frothy head that draft root beer is noted for.

Photos above and below - More of XXX's interior. One could spend days looking through the place and never see everything that's on display there.  It was truly overwhelming. 

In summation, the fast food chains pretty much took over and now there are but 2 of the old, original XXX  Root Beer drive ins left in existence;  one in Issaquah Washington and the other in Lafayette , Indiana.  These 2  drive ins still use the same creamy tasting, root beer syrup to make their draft Root Beer.  

Photo above - Fantastic vintage jukebox.  You don't see many like these anymore, especially ones that play the old 45's.

If you'd like to read a more in-depth history of XXX  it can be found HERE

Photo above - One enormous gum ball machine.

Photo below - I had my hubby stand next to it to give a perspective of its size. Yep, it's one really big dispenser.

 

As a side note, the Issaquah XXX Root Beer Drive-In is also well known for its summer car shows as their website can attest to:

http://triplexrootbeer.com/

Best Friends Forever -

photo above - Ken on left.  My hubby, John, in light blue on right.

 

Before we left on our trip out west, my hubby, John,  was in contact with Ken, an old school chum of his.  Since we would be in the state of Washington Ken made arrangements to drive to Issaquah and spend a day with us . . . or really with John.

It was enjoyable to hear these two close friends reminisce about bygone days, the kids they knew back then and how time had changed people and places.  During this conversation I also learned that Ken had been a couple of years behind John in high school.  Back then it was,  and probably still is today, uncool to associate with lower class mates.  However John and Ken shared common interests; they both lived around Lake Sammamish and they both like fast engines and things with fast engines  such as boats and cars.  Theirs was a friendship that would last the test of time and of distance.

When Ken arrived at the hotel we lunched together.  I sat and quietly ate while the two old chums talked and caught up on several years  worth of their lives.   Ken was full of stories about the many changes that had occurred to their old home town of Issaquah and to some of the kids that they once went to school with.

Conversations went similar to this:

"Hey John.  Do you remember Billy Dan-fangle ?"  Ken inquires.

John looks puzzled and shakes his head negatively.  "Can't say as I recall the name."

"Oh I'm sure if you had met him you'd remember."  Ken replies adamantly. "He was a scrawny kid, clothes were worn and dirty.  You could smell him from down the hall.  Don't get me wrong,  Danny was a really nice kid and he and I were good friends.  
He used to live in this area before Issaquah got all built up.  His folks had a farm here and about nine kids to raise .   They were about as poor as they come.   Don't think Danny had more than a couple of  changes of clothes and maybe one pair of shoes back then.  He always looked unkempt and, as I said, you could smell him coming.  Poor kid, the family didn't have running water in their old farm house so it was a luxury if Danny got a bath once a week.  They were good people, hard working, honest, respectable but dirt poor people.

Well time changes.   Bull-Dozer Corp wanted to build their corporate office out this way and had plans for a big development.  They offered the Dan-fangles a pretty penny for their hundred and some odd acre farm.  Over night the Dan-fangles  became multi-millionaires.  Couldn't have happened to a nicer family.  I like to see things like that happen to deserving people."

 

I couldn't help but be fascinated by Ken's stories of the past; the people and the places.

After lunch Ken suggested it would be fun to drive around  some of the old haunts that he and John grew up in.  So a drive around  some of the neighborhoods  around Lake Sammamish became our agenda for the afternoon.

 

photo above - a view of Lake Sammamish.  Most of the lakeside is private property, off limits to the Have-Nots such as myself, but someone had propped open a wrought iron gate with their flip-flop, giving us egress to the lake shore and the view.

Now a days we all know that lakefront  property is prime real estate, the crème de la crème of location - location- location.   Therefore our tour consisted of  comments such as:

"I don't believe it !  That used to be where Timmy Wagsworth's house was!   By God, it's been torn down and there's a mansion there now! "

 

 "Oh look!  That house is where  Trudy Pick-a-Lily lived.  Well I'll be,  it's just like it was back when we were kids. Hasn't changed a bit."

 

 

Unfortunately time had done away with both John's and Ken's old childhood homes,  but time can never erase all the memories that were made there.  The summers spent on the lake, swimming, water skiing or just cruising the lake in a boat. 
Things may change but some friendships stand up to time and distance . . . BFF.  :)

 



Class of 1959

 Admittedly I am not a fan of class reunions but this was my hubby's 55th year reunion of his High School class of 1959, it was one he truly wanted to attend.  Most of the people there I did not know and had never met before and though everyone was quite cordial, there were moments when I found it grueling to sit through a long rendition of; "Do you remember so-and-so?" or, "Hey remember old Ms. What's-her-name who taught typing?"  and then there was always the, "Egad do you recall the time that you, me and Fibber McGee went and ...?"  Well, that last one was kind of fun to listen to. :D

 

The photo above is of the reunion reception desk. Joan, the lady sitting, greeted each guest with a warm, lovely smile and genuine friendliness. 

Wish my photo was sharper but I had to use the zoom feature and even then I had to crop to get a closer perspective.  Yes I'm still using my little Canon PowerShot A70, it's about 15 years old now and sports a band of blue Painter's Tape wrapped around it to keep the broken door to the memory-card chamber shut.  If this door isn't firmly closed it doesn't make contact and the camera will refuse to function.  The great thing about the A70 is that it's small and lightweight.

 

The above photo is of 2 of my hubby's classmates.  Unfortunately neither he nor I recall who the gentleman in the picture is.  The lady in the photo is Karen,

she and Joan are the ones responsible for preparing this and all the past class reunions.  Together they located classmates and kept in touch with them. Granted there was one classmate that insisted on not being found, once they had found him he promptly disappeared again.  Both Karen and Joan worked to find a suitable facility in which to host the reunion, they coordinated the catering and the set-up of the tables and banquet room.  It's a hard and dirty job, not many would be willing to take it on but these two ladies have done reunion after reunion and they've done it wonderfully and with pleasure.

 

The photo above was taken in the banquet room, each table had a bouquet of white roses with a small pennant stuck in its center - the pennant was in purple and gold my hubby's high school colors.  Speaking of my hubby, John, he is the shorter man in the white sweater, next to him is Don, one of his class of 1959 classmates and long time friend.

 

All in all the reunion was an enjoyable event, John got to meet and converse with a number of his old high school chums and many memories were rekindled. Will there be a 60 year class reunion?  Perhaps.

Westward Ho Amigo

 

Photo above - Taken at the Hampton Hotel in Issaquah Washington.

I found myself enchanted with this cool arrangement of hanging lights.  It's a attractive way to fill up the upper space in an entry with a very high ceiling.

 

Our trip out West was pleasant and though we ran into a few snafus, most of the time things went smoothly.  We flew out of our local Sarasota/Bradenton airport to Atlanta, Georgia, the flight was on schedule and arrived on time.  However our flight out of Atlanta met with over a 2 hour delay and a near riot. 

They were preparing to get ready to board (which is not exactly like preparing to board) one of the passengers was traveling with an infant but did not bring along an infant car seat.  The passenger was told she would have to purchase a plane seat for the infant (and by infant we are talking about a baby between the ages of 3 to 6 months old).  The gate attendant was adamant that this procedure was necessary.  Meanwhile we all waited and waited and waited.  Finally someone in the crowd shouted; "Boo! Bad policy!  Let the lady and her baby on the plane." And then others joined in agreement.  Of course this now warrants a call to security and a whole lot more waiting.

Eventually things were sorted out and the passenger and her baby were allowed on board.  As for the passenger who first shouted out, I'm not 100% sure but I think they escorted him off for questioning.  At an airport it's important to keep your mouth shut.

It was a fairly long flight from Atlanta to Seattle and once our plane landed we still had to pick up our luggage at baggage claims, rent a car and then drive to Issaquah.  Hertz rental cars had graciously upgraded us from the fuel efficient Toyota we had requested, to a Nissan Altima.  Naturally we didn't think twice about it until I sat down inside the vehicle.  I looked around for the keys and found something sitting in a cup well of the car's console.  I picked it up and found they were Key-less Remotes.

 

above - key-less remote for the Nissan Altima

 

Naturally being the fossil that I am, I had no idea how to use one of those gadgets and was curious to see if my hubby would know.  After he had stashed the luggage in the trunk and got inside the car, I nonchalantly handed him the "keys" and said; "Good luck!"  

 

John, bless his heart, tried for a couple of minutes to start the car and then went to the Hertz office and asked them for the Toyota that he had requested in the first place.

It was really for the best as it would have taken us forever to figure out how to operate the Altima, plus the Toyota got better miles-per-gallon.  We ended up getting about 35 to 37 mpg at highway speeds.

 

When we at last reached our destination; the Hampton Hotel in Issaquah, we pretty much crashed.  Even though it may have only been 10:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Savings Time, we were running on Eastern DST which put us at about 1:00 a.m.

 

I took the photo of the Hotel lobby light fixtures the following day when I was almost alive and sort-of-functioning.