Saturday. Yesterday was rest up day after the big feed. Today, we can all play together before we depart tomorrow morning.
We decided to do something physical to offset some of the massive eating we’ve all been into so we took off for a climb up Badger Mountain. It’s 1579 ft tall. It was a good hike with stunning views all around and over the Tri-City area including the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in the distance.
It’s a popular destination for folks of all ages and you could see them strewn all up and down on the path like tiny ants aboove you or below you; depending on where you were. By a stroke of good luck, we met Rose’s girlfriend, Rita, and her partner on the trail and passed a few interesting minutes talking with them before they continued on down and us on up.
Lots of radio towers and such at the top. We stayed for maybe 20 minutes taking pictures and gawking and then headed back down.
Alice was waiting for Colette, Rose and I down in Rose’s car. Due to medical issues, she couldn’t do the climb with us but, rather, waited for us with a book to keep her company.
Now, Rose took us back into Kennewick and showed us the old section of downtown which we’d been unable to find.
She began by taking us to a True Value hardware store there that also doubles as a furniture store on the 2nd and 3rd levels. Nice place with good quality furniture. I bought an indoor/outdoor wireless thermometer there (on the 1st floor) for $10.00 USD which I thought was a pure steal.
Then we walked over to a cafe with a lot of good local color that Rose knew about. Good place but, as usual, the portions were enormous. Water quality in terms of taste is an issue in this area. At Rose’s, we all drink water that’s passed through her filtering system. At the restaurant, however, we got the straight stuff and Colette took one swig and I saw from her expression that it wasn’t very tasty. She said it was the most highly treated water she’d ever had and she ordered a diet coke in a can. I had brewed coffee so I couldn’t tell. The meal was good though as was the small town atmosphere.
From there, Rose took us over to the Colombia River and showed us a ‘Bridges’ walk she and some of her girlfriends do. Basically, there are two bridges that cross the Colombia in Kennewick. One’s the 395 and the other’s the 397. Rose and her friends will, with enough time, walk over one, then walk over to the other and then walk back in a loop. It reminded me of a long walk Alan T. and I took some years back in Eugene along the river there.
After all of this, it was getting dark so we headed back to the house. One of Rose’s girlfriends had asked it Rose could watch her daughter for a four hour shift that evening and she was due to drop AJ off at 5 pm.
What a cute kid AJ was. I spent a fair bit of time with her and she is really bright. It was fun to show her various tricks and ideas. At one point, I showed her how to convert letters into numbers and then back out again as a way to write secret messages and she got it instantly. I don’t think I was that sharp in 3rd grade.
Finally, it was time to turn in for our last night at Rose’s place. It’s been fun but tomorrow, we’re off for Bend, Oregon as we work our way to Eugene and my friends Alan and Rita. I’m looking forward very much to seeing them.
dennis