We Did A Little Painting

Debbie twisted and twisted my arm until I finally gave in and we had some interior painting done! We hired it out due to the height of the ceilings in our living room which were around 20 feet or so. If you have read my previous posts, my tendency to fall off things and injure myself made this a no-go proposition. They also did the dining room and kitchen as well. Debbie had previously painted the downstairs bath closet in the darker paint you see in the following pictures. We also updated the lighting while we were at it. We changed the wall color from a yellow to a creamy off white and the accents from gold to a dark urban bronze. Have a look below. We think it turned out quite awesome!!

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BEFORE

AFTER

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Enough Is Enough

So…. when will enough be enough? Here’s a list of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen.

-deodorant is canceled ??

-Systematic racism is to blame for climate change

– Madonna is oppressed by the patriarchy. Btw she’s worth $550 million according to Forbes. (I wish I was oppressed like her)

-Kendal Jenner is (culturally appropriating) because she started her own tequila brand.

-Miley Cyrus is transphobic because she said TITS are prettier than BALLS. (She’s right though)

-student loan debt is white supremacy

-breast milk is now called (Human milk or chest milk)

-the Coca-Cola company teaches their employees how to be (less white)

-dr. Seuss was canceled by the same people who praised his books just a few short years ago (It wasn’t racist then but it is now)

– actress Gina Carano was canceled from the show Mandalorian for having different views and opinions than Disney.

-calling someone an animal is an insult to animals

-yoga is now white supremacy

-The Mediterranean diet is now racist

-the word Women is now (WomXn ) according to twitch

-we can no longer call our female colleagues smart or brilliant at their job because it’s sexist-standardized testing is systematic racism

-air conditioning is sexist

-Reparations for slavery could have reduced the transmission of covid-19 according to Harvard university

-gender reveal parties are transphobic

-trans people exist according to Oreo cookie (thanks captain obvious) we are aware

-neck ties are a (symbolic Noose) and racist

-being concerned for a child’s mental health or suicide risk is white privilege according to a Washington state teachers union president

Everything is racist these days. The word racism has lost all meaning and credibility. Instead, they change the dictionary to reflect their (opinions) on what racism means to them. It’s lost it’s Potency and Effectiveness. It was a word that was used to describe real human atrocities and injustices. Now it’s used to describe anything someone gets offended by or doesn’t like. It’s like the boy who cried wolf. If You say it enough times for the wrong reasons people will just ignore it. When something truly racist happens people will ignore it. To me, The Great Reset is a gargantuan asteroid hits Earth and takes us all out. Real Facts don’t care about your feelings. OUR COUNTRY NEEDS A SENSE OF COMMUNITY AGAIN, not more, division over silly opinions.

Sorry Pelosi and crew – we aren’t buying your sudden “support” for police officers

The following editorial is written by a retired Chief of Police and current staff writer for Law Enforcement Today

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An Open Letter to Democrats:

Sorry, Democrats. You’re wasting your time and police officers are not buying it. We can see through your transparent, politically motivated sudden embrace of police officers. Simply put, we know exactly what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Nice try.

You see, we have had our eyes open for years. We watched and listened when your messiah, Barack Obama jumped on the Cambridge Police Department, saying that they “acted stupidly” in their response to a possible burglary involving a black college professor. Your “beer summit” meant nothing.

We had our eyes open when Michael Brown, a two-bit street thug robbed a convenience store, beat the owner and then attempted to disarm Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson, resulting in getting himself killed.

We have seen Brown elevated by your party to the level of a “victim of systemic police racism.,” when the events that led to his death were of his own doing.

Police officers saw a politically ambitious district attorney in Baltimore, Marilyn Mosby prosecute six of our brother and sister officers for the death of Freddy Gray, a clearly politically motivated witch hunt, as evidenced by Mosby’s self-serving press conference announcing the arrests.

Thankfully all six had their cases dismissed.

Over the years, we have seen Democrats demonize police, accusing officers of leaving their husbands, wives, children, brothers, sisters, mom and dad in the morning with the intention of hunting down black men and killing them.

We saw your vice president, Kamala Harris, who represented the State of California refuse to acknowledge the shooting death of our brother, Cpl. Ronil Singh who was killed by an illegal alien in HER state.

Now, suddenly when it is politically expedient, police are held up as heroes. Why? Because you had YOUR ass saved by police officers on January 6.

It wasn’t a shop owner in Minneapolis, or people dining outside in a restaurant in Pittsburgh, or an innocent 90 year old walking down the streets in New York City who were endangered.

It was YOU.

Now, after months, no years of excoriating the police, you expect us to buy your bullshit? Sorry, not happening.

The most telling example of your abject hypocrisy started on Memorial Day last year in Minneapolis. The images of Off. Derek Chauvin kneeling on the neck of George Floyd could have been a seminal moment. I guarantee that 99.9% of police officers who viewed that video were as offended by it as you were.

Yet, what came out of that? When our political leaders could have “lowered the temperature” of people who were rightfully upset by what happened, politicians…primarily Democrats…took gasoline and added it to the fire.

In Minneapolis, millions of dollars of damage was done to property. Numerous people were injured or killed. Hundreds of police officers were injured, some seriously. Yet, what did you, the Democrats do?

People such as our now vice president Kamala Harris encouraged people to donate to the Minneapolis Freedom Fund to bail out those who were arrested, many for committing serious crimes. Members of the Biden for President team also contributed.

As spring turned to summer, violent riots continued across the country. Hundreds if not thousands of police officers were injured, struck with frozen water bottles, shot at with ball bearings and bullets, hit with cinder blocks and bricks, had commercial-grade fireworks shot at them.

Where were the Democrats then, defending the police you now accuse Republicans and Trump supporters of attacking? Nowhere to be found.

Where were Democrats when retired St. Louis police captain David Dorn, who served his city honorably for decades, was brutally gunned down by cowardly thugs? Nowhere to be found. Because it didn’t fit your agenda and besides, all of you were down with the revolution.

Democrats call what happened at the Capitol on January 6 an insurrection…no an “armed” insurrection. Yet only one person was shot, and that was an unarmed woman shot (allegedly) by a US Capitol police officer.

However, when violent protests broke out adjacent to the White House on May 30, such a violent protest that former President Trump and others were removed to the basement bunker for fear the perimeter would be breached, Democrats downplayed the incident, despite the fact that numerous Secret Service agents were injured, some seriously. If ever there was an “insurrection” attempt, this was it.

Where was your concern for law enforcement back then? That’s right, it wasn’t YOU being threatened, it was “only” the President of the United States.

When it was suggested that the National Guard be mobilized to secure the area around the White House, President Trump was accused of wanting to attack American citizens using the military. When it was suggested that he implement the Insurrection Act when Democrats refused to deal with violent riots, Democrats once again brought up impeachment, because of your endless obsession.

You were “mortified” that the president considered using the Act, despite the fact it has been used numerous times by presidents over the years, including by President George H. W. Bush in 1992 to deal with the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. There was absolutely precedent for doing so. Yet you acted like Trump was some crazed madman for tying to protect our country.

Yet, since January 6, Washington DC has taken on the appearance of Mogadishu or Beirut, with checkpoints, fences, and armed National Guard troops. And Democrats have no problem with that. If this had been Trump who turned Washington, DC into an armed camp, the articles of impeachment would already be filed.

In fact, Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked the Pentagon for “crew-manned machine guns” in the city, according to the former Acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary, Ken Cuccinelli. That’s because SHE felt threatened. Read that again. Pelosi wanted machine guns deployed in our capital city. For the purpose of gunning down civilians. That is a chilling abuse of power and it is contemptable.

And what of the contempt that police officers were held in after the George Floyd incident? Pelosi for one referred to police officers as “stormtroopers.”

“The use of stormtroopers under the guise of law and order is a tactic that is not appropriate to our country in any way,” Pelosi said back in July. 

This was in response to federal law enforcement assets being used to protect the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, while also accusing “unidentified” officers of “kidnapping” protesters.

The number three leader in Congress, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) compared federal law enforcement officers to “Nazi Germany Gestapo.”

“That kind of activity is the activity of a police state, and this present and this attorney general seems to be doing everything they possibly can to impose Gestapo activities in local communities…”

Now, let’s get to the move by you Democrats to defund the police. This is actually part of the Biden platform, and is being pushed by the far-left wing of your party, specifically Ocasio-Cortez, Bush, Pressley, Omar and Tlaib, among many others. This is also something that is being pushed by Black Lives Matter, the same group responsible for the assault on thousands of police officers you now claim to support.

I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that you won’t be advocating any time soon for defunding the Capitol police. Because once again, you’re fine with jeopardizing everyone else’s safety, as long as you’re protected. Basically “hooray for me and screw you!”

Yet now we are supposed to buy that you support the police, and it is Republicans that do not?

The incident at the Capitol was a very small percentage out of all the patriots who went to Washington, DC that day, to do exactly as President Trump suggested…go to the Capitol “peacefully and patriotically” to have their voices heard.

The actions of two or three hundred knuckleheads do not represent the estimated 100,000 or more in Washington on Jan. 6. Republicans overwhelmingly support the police. The actions of a few do not represent the whole, as you like to tell us about so-called “peaceful” protests.

Probably the most disgusting act of hypocrisy and opportunism was the way the death of Officer Brian Sicknick was handled. Officer Sicknick, who (according to CNN) died of unknown causes on January 6 was not honored at the Capitol rotunda until days before February 8, the first day of the second impeachment sham.

You do not have to be a rocket scientist to know exactly why weeks went by before Brian Sicknick was honored at the Capitol. This was clearly done for your political gain and for optics. Nearly every cop in America knows this. And it’s a disgusting sham.

Having members of Congress shedding crocodile tears for Brian Sicknick was obscene, especially when some of these same people eviscerated police officers for months, if not years. This is about the impeachment of Donald Trump. Nothing less.

Perhaps the biggest phony was Kamala Harris, showing up to “pay her respects” when months ago she was helping bail out people who injured and maimed men and women just like Brian Sicknick. Abject hypocrisy.

Democrats in Congress, you may be fooling your base, or the clowns on CNN like Fredo Cuomo and Don Lemon, or the reprobates on MSNBC like Joe and Mika, but those of us in law enforcement, both active and retired are not buying it.

There are two boogeymen for Democrats…police and former President Trump. However, since you are obsessed with President Trump and he lives 24/7 in your heads, police…at least in this case…are a convenient weapon against him due to what happened at the Capitol.

This is about your obsession with Trump, nothing more…nothing less. You’re using the death of Off. Sicknick and the injuries to other officers as a pawn against Trump in your obsessive crusade against him.

If this wasn’t a way to get to him, and if you didn’t believe you were going to somehow get harmed on January 6, you couldn’t care less about the dead and injured officers. You have shown that time and again over the years, when scores of police officers are killed every year, with hundreds more seriously injured and we hear NOTHING from you.

Police officers in this country knows who has our backs and who does not, and clearly the opportunistic, anti-law enforcement numb nuts in the Democratic party are not them.

You can take your pandering and stick it where the sun doesn’t shine.

Nope, Didn’t Watch

Let me start by saying, I am a diehard football fan. My team of choice is the Green Bay Packers. It is really the only professional sport I follow and wait with rabid anticipation. For decades I have loved the season of Fall, the end of the summer heat, the freshness in the air of falling leaves and morning crispness, and the return of my most loved sport. This last season was different for me, I didn’t watch one game…..not one. It pained me to know that the Packers had made it to the NFC Championship gam, but I stuck to my guns and avoided the TV on those game days.

For me, it is a matter of principle and refusing to be a member of the “woke sheep” stumbling around the country these days. I also come from a law enforcement family and respect the thin blue line. I do not condemn police as a whole for the few bad apples that are in the bunch, but I will not support organizations that preach to us about oppression and unfairness of POC when the majority of their players are those of whom are oppressed while making millions in a country which afforded them the opportunity to do so and then disrespecting the symbols and traditions therein. I also will not support these organizations who in turn support groups promoting violence and making that okay. I don’t need players, coaches, league commissioners telling me how to act and what I should think. You are there to play the sport and nothing else. Keep your politics, opinions, and wokeness off the playing field because we don’t really care what you think. Do it off the field and on your own time and dime. When you can do that, I will return as a spectator, not before and I’m sure that you really do not care either!

Congratulations

“Congratulations” to all of you who voted for Joe Biden. You fought hard (that’s debatable) and won (also debatable). With a democrat President, Senate and House. And no one to stand in the way of the progressive agenda. You will soon get everything you hoped for. (MORE EXECUTIVE ORDERS SIGNED SO FAR THAN ANY OTHER PRESIDENT).

When your taxes go up. Remember you asked for it.

When your Social Security and Medicare benefits are cut so non-citizens can get benefits they never paid for. Remember you asked for it.

When you lose the health care you have because of Medicare for all. Including anyone who crosses the border. Remember you asked for it.

When the border is left open to anyone looking to freeload off the American taxpayers. Remember you asked for it. (EXECUTIVE ORDER SIGNED)

When filling your gas tank cuts into grocery budget. Along with groceries and everything else you buy costing more. Because of Biden’s restrictions on the oil industry. Remember you asked for it.

(EXECUTIVE ORDER SIGNED)

When you lose your 2nd amendment Rights. Remember you asked for it.

When you are forced to pay for College for all. Even if you or your children never went to college. Remember you asked for it.

When cities across America turn into Chicago, Baltimore, Portland and San Francisco. Because of “Defund the police Remember you asked for it.

When the federal government takes on trillions in debt to bail out Democrat states and cities suffering from decades of mismanagement and corruption. It will be call pandemic relief or some such thing. Remember you asked for it.

When they expand the size of the Supreme Court and fill those seats with young progressive judges. So their actions will forever be declared legal. Remember you asked for it.

When our military is defunded and countries like Iran, North Korea, Russia and China are less afraid to challenge us. Remember you asked for it. (IRAN HAS ALREADY CALLED TO CLAIM WHAT THEY NO DOUBT HAVE PAID FOR)

You have blamed everything that has happened in the last 4 years on President Donald J. Trump. Who will have you to blame at the end of the next 4 years? Yep YOUR President not mine!!

Copied and pasted as I did and I’m proud of it! Hope you’re proud that you voted in the Devil and his squad! I am disgusted with each and everyone of YOU!

Goodbye Snoqualmie…….

…..and Seattle, King County, and Puget Sound!

Leaving So Cal in 1990!

Back in 1973 or 74 I moved from my home state of New Mexico and we headed to the big city of Seattle, Washington. I had no idea what I was heading into because at that time in my life, I had hardly ventured out of my home state! Growing up in the dry desert heat, it was a wondrous sight to come over the Cascades into the sea of green trees, cool clouds, and mist! I fell in love with the area immediately and settled into an area of south of Seattle. My stay there only lasted two years and then was off to various locations for the next 15 years but vowed to one day return.

My life journey finally landed me in Southern California in 1978. There I would be for most of my 20’s and early 30’s. I had a career in sales, had tons of friends, and made decent money. It was a great place to be when one was in their youth, but the longer I stayed there, the more I wanted to leave. The constant brown everywhere, sky, mountains, landscape was depressing. I hated “smelling” the air on a daily basis and the damn weather never changed! Each time I left for a vacation or to visit family out of town, I hated coming back. My yearning to return to the Pacific Northwest was growing like a long forgotten seed planted now starting to sprout. Finally, in 1989, while visiting family in New Mexico and Oklahoma for the holidays I made the proclamation that I was going to move back to Seattle by the end of the following year! That was met with disbelief, laughter, and “yeah we’ve heard it before”. My mind was made up and I would soon be working on my plan to get there.

I started subscribing to the Seattle Sunday Times by mail to read up on what was happening up there. Even back in the late 80’s Washingtonians were crying about the onslaught of Californians moving up there and things haven’t changed much today. Californians are leaving their state in droves to here, Idaho, Texas, Oregon, and even Montana! Ruinous bastards…….okay…..okay I was one too, BUT I can say I “returned” to Washington. I started to put the pieces of my relocation plan into effect. I reached out to my manager of my desire to transfer to the Seattle branch and he thought I was nuts. I assured him I wasn’t and after much persuasion trying to get me to stay, he gave in and contacted the Seattle manager of Kraft Foodservice and let him know there was a potential new sales person from the LA ranks that wanted to join forces in Seattle. So in July I took a vacation to the Emerald City, stayed with a former coworker who just happened to have moved there, met with the sales manager, and sealed a relocation deal. On September 1, 1990 I rolled into Seattle and my dream had finally come into fruition!

As luck would have it, my former coworker had decided to go back to Alaska for another fishing boat gig and I sublet his place in the cool and funky neighborhood of Wallingford. From my bedroom window I could look out over Lake Union right at downtown Seattle! I was in absolute heaven and happy as an Ivar’s clam! Unfortunately, not everything was as rosy as it could have been. Once October came, I discovered never ending gray, torrential sideways rain, and a career that began to stumble. During the beginning, bouts of depression came over me and I really started questioning the decision I had made. I always had an open door to return to LA and go back to work down there, but knew that was not an option for me. Once I realized what it all was for, my head cleared and no matter what happened to my career, I was back in Seattle where I had longed to be and was home! I worked hard and gave it all I could, but a year later parted ways with my career in sales and would be moving on in a totally new direction in life, and boy was it ever! 

In those subsequent years I met the love of my life and married her, became a stepfather in the process, did a brief stint in real estate appraisal, bought my first home, ended up in a new career driving public transit for King County Metro, and settling down in a small burb near the foothills of the Cascade Mountains called Snoqualmie. In the beginning it was an idyllic life. The small community was growing thanks to a new development “up on the hill”. We loved it even though there were hardly any services and you had to drive a few miles to get anything done, but for us, it was no problem. We bought a beautiful house which I loved, started making a few friends, and were enjoying life as “empty nesters”.

Our Snoqualmie Home!

So here we are, 17 years down the road, and it’s time to move along. The once small peaceful town has burgeoned into a bedroom community way bigger than we had expected or hoped for. It’s now full of yupsters, soccer moms, and helicopter parents. We find ourselves surrounded by people of totally different thinking and values than ours. We have a very tight small group of friends that would have our back at anytime, but for the most part, many others would just stab it. Until the COVID pandemic, traffic around the area had slowed to an intolerable crawl even during the off rush hours. Property taxes have surged beyond affordable. The once beautiful city of Seattle, has turned into a sewer being lead by idiotic progressive liberal leadership. We have had enough!!! Debbie retired last year, and I have finally driven my last bus trip, going a bit early. We have packed up and moved to our paradise on the Olympic Peninsula. While we will return to Snoqualmie from time to time, we are glad we are leaving and starting the “retirement chapter” of our lives. Seattle and the rest of King County can pound sand!

Our Twenty Fifth Anniversary Cruise 2018

Twenty five years ago I met the love of my life and in March of 1993, we married. It was a tumultuous time due to the death of both of my parents within days of each other and just before the date we had set. Because of this, we scrapped a big wedding and had no honeymoon. Now that we have reached the silver anniversary of our marriage, we decided to go big and do a twelve day cruise on the Adriatic. Once again, we cruised on Holland America and sailed on the Oosterdam, our second time on this ship. Years ago on our first cruise we signed up for a Holland America VISA card and get points on everything we spend. After years of using the card, we had enough that one of us almost cruised for free!!!! That helped the trip budget immensely! As you can probably imagine, both of us were very excited as neither had been to any of these locales we were about to see. Debbie has been to other parts of Europe, but this hoedunk from New Mexico hadn’t.

The trip began with a very early pick up and a flight to Philadelphia with a changeover to Venice. It was a looooooooonnnnnnng flight. Neither of us slept at all. As a matter of fact, the first day we were up almost thirty hours. A transfer from the airport to the ship and we were off. The only sights of Venice were from the ship deck as we past. It looked nice, but that’s all I can say! I snapped pictures that you can peruse in the online album. Our first port of call was Split, Croatia and thus began my witnessing histories way longer than our young country! We had no excursion planned and just walked the city on our own. Had lunch in a cool restaurant with great wine, cheese, prosciutto. Markets and shops were everywhere and there was definitely a good vibe in the city. You could see the influence of many different occupations over the centuries in the architecture. The next stop was also in Croatia at Dubrovnik! What a beautiful city!!!! Took a bus to the south in wine country to a family winery that had been in the same family for generations. They started in a 300-year-old house where the original family had 11 members living in it and was very small bungalow. The wine was fantastic and of course we bought some. They also made grappa which they offered as we arrived. Wow what a kick!!! Then we headed north to a family whom produced some of the best olive oil we had ever tasted. Saw how they did it in old ways with a horse drawn olive crushing wheel and had a great lunch that was almost totally grown from the garden and produced locally. Then we headed to the old town of Dubrovnik within the walls of the original city built in the 12th century and protected from the Phoenicians from the sea and the Ottomans from land. If you are a watcher of the TV show Game of Thrones, which I am not, some of the scenes were filmed in Dubrovnik! What a great start to the trip!

Then it was on to Albania. Our stop was in the port of Saranda. During the travels, we saw many abandoned buildings of former economic endeavors. In the early 90’s, communism left the country and many of these economies left with it. Albania is at the bottom when it comes to economies of Europe. Took a 4×4 excursion (ours was really just an BMW) on a drive through the city and countryside exploring the agricultural and mountains of the country. Our driver Emilio was a nice guy out of work and struggling to survive. We first stopped at Lekursei Castle used for defense in the early stages of the country’s history. It was a cloudy and cool day and hazy which made taking photos hard. We then headed to Blue Eye Spring National Park which held a spring called the blue eye. It was amazingly beautiful to see, a spring coming from within the earth to form a river. The waters in the middle of the blue eye were a dark blue and the surrounding areas were of a turquoise and green shades. The water was as pure as you could find, and you could have drunk right from it. We then headed down the hillside to a place for wine and lunch. This is a newer destination for cruise lines partnering with the country to try to stimulate it’s tourism economy.

Emilio our driver

The adventures are just beginning as we next head to the port of Katakolon, Greece, the gateway to the ancient site of Olympia. We didn’t spend a lot of time here as we immediately headed on our tour to Olympia, but when we returned, we walked about before going back onboard. It was a very nice seaside town that reminded me of my time in SoCal. This was the most fascinating tour so far as we took a tour bus to the ancient site of Olympia where the Olympic Games began. To walk among the ruins of practice fields, temples, bath houses, track and fields that were thousands of years old where athletes of Greece and Sparta trained for the games was awesome. We learned a lot of the history of Greece and the Games and discovered that the flame of the Olympic Games is still lit there before each of the Summer/Winter Games. While the tour was good, we felt hurried and didn’t get to explore much of the site. We were told before going back to the bus that we had 20 or so minutes to ourselves, so Debbie and I walked among some of the back areas we didn’t get to see. We returned to the parking lot well within the time we were supposed to and what did we find…..no bus! We waited around and looked around yet nothing. Luckily we weren’t the only couple in this predicament as another pair were in a tizzy looking for the bus too. Finally a different guide came of her bus and asked us which bus we were looking for and shook her head as we told her. Apparently we didn’t hear from our guide that the bus would be found in a lower parking lot than where we got dropped off…..ooops! we were taken to our bus which was waiting for us and as we boarded there was stink eye galore direct toward us! Then headed to the Mercouri Estate Winery, one of the oldest, five generations so far, in Greece and toured the winery and had a great lunch with their wines, local cheeses, meats, and veggies. After some wine and camaraderie around the picnic table, we were no longer the black sheep of the bus.

Next stop was Chania, Greece – on the Island of Crete. Oh my, this place was beautiful!! We did not have any shore excursions booked for this port of call and just decided to do it on our own. We took a shuttle into town and just walked around Chania by map and explored. It was the most vibrant city we had been to! There were shops, cafes, small hotels, and people everywhere. We absolutely loved it there! We spent all day walking the city exploring. Walked to old waterfront seeing old ancient Venetian and Byzantine buildings and walls, walked through a bustling open farmers market and saw some of the best-looking fruits, vegetables, cheeses, and other items we have ever seen. We also went to the old Municipal Market of Chania. It was an indoor market in the heart of the city and there was everything imaginable for sale there. One shop had liquors and spirits that had “tester bottles” and small cups you could pour samples and taste for yourself. Yipeeeeeee! Sat at an outdoor café for a lunch that was, by our standards, very inexpensive and wonderful. It was a very fun day on our own.

Let’s sample some liquor!

Mykonos and Delos, another great adventure in Greece! Took a long excursion into Mykonos with a small spitfire of a woman who was an excellent tour guide. The first thing you notice when arriving in Mykonos is every building is white. Just like Chania, the streets were very narrow, and buildings were crammed together. It was also clean as a whistle, but very quiet as it was early Sunday morning. We did walk by a church having mass and hearing the chant of the priests and parishioners as we passed by was a bit unnerving as some in the group looked in open windows and doors and snapped photos. To me seemed a bit sacrilegious to be doing that. After we toured the town of Mykonos, we got on a sea bus, a large ferry type boat, and went out to the ancient ruins of Delos. It is supposedly the birthplace of the mythical god Apollo and his twin sister Artemis. It was amazingly huge and at one point almost 30,000 ancient Greeks lived there. As large as the excavated portion of the city was, it still only represented 1/7th of the original city. We were in awe exploring rooms, pillars, theaters, ancient cisterns used for drinking water for the city that were thousands of years old. There were ruins scattered throughout the hillside and we learned this ancient city was once the main shipping port for the area and then it was pillaged twice by ancient invaders. Since the city was always thought by the planners to be a safe location, no defensive fortifications were built. After the second invasion, the governing body in Mykonos decided not to invest further monies into the town and slowly trade diminished and people left the island and the site was soon abandoned and left to ruin as it is now. The island is uninhabited except for a few caretakers and I can imagine it might be a spooky place at night! Off to Malta!

Our next port of call was the island of Malta and it’s capital Valletta! Another gorgeous city full of history and wonderful architecture. We took another tour of the city and the three gates to the city. Nowadays there are actually five! We learned of the history of Malta being under the control of the Order of the Knights of St John and seeing all the cathedrals, hospitals, forts, and palaces there. There is actually a Buckingham Palace in Valletta where Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh lived before her accession to the throne. There are close ties between England and Malta. This was going to be an overnight stay for the ship so we didn’t have to board anytime soon so we explored on our own for the rest of the afternoon walking the whole perimeter of the town! We meandered our way to the The Phoenicia Hotel and had some adult beverages and later had dinner in a restaurant where I ordered…..ummmm…..calamari! It was not like the small rings we are used to here but long tubes and tentacles. I ate it anyway and Debbie was amazed! We finally headed back to the ship exhausted.

Kind of looked like this but bigger tubes!

It was a very short trip to our next stop, the island of Gozo. This was a very short visit. We took a public transit bus to the city of Victoria. Like many other cities in Europe, the streets were narrow, never just straight, and always crowded with traffic. These bus drivers over here are very skilled and patient to be able to navigate all these obstacles and crowds. Being a bus driver myself, I was very impressed. We saw what we could of Victoria, had a coffee and went back to the ship. Can I say something about the coffee here…….strong, very good, and all you need is a little! I will keep the next stop within this same paragraph as they were both quick and kind of a blur and a lot of time was spent in a bus going from point A to B. Point A being the city of Palermo on the island of Sicily. And point B being the resort town of Cefalu. Most of what we saw of Palermo was from the seat of a bus on the way to Cefalu. It was a very busy city, lots of grinding traffic, hustle, construction, and tons of mega apartment complexes.It was a very busy working city it seemed. On the other hand, Cefalu was beautiful and an obvious tourist draw. The tiny streets were filled with shops of all kinds and it had nice beaches at it’s seaside. Once again it seemed our time was limited, one of the disadvantages of some of these organized excursions, but really the only way to get a feel of regions of the world you have never been to. One thing we did decide to do, is find a place to get an authentic panini for me and a slice of pizza for Debbie and we were both in heaven when we did. Once we were back in Palermo we had a bit of time to do a short walk before heading back to the ship. We decided to continue our gastric indulgences on some fine Italian pastries. It was well worth the calories. Then it was on to our final stop before being in Rome for disembarking and heading for home, Napoli. We would soon enjoy our most favorite tour of the cruise!!!!

Yummy!!!!

Two things we learned from our wonderfully crazy last tour guide lady who called herself “Da Mama”, Naples is in Florida and Napoli is in Italy. Also, Rome should be referred to as Roma! In that case I shall refer to our next port of call as Napoli of which we saw very little of. From the ship we just saw the port and then it was on a bus to the ruins of Pompeii! On the way, we could see the base of Mount Vesuvius, but the top half was enshrouded by clouds damn! So the mountain erupted in 79AD and is still an active volcano that could erupt again at anytime, yet there was development everywhere around the base of the mountain, hmmmmm! I was also surprised when we arrived at the entrance to Pompeii at the theme park feel of the area. I suppose because it being one of the most visited site in southern Italy. The ruins of the city were vast at around 170 acres. It was estimated that 20,000 people lived in Pompeii at the time of the eruption and approximately 2000 were killed. We saw only a small part of it, but it was absolutely amazing! You could see the ruts of the chariots that roamed the streets in the stones. We could see the ancient Roman inclination for luxuries for the well to do in their highly sophisticated thermal baths and theaters and lavishly decorated homes. It was a fascinated look at life that existed thousands of years ago and we could have spent hours there but had to move on to the next destination. We headed down the Amalfi Coast of Italy to the town of Sorrento. OMG this place was beautiful! Perched on cliffs high above the Bay of Naples it had stunning views, brightly colored buildings, clean, vibrant, and we loved it! We walked around and had a lunch with everyone in the tour then got on what the call jet boats and went to the Island of Capri! We thought Sorrento was beautiful, but this place was even more stunning! It was an absolute paradise. There is a tram that takes you up top to a chic, gorgeous, town that you can tell was loaded with money and is a famous destination for the rich and famous as we witnessed some of the barbies strutting around. The tiny streets were full of high end shops and restaurants and dotted with fancy hotels. We put this place in or bucket list for a future trip destination if we could possible afford a hotel room. These last two stops turned out to be our favorite places……imagine that. Then it was a long jet boat ride back to the terminal and after saying good bye to “Da Momma” and an end to a ten hour day, we boarded the ship and it was on to Roma to end our journey!

Nothing was seen of Roma except the landscape from the cruise terminal to the airport. The airport itself was a miserable cluster fuck of humanity and we were lucky we had hours before our flight left to clear all the security and passport checkpoints. Our first flight took us to London for a quick change and then home to our boy Cordell who we missed so much! A few final thoughts before I close this novella, things were not that expensive over there, lots of Europeans still smoke, litter is a problem in many parts of the places we visited, and most people we met wherever do not like Trump! And that, my friends concludes this installment of life here at the estate, until next time!

Photo Album Link

Voyage Log

Retirement Phase II Completed

It is now final, phase II is in the books! What started in October, has now come to fruition and it hasn’t been easy. We received our keys to our Sequim house just days before Christmas and the long process of moving into two separate residences began New Year’s Eve weekend hauling our trailer and the first load up to the house. The trailer was to be used as a place to sleep since we didn’t have any furniture up there yet! While we were there, we experienced a nice winter storm that dropped a nice deep blanket of snow that (a)caused us to have to leave the trailer there(we needed to bring it back for a repair), and (b)got our truck stuck in it coming up the driveway. You can watch a video I took of it as it began here. It was much deeper in the morning. We eventually dug the truck out. We made the best out of what we had in the trailer, borrowing plates, cups, pots and pans, camping chairs we set up in the living room, New Year’s Eve dinner on a card table and folding chairs, etc. It was an adventure to say the least! Thus began a six month ordeal that was exhausting and weekend consuming…..sorry friends and family.

The next pieces of the puzzle was to get our Snoqualmie house listed and find a place to call a temporary home while the both of us still have to work. Now we have been up here on Snoqualmie Ridge in the same house for 13 years. We thought about where we wanted to hang for the next few years until we can go up to the house full-time, knew we had to rent, realized that the rents here are crazy high, but since we had everything we were familiar with right here, we decided to stay. The hunt was on for a rental and with amazing luck, we stumbled onto a condominium that was just around the corner, and was roomy and the perfect fit for us. More good fortune was added when we discovered Debbie knew the owners. She just so happens to work out with both of them at her Crossfit gym. The deal was done, leased signed, and they allowed us early access to the place and we began the weekly slog of slowly emptying the Crestview house. The hardest part was deciphering was to be done with the 13 year accumulation of material goods. Some would go to the condo, some would go to Sequim, some would be sold/given away, but in the mean time we still had to live in and keep the Crestview house staged for sale. It was an arduous task and seemed to last forever.

Bye Bye Crestview House

The house got listed, weekend showings were done, we continued dragging stuff to the condo every weekend. A couple of times we would load up the back of the truck and head to Sequim with a load for the house there and enjoy a weekend of continued “glamping”. Finally an offer was made and accepted, appraisals and inspections done, and the real gutting began. It started bringing a feeling of melancholy along with the excitement as our beautiful home of thirteen years began looking like a shell. I always loved this house. It was our home of many memories and surrounded by great neighbors and would soon be empty of us. Two separate moves in as many of days were done with a great local mover to handle the heavy stuff and it was well worth the money! They did an excellent job and we had no damage to anything whatsoever! The only hitch was when we unloaded in Sequim and it was discovered my beloved desk for my office would not fit through any of the doors to the rooms I wanted it in. It sits in the garage there for sale….another story! We would also say what a pleasure it was working with our realtor, Bob Mathias, who is a good friend and Crestview neighbor. He did an excellent job and if you are looking to buy or sell on the eastside, he’s your man!

So after six long hard months of planning, strategizing, packing and carrying, we are done. Our plan worked flawlessly. We are mortgage free, our retirement location secured, and we have a great place to call a temporary home just blocks from our old house. All that is left for the final phase is to put in a few more years working for the man and stay healthy. Although we will miss our former home, we have a great new house and new adventure and also a great view from our rental. I say we had a lot of good luck in this, but we also acknowledge that we are truly blessed. Maybe it’s time to go back to church!

Condo View

Retirement Location Solidifies………

…….and our heads are spinning! It all began with another exploratory vacation. Recent vacations have been either camping with our friends in cool National Parks or going to locations that are on our radar for retirement while also having fun. We have looked at Flagstaff(Deb didn’t like), Sedona(beautiful but pricey real estate), Prescott(stumbled upon and really liked), but in the end we decided that we didn’t want to be that far from the guys! We also liked Jackson, WY and the cheap living in the state for retirees, then we started looking at what was for sale and lost our minds with the high prices! Cody, WY was an interesting town but has some very harsh weather. Recently added to the radar was Sand Point, ID which we drove through and liked the area. Plans were to be made in the future to have a closer look around. We have always loved Leavenworth and even looked around at properties which we found reasonable, but what turned the tide was the yearly summer fire season that could or could not happen. Closer to home, we started looking at Cle Elum, Ronald, and Roslyn. The area was beautiful, just over the pass, and prices were just what we were looking for, a great place to continue to explore!

Then in October we hooked up the trailer and headed up to the Port Angeles and Sequim area on the Olympic Peninsula nestled between the Olympic Mountains and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Port Angeles is an old working port/lumber town that is a bit gritty but with fantastic future potential. Sequim has become a magnet town for retirees with its more sunny disposition, being protected by the Olympic Mountain rain shadow. Something started clicking with the area the more we started looking around. We looked all over the area even taking a drive over to Port Townsend. We have always loved that place with its Victorian character, but as we started scoping homes, we were shocked at the prices. It seems the place has been “discovered” unfortunately!

As we continued to explore the surrounding area and looking at homes, we started narrowing the target to the hills between the two towns. Then we stumbled upon the house pictured below and a warm fuzzy feeling happened between the two of us. The first time we saw the place, we were driving around with a Zillow ap open on one phone and Trulia on the other. We like to explore on our own. We drove the cul-de-sac, took some photos, parked in the drive and since it was empty, looked around. One of the neighbors across the street noticed us perusing the property and came over cheerfully asking if we had any questions, she would help! Before long, another couple drove up and joined the conversation. Wow, we had just met two neighbors and liked them both!! Things were looking good. We contacted the listing agent and got an inside look and realized, THIS WAS IT!!!!!! After multiple offers and counters back and forth, the house was ours, well at least was in the works to be ours and now our search is over.

What happens next? Well……..lots! As of this writing, the loan is being closed and we are awaiting one final step, the appraisal. If all goes as planned, we should receive our keys to our retirement home just before Christmas! We will list our Snoqualmie home after the holidays in mid January. This will give us time to get the purchase closed, get ready for selling and also enjoy the holidays. Are we moving from Snoqualmie??? The answer is no! There still lies the ugly fact that both of us have to continue to work. Debbie is on a path to retire in just over two years. At that time we will just have to crunch numbers and see what happens with me, more in another upcoming post! It shall be an interesting time ahead!!!

Front of House

Front of House

Walkway To Front

Street View

Back Yard

Olympics Behind

Backyard

Backyard

Backyard

Outside Covered Patio

Front Foyer

Living Room Fireplace

Kitchen

Kitchen

Laundry

Laundry

Master Fireplace

Master Bedroom

Walk In Master Closet

Hot Tub Out Master Bedroom

Master Bath

Master Shower

Stairs

Sunroom Upstairs

Sunroom Upstairs