Archive | November 2024

Trip to Leavenworth, Washington

Nov26

In the spring Marie suggested we should do something fun to celebrate turning 70, and said a cute destination is Leavenworth, Washington. I’ve never been but have heard a lot about it from friends who have, so said sure, let’s do it. We booked for two nights and drove down last week.

It was time for an early lunch when we hit Trino’s Mexican Restaurant in Oroville, then we proceeded straight to the Icicle Resort where we arrived around 3:00 PM. We were thrilled to see our huge two-bedroom condo where they’d basically thought of everything a person could need. Just outside the window we saw the pool and hot tub, both heated.

The person at the desk said it was about a fifteen-minute walk into town, and so we thought that’d be nice after our drive. However they’d had a huge dump of snow that morning so the sidewalks weren’t shovelled and in places we had to go out onto the highway to be able to make our way forward. By the time we arrived the cute little town’s trees and stores were all lit up and it looked magical.

We needed liquor so walked back to get our car and drove to the Safeway where it took forever to make up our minds given the vast assortment. I settled on a bottle of a pre-mixed margarita by a company called On the Rocks. We had a drink back at the condo, then drove to town and looked for a place for dinner.

Even though we were in a Bavarian town we decided to eat Italian food, and it was delicious. The place is called Visconti’s and is upstairs and felt all cozy. I ended my chicken and mushroom fettuccini meal with a delicious, strong Irish coffee.

On Thursday we started the day with an attempt at eating the breakfast, which was included, but it wasn’t good, so we just ate a bowl of raisin bran, then headed to Das Thrift Haus for a bit of shopping. I bought two tops for $4 each, and then we went into the cute town and looked at the price of chi chi items in the stores and laughed a bit.

We stopped in at a photographic gallery and admired the landscapes. The artist was there and so we chatted, and of course the topic of the election arose. We said yes what a strange result, and he explained no, not really as you know, Robert Kennedy has a lot of really good ideas. We said huh! He added Elon Musk is really going to clean up some of the bureaucracy, and we said you are probably right.

When we left, we said wow, we sure had that person pegged wrong. Of course we should’ve taken the hint never to speak about politics when we saw a huge, fat man in a T shirt decorated with the stars and stripes and Trump written across it. They are everywhere down there. I said to Marie never say “cream” just say “half and half” or we’ll be outed and shot. Ditto “sack” and not “bag” or “a fifth” versus “a mickey.”

After thoroughly browsing the town, we returned and decided to be brave and hop into the hot tub. We found two big white robes in the closet, donned our bathing suits and shoes, grabbed towels and ran out the back, tip toed through the snow, and unlocked the gate. We removed the bubble wrap cover and ahhhh! Lovely pulsing hot water and steam rising all around. We looked like those snow monkeys in Japan.

We ate German food at Andreas Keller that night and were thrilled to have an old German man playing accordion. He played the Chicken Dance, and we loved doing the clap clap clap clap at the appropriate places. It appeared he was happy with our participation. I’m sure some nights he gets nothing but duds sitting there.

The next morning, we checked out and made our way back, however in Wenatchee we missed a road sign, and then I randomly said “turn left” which Marie did. Later she asked why I said that, and I asked her why she listened when she knew I had no sense of direction. Suffice to say we were badly lost but found good Samaritans who drove ahead of us until we got to the right exit where they waved us on.

Thanks, Americans. We may not understand them, but as we see time and again, when someone needs help, good people step in.

World Gone Mad

Nov12

I drove to Osoyoos last Tuesday as I wanted to watch the US presidential election results with mom. We were both nervously hoping for a Harris win, though she knew full well that Carol, my American acquaintance had explained this to me when Hillary lost. She said, “you have to remember, as much as Americans hate black people, they hate women more.” Hence, I wasn’t shocked by the Trump win.

We placated ourselves with spaghettini and a wild shrimp and salmon sauce, made from reducing a litre of whipping cream until the right consistency. No flour or cornstarch needed with this method, just heat and time are required. I’d sauteed the fish with garlic and onions, removed these from the pan, then poured in the whip. At the end I added a dash of white wine. The dinner helped a lot, as did the marshmallow squares for dessert.

Or was it the extra guava nectar, club soda and vodka cocktail that helped ease the pain? I woke around midnight looking for headache relief, and realized I’d forgotten to pack this vital medicine. I don’t like to go anywhere without Advil and Gravol. I had to make my way through the scary long hallway of mom’s house to the kitchen to find meds. I think when mom’s dead that house is going to be extra spooky.

I’m currently editing chapter six of my memoir of the fruitcake business, so I’m going to be rash and say I believe I’m going to complete this project within the next few months. The hard part will be once all ten chapters have been edited individually the whole book needs an edit. Thank God for Judith. I wouldn’t be able to continue without her feedback chapter by chapter. It’s like having a life coach.

I was shocked to see I’ve made $69 from my book, Okay I’ll Bite. One day I decided to look at my bank account, and went what’s that from Amazon, and realized it was royalties from book sales. As we all know, this was never going to be Fifty Shades of Grey, and that’s fine. It’s my first effort, so I’m cutting myself some slack.

Calvin kindly changed the tires on my car, and alleges he’s going to strengthen the chicken fencing, so at this very moment I have a lovely pot roast in the oven for him as a reward. It’s a divine-looking cross rib from Lakeview Market, and ringed with onions, carrots and potatoes, all drenched in gravy. It’ll be a hit. Calvin and Nick have similar appetites, so I know how many pounds of food it takes to fill them.

Yesterday Marie and I had an uneventful walk along the beautiful Mission Creek Greenway, and then today I had a harrowing walk on a different section with Sharon. As we walked, she said she felt dizzy, and then all of a sudden, she lost her balance and fell straight backwards, hurting her lower back. Needless to say, the rest of the walk was dead slow.

Since Elsa’s still in Mexico I haven’t been thrifting, and it’s just as well given the volume of stuff. I have so many beautiful old Pyrex bowls in different shades of blue, two yellow, one red, and then dozens of ramekins in various colours. Just awful as who wants all of this down the road? Certainly not my children who have explained that to me quite firmly.

I’ve decided to look at the bright side of the American election, as what else is there to do? And you know I’m prone to Schadenfreude so the next four years might be okay.