Initially we were kept busy getting all the lines of communication reset – new telephone numbers for home and mobile, wideband/wireless reset, and seeing old friends, family etc. The weather was just right for us returnees even though it was cool – reminded us of early fall. They (weather folks) did predict a warming trend to the high 80’s, low 90’s. Our car A/C was on the fritz, so with Dolores urging I rushed it to a repair shop in order to be ready for the heat. It worked perfectly, the A/C blows cool air and the warming trend didn’t happen, temperature remained in the high 60’s to mid-70”s for an additional two weeks – wouldn’t you believe it!
Dolores in Her Domain
We did a weekend with 8 other travelers and the Everett Parks department on an overnight wine tour to Yakima, WA. Dolores found out about this from the tour leader, Jeannie Judd of the Sweet basil Cooking School while she was visiting Jeannie in preparing for an appearance as a guest Chef at the cooking school. Since the upcoming weekend was my birthday and the environs around Yakima is our favorite bird hunting grounds she signed for the trip as a mystery BD trip for yours truly. It was a memorable trip in a private van with wonderful new acquaintances, much wine and as you might suspect tremendous food. Jeannie’s husband, Will Judd, GETS MY VOTE FOR THE WORLDS WORST JOB – a wine lover who gets to drive a bunch of winos to 8-10 wineries, and a great Italian dinner, and because of the Park Department policy can’t have as much as a sip of win
Sagelands at Yakima_Good Wine and View
Returning from the tour, Dolores began preparation for her cooking school guest appearance. The school, Sweet Basil, is located near us in Edmonds and is owned and operated by the aforementioned Jeannie Judd. The class is conducted very similar to our Essence Of Cuisine school in Puerto Vallarta. The classes hold from 25-30 students and this one was sold out with a waiting list. Will’s hobby is gardening and raising Japanese Koi fish in several ponds in back of the school. The surroundings are beautiful with the raised gardens, nutshell paths, seating areas and the Koi ponds. Jeannie holds an average of two classes a week and occasionally has a guest Chef – hence Dolores appearance. The family had a great time cheering from the back of the class, drinking more wine (this time with Will), and enjoying the food.
The birthday activities continued with a dinner at the Renton Keg Restaurant hosted by my son Bob and his wife Marlene. We were also joined by my grandson Brad who was working locally and joined shortly after we arrived. What a great way to highlight a birthday. The steak and lobster dinner make this restaurant chain one of my favorites.
The remainder of the 88 day “pop in-pop out” visit was spent reacquainting ourselves with family, old/new friends, medical checkups and fine tuning, attending cooking classes (Dolores), watching football and baseball on TV (Robert) and preparations for the return to PV, including purchasing and shipping articles to PV for some remodeling (that’s another story). The family gatherings (hers and mine) were wonderful and we got to see Dolores daughter Christine in her new production at Teatro ZinZanni. After completing the Seattle Tour in early 2010 she’ll open their new theater in Chicago.
The Cast and Fans_Christine with DoloresWe arrived back in PV mid-afternoon, November 1 accompanied by 5 checked luggage weighing 50# each and 2 carryon’s. As the luck of the draw would have it, there were 5 international flights that had arrived at the same time – we were number 5. The line up was clear back to the airplane arrival ramps. However, with my bad knee’s (another story) Dolores had arranged a wheelchair and we “excuse me” and “honk and honked’ pass all the passengers to the head of the line. After a quick argument with a new Customs trainee on what paper work was required to handle a returning resident/foreigner (FM3+stamped red-white FME form) plus the fact that the trainer was nearby, we were processed and reported for duty at the luggage carousel. With the new system (?), we (Dolores and wheel chair pusher) had to drag all that luggage to the security check through where we were immediately marked for the “alternate Red light”. This led to a quick review of all the checked luggage (Dolores had receipts for all) and we were quickly released into the outside environs of PV. When we arrived home, our 7 niño’s were waiting and all was deposited quickly into our condo. Many refreshments followed!
So we’re here – ready and anxious to ramp up. On a cautionary note, we visited SAM’s to stock up on needed items and I used my debit card to withdraw cash from the HSBC machine. We withdraw cash to use for purchases instead of using the card for purchases – less exposure in theory. Arriving home I checked online banking and found a temp hold for an unrecognizable amount against the card. Being Sunday I delayed calling till Monday morning. The temp hold was a fraudulent charge for kids beachwear, Bahia. After notifying the Bank they had to reissue my card since there were 7 other attempted charges (all rejected). A call from the bank security representative said the initial “hit” was within 17 minutes from my withdrawal time. Be careful out there everyone – my card had not even left my hand. Fortunately the bank returned my $$$ this date.
