Special Get-Togethers with Several Different Friends –
While our time in the Puget Sound area of WA was focused in Tacoma to get Barry’s mom’s house ready to sell, our time was limited to see old friends & colleagues of mine in the Oak Harbor and Everett area.
Don Munro
Don was part of the group who interviewed me for a position on his 6th grade team at Oak Harbor Middle School. I had only arrived in Oak Harbor the day before my scheduled interview. I was offered the job later that day. Don was very gracious in helping me find things to set up my classroom. He even took me to a teacher’s store over in Mt. Vernon and out for lunch afterwards. Don and I developed a special friendship over the next few years. When driver’s education was no longer going to be provided within school district curricula, Don started Munro’s Driving School in Mount Vernon. As a good friend, he offered Abby to do her driver’s education through him. It was great. A few years later, Richard went through Munro’s Driving. Don and I haven’t seen each other for at least 10-15+, years. Wow!
Barry and I met Don for lunch at the La Conner Tavern in La Conner. Wow, it was so good to see him! I was equally happy that he had the opportunity to meet and get to know Barry a little bit. We enjoyed a waterside table and were treated to a fly-by from a beautiful bald eagle before it perched to stand watch over the water.
We were having such a great time and hated to end it just because lunch was over. We suggested the possibility of going to our motorhome to continue visiting, but since Don’s wife, Patsy was now home, he invited us to his home. Cool. I’ve never had the chance to visit with Patsy. Patsy and Don have such a beautiful home/estate. Their son, Mike, lives next door in the home Don and Patsy lived in for years.
Patsy and Don’s yard was full of gorgeous flowers, some pear and apple trees!
They have a couple apple trees and a pear tree which are always great. But what a fabulous vegetable garden, too! We picked some pea pods and munched on them, and some sugar snap peas. So good!
Patsy even has rows of raspberries. Oh, my they were sweet!
We went back inside to sit comfortably for more conversation. Time was flying by. As much as we were enjoying our visit with Don & Patsy, we needed to get going. They gifted us with a jar of super fresh raspberry jam that Pasty made earlier that day! What a delightful visit! I’m so glad we were able to have this wonderful time together to re-establish and broaden our connection.
Larry Olsen
I got to know Larry when he was our interim pastor at Oak Harbor Lutheran Church, and have kept in touch with each other’s life via FB posts. I was pretty sure he and Terri were still living in the Mt Vernon/Bow-Edison area, so I sent him a text wondering if they were available to get together while Barry and I were here. I hadn’t heard back from him yet, and then a few days later, Larry and I ran into each other at the Burlington Costco Fuel Station! He happened to be right behind me at the pumps. Neither of us could believe it. We haven’t seen each other since Barry and I attended his wedding four years ago. We went out for breakfast a couple of days later. Our time was limited and we were intently catching up with each other’s lives. I forgot to get a picture.
Kathy & Jeff Lemieux
Kathy, Jeff and I knew each other from our working days at Oak Harbor Middle School. Kathy was always calm, and had a wonderful smile for everyone – staff, students and parents. Kathy and I have remained friends after I left OHMS – and I think we have become even better friends during our retirement years via Facebook. Kathy and Jeff moved to Edmonds several years a go. She and I got together for lunch about 4 years ago when we came back to Washington. This visit we only had a couple days in the Everett area to get together, but she and Jeff were able to meet us for lunch in Edmonds. We went to Girardi’s Italian Restaurant where I had a wonderful filet of sole stuffed with Dungeness crab and shrimp. Oh my, it was so delicious. It was nice that Kathy, Jeff and Barry got to meet each other. (Kathy was teasing me earlier wondering if Barry really existed. LOL)
Elona Loewen July 23rd
Elona and I have remained in contact with each other after Barry and I left Washington. Each time Barry and I returned to the Puget Sound area, Elona and I have spent one or two days together. We seemed to make a tradition of going to the Brooks Outlet in Bothell for shoes during those visits. Today was no exception. 🙂
Elona has been working on ideas for remodeling her kitchen for a few years. She started prior to Covid, but with closures and supply issues the project has been delayed. Elona showed me her current cabinet color and backsplash that she likes, but she didn’t have a countertop or flooring selected yet. I suggested we take the cabinet color and backsplash sample to CFM to look for quartz countertop and flooring options that works with them. It really is important to find samples that all work together so you don’t “make do” with one of the important features later. We found a sample for each that clicked beautifully with the cabinets and backsplash samples. When that happens you know it. Elona checked out the samples so she can next see how it all looks in the natural light in her kitchen, and if the flooring works with the adjacent wood flooring.
Elona has recently been starting to play pickleball with some friends. She mentioned before we arrived that she wanted to play with me. So after we stopped at El Paraiso for lunch, I called Barry to join us for pickleball at a court in Everett. Elona didn’t have her own paddle yet, so I took my older Selkirk S2 Amped for her to use. Since no one else was able to finish our foursome, we were likely to play 2:1. Luckily, there was a young couple at the courts, who were happy to play doubles, so we rotated in with them for a few games of doubles.
Kitchen Remodel Update: Evidently, there was too much gray in the flooring, so Elona had to find something different, but she did! Cabinets got ordered after we left. I can’t wait to see her new kitchen the next time I visit!
Elona and I were non-stop on the go today! I did NOT take any pictures. 🙁