Once again, it has been some time since I have written anything and thought I should try to get caught up.

Without deadlines or permits to worry about, life at The Drunken Bear has been much more relaxed and satisfying. Steve and I came up a few times during the late winter and started working on the trim around the windows. It doesn’t appear to be that hard to do, but there are lots of pieces and measurements needed to make a window complete. Steve and I had to laugh as it took us a very long time to do the first window. We would measure and re-measure. There are the inside measurements and the outside measurements. I really like the design we chose. We chose hemlock for the wood. We do a little bit at a time so that the cost is spread out a little more.

This is what the window looks like before the trim.

 

And this is what it looks like after the trim is added.

We have yet to decide on the stain we will use.

 

 

This is a window with all the trim added. 

When spring arrived, we quit doing the trim work and have just been enjoying spending time with friends, or as in my case, also coming up by myself, bringing paperwork from home and enjoying the peacefulness of the space and scenery while dealing with organizing the paperwork. At present, I am writing this while waiting for some of my former co-workers to arrive for a little get-together. It will just be a little barbecue for the afternoon…on this their day off. That is one thing I certainly do not miss about working for the U.S.P.S. - with rotating days off, it is very rarely that you would get two days off in a row.

We have also done some cleaning up of the property. We have had some piles of wood lying around…some left over from the construction and other that we have brought up to use as firewood. We filled the woodshed to its limit. We still have piles of wood around…some we hope to use to make a sauna…others need to be cut up for firewood when there is room in the woodshed. We also cut back and pulled up a lot of brush to clear a space to make room for the motor home. The motor home had been parked at the back of the cabin while we have been building, but now that we are done, we decided to move it to make it more convenient for parking cars.

Last weekend we had eight people up for the Index Arts Festival. Steve, Joe, Robert and I came up on Friday. We had lasagna, Caesar salad and garlic bread for dinner. We were out by the fire pit for a few hours afterwards. In the morning, Joe and Robert prepared a good breakfast of sausage, eggs and hot cakes…always a treat. My Mom has said, “…hot cakes always seem to taste better in the mountains”, and I tend to agree. Bob, Doug, Craig and Jim arrived a little after 9:30 a.m. We sat around talking for a while before walking into town around 11:00 a.m. The weather was perfect…sunny, but not too hot. As usual there was an interesting array of booths set up selling their wares and/or art. As we were walking around, I noticed that the Index Volunteer Fire Department had a dunk tank set up. It was $5.00 for three balls. I paid my $5.00 and when I took my first throw, I was way off…it was rather embarrassing…to me anyway. The second and third balls were much closer, but I didn’t hit that little circle. I decided to give it another try and paid another $5.00. This time I was successful and dunked the fully clothed fireman. I was proud of myself for hitting the target and for contributing to the Volunteer Fire Department, but at the same time I felt a little sorry for the fully clothed…and now totally drenched volunteer. We continued on, checking out the booths and listening to some of the music that was taking place. There was a flutist that was playing very beautiful music…..much like the music you heard if you watched the series, How The West Was Won, on PBS. A few in the group purchased raffle tickets to benefit the festival. I had won one of the prizes in past years, so I am always hoping to do the same every year…ha. We were all feeling a little parched and wandered over to the Outdoor Adventures. It is great to have this business in town. Besides all of the great sporting programs they offer, they also have a wonderful space to sit down and enjoy a fresh brewed coffee or one of their many beer offerings. We decided to take our beers out on the back grounds of their business, sitting in the shade along the river. The people that run this business and those they hire are very friendly and accommodating people and I try to give them as much business as I can. It is such a contrast to the individuals that own the other business in town. If you have dealt with them, you know what I mean.

 

Steve, Jim, Craig and Robert sharing conversation and

beers on the grounds behind the Outdoor Adventures Center.

 

 

Joe, Bob and Doug on the other end

...and yes, we did pick up the empty.

 

 

In this picture you can see the back of the Outdoor Adventures
Center, the mountain in the background referred
to as The Index Wall, and the tops of the booths set up
in the park across from the Center.

 

 



Flutist, Peter Ali performing at the Index Arts Festival.

This particular song had a slight Middle-Eastern sound to it.

After we finished our drinks, we decided to head back to The Drunken Bear. Bob and Doug had prepared a really nice lunch for all of us…two salads…one with shrimp and one with a strange array of ingredients, including nectarines, olives, onions and more but it was ever so good! Cold pizza from Pagliacci in Seattle was also an added treat. More beers and drinks and great conversation filled the afternoon. There was also the game of Lasso Golf that occupied a lot of our time. It is a very fun game. Towards 6:00 p.m., I wanted to go back into town for the drawing of the raffle ticket winners, so five of us loaded up and drove the short distance. The drawing had already been held by the time we got there. When we checked to see if any of us had won, we discovered that Steve had. His winning ticket is good for two people to take a white water rafting trip offered by the Outdoor Adventures group mentioned above…close to a $200 value!

 

 

I was trying to take a picture of the trim around the

living room window, but the flash did not go off.

However, you can see the game of Lasso Golf set up outside.



For dinner, Steve prepared his always excellent baby back ribs and corn on the cob…both cooked on the barbecue/smoker. Craig had prepared some really good baked beans and a tasty coleslaw. After we had some time to digest everything, we were then treated to Jim’s very good homemade carrot cake. Our friend, Scott, who owns a beautiful piece of property further up Highway 2 and a soon to be beautiful home that will face Mt. Index, joined us for dinner and drinks and more conversation during the evening.

In the morning, we had Danish rolls and a fruit salad while sitting around the fire. Everyone left shortly thereafter. This is my biggest gripe about having people up to The Drunken Bear. Highway 2 is notorious for traffic back-up, so if you want to avoid it, you must leave early on Sunday.

As I said earlier in this post, I was waiting for my fellow co-workers. Vicki and Trish were the first to show up. They arrived with wonderful deviled eggs, very tasty barbecued pork, watermelon, and potato salad. We went out by the river and started a fire in the pit. Claudio and Cathy were the next to arrive. They brought a salad, a mixed plate of appetizers, and egg rolls...all very good.  The ever inquisitive Cathy wanted to know what those white balls were, so Claudio told her they were squirrel nuts.  Even when she found out the white balls were Mozzarella cheese, she wouldn't take one. I then got a phone call from Vicki and Debra and they said they were not going to be able to make it unfortunately. They had to get back to their home in Oregon. The last to arrive were Kelvin and Sarah. Their potato chips and more potato salad added to the dinner of hamburgers and brats cooked on the barbecue. The meat just finished cooking when the rain started coming down. We all gathered around the table under the gazebo and ate our dinner, then decided to head inside the cabin to talk some more. Claudio and Cathy were the first to leave around 4:30 p.m., followed by Kelvin and Sarah around 6:00 p.m., and finally Vicki and Trish around 8:00 p.m. I stayed around to finish cleaning up. I got a call from Vicki and Trish saying I should plan to stay the night as the traffic on Highway 2 was backed up and moving slowly. Vicki said she had called Cathy and she and Claudio had just gotten into Seattle, so obviously they had been caught in the traffic also. I am assuming the same happened to Kelvin and Sarah. When I finished cleaning up, I decided I was going to head into town. Surely at 9:30 p.m., there would be no traffic. As I approached Highway 2, I did not see a car going either direction and thought I had it made. I headed West and when I turned the first corner, I was greeted by a line of tail lights. The traffic was backed up almost all the way to Index! A major East/West thoroughfare and one of only three ways across the Cascade Mountains in the state of Washington and it is like a parking lot…even at 9:30 p.m.! This has been going on for years. You would think the Highway Department would have dealt with this problem after all this time. When you do a little checking, it always comes up to the lack of money. To me, their priorities are not in order. If you go to Eastern Washington, you can be on beautiful new highways and not pass another car for miles and miles and miles. And yet, this roadblock exists on Highway 2 that affects thousands of people every Sunday throughout the summer. As has been mentioned before in earlier posts, Highway 2 is also notorious for a high number of accidents. I am sure being stuck in this stop and go traffic for an hour or more contributes to this. People get road rage and/or are in a hurry after being held up for so long.

 

Vicki, Claudio and Cathy

 

 

Trish and Cathy

 

 

Claudio and Vicki at the fire pit.

 

 

Cathy down on the "sandy" beach on the river's edge.

 

 

Trish checking out the temperature of the water.

 



 

Trish, Claudio, Vicki and Cathy on the "sandy" beach.

 

 

Vicki holding on to her flip flops while

heading down the bank to the river.

 

 

Claudio took this great shot of Vicki

...I love it when someone will grab my camera and take pictures.

 

 

We had to eat under the gazebo when it started to rain.

Sarah, Kelvin, Vicki, Trish, myself and Cathy.

So here I sit on Monday morning, finishing this post. When I saw that traffic, I turned around and came back to the cabin. I was low on gas and thought if I was stuck in stop and go traffic for an hour, I might not make it to the station without running out of gas…that and not wanting to deal with that mess. Ah, one of the advantages of being retired!