The Police at the Gorge

What a beautiful weekend to go east of the mountains to the best music venue in the Northwest.

We headed out in Jims air conditioned SUV to go see The Police and Elvis Costello. We stopped in Vantage and went to the Wanapum Dam State Park for a quick dip in the river before setting up our tents at the Gorge. The river was nice and the park had a big outdoor shower right in the middle of a nice grassy hill. That was refreshing!

The show was to start at 7:30. What respectable rocker would start on time? Elvis apparently.. We ended up missing most of his on time, short set.

There was a brief intermission and then The Police took the stage and opened with Message in a Bottle. The sun was just starting to set over the Columbia River. We worked our way down as close as we could get in the General Admission area.

When they played Don't Stand So Close To Me, a woman singer came out onto the stage and shared the mic with Sting. She was fabulous and it was a great version of the hit. It took me three days to find out who this person was. Her name was Jessica Ketola. She was with a charity group that was involved with the sound check before the show. Sting heard her and asked her to sing with him. It was soo cool and what a great thing for this up and coming local singer. I suspect we haven't seen the last of her after her big break!

An amazing drum solo by Copeland awed the crowd. He has a million little percussion instruments to bang on. Bells and wooden reeds and chimes and triangles and stuff. It was captivating.

We couldn't get over how much sound comes out of this three person, middle age band. They filled the amphitheater with their sound. It was great. No need for accompanying performers here, they were in complete control and on top of their sound.

My only wish was that The Police had played longer. They have enough material to play for days, yet played under two hours. I imagine they are tired, this being the last show on the second leg of their tour. They are probably ready to go home.

Also, I must still see Elvis C, only with Elvis as the headliner this time.

Sunday we spent our day lounging in the river at Crescent Bar. Dan and Tony were not at their vacation home, but we enjoyed their beach nonetheless.


our campsite





Elvis finishes up his set

Freindly alcohol enforcement.. they had no idea!



The Police hit the stage







The show starts

Third and Fourth of July

Third of July

Fourth of July on Bainbridge starts on the 3rd with the street dance. I forgot my camera on the 3rd, 4th picts are down the page..

Three of us left my place around 7:45 pm for the street dance. We walked out my trail to Winslow way and saw a sea of bodies. As we got closer, we watched kids climb the rock wall, throw balls at the target on the dunk tank, and play in the inflatable slides.

Food vendors were mixed in with the kid activities. I had my mind set on a gardenburger from the T&C stand. Mark and B agreed on the chicken skewers at T&C. We stopped at the Beer garden on the way. It has moved now to the Winslow mall, former site of the band stage. Now the main stage is across the street next to the bank. There is now a second stage located down toward my apartment which caters to the younger crowd. We had a beer and listened to the Fenderskirts from across the way. We all said hi to friends walking by.

Next stop food. it was now just after 8, 3 more hours of street dance ahead of us, and almost all the food was gone! I was able to get a gardenburger, which was pretty lame, but the chicken skewers were long gone..

Off to Isla Bonita to meet some other friends. By the time we arrived, our friends had already come and gone. It was not very crowded this year. Almost like a typical night at Isla, only at twice the price!

Fourth of July

The next am, B and I started our day off by visiting Glenns Mother, Doris. She lives one block away, and I haven't visited her yet. We had a nice chat and then left for food.

We grabbed some quick food and made our way up to San Carlos to watch the parade.

Soon we ran into Noble and Jolie with hubby Marvin. We watched most of the parade with them and then went home to rest for the night. Noble stopped by on his way out of town.

That night we went to Kyles in Kingston and watched the big show, as well as light off our own.


Larry M throwing candy to the crowd


Noble, Jolie and Marvin

Felix N




B and C

Joe A





Jim and Kyle grilling and chillin in the Green and Gold

One year later: My return to the Rock

Today marks my one year anniversary at my Winslow apartment. I thought I would take a look back on how my life has changed since moving back to the Island I grew up on.

Of course, I moved back here to be closer to my children. So far, that has worked out pretty well. I don't get to seem them a lot more, but when I have my opportunities, it is much easier to get there. When parent teacher conferences happen, I don't need to take the whole day off.

Also, I now have the unexpected visits, when I run into my kids in the stores, or on the sidewalks going somewhere. I see Jessica's friends sometimes, hanging out in Winslow. She likes to go hang out in Winslow when she is with me on weekends, and I don't mind, as long as I know where she is and who she is with. She has to be back home before dark. Jessica occasionally will meet a friend at the movie theater, which is about a block away.

Jessica has a new friend also, who lives right up the street, in fact, right behind the movie theater. Last weekend she went to her friends house for a sleep over. Her and her friend came over Sunday am for a swim in my pool.

Things haven't been quite that fun for Kelsey. She is too young to hang out in Winslow. I do let her walk down to the store, or to the vegetarian take out restaurant with her sister on occasion.

Kelsey loves the pool of course, but at times I think she misses having a yard to play in. The pool is only open from Memorial day to Labor day, and sometimes we have plans, and can't use the pool when they want too.

What has changed for me? Well, I can walk to work now. I hardly ever drive my car, so the rising gas prices have not affected me too bad yet. I have made some new friends in Winslow, and re-acquainted with some old friends.

My place is a bit of a fish bowl. It has almost no privacy. I was a bit shocked to hear a lady at the pool the other day talking about using the sauna. The sauna is directly under my living room and often times I am playing music loudly, or having friends over, talking loudly. I had no idea that anyone uses the sauna! The lady seems to like me, so I guess I haven't disturbed her too much!

I really like to garden, so this year I planted 14 containers full of flowers. I have had nice several comments from neighbors, so I guess I did a good job. Its the first time I really dove into container planting. While I am enjoying the rewards, its not nearly as satisfying as planting a row of Romaine lettuce, or growing some cherry tomatoes.

I eat out a lot more than when I lived in Suquamish. There are many restaurants within walking distance. Unfortunately, most are over priced and under par. The restaurants are full of rich people who you would think would know better. I wonder why these places stay in business sometimes. I think its more of a status thing for them, they go out and show off the new pearls, or new body enhancement, and then they buy a few bottles of wine I could never afford. After that, I imagine the food might not be so bad..

There is definitely a class issue on Bainbridge. Bainbridge used to be a working class community. We had several shipyards, a creosote plant, navy installations and navy housing, and a large farm community.

Now, there is only one shipyard, the Washington state ferry yard which only needs a limited staff. Any large work to the vessels is usually done at other shipyards in the state.

The creosote plant was shut down years ago and is now an EPA superfund site, making Eagle Harbor the most polluted harbor in Washington state! The creosote plant had many local workers.

The navy is completely gone now from the island. In its place are mansions. The navy housing up the street from me is scheduled for demolition, to make way for yet another mixed retail/housing complex. Retail on the bottom, overpriced condos on the top.

The farms have also vanished for the most part. There is one large farm still owned by Akio Suyematsu. I picked raspberrys on his farm when I was 13. He sold most of his land to the city, and the city has opened it up to individual farmers. Most "new" islanders would like the city to sell the land and build more mansions and condos.. sigh.

I consider myself the "counter culture" of Bainbridge, but really, I am more of a "legacy Islander". I didn't move here from California, and I don't work in a law firm.

All in all, being back on the island has been good for me. I like being close to work, I like not having to walk the garbage down the driveway every Tuesday night. I like sleeping an extra 30 minutes every day to still get to work by 8am.

What will happen in the next year? Well, I think I will most likely stay here. I would love to be able to move into one of the condos in my complex and out of my "fish bowl", but its considerably more money a month and not sure its worth the value. I'd like to move up the street to the Olympian condos, they also have a pool and offer three bedroom units. Again, cost will be a major factor. So, for now, I am ok where I am.

I think the only real loser in my move back is my poor truck. I only have one parking spot. My truck spent some time at my mothers, and now is at Kyle's, waiting for its next move.. anyone have room for a truck?

Going out swinging

The trial between the Sonics and the City of Seattle over the last two years remaining on the lease, started today.

As fans, there is little for us to do anymore. Most of us have sent so many emails to the Governor, she probably blocks them by this time.

The Save our Sonics group held a rally at the courthouse today. One of the Sonics owners defenses is that no one in Seattle cares about the team. Today we proved him wrong.

The SOS group has been publicizing this event for a few weeks now, and they really got the message out. They had hoped to attract 1000 fans, even saying that if only 500 show up, that it will enforce the owners point. Of course, it helps to have Gary Payton on hand to generate some interest.

An estimated 3000 people showed up to the rally! It was amazing. I was hoping to reach the 1000 mark. I invited my friend Jim to come over on the ferry and meet me for the rally.



We arrived right at 4:30. One of the SOS guys spoke into the microphone for a while, then they handed the mic to Seattles biggest sports fan, figuratively and literally, Big Lo. Big Lo has made a career of firing up crowds, and he went right to work. He led a few cheers and spoke positive on the situation.

Dave Moller from KJR am then took the mic. A few more cheers, as Gary was stuck in traffic, but he assured us Gary would be there shortly.

Spencer Hawes got up on the mic, he is an active player in the nba, so he really could not speak in detail. He told the crowd he was here as a fan of the team and of Seattle.

Next up was the X man, who spoke for about a minute, saying he was a "Sonic for life".

Finally, GP arrives. He climbed up on something, so he could be above the swelling crowd. He said great things, like "the Sonics are not going to leave" and that if and when he gets selected to the NBA hall of fame, he will go in as a Sonic.


After the rally, my friend Jim followed Gary and got him to sign a basketball card from his second season. He was really stoked. We hit some bars on the way home, eventually ending up at the 5 Point. We looked at the plaque on the bar honoring the life of our friend Rick. We left and went home.

Now, I have to go catch up on the latest courtroom news. Its a heck of a read.

SAVE OUR SONICS!

Wilkes Spring Splash

Wilkes elementary held their annual spring splash on June 6. The Spring Splash is a school wide event, featuring a D.J., disco lights and free soda, popcorn and ice cream. Many former students also attend this event, such as my oldest, Jessica.

This is Kelseys last year at Wilkes, and the last event at Wilkes for me. I attended this same school a long, long time ago. Its been a real pleasure for me to have both of my children attend the same elementary school as me. All the teachers are long gone from when I attended, and they have had a few new additions added to the school since my time, but its still my school as well and I have many memories of my time there. This event was bitter sweet for me, as my time at Wilkes has finally come to an end.

We arrived a few minutes late and the place was already rocking. I dropped the kids off in front and went and parked. I found Jessica quickly, she was working the popcorn booth. Kelsey was missing. I searched through endless packs of screaming kids for some time before I finally spotted her and her friends dancing and running around.


Kelsey saw me, but paid little attention. Jessica also was quite busy doing her own thing. I wandered around and chatted with a few people that I went to school with who also had children at Wilkes now.

Kelsey and her gang decided to get some air and play outside. I would estimate about half the kids were playing outside. I observed the kids playing a little rough, so I reminded them to follow the playground rules. Then I took a walk.

I went back into the dance for the last half hour or so. Screaming kids ruled the gym. I decided that it was time to move on from Wilkes. Kelsey may not think she is ready, but I am, it was clear we have outgrown this. I know she will do fine at Sakai next year.







I was intent on filming Kelsey, but look at the end of the video and to my surprise, I caught Jessica as well. I didn't even know it at the time!

A Beach - out of sequence - May 18, 2008

I am not going to list the name of this beach, its one of the few beaches that no one seems to know about. After a trip through the parking area of another beach, with cars parked close to half a mile away from the actual beach, we decided to try this other unnamed beach. We haven't been here for years, and half expected it to be overrun with visitors as well. When we arrived, the parking area, room for maybe 5 cars, was empty!

We walked for a mile or so down the beach and then stopped and enjoyed the view for an hour or so before heading back. Not much to say in words, I will let the pictures do the talking. If you want to guess the name of the beach, I will tell you if you are right or wrong, I don't think the comments will be indexed by the search engines, so the secret will remain intact.

Memorial Weekend Wrapup

Nothing has happened to me since April 24th.. yeah, right. Ok, I have been a bit preoccupied by Grand Theft Auto 4 if you must know the truth... I do have a few other posts from earlier, I will add later, out of sequence.

I wanted to do something cool for the weekend, perhaps camping. I watched the weather all week. Early in the week, the forecast looked good, but as the week progressed, it became apparent that this weekend would not be ideal. I am really not ready for camping. I can't find the kids tent and mine died last year at Lake Cushman.

I decided against the camping trip. The kids came on Friday and immediately noticed the pool cover was removed. Then they saw the makeshift sign on the door, POOL CLOSED. Why? for how long? they asked. I did not know. Despite the fact that my apartment is literally a stones toss from the pool, I had no answers.

Saturday am was a bit cloudy and cool. We debated a trip to Seattle, or a trip to Costco.. Pretty great choices. The weather started to clear by noon, so we decided to go play at Sakai middle school. This is the school that Kelsey will be attending next year. She is very concerned about this transition. She started Wilkes elementary when she was 4, in the special ed program. Wilkes is all she knows and she is very comfortable there. I thought a trip to play in the school grounds might help her some.

The school was fun, we walked the nature trail, we played basketball and tennis, and we just goofed around.

nature trail


Sunday, we went to Seattle. We considered going to the Aquarium, but the line was several blocks long. I told the kids we would come back after the last cruise ship has left for the season... in October.

We tried to catch a bus, but could not find one in 20 minutes of trying. Sunday schedules I guess, still pretty lame. We grabbed a taxi and went to have lunch in China Town. The kids love China town, and so do I. We ate at the food court of Uwajima grocery super store. After our meal, which was great, we walked through the store. I love the seafood section, they have a live tank of Tilapia. They also have a huge variety of live oysters and clams. I love to look at the different oysters

The fish heads on ice, 99 cents a pound, was a big hit as well.

After the store, we went to get a bubble tea. Bubble tea is a very popular Japanese drink. There are several different types of bubble tea, you can get green or black tea, or the most popular is the milk tea. There are a bunch of flavors to choose from, and its kinda like a milk shake in taste. What makes it a bubble tea is the bottom of the cup, its filled with a bunch of round tapioca balls. They give you a wide straw and if you sink your straw too deep, you will suck up a few tapioca balls. Its pretty fun actually.

When we returned from Seattle the sun was shining and the pool was open. Too bad, the kids had to go home for a barbecue!. The pool isn't going anywhere until labor day...