Odessa, WA Sept 13, 2006
Happy Birthday Jeannette! (I know, you are only 40!)
After sitting still in Odessa for a little over 10 days, we headed for Seattle on Sept. 5 for doctor/dentist appointments and our anniversary party.
We have our 5th wheel back, so for a couple of days I was really busy getting it loaded with the necessary supplies (dishes, silverware, cooking utensils, linens,etc.) Of course, it was 100 degrees both days I was loading and It was really smokey from all of the fires! I was unloading the camper, washing all the dishes, linens, etc, then loading them into the 5th wheel. It is so nice to have it home and have all the room it provides. Both cats and dogs explored it thoroughly when we brought it home...making sure nothing had been in it they didn't approve of! Finally, it is somewhat loaded with what we would need for the week in Seattle. However, before we leave, we hooked up the water to fill the water tank a bit....well, water came pouring out of the hot water heater....here we go again!
On Sept 5th we hooked up and headed first to Moses Lake where Sun Country RV (Thanks again Denise and Gordon) solve our hot water heater problem. Off to Seattle we go. The weather is ranging in Eastern Washington from 109 to 100...very warm and very smokey. Up Vantage hill we go, with the a/c turned off of course, so the truck won't overheat. Finally arrived in Bellevue at rush hour....of course. Up I405 we start...wait, what was THAT noise? Sounds like the transmission is slipping. NOT AGAIN! NO...this transmission (transmission #4) is only a little over a year old! We keep going and the transmission keeps slipping...we were hoping to make it to Everett where we were going to be parked at Lakeside RV for the week. Well, we didn't make it. We were in the middle lane, just a little north of Kirkland, when all of a sudden SMOKE...everywhere, coming from our truck! Now, remember this is rush hour in Seattle and heaven forbid if anyone would let you move over a lane so you could actually get off the freeway and on to the shoulder. Finally, Al just moved over, with the transmission gasping its final breath! I am calling 911...FIRE! We get over to the side, I jump out, pulling the dogs out, and anything in the truck that I wanted out on to the side of the road...smoking still pouring out of the truck. ULP! Now, remember we have the 5th wheel attached. Where is the Fire Department? Of course it had only been a couple of minutes since I called. And when I called 911 the answer was "King County 911, please hold"....HOLD??? Excuse me, but we are belching smoke and they tell me to hold????? However, they got on the line asap. Finally the Fire trucks show (3 of them) but the fire had ran out of fuel and was out! THen here comes State Troopers and Incident Response Team. They were all great, but what we really needed then was two tow trucks please! I called Good Sam Emergency Roadside Service, which we have paid for for the last 7 years and have never used (The truck episode in BC we couldn't get through to Good Sam). They call a tow truck and in about 30 minutes, here comes a flat bed truck and for the 2nd time in 3 months, I watch the truck being loaded on to a flat bed and AL and the truck are carted off! Of course we had created a huge traffic back up....even got reported on TV -- "Truck fire on northbound I-405, pulling a 5th wheel trailer!" Always didn't want to be on TV, especially this way!
Here I sit on the side of I-405, cars whizzing by (by this time the traffic tie up we caused was clear) and the trailer, dogs and I waiting for the tow truck to come back and get us. Finally after an hour, the tow truck came back with Al and towed us to our RV park. Now, this flat bed is probably 25 feet long, then the 5th wheel hitch is behind that, then our 35 foot 5th wheel...we were stretched out quite a ways---upwards of 60 feet. We get to the RV park at 8:00 p.m....of course the office is closed, but they had left our site number and directions to the site. It was a bit confusing, but we finally found our site and how the tow truck driver got the trailer in I will never know. I was there and was betting he couldn't get it in the site, but after several attempts we were finally parked! Whew! What a day!
Wednesday we had several doctor appointments and my cousin Ted and his wife Shirley from Colorado arrive to stay with us for a few days. We went to Jennifer's for dinner that night.
Thursday was the marathon doctor appointments..we finally finished at 4:00 p.m. Then we went to Ivar's Acre of Clams on the Seattle waterfront for dinner and it was wonderful. We were celebrating Ted and SHirley's 43rd wedding anniversary that night.
Friday, our 25th Wedding Anniversary. We took it easy in the morning, finally no doctor appointments! Had lunch at PF Changs and then became slugs in the afternoon and rested. Jo was looking longingly at the laundromat, but refrained from doing any laundry!!! We met Jennifer, Billie and Dan (who are here from California) Mike and Bev (from St. Louis) and the four of us at Palisade for dinner for our anniversary. Actually, we celebrated our anniversary, Billie and Dan's 9th anniversary and Ted and Shirleys! Palisade is on the water in Seattle and the view is across the water to Seattle; which is breath-taking! The food was exquisite, the service impeccable, and the evening was a true delight.
Saturday dawned rainy as only it can be in Seattle! Friends Jack and Sue Waddick arrived from Tucson for the big party that night. We had met Billie, Dan and Jennifer for breakfast, so we skipped lunch. Our 25th Wedding Anniversary party was put on by Jennifer, Billie and Dan, Mike and Bev, andSherrie, What a great job they all did. Kristine Wraspir, Lisa McCleary Scott Wraspir and Janet and Ric Wraspir helped as well. The party was held at the Issaquah Elk's club and we had a wonderful turn out and a great time. Al's cousin, Dwight Uhrich from Dallas surprised us by flying in for the party. What a neat surprise! All of our children were there except Melanie and Ron and Jerry and Ardis...and they were missed. A lot of long time friends were there, as well as family. We truly enjoyed our 25th Wedding Anniversary Party. And we laughed because we had a very small wedding, and NONE of the people who were at the wedding, except Jennifer, were at this party!
Sunday....up and at 'em! We met Jack and Sue, Jennifer, Billie and Dan, Sherrie, Ted and Shirley at Ivar's Acre of Clams for brunch. What a brunch! It was huge and had more food than any one could possibly eat! They had prime rib, crab, clams (of course), all kinds of sea food, salads, and breakfast items, plus desserts! WOW! We stuffed our selves. Dinner that night was left overs from the party at Jennifer's, which included all of the above people, plus friends Rowland and Kathy.
Monday, back to doctor appointments and still no truck! Promised today, but of course, not done yet.
Tuesday, finally a truck. We hooked up and headed east to Odessa. Since Al has been banned from driving for a few weeks until all of his medical test results are back, Jo drove the truck and trailer (even through miserable traffic in Seattle!); Shirley drove their car and Al rode with her and Ted drove my explorer back. It was warm all day, however, not as smokey as when we left.
We had a wonderful week in Seattle, despite the truck problem. We now are on transmission #5 in this truck. Seems as if Ford would get it right one of these times. The good part is the transmission that went out was a brand new one, so was still under warranty. The only thing we had to pay for was the installation of a new coolant collector. I am not sure this transmission, which is another new one, will last any longer than the last one, and it is under warranty as well...someday Ford will get tired of replacing transmissions in this truck!
As I sit here in Odessa, it is cool, only 65 degrees today and the wind is blowing in a storm. It seems like overnight it has cooled down (it was 80 yesterday) and now it is beginning to feel like and look like Fall. Some of our tree's are losing leaves already....which means hunting season is close and then we can leave for Tucson...I can hardly wait!
We have to go back to Seattle on Sunday for more doctor appointments for AL on Monday...of course we couldn't get them all done in one week! This weekend is Deutchesfest here in our small town of Odessa. This town will go from a population of just over 900 to approximately 20,000 people for the weekend. ALready RV's have filled up the RV park and are parked on the football field; by Saturday the town will be full of RV's parked where ever they can find room and we will be hearing the German music from town for the entire weekend as people from all over come to enjoy our German heritage here. It's a fun weekend and we enjoy it. As usual, we will hold our annual garage sale as well. FUN!
Hope this finds everyone happy and healthy...keep in touch!
UN-Wroamin' Wraspirs
Al, Jo, Beau, Simon, Schuster, Jose and Juanito
http://wroamin.blogspot.com/
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