Day Two Hundred Thirty-three, 091019 - Sequim, WA

Day Two Hundred Thirty-three, Date Monday, October 19, 2009
Time in Saddle: n/a
Distance for the Day: n/a
Accumulated Trip Distance: n/a
Altitudes: n /a
Speeds: n/a
Weather: n/a
Expenditures: $493

(Pictures coming - I swear!) I woke up at 8:45am and got up at 9am in the home of my hosts, Paula and Dennis B. I had a bowl of Rice Chex with blueberries, and chatted with Paula for a while about a diverse range of subjects, including her ‘fairy garden,’ which was a beautiful garden surrounded by a low rock wall. It went fine for several years, until a particularly nasty weed invaded it, and eventually forced her to have it totally destroyed to try to rid the dirt that the weed had just about saturated. Around 11am, we headed out in one of their cars, and she drove me around to the local Bank of America (my bank), where I withdrew a thousand dollars from my savings account. I had a new credit card overnighted, but it wouldn’t show up until tomorrow, and I wanted to get as much done, reconstructing my lost fanny pack, as possible. I picked up a new camera, cell phone, digital voice recorder, and iPod Nano at Costco ($386). Paula also picked up some food items for dinner tonight, and the next few nights. Then, we went over to Walmart, where I got some ear buds (small earphones) and an arm band to hold the iPod ($31). Then, Paula had to pick up her grandsons Sean and Jake at the school bus stop. We went back home, and we chatted for a while, before the kids had to take off for their own home. I connected my new iPod to my computer, and re-synched it to the songs that were backed-up on the notebook. I now had all my music back (yay!) Dennis (a retired elevator technician who used to work in the SF Bay Area, and who was born and raised in Oakland!) then took me out to do a bit more shopping at the Big 5 Sporting Goods store, where I got a new, better fanny pack ($16), then to Home Depot where I got a replacement Leatherman Wave ($76), and even to Rite Aid to get a travel toothpick ($4). It only came in packs of two, so I gave him one. He then gave me a short tour of the area, and I saw new developments where farms used to be, homes that faced the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and he told me about the demographics of the people living in Sequim. Paula made a terrific dinner of salmon, rice, and greenbeans, and we three chatted up a storm. After the meal, Dennis showed me pictures of a 13-day rafting trip through the Grand Canyon they’d taken a few years prior; it looked awesome. (I love looking at other people’s pictures – I just naturally enjoy the vicarious thrills every time.) Afterwards, Paula went to bed, and I showed Dennis how to set up and use his computer-driven Meade telescope. It got a little late, so he went to bed, too, and I stayed up re-loading as many telephone numbers into my new cell phone as I could get from my computer and from the web. I also sent out a mass email to everyone I could think of whose number(s) I wanted. It will be a gradual process, to build the list back up, again.