4.282 festival, old stomping

Saturday 09/09/2023

Off to the Wooden Boat Festival again. Arrived as before, just at 9am. I really only had one goal here today, which was to hear a talk entitled “Seeking Synchronicity: A Solo Journey Up the Inside Passage”. Prior to that I walked around looked at the boats again.

I wanted a second look at the one boat that had seemed like “my kind of boat”, ie. a small sailing boat with an enclosed cabin, for cruising alone or as a couple. I have zero intention of ever doing that, but I have fantasized about it. I’d seen one that I like on Friday, but today I couldn’t find it. Very frustrating.

The talk was by Susan Conrad, and she did a great job of describing her 78-day solo kayak trip in just an hour. After she was done, I was done with the fair. I decided to go down and drive by the Old Ranch, where I (and Dennis and Laurel) grew up. The last time I visited it, and that was in the early oughts? with Laurel, and on leaving we had agreed it was pointless to go back any more, the place we remembered just wasn’t there any more. Well, still. So I made the 90-mile drive, crossing the Hood Canal and Narrows bridges and down through Tacoma to Spanaway and Parkland, which look as cheesy as ever, to 288th St. SE, and up the road. The place looks in fine shape, I’m pleased to see. Whoever owns it now is taking care of it.

Not only is the house that my father built still there and looking well-kept, but all the outbuildings, barn, chicken house and so on, are also there. See that stone chimney? I remember hanging out on the scaffold while Old Man Stanger (I think it was) laid those stones while chewing on the end of a cigar. Around 1950, that would be. Ay-yup.

The road, considered as a neighborhood, also looks prosperous. Some junky old buildings have been torn down, and most places have decent fencing.

So 70 miles back to Silverdale, crossing the Narrows Bridge for the 3rd time.