We're back!!! We switch places with Fran & Duane and assume custody of the condo and the pussycats, Mr Rogers & Cleo. The condo (right) is a ground floor with small patio tucked back into the corner - a great place with amenities and convenient, with the Pike Street Market just up the bluff, and downtown beyond that.
As agreed a week ago, we came out of NA & called Fran. We hiked down to the passenger load area just before she came along in the Honda CRV with Hawaii tags. We loaded the bags & she drove to the condo, avoiding the Alaskan Way because the huge Norwegian Encore is there again.
We stayed out of the way while she got luggage together, tagged, and ready for the ship. Duane tore apart a rotisserie chicken & Fran made chicken salad for lunch. She pointed out many things and told us to use whatever, especially in the refrigerator. They had even purchased Cabernet Sauvignon for D & Sauvignon Blanc for O.
Shortly after noon we loaded the CRV and along came George Satterfield, who is cruising with them. The little CRV was pretty full going to the pier. We unloaded & gave the checked luggage to a handler, hugged, and away they went for what we hope is a great week.
O drove back to the condo, parked the CRV, and started making himself at home. The cats are doing their afternoon nap.
We called Fran at underway time to say "Bon Voyage".
After a bit the cats came out. About 4:30 we declared Happy Hour and took wine and cat treats to the patio/lanai. The cats got their treats, we got ours. Cleo wants to jump up and go next door but we prevented that.
We came in to eat leftover lasagna and salad. When we finished, the cats got their dinner. They must have been hungry - they ate it all. Afterward they curled up in various corners again.
D & O are catching up on electronic things we couldn't do on HA. And then we'll curl up and go to bed.
20210815 Sunday
At 0644 we were awakened by a fuzzy alarm clock that would not stop nuzzling O. Mr Rogers cat is accustomed to food then, and by God, he'll have it.
So we gave them their morning meal. After that they had a brief chase around the condo, then curled up and slept.
More laundry got done, but O found a package of hearing aid batteries in the washer. He doesn't expect much from them. We hauled in the Sunday Times and looked through it - O hadn't seen a sunday funnies in a long time.
The cats got their noon-ish food.
We put together a lunch of things that will go bad if not consumed and boiled all the eggs for evening snack consumption or sandwiches.
The cats enjoyed it as far as we could tell. Cleo got out of her assigned space and had to be herded back.
Very pleasant day here today - mid 70*s and calm. Tomorrow gets cool.
Mr Rogers cat woke O at 0543. So he got up and fed them and came back to bed. We got up a little later, made coffee & things, and communicated (today is son Bill's birthday).
We cleaned up, put away the dishwasher contents, loaded our stuff into the dishwasher. After the near-noon cat feeding we did a shopping run to Target for the common stuff. We got most of what we needed there.
On the way back, we stopped at DeLaurent for some Havarti and Capicola. Good stuff. Then through Pike Place to pick up some cherries. We took all this to the condo and put it away.
The cats meowed at us for quite a while until we did the noon feeding. They settled and we went out for lunch main meal to the Crab Pot.
We ate outside, middle 70*'s, cloudy. D had her full Dungeness while O had halibut & chips. All quite good, especially the IPA. We did a little schlock-shopping but bought nothing. We returned to the condo resolved to do nothing else all day.
That didn't work. The cats needed their things and we needed wine, so Happy Hour took place on the lanai. No escape tries tonight.
We loafed a little then made up snacks of this and that, plus the cherries.
Then the cats zonked and we're about to do the same.
But it didn't last long. About 2315 last night the alarms in the condo turned on. We looked around the condo but didn't see anything. Then we stepped into the hall and found that ALL the building alarms were on, fire doors shut, etc.
So we made sure the cats were inside while we went outside into the common area to talk with residents. They say this seldom happens.
The fire trucks arrived. We didn't see the firemen but they're supposed to search the building for the cause of the alarm. I guess they found something because the alarms turned off about 2350. Both cats were found under the bed at this point.
We went back to bed.
So today started a little slow. D did the cats food; she says Mr Rogers cat seems very snuggly this morning.
About noon daughter Susan came to pick us up in their VW ID.4 electric car. If it were cheaper, I'd get one.
Staff persons say the smoke last night that triggered the alarm came from the electrical panel serving one of the elevators. No more detail than that.
We returned to Susan's house, chatted for a while, until she and D went off to stream another of her activities on Sims. Today they built an old English cottage with thatched roof.
While the ladies were doing that, O went off for a beer in one of the many craft breweries in Ballard. He wound up at Ruebens, having an IPA. While walking he came across a very nice 1992 Dodge diesel pickup like his old one. So he stopped and compare notes with the owner, Joel.
We all chatted for a bit with Bryant, who's very busy in his work at Zillow, and is still working into the night. Susan drove us close to the condo and we all ate at Pub 70 on the waterfront - not bad at all. They do have a group of scavengers there who sometimes annoy the customers.
Then she hiked to her parking spot and we hiked to the condo to rest and do these notes.
Rather quiet day, by design. D did cats at 0800, then we read the paper and did internet things for the morning. O did cats at noon.
Then O headed out in the afternoon to get a haircut (badly needed) at Millhead Barbershop in the Best Western Pioneer Hotel on Yesler Way.
The place looks old-times. About four chairs on each side, five staffed. Small dog cavorting around the place to keep waiting people amused. Cuts are by appointment. Mine was very much to my liking and included the razor trim of the back of the neck. Expensive, but it was good.
Walked back along First Avenue. First was Magic Mouse toy store, where O bought a cat toy years ago - a sphere that took off in random directions.
The rest of the street was pretty depressing. Lots of lounging ill-dressed folks, some begging. There was one tent on the sidewalk with assets stacked around it. When near Target he stopped and bought some. Then stopped in Delaurenti's for olives.
Next we did Happy Hour with the cats outside and later made up dinner for us. A quiet evening in.