Spokane, Days 1 and 2

Well, we've been busy but boring for the last couple of days. Mom, Lulu and I went to visit Dad in the nursing home yesterday, and we all sat around and talked for hours. Back at home, we sat around and talked some more, and played with Cindy, the dog. And Lulu had to show Grandma her newest Magic Schoolbus DVD about bats. All of this takes enormous amounts of time, and we think it's fascinating, but it's not much fun for other people to read about.

Today, we met Dad for lunch at the Golden Corral, a buffet place. We got there right at 11, and there were already people waiting for the place to open. I noticed that the place was jammed with old people, and they all seemed to know each other. I asked the waitress if there were many regulars, and she said, "Oh, yes!" and started telling me about everyone. Apparently, there's a whole crowd who come on Fridays at lunch; over the years, they've all gotten to know each other, and now it's a big social event for them. The waitress knew all their stories: what they did for work before retirement, where they travel, whose spouse is sick, what their grandchildren's names are...all of it. There's even one man who comes every day except Sunday. He arrives early and they let him in and he helps them set up the tables and put out napkins. Then, at 11, he gets to be first in line.

Lulu liked the place, too. She wasn't interested in most of the food, but the dessert bar was LONG, and had all her favorites. She came back to the table and said, "Carrot cake, chocolate chip cookies with no nuts, M&Ms...it doesn't get better than this!" That cracked up all the people at the surrounding tables. And sure enough, she ate a minimal amount of "real food," said she was full, and then somehow found room for quite a few desserts.

After lunch, we had some time before Dad's bus came to pick him up, so we went over to the pet store across the street to see the animals. I was sad to see they had puppies for sale--doesn't everyone know by now that this is a bad thing?!--but it was fun, even so. They had potbellied pigs, and rabbits of all varieties, and a quail and kittens and the usual guinea pigs, hamsters, mice, turtles, snakes, lizards, and rats. Lulu could have stayed there all day.

We stopped off to see my brother Mike at his store on the way home. It's his birthday today, so I had a gift for him. He opened his store, which sells powersport supplies and accessories, less than a year ago, and he's got lots of business. When we were there, the place was jammed and the phone was ringing off the hook. This is the weekend when the big motorcycle gathering begins in Sturgis, South Dakota, and Mike said everyone is coming in for tires, oil changes, and supplies before they head over there. He's working hard, but it's making him happy. It's really great to see him doing so well. We didn't stay long, since he obviously needed to be taking care of customers. He said we should come back when things slow down in October: there's a lull then before all the winter sports begin.

Then we ran a couple of errands and headed for home. It was a long, hot day, and we were all ready for a rest. It was nice just to sit around watching tv. Of course, Mom never sat down: she was out watering the lawn and trimming rosebushes and hedges until dark. That woman is 86, and she has energy than I do! She's coming along with us on the trip back to California, and she's already got a list a mile long of things we have to stop and see on the way. I hope I can keep up with her!