Good morning my friends.
The drive both to and from Yakima was lovely. To get there, I drove over White Pass, which I hadn’t driven over in years. It was quite lovely, especially when Rimrock Lake came into view. I arrived in Yakima Thursday afternoon where it was hot as blazes, but the temps weren’t really that much different from this side of the state. My room was right next to the Yakima River and there was nice little path next to the river. After I knocked at some work on my laptop, I went and got dinner and nearby Mexican restaurant and then came back to the hotel. I took a walk alongside the river and saw a heron, which was nice.
The AC in my room was LOUD, so loud I couldn’t hear the TV. It was also very, very efficient. I turned it off because it got so cold in my room.
Yesterday morning, I knocked out more work on the laptop, packed up, checked out of my hotel and headed over to the USDA building on the other side of town. I met with the lessor and we, along with individuals from NRCS and FSA, completed a punchlist inspection of the renovation. I met with the lessor after the inspection to talk about storage issues. I need to talk to PMO about paying him a little sumpin’-sumpin’ to store our CONEX.
I was back on the road by 11:30 am and opted to drive back via Hwy 410 and Chinook Pass. Chinook Pass was absolutely stunning and brought back many happy childhood memories of camping alongside the American River. There are a plethora of campgrounds alongside the river. As I ascended the pass, I saw wildflowers and when I finally reached the summit, there was still snow in on the ground. As I descended on the west side of the pass, there snow, which finally disappeared and there were wildflowers everywhere. I could see where a raging fire had come through just a few years ago and really got sense of the difficulty they had in fighting this particular fire due to the terrain. At one point on this drive, you reach a point where you can turn off onto Hwy 123 and head to Mt. Rainier/Cayuse Pass. Since I was in a GOV, I opted to follow Hwy 410 all the way down to Sumner and then turned off on Valley Ave, which goes along the Orting Valley, and then headed up the big hill to my home. The nice thing about this drive was that for a good 50 miles while in the pass I had absolutely no one in front of me or behind me. It was glorious! That never happens!
I came home to find my son-in-law had installed a portable AC unit in our bedroom and the room was deliciously cool and welcoming. It was near 90 degrees when I arrived at my house. Starting with today, we’re looking at Death Valley temps. It’s just going to be ridiculous. See the link below. This forecast is for my area of the PNW.
HOT! HOT! HOT!
I plan to go out and mow the lawn around 8:30 or 9:00. Someone is already out there mowing and I can’t say that I blame them, but I will give my neighbors a little more time in bed. After mowing, I’ll turn on the sprinkler for a bit which should both water the lawn and my flowers.
Other than some laundry, and possibly bathing Polar outside so we can cool him off, I don’t expect to do much. I’d like to knock out some yard work out front, but I’m not about to give myself heat stroke. We’ll see, I may still do it, it’ll depend on how quickly it warms up.
My daughter and son-in-law are picking up my mother and having her stay at their place today through Monday. My mother does not have AC and is in her 80s. My daughter told me that she couldn’t sleep knowing that my mother would have to contend with these temps and the AC in my daughter’s house works, really, really well. Seriously, I got a little cold when I was up there on Father’s Day.
Hugs to all.
I’d hate to waste my time reading something that didn’t meet my standards… 
And TPTB had us scan it out wrong. Whatever, I got 2.5 hours of OT, and I ain’t getting my ass chewed out on Monday’s conference call. 
