Seattle with the Flindts II

"Let's go to Friday Harbor," Dave suggested, as we thought through how to spend our precious Saturday in Seattle.  Taking the ferry to the San Juan Islands is an iconic Northwest adventure.

Before we left, we attended Bryce's Young Men basketball game.  Several experienced members of Bryce's team were gone, so Bryce's team really needed him.  He made several baskets.

Bryce's coach was amazing.  He yelled encouragement to each boy and stayed upbeat and optimistic all through the game, even as the other team pulled ahead.  Bryce's team included one very short boy who was an aggressive and excellent player.

 It was an overcast day, but that made the ferry trip from Anacortes to Friday Harbor all the more atmospheric.  We sailed past dozens of fog-shrouded islands.

 Friday Harbor was filled with yachts--the San Juans are a favorite boating trip from Seattle.  The sun came out just long enough to get a bright picture of Dave and me.

We drove around the island and then ate supper at a cozy inn near the harbor.  The fish and chips were fabulous.

While we waited for the ferry back to Anacortes, north of Seattle, Dave snoozed in the car while Lisa, Bryce, Alyssa, and I wandered the nearly deserted, off-season streets.  We settled into a booth at Vic's Drive-in for a root beer float.  Pure Americana.

Seattle with the Flindts I

Dave and I are always thrilled for a chance to visit Lisa and her family in Seattle, and we never run out of new things to do.  We spent President's Day weekend with the Flindts, from February 17th through 20th, 2017.

On Friday morning, we drove to Tacoma with Lisa, Bryce, and Alyssa, to visit the Washington State History Museum.  It was full of treasures.  Alyssa discovered a niche depicting the mining era in Washington.  There were other displays on the ethnic groups that settled Washington, such as Japanese, Chinese, and Swedish.

 Displays portrayed pioneers crossing to Washington in the 1840s and 1850s along the Oregon Trail.

 We also enjoyed the model railroads.

 After spending an hour or two at the museum, we stopped for lunch at the Magical Sandwich Makers Deli (MSM), a top rated "cheap eatery" in Tacoma.

 Bryce and Lisa tried the "Mike's Deluxe" sandwich, layered with meats and cheeses.

When Gretta mentioned that she had just finished reading "The Boys in the Boat," telling about the University of Washington rowing team that won the Olympic gold medal in Berlin in 1936, Lisa suggested we go see the boat they rowed in.

 The 1936 Olympic Gold boat now hangs from the roof of the "crew", or rowing building at the University of Washington.

 Next to that new facility is the old boathouse that may date back to 1936.

 This was the bay where the University of Washington crew team practiced their skills.

 And there is now another generation of athletes using that crew building.

 We met Kyle in downtown Seattle, near Pike's Market, for supper at our favorite Thai restaurant, Mae Phim Thai.

There was a bit of drama as a waitress came dashing down the street towards us with Gretta's camera, after we'd left the restaurant.  And, as usual, we parked in the parking garage underneath the downtown Target, and had to figure what to buy for $20, so our parking would be free.  We then drove back to the Flindts' home in Sammamish, where Dave and I tried out Lisa's luxurious new guest room.

The Dead and Those Who Merely Look Dead

We were an unlovely group--25,000 people who spend every free moment sitting in front of their computers, searching the names and stories of dead people.  RootsTech 2017, February 7-10, 2017, was four days of non-stop lectures, workshops and displays on family history.  It was the largest family history conference in the world.  My first attempt at a selfie, taken during RootsTech, shocked me. I was as unlovely as all the rest of my co-conferencers!  Still, this was definitely my crowd, and I dashed from one lecture to another with unquenchable curiosity and delight.  Online Irish records! Scottish landlord data from the 1700s!  DNA testing and how it can help you find lost cousins!  It was irresistible.

 I spotted a few friends, like Jodee Flindt, as absorbed as I was in the delights of the conference.

There were many speakers from FamilySearch, the LDS Church family history site, telling how to use the latest features.

There were also speakers who had traveled across the world to attend, such as Dr. Durie, from Scotland.  He pressed his card into my hand as I asked him how to bridge the gap between Calders from the 1500s in northern Scotland, whom I know only by name, and the Calders from the 1700s in northern Scotland, who are related to me.

 The huge conference halls in the Salt Palace were packed with people.

One special treat was sitting at lunch at the table with the speakers from Ancestry.com.  The fellow in the foreground is in charge of new DNA products and analysis and the fellow at the podium is in charge of records.  Ancestry.com now has 80 billion records, outstripping even FamilySearch.

 Another treat was a "general session" during which African-American speakers talked about their breakthroughs in family history research.  DNA testing now makes it possible for African-Americans to bridge the Middle Passage and find their relatives in West Africa.  One speaker told about DNA testing leading him to distant cousins in Ghana, with whom he had a joyful reunion.

Your House or Ours

Mike and Heidi are great friends and neighbors.  They invited us to dinner at their home, the week of February 4, 2017, to try a meal from Mike's new Peruvian cookbook.  It featured spicy beef over mashed plantains, garnished with sliced red onions and cilantro.  All was delicious except the mashed plantains, which didn't taste right because Mike and I were squeamish about mixing in the full allotment of bacon grease called for in the recipe.  Heidi, who grew up on a farm and knows how good lard can be, was incredulous.  "It's what makes pie crusts flaky and taste so good," she reminded us.  We have a lot to learn.

Mike and Heidi then joined us at our house for the Super Bowl, on Sunday, February 5, 2017.  We watched the New England Patriots beat the Atlanta Falcons in overtime.  Dave and Mike rooted for the Falcons, but we were very aware that, out in Holladay, young Jono was delighted that the Patriots won.   He gained great loyalty to the Red Sox and Patriots while living in Boston.

The real fun of the Super Bowl, for me, is the food--fat and creamy and spicy.  Baked chicken wings dipped in hot sauce are the ultimate Super Bowl specialty, but I agree with Heidi that, "There's so little meat on them that it's hardly worth the trouble."  We substituted nachos with guacamole and salsa, chili with cheese and sour cream, and ribs dripping in barbecue sauce, washed down with root beer floats.  I wasn't up for the cheese ball decorated with pepperoni rounds to look like a football. Maybe next year....

While the Super Bowl thundered on, Heidi taught me to make fondant for chocolate-covered cherries. There is as much art to fondant as there is to pie crust, another of Heidi's specialties.  In the past, my fondant has always turned to sugar.  My first try with Heidi, it didn't turn to sugar, but it was rock hard.  Heidi patiently re-boiled the fondant, tested its doneness by dropping spoonfuls into bowls of cold water, stirred it for 20 minutes, and we were ready to dip our 90 cherries.