A rather unusual day

I had an interesting day. It started out that I have been having trouble with one of my teeth. I had an appointment with my dentist for 8am this morning. Late yesterday afternoon, Dr. Jenkin's receptionist/bookkeeper,Tony, called to tell me that Dr. Jenkins had been rushed into the hospital. Tony was supposed to call me today but never did. I even called the office but only got the answering machine. Anyway, in the meantime my tooth was really getting bad and I was not sure I was going to make it through the weekend. Debbie, being the smart person she always is, told me to call 1-800 dentist. I called and explained my problem and they found me a dentist right on Benson about 10 minutes from us. He started a root canal today. I was in the dentist office for over 3 hours. My tooth was so infected that it took 3 shots to deaden it and the shots still did not completely deaden it. At least he was able to do enough work so that it doesn't pain me now. I have to go back Monday. Now I have some Penicillin tablets to take for the infection. At least I have very good dental coverage. I took this picture of the Sunset from the back deck. I actually took this picture on the first day of Fall. I love pictures of Sunrises and Sunsets.

This is a picture of a Toucan that Debbie took when we went to the Dallas Zoo. What an interesting and colorful bird.

I guess I am still in my second childhood. This White Tiger followed me home from Dallas. My Wolfie needed company. I decided to call him Bomba.

Facts about White Tigers---The White Tiger (also known as the Bengal Tiger weighs approximately 400-569 lbs. White Tigers are White-colored Bengals. They are not Albinos and they are not a separate subspecies of Tigers. White Tigers are solitary animals and hunt mostly at night. Tigers are an endangered species. There are only approximately 5,000 to 7,400 tigers left in the wild.

Yesterday was Fall but it is still Summer for today.

Some of the tall buildings in downtown Dallas, Texas. The Dallas Temple. The buildings and grounds are just gorgeous.

New Dallas Cowboys stadium.The Stadium design incorporates two open end zones with glass retractable doors measuring 120 ft. high and 180 ft. wide, making them the tallest glass retractable doors in the world. It takes 18 minutes for the doors to open. There is 420,000 sq. ft. of entertainment space or approximately 10 acres. The field is actually 50 ft. below ground level, so fans entering on the plaza level will have a panoramic view over the field. There are 200 Suites in eight different locations on five separate levels.

This is the Dealey Plaza. The X on the street is where the shots were fired that assassinated JF Kennedy when his motorcade was going down this street.

The Sixth Floor Museum at the Dealey Plaza is located on the sixth and seventh floors of an early 20th Century warehouse known in 1963 as the Texas School Book Depository. It was constructed in 1901. On Friday, November 22nd, 1963 at 12:30 pm (Central time) from this building, Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States.

This is the Old Red Courthouse built in 1892. Now it is the Old Red Museum of Dallas County History and Culture. It has been beautifully restored. Debbie and I spent a long time in there because there was so much to see. It is so wonderful to see these old buildings restored. The Plaza with the old buildings were all real close together. We didn't go into any of the new buildings but they are close by as you can see from the top picture.

Arboretum and Botanical Gardens in Dallas, Texas

The Arboretum in Dallas is much, much larger than Buchard Gardens in Victoria. So many varities of flowers, shrubs, trees, etc. Just breathtaking. The park takes up 66 acres and is located on White Rock Lake.
It looks like I am in a jungle at the Arboretum.

Debbie is standing in front of a waterfall. This park just has everything.Debbie invited me to go with her to Dallas on a working trip. My Garmin helped us a lot. Garmin was not absolutely perfect but did figure out most of the time where we were and where we were going. The hotel we were staying in was only 2 months old and was not on Garmin yet but fortunately Debbie had printed directions to her work (which was nearby) and we were able to find the right exit. But we were late getting to bed because of not being able to find the exit. We did not get to bed until nearly 2 am. It was not bad for me but Debbie had to go to work on about 4 hours sleep. Other than that little glitch everything else went good.

I really enjoyed the trip. I can't believe all the places I have been to in this last year. I have been on more trips than I've ever done in previous years.

I'll put more pictures of our trip on next time.

Life is fragile--handle with care.

Just a little update. Debbie and I went to a Memorial Service in Buckley Sunday. Heidi, Dan's girlfriend,lost her son in a auto accident. Derrick was her only child. I am sure most of you remember meeting Heidi and Derrick. Dan brought them to the "Christmas Eve" party we had last year during our blizzard weather. Derrick was only 21. He had lived in Buckley all his life and had many friends. There were probably about 200 people at this Memorial.

After the service Debbie drove us around through Buckley and Enumclaw and we even went to Bonney Lake and looked at the property we used to live on. It is covered with houses now. When we lived in Bonney Lake, there was only one small grocery store about a mile from the house. You had to go to either Buckley or Enumclaw or Summer to go to a store. Those towns were not very large either. Now Bonney Lake has shopping malls and stores everywhere. We drove by the Bonney Lake Elementary School. It looked big when my kids went but now it looks so small and so old looking.

Debbie drove my car again. I think about another 300 miles and I will be up to 11,000 miles.

Debbie and I will be flying to Dallas, Texas Wednesday. I will have to take some pictures. This is a business trip for Debbie and we will have a little time on the weekend to look at sites.

I bought a GPS for my car. I have been wanting a new toy for a long time. ( I thought it would be a good idea in case I got lost going to Safeway.) Debbie and I used it going up to Buckley and we are going to be using it in Dallas. I was very impressed with the one Donna used when we went to the midwest. Even a couple of times when we were not sure where we were, you just press "Where Am I?" and it tells you. Maybe something else will come out that excites me.

Labor Day weekend trip to Pullman

This is the play equipment at the Farmers Market in Moscow, Idaho and the little girl standing at the top looking through the bars is Hazel. She may not quite walk yet but she is a little dare devil.

Above is a picture of the Farmers Market in Moscow, Idaho. I had never been to Moscow before either.

Pictures of my motel room in Pullman. I had never been to Pullman before.

Very nice Jacussi. I am sure lots of people enjoy those.

The front room in my motel with the hide-a-bed.

My king-size bed. I almost felt lost in it.

Starting out from Renton--

Donna and laif were going to Pullman on Friday, Sept. 4th. They needed to pick up a washer and dryer that Rachel and Michael couldn't use in their new apt. because the apt. already had a washer and dryer. They came over here to get the truck. Donna was standing by the truck and said I sure hate to ride all the way to Pullman in that noisy pickup with no air-conditioning. I said if I was a really nice mother we could use my car. Donna said "why don't you?". I said Ok and ran in and packed my bag in about 5 minutes and left Charlie extra food and water and we were off. We stayed until Sunday and I am glad I went because we really had a nice time. I had been wanting to see Michael and Rachel and the kids anyway. Their new apt. is so nice. It is 3 bedrooms and as always, Rachel has it so nicely decorated. Michael relaxing in the front room. He always has the nicest smile.

Rachel in her kitchen. Rachel made dinner for us Friday night. She had made the best potato soup.

Grandpa Olson with Hazel on one arm and Noah on the other.

Now my car has 10,699 miles on it. We put 647 miles on it over the weekend. At this rate I may wear it out. For those who don't know, my car is a 2003 Kia Rio.

I am not really into unplanned things but this turned out good. I had a really good time.

I stayed in a Quality Inn motel Friday and Saturday night. It was the big game that weekend so all that was left was an expensive suite. I really enjoyed it. Rachel and Michael wanted to give me Noah's bed but I told them I would do better sleeping in a motel. Donna and Laif spent Friday night in the motel. It had two rooms that had a door in between. In the front room was a hide-a-bed, TV, Microwave, refrigerator and the other room that I slept in had a king size bed and TV and also there was a Jacussi. I thought about using it but didn't because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get out by myself.

We went to the Farmers Market in Moscow, Idaho on Saturday and after that a nice park in Pullman where we ate lunch. Donna and Laif took care of Hazel and Noah Saturday evening so Michael and Rachel could go out. I stayed in my luxury room.