From Seattle to Texas November 2018
The first half of November was spent in Seattle where were having a historic dry spell, Normally November is when the rain begins and it is a good time to be in Texas. The dry weather allowed me to get started doing a few cosmetic repairs to SNOWBALL's deck and hull where there were several gel coat cracks and dings. I decided to just tackle all of them at one time. There is a process where you have to Dremal out the cracks first, then lightly sand the small areas. Then you gradually build up new gel coat with a light sanding between coats. The whole project I knew would run into the rainy season but there is usually a sun break between the winter storms so my plan was to rush out and use those times to continue the project hopefully having it finished by the new year.
The MLS Seattle Sounders had our full attention for our other discretionary time as it seemed as if nothing would stop them from reaching the Championship game for the third time in the five years we have been here.They had 9 straight wins, a MLS record and made it into the playoffs first up against their rivals the Portland Timbers.
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| We learned you can score cheap tickets on SeatGeek, a ticketing app for events at Century Link, often at half price or even lower. |
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| We missed the March to the Game with the Supporters but the lights were nice in Pioneer Square. |
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| Go Sounders! |
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| The excitement is running at an all time high as ocer 67,000 show up The first touch of the game sends the flames flying and streamers streaming. |
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| The Game goes to Penalty Shoot outs as the teams are tied for points to advance. |
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| The Sounders score here but Will Bruin's attempt hits the post and the Sounders are out of the playoffs. All of a sudden the 67,000 are very quiet. |
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| But there are more important things to do like take your 5 year old grandson to a small beach in his neighborhood., that is Elliot Bay Marina over there. |
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| A nice day to throw some rocks. |
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| And enjoy the Sound. |
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| And look at a crab on the rocky beach. |
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When I was in Boy Scouts it was discouraged from throwing rocks into the water, but it is different here for a reason. First there are plenty of rocks to throw, and second, all those rocks you throw in come right back to the beach from the wave action that is constant in the Sound. Check out this video as I attempt to show even small waves pushing the rocks ashore, you can here all the rocks clicking together as they are gently pushed towards the beach:
https://youtu.be/OBJMrOOB34Q |
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| Our son Graeme had an evening planned for us when we flew into Austin. Just in time as the rains just started the day we left Seattle. Happy He had planned a Old and New Austin evening for us beginning with Happy Hour at the Saxon Pub |
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| The Saxon Pub is one of the few original venues that help build Austin into the Music Capital of the world. |
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| David Grissom, and they sounded great even through the ear plugs we carry that are required for us these days. |
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| Graeme, Mom, and Dad |
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| Spending Thanksgiving at the Saxon looks fun, perhaps next year. |
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| Then it was off to the New: Loro's for dinner. |
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| My sister ginger caught up with us and we loved seeing and tasting some new Austin |
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| Having time at our sons family allowed us to catch up on some other Interesting Texas Music History through the Cinemax series Tales From A Tour Bus. If you were into progressive Country music ie Waylon, Willie and the Boys then this is a must see. |
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| This is Ian, not sure why it took him so long to make it into this blog. |
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| This is the Crockett Lunch Bunch, a Group of retired teachers from Crockett High School in South Austin. They meet monthly at some Austin restaurant and relive the teacher lounge days. I knew sooner or later my Texas dates would line up with these South Austin Stars. Real live Tex-Mex too! |
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We absolutely have to spend time on long walks on the Hike and bike trail at Lady Bird Johnson Lake, actually its the Colorado river that runs through Austin dividing the city into it's well known North and South sides.
This is Looking West towards Lake Travis. |
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| The Sky line continues to develop and redefining Austin |
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| A walk through our Sons Northwest neighborhood gives views West overlooking Hwy 360, the begining of the Texas Hill Country. |
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| We drove up to Cowtown and had a great visti with The Admirals Aunt RoseAnn who just turned 94 and her dad Big Dave 86 years, both are still running striong doing whatever they want to do. |
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| Fall seems to occur a little later in Texas but the colors are beautiful over the entryway to RoseAnns home. |
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| And Guess what, Fort Worth is home to one of the Federal National Archive buildings and if you need to do some research such as some family ancestry then you can just pop in. |
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| The clerk at the front desk points us to a computer lab where a fine young gentleman met us and spent three hours with us as we learned to use their system to research. In The Admirals case she had a grandmother that was 1/2 Missouri Indian so having this resource helped us to find records that could help us learn the history she was looking for. |
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Walking is a great way to get some exercise on a sunny November day in Ft. Worth. Here we took a walk around my old Fort Worth neighbor hood, Arlington Heights. I remembered this old home on the corner but now it is a Historic Home, The William J Bryce:
A native of Scotland, William J. Bryce (1861-1944) moved to Fort Worth in 1883 and developed a successful brick contracting business. In 1893 he constructed this house, which was designed by the prominent architectural firm of Sanguinet & Messer. The Mayor of Fort Worth from 1927 to 1933, Bryce lived here until his death. One of the rare examples of a Chateauesque dwelling in Texas, Fairview features Richardsonian arches and gabled dormers. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark-1983. |
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| Back in Austin we help my sister Ginger learn to wax her own car, something you have time to do when your retired, hopefully she will join our ranks soon. |
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| Thank God gas is just $2.29 in Texas, You spend a lot of time in a car driving around Austin or our tip to Ft. Worth. Living in Belltown, Seattle is way different by enjoying walking to the store or taking mass transit here in Seattle. We do drive some here but not near like we have to in Texas. I can find gas a little cheaper than this here but it doesn't matter much since we rarely need to fill up anyway. |
