Friday, September 10, 2010

HOW CAN WE FIND MY CHICKEN WINGS IN CHEHALIS, WA??

Thursday, September 9 – We left TT La Conner yesterday morning and spent the morning at Freightliner in Mt. Vernon, WA where we had our front air bags replaced on the motorhome. We finally left Freightliner at about 2 PM. That did not leave much time to drive to a place to stay, so it worked out perfectly for us to stop-over at TT Chehalis, only 150 mile south.

I particularly wanted to visit Chehalis again because, when we were last here in 2003, we happened to have lunch at a small, unpretentious Chinese Buffet in one of the little old towns in the area. I LOVED the chicken wings, baked crispy and heavily sprinkled with black pepper. I had never had them before or since. How could I remember chicken wings for seven years??? I don’t know, but I knew I had to try to find that Chinese Buffet again!! By the time we had set up and found satellite, it was too late to go out, so we extended our stay for another day.

We did not have a clue where to begin our search. My first thought was that it could not be in Chehalis because Chehalis was a big town (three exits on I-5). It must be one of the small towns nearby – but which one?? Then I remembered there was some kind of park or museum across the street!! Ken remembered there was a railroad track nearby! Then we remembered there was a packing house across the street, because they had been loading carrots by conveyor belt off the trucks!! So what did that tell us?? Nothing!! We’d have to go to the Visitor’s Center.

Then I saw this picture in the Thousand Trails handout!! “Ken, I think this is the museum that was across the street from the Buffet! That’s why we were down there!!”

We keyed the address into the GPS and set out to the museum. When we were within one-half mile we saw a big shopping area -- K-Mart, Wal-Mart, GroceryStore, Etc. This could not be the place!! But we continued following the GPS directions and came upon Old Town Chehalis. After a couple of blocks, Ken said, “Well, there are the conveyor belts!” They were packing corn this time.


A drive around the corner and there was the Lewis County Historical Museum from the picture! I had been following Lewis and Clark that year!

And across the street!! Royal Buffet, American Chinese Restaurant!!!

We went in and were greeted at the door by the Owner/Manager. He welcomed us and helped the waitress find us a booth near the window (so we watch the traffic and conveyor belt!!). I was impressed!! We told him we had come all the way from Virginia to eat their buffet. We had been there seven years ago and remembered the black pepper chicken wings. He said ownership had changed about three times since we were here but they still have the wings!

We discovered his name is Jin. Now where do I know another good-looking Asian whose name is Jin?? It was in LOST!! Of course.

We really did enjoy our lunch. I thought the chicken wings were good, but not quite memorable as before. We will probably eat here again -- not for the wings, but because of Jin!!

VETERANS MEMORIAL MUSEUM, CHEHALIS, WA




Thursday, September 9 – After having the Royal Buffet, Ken wanted to go to the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis. We usually do museums in half hour or forty-five minutes. We spent the entire afternoon at this one. They almost closed the doors on us.

The displays were numerous and very interesting because they had such a personal touch, dealing primarily with Veterans from this area of Washington and their part in the various wars.

I found Betty’s Blanket to be very impressive! It must have taken years to create.

The displays covered all the wars from the Revolutionary War to Iraq, with a special display covering 911.

We found the panel covering the Korean War during which Ken was stationed in Germany as part of the German Occupation (1953-55).

And the display about The Gulf War, “Operation Desert Shield”/”Operation Desert Storm”!! Ken’s reserve unit was activated to serve during 1990 – 1991. We were very fortunate. Some of Ken’s unit went to Germany, others were scattered to various locations, but Ken was stationed at Fort Lee, 45 miles from home!!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

FRESH SOCKEYE SALMON “CATCH”, LA CONNER, WA

Saturday, September 4 – The last time we were at TTN LaConner (2005), the Native Americans of the Swinomish Tribe were fishing in the waters right off our shore. One of our favorite memories was being able to buy fresh Salmon from the Indians as they brought in the catch. $5 for a while fish!!

This time they are not fishing here. We went to the little town of LaConner to find out where we could buy fresh Salmon off the boat. At the docks we met a man who told us he did not know about buying fish off the boat, but if we went “over there to Lone Tree Point” Jason would take care of us.



Lone Tree Point was a packing company. As we walked up Randy and Joel talked with us. They said they were just bringing in fresh Sockeye and Jason would take care of us when he could. They were very busy. Randy said they have not had this large a Salmon run since 1913!! They said there were almost too many – it was difficult to find storage space for so many fish!!

Randy.

At last we talked with Jason and decided to buy two whole Sockeye rather than the fillets. I thought Ken would enjoy the experience of filleting them himself!! HA HA

This is Joel giving Ken his “Catch”! Two five-pound Sockeye at $3/pound = $30!!! They did remove the heads and guts for us.
When we returned to the campground we went to the fish cleaning station and Ken filleted our fish! It was a little more difficult than we imagined – the Salmon were so large!!



We had Sockeye fillet for dinner on Sunday evening. UUUMMMMM!!! It was wonderful!!

ICE CREAM SOCIAL, TTN LA CONNER, WA

Saturday, September 4 – On Friday evening, following all of the Pickleball tournaments, there was a Pickleball Awards Dinner for all participants and spouses. Not only did the winners receive their trophies, as usual, other awards were given out as well. There were awards for “Best Dressed”, “Lob King”, “Most Powerful Slam”, etc. (Someone else took pictures at the dinner!!)

I received an award as “Miss Shutterbug” because I took so many pictures. Ken was awarded as “Most Gentlemanly”!!!!! And Bruce received the award as “Most Senior Player”.

We all won a treat at the Ice Cream Social on Saturday afternoon. Other award recipients joined us for their treats!! A perfect ending for a great week of tournaments!!

Karen (Bruce's Wife), Ken, Steve, Cheryl, Bruce, Faye and Mike.


We took this picture of the four of us to send to our mutual friends, Ute and Guenter!! It will serve to remind us of the great tournament these two Seniors played together!!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

MEN’S PARTNER SWITCH TOURNAMENT AT TTN LA CONNER, WA

Monday, August 30 – The Men’s Partner Switch Tournament was scheduled for Monday, August 31. Ken and I were “asleep at the wheel” and did not realize Ken had to be at the courts at 8:30 AM to sign up for the tournament. We slept late and he missed entering that tournament. After we got there, we stayed to watch the entire tournament. There were 24 men and each played six games in a Round Robin format. There was a four-way tie at the end so there was a play-off to determine the winners.



Here is some of the action without our participation!! I’ve tried to show each participant at least one time. The top four players in the play-off are each shown three times!!



























The Playoffs. Each of four players had to play the other three in a full round robin to determine the winners.


Brad and AJ



against John and Ron





Ron and Brad

against AJ and John




Brad and John





against AJ and Ron





THE WINNERS:


Fourth Place: Brad
Second Place: AJ
First Place: John
Third Place: Ron




CONGRATULATIONS ALL YOU GUYS ON A TERRIFIC TOURNAMENT!!

LADIES PARTNER SWITCH TOURNAMENT AT TTN LA CONNER, WA

Monday afternoon, August 30 – The Ladies Partner Switch Tournament was scheduled for Tuesday, September 1, but rain was in the forecast so we played the Ladies’ Tournament after the Men were finished. There were only 13 players but we had a great time.

We each played six rounds in a Round Robin format. Although none of my partners could make me a winner, we all had a good time. Here is some of the action.


















THE WINNERS ARE:
Julie, 3rd Place
Ione, 1st Place
Judy, 2nd Place


CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE PARTICIPANTS. It was a great idea to play on Monday afternoon because it RAINED all day Tuesday!!


MEN’S DOUBLES TOURNAMENT, TTN LA CONNER, WA

Wednesday, September 1 – For this tournament, the men chose partners and played with that partner for the entire tournament. The format for this tournament was Double Elimination. Players were guaranteed two matches, but when you had lost two times you were out of the tournament!

Ken signed up to play with Bruce, the most senior player at the tournament!! They played one of the first matches and lost that match, but were pleased to have won 3 points!! They waited more than an hour to play their second match and again won 3 points!! Their tournament play was over, but they were glad they had played together.



Here they are playing their first match!! Looking Good!!





Planning strategy!! Maybe a little too late!!




Some of the action going on around them!!





I really like Dave T's pose!!!











Ken and Bruce's second opponents were Ed and Flash. A little too much for the Senior Team!!


Congratulating each other at the end of the match.


Now they can enjoy the rest of the tournament! They had a great time playing together!!









THE WINNERS ARE:


Charles and Doug: 2nd or 3rd Place
AJ and John: 1st Place
Wendell and Carroll: 2nd or 3rd Place



CONGRATULATIONS ALL YOU MEN ON A GREAT TOURNAMENT!!