It has been a very busy month!
In the middle of April the Police Chorus traveled to Nanaimo to do a concert to help with a Church fund raising. Instead of going home after the performance we stayed the night in Qualicum Beach at the Old Dutch Inn. Very friendly, tolerant staff work at the Inn. The next day we performed at a large nursing home in Ladysmith. Most residents were in wheelchairs or used walkers so the staff had to start quite early to get them seated in the dining hall for the show. Many of them appeared to not even understand what was going on and sat quietly staring and unresponsive. When I realized most of them could not manage come over to the display I had set up, even if they noticed it, I decided to take the display to them. They were delightful! As soon as I started to show them the pictures and the Bobby helmets they"woke up". Many of them had stories of Bobbies on the streets of England in their childhoods and others asked questions about the photos I was sharing with them. The show was a success. They laughed, tapped their feet, clapped and sang along quite enthusiastically. As I was packing up after the show a most charming man in a wheelchair stopped to talk. He was a delightful and likable man. I could tell from all the comment the staff made as they were going back and forth that he was a favorite. I was grateful for the time he spent talking to me and was happy to leave him a card.
A few days later my husband and I departed on another road trip. We left late in the afternoon to spent the first night in Everett Washington. Early the next morning we drove south to Kent where we picked up some boat parts. Then we started on our holiday.... up over Snoqualimie Pass to Cle Elum and the Cottage Cafe for lunch. The Cafe is and old fashioned place with old fashioned good food and open 24 hours a day. They also have very efficient and pleasant waitresses. I left a "nicer place" card at the cash register just because it was!
In Prosser we stopped at the rest stop so I could get some coffee at Mcdonalds. Nice staff. Left a card!
We continued south through Yakima and Pendleton. By the time we got to Ontario on the Idaho border we had spent much of the trip in heavy rain and lightning and not much sunshine so we stopped for the night. The next day we dodged, as best we could, rain and wind and drove to Wells Nevada. There we stopped for lunch in a Burger King and I left a card with the lovely woman working behind the counter. We spent the night in Ely Nevada at the Jailhouse Hotel. Interesting place. In the morning we met some friendly fellow travelers and we shared our weather experiences so far. Weather was a concern. Part of the purpose of this trip was to see spring flowers. Instead we kept see snowplows coming towards us on the highway and when we entered the lobby of the Hotel in Ely there were several snow shovels piled beside the front door. Not what we were expecting in May!
After a day of driving through wonderful scenery, interesting weather (one snow storm) and along empty back roads we arrived in 29 Palms, California, for the night. In the morning we awoke to sunshine and blue sky. After a nice breakfast in a lovely room and supervised by a very friendly woman we started off to Joshua Tree Park. It turned out to be National Park Week so there was no entrance fee. Nice bonus! It wasn't crowded either. Finally I was finding fields of flowers, part of the purpose of the trip.
What happened next will be in the next posting
