The Birthday Girls! Older Kids; Ferndale; Déjà Vu

Wednesday was a family birthday; you see, Suzanne and her mom Ruth share an August 1^st birthday. Ruth turned __ and Suzanne turned __. (Yes, I can be diplomatic.) The day started with Suzanne “Skype-ing” Ruth and Suzanne’s sister Janice, who is visiting Ruth back in The Villages. It was really nice seeing Ruth and Janice on the computer screen; it was almost as good as being there. After singing Happy Birthday for both girls, they opened cards and gifts. It was great fun connecting from across the continent. Suzanne also got a birthday call from her brother Brent, who with his wife Cheryl just became Villagers. Rudy loves helping her open her birthday presents.  

Suzanne has a birthday ritual, and she successfully completed it today; she ran non-stop for 51 minutes (5 miles), and did 51 non-stop push-ups and 51 non-stop sit-ups. AWESOME! (Oops; you may be able to guess her age now...) She was also pumped up after getting many birthday greetings from friends by email and on Facebook. Thanks to everyone who sent her greetings! Dinner out was seared ahi tuna for Birthday Girl and eggplant parmesan for the paisano. And here is Suzanne enjoying her birthday cake... er, well, okay, it’s a birthday pecan pie. She only allows herself that sinful dessert once or twice a year, although I know she secretly lusts for it much more often.  

After dinner we went for a short hike up on the west flank of Mt Shasta at 7,200 feet; it was a bit chilly, so Suzanne is wearing one of her presents, a North Face running jacket.  

Have you ever seen mature adults acting like little kids? Like when Suzanne saw me sitting on one of those big lawn tractors chained to a post in front of Lowe’s, turning the wheel back in forth with a big grin on my face? Here’s when I captured our friend Matt sitting in the cockpit of The Bus, twisting the wheel back and forth like he was highballing down I-5 at 75. Does he look like he’s having fun, or what?    

On the way up the California coast, we stopped in Ferndale at Linda and Matt’s recommendation; they joined us there for a delicious salmon salad lunch at the Victorian Inn.  

Ferndale advertises itself as a Victorian Village, in fact. Many of these buildings were built in the 1890’s-early 1900’s, and have been very well preserved/restored. It’s like stepping back in time. The first building was the local International Order of Foresters, a popular social club and insurance company back then. The second was unidentified, but beautifully built. We think they are much more pleasing to the eye than most modern commercial buildings.   

There was also a ship model builder who had several on display; I was particularly impressed by this one of the largest five-masted ship even built, the Preussen. 

While in Ferndale, I saw this old Rambler wagon, almost the twin of a green one that my parents owned back in the early 60s. My mother used to take us kids out for coffee and beignets in the French Quarter at night, against my step-father’s wishes. I would push the Rambler out the driveway and down the alley behind the house, and my mother would start it up when out of earshot of our house. Talk about a walk down Memory Lane!