Floating

This was done in an inner tube on the cool Wenatchee River on a hot August day. The six Kubins plus Dorena and I made the trip yesterday and it was delightful. I hope we can do it again next year when maybe the water will be even higher. The tubes we rented were equipped with back rests, bottle holders, and several hooks around the outside for attaching into one giant raft. Ron made the mistake of saying he didn't want to go so he got to watch my mom and Max for 4 hours while we were floating.

Max is a German Shepard mix dog who is Jill's new favorite being. The entire family is crazy about Max but Jill choses her every action in response to what Max wants. He is a friendly dog who is eager to please Jill and each family member is allowed so much time with him. A dog should have it so lucky.

My mom and I drove to the Chiwawa River cabin on Saturday and spent the night there with the Kubins and Margy's daughter Vicki and her daugther Maia. Ron and Dorena had Jessica and Maia for the annual Girl's Week. It was a busy time with lots of entertaining and visiting. I asked Ron how many days it would take the get the house back in order and he said they were planning to just light a match and burn the place down when everyone left. It actually was no where near that bad but that was a typical Ron response.

During our float time Betty, Brice, Jim and Diana stopped by to visit at Ron's cabin. They had spent the night in Leavenworth and were seeing several plays there. During the ride home we talked about their visit and Alberta said she didn't see Diana. I think she was worried the entire time I was gone because she wasn't sure how she was getting home.

Linda Bloom and her husband Mike were in London during the British Air strike last week. Mike is not an avid traveler but he agrees to go on some trips with his wife occasionally and hopes for the best. This turned out to be quite a fiasco for him. I love his description of this Econolodge room so I'm adding it.

I am home from London. Sara found one available ticket for
me on Virgin Atlantic and Continental. Linda talked to British Air just before I left. They said they cannot get her a flight back to the U.S. until Thursday Aug. 18th. so Linda is still at the Elizabeth Hotel. British Air is paying for her to stay,up to $200 per day for a Hotel room and $100 per day for food. They are going to pay me back for my ticket on the alternate flights.

I got into Newark last night about midnight. It was still 90 degrees
outside and humid. I tried 6 hotels ( all full) When I called Econolodge, they did have a single room. I took a cab over there and checked in. The key card did not work. I went back to the desk to talk to the annoyed East Indian guy. He got a key and let me in.
I could see why the key card did not work. They wires for the mechanism
were torn out and hanging out by the doornob. The T.V. was missing and there were no drapes for the window. There was the framework for the drapes so I hung one of the blankets up on it. The toilet would not flush cause there was no water in the toilet tank.
When I turned the water on it made a real loud howling noise. The air conditioner was on the inside wall about one foot from the bed. It was so loud that I knew I could not hear my alarm clock so I basically laid there until 5 A.M. then got up to take a shower. There was no shower head so the water basically just blasted straight out from the pipe.

I'm still envious of Linda biding her time in London.