Days Thirteen and Fourteen - Weekend With My Sisters

Start - Big Lake, WA

Stop - Big Lake, WA

Today's miles - 135

Total - 8,359

I spent the weekend with my sisters at my sister Sue and brother-in-law Bill's amazing slice of heaven just above Mount Vernon, WA.  The last time I was here was in 2008 when Kelley and I came here on our honeymoon to spend time getting to know our family.  I love this place.  Bill bought it many years ago and they have been slowly developing it.  I love every square inch, but especially the many little details of how they have built something out of nothing but a great location.

I got here earlier than I planned, on Friday rather than Saturday, so this has turned out to be a much better visit than I even hoped for.  After late night conversation, I went to bed in the loft of the log cabin half of Sue and Bill's house.  It was an apt location as I slept like the logs that surrounded me.

On Saturday morning we were a little slow getting going but eventually got around to leaving for Blaine and the next corner photo op.  I gave my sister a ride on the bike over to the home of John and Korynn, long time friends of ours.  John decided to make the run to Blaine with me.

Back in 2006 my Dad was very sick, in the hospital, and it became clear that he might not make it.  The girls called me on a Friday and said that it didn't look good.  Since I had spent a week with him the month before I just asked them to keep me informed.  I went to bed, couldn't sleep, so at 2:00 AM I packed up my truck in Houston and headed to Bremerton, WA.  I was in his room with my family on Sunday night.  He passed away on Monday with his wife and five kids at his side.  We started planning a Saturday funeral.  

Thursday of that week happened to be my birthday.  So John and Korynn invited me to spend the night with them on Wednesday and then I borrowed Korynn's bike and John and I spent Thursday riding around this beautiful country.  It was just what I needed.

Three years later John and Korynn decided to meet me in Sturgis and spend the week with me.  It just so happened that my Mom ended up getting very sick the week before we got to Sturgis.  I only got to spend a day with John and Korynn before I was called back to Mom's.  She died the day I got back to Houston.

All of that came to mind when I brought Sue to Korynn's and then headed out to meet John for the ride to Blaine.  Friends and family, shared life experiences, being there with each other in the midst of the worst times of life, "knowing" so much about each other, having that strange experience of not seeing each other for years and then time disappearing as soon as we're together as if no time passed at all  - isn't this about the best that life has to offer?

The ride to Blaine was fine.  I-5, one of the most highly traveled highways in the country, was moving well.  The temporary bridge over the Skagit River in Mount Vernon was a little creepy but we made it over without troubles.  At some point people around here will go back to taking bridges for granted but for now, the bridge collapse is pretty fresh on their minds.  It was on mine.

 We got back to Clinger Mountain and my bike didn't move again.

Sunday morning began with church at the Free Methodist Church in Day Creek, a little community east of Mount Vernon.  My niece, Laurel Lohman, and her husband, Travis, have been attending that church for years.  Recently Travis was commissioned as the lay pastor of the congregation so I was really looking forward to being part of worship.  It was fun.  A very different kind of experience than what people might have at Faith but clearly it was a community, Travis did very well, and the hearts of those people are in the right place.  It was a very good Sunday morning.

Then it was time to party!  With sisters and families and some friends, 31 people gathered on one of the most beautiful days I've seen in Washington.  Absolutely cloudless sky.  Mount Baker in all her glory.  And just about everyone was able to make it.  We had a great feast and spent the afternoon huddled in the shade, sharing stories and reconnecting.

Bill and Sue delight in calling themselves "rednecks", and that they are indeed.  You should have seen the kids entertaining themselves all day long hunting snakes and splashing in Bill's redneck pool, complete with water pumped up from the creek that runs 900 feet below their property.  I loved it.  It felt like my childhood, a time when the world was waiting for you to create your own fun, and we only had three channels on the TV (that all closed down for the night at midnight.)

Then came time for pictures.  I wanted two - one with my sisters and one with my brothers-in-law, all great guys.

Today made this whole trip worth it.  Eventually it came time for everyone to pack up and head for home.  I'll be doing the same in the morning.  It is on to points south and one step closer to Texas.