Chuck’s Cheesy Tales of Oregon Whale Tails
The first leg, from Manchester, NH to Washington, DC was (naturally) late. (The pilot blamed paperwork. The only paper that I could discern was the stuffing in my seat ‘cushion’.) As a result of poor travel planning on my part, our late night arrival in Washington was followed, the very next day, by an early morning departure toward LAX. Supernaturally, the flight left and arrived on time. Just in time, in fact, for an unscheduled traffic jam on The 405. (And The 101.) This was ..
“… no problem for us, my dear,” I commented to Nazy. “It’s Tiger’s 5th birthday. Melika and Tom are celebrating with a party at Chuck E. Cheese — in Ventura.” (Ventura is about half way to Santa Barbara.)
Chuck E. Cheese, by the way, is a great place to celebrate a 5th birthday! Tiger and friends buckled their swash with Chuck E. Cheese himself. They played games, got treats, had birthday cake and lots and lots of fun.
Traffic had cleared after the party, so Nazy and I had a smooth drive home where we stayed. Overnight. We were booked for a weekend excursion to the Oregon coast to celebrate Father’s Day and an Adams Family Reunion. Nazy and I would fly, with Tiger and Arrow, from LAX to Portland. Naturally, the traffic that had vanished the previous evening had been reassembled and deposited on the freeway.
Adams Family Reunion: Tom, his brothers, his children and his Dad
In order to make time fly on the trip, I had an on-going conversation with Tiger.
“What keeps the Moon up in the sky?” I asked him.
“What do you think, Dan?” Tiger replied.
“Maybe someone glued it there,” I proposed.
“How did they get so high with the glue?”
“I’m not sure, but glue wouldn’t work. The moon moves. I think that someone tied a string to the moon and hooked it to..:
“Hooked it to what, Dan?” Tiger asked. “There’s nothing to hook it to.”
“That’s a problem,” I conceded.
“What happened to you, Dan?” Tiger asked. “You used to be smart.”
Note: In a later conversation, I explained ..
“.. so gravity keeps the moon up there, Tiger.”
“Dan! Gravity pulls things down. It doesn’t keep them up.”
“Ah,” I replied. “Maybe magnets?”
Our flight, which we just barely made because of the traffic, was devoid of any connection to United Airlines. Accordingly, it left and arrived on time. The boys were patient and great travelers.
The Oregon coast is beautiful. In addition to the reunion, we celebrated Father’s Day and several birthdays — including Tom’s and Tiger’s (again). Tiger even got to blow out yet another set of candles.
Most of Tom’s Dad’s siblings as well as assorted nieces and nephews were able to come to the reunion. This was the first time that they had all been together in years. We enjoyed the view, the excellent weather and the conversation.
The entire crew also went on a Whale Watching trip. It was a bit cloudy when we departed and the passengers on the previous excursion were downhearted (“we didn’t see any whales!&rdquo
, so hints of skepticism, amplified by robust surf, permeated the glum atmosphere as we departed.However, the gray clouds thinned and the gray whales appeared. And no one got seasick.
The flight back to LAX was, once again, smooth, on-time and pleasant. However, although we had been gone for an entire weekend, traffic on the Los Angeles area freeways had not cleared. The drive home took longer than the flight. The boys, who began the day with an early (and lengthy) drive from the coast to the Portland Airport, followed by a long flight and another drive from LAX to Santa Barbara were great. Mostly. About 20 minutes from home, Arrow flamed out.
“I want my Mommy now!” He exclaimed.
“I’m driving as fast as I can,” I replied, hoping that he wouldn’t notice that we ere traveling around 5 miles an hour and were mired in traffic.
“Please take me to Mommy now!” Arrow cried.
“Arrow wants to go home, Dan.” Tiger interjected.
“Really?” I replied. “I never would have guessed.”
“He’s trying to get out of his car seat,” Tiger shouted.
“I want my Mommy!” Arrow helpfully announced at a volume last heard when the Saturn V launched Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins to the Moon.
Melika, alerted to the situation by mobile phone, wisely ordered chicken while we were on The 101. Chicken, Tiger and Arrow arrived simultaneously. Arrow wolfed down several pieces, a huge helping of potato salad, a mountain of french fries and then…
“Can I please have a M&M?” He asked.
“I think he was hungry.” I noted. “Perhaps the American Airlines pretzels and Nazy’s raisins weren’t sufficiently filling.” I thought.
This week we’ll celebrate the solstice parade before going to the circus.
For last week's letter, please click here
At the Whale Viewing Venue