I delivered a snow blower truck to the port in Tacoma, WA on Friday. It’ll be loaded on a ship and make it’s way to an Air Force base in AK.

As I expected, a reload wasn’t forthcoming and I am spending the weekend in WA. I spent Friday night at the truck stop in North Bend. Well, ok, actually I spent it at the tavern a mile down the road from the truck stop.

I had a great time there. Friendly people with which to chat and a really good four man blues band played. I spent a good deal of time chatting with the band members during their breaks.

Today, Saturday, I called around checking out motel rates. Everything was extremely expensive so I called a couple on the other side of the mountain, which turned out to be much more reasonable. I drove East, across the mountain, and to Ellensburg where I checked into a very reasonably priced motel.

After checking in I went downtown to walk around and check out the place. I found a very nice little yarn shop with a great selection of yarns and a very nice lady running the place. Besides her there were two other ladies there, sitting on the sofa and knitting. They gave me odd looks when I first walked in, as if they were watching to see if my wife was following or something.

The lady running the place asked if I needed any help, and I just told her I wanted to check out her selection of yarns. I walked around the place for a few minutes and there were certainly some very nice yarns there. I could have spent a small fortune there if I’d had one, but I settled on just a couple of skeins of a very nice wool blend that looks like it would make a very nice Winter hat. I also picked up a new Addi Turbo size 10 40” circular needle pair as I’d been wanting to try that needle for a while.

The lady and I chatted for several minutes. She really perked up when she realized that the yarn and such was for me and that I actually knew how to use them. She said she was happy to have a male knitter visit the store as most of the men who come in are with their wives and look like they’d rather be anywhere else.

I walked around town for a couple of hours. It was very interesting. There were numerous street vendors and musicians all over the place, and a number of antique shops which I prowled through looking for anything interesting. I’d half hoped to run across an antique gentleman’s walking stick but had no luck there. I did find a very old derby hat in very good condition but it was far too large for me so I had to pass on it.

All in all it was a very pleasant and relaxing time. I stopped into a small cafe and enjoyed a cup of tea while watching the people out on the street, and had a pleasant conversation with a somewhat new-age looking young lady who seemed fascinated by the whole idea of trucking around the country for a living. She also seemed quite taken by my somewhat old fashioned style of dress and most especially my homburg hat and walking stick.

My walking stick is just a “Bubba Stik” sold in truck stops all over the country. It’s a hardwood shaft tipped with a polished brass harness hame. It’s a distinctive walking stick as well as a formidable weapon if needed.

I’m now back in the motel and chilling out. Check out time isn’t until 11:00 AM tomorrow, which is 1:00 PM my time, so I can can laze around here half the day tomorrow before I have to go to the truck stop. There’s a Chinese restaurant next door which I plan to visit for tonight’s dinner.

Hopefully they’ll find me a load out of here tomorrow and I can get back to making a buck instead of spending a buck.