Aug 5

Thursday, Aug 2 was another day of fishing for Rob again at 4:30 a.m. Today the fish won. At least we have one in the freezer. The day culminated with a delicious dinner at the Tacoma Yacht Club, Vern and Sharon’s club.

Friday Vern got us onto McChord Air Force Base for a round of golf at Whispering Firs Golf Course. Another win for the golf course for me. Rob, Don and Vern had some sort of game going by the hole, not sure who won. Vern gave a dollar to Don who gave a dollar to Rob who gave a dollar to Vern, or something…. Sandy hung out with Sharon all day. Dusty hung out at Sharon’s house. Neither Sharon nor Sandy were home when we got back from golf. They had gone to lunch at the new golf course, Chambers Creek leaving Dusty to guard the house. They wisely closed all the doors to the rooms leaving just the living room and kitchen to his devices. But, he was a good dog and was ecstatic to find out he hadn’t been abandoned when we arrived. We enjoyed some smoked salmon on the patio to the sounds of gunshots echoing in the evening air. Their house is adjacent to a gun range that has been there since the 1800’s. The city council in their ultimate wisdom grandfathered the club’s right to be there despite many complaints from the local residents.

Saturday, found us on the road again. Courtneys and Browns both have maintenance or service work scheduled at the Country Coach factory in Junction City, OR. First stop is at Mallard Creek RV and Golf Resort (do you sense a pattern here???) for the night and a round of golf on Sunday. This time I’m ready for the golf course thanks to some sage advice from Vern.

 We got away from Gig Harbor okay at 9 on the dot, hampered somewhat by Rob’s continuing problem with the lights on the tow car. We were making good time with Rob in the lead. I was reading an absorbing book, but I looked up to see where we were and saw a sedan to the right, partially off the freeway and partially in our lane. He was backing diagonally across the freeway. What the hey!!!! Rob barely had time to swerve into the fast lane. With horn blaring we just squeeked by. As we went by I looked down into the car but couldn’t see anyone in the driver’s seat. Rob said he thought he saw someone slumped over the wheel. Rob pulled over to the side off the freeway. Courtneys were behind us and couldn’t see what the hazard was but had the good sense to stop. The sedan was still backing and hit the left front fender on the Courtney’s coach. Rob got out to see if we had sustained any damage. Traffic continued to speed past, although the cars going north were rubbernecking and traffic was slowing on that side. Eventually an EMT vehicle arrived with lights flashing followed by a couple of police cars. Finally Rob came back and we left on the advice of the highway patrolman who thought we were still in jeopardy just by being on the side of the road. We moved down the road to a rest stop to wait for the Courtneys. We finally got the facts of what happened later when we stopped at Mallard Creek. Apparently a young guy in a red sedan had just been released from the hospital and wasn’t feeling well so he tried to pull off the freeway. He may have fainted with his car in reverse. After Rob swerved around him Don, also laying on the horn, was able to stop. The sedan continued to back up across the freeway hitting Don on the left front bumper. A small truck, pulling a trailer, behind Don tried to wedge the sedan into the center divider. Fortunately, the damage is minimal and no one was injured. Luckily Don has plenty of witnesses for his report to his insurance agent. Otherwise his story that the damage to his front end was caused by someone backing into him on the freeway might not be believed.

We arrived at Mallard Creek with no further incidents. A little unwinding with some wine and a quickly thrown together dinner at the Browns and we’re good to go.

Sunday golf was good for me. I managed to shave 11 strokes off my McChord score by following Vern’s suggestions.

Checkout time at Mallard was 2:00. We made it with time to spare after our golf game. Now we’re safely ensconced at Camp Country Coach for some service work to start tomorrow.