Circuit Vacation: Day 7-16

The next stop on our Circuit Vacation was Seattle, where we spent two nights with my brother (and only sibling) Larry Henion in his one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo where we got to know his three cats – Roscoe, Grady and 6-month-old Theo.  While in this bustling city, we enjoyed seafood, family stories, ice cream and watching a couple of hours of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.  We also enjoyed a self-guided tour of the Kobota Gardens (aka the Seattle Japanese Garden), “a tranquil sanctuary” with winding paths and benches and open to the public since 1960.  

 

My dad was one of 8 children born to my grandparents Harry and Else Werner Henion.  At one time, I had 17 living cousins but today only 8 remain … of which 5 were around the table at the very expensive Duke’s restaurant in Tacoma, WA.  Those in attendance were Don Wheeler (whose brother Ken passed since our last cousins’ reunion), Clifford Elford, Coyia Keables and my brother Larry and me.  My cousin Barbara Elford Larsen’s daughter Caren was also with us, as were her husband Ron, their son Corbin and their granddaughter.  We talked, shared stories and got caught up over a lovely three-hour lunch.  What surprised me was how little most of them knew about the Henion side of their DNA.  Some of them asked me to share my Henion family information … and Coyia asked if I wanted some of the large photos she has of our grandparents and other relatives!  Well, YES!!!

 

SIDENOTE:  In conversation with my cousins, the topic of another reunion came up.  Those who attended the one in St. George called it one of their favorites.  However, my oldest cousin Don Wheeler (he’s 90) only remembered Kris and Stacy “fought the whole time.”

 

From Tacoma, we made a little side trip to Dallas, OR (inland about 60 miles from Portland) for an overnight stay with my cousin Judy Rickards McAlpine (one of only 5 cousins on my mother’s side, including Judy’s sister Janee and my uncle Bill’s kids – Jamie, Julie and Billy [deceased]).  It was a short but pleasant visit punctuated by dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant – one of her favorite places because they allow her to bring her two miniature poodle “service dogs” Pandora and Paris. 

 

SIDENOTE:  Judy is the oldest daughter of my mother’s sister Mickie but my mother considered Judy the daughter she never had.  Like my mother, Judy loves glitz, glamour and bling while I am a work horse who is not afraid to get my hands dirty. I don’t spend a lot of time stressing over who my mother wanted me to be because I am confident in who I am.  While my relationship with my mother affected me, it did not define me!!!

 

AND FROM THE “6 DEGREES OF SEPARATION” DEPARTMENT:  My cousin Judy mentioned one of her good friends in Dallas, OR had recently returned from St. George where she attended the funeral of her brother who had died from cancer.  It turns out, Judy’s friend Jan Halter is the sister of Dean Cox, our recently deceased Washington County Commissioner and a longtime member of St. George Rotary Club.

 

My goals for our 2^nd circuit vacation were to “escape Rotary" which totally consumed me throughout our long and challenging COVID year as Utah Rotary District Governor and to see friends and family we haven’t seen in several years.  Ed’s goal was to take lots of photos of every stretch of seacoast, every rocky landscape and every stand of trees. 

 

After achieving my goals, Ed wanted to just take our time traveling from my cousin Judy’s place in Dallas, OR to Charlene’s home in Coarsegold, CA – a distance of about 725 miles – so we took a scenic byway, a mostly 2-lane road, also known as Redwood Highway or U.S. Highway 101 which winds its way along the sandy seashore and through lush forests, including the Trees of Mystery, considered the very heart of Redwood National and State Parks.  Unfortunately, as we poked along, we failed to factor in two hour-long delays caused when road crews closed one of the two lanes for extensive road repair.

SIDENOTE:  On March 27, 1964, Alaska experienced an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2, generating a tsunami which, 5 hours later took 11 lives and destroyed nearly all of Crescent City, CA a small town on the Redwood Highway along the California coastline.  As we traveled on July 28, 2021, we were aware of being at sea level while also noting “Tsunami Hazard Zone” signs every couple of miles.  On July 29, as we prepared to leave our motel in Ukiah, CA for the open road, the Today Show announced an 8.4 magnitude earthquake in Alaska and warned of the possibility of a tsunami along the California coastline we were traveling.  Yikes!

 

We had planned to spend two nights with Charlene, but it turned out she was dog sitting for Tiffany and Bob who had taken some time off with their kids before Josh leaves for Fukuoka, Japan (where Todd lives) on a full-time Church mission. She had left her front door unlocked so we could get in, but a few minutes after we arrived, she showed up.  We spent the evening getting caught up with our favorite sister-in-law.   The next morning, we headed home to pick up 17 days of mail, get reacquainted with our St. George kids, watch some of the 50+ hours of our favorite (mindless) TV shows saved in our queue and snuggle with our cat, Charles.  It took us 12 hours from Fresno to St. George … and 3 days to recuperate!