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Visit to Seattle and Spokane, May 14-20, 2025
Purpose of the visit was to visit Merle, now working in Everett, WA, north of Seattle, and then to visit Spokane as possible next place to land.  
My friend from forever ago Pam Dore picked me up at the airport in Seattle.  We visited and then hung out in Everett, waiting for Merle to get off work.  We visited this toy store called Funko that was eerily empty.  Then again, it as cold out and a school night.
Spokane514 at Funko store.JPG
We got to catch up and have some dinner at a place where the same guy was the bartender, waiter, cashier.  I felt like I should have offered to do the dishes afterward.
Spokane514 w Pam.JPG
Next AM, Thursday 5/15, Merle and I drove to Spokane to check out the town.  After lunch, we drove to some different 'hoods.  Here we are in the Japanese Garden of Manito Park in the South Hill neighborhood.
Got to meet up with friend from foot/ankle fellowship days in Dallas, Mark Sienko, in Spokane doing a locums gig in oncology.
After visiting with Mark, we were treated to a lovely dinner at Sorella with friends from residency days at Harbor/UCLA, Darryl Potyk, and Carol Guthrie (about to retire in three weeks...yipee!!). 
Though I remember us all running around before computers trying to get our work done in residency, now WE are the grown ups.  What's 30 years between friends, anyway?
We were fortunate to be able to stay with another friend from Dallas, Bernie Bank, who recently also had run for Congress.  On 5/16 Friday, she took us around to see some sights including a visit to Cour D'Alene Idaho, see the resort and the local street art.
There were these local moose and mouse metal statues of Mudgy and Millie, though I couldn't tell which name applied to which animal.
For those older readers, at least I confirmed it wasn't Moose and Squirrel.
When we got back to Bernie's house, these two were just staring at us as if we were driving onto THEIR driveway.

(Actually, we probably were.)
Saturday 5/17, we did some additional local exploration, including a short hike to the area called Riverside Park with some Spokane River whitewater, in a region called Bowl and Pitcher.  We couldn't figure out which rock formation was the bowl and which one was the pitcher.  No matter.  Our job was just to not fall from the height.
After that, we met up with Bernie's friend Victor as we volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, helping out with construction.  It was a chance to help out and chat with some more locals.
Have to have something to fall back on in case the ortho gig doesn't work out.
Next am we went for another hike on a region called the Waikiki trail, or something like that.

I thought I was being the good Samaritan, thinking that some dog owner had left their bag of dog business on the path, so I was carefully bringing it back to put in the trash can.  It might actually be a new taste treat called Poop on a Stick.
After driving back to Seattle (Everett) on Sunday, Merle and I were hanging out on Monday 5/19.  I got to meet some doggie friends where Merle is staying.
We worked out at the local Y, visited with her aunt and had pizza at Costco (can we rock a city or what??), and then met some other Filipinos who had moved from Albany to the Seattle area for some sushi.  Their 13 yr. old son (in the middle) after eating three distinct dishes, then ordered desert.  No wonder he's now taller than the daddy.
Then, I returned to Albany, and back to regular life and deciding what to do next.

Peace.
 
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