Nothing Day - 10/10/14

Or - West Coast Story...

There's not much to this particular story. Taking care of things, getting out for awhile and enjoying the Autumn weather. That's about it.

I needed to run to the bank and the other day I had gotten a notice about a recall for 2007 Toyota Siennas. Oddly enough, I own a 2007 Toyota Sienna and so I thought I'd take advantage of this opportunity and get the oil hose replaced while we were out. In addition, our Walmart is right in between the bank and the Toyota Shop, so, naturally we stopped there, too. 

First off was the Toyota shop. Here it is, Toyota of Renton...modern, clean, efficient and expensive. Hahaha, there's my baby, back there near the entrance. 

I presented the recall notice and the fine fellow at the service desk pulled up my Baby's history on the computer and told me that they'd already taken care of that little problem in September...when I'd had the oil changed. 

Hahaha, OK. Saved me an hour and a half of waiting. I take good care of Baby and she still runs like she's brand-new.

So from Toyota we hopped on over to Walmart. Here's our newly remodeled and expanded Walmart SuperCenter. And it is ALWAYS busy in the afternoon. 

But we had a purpose...we were looking for some binoculars. And, of course, they were out of the ones we wanted. 

Ah, Karma, why do you keep picking on me!?! What'd I ever do to you!?!

Oh, we had some other things to pick up, too. They have a small pot-luck at the VFW every Sunday for the Seahawks game. We picked up some things for our contribution. 

Plus, we were out of Turkey Burgers!!! Mmmmmm, Turkey Burgers!! It tastes as good as it sounds!! 

Hahahahaha!! No way, Man!! No way!!

The guys that makes these displays for the Garden Center always put on a good show. They did something with flowers a while back and had a HUGE #12 displayed in front of the store. Really good stuff...like this - They've put their stands on the side so they look like the wheels of a wagon...a wagon of flowers.

And then they jazz it up with some of the seasonal stuff on sale. At least it isn't Christmas decorations yet. Give them a week or two. 

We made it through Walmart and then hit the bank...drat, I shoulda got some of my 'environment' pictures of the bank. Oh, don't worry, I'll be sure and get them some time in the future for your enjoyment.

Anywho, we needed to stop by the Post Office so I thought, what the heck, I can stop at the P.O. in Renton and, maybe, stop by the VFW out there for a convivial visit. You know, support the Home Team and all that.

So I parked at the VFW and we walked on over to the P.O. A nice Fall day for a walk.

The leaves they are a falling and the evidence is...

...all over the place.

Plus a walk gives us a chance for a...

    Renton Reflected Window Selfie!!    

Both Carol and I agree that I might have started this,  taking pictures in windows, but she's the one driving the train now.

    Reflected Car Window Selfie!!    

Hahaha, it's only gonna get better, y'all!!

So we stopped by the VFW, the door was open but they weren't ready for any business.

Ratz.

I was looking forward to supporting this VFW Post by purchasing an appropriate adult beverage.

Working past my great disappointment, we went over to our park. We had the foresight to purchase some Double Chocolate Muffins and, honestly, what better place to enjoy them but at our park?

So we went to enjoy some of the cool, damp and immensely welcome Autumn weather.

We were there, watching the planes taking-off and looking across the lake. The wind was coming from the south and so the planes were taking off into the wind. Normally, they take-off heading north but today, because of the direction of the wind, it was backwards.

Then I saw this Boeing 737 slowly rolling down the runway. I've seen this before, where they taxi down to one of end of the runway and back revving up their engines and, I suppose, going through some performance checks on the ground.

And that's what I expected this one to do. Taxi down, turn around and taxi back.

So far everything was as I expected.

Haha, these Big Boys can, pretty much, turn on a dime.

Then he sat there for a couple of minutes and I wondered what test he was doing now.

Bored, I looked back to the lake and the cormorant and coots.

The Big Boy was revving up his engines and the back blast was, literally, blowing the coots back across the lake.

Then I got this shot of a small seaplane with Mercer Island as a backdrop. I wanted to get a representative pic of the lake and the type of weather we were experiencing.

I noticed that the engines on the jet were revving up even more and I turned to check out the 737 and...

...doggone if he wasn't moving on down the runway and picking up speed.

I was a little dumbfounded as I kept expecting him to throttle down because his test was done but he kept on a keeping on!!

BAM!!

I realized he was taking off!! I've been coming to this park for a while now and driving past this airport for over 8 years and this was the FIRST time I'd ever seen any of the Big Jets taking off!!

I kept my camera going and...my battery died.

*$#!)&$#&@ battery!!!

So I stood and watched it grab some air and rise up into the sky all the time yelling at Carol, 

Look!! He's taking off!! He's taking off!!

Yeah, I'm the kinda guy gets excited about that!!

Wow, it was the first time I'd ever seen a Jet take-off from Renton Air Field.

I replaced the verstangineen battery and got this shot. I've never seen a seaplane like this. Where the plane lands in the water on its hull which is shaped like a boat. I mean, I've seen these before but this is a first here in Renton.

After he took off, I heard a familiar roar coming from the south-end of the field and saw this guy taxiing down the tarmac.

Could this be?

Was it possible?

A second take-off...in one day?

I got into a good position to do two things...

1. Get the plane taking off

2. See what the back wash from the jets were doing to the water. Carol had told me the jets really kicked up the water in the lake.

OK, he's making his turn...

...revving up the engines...

...and as they spool up you can see the ripples they're causing on the water in the lake...

...and then hitting its peak, the back wash was streaming the water backwards!! Sorry it's out of focus but I was shooting fast and...that happens.

There were no birds there. Carol said they were all blown out by the first jet that took off.

Then he began his take-off, picking up speed as he moved down the strip...

...starting to grab some air...

...and lifting off with plenty of room left. I was surprised he took off in this direction because there is so much city right at the end of the runway. And those hills to climb over, too.

But he did!! Boy, Howdy, he did!!

He was off to who knows where...but he didn't return to this field.

Hahaha, keen fun!! And right on cue, things got back to normal. While the 737 was taking off, this guy was landing in the lake.

This one really enjoyed the show.

Getting a little Artsy-Fartsy. I wanted the lake, the seaplane, the boat, the trailer park and the Eagle Tree all in one picture.

Mission accomplished!!

So it was a pretty good afternoon.

We enjoyed the weather, watched the coots, oohed and ahhed over the planes and ate our Double Chocolate Muffins.

Mmmmmmm, delicious.

An ordinary day but very enjoyable. Tomorrow starts the rain and, except for Monday, they're predicting rain for the next seven days.

Ahhhhh, good.

And, while I was sitting on the couch writing this epic, a hawk came and landed on the tall bird feeder. We could see him sitting on top of the pole. Strange, all the other birds took off.

Hahahaha, smart birds.

A day for firsts and a day for some easy fun.

It's a good thing.

Life is good.

    Hooah!!