AndyO Blog

This entry is about my second day at Lake Chelan. You can read the first entry here.

Like many mornings I've spent at Campbell's, this one started with breakfast in the Bistro restaurant. Cameron was excited about eating their biscuits and gravy (he's turned into a connoisseur of sorts). I ordered Drew the Apple Oat Cakes (just about the best pancakes I've ever tasted), and I ordered the meat lover's omelet. Brenda also joined us for breakfast, which was nice. But then Drew decided he didn't want anyone to cut his pancakes (after we'd cut them up) -- and all hell broke loose. Oh well.

Hot tub politics

The weather had turned cloudy and cold, so when the boys and I got back to the room we went in the hot tub instead of the pool. When I got out, I ended up talking to an older woman who told me her life story.

She survived World War II by moving around Austria with her parents, and in the Fifties emigrated to the U.S. She talked about how hard her parents had worked and contrasted that to today, where she saw a lot of lazy Americans who didn't want to work. She also said she didn't like President Obama apologizing on foreign soil, as she thought America had made many sacrifices and didn't need to apologize.

I told her I agreed that America had made a lot of sacrifices (especially during the early 20th Century). But I thought America's policies after World War II with regard to Communism and globalization were not always helpful to our global neighbors -- and often interfered. Case in point: Iran.

(I guess I should point out that I don't always find myself talking about history and politics at the hot tub.)

Shopping

Another vacation pastime that the boys and I share is shopping on the Chelan strip. Typically we go out and buy all kinds of useless stuff, but this time we had several clear objectives:

Drew wanted flip-flops (because his brother had them), which we picked up from a clothing store.

Cameron wanted a small radio, which we picked up from Radio Shack. (Usually we ended up buying some cheap remote control car or airplane which breaks in about 5 minutes; but there was a moratorium on all remote controlled toys for the summer.)

Then we walked to Riverwalk Books, and we bought a bunch of fun toys and items, including one called Ball of Whacks. The Ball of Whacks has 30 magnetic pyramid pieces that can be assembled into a rhombic triacontahedron -- or split into many other shapes, like stars. I watched Drew, my four-year-old, play with it for hours. He'd take it apart and then put it back together, over and over.

I also bought Common Errors in English Usage, a fascinating book by WSU professor Paul Brians about words that cause problems in the English language. For example, when should you use farther vs. further -- or immigrate vs. emigrate? For some reason I find this stuff interesting. If you do too, check out Paul Brians' website.

Seeing old friends and meeting new ones

When we got back to the room, we saw some kids who are always at Campbell's when we are, Camille (9) and Taylor (15). Camille and Cam have been playing since they were 3 or 4 years old, and there are some pictures I've taken of them where they look they could be cousins (weird). 

A motley bunch: Cameron, Camille, and Drew

Also that afternoon, Cameron ran around with another boy he'd met earlier when we were in the hot tub. They went kayaking and swimming together -- the first time Cameron has gone off by himself at Lake Chelan. 

One of the best burgers of all time

Later, when Brenda was back from her conference and Drew was having a meltdown, I took Cameron up to the Veranda restaurant for a late dinner.

Cameron wasn't hungry, but I ordered the Hawaiian Kai Burger and Clam Chowder. I didn't know exactly what to expect, but the teriyaki and roasted pineapple hot sauce on that burger made my taste buds very happy.

When I returned to the room, I told Brenda the burger was one of the best I'd ever had. I knew I'd have a hard time resisting ordering that burger again.

Labels: Lake Chelan, Travels, Vacation