HiHium Lake 2018, The Motley Crew in Hot Water (Again)

Leaving the extremely fun Casne/Strauss wedding weekend in Seattle was difficult (primarily because we were all a bit challenged to get up and moving from our digs at the Westin. But instead of staying another evening and then facing Monday morning Seattle auto-destruct, Jay & Leslie opted to travel with us North of Seattle on Sunday to beat the traffic. It wasn’t very far on the map, but it proved more of a challenge than any of us would admit...that’s where the now outdated saying “pictures don’t lie” might have been somewhat damning. But as we all now know any of these pictures from Marysville Costco or waiting for our room to be cleaned so we could throw all our crap in and get it messy again, could be digitally altered.  (Although I’m not sure if technically you can digitally alter the foot, toes on the foot yes, but the foot?)

The Costco couch and stuffed animal displays were irresistible
as was the back seat of the Subaru for Leslie while we waited
for our room to be made ready for us...it was a long day!

The four travel pigs watched with jowls agape as dessert was prepped

So, once we piled more food and adult beverages from Kamloops into our vehicles and then finished the last hour and a half drive to the cabin, it was all about getting the wood fired oven (The Big O) going and getting martinis prepared. Lots of exquisite dining planned for this week. Layne had pre-made some beef bourguignon and some cheesy polenta for our first night into the cabin, plus dessert was a blueberry cornbread! Living off the grid at HiHium Lake is pretty rough! I got the fire going in The Big O and pretty soon we were baking the polenta and heating up the fancy named beef stew. Hendricks martinis set the mood and dinner was served with excellent Italian wine. In fact, the entire week we dedicated ourselves to decimating the Hendricks gin and fine Italian wine supply in the British Columbia outback. Our travel pigs all watched with glee as the blueberry cornbread was put together for the oven bake...sorry, none was left for you pigs!

I got Chef Bill (my sourdough) going and started the baguette supply chain. Second day at HiHium I put two plain baguettes and two craisin filled baguettes on the dinner table. We filled the wood fired aluminum hot tub and got it fired up & heating as soon as possible the second day. Takes a long time to heat 400-500 gallons of water when you don’t keep the fire stoked because of the distractions of having to stop for beer (or a martini), or a round of story telling and laughter, or a fishing expedition, or just a plain old attack of lazy, but then we’re older and have no supervisor (other than the ladies who kept trying valiantly to keep making progress on meals & projects for the week).

The new entrance to the compost pit dug by our friendly bear, plus some
other "signs" we found around the cabin

Last year Jim hired a little backhoe to dig a new outhouse and compost pit. The old outhouse structure simply got moved over the new pit and we lined the compost pit with plastic and put a piece of plywood over the top. Three days into our trip this year, apparently a bear found our compost simple irresistible and dug in through one side. There had been a large fire in the area last year and we think that the little “island” spared from the devastation around the cabin (Thank you, Canadian Firemen!), concentrated a lot of wildlife into this fairly small oasis. We saw some pretty big bear tracks and deposits...glad not to see any whistles or empty pepper spray containers in the deposits. We all were very diligent keeping food waste carefully contained or burned in the wood fired stove that heated our water for the cabin (and to make its occupants more able to stand each other during close seating at mealtimes).

Jim, Jay, and Sam got in a lot of fishing...some dry and some pretty wet fishing on the lake, but every time they came back with big smiles, fish stories, and empty beer cans. I understand that adds up to success when you’re fishing...but then I was enjoying my beer in the cabin with four lovely ladies, where it was warm and dry (perspective, it’s all about perspective). During breaks in the meal preps, jigsaw puzzles were high on the list of entertainment as were rounds of Susan’s favorite card game Got-It (a gin rummy variation).

Clockwise from top left: Jay, Sam, & Jim returning from a rainy fishing trip, Jay & Leslie
making a stone path between the house stairs and the hot tub deck entry, Susan & Layne
putting together a jig saw puzzle, and the boys showing they could fish in good weather too

Tuna fish & avocado salad for lunch with a pineapple upside
down cake created for dinner that evening...yumm!

Layne & Susan had coordinated and worked out menus for the week, Leslie, Martha, and I tried to help wherever and whenever we could. Lots of roasted vegetables, beautifully laid out appetizer trays, awesome main courses, extraordinary wines, fancy desserts, and then the next morning full breakfasts with plenty of fruit, eggs, bacon, & fried potatoes. The pineapple upside down cake done in an iron skillet was a big success.

Clockwise from top left: Craisin & pecan baguette, whole wheat,
CCRAP loaf (Craisin, cinnamon, raisin, apricot, & pecan)
plain & craisin baguettes with a stenciled whole wheat

Jim & Susan usually were the ones peeling and prepping the fruit since they both tended to be up early and looking for jobs to do. I just tried to keep out of the way and made sure nobody was without bread.






The hot tub was well used, The Big O was constantly being stuffed with things to bake or heat, the bear kept his/her distance from all the noise, all of us gained weight, and no liquor was left untouched or appreciated. This was a special trip for all of us. Although August 2018 was Susan’s last trip with the Motley Crew, she will always be in our hearts and minds as will the sound of her hearty laugh and the memory of her quick & warming smile.

Even though I was taking the picture, my spirit  (and wine) was in the tub with my friends  The Motley Crew!

Even though the evidence of the 2017 fires in British Columbia was very visible, it was cheering to see the flowers that had erupted in the newly opened fields and meadows (even if it was Fireweed!)

One third of the luggage stacked and ready to go; Kubota loaded up with
Casnes & Graybills and of course Jim driving. Plenty of Fireweed in the burnt areas.

Wedding 2018 - Be There and/or Be Square

The entire Motley Crew headed to Seattle in 2018 for the August wedding of Sam & Martha’s daughter, Samantha to Aaron Strauss. The plans (i.e objectives) were to pre-party before the official wedding get-together at a local pub, try not to embarrass ourselves by having too many jello-tequila shots at the official party, try to look dignified the next day at the wedding, try to be “the life of the party” at the reception (to give the “kids” some achievable goals in their lives), and then try to find our way back to the hotel. I thought it sounded a little optimistic and a lot to remember for our group, but then–wait, what was the middle part???

When we arrived in downtown Seattle, I had not fully appreciated how bad traffic was in the downtown area and how easily one wrong turn could force you into a far south loop by the football stadium (...could’ve been a baseball field or Boeing airfield or a Sea-Tac runway...) after all aren’t all big cities easy to navigate? When we finally got into proper, short diagonal, access drive to the fairly well camouflaged entry for the Westin’s valet parking, there was a pretty big push/rush to get everything out of the car so the valet folks could move the vehicle into “storage”. I won’t mince words here...it was decidedly intimidating, humiliating, degrading, and made me wish a had a flask of white lightnin’ in my back pocket. I definitely came to understand what could cause a man to take up drinking. (Please remember the duress noted here as it will be referred to again later in this epic blog.)

Anyway, with the bags all unloaded and carted up into our room, the pain in my head did start to moderate. Once we located the Malicks, Casnes, & the Graybills, life became fabulous again.

Notice that Sam & Martha pulled the excuse of "wedding duties"
to miss the  2018 Ti-Toki tasting.

Years ago, when the Graybills returned to the west coast from New Zealand for a visit, they brought a bottle for each couple of Ti-Toki, the national drink of their newly adopted country. At least they said it was the national drink of New Zealand...I suspect it was simply a ploy by the Kiwi government to make sure all the bottles of this insidious brew were removed from their island nation. Our Motley Crew gatherings since that time have always included either a tasting to see if the drink has mellowed over time or at least to express how much we communally hoped it would be the last bottle of Ti-Toki we ever had to sample. This gathering at the Westin was definitely one of the tasting variety. So here we are, huddled around one of the now, quite vintage bottle of Ti-Toki to ascertain if it has become drinkable as of 2018...it had not...but there’s not much left, so that’s something positive.


So our pre-wedding party was sort of a success, at least we all expended a lot of laughs & smiles. At the pub event, we got to meet a lot of Samantha & Aaron’s friends and didn’t embarrass ourselves too much–or at least none of us remembered anything that might be put into our permanent J. Edgar Hoover files.

(Although, I did notice several of those younger folks pointing at us and walking briskly away when we approached them the next day at breakfast.)

The next day we wandered around Seattle and then as afternoon closed down, we all started to get gussied up for the wedding. (This photo was taken in full gussie-up attire after the wedding since it was the first time we'd been able to get together as a group–with all those mother & father of the bride obligations Sam & Martha had to attend to.)

Now, those of you who know me, know I hate shoes and have been known to wear a tuxedo and my thongs (flip-flops to you youngsters). Well, in the rush to unload the car, (I told you to remember my extreme duress at that time...) my dress shoes did not make it out of the Subaru.

Susan was absolutely convinced I "forgot" my dress shoes on purpose, and although I did NOT forget my shoes on purpose, I wasn’t unhappy about the situation. And besides, they were a really good pair of thongs (yes kids, still talking about flip-flops).

I was told fairly firmly that I would keep my feet under the table and hidden as much as possible. When we arrived downstairs to meet the Malicks and Graybills, Jim had a variation on my foot covering issue...and Susan and Layne seemed at a loss for words (Isn't there a saying about quiet times being the best?...if there isn't, there should be, or maybe I was thinking about the calm before the storm.)


Apparently, Corfam shoes don’t store as well as they look. When I was in NROTC, they were a highly valued new item available in shoe apparel. They had a spectacular shine all by themselves...no hours of spit polish required, an absolute miracle to those required to produce a mirror finish on their dress shoes and who didn't want to spend hours on end polishing footwear.


As luck (or destiny) would have it, Jim’s left foot Corfam dress shoe had apparently been affected by the Andromeda Strain while in storage. With no stores open and being a practical problem solver, he went to the Concierge to see if they had any clear, wrapping tape to solve his shoe's outbreak. They did not, but did offer some scotch tape. So Jim taped the cracked shoe up and figured it only had to last a couple hours.




The left (taped) shoe sorta did last an hour or so...the right shoe sorta did not. After the wedding, we moved into the downstairs of the venue (I don’t know why it’s a building by day and a venue by evening.) Both Jim and I were told by Layne & Susan to keep our feet under a table at all times.

Jim's shoes (need I say...on the right?) at the end of the evening
and I thought it was worthwhile having a pre-storage/taped shoe
in the picture for comparison.

FYI, I have to tell you, that keeping your feet under a table at all times makes it quite difficult to get to your dinner at the buffet or to get your drink refilled without being a bit self-conscious and looking like a fairly suspicious, doddering old man.










I was pleased that Sam & Martha had placed us all at table #1 (out of +15 tables), meaning there were a lot of people at this wedding and the only ones who cared that Jim & I had sub-standard footwear were Susan and Layne–just sayin’...

Dinner was fabulous and we all had a terrific time being together to celebrate Samantha & Aaron’s marriage. Our best wishes for a long and happy union for them.









Sam made the effort to get a picture of the Motley Crew 2018 to go with the picture of the group from 2008 (pre-Motley Crew moniker).



After dinner, we headed back to the Westin, leaving Sam & Martha behind to pay the bill and cleanup the “venue” (not really, but it sounds good 16 months after the event). Both Susan and Layne had brought more comfortable shoes along for the walk back and had changed into them. As we started back, Layne’s toe strap on her Croc thongs (that’s still flip-flops to you kids!) broke. I loaned her mine (Olu Kai’s not Crocs) and I went barefoot back to the hotel. I often wondered if any homeless people saw us walking along and felt sorry for us..."and that one guy was wearing taped up shoes and the other guy didn't even have any shoes, poor buggers..." By the way, my feet got really, really (and I mean really) filthy walking three blocks on Seattle sidewalks. (I’m thinking if I have occasion to walk in downtown Seattle again, I’ll take a backup pair of my Olu Kai thongs/flip-flops with me.)

Now if you’ve been keeping track, arriving back at the Westin was our last goal for the weekend (and since there were no provisions about footwear in that goal, I’m counting it as successfully completed!)

The next day we loaded Jay and Leslie in our car and headed North for our 2018 adventure at HiHium Lake with the Motley Crew. (FYI: No ambitious goals, expected demeanor or attitudes had been set for this upcoming Canadian adventure...just sayin’, we’d already been through enough constraints in the name of big city, “act-your-age” mandates.)