Simple Minded

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This is the seventh blog in a series. To read the earlier entries, click here: Archive: The ThirdAge Romance Saga of Sally Franz.

The great thing about living in a place that is a vacation destination is that everyone finally wants to come visit me. Not so when I lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma or Tarboro, NC. Not saying those places don’t have their peculiar charm, but living next to a national park trumps azaleas and magnolias (in 104 degree heat) big time.

So far two of my three sisters have made it up to the Olympic Peninsula and one is scheduled for August. Many more friends from places all over the states have come or are scheduled to come. Add to that we won the Best Bed and Breakfast in the Northwest (according to Seattle’s King 5 TV) and folks know they can come visit and stay in luxury for a family and friends discount.

The thing is that even though I love to show off the waterfall hikes and Hurricane Ridge overlooking glaciers and wildflowers I just can’t keep up with the vacation mode. When friends stay here at Lost Mountain Lodge, they get a three course meal. Then they want crab cakes for lunch and dinner is usually a magnificent rich roasted something with chocolate cheesecake berry fondue for dessert. Folks, I can’t eat like that except for when I go somewhere for my vacation two weeks a year, say a cruise and then at the end they have to roll me out of my cabin and offload me with the baggage. (And yes I understand with head knowledge that I don’t have to eat all that food. But there is a wicked little voice that says, “It’s already paid for!”)

The other thing that is hard to keep up with is the pace. Up at 7 a.m., breakfast and hit the mountains at 10am, waterfall hiking done at noon. Then lakes, kayaking and whale watching all on day one. Next day cross the Straits of Juan DeFuca and cover all of Victoria: Butchart Gardens, the Museum, the Harbor Tour and Tea at the Empress Hotel. Did I mention shopping for linens, English china and antiques? Here is my BIG TIP. Nothing here is going away. You can come back again. There is simply too much to cram into one vacation. And here is the REAL reason I can’t go with you seven days in a row eating, photographing, and paddling with glee. I am getting too old for this.

With all this wealth of seafood, fabulous chefs, shops, lavender farms, wineries and even a Drive Thru Fudge shop in Sequim…all my new husband and I like to do is boring and simple stuff. On marriage number three our “Date Night” is a trip to Costco. A BIG “Date Night” is Costco with a quick run through Home Depot. Our favorite dinner out, with all the gourmet foodie meccas out our back door is…breakfast at I-Hop at 8 p.m. Our I-Hop waitress knows us by name and can just about order for us: two orders of Swedish Crepes with Lingon berry butter, eggs over medium, hash browns well done and crispy bacon.

When we do go out into the woods, we walk the bluffs over the Dungenesss Spit at sunset or take a lunch to the Hurricane Hill picnic area. We sit side by side. We say nothing. We watch the dance of nature before us: the clouds, the snowfields, the bobbing wildflowers and the waving boughs of evergreens. We are not ashamed to say we are getting older. We are not just city folks who are living simply (we are that) but we are also choosing to be a bit simple minded. Surprised by a hummingbird, delighted in a sweet strawberry from the garden or amused by a green hop-toad; that’s us. Maybe this is why I loved my grandparents. They were never in a hurry, never had something else more important to attend to, and they always had a lap to crawl up onto. After a lifetime of becoming someone important, I am glad to be just plain old vanilla with maybe a few colorful sprinkles thrown on top.

To be continued

Sally Franz is a former stand-up comedian, motivational speaker, and radio host. She is a twice-divorced mother of two and a grandmother of three. Sally has a degree in gerontology and several awards for humor writing. She is the author of Scrambled Leggs: A Snarky Tale of Hospital Hooey
and The Baby Boomers Guide to Menopause.