SEATTLE

The antiques selling season that I participate in fizzled out sometime in October, so rather than sit around until May, enduring months of the frozen agony that the Midwest dishes out a-plenty, I decided to hit the road for the the West Coast.

First stop was Seattle. I arrived on a Southwest Airlines flight from Chicago to Seattle which I scored for only $89 one way.

It was great being back in Seattle although the weather wasn't very accommodating, with cold and wet being the norm of my stay there.

I did the usual: checked out the antique and thrift stores, went to the Pike Street Market and Old Town area, saw the Louis Comfort Tiffany show at the Seattle Art Museum and dined on seafood like there was no tomorrow. I took buses everywhere and got to know the bus system pretty well.

In fact, I took a bus from Lake City, where my cousin lives, and then a ferry from the Fauntleroy terminal in West Seattle. From there I headed to Vashon Island to have a jam session with my former guitarist Doug Pine and his 13 year old son

While checking out the galleries in Seattle, I ran into an old friend, Bob Elam, who has a primitive art gallery called "Between Cultures". It was a chance meeting and we had a real reunion as I had done a show in his Modesto, Ca. gallery circa: 1983-4

It was also a thrill to see my cousin(s) again as family is pretty sparse back in the Heartlands. My cousin Donna takes good care of me on my Seattle trips, doubt I'll ever be able to repay her with such generosity.