Unfortunately, I did not sleep well in my sleeping bag; it was too small to move around in. I woke up to hear James playing piano. James plays very beautifully. Then ComCast (the Cable Company) arrived shortly after I walked into the kitchen. I talked with Steve briefly about Jackie's resume, while the ComCast workers had to troubleshoot the cable connections in Jackie and Steve's house; nothing is ever easy with them :-)
We met Marc for lunch at VERDE COCINA, a Mexican restaurant. I enjoyed tasting and eating the food, but boy it sure upset my stomach! I ate the guacamole with corn tortillas and cheese quesadillas with chorizo and bacon. I may actually have eaten more bacon than John! He sure seemed to think so. And I spent the rest of the day paying for it! We ate all of the restaurant's bacon. They ran out and could not provide us with our 3rd order of bacon, much to John's chagrin.
After lunch we walked over to the coffee shop BARISTA so Marc, Jackie and Steve could get their coffee fix. Once we completed that task, we walked back to the car and drove home. We returned to the house so John could get his eyedrops for his eye and Jackie and Steve could meet with their contractor.
Marc and I then walked to Washington Park. We first visited the Lewis and Clark Monument, then the Rose Garden, and then the Japanese Garden. I enjoyed the Rose Garden; seeing and smelling all of those Roses felt great. Although the sun and heat eventually made me feel physically miserable and lethargic. We visited the Rose Garden Gift Shop, where Marc bought a couple of gifts. We then walked on to the Japanese Garden.
I loved the Japanese Garden; it reminded me of Monet's garden in Giverny. We met a French couple at the Tea House (a synchronicity!). I felt a real passion and interest in Japanese Gardens and felt fired up to visit Japan. I noticed that the sales clerk at the Japanese Garden Gift Shop was a Lefty; how cool is that?! We are taking over!
After visiting the Japanese Garden, Marc and I walked down to the Tennis Courts, where we met Jackie and Steve and the kids. Then we all walked down to the Rose Garden to visit the Roses some more. Steve took off with the kids, while Jackie, Marc, and I lagged behind. We eventually ambled on over to the gift shop to buy some water for Marc and me and tea for Jackie, while Steve took the kids to the playground. Eventually, they returned and joined us. The kids got snow cones to quench their thirst. John got a coconut-flavored snow cone, which Jackie did not like. Jackie and Steve then had the kids dump the remainder of their snow cones in the trash. Then Jackie and John drove home, while Steve, James, Sophia, Marc, and I walked home.
After returning home, we got washed up and walked to POWELL'S BOOKSTORE. Steve and Sophia drove the car to the hill base, parked the car, and walked from that point. Well, that sure turned out to be a long walk! When we got to the bookstore we immediately went to the bookstore cafe and got some drinks (more water for me) and a blueberry muffin for the kids. The blueberry muffin jogged my memory about Moebius, AKA the French artist Jean Giraud, so I went looking for his LIEUTENANT BLUEBERRY Graphic Novels. I felt surprised that POWELL'S only had 3 graphic novels by Moebius; I expected them to offer a complete collection. And I found them only after asking a sales clerk for help; they were hidden in a bookcase and were very expensive, like hundreds of dollars. I recall paying $16.00-20.00 for these novels back in the 1980s!
Another surprise: 1 of Jackie's high school classmates had a graphic novel for sale at POWELL'S called FINDER. Science Fiction if I recall correctly.
Steve and I walked up to the 3rd floor, where I found the photography books. I again felt disappointed: no books about Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Joseph Holmes, or John Sexton. So I walked back downstairs and rejoined the group. Marc and Steve decided to drink some beers, while the rest of us returned to the car. We stopped at the grocery store (ZUPAN'S) so I could get some red wine and PEPTO-BISMOL® for my upset stomach. Then we drove the final 3 or 4 blocks home. I took my PEPTO-BISMOL® and then showered. After a 2nd round of PEPTO-BISMOL® my stomach finally felt better. Jackie and I visited until around 10:00PM, then I went to bed. I surfed the InterNet for about half an hour and then went to sleep. Fortunately, Jackie and Steve had an inflatable mattress, so I slept much better this night.
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