MOTHER OF ALL WEEKENDS

MOTHER OF ALL WEEKENDS

This was a special weekend. The first full weekend of September was supposed to be a National Guard weekend spent in Spokane. I didn’t go because I had finally made the agonizing decision to retire from the guard after 21 and a half years of military service. It was the events of this weekend that pushed me over the edge to make the decision to retire and all I can say is WOW! What a weekend!

It was probably back in February that this weekend started to unfold. I purchased tickets to the WSU gridiron classic in Seahawk stadium. Any time I’m in country during the start of college football season, Rob and Shendy Kuchcinski and I like to go to the game in Seattle together. It has become our own tradition. The pastor and his wife invited me along with the rest of the church congregation to help celebrate her 50^th birthday by going to Walla Walla, Washington for a stay at the historic Marcus Whitman Hotel along with traveling together on the wine tasting tour.

Reservations were made, tickets purchased and then I the schedule for drill National Guard weekends for the following fiscal year came out…Guess what, it was on this very weekend that I was supposed to be going to the Yakima firing range for some field training…. Guess what… I retired. I had been tormented with the decision of what to do about the military career for over a year by that time and had been sitting on the fence long enough. I pulled the trigger on the decision and announced my retirement.

This weekend needed to be a great weekend to celebrate the first time in the last 21 plus years that I was unencumbered by military service with nothing on the horizon. I was able to do all of this because of the decision to retire. Since that day that I finally made the decision I have encouraged over and over that it was the right decision. Now, in hind-sight it was really a no-briainer. Why did I struggle so much with it?

Thursday I started out of Walla Walla and had a rather enjoyable clear crisp fall day to drive through the heart of the Palouse down to the historic hotel which is still being restored, floor by floor. A great dinner at a restaurant called the White House at Crawford, locals say it has nothing to do with the president’s home town, then later linking up with Pastor Evan Wilson for some enjoyable cigars and fellowship. That first night there were only the pastor, his wife and I enjoying the ambiance of the beautifully restored Hotel lobby and restaurant.

The next morning I was clued in on the big surprise present for the Amazing Mrs. Wilson as she is called. Davis, her first born child and oldest of three sons had flown in from New York city to Portland, Oregon where his sister Michael drove him to Wall Walla that morning. Davis had told his mother a week before that he was sending his gift to Michael and she would drive it up for him. Michael and Davis stopped a block away from the hotel and he climbed into the trunk of the car. Michael arrived and insisted that Leslie, the Amazing Mrs. Wilson, come help get her gift out of the car. I had prepositioned myself with camera to capture the event. It went off well and I got some pictures of the big surprise, but they did not turn out as well as I wanted. That’s it! Time to get a new camera.

The rest of the group arrived and we were off to taste wines. We spent the entire day going from one quaint and trendy wine tasting gallery to another. We went to seven winery tasting houses out of approximately 120 inside the Walla Walla town limits. That’s right, 120 wine gallery/tasting houses in a town that’s probably 30,000 people. There was a wine house on every corner. This town was unbelievable. I cannot explain how beautiful this old town is with all its restored brick buildings and wine culture. The nice thing about this town was that there is all this culture in a small town with no hint of the edgy counter culture run-away-liberalism.

One of the ladies that came brought us boxed lunches that she had made. We all knew that she was going to out do and show out and oh did she not disappoint us. We went to the city pioneer park with very old and very large sycamore trees that were about eight feet in diameter. It was a great picnic.

One thing we all learned is that after three or four wine houses your taste buds can still tell the difference between white and red wine and that’s about it. I really couldn’t tell what I was tasting and it was impossible to get any kind of a buzz off of the little amounts we all had. So what was I was there for. The fellowship among godly Christians all suffering from sugar crashes and the yawns was the reason I was still there. It was really a lot of fun as everybody that went had a ball.

We headed back to the hotel where a classic car club was rallying for the weekend. I positioned myself with my small pocket camera and to my great luck, the people all loaded up in their cars and began convoying out of the parking lot on their way to dinner. I was able to get a good picture in the evening sun of each car with the old hotel tower in the background. I love the providential timing of events leading up to a really good picture.

There was just enough time to clean up and get dressed up for the birthday banquet held in one of the rooms. I was taking pictures, what a surprise, and was staging some of this and some of that. I came up with the idea of having the head couple seated at the head of the table with everyone else standing dutifully at the position of attention like the humble serfs we really are. The pictures turned out ok, but I still want a new shiny camera.

There were late night cigars and a visit to the lounge and a grand time was had by all.

Next morning I was woken up by an old friend’s call on my cell phone wondering where I was. I was supposed to be meeting with him in the tri cities on my way to the WSU game in Seahawk Quest Stadium. Oh that wonderful rush of adrenalin when you come to the realization that you overslept. I rushed and rushed, hurried and hurried and ran and puffed but I just couldn’t get out that door and out of town fast enough.

Eventually I did make it to tri cities and had a great visit with Bill Watts. There are no pictures from this meeting, but ironically I got to play with his professional level canon camera. He taught me a lot about the matching the tools of the trade with what you want to do, and what you need to be able to do. I still want that shiny new camera I’ve been eyeing. I could have spent all day with Bill, but I only had an hour and it was on to the game.

What was supposed to be pregame party at Rob and Shendy Kuchcinski’s house followed by a trip on the Sounder train from Edmonds to the game was now changed by the cell phone on the fly from the middle of the desert. I was going to be hard pressed to get to the game on time. We arranged to meet at our favorite restaurant, FX McCrory’s near Union Station.

I made great time the whole way and then… the last 15 miles of the trip turned in to pure torment. There were two accidents that slowed traffic up to a stand still as lanes had to merge on the east side of lake Washington on the Mercer Island Bridge. I was gnashing my teeth and shaking my fist at the heavens as I inched closer and closer to the football stadium and FX McCrory’s that were A Bridge too Far.

Another change of plans by cell phone to my now waiting friends and I ordered a bacon cheese burger and a beer without even being in the city limits.

I finally past the wreck and after driving around for a few minutes in downtown Seattle I found a cheap place to park and ran to the restaurant where my friends, burger and beer were waiting, and all was right with the world.

The burger was great, from what I remember. I was trying to enjoy it, but the minutes were ticking by. I was trying to drink my beer and enjoy it, but the game was about to start. We hurried and hurried, rushed and rushed, huffed and puffed and it just took for ever for us to get across that parking lot and up those never ending stairs to the top of the cheap seats, because I bought the tickets this year. And then… the WSU kicker kicked the ball off… The game started late. Providence man. That’s providence.

We had a great time. To the greatest joy, one of the great Christian friends that I have ever had had just flown in from Africa and by cell phone we linked up inside the stadium. I love my cell phone. Isn’t modern technology great? She flew in from Africa the night before where she had been working with the African’s Children’s Choir organization. There we were changing plans on the fly with these little black plastic things that we stick in our ears. It’s just amazing. Tina Sipp, the encourager of thousands of Christians from around the world was tapping me on the shoulder. Oh how good it is to see an old friend.

The cougs did great and a grand time was had by all. Rob Shendy and I went out for a late night snack downtown and then I drove us back up to their place.

The next day I went to church with Rob and Shendy at the Shoreline branch of Mars Hill in downtown Seattle. I enjoyed it and their band was unbelievable. I went up to highway 20 to see the chaplain I spent a year in Afghanistan with and visited him and his son for a good part of the day. The next day I spent scoping out places to take pictures of the Puget Sound area from in the future. I had a great time. Rob had been given free tickets to the Mariners game against the As so four of us met down at the Pyramid Brewery House across the street from Safeco Field. The food was so good and we did the beer tasting sampler tray thing.

Then out of the corner of my eye I saw a small parade of Scottish kilt clad pipers marching towards us. They marched right past us into the brew house and performed there. The Seattle Fire Fighters Pipe and Drum Corps was performing for the 9-11 memorial day. The hair on the back of my neck was standing straight up and I had goose pimples the whole time they performed. They were about as good a pipe and drum corps as you will ever see in the states. I was impressed and even got emotional. They performed a handful of different times before they marched out and were gone.

The tickets to the game were in really good seats and we enjoyed the full service bar and restaurant. It was really fun until the mariners fell behind in the later innings.

The next day I again took the scenic route through the Puget Sound on my way up to Burlington where I was able to interview a doctor in between his patience. He had traveled to Afghanistan in 1969 and shared with me his experiences.

I then drove as fast as I could back to the Palouse. I was feeling home sick for the two tots and the family I live with. It may seem strange, but I know I got something going right when I look forward to an outrageously fun week-long weekend of traveling, friends and events, and then look forward to coming home because it’s great there too.

Thus concluded my Mother of All Weekends. That was one heck-of-a retirement party. I am grateful to God for what turned out completely serendipitously to be such a wonderful party. My gratitude goes out to all the participants who didn’t even know that they were participating in my retirement party.

And a grand time was had by all.

Tim Tate

CPT WAARNG Retired