Saturday Lunch Date with Family

Today we had a planned lunch date with part of our family. My cousin, John, and his wife, Diana, live down in Lake Oswego, Oregon. John e-mailed me about a week ago to see if we'd like to meet in the town of Kelso, Washington for lunch. We've done this on many occasions and it works out well. Kelso is sort of half way between Lake Oswego and Tumwater. We said, "Yes!"

My Great Aunt Anne and Uncle Lyle were staying with John and Diana (she's John's mom) so it was a bonus to be meeting with them, too. Aunt Anne and Uncle Lyle live over in Soda Springs, Idaho but they come over to Oregon a couple of times a year.
Aunt Anne, Uncle Lyle, John and Diana

It was only a 63 mile drive south on I-5 to get to our usual meeting place, the Azteca Mexican Restaurant in Kelso. We took Annie with us and she waited patiently in the car. We checked with the weather forecast to make sure it would be safe to leave her in the car -- good to go!

We enjoyed our visit so much. John and Diana are planning a return trip to Italy in October and will stay there for 4 weeks. They go over there about twice a year. They've taken Italian language lessons for years and can communicate with the local folks easily. They do not RV, so they go to Italy to enjoy the culture, art and architecture, and live like the Italians while they are there.

Aunt Anne and Uncle Lyle have traveled a great deal over the years, as well. They've gone to Europe a couple of times and have traveled a lot throughout the U.S. too. Currently they are enjoying the quiet, retired life in the very small town of Soda Springs, Idaho. (pop. approx. 5,500) We had hoped to stop off for a day or two in Soda Springs on our way home from Iowa. We ended up having to stay so long at Winnebago that I just waned to get home, so we came straight to Tumwater.

Bruce and I minded our menu selection very carefully today. We got a low-fat chicken tostada with no dressing or refried beans. I took some of our own fat-free dressing with us and we used that. We were also able to steer clear of those darned chips they leave at the table. That was a little harder to do...but we managed.

We enjoyed catching up on activities with everyone such as: hip replacement surgery (John), knee surgery (Diana), and blood disorder issues (Bruce). The oldest ones (Anne and Lyle) had no major health issues to report, which is a good thing.

I took the photo (above) as we left the restaurant and said our good-byes. We're hoping to get over to Soda Springs at some point next year to see Aunt Anne & Uncle Lyle. Won't go in the winter....it gets way, way cold and snowy there! Good old Annie was waiting for us happily when we got back to the car and I swear she gave me a big smile! It was a great day.

Until next time.....so long for now!

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