Monday, September 26th, 2022 – Safeway
As we start out on our new week, the weather is still holding. Normally at this time the Seattle area would be plunging head-first into the rainy fall season. We are not disappointed.
Near the start of our walk, we found a water bottle, not your typical Aquafina bottle.
We’re talking a water cooler-sized bottle. It must have been left by a very thirsty, and strong jogger. We left it and will pick it up when we are out and about with the car.
We picked up a pair of sunglasses behind a rock retaining wall along Juanita-Woodinville Way.
They were in good condition and are from Crystal Mountain Resort about ninety miles from us near Mount Rainier.
We checked out their website and they are currently closed until the winter season arrives, but they have a video loop on their home page showing various summer activity scenes. A coincidence?
We think not.
On Juanita-Woodinville Way near Safeway, we found this.
Did they meet in the wine section? Two shopping carts that pass in the night.
This appeared to be the day of the balloons.
First, on our way up Norway Hill was a lone balloon in the ditch that came loose from a garage sale sign. Chuck inched down the bank and grabbed the balloon by the stem. As it came out of the ditch, it brushed a blackberry bush and popped. It was very deflating.
Then, less than a half mile farther up the hill, was a yellow balloon about eight feet down a gully tangled in another berry bush. Again, Chuck went down to retrieve it being very careful not to pop the balloon.
He handed it to Janet, and we continued on our walk.
Then, another quarter mile at the Tolt Pipeline water tank, yet another balloon.
This one was inside a locked area, and Janet was ahead of Chuck, so he left it.
Later at home, Chuck asked Janet where the yellow balloon was. She replied that she had popped it.
Tuesday, September 27th, 2022 – Park-and-Ride
The weather was still holding on to the vestiges of summer and the air was smokey from the fires in southern Washington. It made for a nice sunrise.
We found two dimes today.
One was very run over and the other was blurry, but they count. Literally.
And we found a tool.
Okay, we admit this is pushing the definition of a tool. It was beat up and rusty and ended up in our recycle bin.
Behind a concrete barrier on 112th Ave NE, we spotted some furniture items that appeared to be part of a home office including a table and a desk chair.
Maybe the guy is being forced to go into the office now. We notified the Bothell Public Works Department who are very responsive to our requests, unlike the City of Kirkland who ignore us.
Someone tossed a pride pin.
Is that taking pride in littering?
At the freeway onramp, we found a small bottle about three inches tall and tossed it in our recycle bag.
When we got it home, we saw it was a small roll-on bottle about half full of some oil that smelled of pine or lemon. The label is unreadable, but after some searching it appears to be an Essential Oil of some type. We have found these before, though not in roll-on form. This site lists 130 essential oils and their uses. If this is Lemon Essential Oil, it is used for,
- Athlete’s Foot
- Chilblains
- Colds
- Corns
- Dull Skin
- Flu
- Oily Skin
- Spots
- Varicose Veins
- Warts
Used for both dull and oily skin? These oils are miracle drugs.
The blue balloon from yesterday was still behind the fence and together we were able to hook the ribbon with a stick and carefully pull it up and over the fence, clearing the barbed wire.
Janet popped it.
Wednesday, September 28th, 2022 – Safeway and 100th Ave NE
The weather keeps holding for us though this afternoon we had some light rain and the temperature cooled.
Today Chuck received a call from a Bothell Public Works worker who said the office furniture had been removed and thanking us for reporting it. What a difference. We are still waiting for the last request we put into Kirkland about two months ago. The last time we contacted King County Weed Control about some Poison Hemlock plants, they told us they would pick them up, but it was a lot of work to come out and remove them and if we see more could we remove them. We really like the Bothell guys.
The first thing of interest we found today was a motorcycle helmet.
It was destroyed. Is this an approved helmet? We hope the guy’s head was not in it.
We saw this a few days ago.
This must be continuous distracted driving.
The remains of a fender bender on 100th Ave NE across from the 7-Eleven.
The taillight, we think, parts were scattered about thirty feed along the street and we picked up as much as we could during the gaps in traffic. They also left a license plate. We checked out the plate on the Internet and it belongs to a red, 2018 Jeep Wrangler. So, if you know someone with a jeep matching front license plate and broken taillight, let them know we have it.
Finally, we got lured into picking this up.
And it had been run over and the hook was missing. And it was the only keeper today.
Thursday, September 29th, 2022 – 160th to 124th Street
The weather remained mild today and money and roadkill remain elusive.
Trash wise, it was a very slow day. Even the folks who evidently party on 116th Ave NE by the freeway offramp seemed unenthusiastic.
Only six 14Hands wine cans. A mere pittance of what they normally litter. What gives?
At a repair shop on 116th Ave NE that has several cars in various states of disrepair, a Datsun 240Z showed up.
A 1970 240Z was the first new car we ever owned, and the price was $3,600. Taking inflation into account, that would be almost $27,000 today. We found one for sale on the Internet for $88,000. And no, we shouldn’t have kept it.
We stopped photographing balls we find, but this one is a rare find for us.
We don’t keep record of the types of balls we find , but we have only found four or five footballs. Mostly, we find dog balls and tennis balls. Why would someone try to teach their dog football? “Uh, there’s a foul on the field…”
Another lost lug nut.
We find so many of these that we are surprised we don’t find more lost wheels. We have seen a couple in our walks over the last eight years, but not compared to the large jar of lug nuts we have. It’s pretty nutty.
At the freeway offramp where the guy plays the guitar, we found a bag of goodies.
Another unopened bottle of Gatorade Zero Glacier Freeze. This is the third unopened bottle of Glacier Freeze we found in the last few weeks. Its reputation must precede it. Inside the bag was an assortment of snacks, toiletries, sunscreen, and feminine hygiene products. These all seem to be items a homeless person could use, except the feminine hygiene products in his case. We wonder what the guy kept.
On the freeway onramp, we found a dog’s travel water bowl.
We didn’t know what it was but found it easily on the Internet for fourteen bucks. Interesting idea, but we suspect it does not really work very well under real conditions. Which is probably why we found it on the onramp.
In the street outside the freeway Jackson’s station, another condom.
That’s not what they mean by a service station.
We picked up two rolls of dropped masking tape in very good condition.
And that wraps up our walk for today. Get it?
Friday, September 30th, 2022 – 100th Ave NE
Today, we are traveling to Redmond, Oregon for a family get-together for Janet’s youngest brother’s sixtieth birthday. However, before we left, we went on our normal Friday walk which was quite profitable. No roadkill, and twenty cents.
Yes, two dimes, both at the Dairy Queen drive-through, a veritable gold mine. Or silver mine, perhaps.
Okay, not money, but his is worth some serious dinero.
A brass fitting in very good condition. It’s redundantly, a one-way check valve, Thirty dollars-worth at this site. It’s probably worth it if you want your flow checked, which Chuck does not.
We found a tool. 
A socket driver bit and yes, it is a tool by our rules.
As we passed the 7-Eleven on 100th Ave NE, we spotted the colorful truck again, this time parked.
The driver went into the store leaving his truck to glow and slowly change colors. It looks kind of like a No-Tell Motel on wheels.
We picked up a nondescript grey hoodie.
It wasn’t until we got home we realized it was inside-out and was in fact a nice Napa Valley shirt, probably headed for Goodwill, not Napa.
Along Juanita-Woodinville Way, mor distracted driving.
A condom in the wrapper.
Used, of course. Well, we assume it is. We didn’t check.
This is one of those rare gratifying finds. On Simonds Road, we picked up a small pile of trash where someone ate their lunch and dumped their trash on the ground.
Under it was a ring. It is probably not an expensive ring, but still, just rewards.
This is Friday where we find what has accumulated in Chuck’s vest pocket.
A lawyers’s business card found on the freeway onramp. We tossed it in the trash where it belongs. A card advertising poop bags. We wish more people would get behind that. An alien dime-bag and another condom still in the wrapper. Then there was a bracelet with ‘MANDRILL’ on it. The bad news is Mandrill is a very plentiful word on the Internet and we couldn’t track what it specifically applies to. The good news is we can wear it a lot of places and folks will believe we are part of the “In Mandrill Crowd.”
A superball of spades, whatever that means, another nerf bullet and an almost empty packet of repair needles with one needle, but the needle turned out to be a bobby pin. Useless. Of course,the required hair bands and a Little Trees air freshener, Black Ice version. Always be wary of Black Ice.
Lastly, in the center sheet of “Laugh out Loud Jokes”:
That is about as funny as a fsh with no eyes.
Warning: Travelog follows.
We did not officially walk on Saturday because we went for a weekend road trip to Bend Oregon. We had a great time and did some walking. Near where we were staying was the Cline Falls State Scenic Viewpoint on the Deschutes River and we decided to check it out. The weather was perfect and the viewpoint was about a half mile downstream of the parking area.
Okay, nice but rather underwhelming. Perhaps it is more scenic in the rainy season. It was a nice hike anyway. And yes, we picked up some trash along the way including a poop bag.
Later we went into downtown Bend Oregon that had a much different version of the Deschutes River.
Bend had a beautiful waterfront along the river with parks and walkways. Bend has over thirty breweries, and after walking around downtown, we wandered through the town toward one of our favorite breweries, Boneyard Brewing. The beer is good but the venue was very basic.
Next, we visited the Crux Fermentation Project, great beers and a spectacular venue. Finally, we ended up at a brewery recommended by a friend, Wild Ride Brewery in Redmond, Oregon near where we were staying. It had a nice venue and more great beers. We shared a sampler at Wild Ride.
Guess you could say we had a wild ride, but in all, we had one beer each at both Boneyard and Crux and shared the sampler at Wild Ride. An enjoyable afternoon.
And, during our wanderings, we found serious money.
We found a ten dollar bill on a corner in a quiet neighborhood that many folks must have passed. Then a dollar bill on a patio that again, someone should have seen, but we are professionals, we see the unseen trash. It is our curse. Or our profit in this case.
Later that day at a family dinner at a rural steakhouse, there was this in the men’s restroom.
Enough said.
That wraps up our modified walking week. Our take:
- $11.40 in cash. We may need to move to Bend, Oregon.
- 8 Good beers from three breweries.
- 4 Bad fish jokes.
- 3 Condoms, all used.
- 3 Balloons, all popped.
- 2 Pairs of sunglasses, one for dogs
- 1 Essential oil miracle cure.
- 1 Neon truck.
- 1 Diamond ring.
Have a great week and don’t spit tobacco in the urinal.
Trash Walking 