The probability of rain in Friday’s forecast didn’t materialize. In fact, by late afternoon, the skies were mostly clear and the thermometer reached 75 degrees. Around 4pm, I went to the car show at the Burgermaster in Mount Vernon. My friend and former colleague, Ed King, told me about the show. They had a good turnout.

I was standing by a car, admiring it, when a guy I’m guessing was a millenial came up to me with his wife. He said, “We saw this car from across the lot and had to get a closer look. What is it?”

I told him it was a 1969 Hurst/Olds. These were a variant of the Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 – fewer than 1,000 were made in 1969. He said he never heard of such a car.

I saw another rig that I saw at a car show in Arlington last year. It’s a custom that started out as a 1948 Ford cabover truck.

There was a very clean 1965 Corvette that caught my eye. The 1963-67 C2 Corvettes were the first to use the name Sting Ray. In 1968, the name was changed to one word – Stingray. I had a 1965 Corvette with a 396 cubic inch engine and 4-speed transmission for a few years. 1965 was the only year they used a 396 big block.

I thought one of the coolest cars there was this 1950 Chevrolet Deluxe Styleline. I don’t know why – it just really appealed to me.

I expected to see Ed King at the car show, but he hadn’t arrived by the time I left around 5pm.

Donna and I hit the Skagit County Farmers’ Market Saturday morning. It was just across the bridge from the RV park – less than a mile away on Main Street. They were practicing social distancing and face masks were required.

Donna found fresh produce there that looked really good and was priced right. The farmers’ market is right on the Skagit River. The Skagit flows right through Mount Vernon. Downstream from town, it splits into two forks. The north fork flows into Skagit Bay which connects with the Pacific Ocean through the Strait of Juan De Fuca at Deception Pass.

The south fork flows past Conway where it breaks up into smaller branches and empties into the south end of Skagit Bay.The waterway extends south through a strait between Camano Island and Whidbey Island that joins Puget Sound.

Later, I drove over to Walmart to pick up a couple of things. I noticed really heavy traffic going the opposite way from me. Cars were backed up bumper to bumper from downtown Mount Vernon all the way out Freeway Drive to Walmart – about a mile and a half line of cars creeping along very slowly.

When I left Walmart, I tried an alternate route by going north, then east on Stewart Street to Riverside Drive. It seemed like a good idea until I got to College Way and found it was backed up as well from there to downtown. Meanwhile, Donna was out for a bike ride and found heavy traffic everywhere.

We wondered if it was typical for weekend traffic to be so heavy around here. Then we found out that I-5 was closed through Mount Vernon due to two traffic accidents. All of the traffic was diverted through Mount Vernon surface streets.

On Sunday morning, I drove over to Alana’s house. I was scheduled to take my ham radio exam at 10am with the Greater Los Angeles Area Amateur Radio Group (GLAARG) through a Zoom meeting. Alana set me up at a desk in my granddaughter Gabi’s room.

After checking in with the Zoom meeting, we had a lot of waiting as people checked in and some of them weren’t very computer savvy and had to be walked through the process. I was mildly surprised by this – I would think most hams are a bit geeky and technically oriented.

Eventually, I was directed to a virtual room – I guess you could call it a Zoom room – where four volunteer examiners greeted me. These examiners act as proctors administering the test material and observing the applicant taking the test – one applicant at a time. They had several Zoom rooms with volunteer examiners operating simultaneously.

First I had to move my laptop camera around to show I didn’t have any books, notes or other aids in the room, including on the floor or ceiling. I finished the technician exam in about five minutes. After the exam was graded – I passed easily – they asked me if I wanted to try the next level of license – the general exam. If I took it, I wouldn’t have to pay the usual fee and if I passed, I would be granted a General Amateur Radio License. The general license grants access to many more frequencies than the technician license. I went for it. I passed the general exam!

This morning, I searched the FCC database and found my license had already recorded. My radio call sign is KF0AZQ. Kilo-Foxtrot-Zero-Alpha-Zulu-Quebec. I can legally transmit now.

Later, Donna and I went back to Alana and Kevin’s place. Donna had prepped mojo marinade pork tenderloins which we bought at Costco on Friday. I put them on Kevin’s Traeger. Alana had country fried potatoes, a slow-cooked bean medley and corn on the cob as well as a garden salad. All eight of us dined on the back patio and had a great time.

I bought two bottles of Veuve Cliquot champagne at Costco. Donna poured champagne for Lainey, Alana and herself to celebrate Lainey’s 21st birthday, Alana’s 40th and Donna’s 60th – which all occurred over the last month or so. It’s a milestone year!

We’re expecting a high temperature of 87 degrees today. The rest of the week should be a more comfortable 70 to 80 degrees.

*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and  I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!