At Ocean Shores with El

I forgot to mention that I had a very lovely day with my buddy, El, last Friday.

She wanted a "Grandma's Day" with her granddaughter, with the granddaughter's buddy. She decided to ask me along for conversation, and perhaps relief for the driving.

Departure was at about 9 am on Friday, when El picked me up at the house. We had a really nice drive down, and even though the weather was predicted to be foggy and cool, the sky cleared just after we passed the Black Hills, west of Olympia. The rest of the day was sunny, but cool.

The kids went on a horseback ride early on in the day. El and I visited for awhile.

Then after the kids returned, we all had a nice lunch, where El prepared us all sandwiches, cookies, and berries. She described her doing that as being "grandmotherly." I chimed in "Oh wouldn't it be grandmotherly!" a parody of "Wouldn't it be loverly" from My Fair Lady.

We chilled out on the beach (literally) as the temperature seemed to drop. I suggested that we go for warm drinks, as the granddaughter's buddy looked like she was getting very cold. I treated everyone to drinks: coffee drinks for El and me, and Italian sodas for the girls.

Then after that we did a little shopping in the strip malls. I looked for saltwater taffy, but then realized, "Duh! I am diabetic." So I passed on that one. Seeing many marvelous windchimes in the stores, I discovered that El likes windchimes as much as I do.

Subsequent to our commercial investigations, we all headed out back to the beach, so that all of us could ride the horses. We found a really nice "ranch" that had great horses for a very reasonable price. El treated me to a ride.

As El and I were preparing the paperwork for riding, the owner said, "Why don't you have your husband do some of the paperwork too?"

Glancing at each other over our clipboards, El and I just chuckled at this. FYI, El is a lesbian, and I am a queer boy. After a couple minutes, I gently corrected the owner, disclosing only that El and I are merely good friends, and that I was not actually her husband. When El and I were back in the car, we had a good laugh about this incident.

While riding, I was discovering that there were muscles in my lower back and abdomen, along with the unknown muscles in my hips and thighs. I was sore for a couple days after that. Who'd a thunk it? Since this was only the second time I had been astride a horse, I also discovered that boy-parts really didn't have anywhere to go except underneath when riding in the saddle. Squish. But it was a lot of fun, nonetheless.



Right after the ride, we packed up in the car, and headed back toward home. We stopped for take out at the Grizzly's Den in Hoquiam, where El treated us all for dinner, and then we noshed in the car. BTW, the fries were excellent.

Our first stop back was when we took the girls to their parent's. Then El and I had a lengthy conversation, solving most of the problems of the world on the way to my house. She dropped me off, and off she went.

I am grateful that El chose me to include on her "Grandma's Day" as it was so much fun. Thanks, El.