Jim’s hometown: Yakima, Washington

Jim’s family moved a lot when he was a kid -- he figures he lived in least six different towns in four states (Oregon, Washington, North Dakota, California) by the time he was eight.  They traveled because of his dad's job as a heavy construction carpenter on hydro electric dams.

When Jim started the third grade, he thinks his mom “encouraged” his dad to stay in one place so the kids could have a little stability in school, and Jim lived with his family in Yakima, Washington, until he graduated from high school.  

Of course, Yakima was a must-do on our trip through the Pacific Northwest. Besides driving all over the city of about 80,000 people (Jim said about 40,000 lived there when he did), we were treated to a barbecue at the home of Pat and Cindy, Jim's friends from high school.  Pat and Cindy also took us out to dinner -- where we were joined by Kennewick friends Buddy and Nancy -- and took us hiking and on a car tour.  Thanks so much, Pat and Cindy!

The last night we were in Yakima, we also went to dinner with Jim’s high school friend and college roommate, Rich, and Rich's wife, Barbara.  

The house where Jim lived with his family from the 

time Jim was 14 until he graduated from high school.

Some of the older buildings in Yakima have gorgeous 

architectural details.  Here Jim stands in front of 

the entrance to his junior high school.  It was 

originally built in 1928; when it was rebuilt in 1996, 

this entrance was moved and rebuilt brick by brick.

A closer view of the architectural detail on Jim's 

junior high school (Franklin Junior High).

High school friends Jim and Pat.

Jim with Pat and Cindy, who started dating in high 

school and have been together ever since (as a matter 

of fact, Buddy and Nancy who we met up with Sunday, 

have been together since high school, too.) Jim and Pat 

met in junior high school and both graduated from 

Yakima’s Davis High.   Pat recently retired from a career 
with a manufacturing company and Cindy was a
dental assistant.  They spent the evening telling funny 
stories my writing can’t do justice to -- but suffice it to 
say they had a lot of fun in high school. And we're all 
glad that guy who dove into shallow water and was 
bleeding from his head survived.

Jim, Pat and Cindy on a hike in Yakima's Cowiche 

Canyon. 

Pat, Cindy, Bev, Nancy, Buddy and Jim (plus some 

remains from dinner) at Miner’s Restaurant in 

Yakima.  The hamburgers were (seriously) the size 

of dinner plates.

Jim and Rich were high school friends and then 
college roommates during freshman year at the 
University of  Washington  before Jim went in the 
Navy.  Rich and his wife, Barbara, have lived all 
over the country but are back in Yakima.

We visited the Yakima Valley Museum, probably the 

best local museum we've seen -- and we've seen a lot 

of them.  It has historical exhibits on the Yakima 

Valley natural history, pioneer life, early city life, 

and the roots and development of the Valley’s fruit 

industry, a reconstruction of the Washington D.C. 

office of former Yakima resident (and graduate of 

Jim's high school) Supreme Court Justice William 

O. Douglas, and a changing special exhibitions. 

One of the special exhibits is seen above:  Head Over 

Heels Over Heels, seen above.  It was part of the 

collection of a Yakima resident David Childs, who 

was fascinated by high heels, worked at Nordstrom's 

shoe store in Yakima, and collected hundreds of high 

heels for over 40 years.  In addition to selecting the 

shoes for display, Mr. Childs wrote the copy for 

interesting signs telling about his love of shoes plus 

details about the styles and how they changed.

When we were leaving the Yakima Valley 

Museum, we saw a man trying to round up  some 

bees.  If you double click on the photo you can 

better see that he was right in the middle of the 

swarm.