Visiting a Friend

September 17, 1982

For a few years, Moyra and I attended the same school in İzmir, Turkey — the American Collegiate Institute (ACI).  As two Americans attending a school whose charter was to provide American-style education for Turkish girls, we bonded immediately.

Moyra left after junior high to attend a different high school, and eventually returned to the US.  I stayed on at ACI through high school, completed my university education in Turkey, and got married before moving to the US.  As luck would have it, we both ended up on the West Coast — Moyra in Oregon; I in Washington.

On one fine fall day, Mui and I drove to Portland to meet up with Moyra and her husband, Don.  I have to admit I was nervous on the way there.  Though we had corresponded in the interim, it had been ages since we had seen each other.  My concerns were for naught.

This is one friendship that has survived distance and time.

Trojan No More

September 17, 1982

On our way to Portland, Oregon to see a school friend of mine, we made a detour at the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant in Rainier.  Though it’s long been mothballed, the plant was operational at the time we visited.

On our way to Portland (blue marker), we stop in Rainier (yellow marker).

Graphic depicting the recreation area near the power plant.
[brochure scan]

The 499-foot (~150 m) high cooling tower was demolished in 1996.
(glimpse of the reactor dome to the left)

After that detour, it was onto Portland ...

Cousin Rıfat

September 15, 1982

Mui’s cousin had moved from Turkey to Canada before we were married and made the move to the US.  Though we were planning to visit Rıfat in Vancouver, British Columbia, our first opportunity to spend time with him was when he and his girlfriend (Lorraine) came through SeaTac Airport.

We lost Rıfat to cancer at the young age of 50.  May he rest in peace; or as they would say in Turkey, “Allah rahmet eğlesin” (may Allah grant him mercy).

State Fairs

September 1982

Early fall found us visiting a few state fairs … for fun in once instance; to man the KCPQ-TV booth in another instance.  Not that the latter precluded us from enjoying ourselves.

I still prefer Coke over Pepsi.
Evergreen State Fair, Monroe

Keeping company with Bogart and Monroe.
Western Washington State Fair, Puyallup

To this day we fondly remember the fresh-baked scones that were served with clotted cream and strawberry preserves at the fair in Puyallup …… yummmmmm.

Whoops and More

August 29, 1982

We were young and we thought nothing of driving 200 miles (320 km) for a day trip as we continued to explore Washington State.  This day’s outing found us visiting a nuclear power plant; driving on a hard-packed beach on the coast; and exploring a castle.

Our day’s adventures took us from Tacoma to Satsop (yellow marker),
to Ocean Shores (blue marker), to Hoquiam (red marker) and back.

The Satsop Nuclear Power Plant was not on our itinerary when we set out from Tacoma, but seeing the cooling towers rising high into the sky as we approached the town by the same name, we couldn’t pass without a quick look-see.

Construction was ongoing at the time of our visit.  However, following a $961 million budget shortfall, the project came to a screeching halt in 1983 and was eventually cancelled entirely in 1994.  Thus making the nickname by which the project was known locally — “Whoops” … a play on its official acronym, WPPSS (Washington Public Power Supply System) — all the more appropriate.

From Satsop, we continued onto the beach in Ocean Shores, which was our actual destination for the day.  Though it was a cool, overcast day, we played on the beach for a while, enjoying the Pacific surf crashing ashore.  We'd never driven on a beach before ... what fun that was.

When a local we met on the beach suggested that we visit nearby Hoquiam’s Castle our day took another unexpected turn.  It turns out that the castle wasn’t a structure with fortifications and battlements, but rather a Victorian mansion built in the late 1890s as a beautiful contrast to the sawmills and barrooms of the booming timber town of Hoquiam.

At the time we visited, the house was a private residence that was open to tours; today, it’s a bed and breakfast.

The wax bust in the Music Room is an original Mme Tussaud work.

Left: Teak carved chair in the Music Room.
Right: The turn of the century bar was shipped from New Orleans in 1900.

Another great day exploring our adopted home state.

BBQ a la Turkey

August 7, 1982

I remember we reserved the club house at the apartment complex to get together with a few friends.

I remember that Mui made ızgara köfte (grilled ground beef patties often referred to as Turkish meatballs).  The menu also included pilav (rice) and cacık (cold yogurt soup with cucumbers).

I can see from the pictures that I set the table(s) with mismatched tablecloths — a yellow one that had a border that I had painstakingly cross-stitched; a blue and white plaid one that had been given to Mui by his maternal grandmother; a gold one that I had bought in a Turkish market.  I can also see from the pictures that we used plates and bowls that were part of my trousseau and which we had brought with us from Turkey.

Here’s the sad part!  I vaguely remember Bill, who was a neighbor of ours.  Mui tells me that he was a butcher and worked in a meat processing plant.  Grant was introduced to us by Randy, a USAF sergeant with whom I had worked in Turkey.  And that’s it;  that’s all I remember of our guests … the rest is all a blur.

Bill & Betsy

Left: Grant & Taşkın; Right: Joanie & Mike

Time and distance separate us and despite best intentions, relationships are severed and forgotten.

Dinner with Friends

July 31, 1982

In the mid-to-late 70s, Mui and I briefly worked at the Turkish American Association (TAA) in Ankara, Turkey; he was an administrator and I was a language instructor.  In fact, that’s where we met … he still claims he hired me so he could get to know me better!  But that’s a different story.

The TAA Director at the time was an American named Aneitta Albright.  She and her family became good friends of ours.  In fact, by introducing us to their friends, the Haggarties, the Albrights were instrumental in us starting life in the US in Washington State instead of on the East Coast where I had family.

So, when Aneitta and Marsden came to Seattle for a few days with their kids (Andawnette, Ariadne, and Anthony), we naturally got together at the Haggarty residence for an evening of reminiscence.

Aneitta passed away in 2004; Marsden in 2010.  May they both rest in peace.