Three Beautiful Things 11/26/17: Varnish Vapors, Return to Daft Badger, Dark Drive Home

1. An accident happened in our refrigerator that sits in the garage. Varnish leaked through the plastic wrap that a lamb's wool applicator was enclosed in and that had been in the freezer. The smell of varnish has been strong in our refrigerator. On Saturday, I asked Shawn to take the applicator home, thinking that would help with the smell and then, this morning, I discovered that even though the applicator was gone, there were small pools of varnish in the freezer. I got some rags out of the basement and cleaned out the freezer, a simple job. I checked different foods to make sure the smell hadn't seeped into any of them. I'll double check on Monday and I'll check to see if the refrigerator needs a more serious airing out -- but, I'm hopeful that cleaning up the small mess has resolved the problem of having varnish vapors emanate from the ice box and dominate the fridge.

2. This afternoon, the time came for Patrick to return to Portland, so the Deke, Patrick, and I piled into the Sube and headed in the dark and the rain to Spokane International Airport (GEG). Originally, we thought we'd stop in Spokane for a bite to eat, but changed our minds en route and ate at Daft Badger in CdA. For the first time, I didn't drink any beer or cider or wine at Daft Badger. I wanted to make sure, on this black, rainy night, that I had my full awareness on the road. So, I enjoyed Daft Badger's homemade root beer and, with the Deke's help,  ate an order of smoked mac and cheese, a rich and filling delight. The Deke and I also shared an arugula salad topped with clouds of Greek cheese.  It was awesome.

3. We said goodbye to Patrick at GEG and headed back to Kellogg. The road around Lake CdA was particularly dark. The misty rain was similar to driving in fog. At one point, a truck passed me and and threw what seemed like about a hundred gallons of water on our windshield, temporarily blinding me, but I regained my vision and recovered. For the whole trip, I drove at a slower than usual speed and we made it over the Fourth of July pass into the Silver Valley where it wasn't quite so dark. It was a tiring drive and the Deke and I decided to stop in at Radio Brewing where the Deke enjoyed a glass of wine and I had a short pour of ESB. We shook off the road trip, started to make plans for the upcoming week, and headed home and I went straight to bed.