RRF Coffee Shop

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Happy Friday everyone, for the few of you that the day of the week still matters to.

We're still here hanging out in the virtual diner, serving whatever sounds good. Fresh coffee and beers on tap starting at 5:00. And, well, since this is the internet, and it's always 5:00 somewhere, that means all day every day!

Speaking of diners, anyone else ever been to Frank's Diner in Spokane? It's housed in an authentic vintage railroad car that's over 100 years old. It's in excellent condition. Best of all, unlike some railroad themed places that are strong on theme but weak on food, the food here is great, they consistently win awards for their breakfasts, which of course are served all day.

Quoting their website:
A LITTLE ABOUT US:
During the golden days of railroading, Barney-Smith and Pullman vied for supremacy of the elegant rail car business. In 1906, Barney Smith manufactured this car as an “observation car”. It remained unsold until 1909, when it was purchased by the Northern Pacific Railroad and remodeled to suit their needs as a private car for the president of the railroad.

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Car NO. 1787 (downtown car) served as a presidential car until it was replaced in 1931.

Stranded in Seattle at the height of the depression, NO. 1787 found a new home. Frank Knight, the brother and sometime partner of Jack Knight of Spokane, bought the presidential car and converted it into a diner car in 1931.

With over 100 years of dining elegance we are proud you have chosen to share your day with us.



 
Good afternoon. Looks like a slow day in the coffee shop. Of course, the beautiful weather probably has everybody outside doing yard work, like I was.
I trimmed back some low hanging branches of our apple trees, then hopped on the tractor and mowed the yard. One of the few advantages of the current meltdown is the price of gas is lower than it's been in a long time. I was able to mow the lawn for less than a dollar's worth of fuel.
 
Today (5-2-2020) is just another typical rainy spring day up here in the Puget Sound Region of western Washington. It really doesn't matter as most of us are still under Covid-19 lockdown anyway.

Earlier I saw a raccoon on my back deck. He crawled under the tarp covering my BBQ unit before I got a good photo. I believe he is still camped out there. Now I cannot let out the cat or go out there myself, not that I would want to stand in the cold rain.

I checked a few minutes ago. The raccoon is not there. Here are the two grab shots looking through the glass and screen doors that I managed to get as it sneaked under the BBQ-er.

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Bob, I'll have to make sure I get a meal at Frank's if I'm ever able to fulfill my "pipe" dream of taking an Amtrak tour across the continent and find myself in Washington State. But I'll have to wait another three years before I have the freedom to do that...and who knows if Amtrak trains will even still be running cross-country by then?

Bill, I suppose that rain you got today will probably be reaching us here in the East by next Friday, if it follows the typical track. We used to have all kinds of small furry critters showing up around our house when my daughter had an outdoor cat, and would put food in a dish for it. Coons, possums, groundhogs and rabbits, we got 'em all...until one summer a brood of coyotes dug themselves a home in woods beside our house. After that we didn't see any wild critters on our property for a couple of years...
 
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We don't leave any food outside for the cats. Although there are coyotes in a park at the end of court, I hope the fence keeps them out of our back yard.
Here is a link to a photos of critters in my back yard. The website is another one of Bob's. Please join if you photograph other things when trains are not available.
 
I have a raccoon who wanders through my yard nearly every night. I see him on my security camera. What’s funny is he will often walk up on my porch and look around. There’s never any cat food out though, seeing as how I don’t have a cat (or dog). But he looks anyway.
As for cats, the neighbors have a black cat who makes routine visits too. Apparently he and the raccoon have a deal. They’re often wandering by at about the same time. Must be a peace agreement in effect.
 
Bob, I'll have to make sure I get a meal at Frank's if I'm ever able to fulfill my "pipe" dream of taking an Amtrak tour across the continent and find myself in Washington State. But I'll have to wait another three years before I have the freedom to do that...and who knows if Amtrak trains will even still be running cross-country by then?

Bill, I suppose that rain you got today will probably be reaching us here in the East by next Friday, if it follows the typical track. We used to have all kinds of small furry critters showing up around our house when my daughter had an outdoor cat, and would put food in a dish for it. Coons, possums, groundhogs and rabbits, we got 'em all...until one summer a brood of coyotes dug themselves a home in woods beside our house. After that we didn't see any wild critters on our property for a couple of years...

Frank’s is good, but stopping there on an Amtrak would mean a full day layover. Not sure it’s that good, even though it’s one of the best breakfast places I know. But Spokane is a nice city, maybe worth a visit.
We have raccoons, possums, bunnies and lots of birds. Oddly no deer. The little Blacktail they have around here apparently aren’t quite as comfortable in the suburbs as the Whitetail are back east. Those things would demolish my Mom’s garden every summer. “They’re nothing but giant rabbits!”
 
We live in a "big city", but it's spread out a lot. Our house is less than a half mile from a five lane street, with fast food and shopping centers. The back of our property adjoins the entrance to a several hundred acre historical and nature park. We see all kinds of critters in the year, from woodchucks to bears. The deer eat my grapes every Summer. I've got two vines, and I'm lucky if I get a small Tupperware bowl of grapes before they're devoured.
We also have a pair of resourceful raccoons that I'm in a constant battle with to keep them out of our trash. One night I heard noise around the trash can, and looked out to see one raccoon standing on the back of the other one to reach the lid of the can. After that, a concrete block has kept them out. I can only assume they're at the local gym, working out so they can toss the block off, and gain access to our can again.
Here's a photo of our back yard:
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We live in a "big city", but it's spread out a lot. Our house is less than a half mile from a five lane street, with fast food and shopping centers. The back of our property adjoins the entrance to a several hundred acre historical and nature park. We see all kinds of critters in the year, from woodchucks to bears. The deer eat my grapes every Summer. I've got two vines, and I'm lucky if I get a small Tupperware bowl of grapes before they're devoured.

Sounds like you have the best of both worlds: the convenience of a city at your front door and the solace of nature at your back door.
 
We live in a "big city", but it's spread out a lot. Our house is less than a half mile from a five lane street, with fast food and shopping centers. The back of our property adjoins the entrance to a several hundred acre historical and nature park. We see all kinds of critters in the year, from woodchucks to bears. The deer eat my grapes every Summer. I've got two vines, and I'm lucky if I get a small Tupperware bowl of grapes before they're devoured.
We also have a pair of resourceful raccoons that I'm in a constant battle with to keep them out of our trash. One night I heard noise around the trash can, and looked out to see one raccoon standing on the back of the other one to reach the lid of the can. After that, a concrete block has kept them out. I can only assume they're at the local gym, working out so they can toss the block off, and gain access to our can again.
Here's a photo of our back yard:
View attachment 92410

That's lovely, quite a nice place. I'm in the typical suburbs, but we have a lot of critters. I didn't realize quite how many until I got the security cameras. The Raccoons visit way more often than I'd have guessed. Apparently I'm on the trail between Point A (a big tree with a nest?) and Point B (Some cat's food dish?). They never bother my garbage, most likely since it's a large can they have no way to climb or get into.
 
Good morning. Don't forget to wish the mothers in your life a happy mother's day.
If that does happen to slip your mind, there's always the forum to keep you company during your time of post-trauma isolation. :)
 
Yes, Happy Mother’s Day to all that it applies to.

The tourist railroad I worked tried running Mother’s Day trains, but they were new really popular. I think they had a brunch train where you got some nibbles and tea and biscuits that was modestly successful but they dropped it too.
 
Crazy day here in Seattle. Got up to 87 degrees!

Was thinking of trying to catch a UP train for a May 10th photo, but I don't have a scanner so I don't know when they're going to show up. The BNSF line is pretty active, if you wait 1/2 hour, you're almost sure to see something unless MOW has track and time.

On the UP though, it can be hours. I can hear them passing by, heard a couple this morning and nothing since then. Not sure how many trains they have a day?
 




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