Good Ol-Days

What a shock to receive the call about Mike! So many times over the last few years we have talked about getting together for diner or BBQ with the families, but as so often happens it never becomes a reality. Let me check my schedule I would say, no I'm out of town on business that week or Mike would say that he had trip planned that weekend. On to the Good Ol-days...
Jude remember our double dates back in high school? You were always trying to set me up with one of your friends, well not always...I remember one time you and Mike were in the backseat of your little Honda coup and I was driving it out towards ALKI and I hit that little puddle that turned out to be like a lake, as the water sprayed over the top of the car I thought it would stall out but we just seemed to float across, you and MIKE never even came up for air!!!
Once you were working at Dags or someplace in Renton and Mike and I came down to bum food as always, Mike thought it would a great joke to turn your car sideways in the parking spot!

Mike was always ready for a trip whether it was camping, skiing or just a little hike as he called them. Mike gave me my first Ski lesson, bring warm clothes and a BIG lunch he said. We walked up to the bottom of chair 4 at Crystal and put on our Ski's that seemed to be about 8' feet long to me. Mike said "we don't need no stinking tickets" we are skiing up the hill, that's right my first ski lesson was cross country up chair 4! Mike said lunch was at the top at this little lake he knew about... what seemed like a week later to me I collapsed into the snow by the lake and we ate. I don't know how I made it up that little hill as he called it but it made all those two-a-day football practices seem like a walk in the park. After what seemed like only 15 minutes Mike said now for the fun part going down, better hurry he laughed it will be dark in about 30 minutes and he was gone...I made it down somehow and he was at the bottom rolling around laughing saying that was the funniest thing he had ever seen, my falling every 20 or 30 feet all the way down.

My first climb was better... we climbed Mt Snoqualmie it didn't seem too bad I had gotten used to Mikes little hikes already. When we made it to the top we climbed out on a chimney rock and had lunch, then it was nap time. We napped a little long and had a fresh layer of snow on us when we woke up. Craig said it was late and we better get a moving we came to a big snow field and slid down using our ice axes to self arrest, Craig went first and made it look easy and then me OK that was fun. Then Craig said good thing we stopped here look at that drop off and then we hear Mike Laughing like crazy and all we see are two boots bouncing around in what looked like a small avalanche and wipes us both out and somehow we all stop before we dropped off the ledge. All the time Mike was laughing, well it was getting really dark now and they decide we need to take a little shortcut, we repelled off that ledge and down about 100 feet or so in the dark. When we finally got to the car Mike and Craig both said they couldn't believe that I went over the ledge having never done it before.
Life with Mike was never boring and I remember him always telling the same stupid joke at every party over and over and he always laughed. I think half the fun was watching our reactions as we grimaced when he started with "Tarzan was walking..."
Ther are a million stories to tell like when we into the back country on the back side of Hyack or trying to knock each other into snow holes next to trees or putting bread crumbs on someones head when they took a nap when hiking so the birds or chipmuncks would climb on them. Fighting over the hammock when we hiked or camped or the big anouncement that he was off to "take a dump".
Jude do you remember the infamous "JUST GET ME A HAMBUGER" Mike loved to tell that story at any BBQ I was ever at...
There will never be another one like you Mike! Miss ya
Dave and Ruby Eden