The next day we were at the wharf and met some ladies. What began as an initial night of vigorous good times, ended with me getting kicked out of my little cabin & the police showing up. The 3 girls there decided it was a good opportunity to get together and share an apartment in Kent, Washington. It wasn’t one of those ‘free love’ things, these girls were like sisters to me (that's my story anyway).

Myself, Dana, Jim, Katy & Trish. I was working for the postal service at a bulk mail facility in Federal Way, (I was just 20 years old) the others tried to get work where they could to help out the "family". It felt like a family. More of a family than I had ever known before. No one person had the authority over the next, but we did look up to Jim. He was about 9 years older, a biker, more experienced, you get the idea. Dana was in the middle of settling some lawsuit against her Uncle over agricultural land he sort of "borrowed" when her parents tragically passed away. She was an Auvil, of the Auvil Fruit Empire in Wenatchee, Washington.

When she received a preliminary settlement, she and Jim bought a home in Baring, Washington that had a few acres attached to it. It was down from the store (combination store, post office, restaurant) and across the railroad tracks. I stayed behind at first and came up on the weekends. During our "Family" times we created a council, when things had to be decided they were decided as a group. Everyone had a say in how things were done. We weren't like the kids today with all their drugs and crack cocaine. We smoked a little herb, more as a recreational activity. The family also made home-made wines (mostly blackberry). We always had visitors from the flatlands – people that wanted an escape from the city, and needed a place to go & unwind. So the weekends were party central.

Jim and I built a steam sauna, behind the house, and created meandering trails throughout the woods with small bridges and fern covered landscapes. The steam sauna was not a modern instrument, but a crude workable structure built into the side of the berm, secured by stones, cement and a makeshift metal barrel & smoke stack. The opening to the barrel was positioned on the outside of the sauna & a portion of it was on the inside. With a wooden bucket, ladle and water, we made all the steam necessary to cleanse us.

We had a council to decide a name for our “family”. There were many names out their; The Rainbow Family, The Sunshine Family, There were even some that didn't really have names, but were referred by what they grew, sold or produced, like the "Corn Children" from Yakima. Families still had to sustain themselves, monies still had to made in order to survive. Jim jokingly said; “Why don't we become the ‘BOB’ Family”, Begins with a ‘B’, Ends with a ‘B’, easy to remember, easy to say”. After we stopped laughing, half from the name, and half from the smoke – it was settled. I believe it derived from a popular TV Show that aired in the early 70’s called the WALTONS. Everyone was “Bob-this” and “Bob-that”. We just hitchhiked on that way of greeting each other.

Because I was so tall and skinny (at that time), I was known as “Slim-Bob”, Jim was “JIM-BOB”and so on to include Katy-Bob, Dana-Bob, Trish-Bob, you get the idea. I never liked my given name, Slim-Bob seemed appropriate. As I had mentioned before, different families were known for different things, products, crafts, etc. Baring is at a higher elevation, so we would barter or trade with other communes to exchange row crops for venison. The “Bob’s” needed more gainful employment, to not only keep the mind and spirit healthy but to create positive cash flow. Being a “Bob” member meant a different lifestyle. You could not however remove yourself from the world, only your perception of it.

Jim-Bob, came up with the idea of making furniture. He contracted with the local mill in Index, Washington to cut slabs of wood from the outer edges of the logs. This we fashioned into coffee tables, and end tables. We used old railroad spikes to join them. Although rustic, they were heavy, durable and fit the cabin or mountainous lifestyle. They had a brand mark on the underside of the tables that said “The Bob Family” and they did well in the retail outlets in the flatlands.

We became more enterprising as time went on, reinvesting monies made from the furniture business and leased the local bar & old-time whorehouse in Skykomish, Washington (the locals called it “Sky”). The Bob Family was enterprising and called it’s new establishment “Sweet Pea-Molly G’s”. It was there to attract skiers heading to the slopes in Stevens Pass. The Bob Family would hire local bands to play on Friday and Saturday nights, and the beer flowed.

It didn't take me long to ‘see the light’ and realize, that to make a business or lifestyle work, you must work hard at it. The problem was that a majority of the folks from Seattle, just wanted to come up and party without contributing in any way. It’s kind of like church. You'll always get the 90% that come every week and sit on the pews to be a part of things, while the other 10% pay tithes, offerings and contribute time and talents. It’s no different, no matter the lifestyle.

Being a “BOB” gave me the drive and ambition to move forward in my life. It instilled in me a self-confidence factor I never had before. As Slim-BOB, I worked for Boeing for a season and then went back to school, 11st gaining my Bachelor of Science and then my Masters Degree. I quit my ways of smoking & drinking and approached life, as all BOB’s do, with vigor and enthusiasm. I went to work in the Industrial manufacturing arena and started my own company several years ago. I have recently sold that company to retire at 50 & moved to a golf community in Southern Utah. Being a “BOB” was the best thing for me. To the “Bob Family”, no matter where you are, you are loved and missed.

“SLIM-BOB” McGee