Sometime during the night, someone has a party in the RV. Someone short, furry, wild, and nocturnal.
Monet? Was that you? That was quite some fun you had last night. Just look at that couch! How many toys did you leave tossed here and there? Was that thuh-dump duh-dump duh-dump duh-dump I heard? Were you galloping up and down the hallway? Climbing the window shelves? Leaping from the counters?
Oh, my.
It’s a nocturnal Kitty-Cat RV Party!
Tonight, we put away the breakables.
Tell me. What happens at your house during the wee hours of the night?
A hectic summer schedule has provided ample time for weeds to take over the garden.
Despite some attempts at control, a busy travel itinerary leaves much to be desired in the ‘finding edible items in the garden’ category. Is everything growing? Yes! All experiments and plant combinations are thriving with unbridled passion.
But alas, the weeds have accepted the challenge and are rising to the top, willy-nilly.
Enter gardening goal: Fill to overflowing one wheelbarrow full of weeds each day I am home. At this rate, the garden will look spectacular by October 1.
Gardening gone bad, you lose!
Until then, we play garden hide-and-seek for prized veg and fruit.
Taylor and Chelsie enjoy a sticky treat while lounging in a plastic baby bathtub.
A tub can be . . .
Actually, a child’s plastic bathtub can be:
a snacking spot
a boat
a water table
a push car
a chair
a sink for washing
an actual bathtub
a container for small animals
a storage unit
a reading nook
a garden box
an art project
a doll bed
a watering tub (for animals or kids)
a pond
a fairy garden
a mud pie factory
sand box
a cat box (if one is not careful)
Taylor and Chelsie (circa @1992) are enjoying some good old sticky lollipops as they sit in the baby bathtub. It was no longer a bathtub at this point, but instead became the object of many imaginative games.
How about you? What other uses have you found for a plastic baby bathtub?
The Hill kids, Mark (blue suit), me (tallest), Tracy (white knee socks), and James (bib), next to the family roadster!
Station wagons and me, we go way back.
In the late 80s, my husband accepted employment with a new company, one benefit being a company car. “Anything would be cool, but please don’t come home with a station wagon. And especially not one with fake wood details.”
Ahem. Yes. He came with a station wagon. Adornment of imitation wood panels? Whew. Dodged that faux grained bullet.
Even earlier than the 80s & 90s version of the station wagon work vehicle was the early 70s family models owned by my parents. We had at least 2 different family touring vehicles, blue and white. Those wagons could really hold people and belongings. And pets, groceries, camping equipment, children, toys. Nothing like the little trunks in modern cars.
The family station wagon, mid-trip exploring the Arizona desert.
Some of my fondest memories are the days we spent exploring the southwest. We’d load up 2 parents, 4 kids, and 1 collie dog. The first mandatory stop would be a mini-mart so we could purchase the required bologna, cheese, white bread, and soda for our snacking pleasure. Sometimes we ate hot dogs (always cold) instead of bologna, but either one was a treat. Then we would hit the road.
The Arizona desert is a wondrous place for questing. Forests, rivers, desert lands, mountains, ghost towns, dirt roads, historical sites. My parents loved to haul us around seeing what we could see. I have vivid pictures in my mind of those trips, but I can’t help but wonder if we didn’t drive mom and dad the slightest bit crazy. 4 kids and a dog in a station wagon? Even if we did use the fold-up seats in the way back to separate us.
Horned toads, tarantulas, snakes, spiders, scorpions, cacti, sagebrush, thorns, stickers, heat mirages, dust. Treasure is all in the eyes and heart of the explorer.
What about you? What memories do you have about a vehicle or early days with your family? I’d love to hear your tales on this #ThrowbackThursday.
We ‘hiked’ the trail at Selah Cliffs Natural Area Preserves on Saturday.
Where: Seven miles north of Selah, just south of mile post 3 on SR 821, or as locals know it, the Yakima Canyon Road (slightly northeast of Selah)
Distance: RT about 2.5 miles, if you go all the way to the cattle guard and fence that signals the Military Firing Center boundaries
Discovery Pass Required: Yes, though many parked beyond the nature preserve lot on the old canyon road
Tips: No toilet facilities and not much shade; Bring binoculars, bug spray, water, and hat
This is a local, easy hike with the hardest parts being concern for ticks, rattlesnakes, and heat. The views of the Selah Cliffs are gorgeous. As per signed instructions, we didn’t traipse off the path, which means we also didn’t see the basalt daisies for which the area is known. Judging by the trails leading up to the basalt cliffs, I’m sure some disregard rules. OR they could be game trails. Yes, I’ll go with that.
The hike/walk leads along a gravelled path for most of the distance. Towards the far end (headed east), hikers must go through a barbed-wire gate. After that, the gravel disappears and more clambering is required. During the entire hike east, we watched the Fred G. Redmon bridge loom ever larger and closer. Soon enough, we stood beneath the massive structure and listened to vehicles boom overhead. It was fascinating to look, listen, and call aloud. If you stand in just the right spot, your voice will echo back. I tried recording the echo, but there was too much interference.
We saw and heard a waterfall, but couldn’t get through the underbrush to get close. Plentiful birds, spiders, insects, lizards, and evidence of other wildlife kept us searching and entertained. The scenery was gorgeous, the basalt columns beautiful, and amazingly, the traffic overhead was negligible.
Love, Laughter, and Life 