Road Trip: Day One (June 14th, actually)

Our family likes a road trip - every one of us... We love hanging out together outside of the usual comforts, routines, and chores. We like Espresso/Smoothie drive-thrus. We like Crunchitos (a slightly healthier Cheeto tm). We like scenery. And we like to do things the hard way... A couple of tips on beginning a road trip the hard way: First of all, be sure to leave less than 24 hours after an enormously busy, hectic, and emotionally charged week (for example, immediately after your daughter's last day of kindergarten). Do minimal advanced preparations, saving the majority of the packing for the wee hours of the night before departure, making sure to leave plenty to do on the morning of departure as well. If you are really committed to roadtripping the hard way, it is imperative that both parents, at the very least, start the trip sleep-deprived. But somehow we came home rested, but I'm getting ahead of my story... Here are some pictures from our first day on the road.
Lucy and Jasper are ready to go. Jasper got a lot of mileage out of the pegs...




We stayed at in a cabin at Three Island Crossing State Park in Idaho the first night. We shared the area with at least a dozen huge white pelicans, a couple of river otter, deer and lots of birds and bugs. An added bonus were sprinklers that went off in the morning for a little fun and refreshment before hitting the road for another long day.



Rob and I looked forward to a might-tee strong brew bubbling up each morning from the propane stove.

End-of-Year Hike

And first-of-year salmonberries. Last week, I was walk-running and found the first ripened salmonberries that I'd seen this year at a park near our house. Lucy joined me later in the afternoon for the first pickin'. She ate some and saved some and she actually made a tiny pie out of those you see here. The rest of these pictures are from the end-of-the-year hike we took with those kids in Lucy's class going on to first grade. The other four kids with us are at least nine months older and seem way more sophisticated than Lucy. I felt happier than ever that Lucy will be homeschooling next year. She's still a world away from the bigger kids going onto first grade! But the hike at Rattlesnake Ledge was great - challenging for the kids, but not too. A gorgeous view from the top and a nice place to swim at the bottom -- perfect! You can see for yourself... Lucky for me, Grandma Gloria took care of Jasper all day so I didn't have him on my back - that would have made running down the trail with Lucy more... dangerous, I suppose. And Rob took the day off work. Fun!