Treasures Under The Tents

I have been home for a whole week.  In the laundry room, cleaning the trailer, and freezing peaches.  I feel like a peach freezing machine which I have had to be to keep up with four boxes of ripening peaches.  The heat makes them speed up and me slow down, not really ideal conditions.

Anywhoo, all work and no play... I need to play and I shall!  Treasures Under the Tents is Friday evening and all day Saturday.  Huaka'i Annie and I will there. I'm not a vendor, but there will be a lot of great vendors with some great junk for you. 

I hope if you are shopping that you'll stop by and say hello to me. I'll be in the vintage trailer alley with Annie.  I'll have her all primped and show shiney!  Some of my other trailer trash friends will be there too.

Treasures Under The Tents Details:

Jul 29 - Jul 30 · 767 E. Pole Road, Lynden WA

6th Annual show located just 10 minutes north of Bellingham on 20 beautiful private acres. The vendors offer Rustic, Farm, Vintage Antique, Refurbusished, Handmade & garden items. We have a Vintage Trailer Alley. Step back in time and tour these beautiful trailers and vote on your favorite. Friday 5-8pm early bird shopping $10 wrist band & free entry with wrist band on Saturday. Saturday 10am 4pm $3.00 entry. Our vendors restock their booths with more items.

Third and Final Stop

Hubby and I left George, Wa on Monday and drove to the Tri Cities.  Hubby had training there for the week.  Our hotel was on the Columbia River with an urban trail along the river.  It is a gorgeous trail for walkers, runners, and bikers with parks along the way. 

The first evening we went for a walk and I thought, MY these baby daddies in the Tri Care are a bunch of hands on Dads.  They all had the kids in the strollers and were everywhere. In groups even, which it is more common to see groups of moms out walking with the babies than dads.  Hubby and I soon realized they had ulterior motives.  The baby daddies were all playing Pokemon Go.  Hhhmmm.

 Hubby got up early and went to work every day and I slept in, then enjoyed a hotel breakfast and a walk along the river.

 Cruise ships were in port two of the mornings.

There were swinging benches along the trail and they were hard to resist.

 I went shopping at the mall a day and junking a day.  The Uptown Mall is old and the signs are great.  This is also where Spudnik Donut Shop is located. I would love to have the Tahitian Room sign for in front of our Aloha but they are still in business so they need their sign.

 Of course, I was poolside and happy about it.

 The first two days were cold and wet and then it got hot and dry.

Real hot.

 The park in front of our hotel has a summer music series.  Rock bands on Thursday evenings, 5-9, with a food truck round up. The music was great and we had a lot of fun people watching.

It was a hot summer night to remember.

 Friday morning we checked out after breakfast and went to find the new Country Mercantile in Richland.  Y'all know how much we LOVE the Country Mercantile in Pasco so we decided to check out the new one.  They carry everything that the Pasco store carries so we loaded up.  We had an ice chest along for just this purpose.  When we finally checked out, the checker asked if we were having a party.  Nope, it's all for us.  It's so great to have a freezer full of tamales and enchiladas.  The chocolates are gone, so no need to stop by and visit us.  There is some bread and butter left.

If you haven't been to the Country Mercantile I do not feel sorry for you because I have been bragging about it for years so you HAVE known.  I can't help you if you haven't taken me seriously and gotten in the car with your ice chest and gotten the goods.  That's all.

 Once we got in the car and I started looking at the map I realized we would be within two miles of Bale Breaker Brewery.  We wanted to see their operation.  We played a game of corn hole and then got back on the road.

 Slow down, there is a view point ahead and I am ready to see a pretty view without having to hike to get there.  A short stop.

 Our next stop was Thorp for some junking and peaches.  We bought four boxes of peaches so y'all know what I'm doing this week.  Millions of peaches.  By now the Jeep is getting pretty full.

We took the back roads to Cle Elum and stopped at Twin Pines for a late lunch/early dinner.  We had never stopped there and always wanted to so we did.  And we were glad that we did!

By now we are starting to realize that we still have a long way home and traffic is going to be messy on 405 so we take the goat trail.

Hit the brakes! Neither of us have ever actually seen Snoqualmie Fall.  One more stop!

 And that my friends is how a 5 hour trip home becomes a 10 hour trip.

We took three trips back to back in 8 days.  The first four nights we slept in four different beds, we put a lot of miles on the Jeep, we didn't drive past anything worth stopping at and we had a lot of fun and laughs.

Now, we are home... until Friday.

Happy 80th Birthday Mama Es

Our next trip was an overnight in George, WA to celebrate Hubby's Mom's 80th birthday on Sunday. After unpacking Saturday night and rechecking our suitcases for trips two and three we went to bed.

Where after talking it over we decided to get up early to go to church with Hubby's Mom.  There was going to be cake and coffee for Es's birthday at church.  I got back up to set out different clothes, and double check everything because I didn't want to get up earlier than 4:30 a.m. After a brief nap we were on the road again.

Sam and Angela drove over for the day too.

 Esther didn't want a big party for her birthday, just dinner with her family.  So that is what we did, steaks on the grill, a fun visit and cake.  

On Monday morning Hubby helped Max and then we had lunch at Jake's Meats. If you're passing through Quincy take the time to have lunch at Jake's.  Great Mexican food in a convenience store setting.  Max was so happy because she(I don't know the cook's name but she sees Max more than me and feeds him almost daily so I am grateful for her) had made what he calls meat juice soup. That is Max's interpretation of the real name which isn't easy to pronounce or translate from Spanish. Apparently, she only makes it when she is in a good mood. He had a huge bowl and then got some to go for dinner.  After lunch we packed up and got on the road.  Again.
Third stop coming up!

Bryce Creek Campground

We had five days at home after our camping trip for Hubby to work and for me to do laundry, clean the trailer and pack before we were on the road again.  It was a difficult pack job as it was was for three very different trips. We had a brief night at home after Bryce Creek before the next two trips.

First stop of the three trips was our church camp at Bryce Creek. Since it was a camping trip we took Annie.  I had been trying to go to church camp for three years. So glad we finally made it.

How about some accordion music while you split firewood?

 There was a lot of hiking, visiting and campfires on this trip.

 If you want to see for miles you have to hike up and up higher to get this view.

It's worth it.

 I got in some baby time. And I played corn hole for the first time.  I know, where have I been?

 There was a pancake breakfast and Bingo on Saturday morning.

 The beds in RVs and tents some times warrant a back rub in the morning.

 Bryce Creek is a beautiful spot and we had a really good time.

We had to leave Saturday evening because our next trip started early on Sunday.

The details are coming up next.

The Blog

It is with some trepidation and some scary moments that I share some news on the blog.

I have been writing on the blog since 2007.  That is almost 9 years.   I've written 1,417 posts, received 3,801 comments, readers include a world wide audience and there have been close to a million views for The Lady in the Stone House.

I don't get paid, I don't have sponsors, it is my blog and I post whatever I wish without any one else influencing me.  And I shall continue writing whatever I want to write.

That said, there is a change.

My posts about the Curtis Wright Flagship have been picked up for a regular column in the 

Vintage Airstream Club Newsletter.

I'm published.

I'm a real writer now.

I'm kinda a big deal.

Nah, it's just going to be the same old drivel.  Carry on.

Summer Reading

It's Summer time and the reading is happening.  I felt as though I wasn't reading much as 2016 began but since I am not working and have been vacationing I am reading again.  It feels good.  I much prefer reading over TV watching.

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline is a fictional story about Molly and Vivian.  Molly is a teenage foster child in the current system.  Vivian was orphaned and put on an orphan train.  From 1854 to 1929 orphans from the east coast were brought to the Midwest for adoption.  It often ended with these children becoming indentured servants.  This is a story of two women that want families and to belong to someone. I'd like to read more about the orphan trains in the non-fiction genre.

 The Bartender's Tale by Ivan Doig is the story of a young boy, Rusty.  His father came to his aunt's house and took him home because he's ready to start first grade.  Rusty's Mom was never part of the picture and his Dad runs a bar in Montana so Rusty had lived with his aunt and her family up until that time.  Rusty is an endearing character and his father is an interesting character.  Rusty's best friend Zoe, Proxy and her daughter Francine, and Delano are some of Ivan Doig's best characters.  Along with the bar's regular customers and their problems and the main characters I laughed out loud. Sometimes I got a little teary eyed.  A good book!

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld is a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice. My only regret was that I should have read Pride and Prejudice and then read Eligible.  Even though I know the story it would have been good to read the original story and then the modern retelling.  This is a laugh out loud book.  I think I'll read Pride and Prejudice next.  Or wait a year and then read them both in the proper order. I had written about reading American Wife also written by Curtis Sittenfled several years ago.  I enjoyed it also and hadn't read any more of Curtis Sittenfled's books.  I may have to check out some of her other books.

Today I am planning to visit the library.  I need a good book or three for my poolside time next week.

Read on, my friends.

Ooh, That's Pretty

Last summer when we were working on Huaka'i Annie, our '57 Aloha, I told Hubby that once she was ready to go I had one goal... to see pretty.  Everything was ugly last summer with polishing metal, missing deadlines and frustrations.  In January, I made some campground reservations to see some pretty.

Our first stop was to visit Max.  Max and Kassie were out celebrating the 4th of July when we arrived but we had a big welcome from Bo. My no dogs in Annie rule went right out the window.

 The next morning Kassie and I took Bo on a walk around the farm.  It was pretty.

 Huaka'i Annie was parked back where she began.  Family friends, the Fischer family, lived in their Aloha while they built their house in George, WA. Hubby's parents offered the Fischers the use of the little house on 78 because is was hot that summer and the Aloha was even hotter.  Since then we have restored their Aloha and Max has bought the house.  Everything has kind of come full circle with Annie parked there.

When I opened the trailer door in the morning, Max yelled from the house, "checkout's at nine, get that piece of sh*t off my yard."  Oh Max, you make me laugh.

I had paid for our site with a fresh raspberry pie. 

Thank you very much!  

We had a pretty drive to Steamboat Rock State Park.

 The park is really clean, pretty, the ranger was friendly and the sites are large.

 We parked on our waterfront property and set up for our three nights of camping.

The awning works!

 I had read about the hike to the top of Steamboat Rock and we thought we'd try it.

 Have you ever heard of scree? I hadn't either but now I know all about it.  Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of crags, mountain cliffs, volcanoes or valley shoulders that has accumulated through periodic rockfall from adjacent cliff faces.

 Hubby thought it possibly meant the sound of your fingernails sliding down a mountain on the way to your death.  That works for me. ScReee... splat.

The first day we turned back, I am afraid of heights, the scree was sliding from under me and I wanted off that rock.

 We went again the next day because we found out that we had been really close to the end of the worst part.

 We made it!  It is 61 flights of stairs on the fitbit.

Hubby held my hand when it was rough and I couldn't have made it without him.

The next day we stayed off the rock and enjoyed another beautiful hike.

 Each morning we enjoyed a fat boy breakfast after the hikes.  We loved the sandy beach at Banks Lake, the hikes, the size of the campsites and we will definitely return to Steamboat Rock Sate Park.

Then we drove to Lake Chelan State Park with a few stops on the way.  You know I brake for old schoolhouses, granges and churches.

 Annie is easy to tow and goes off the beaten track easily.  That's one of the things I love about her.  Hubby is willing to make stops and go off the beaten track and that is one of the things I love about him.

 We got to the state park and started to set up camp when we had a visitor.  The park ranger came knocking, he told us that when we checked in they called him to let him know there was an Aloha in the park.

 Ranger Rod and his wife own Pearl Girl, a '60 Aloha.

We had a great visit with him and exchanged trailer tours.  I'm hoping they join the Vintage Aloha facebook group.

The next morning we got on Highway 20 where we enjoyed a lot of pretty.

 We made a short stop in Winthrop where we found the best iced molasses cookies ever at the bakery.  Hubby is a bit of an iced molasses cookie connoisseur. A molasses cookie snob, if you will.

 We used the pull outs to let others pass us on the pass and to enjoy the scenery at Ross Lake and Diablo Lake.

We met a young man visiting from Ohio.  He was so excited about the beauty of Washington.  He could not impress upon us enough just how special it is in Washington.

Oh, we know, it is beautiful here.

I wanted to see pretty and I did.  Over and over I saw pretty this week.

Next week, more pretty, more camping and a hotel pool.

That's right I'll be poolside.  Pretty and poolside coming right up, but first, unpacking, repacking and then a quick unpacking and repacking on Sunday.

Oh the places you'll go. -Dr. Suess