It Was a Much Better Day... and Weekend

If you're keeping better track of things than I am, let me reassure you that we had a lovely visit with Burke and Mary last weekend.  All the household systems functioned as intended, our simple dinner was properly cooked, no emergency repairs were needed, and everyone seemed to enjoy each other :D

Hallelujah and Amen.

I'm shamelessly pilfering Tate's facebook page for photos of the afternoon walk.

Tomorrow is Easter, and I have a houseful of family coming - Kerry's family last week, my family this week.  But we're minus Gunnar...

Beginning of the school year - he looks so much younger!

Gunnar owes me big for getting up at 2am (to make sure he was up) and driving him to the high school, to meet his orchestra group.  They all took off for SoCal this morning.  If they're following their itinerary, about now Gunnar is all suited up in his fancy-pants and they're heading out for an Italian dinner before hearing the L.A. Philharmonic later tonight.

100% swanky.

It's weird that he's gone over Easter, but we're glad for him to get this chance.  And he earned it.  When they proposed the trip (with a $1700+ price tag), they "offered" the students a monthly line-up of fund-raisers.  I get that they're trying to make the trip possible for ALL orchestra students (a good thing) but fund-raisers...  UGH.  I told Gunnar that we would NOT be doing them (with the exception of the chocolate bars, because everyone loves chocolate.  And they're only a buck.)  We would not be hawking overpriced miscellany to our friends and relatives, month after month, BUT any money he earned by working, we would match.  He did a lot of pet care, mowing, gutter-cleaning, etc. and he made it :D

Hope he enjoys every minute of it!

Hot and Hazy Makes Me Lazy

We're having our annual heat wave.

It's currently 95, which for us is approximately

the temperature of the sun.

Go ahead, laugh it up you southerners ;D

Meanwhile our neighbors to the north are plagued with forest fires,

and are sending their smoke our way.

Gee thanks, Canada.

Normally, I look out the window and see something like this:

Today, it's more like this:

A British Columbia radio station posted this view from Canada of Mt. Baker,

going, going, gone.

I'm usually thankful that no matter how hot it gets in the day,

our nights are nice and cool.

I'd made up the bed with the summer sheets and my Jimmy Buffet quilt...

and now.... not so much.

We're not used to sleeping with... just a sheet.

 Which is more than you probably wanted to know about our sleeping habits.

In funner news...

(Is "funner" a word?  If it's not, it should be...)

Gunnar and I both went to fiddle camp this summer.

Of course, we both went last year, but this year we both participated.

And the timing worked out for us to bring along Gunnar's friend A.J. who was on his way to Desert Eagle Flight Encampment.  If you've been reading the blog long enough, you'll remember that Wyatt attended in 2013.

Made the trip a lot more fun to have a buddy along for the ride.

 We stopped at some of our usual spots, like the Gorge...

I see that pool way down there and think it looks so appealing for swimming...

... for about 10 seconds, until the hypothermia sets in.

And we stopped at the Washington Pass overlook.

AJ is helpfully pointing out the spot (the curve in the road just below the pass) where his family broke down last summer, and spent the night in their trailer beside the highway... fun memories, right?

Two peas in a pod.

And stopped for lunch in Winthrop, at Three Fingered Jack's Saloon.

Aaaaaand got detoured around a "small" fire near Twisp, where they've had more than their share.

Stretched our legs at Dry Falls...

... and dropped A.J. off in Ephrata, so he could fly gliders for a couple of weeks.

(Wyatt did the "powered flight" option.)

Because I am just that fabulous, I hardly took any photos in Moses Lake.

If you've been to Moses Lake, you'll understand.

Plus, I was busy this year, fiddling instead of lounging by the pool!

The sunsets were nice.

The air conditioning was even nicer.

And fiddle camp... whew!

Only the classes for absolute beginners are divided - youth vs adults.

All the rest are by skill alone.

My friend Carol would call that "ego training", i.e. "humility building".

My class ranged from senior citizens to kids that looked about six or seven.

Two and a half hours of class in the morning and again in the afternoon.

That's a lot of fiddling!

And then we drove home.

Lots of farms.

Lots of orchards.

Lots of sage brush.

I missed stopping in Cashmere to see my friends, but...

... since they were camping all the next week at Birch Bay,

it worked out fine!

I met Bronco and Jo back in my Reachout Expeditions days in the late 80's, early 90's.

I love these people :D

And what a perfect day to be at the beach!

Notice the sparkling water and clear blue sky.

*sigh*

I miss clear blue sky.

Bronco has long enough arms for a selfie with all three of us :D

Big things were happening at our house while we were away.

Big.

Huge.

I want to take photos and show you.

When the smoke goes away.

Soon?

Between The Morning Rain and The Afternoon Rain...

Gunnar and I walked some of the nearby trails,

collecting fungi for his Biology lab.

We successfully located the three types we were looking for.

Mushrooms

Shelf fungi

And puff balls.

I know, it looks like an egg, but it's really a puff ball.

Gunnar spotted a patch of them yesterday, coming home from the neighbor's.

We're amazed at how many different ways fungi reproduce.

I'm going to miss homeschooling, when they're all done!

Fiddle Camp

It's summer.

Now what day of the week is it?

Yah, that's how it feels ;D

The time... it's flying by.

But Things have been Happening.

Things like fiddle camp.

Gunnar and I drove over to Moses Lake so he could spend a week at fiddle camp :D

Because I have zero interest in driving through Seattle when it can reasonably be avoided,

we took the long way.

The scenic way.

Highway 20.

First stop:

Gorge Creek.

Gorge Creek - home of the scary bridge.

And the incredible gorge.
And the goofy boy.

Next stop:

Washington Pass.

Gunnar, on the brink of disaster... not.

Mom/chauffeur

Love those stairs... and that boy!

We're lichen it ;D

Gunnar's lunch dreams came true in Winthrop, at...

Three fingers

Cruised through Brewster...

Made a quick stop at Dry Falls...

And settled into our hotel in Moses Lake to be ready first thing in the morning for...

Fiddle Camp!

Fiddle camp is our nickname.

Actually it's a fiddle "workshop",

which means classes from 9 until 3:30.

Whew!

See Gunnar, right in front of the door near the back?

Gunnar was in a "Lower Intermediate" class.

Most of these students had been playing 2-4 years,

and they were all ages.

A couple kids looked about 7 or 8,

and there were gray haired grannies as well :D

Meanwhile, while Gunnar fiddled....

I spent the day at the hotel,

storing up Vitamin D for winter.

It takes a lot of energy and focus to play a violin all day long,

and Gunnar was glad to be done for the day

and just relax and goof around!

Day One is in the bag ;D

Meanwhile, Day Two,

Gunnar is back in class,

and I am suffering for the cause ;D

Evening - Gunnar is studying for his next CAP promotion...

... while I'm watching the beautiful sunset from our balcony :D

Day Three,

Gunnar is back at camp,

and I'm taking one for the team ;D

I'd interrupt my demanding schedule to go meet him for lunch :D

And we'd chill out at the pool later in the afternoon :D

The first day, especially, was quite challenging for Gunnar.

He considered moving into an easier class,

but decided he would likely be bored if he did,

and it was better to be "pushed".

By mid-week, he was settling into the rhythm and feeling more comfortable :D

Day four and five followed the same pattern.

At the end of the week, all 19 (I think) of the classes performed a piece they'd been working on,

and the instructors each performed.

Wow!

Many of the instructors were amazing.

And having sat in on some of Gunnar's class time,

I can tell you they made a dramatic improvement in a week.

He has made great strides in his skill!

Though he was pretty nervous about playing in front of people -

even a friendly crowd like this one!

If I can figure out how, I'll post a video later.
They played a medley of Thanksgiving Hymns.
Not as "fiddle-y" as the other songs they learned,
but beautiful :D

Then the long drive home,

via a different route,

Highway 2.

But first we meandered through eastern Washington.

Transitioning from the drier center to orchard country, near the river.

Rock Island Dam.

Columnar basalt.

Crossing the Columbia.

We stopped in Cashmere do see some good friends of mine - the Huge family.

(Don't say "Hyoodg", say "Hyoo-gee" :D)

They very graciously invited us for dinner,

and let us kind of eat and run,

because they knew we wanted to get along home.

Good people!

And I forgot to get a single photo - doh!

We did have to make one more stop along the way,

to get a milkshake at...

Zeke's is a landmark, between Index and Gold Bar - a classic.

I'm amazed we didn't get caught in a big summer rainstorm crossing the pass,

doesn't it looks dark and foreboding back to the east?

But we didn't!

Had a wonderful trip!

It's fun to spend that kind of time with just one of my boys, for a change.

We're thankful that everything went smoothly,

in spite of being a bit frustrated the first day of class ;D

And glad to be home again, home again,

jiggety-jig.