Our unexpected campsite

Always in a game of catch-up with my photojournal...

July 17-18, 2011:

On Sunday, I was all ready to go camping, but Lucas wasn't feeling well. Still, I prodded him to, just to get out of the house and away from the humdrum everyday life.

Rusty sez: "Humdrum? I'm not humdrum!"

Lucas and I set out for Goat Lake Trail, although he wasn't feeling good at all, what with intestinal/ankle trouble. He got me to drive all the way up to Arlington before a woman at the Food Pavillion told us it was in Granite Falls.
` At about this time, I got a call from Anthony. Turns out, HE had just tried to call Lucas' phone, and it was at the Safeway we had just stopped at!
` It was a good thing, because Lucas had thought he'd left it at home!
` As the Safeway was along the way back, we went back there and then continued to the Mountain Loop Highway. Lucas begged me to take him back home, so we wound up compromising and just stopping at a car campsite. Boring!
` But, as it required no walking, and it had a regular bathroom, yet was far away from our house, I thought it was a good place to stop. So, in lieu of hiking, I put my boots on and then jogged around the place for a little while.

Our campsite was next to this river:

As usual, Wonkyfoot has followed me:

The trees around there were all so covered in moss:

Home is where you hang your sleeping bag:

The sun has finally come out!

This picture is up the river:

Another one several minutes later:

We only had enough wood for one small campfire, so we saved it for morning. In the meantime, we had an interesting night light:

By nightfall there was, as usual, Wonkyfoot-associated UFO activity. Yawn.

The river the next morning:

Evidently, there was some sort of scuffle during the night:

Lovely morning:

The river again:

The shiny water:

Me on a big rock:

Looking up the river again:

Looking back toward the shore:

The trees:

Our tent:

It's not very far from our car!

Trees, trees, everywhere!

More trees:

Bye, river!

Back to my plane-makin' civilization:

And when we got home... no comment, LOL!

It was not long until we realized that Rusty had been missing since the night before, and I got worried about him. Even so, I stopped to pick the raspberries.

Here's the large variety:

Have some, Vada!

Come on, now! Let's go find Rusty!

But then, some barking poodles scared her away, all the way from up here!

Then, hours later, who should show up at the door? Rusty! He gave a meow and did a little dance, jumping by lifting his paws off the ground one at a time. Very strange! Wherever he's been, he's glad to be back!
` Then he went to join Vada in staring down our neighbor's cat Mr Yoboshi:

He doesn't know why she stares at him with such hostility, as you can probably tell.

She must have the loudest stare of any cat I know!

Boring!

Rusty was like, "Hey!! But I like him!"

After this, however, Rusty disappeared again and hasn't come back. I suspect that Vada has chased him off, perhaps with that very stare!
` Poor Rusty. I love the fuzzball. And his piles of debris.

Also, I realize this post has very little substance -- I mostly just crammed in as many photos as probably would not crash the average browser. For the rest of my July photos, click here!

There'll be a lot more next time!

July fireworks and other cool photos!

Catching up with my photo journaly-life. Poor Rusty is still gone. I miss the poor baby! Myerrrr!

I suspect Vada had something to do with it. Just look at her expression when she's around my precious Giant Kitten!

I don't have any text entries just yet, but there are some stunning photos. For example, this is a view from one of my neighbor's yards:

A little farther back...

Sunset through our window:

July 3, 2011:

I hate being sick, and have even gone back to being unable to get out of bed for a while. In other news, at the job I just had to quit, there's been a new Joel, bigger than the former Joel, but not fatter, and considerably darker -- asphalt-like instead of pasty.
` He's a really good canvasser, except now he's been accidentally fired and re-hired through a series of coincidences, which I may not be able to explain clearly.

Try to bear with me: It looked like his fiance had signed up from him, but it was actually because Miguel had signed her the day before Joel had gotten hired, and she'd forgotten to cancel.
` Lucas thought he would have to fire Miguel, but it turns out that even though Miguel had since been to her house, he didn't recognize her from when he'd signed her up, that's why he didn't know about it, and OMG it's so confusing! I'm'a throw up!
` Or is that the vodka?

This is just the weirdest story of the past few weeks that I can think of. There are other, similar things that have been going on, but I don't remember because I've been extremely sick and on some days, bedridden. Now it seems I'm slowly recovering.

BEE! In male kiwi blossom:

I went to the bank and then Value Village yesterday morning and got some shorts for Lucas and a toaster... and got pulled over on the way back for having tabs 2 days expired.
` I went home and purchased them, having just deposited a bunch of money in the account, but won't have a chance to pick them up until Tuesday because Fireworks Crazy Day is on Monday.

I need something to counteract this impaired state of mind. And I hear meat-pounding. For barbecue, that is, LOL! I sure would like to help Lucas with his meat-pounding. Sigh. But Bob is also here -- he supplied the meat!

Our garden supplied the veggies!

It's after dinner -- THIS! (That's Bob's crotch, BTW.)

And now, they're blues jammin'. Here's the moon at this time:

Also, just over to my right was some Pre-Crazy Day fireworks:

July 4, 2011:

Fireworks Crazy Day, down by the ferry terminal!

Lucas and I started out sitting by the floaty dock, which was bucking on the waves, and people were having fun riding it. Whee!

Most of the fireworks are hard to see in my pictures unless you look at the original version on my Flickr site, but here's a flare that's easy to see at blogging scale:

Also, you can see some larger fireworks on the land here:

I zoomed in on them:

It was around that time that the park ranger kicked us out, so we stopped by Ivar's checked out the fireworks from there, and went back up the hill. Oddly, we could hear them on our way up the hill, but not at our house.

I don't have any more text entries until July 17th, when I went camping, but I do have PLENTY MOAR PICTUREZ!

Male kiwi blossoms:

Neighbors' cat Mr. Yoboshi:

Vada, attacking the fierce grass:

Here she is near the RoofGarden, saying, "Where won't hoomans bring their leaf blowers?"

Rusty playing with me, on a chair:

All stretched out!

Crow chasing a golden eagle:

Get out, vile raptor!

Female kiwi blossoms:

Have you noticed? Rusty just loves to bend over backwards:

The Abraham Lincoln passing through our neighborhood:



An extremely low-light photo of Rusty on the RoofGarden with the moon in the background:

It was so dark I actually used my flash for once. Does that look better, or worse?

Best giant kitten ever!

The plum tree: Rusty's secret ladder to the RoofGarden!

My hand is so tasty!

Not that I didn't get any pictures of Vada during this time -- it's just that Rusty is cuter! Here he's drinking out of the gutter:

Vada on the fence and Rusty on the roof:

Rusty says, "Let's play!" and jumps onto the fence:

Vada says, "NO!"

Vada escapes from Rusty:

Can I watch sunset with you, Vada?

Rusty about to pounce on Vada:

Where did she go? (Her ear is visible...)

"O hai, Vada! Wat you doin' up here?"

Vada gets ready to push Rusty off:

"Why she do dat to me?"

Vada sez: "Rusty, you fail!"

These RoofCat pictures took place just before my camping trip -- that will be in the next post!

To see moar of these photos, ones I didn't have room for, go here! It's neat-o.