I'm off to a camping trip in Washington State's southern Olympics: do a little hiking, a little fishing, and enjoy the rain because Washington State. My wife and I will engage in that camping ritual of Backing the RV Trailer While Not Hating Each Other. It's a more advanced version of Couples Pitching the Complicated Camping Tent.
Come Monday I'll take the usual stroll through the local cemetery and say "hi" to the departed veterans. It's a little disturbing how many WWII vets died in the 5 years or so following the end of the war.
So, what are you up to?
I'll have a remodeling crew working that likes income more than American holidays, so a little of checking in on them. However, my elderly mother loves smoked meatloaf off my pellet smoker, so I'll be doing that early afternoon and taking a couple to her and the step dad. I make them little ones. Fortunately, she'll do her own mashed potato and salad sides. Before I go, she'll attempt to pawn off a couple dozen cookies since tomorrow is her cookie baking day. Then I'll be expecting you good folks to entertain me.
It’s my birthday, so we’re going up to Mt Hood & stay at Timberline Lodge. It’s a splurge but I’ve always wanted to stay there. Not sure what else we’ll do besides enjoy the lodge as weather is so wet & cold. Have a good weekend, all!
I’m going to have my parents over tomorrow for a BBQ tomorrow. We haven’t had a get together since Feb 2020. We will still distance and mask in close spaces. But it’s not supposed to rain so we should be able to use the deck and yard.
On Monday I will have to work but I will, at the least, deliver my traditional bouquet of flowers to my Antifa great uncle that died in WW2. He is buried in Italy but his name is on two separate monuments in the area. His sister, my Gram, passed away a few years ago so it’s not quite the same. I would always get her the best pictures of the war memorial, the flowers and his name on the plaque. Often there would be memorial service for all the war dead and she adored seeing the regalia.
I also need to check to see if one of the local high schools is back to doing their tribute to the Iraq war dead. They used to painstakingly write their names on small markers and, in a huge group effort, create a temporary yearly cemetery for them. I’d walk and walk and take pictures of our friend’s names. They had to stop doing it due to the pandemic. I’m not sure if they’re back to it yet. Maybe they laid the tradition to rest.
We're laying around the house. Our favorite thing to do. No BBQ because the grill is on the fritz. I think the hubs wants to fix it rather than buy a new one. It'll be hot dogs, beans, and potato salad for dinner. Thanks to all of our military for serving.
When we don’t have to be anywhere, we really enjoy our home life. Doing what we want, staying up late..drinking wine, dancing, arguing. Eating when we want. We got an invite to his mom’s for a picnic, and he was so crabby about It! Our fathers are buried about 500 feet from each other, and we will probably visit them.
We’re cooking burgers on the grill with a guest coming over. Meanwhile, I’ll be smoking a brisket. It’s already trimmed and frozen hard. It will smoke first Sunday while it thaws, get loved-up and rubbed, and then cook it Monday!
Best wishes for a safe and happy holiday, SAVers!
Cabin baby. No more of the marriage testing RVs, tents, pop-ups and all the relationship building exercises inherent in trying to set up camp. Now it is simply pack-mule all the bags and food stuff into the cabin with nary a peep while momma does her thing checking everything out and putting stuff away. Then the honey-do lists of stuff momma has developed over the prior days of not visiting—again with nary a peep from me because I no longer have to live through those relationship building exercises. Those exercises must have been successful though—been married going on over 30 years.
Me, it'll be the last Memorial Day weekend that I will have to work. I'll do my job, and relax when I get home-because next week, I'm going to have fun.
One time when I was a kid, we drove about 3 hours to go camping. My mother hated camping and was doing her usual complaining.
We found a spot and my dad parked the trailer, unhitched it, had me help him by looking at the level bubbles on the sides of the trailer whilst he put the trailer on jacks. He built a fire.
I don't know what happened, but the next thing I know, my mother and I are at the camp fire, and my father is removing the jacks, hitching the trailer back up, putting the camping chairs back in the trailer, loading up the ice chest into the bed of the truck. He's not saying a word.
Finally, he stands by the door and says, "Let's go" and we drive home in silence. I guess she complained one too many times?