The Miracle of the Kitty

Yesterday Dad & I drove down to Delta Utah to see his dad for Father's Day.  While driving down main street a kitty popped up under my car.  I didn't run it over, but I did drive over it.  When we got to Grandpa's house and got out of the car, we could hear meowing from under the car.  We couldn't see anything, and we hoped that it would climb out while we were inside.  When we came back out, couldn't see anything under the car and there was no noise.  We drove all the way home.  Today I left and ran errands.  When I got home I hear meowing, but it sounded like it was coming from the neighbors that have cats.  When Mom & Dad got home, I told Dad I thought the kitty might be underneath the car still, but I that still couldn't see anything.  Dad got down and looked and again didn't see anything, but then the cat started crying again.  Mom got down and saw the kitty.  We opened the hood and still couldn't get it out or see it.  Mom & Dad figured out where it was and tried to get it out, but it was stuck.  We decided to drive to a tire place to put it up on a lift and see if we could get the kitty out.  We only made it about 15 feet before I heard a bang on the bottom of the car and saw a little kitty scamper out from under the car.  We cornered it under a tree and Mom coaxed it out.  It wasn't hurt, no broken bones, maybe a few bruises.  We gave it some food and liquids and now she's wandering around the house - meowing and finally purring.  Here she is the cat my Dad thinks should be named Fusion after the car it traveled in for 150 miles and lived to tell about it.:

The Ocean

As Melody walked down the hall toward my room this morning at 10:30am she said, "I guess I have to get up and do something today."  Feeling the same was, I asked "What fun and exciting thing would you like to do today?"  Without a moment of hesitation she said "I'd drive to the coast and put my feet in the ocean."  It only took me 5 minutes to talk her into it and we were out the door by 11am. 

The drive was beautiful.  We went down through Tacoma, Olympia, and out to Ocean Shores.  We were very excited to get out to the water! 

Before we even got to the water we were met by a beautiful sky full of kites.  All shapes, sizes, and colors were soaring through the air.  There was not a cloud in the blue sky and so the kites were amazing.

One of the things I wasn't expecting was the fact that you could drive your car right out onto the sand!  The whole beach was full of cars and RV's, tents and umbrellas.  Some drove their cars all the way into the water. 

The other crazy thing was that the beach was littered with crab shells.  Arms, pinchers and in some cases whole shells were all over.  As were broken sand dollars.  Pile after pile of broken sand dollar shells were all over. 

The water was really quite warm.  If I had my swimsuit I would have gone all the way out.  Knowing the pacific current is a cold current (thanks Mel) I expected the water to be very cold.  The current was really strong.  There were a few people in the shallow water, but none very far out.

I loved every minute of it.  I seriously couldn't stop smiling.  Sometimes I forget how much of a water and beach girl I am.  I'm sunbunt and loving every minute of it.  :)

 

The drive home was eventful.  We saw a police car pulled over, protecting a bear who was laying down on the side of the road.  Checked out the massive cooling towers for the nuclear power plant never finished in Elma, WA and enjoyed chocolate dipped ice cream cones.  :) 

We noticed all the Tsunami Evacuation Route signs, both on the drive in and on the way out.  It was interesting though, that some of them pointed towards the ocean?  Not sure that would be the best route.

We ended our trip with a stop at Camping World!  I needed new grilling tools and a cover for my grill!  It was an awesome day!  I still can't stop smiling!  I LOVE the summer in Seattle.  I'm looking forward to many, many more Saturday trips and sunny days!

What's going on

I don't know how much posting we will get to in the near future.

Life has totally changed for us both.

You can see that change at:

Dad and the Deathstar

Phoenix

Most Washington school districts have a charming little tradition called Mid-Winter Break.  Personally, I'd rather get out of school a few days early, but this year I really needed a break from my students.  Amy needed a break from rain and cloudy skies so we went to Phoenix.  The first November we were here we went to Phoenix for a weekend.  This time we went for a week. 

On the first day we took a drive through the South Mountain Park - it's where the mountain with all the antennas on top is located. 

We drove up and up until we got to this view:

Then we drove home and made dinner

Thursday we took a break from resting and went to Barnes & Noble to get Amy a book (who am I kidding - I walked out of there with 2 books) and went to Aunt Chilada's for some great Mexican Food and sun on the Patio.

Friday's activities reveal the real reason we went to Phoenix:

That's right Nascar - A weekend of racing! Friday we went to practice and truck qualifing. And then we got to see the Kyle Busch show during the truck race:


Kyle's truck during a pit stop - right across from our seats!



KB won the race and somewhere in that cloud from the burnout is his truck.

 Saturday we went back to the track to see Nationwide and Cup qualifying and then the Nationwide Race:

Kyle's pit stop

Where we saw the Kyle Busch show again:

Yep - that's his car in the smoke again!

The hope for me was that I'd get to see a KB sweep!

Sunday:

Here's Amy before the race sporting her 20 gear for Joey Logano



There's Kyle Pre Race



Kyle didn't win - he came in second but it was a great race and a great weekend!