It must be a weekday because I'm at work but more than that I can't give you. I feel like what I've done took more than the two days it covered. I am so sleeeeeeeepy...zzzzzzzzzzzz. Mmmph - what's this now? Oh right.So Friday I decided it had been a long enough week and I left at 5. (You think this is not a big deal but seeing as the previous day I went home at 7 and the day before that I was at work until 10...this is HUGE people, huge!) I went home and packed for the trip to The Temperate Zone. Then Tarzan and I jumped in the car (helllooo carpool lane) to pick up my sister and brother from my mom who was meeting us in the middle for the trade. Then it was back to the house for a quick dinner and then down to the bus station for the 10:30 bus out of town. It wasn't a bad ride really. Lots of people though, so we all had to share a seat. I had brought snacks and water and everyone had a book and a blanket (yes, I AM the queen of road trips) We slept as best as possible, slightly reclined with not quite enough leg or foot room, and got in right on time: 5:45am. B was on her way so we waited, and waited, hoping the water falling from the sky would cease, or at least not get more intense. Funny story...the street the bus terminal is on is a one-way street. We had waited for about a 1/2 hour so when we saw a car coming the wrong way up the street we joked that was probably B. Then the car stopped across the street - still pointing the wrong way - and sure enough her head poked out the driver's side!! (thank goodness it was 6am!) That was the running joke all weekend. R3 had to tell EVERYone. We made it home without any more mishaps and hung out for the hour before the festivities started. Then B was off to the horse barn where she helps look after stallions and the donkey breeding king - Action Jackson. (He's really an attention whore. He calls to anyone who comes by and preens under all the petting and feeding. He nearly ate D2's pocket trying to reach some pistachio shells):
Anyway, we went for breakfast and then to the parade grounds to meet my friend RHM and her mom who suffer my wacky company every year. (This is my third Picnic Day) While waiting for the opening remarks to end, the water from the sky ended the drizzling stage and entered fully into the pouring stage. I had brought a jacket (water RESISTANT) a sweater and a hat. There were three of us. So I wore the hat, R3 got the jacket and D2 got the sweater. We made it, and we will remember it, but Wow. It. Was. Wet. (Haven't been that wet since the year of El Nino when I was a junior in college and we had to wade across the street in water up to our knees.) Here are some of the better shots from the parade (my poor camera - it's drying out at home, but I figure if I can download photos then it's still okay, right?) This is before the rain got too heavy:
This is the horse barn float. (B drove it last year):
More floats and crazy walking peoples (what college kids will do):
These little kids are so stalwart (they didn't even drink before coming):
The sheet music the bands carried melted down the front of their hands as they marched:
No bellies to be seen from the belly dancers:
The engineering department makes a statement:
How many colleges have their own winery?:
The bike club is always fun - there were fewer participants this year. Maybe it isn't possible to hold an umbrella and drive one of those things:
After the parade we collected our annual tomato and pepper plants, got a ton of flower seedlings, no grapevines this year, bypassed the popcorn and balloons in favor of going inside the horse barn with B: 
As we hung out in the relative dryness, many people stopped by to pet Action and ask questions. B totally knows her stuff and she freakishly comfortable teaching people a lot older than herself. She's got the self depreciating, this-is-what-I-do, open, friendly manner thing down. (I know, I know, she's my younger sister and I always think of her as such even though she's 20 and smarter than Einstein.) But it was interesting to watch her. I feel smarter for having been there. When we felt that we could stand it again we left the barn and headed to the hatchery to see the baby chickens and quail. As we walked in a chick just finished rolling out of his shell and was all damp and exhausted from the ordeal. Before we completed the circuit it was up and starting to look fluffy. All the birds are SO cute. The quail are TINY and run like they're about to fall over their toes. Outside were the hearty older birds:
Then we headed to lunch, found the Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream stand (pretty good - but it melts WAY fast, even in the rain), chatted up a cute Chemistry senior headed to Yale in the fall and were off to the Dachshund Derby. OMG. It never fails to entertain me. All these little dogs in tiny colored coats with short legs and big floppy ears running in all directions and sometimes making it across the finish line. So adorable. The slow motion replay is awesome too:
By 3:30 we were done. It was so lovely to go back to B's place and just sit, warm and dry and take off all the sodden layers and have warm things to drink and just hang. We talked to her roommates - who are all really sweet and friendly and totally accepting of all of us - then we changed and went out for dinner better equipped to handle the water that was still falling from the sky, although it was closer to the drizzle of the morning thankfully. Our bus left at 8:30, so we ate, did a quick shopping trip to stock Bridget's fridge and then off to the terminal. We drove all night again. The bus was less crowded and I figured out how to make the seats recline to an almost comfortable position so we slept better. We got back to The Jungle around 5:15am, Tarzan picked us up and it was home to sleep for another two hours before we had to be up and out the door for church. After church A joined us and we drove out to The Desert to deliver D2 and R3 back at home and have dinner with my parents. (Tarzan couldn't come because his school accreditation review was yesterday afternoon.) Fortunately traffic was fantastic. We got there in decent time, had a great visit and were home in record time. In time to watch the results of Dancing with the Stars which we hadn't seen yet. (Thankfully it wasn't as I had predicted. Good-bye Leeza - I will not miss you at all.)
This is me back.
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