We’re packing up to go to the beach!!

According to our car, it will be a tight fit.

Kayak? Check.

Surfboard? Check.

Tubby Torpedo? Check.

Magalito? Check.

Summer time fun, here we come!

We found ourselves spending the night away from home on our last mini-vacation (we think) before we add another to the HB Tribe. Aside from the scattered showers, it was a delight to be together roaming the streets of Port Townsend and Port Angeles.

We discovered a State Park we’d never been to and added it to our list of places to return – perhaps with a tiny babe in our arms.

Sadly, my camera did not accompany us to Cock – a – Doodle Donuts, but if you ever are driving through Port Angeles (and I know you are) stop there to get your fill.

Also, my camera didn’t get to document the hilarity of people that were staying at our hotel. There were three distinct groups of people: a wedding party, teenage basketball players (multiple teams) or mountain bikers (apparently there is such thing as mountain bike tournaments). It was a trifecta of oddness, but very entertaining for us. It gave us something to do while we ate our donuts.

Seabeck from hannah elvrum on Vimeo.

The PBA was able to get all of the Seattle employees Orca cards for 2010. These cards work with multiple transit agencies in the Puget Sound. Luckily, this list includes Community Transit which has a stop right in front of HBHQ. I’ve been taking advantage of the new card to take trips to the YMCA pool in the morning, and busing back to HBHQ from the train station at night.

Avoiding my car has turned into as much fun as finding excuses to drive was when I turned 16… or 14 ( Some might say where I grew up is off the beaten path). I’ve been studying bus routes, and downloading iPhone apps to help my urban transit assault. It’s amazingly entertaining, and I’m confident this little card is going to be just what I need to come out on top in my car versus bike riding challenge.

1. This is a picture of our Australian home. Seriously, we lived in a car for a few months.

2. As you can see, I’m busy working in the “kitchen” getting dinner ready.

3. Please note the bottles of wine on top of the car. We bought a case of wine and kept a list of where we were each time we had a bottle. These bottles went down on the list as “The Town of 1770,” the name of the nearest town.

4. We walked into The Town of 1770  and passed at least 200 dead frogs on the road.  Barry made me stop counting.

5. Looking at this photo reminds me that happiness can be found anywhere – even in the back of a car with dead frogs stuck to the tires.

Found in San Francisco:

Anyhow, while we were on our road trip Chaya (a.k.a. Chach) and her man, Brian, took care of HBHQ. They fed the fish, watered our lawn, ate our blueberries, and even mowed! They also had a raging party that sounded fun.

On the morning that we were to return home Chach left a message saying that ‘everything was in place at HBHQ” and to call her when we got home. This message was very typical, nothing special. As I walked in our front door with my arms loaded down I meant to dump my bags and return to the car for my second load, but a black and white picture caught my eye. It was a picture of Chaya and Brian! How nice, I thought, they left us a picture of them. Oh, was I wrong.

They replaced each picture of us with pictures of their own:

• in the front room (3 in frames)
• on the fridge (3, including strip from photo booth)
• in the living room (1 of just Brian replaced 1 of just Barry)
• in the office (1 in a frame hanging)
• in our bedroom (2 in frames)

This type of thing happens in my family often, it seems. Not the whole-replace your cousins pictures with your own, but jokes. My family thrives on jokes. Really good jokes that people talk about for years.

This whole thing reeks of my Grandpa Elvrum because he, I believe, is the MASTER at jokes like this. I know this whole  shenanigan is Chach, but I have doubt my Grandpa is proud.

Although I adore  Chach & Brian, this joke is one that deserves an answer!