Cold Weather

This is what it looks like out our windows:

That's Mt. St. Helens you see in the distance, and the small hump to its left is Mt. Rainier.  If it weren't for the tree on the right, you'd be able to see Mt. Rainier and Mt. Hood also.  The Tualatin Valley is filled with clouds and so the mountains seem to float there. 

Our weather has been crisp, dry, and cold.  That's what happens when the rain stops . . . it gets very cold.  Now I know some of you would sniff at our "cold" temperatures.  We only get down in the 20's, above zero; and I know a lot of you are colder than that.  Still, it's cold enough to make my bones ache.  Gracie knows what to do:

and she wishes I'd stop flashing my camera in her face so she could get some sleep.  Oh, to be a cat. 

I could imagine being reincarnated as my cat.  It would be a pretty good life.  Just the other day I drove clear to the other side of town to get some high quality food for them.  George has crystals in his urine, and he has to eat this bland stuff I get from the grocery store.  Neither of them like it very much.  I read about a place that sells raw meat for cat food, and so I drove over there to check it out.  They were kind enough to give me some samples, and I also tried some of their no-grain canned stuff.  One of the flavors, Sardine, had actual hunks of sardine in it.  They lapped it up!  So for our trip, I'm fixing to head over there again tomorrow and pick up several cases in different flavors.  We'll have all the food we need for traveling--for the cats, that is.

So here's the newest update on our trip.  We had planned to be off today, but that didn't work out.  I told Mike I wasn't going to start packing until he gives me a date certain.  So, he promptly gave me a "date certain" of Wednesday.  I think he means it this time.  So Wednesday is the big day.  As I've said before, Death Valley is our first stop.  I'm excited because it's been raining in Death Valley.  Do you know there are seeds that actually lie dormant, sometimes for decades, waiting for a rain like this?  The deserts everywhere will be blooming.  It should be beautiful.  I like Death Valley flowers or no flowers, however.  Here's a shot of Zabriski Point I took last time we were there:

Such an amazing place.  So, stay tuned.  I'll be posting a lot more like these as we go, as well as my general travelogue of facts and figures about the national parks. 

I love the parks.  Being from a military family, I traversed the country four times in a little trailer when I was growing up.  My dad loved the parks too.  Because we moved around so much, no place ever felt like home--no place, that is, except for the parks.  I spent as much time there as I did any place else as a child.  When we visit now, it's as if I've gone home again.  I'm looking forward to some warmer weather, but I'm also looking forward to seeing my old friends, the parks.

Oh yes, and I wanted to report that since our wind power turbine went up mid-August, we've generated nearly $160 worth of power!  It's not as much as we'd hoped for, but it'll buy a lot of fabric.  I'm not sure Mike had in mind for me to spend the savings on fabric, but that won't stop me.