First Camp of the Season

And what a camping trip it was! The technical term would probably be "quasi camping," because we slept in cousin Gregg's yard in a tent, and used his amenities like flush toilets and gourmet cookware.

For you, a list of attendees:

Chris Asmann & children (Chlöe, Olivia & Pucci)
Chris, Alisa & Sedona
The Berry-Schaerperimages, dog and child included

We had lovely weather despite the the torrential downpour and epic lightening storm we encountered at 5,000 feet. No big deal. Wasn't scary at all. Not. It was horrifying and I thought we might die, but we were spared, this time.

Saturday brought Twisp Farmer's Market and the Senior Center Western Sale, which is never a disappointment. We also scouted out a little hike with the girls to a secret waterfall, that everyone else in the Methow Valley also knew about :)

Rowan had a blast with her friends, a highlight being Alisa and I playing potty time Mad Libs with the girls. The words "toilet" and "tooters" don't really get old. Ever.

We campfired last night, made hobo pies for dinner and as Rowan and Iay in our bags in the tent, were serenaded by Poage and the G sauce with a great view of a clear sky.

Breakfast at the pub, and after two Bloody Mary's I was asleep shortly after we turned onto Hwy 20 in Winthrop. A short trip, but a good one all the same.

Reverse Jet Lag

Someone told me recently that jet lag is a bitch the older you get. I have every evidence of that fact. I'm feeling quite foolish for proclaiming that I'd certainly have no problem with jet lag once home. I was wrong. The first few days I was up at 4, raring to go, today, by 5pm I was ready for bed. Me no likely.

Tj had a noteworthy observation however: the weather's effect on my mood/motivation level. It was beautiful and warm yesterday, and I was busy at the fruit market. Today, rainy and misty, and I was counting the hours until I got to leave Kohl's, and then Sears. Painful. My work is boring, and I fear boredom, in the realm of non health threatening genres and compared to like, a bird taking a crap on your windshield, is one of the worst things. Ever. No one to talk to, just bras upon bras that need rehanging. I have a job, two actually, and I'm very thankful. Enough said.

With this seasonal depression weather we had today, I decided to make soup. It turned out quite well, with fresh herbs from my Mother's Day garden!! So very exciting. My picturesque meal is picturesqued below, along with a picture of me that I like to call: Jet Lag: you guys, where are we?! If you are a LOST fan, you're welcome. If you're not, it's free on Netflix and Hulu. I suggest you get on that plane. Immediately.

A happy birthday's eve to my one and only Jakey Henn.

Coulda woulda shoulda

In reference to our last day of the world's most epic vacation. I shoulda typed up one last entry. But alas, it's for my mind only. Oh la la! To quote one Ciscoe Morris.

Our jet lag wore off, just in time to be super tired when I got up for work this morning. C'est la vie I s'pose. The good news is, it's my birthday week, which means I basically get whatever I want, and what I want is an awesome week. Off to a good start, it was beautiful today.

Next funness: Jakey comes up tomorrow!! Whom has a birthday on the 13th, so I guess you could call it his birthday week too...I guess.

Über next funness: family dinner on Hen's birthday! At an Indian restaurant? Perhaps. Maybe it'll be something cool that I don't even know about.

2. Über fun: Flag Day Spa Fun with my bestie!! Cannot wait for my ultimate facial and brow tint. Everyone should have darkened eyelashes on their birthday.

3rd and final funness: my actual day of birth, celebrating 29 years of Esther, on a Friday with a game party with all the greatest friends in the greater Bothell area (not to mention the greatest friends in the world), when the only thing on the agenda for the next day is a party. Albeit not for yourself, but rather two eighteen year olds about to embark on life, a party with free hard liquor all the same. Day drinking. That's what it's called. I learned it from Kristi. The term, not the action.

Let birthday work week (it officially started yesterday) begin!!

Day 12, Basel.

Wow. Whoa. Uhhhggg. Sigh.

Time to go home. We are All packed, we are well fed, and we are lying in bed, full from our last meal with family Fritsche and ready to get some rest before getting on a plane tomorrow.

The past weeks have been just wonderful. We have had some of the most generous people I know give everything they possibly could, and I can't thank those individuals enough.

We took one last little trip to the city today, for lunch a trip to the Nespresso store. That's my birthday present from Tj! I am so excited about it. Christine took us to the Coop, where we filled our basket with things essential before departing home: mayonnaise, mustard, deodorant...chocolate...Swiss herb mixtures...you know. The basics.

I'm so tired. I think this is my last sentence from Basel auf der Bruderholz.

Day 11, Basel.

And we're back! About 15 degrees cooler, Basel was lovely today with nice fresh air and sun in the afternoon.

We visited my former school today, and wandered around looking for a familiar teacher, that we found out wasn't working that day. I left him a note, and the staff in the office thought it was super that I came for a visit.

Next to my school is a park called the Grün 80, or green for the non-learning disabled people. Just kidding. I meant non-German speaking people. I know what the grammar should look like here folks, it's an inside joke. So lay off ;)

The park was beautiful and full of birds and one giant dinosaur that was gifted to the park in 2005 from some Swiss company celebrating 25 years of the park. Imported from New Mexico. Everyone knows they make the best fake, to-scale dinosaurs.

We hopped the #10 tram into the city and had a relaxing day. Visited the stores I needed to hit before heading home for some Swiss essentials--like a butcher shop, see photo--and met with a friend from my school days, Corrine. She now has a little one named Jonas, and he was so sweet! It was great to visit, so I guess I'll have to come back in a couple years and see that boy again!

We wrapped up our day with a date night...as if the last two weeks haven't been one giant date. Am I right, or am I right?! We went to a place that specializes in cordon-bleu. And they had three pages of the style you could choose from...and no option had chicken! Veal or pork. Have I mentioned that I love the way folks eat across the pond? Because I love it. I wish I could eat baby cows everyday. And raw piles of them once in a while. Only kidding. Sort of.

It was a splendid meal to end a splendid day. One more day in the city, and we'll be on our way home!

Day 10. Back to Basel.

A long day. Primarily in the train. After coffee and a stop at my new favorite store the Monoprix, we packed up and headed to the train station in Nice. More than one hour early, we waited for our train that ended up to be late. Really great for us, because we had only 15 minutes to transfer trains in Marseille. And guess what? We missed it. So I had to wait in line with thirty other people who also needed to switch their tickets. Got it sorted out, but now we are running one hour behind schedule with no way to contact our pickup. Should be an interesting next stop in Dijon, trying to figure out that part!

The French countryside is beautiful. Have I said that yet? And it's also great scenery for mastering Plants vs. Zombies. Which I haven't mastered, but I'm getting REALLY good.

My only complaint about the French train system is 2 things:

They seem never to be on time. And my seat today smells like urine. But it could just be me. Literally. I have great reason to believe that we as a pair could peel wall paper from even the carpeted walls of the pink house (which has since been painted!) on Whidby. You're welcome for the shout out, Cheryl!

I will give props to the SNCF (French railway) because they bumped us to 1st class the whole way home. Even though the guy sitting across from me has all the leg room and I'm going backwards in the train...it's still first class, and the seats recline. Sort of.

So we have two more days in Basel with family Fritsche before we head back to Bothell. France gave me a run for my money. My wounds (fever blisters and mosquito bites and have turned into blisters) are healing albeit super painful and might I add, hideous. We decided that I should probably just start going by The Plague. First name The, last name Plague. It's pretty simple, and definitely easy to remember. Oh, and I have sunburn. I'm looking real good these days.

I am really looking forward to seeing my child. Now that I'm suffering from vacation exhaustion (I know, I know), I ready to squeeze that kid and kiss her face. But not until mine has cleared up from the facial plague, of course.

Keep your fingers crossed we arrive back to Basel without further delay!! Vive la France!

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Safe and sound back in Basel. First class all the way! A little wurst salat fresh from the Fritsche Kitchen, a hot shower and cold beer. Nice to be back in the climate of not southern France, lovely as it was!

Day 9, Nice.

Phhhheeeewf. We are exhausted. Vacation has officially caught up with us. It's a good thing the only agenda for tomorrow is sitting in a train for 7 hours.

The weather today was glorious. The sun was shining, the breeze off the sea was lovely and half the hoards of people from yesterday were at church or something, because they weren't in our way. We found an open place for coffee, and stopped in at a place called Monoprix, which seems to me like a French Target. I was in heaven. I'm going back tomorrow for my souvenirs! French toothpaste and such ;) it's always good to have practical souvenir habits.

We walked 3 million stairs to the top of Castle Hill, that overlooks the cape of Nice. It was spectacular! Especially with the clear sunny day we had...wow. We had a search for the museum of the castle, but ironically as we got closer, the sign for museum changed to a sign for a boutique, better known to us a gift shop, and when we arrived at said museum, it was tacky coffee mugs and magnets and postcards of tanned butt cheeks in thong bikinis. So, it was pretty much like a museum of a Roman castle. Pretty much.

There is a cemetery there, split between 3 or 4 religious sects. We walked through the Jewish one, and it's slightly disheartening to read your name on a grave...over and over...and over. One even had Esther and Jacob on it. Had to have a picture.

After a stop at my BFF the tomato lady I wrote about yesterday, we tried to find the natural history museum, with no success. We had correctly navigated to the map's location, but as one American tourist on Castle Hill said about the Roman ruins of a church, "Well where did it go? Was there a war or something?" I guess her understanding of "ruins" is unclear, in a way similar to how we couldn't find the invisible natural history museum...

After a clean up, Tj decided he wanted to take a plunge in the Mediterranean. When in Rome, right? I went only knee high, but the breakers crept up to my scrotal zone, soaking my dress. No matter. The air and water were warm and comfortable. We sat on the beach for some time, watching the families play with their kids, and pregnant women smoking, and fat guys in Speedos, and topless women with breasts to their waists...it was entertaining to say the least. Our favorite instance, the pregnant mom telling her small child it's time to go. He wasn't having it. Kicking, screaming, hitting his pregnant mother--on Mother's Day no less--lucky for him she didn't have a lit cigarette in hand--and she smacks him hard on the rear and shouts, "Voilà!". It was fabulous. And now I might start doing the same. So keep your hounches covered.

We drug our weary selves to dinner around 8, where T had some amazing seafood grill plate, and I had a rack of lamb. Whenever I'm in the Mediterranean I usually crave spiced meat shanks.

We also sat next to three drag queens in the restaurant. To Wong Fu indeed. But none of them looked like Pat Swazey.

Let me just make sure I've covered the high points of the day:

-million stairs
-swimming in the sea
-voilà smack
-drag queens

Think that's it. Oh! And it rained! I thought a bird was shitting on my head, then realized it was this foreign substance I hadn't seen in over a week!

Late and must to bed. We shall see how the sleeping works out. My legs are covered in souce of fwance mosquito bites. And these bitches have drill bits on their snouts. Ouch. Itch. Blistering bites = must wear pants tomorrow. At least it's not bedbugs.