I haven’t been on Facebook or here much for the past 14 days because I have been “stay-cationing” with two of my best friends: Helen Schofield from Auckland, New Zealand and Lisa Twining from Lakewood Washington. We have been having a whee of a time. To prove this claim, pictured below are some of the images we’ve taken to document our comings and goings.
Helen arrived on August 18th at 10:15 p.m.. We didn’t get home to my place until 1 a.m. because of traffic congestion at the airport and road construction on the way home. Helen’s flight lasted from midnight her time in Auckland until 10:15 p.m. Pacific Time. She was 8.5 hours in the air for the first leg of the flight and 5.5 hours for the second leg. She flew from Auckland to Honolulu Hawaii and went through customs there during the 2.5 hour layover, and she had to arrive at the airport in Auckland a couple hours before her flight took off. So, altogether, she was traveling a total of something like 18 hours — a long time!!!
She arrived tired but we were so excited to finally be together (after more than a decade of being Facebook friends) that we chatted all the way home. We ate something and then fell into our respective beds for about six and a half hours before Helen awoke, refreshed and ready to go. For a while. Until jet lag reminded her that she hadn’t slept much during the preceding three days, so she introduced me to the concept of a “nana nap” — a brief nap taken by grandmothers when their grandkids go down for a nap, allowing the sitter to rest for a while, too, either by napping or doing something else restful while they recuperate.
I took to nana naps like a duck takes to water, only mine lasted about twice as long as Helen’s each time! So, she made herself right at home and brewed tea and read until I resurrected.
OUR BUCKET LIST PLAN
Helen arrived with a bucket list. She wanted to see a Native American powwow (“not a staged event for white people, but a real one!”), a rodeo, Northwest Trek, Pike Place Market in Seattle, Winthrop, WA (a town that has turned itself into the spitting image of an Old West town), a Wal-Mart, a shopping mall, a discount clothes store, and several grocery stores.
She also wanted to spend time observing two orphaned raccoons, who I had been fostering from June 21st until just three days ago, when I set them free. Their names are Summer and Solstice (because I got them on the exact date of this year’s summer solstice), and I made sure they stayed wild so they wouldn’t become nuisances.
RACCOON BACK STORY
(Don’t try this at home. It’s dicey, expensive and a rehabber’s permit is required!)
I rehabbed raccoons, birds of prey, and orphaned fawns and skunks in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s under the auspices of the Fish and Game Department, so when a friend called on June 21st to tell me she had two baby raccoons at her place whose mother had been killed by a car, and that she had called all of the local animal rehab places looking to place them, but they were all inundated with raccoon babies and that the last place had suggested that she just have them put down, she called to see if I could help.
I agreed to take them in, grow them up to release age, and feed them scrambled eggs and dried crickets and, later, live goldfish and crickets to teach them to look for their food (after their teeth came in fully). They were in my den in a large ferret habitat for the first ten days or so, and then I transferred them to our old henhouse, where I created a mini forest with logs and branches so they could nest high in the rafters and come down to forage on the bottom of the wooden structure and, later, in a blue water basin, into which I placed goldfish or live crickets for them to catch.
When I released them several days ago, they immediately climbed two trees, dug for worms and grubs, and had a great time getting to know the outside world. So, releasing them has been a complete success, and I wish them well.
I rarely touched them except to lift them briefly to be sure they were gaining sufficient weight to stay healthy. They have reappeared once, so far, for water and vittles (cooked and raw eggs and pet food) but, otherwise, they are out and about continuing to have the time of their lives.
Taken the day before I got them, looking into my friend’s home from outside…
No rehab facility in our area would take them, so I did.
Above: Taken the day after I got them, while they were in my indoor ferret habitat.
Above: Taken the day I first put them in the henhouse outdoors…
about ten days after taking them in.
Taken about a week ago… eating cooked crayfish from the store.
Taken about a week ago, eating a strawberry, live goldfish and crickets
It cost at least $500 to raise them to release age (1000 crickets cost $40, which they ate in about three days five different times, 500 minnows cost $80, and small feeder goldfish cost 19 cents each. I bought probably 300 goldfish for them.) The friend who asked me to take them in helped with the cost, happily.
MUCKLESHOOT POWWOW August 19, 2022:
Me outside the Muckleshoot Powwow August 19th, 2022
Helen outside the Muckleshoot Powwow August 19th
I had never attended a powwow before, nor had Helen, but Lisa schooled us on protocol and we behaved properly during the ceremonies that commenced that afternoon. I took videos but I can’t get them off my phone to post one or two of them here, so you’ll have to click on the links I’ve embedded here to see what a powwow is like if you haven’t attended one before. It was a very moving experience. I will go again when Lisa can be along to tell me more about the participants, for sure!
At last! A fringed cowboy jacket, after decades of wanting one!
PIKE PLACE MARKET August 22, 2022
I didn’t take any pictures at Pike Place Market. I got lost getting there because Mapquest delivered a bogus set of directions. I ended up asking a Verizon worker for directions, and he pointed us unerringly in the right direction.
Pike Place Market is a true tourist trap. I did get a stuffed critter for my critter room, though: a long-haired llama. It’s adorable!
NORTHWEST TREK August 24 2022
Image by Helen Schofield
Golden Eagle on ground nest, image by Lisa Twining
Badgers, image by Lisa Twining
Sleeping Cougar, image by Lisa Twining
Black tail deer fawn, image by Lisa (taken from a moving vehicle)
Bobcat at Northwest Trek, image by Lisa Twining
Two grizzlies, image by Lisa Twining
River Otter, image by Lisa Twining
Juvenile bull elk wallowing in pond, image by Lisa Twining
Sleeping Canadian Lynx, image by Lisa Twining
Mountain goats, image by Lisa Twining (taken from a moving vehicle)
As luck/fate would have it, ours was the first vehicle behind the lead car from whence the spotter/hostess (Rachel) was regaling us with the history of NW Trek and the the hoofed animals that we would see during the 50-minute drive through the 300-acre park. (Speed Limit 5 mph.) There were 13 cars behind us and we drivers were told to stay close together so none of the wildlife could wander between cars. As the designated driver for our vehicle, I watched the lead car’s bumper almost as often as I looked for critters.
Lisa, Helen and Judi Cooper (a dear friend since childhood) were the designated image capturers. (I haven’t seen Judi’s images, so none of them appear here.) They did a fantastic job considering the fact that all of our vehicles were in constant motion; we were not allowed to stop. The hoofed animals you see above were in the 300-acre range; the rest of the animals were spotted during the “walkabout” areas of NW Trek. We had a great time and got out of there before the heat of the day, so it was perfect timing to see a lot of the animals there.. If you go, don’t miss the gift shop!!!
WINTHROP, WASHINGTON August 26, 2022
Wooden Cowboy (LQ Jones-like!), image by Helen Schofield
Winthrop Hotel, image by Helen Schofield
Another Winthrop Storefront, image by Helen Schofield
Kris and Helen’s faces in Wooden Cut-Out
Kris and Helen, Winthrop WA August 26 2022
The trip to Winthrop began at 0 dark thirty in the morning (about 5 a.m.) and ended at about 7 pm that evening. Lisa drove the first leg of the trek from Tacoma up through Seattle and across the North Cascades Highway to Winthrop. (She also drove almost to Wenatchee on the dry side of Washington State before she let me take over.) There was road construction along the way on the North Cascades Highway, so it took us longer than the 4.5 hours we believed it would take.
We arrived in Winthrop at about 11:00 a.m. We parked, took a few of the above images, and then hit the restroom before ambling along the boardwalks to peer into or enter the various stores that lined the street. Helen bought herself and me ice cream cones and Lisa a chocolate malt almost as soon as we arrived, because it was already getting hot there. Helen had never tried licorice or moose tracks ice cream, so she got a two-scooper of those flavors and, before long, she had black lips and a black tongue. (She let me take a picture for my own eternal amusement but said NOT to share it publicly, so SORRY ABOUT THAT!!!)
After walking pretty much from one end of Winthrop to the other and back, we got back into the vehicle and headed in the direction of the dry side of Washington, so we could show Helen a different aspect of the state. (The wet side is verdant and very green; the dry side is desert-y with patches of green where the roving irrigation systems keep them in good stead.)
I took over the driving not long before Wenatchee and drove us into Cle Elum (my teenage years hometown). I drove them past my old home on what used to be called Nelson Siding Road and is now Golf Course Road (much to my chagrin). That route has grown so much that I hardly recognized it. It’s true: “you can’t go home again.” The side trip was melancholy for me. We had a very good time, even though it was a taxing day for the designated drivers, since we had to focus on keeping us all on the road and out of harm’s way for all but about 90 minutes of the time. It was still a delightful trek, though. I look forward to doing it again in about another 30 years! HA!
ENUMCLAW RODEO August 28, 2022
Lisa has been trying to get me to a rodeo (one of her favorite places) for YEARS and I finally succumbed on August 28th because Helen wanted to see real Indians (hence the powwow), real cowboys, and a rodeo. We got to the rodeo grounds in Enumclaw two hours in advance, which was a good thing, because we had plenty of time to visit the vendors’ booths, eat polish dogs, and use pristine porta potties before anyone else had a crack at them (pun intended). AND because it became a lot hotter than had been forecast.
So, when we finally grabbed a spot on the bleachers at about 12:30 (the rodeo started at one), I pulled out one of the bottles of water I had brought along and drenched Helen’s and my hats with it plus a scarf designed to keep people cool when wet, and I gave that to Lisa to wear. It was the wetness of our heads and necks that kept us in place as long as we stayed there — about an hour and 15 minutes after the rodeo started. We watched bareback bronc rising, saddle bronc riding, and calf roping and wrangling before finally giving it up to head back home. As luck would have it, a cowboy from New Zealand was competing in the bareback and saddle bronc riding, so Helen got a chance to see a kiwi cowboy compete before we left!
T-shirt I got at the Enumclaw Pro Rodeo August 27th
I will flesh out this narrative after Helen flies home in the morning. I have dashed this out while she was having nana naps. The rest of the time we’ve been enjoying DeForest Kelley movies and TV shows (of him mostly as a cowboy) and sitting in the “green room” (my back yard) watching goats, cats, raccoons and crows do their things.
It has been a 100% DE-lightful time with a DE-lightful kiwi! In a couple years Lisa and I plan to go Down Under so Helen and her friend Deborah Davies can show us the sites there, including Hobbiton and the Peter Jackson Workshop. Looking forward to that!!!
Additional musings and updates
Helen arrived with a number of kiwi-specific gifts for Lisa and me and others.
Lisa and I got small, luxurious sheepskin rugs. I’m using mine as a sort of shawl when I sleep at night because it feels like a warm, soft hug.
We also got totes and stone ( green jade?) necklaces. (Lisa will get her tote on her birthday — a different one than the one shown below — along with something else Helen got her…)
Kia kaha means Stay Strong in Maori
She brought a little something for Hannah Mc Crane, my co-host on EVER NEW, TOO. (Hannah, don’t let me forget to give it to you when you visit next month!)
In addition, I got a business card holder with a piwakawaka (fantail bird) on the cover, a chirping piwakawaka stuffed animal for my Critter Corral, and a plastic Giant Weta (which is the actual size of this ancient and endangered New Zealand insect!)
Helen tasted beanie wienies, burger dips, chicken pot pies and steelhead (a native fish) for the first time ever while she was here, in addition to the licorice and moose tracks ice cream I told you about earlier.
She loved watching “live raccoon TV” for long periods of time beside me in the back yard. She has always LOVED raccoons, so that was a special treat for her.
I asked her what her favorite events were and she said the powwow, raccoon watching, Northwest Trek, and Winthrop, but she also said that hanging with Lisa, Judi and me and getting to know us better was at the top of her list, too. I second that emotion!
Funny Stuff that Happened
In NZ, steering wheels are on the right-hand side of the vehicles, so Helen kept heading to the driver side of my van when we went anywhere, thinking she was heading to the passenger side. (I will do the exact same thing the entire time I’m down in NZ, I’m sure! It’s a habit!) The situation became a running joke. (It didn’t help that I kept unlocking the passenger side door for her, so she felt I was heading in the right direction with my keys to drive us around!)
About ten days into her stay, as we were setting out to somewhere, she suggested (joking), “Would you like me to drive today?”
I retorted, “Helen, you can’t even find the right side of the van to do that, so how would you handle driving on the right-hand side of the road from the left-hand side of my van? I don’t feel all that much like dying today!” We HOWLED!
I will think of more stuff as the days pass and add them here, but this is a good taste for the time being!
