Moonshine Junkyard

The early trips to Apple Hill always just make me long desperately for fall. It feels wrong to be sweating in a tank top at a place selling pumpkins and gourds and hot apple cider. Millview Ranch is up the street from my sister's house. It's my favorite apple ranch to take the kids because of the big old-west style playground. By the time we leave, they are brown with dust from head to foot. But first, the girls each had a dollar to spend on an apple doughnut. Lots of deliberation for the big choice. After devouring our treats, the girls hit the playground, all homemade structures that lend themselves to wild little imaginations. Lucy is choosing most of her own outfits these days, and she has some real pizzazz. The girls played "Little House on the Prairie." Polly likes to be baby Carrie, while Toot is always Laura. It pleases them very much to go by pretend names, and they call out exuberantly to each other. They...

In mid-July, we took an unusual camping trip: it was my first time taking both girls camping without Darin. We were with my family (Dad, Joey and Scout, Addie, Art and Utah) so I totally wasn't flying solo, but I did do our tent set-up and take down by myself and all the food prep and all the bathroom trips and headlamps and marshmallow roasting and teeth brushing and bedtimes and all that other stuff that comes with camping with tiny kids.  I loved it. On our way to Bridgeport, Joey's car started overheating. Stopped in Markleeville to suss it out and let the kids run free a bit. Joey was stressed, but we decided to continue on, taking the backway through Nevada instead of over Monitor Pass.   And we made it to Bridgeport! I rocked out to beautiful mix CDs I made myself and this new guy Joey introduced me to, Andy Shauf. The girls are so good on the road nowadays, I can totally just veg out and let my mind wander. It's freeing and expansive, and makes m...