A Road trip and a Raccoon

My apologies for not blogging for awhile, but our only computer is upstairs, which I've been avoiding like the plague--no A/C at our house...

So today it's actually bearable up here, and I thought I'd take the opportunity while Kyra's napping to get caught up :-)

The day before David's Grandparents left, we all took a Road Trip up to Chehalis, Washington to take a ride on the historic Chehalis-Centralia Railroad. David's Grandpa, in his younger years, was a switchman for the Milwaukee Road rail yards, so trains are near & dear to his heart. Plus the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad used to be part of the Milwaukee Road line, so that was just icing on the cake :-) The rest of us just thought it'd be a beautiful day for a steam train ride in the country, and less walking than our other option, the Oregon Garden in Silverton.

We bought our tickets, and soon were able to board the train. We chose to sit outside as it wasn't too hot, and thought we'd get a better view without train walls in our way! The train route isn't the most scenic of rides, but it was fun to wave to the cars stopped at the railroad crossings, and every once in awhile get showered with a little mist from the steam. Below are some pictures we took from that day:

are we there yet?

Happy people on the train

Now to our furry friend. As it turns out, I'm not alone in my Hatred of the Heat. The other night, we were sitting outside in our backyard eating dinner, as there was a nice breeze. I happened to look up, and saw this ringed tail hanging down from a large branch of the neighbor's oak tree. I grabbed the binoculars for a closer look, and this is what I saw: (If you click on the picture to expand it, you'll notice its eyes are even open!)

Every once in awhile, he/she? would stretch, smack its lips, and pant like a dog, obviously bemoaning the heat. I'm sure glad I was not the one in the fur coat!!! And amazingly enough, only once did its shiftings result in a near-free fall. It was neat to see it, though, as most of the time they are up & about when I'm asleep :-)

So, that's about it. Try to stay cool, my friends! I heard tomorrow's forecast is Partly Cloudy and only 83!!! Yippee!

Blessings, K~