Thank the Lord for Farmers and Mini Coopers

The Farmers' Market opens early on Saturday mornings

during the growing season.

My girlfriend and i spent a busy morning at the Farmers' Market.
We procured some pretty tasty-looking seasonal veggies:

small onions, just cut;
zucchini squash, just right for grilling;


baby carrots, pulled that morning;

red peppers, smelling sweet and looking shiny;
and the last cutting of the fresh asparagus.

We started the morning by planning our attack of the merchants
and their wares over an iced latte -
it being quite warm, already, at 9:30 am.

We determined that it would be prudent to hit the bakery booth early on,
since last time, we missed out on "the best stuff".

My girlfriend suggested that we tell the bakery staff, that, in the future,
they should plan to bring more of "the best stuff",
since they always run out early in the day.

We decided, however, to make it over to the booth a bit earlier on our quest
and we were prepared to push and shove other shoppers out of our way
if there appeared to be a shortage of "the best stuff".

I reminded my friend that one of our best ploys of the previous season
of the Farmers' Market was to bring along my assistant, Rory.

Rory loves to meet new people, and, let's face it, she is adorable.
While Rory and i distracted the shoppers at the head of the line,
my girlfriend quietly eased herself into the space at the counter.

Hey, i know it sounds like a dirty, rotten trick -
but you need to try this bakery's "best stuff"!
Anyway, our ploy worked, and none of the other shoppers
were even aware of what happened.

Well, we did not have Rory with us on this day,
but we were resolved to bring her next time.

We grabbed up our lattes and dashed down to the bakery counter,
where the line was short and the supply of "the best stuff" was even shorter.

We were able to snatch up a couple of our favorites,
without pushing or shoving anyone,
although one reeaaalllly slow woman reeeaaaalllly tested my patience.

With great sighs of relief, we proceeded down the row of booths,
filling our canvas bags with some of the best looking products of the early season.

My girlfriend bought some lavender plants
and i bought some homemade puppy biscuits
for the aforementioned Rory and her "homeys".
A couple of stops to say "howdy" to friends, and, we were done.

One might conclude that my girlfriend and i attend
the Farmers' Market just for the amusement of it.
But, oh no; there is a grand purpose for this particular trip to the market...


We need supplies.
We are going "Girl Camping"!
We are leaving our husbands at home to work.

We are celebrating the first days of summer -
-we will eat girl food
- we will talk girl talk
-we will drink girl drinks
-we will do whatever the girl in us wants to.

There are 3 requirements for "Girl Camping":
1. Refrigeration
2. Blender
3. Microwave

At first my girlfriend and i discussed the possibility of camping near Leavenworth.

But that seemed like too much work and a long drive.
Besides, this was the maiden voyage of the summer
and we didnt want to spend our time driving and stuff.
I know that it isnt that tough,
but we decided to stay closer to home.
Girls can do that - you know - change their minds.

We decided to camp at a lovely park on the Snake River.
We planned simple meals, simple accommodations,
simple projects, simple magazines to read,
and we planned complex, complicated, blended drinks.

Of course, alcohol is forbidden in this park,
so we decided that the rule meant that we would have to be discreet.
They didnt really mean that "we" couldnt have our blended drinks.
That would just be wrong - and mean.

We talked about going to town for an afternoon,
but once we got settled in,all we wanted to do was watch the river go by.

This park has another funny rule:
-we could park as many vehicles in our spot as could fit;
but no wheels can touch any blade of grass.
My girlfriend had driven her mini cooper to the park in case we wanted to go to town.
The rules say that if we park the mini cooper in an adjacent (empty) spot,
we have to pay to rent the space.
We could, conversely, park the mini at the complete opposite end of the park,

near the boat launch and the office.

Neither of us was inclined to take what amounted to a 50 mile hike
to park the mini and then retrieve it when we needed it.

We studied on the situation for a few minutes.
We knew that we could circumvent these inconvenient rules
if we put our heads together.
Let's just say that we have done such things
in previous and similar situations.

It didnt take very long and we came up with this plan:

We backed the trailer in as far back into the space as we could.
We carefully "eyeballed" the remaining space
and we were sure that if we parked the mini cooper
in a perpendicular position,
it would just fit on the apron of the parking strip
and would be completely off the roadway.

I stood next to the suburban and close to the open window of the mini
to give direction to my girlfriend behind the wheel.
With my judgment of distance and angle and with my girlfriend's
expertise in maneuvering her vehicle,
we were able to make good use of every available inch.

This finite parking was completely in just 3 passes.
As you can see, one could not slip a grasshopper's leg in between the 2 vehicles.

The park hostess stopped by to admire our parking capability.
She was quite impressed.
Later that day, she brought another park official by our way to marvel at the scene.

My girlfriend and i were pretty nonchalant about the whole situation.

Apparently, these people, who make these "special park rules",
are not prepared to deal with a couple of "broads" like us!
They can make all the silly rules they want;
We will find a way around the rule and it is no big deal.
They just dont know with whom they are dealing!

After all - this is Girl Camping.