weather

[Carrie]

Oh wow, Rip's girl. That just goes to show how we acclimate to temperatures. Wow! I'm so use to more mild temps having lived in Western Washington most of my life that I have my a.c. set to 66 degrees when it's hot outside. It's so comfy to me, plus winters here in north Idaho are pretty chilly as you know so we get use to that, then get slammed in the summer with heat. A-r-g-g. that's hard to get acclimated when it changes back and forth...huh.


Carrie

[Barrett]

Carrie,
I like it here too. I used to live in the Mojave Desert. When I got here I couldn't believe how mild the summers are and ohhhh its green EVERYWHERE! In CA everything was brown and dry and hot. I love to go for drives up in Snowqualmie and North Bend. I love Mt. Ranier and I have a year pass so I can go anytime I want to take a beautiful drive and be alone. I live for snowboarding every winter and there are tons of places to go that are only an hour or two away. The rain is nice and in the summer when the sun is shining every day I actually miss the clouds and fog. The mositure is great for my hair and skin to!
I do get a little tired when it rains almost everyday for months in winter. The cold is different here, it gets into my bones and makes me feel my age when I get out of bed. I think I played too hard and broke too many bones as a child. I creak and groan a little in the morinings. I tend to look forward to summer more but I enjoy winter when it comes.

[Barrett]

It took me about 3 years to acclimate to western Washington after living near Death Valley for so long. I wore sweatshirts all summer and wore about 6 layers of clothes in winter. Everyone at work would make fun of me and said they could tell how cold it was by how many shirts and sweaters I was wearing that day. Even this summer I still wear a light hoody sweatshirt most days at work. Everyone here is dying because it's 83 degrees and I am always trying to sit in the sun and warm up. A light wind still gets me chilled.

[Carrie]

A BOOK FOR YOU. lol



That's so weird. I know. I knew a lady from Texas when I lived in Bellevue who was always cold. Hee hee.

The year before I moved to Idaho, I lived right on Carnation Farm. I had a bf who worked there and we lived in a house owned by Nestle Corp. who owns Carnation Farm now. Have you seen that? I ask because it's right there near Snoqualame.

For a couple of months I lived in Cashmere, near Wenatchee and before I moved to the farm would travel back and forth over the Cascades through North Bend. It's grown a lot since I was a little kid.

Bonnie, my Lab was my only dog and then I got Chulita, my girl Chi while living on the farm. Bonnie got so use to deer and cows (dairy farm) that when the deer who were very tame (game refuge) would walk past her not 25 feet away from where she was lying on the porch, she wouldn't even move or pay that much attention to them. So, even now when she sees a deer, it is not a big deal to her. LOL.

The farm was beautiful and they had a most gorgeous rose garden. It's very famous and old....been around over 100 years and visited by famous, famous actors. There are pictures of Cary Grant and many others on the walls in their museum.

For anyone who doesn't know, this is the Carnation farm who made Carnation Evaporated milk, (the first of it's kind many years ago and Carnation Instant breakfast, Carnation Coffee Mate among many other products. Now it's owned by Nestle who is the largest food giant in the world who makes just about anything you pick up in the grocery store. They just bought Purina in fact.

They make Friskies cat food and years before had a cattery which I saw, (now empty) where they did the taste testing. They had many, many cats. They also bred very fine Labradors and one other breed, I think it was Cocker Spaniels. They still have a few Labs, but nothing like it was in the old days. They had a beautiful carraige house where they had horse drawn equipment, their own fire engine and other things and a fancy riding ring for horse shows. Anyhow, even though I got off the subject, I thought this to be interesting and thought I'd share. Maybe it's only interesting to me because I have vivid pictures in my mind. I had free run of the whole place and could take Bonnie to the calf barn and wash her with nice warm water without having to lift her.

There was also a lane with a white fence on either side and beautiful horse chestnut trees and huge pastures on either side. This place is 1300 acres. They filmed a Nissan commercial right on that lane.

The place my bf and I lived was seperate from the main part of the dairy, up on a hill of 600 acres and more cows and nothing else. So we had 600 acres to ourselves. Unfortunately, he turned out to have narcissistic personality disorder. Uggggg. That's a whole other story. Too long to explain. Anyway that was a roller coaster and not a fun one. LOL.

But the house we lived in wasn't really a house, but a big building converted...use to be a school house. This farm had many things going on once upon a time and some gorgeous houses that the then owners lived in....still used for guests and furnished with the oriental rugs and beautiful furniture from way back then....unbelievable!

About some interesting animal behavior: The guys who worked on the farm would leave out those orange cones they use to mark road sides and such. There were lots of coyotes back in the woods off of the pastures. The cones would disappear. And one day one of the guys walked through the woods and found a bunch of these cones in one spot. He said the coyotes were playing with them and stole them. There was also a cougar and a bear hanging around.

On a couple of occasions some of the heffers would get out of their pasture and in the middle of the night someone would knock on our door and we'd both get up, throw on some boots and go herd them back. LOL. Those were the days. The heffers were shy, but some were not and when you walked or ran along the fence it would get them playful and they'd run right along with you. Very cute. They were young. So, some of that was fun living there.

Sorry this is so long.

Carrie

[Rip's Girl]

Barrett, you and I are pretty much opposites. If it gets much warmer than 80, I head for the air conditioner. It's not the heat that I hate so much, I've found, but it's the SUN. I'm white as a ghost, and the sun just doesn't feel right on my skin. I love to be outside when it's warm, but I prefer the shade.

Today is so nice.. not a cloud in the sky & the lake is sparkling blue..

[Barrett]

I haven't seen the farm before but I will be sure to look for it next time we go up there. North Bend has grown. My husband was born in Seattle and he always tells me stories of how North Bend had the only traffic light between here and Boston. ( He forgets that he has told me this a hundred times before) It is a pretty big town and so beautiful. We go fishing up there all the time. We have to stop for my Bailey's cream and hot choclate every time we come back from snowboarding. Mmmm, my favorite....I wonder where my doggy got her name! LOL

Western Washington is probably my favorite place that I have lived (Navy Brat) because of all the grand nature to see and the fun places to go. Being close to the beach and the mountains is wonderful, seeing snow in the winter and having mild summers, I couldn't ask for more! Maybe if someone could invent a rain gear that actually works would be nice...LOL
I have seen a lot of Idaho too. I go to Montana every year and we stop in Idaho and explore. It reminds me of Montana with the trees and mountains. My favorite time is spring, everything is green and smell so great! I have seen huge hill sides filled with wild flowers. Very beautiful! I haven't tested the winters in Idaho yet though. Brrrrrrr

[Carrie]

Yeah....western Wash is beautiful. It's just getting too crowded for country girl me. Check out R.E.I. or L.L. Bean for some Gortex or their substitute for Gortex. It should shed the rain and keep you dry. It's expensive, but you being outside so much need to keep dry. I know how you mean about the wet making you feel colder. It can be much colder here where I live in winter, but dry so you don't feel as miserable. It's easy to dress warmly.

You go from North Bend toward Duvall....hwy 203 and then just after the town of Carnation (which is hardly anything) watch for a left turn that says Carnation Farm Rd. (I think...LOL. I've forgotten alreay) It's across from a big red barn. You can't do anything but drive past because they don't let anyone but authorized people go through the dairy or other parts of the farm....when I was still there they made all kinds of security precautions after 911. They were worried too about terrorists. We had a remote control gate leading up the hill to where we lived.

It's great that you get to go to different places. Montana is cool. Southern Idaho is really cold and I think too the east part. Up here in the panhandle it can get cold too, but not quite so severe. (except last year there was an unusual spell for a few days....30 below!) Eeek! Normally averages in 20s- 30's and dry.

That's funny that your hubby knows that about that traffic light being the only one from here to Boston. I kind of remember hearing that too.

Carrie

[staceew]

Oh yes..speaking of gorgeous weather.....here in southwestern Louisiana it has been beautiful weather for close to a week! Mid to upper 80's & sunny, breezy....not humid at all. This is highly unusual for Mid-August in Louisiana. Normally this time of year it's very humid & hot! It almost feels like there is a touch of fall in the air! Loving it!

Stacee

[Carrie]

This is so cool.....that we can talk to eachother from all over the place. It's fun to hear about different places 1st hand. I've always wanted to see Louisiana. Do you have that wonderful accent? I love it!


Carrie

[Barrett]

I went through Louisiana two years ago. It was beautiful and green. We went in spring time and basically just drove through. There were these wonderful vines growing all over the side of the roads. They covered the trees and telephone poles and were georgous! There were lots of floweres everywhere too. We were on our way to Florida and we drove up and down the country trying to hit as many states as possible. I love road trips, even though I work for an airline and can fly free to almost anywhere. I would always rather drive so I can see everything and stop 500 times on the way. We drove from Wahsington to Florida and back and it took 3 weeks so we could take our time and take detours through as many states as we could hit. LOVE the ROAD TRIPS

[Carrie]

I'm with you on the road trips. They are fun. It sounds like you had a good one! Louisiana sounds lovely.


Carrie

[staceew]

Hi! Well Yes I personally think Louisiana is beautiful....but I am a bit proud of my State so I guess I would say that! haha! I was born & raised here. It is a very "green" state. & the farther south you go in Louisiana the more swamps you see.....the plantation homes, the huge oak trees. It's really pretty. We are in southwestern Louisiana. I do have the southern accent...not the Louisiana "cajun" accent but definitly southern! Carrie you have GOT to visit our state & taste the food! It is wonderful! Barrett....did you get a chance to taste some of our foods while traveling through our state? I see that you are in Washington, I have a cousin that lives in Renton, Washington. He comes to visit every so often & we always feed him crawfish, gumbo, etoufee, or catfish court bouillion! He loves it! I agree...I would rather travel by car than fly. You can see so much along the way when you drive. My Dad is from Minnesota so we took a trip up there in april to visit some of his side of the family. I thought it was gorgeous country. But they cook sooooo different! Down here we eat almost everything spicy. Well NOTHING there was spicy! I thought I was going to starve to death! I really enjoyed the trip & would love to go back there again but I need my spicy food! hehe! Next time I'll just pack some spices & carry with me!
Y'all come on down to Louisiana! :-)

Stacee

[Barrett]

I did get to taste some great food. We made a stop in New Orleans (of course, we had to) and I had jumbolia (sp?) and deep fried catfish, turtle soup, gumbo and a few other dishes. I even tried alligator, but just a bite and I swallowed it too quick to really taste it. LOL. We did a few tours in different parts of Louisiana and I loved looking at all the beautiful streets and houses. My dad's family is also from Minnesota and South Dakota. I lived on a farm for a little while in SD when I was young. I am quite a weeny about spicy foods and I had to drink a lot of water while taste testing the Louisiana quisines. LOL I loved the jumbolia though.

[staceew]

Oh that's good that you at least got a taste of our food. It's very different. I love it! The jambalya is awesome! Good stuff! Alligator is pretty good....I have eaten it in small amounts a few times. It's not my favorite but it's pretty good. I think it's just the thought....it's an alligator! LOL! I have never eaten turtle soup....was it good? New Orleans is awesome. We go there every so often. It's about 3 hours due east of us. Did you get a chance to go see some of the old cemeteries while you were in New Orleans? I think they are really neat. New Orleans is like a little world all of it's own. It's a pretty cool city. What a coincidence that your dad's family is from Minnesota also. May I ask what part of Minnesota? My dad was raised in a very small town called "Perham". His sister lives in Pelican rapids. We drove through part of South Dakota on our trip & I thought it was really pretty. A lot of open country. Of course we made a million stops so I could pick up souvenirs from everywhere! It was a lot of fun!

Stacee

[Barrett]

My Dad's family is from Browns Valley but most of them are spread around in Minnesota now. We always had HUGE family reunions and we switched between our farm in Sisseton South Dakota and my Grandma's house in Minnesota. I have so many cousins and I could never keep track of them all. Two of my brothers and I are the youngest cousins and we were always running after the older ones and getting in trouble. They would get us to do stupid things and then laugh, we would always do it just to be included in the older kids. Turtle soup was pretty good. It was cooked like a red chowder. Turtle is sort of chewy like clams.

We did a few tours in New Orleans and saw the cemeteries and even took a vampire tour. It was hokie but fun. We had to meet at midnight for a guide to take us around the city and tell us ghost stories. New Orleans was fun for the party life, we went in May and it was still crowded. I almost got mugged by a guy who wanted to tell me where I bought my shoes. I can't imagine what it would be like during marti gra.