100,000

Sunday marked a momentous occasion in our home: we hit our 100,000th mile in our Volkswagen Golf. When Jeremy drove this car off the lot in December 2000, the odometer boasted a mere 37 miles. We got married just over a year later in California, which marked the Golf's first real road trip. Since then Jeremy and I have ridden in that little silver wondermobile through California, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Arizona, Nevada, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, and Idaho.

Yes, you read that right: the Golf has been in 34 of these United States.

And that is why, on our Sunday evening drive, the odometer read this:


Jeremy, who has always taken prodigious care of the car, deserved to have his picture taken on the spot where this literal milestone occurred. We've seen a lot of beauty in the Golf, and it seems fitting that we hit this mark in front of such a stunning backdrop.


And here is Clara:


And here is the odometer as a palindrome:


Here's to the next 100,000 miles...

Camper Clara

Jeremy and I wanted to have one last hurrah before welcoming baby boy, so in an effort to relax and put our feet up, we decided to go camping with an energetic 20-month-old. All right, we didn't really have any grand delusions that the trip would be relaxing, but it was fun--and certainly memorable. I'll admit that we were somewhat surprised at how much effort it took to keep Clara happy and safe in the wilderness, and we didn't even bother trying to keep her clean (obviously). But she seemed to really enjoy camping, so all of the effort (and two days of increased heart palpitations for poor pregnant Momma) was totally worth it.


Since the threat of preterm delivery is always looming over us, we didn't venture too far from home. But since we more or less live in the mountains, we had lots of options. We ended up at Heyburn State Park, which is essentially on the opposite side of Lake Coeur d'Alene from where we live. The campsite was great, and we had the good fortune of not having anyone camp next to us the whole time we were there! We think babies make strong camp neighbor-repellants, so I think we may always travel with booster seats and small articles of clothing, even when we don't have any babies left.


Jeremy spent most of his time entertaining Clara and taking her to the playground and on walks while I tended the base camp and tried to keep my palpitations at bay. We also took full advantage of our camp stove, and we even hauled charcoal and our Dutch oven along before we realized we forgot to bring tongs to move the coals around. (We also forgot Jeremy's tennis shoes, a hammer, and our pillows, all of which I have since added to my comprehensive camping master list.) But we couldn't have been more pleased with the beautiful weather and the pleasure of sleeping with a breathtaking view of tall white pines and a full moon. I'm already looking forward to next summer's outings!


And now, without further ado, please enjoy this video that illustrates how much Clara likes being in a tent. (A word on our gigantic tent: I bought it, much to Jeremy's skepticism, right after we got married, so for six-plus years he's had to camp with just me in a 10x14 tent. But I had an eye on the future! Who's skeptical now?)



On one final note: I am a huge admirer of beautifully photographed food blogs, so I thought I'd try my hand here. These are the "smores" we made with roasted marshmallows and Albertson's unbelievably soft and delicious new brownie cookies. You know you want one. And then, if you're like me, you'll want to detox for three days to come down from the sugary deliciousness of it all.