Moms Weekend, sophomore year

Interesting the things you learn.  Last year, Moms Weekend was quite the ‘eye opening experience.’  This year?  Well, I knew what kind of things to expect, and we made a conscious decision to do our own thing (mostly) and enjoy our time together. 

Fun?  You bet!  After a frantic, crazy Friday morning, I hit the road later than I wanted.  The drive over was beautiful!  As you cross over the Cascades, there’s a lake on the south side of the freeway, just over the top of the pass.  At our house, we generally go by in the summer when the water level is very low and all the tree stumps are visible, so we call it ‘Stump Lake.’  On Friday, Stump Lake was GORGEOUS.  Absolutely incredible.  With ice still on the lake and nearly 2 feet of snow on the shore, it looked quite cold.  But the sun was shining, and the part of the lake that wasn’t frozen was smooth as glass.  It was also as reflective as a mirror, and the snow covered hills, snow dusted trees, blue sky, and puffy white clouds were glorious in their reflection in the lake.  I would have given anything for a place to pull over and take pictures!  Words simply cannot do the scene justice.  I would have been content to sit there on the side of the road just looking at the wondrous scene…

This was taken when I did stop, looking north:

Yep.  It was really that beautiful on the drive.  :)

When I (finally) got to Pullman, I picked Emily up at her sorority and headed to Moscow to my friend Noel’s house.  Noel graciously houses me when I go visit Em, and this year she got both of us.  We visited with her and some of her children for a bit, then headed off for dinner.  After dinner, we went to the Moms Weekend Fashion Show.  Very fun!  It was amazing to see the creativity in the design school at WSU, and it was announced at the show that one of the designers was interning for the summer with Betsy Johnson.  Impressive!  Emily decided she had missed her calling (ha!  but she IS very creative!!) but agreed that she would stick with history as a major. 

Saturday morning bright and early (or as bright and early as I could rouse Miss Emily!), we headed to the craft fair on campus.  Found some fun stuff, and bought a Mother’s Day gift for my mom.  Then we hit the grocery store, stocked up on our lunch of choice, and went for a drive.  Emily doesn’t have a car in Pullman, so when I come over we take advantage of the car and explore the Palouse.  Last year we took my camera and went ‘barn hunting;’ this year we decided to check out a local state park.  Ummm…sure.  Not necessarily such a good idea.  Steptoe Butte is incredible, but the road to the top?  NOT a good place for 2 people who are terrified of heights!  The road is narrow and windy, with a steep drop-off on one side, and quartzite cliffs on the other.  There are no guard rails on the road, and no ‘wide spots’ for pull outs.  Fortunately, there was also no traffic.  By the time we made it to the top we were both laughing hysterically, probably out of self preservation, since at that point tears were the only other possibility.  But it was worth it.  The view from the top was incredible!

Saturday night was the concert, and although I’m not a huge Kelly Clarkson fan I can honestly say it was an outstanding concert.  We had a great time, and once again I’m grateful for the time with my girl.  A Starbucks stop Sunday morning, then I dropped her off at the sorority and headed back toward home.    I did a  little exploring on my way home this time, and found some more cool buildings:

Oh to have the freedom to explore at my leisure, taking pictures when and where I want.  It’s hard to do that when you are driving!   :)  (I told Emily I wanted to explore the Palouse on a Vespa.  She laughed so hard she nearly choked on her coffee.  I’m glad she thinks so highly of my ideas!) The drive home was mostly uneventful, but I got some firsthand experience learning about the vast cell service wasteland that is eastern Washington!  After a handful of back-and-forth attempts that were thwarted by dead zones, I finally connected with an old friend from high school.  It was fun to chat, and a great use of my otherwise (mostly) unoccupied time.  I enjoyed catching up and didn’t have to worry about taking time from anyone else, since I was alone!  That’s the way to do it.

Overall, I’d say that this year’s Moms Weekend was much more successful than last year’s.  It’s nice to know what to expect, fun to have some ‘traditions’ with my girl, and exciting to think about what to do next year when Tori is over there too.