Hot Times In The Summertime

School's out for the summer for my Lil' Bitty Gritizens! As promised in my previous post, the kiddos and I celebrated Grit City style with a kid-requested trip to downtown Tacoma. We lunched at the Harmon Brewery and Restaurant. Stuffed with pizza (my girl), chicken strips 'n' tater tots (my boy), and a veggie burger and signature fries (me), we shimmied down Pacific Avenue to Hello, Cupcake for dessert (I got a perfect dozen of a mish mash of vanilla and chocolate combinations and a couple of red velvet cake variations for good measure). We slowly plodded up the hill to the car, full and warm in the refreshing sunshine.

I love going to downtown Tacoma. My daughter in her crazy Hawaiian dress, my son in his mismatched shorts and tee, pretend-flying his Star Wars toy X-wing fighter down Pacific Avenue, and me, giggling in my head at all the varieties of fashion on the street. Some folks were BUNDLED up in coats, rain gear, long pants, and sensible shoes (poor things haven't recovered from Junuary). And then there were the sun-folk wearing skimpy tank tops, multi-hues of flip-flops, and barely there mini-skirts. I even saw a young guy wearing the tightest pair of jeans I've ever seen on a human being. EVER.

And all the while, traveling home,the kids snoozing in the back seat, I listened to the smooth tunes of the lively, local, eclectic KUPS 90.1 FM. I didn't recognize any of the music, but I love the intro to one dreamy song: "When you've burned everything down, it's time to set yourself on fire." Then the wispy voiced singers started singing about lost love.

Only in Grit City.

Happy first day of summer, y'all.

We’ve just had our first holiday weekend since the price of gas has reached $4 a gallon. My unscientific study of what Washingtonians did is that most stuck near home. Normally the Long Beach Peninsula feels crowded at holidays, but this weekend while there were tourists there they did not seem to be in the numbers of other years. Perhaps the best indication came on the way home Monday. When we stopped in Montesano at the Chevron station there, I was the only one pumping gas (and at $4.09 very little),and there was no wait at the bathroom where usually there would be a line. Our son and daughter-in-law had to travel via Olympia to pick up a car and planned to complete the trip through Shelton since the end of a holiday weekend can be gridlock on I-5. Not so on Monday. They said there were a few slow downs, but not the accordion stop-and-go that is the norm on summer and holiday weekends.

So what are you doing to curb your car’s thirst and what are your plans for the summer? Day trips to parks with a picnic packed from home may be the order of the summer. Are you seeing the rise in prices at the store that I’m seeing? Are you cutting anything from your shopping list or planting a garden to offset the bite food is taking from the budget? Having raised four children largely alone I think I’m good at making a penny scream, but the current state of the economy seems to indicate the need for more creativity than ever. We are cutting out dining out and out of the house entertainment. If it’s not on sale at the grocery store it doesn’t go in the cart.