My Old Stompin' Grounds

Growing up it seemed like my Dad was always talking about his "Old Stompin' Grounds". I know I was just a kid and probably don't remember things exactly right, but it seemed like almost every vacation we went on Dad would say, "These are my old stompin' grounds kids," followed by some story about what he used to do there as a kid. Maybe he moved around a lot... or maybe we just always went to the same place!

Well since I was born in Pasco, Washington (actually Richland because Pasco didn't have a hospital) and since I hadn't been back there since I was two, I never really had a place to use that phrase. (I've lived in Boise for 22 years... except for college/mission/singlehood... and saying that the place you live in is your old stompin' grounds just isn't that cool!) Anyhow, as you can probably tell, I got the chance to visit Pasco this past weekend! Joe's brother, Devin, moved to Yakima for a new job and we went up to visit. AND they just happened to be going to Pasco the next day... so of course we tagged along.

Here's a picture of the house my parent's built when we lived there. A.K.A. my "Old Stompin' Grounds"!I guess it was meant to be their garage and they were going to live in it while they built the rest of the house. They only stayed in Pasco six months though, so the house part didn't happen. The guy who lives in the house now was really nice and he kept talking about how well built the house was. I hadn't even told him my parents built it! Good job Mom and Dad! And my Mom put the lawn in while she was 8 months pregnant with me!

This is my "Here's where I came from" pose.

It was really interesting and kind of scary to drive through Pasco. It's sort of like Caldwell. (Probably one of the big reasons we only stayed six months.) Anyhow, the drive to the Tri-Cities was gorgeous. I guess that's because that part of Washington produces a high percentage of the hops for America's beer companies! (I find that ironic. Beautiful and yet so misguided.) All the low rolling hills with orchards and vineyards made me feel like I was back in Italy. The misguided part helped too.

The trip was so fun. Part of that was the fact that we decided to go about an hour before we left. Spontaneity is rare these days. But MOST of the fun was spending time with Devin and Monica and the girls. They were so gracious and forced us to take their room! Comfy bed. Thanks guys. Aside from a brief sausage encounter, the weekend was great. Just kidding guys... it was actually pretty good and if you noticed I even stole a bite from Joe! I didn't get any pictures. Lame huh? Oh well, we'll see them all in Hawaii NEXT WEEKEND!!! I'm so excited!