Blast To The Past - Part 1 !

Auntie Barbara and her best friend!

Sweet Home, OR
Oregon Trail Banjo Camp

    Here's Haley! I saw mom's last post, so I decided to write tonight's blog. I'm going to take you on a trip to the past, all the way back to July 1st. This would have been posted earlier if we had known how to add photos. But we didn't, so I'm doing it now!

    We arrived at the Oregon Trail Banjo Camp in Sweet Home, OR July 1st. There were around 60-80 banjo players, a couple of gut-bucketers, and a handful of washboard masters. Needless to say, we had some great music! The group would play from morning to the next morning! Can you see what Auntie Barbara's shirt says in the first picture? If you can't, it says "Member of the Blue Gin Club." She became one of the new members. To become a member, you have to drink a shot of Blue Gin. By the way, the gin isn't actually blue; it just comes in a blue bottle. There were a lot of toasts and cheers. Mom said it sounded like a college fraternity party! 

    As you may know, gin can put some funny ideas in people's minds. One example is becoming a Sharpie tattoo artist. One of the banjo players is a fun, raccoon-obsessed guy named Rex. He decided to start drawing raccoons on people's arms. I had to get one! I convinced Mom to get one, too. Here's a pic!

   

    Cool, huh? I thought so too. Auntie Barbara decided to get one also, but since this is a "family-friendly" site, we're not posting that 'embarrassing' picture...  The Banjo Camp wrapped things up with a performance at the VFW hall in Sweet Home on July 4th. It was a ton of fun. Especially because I got to dance the hula! It was a great surprise for everyone. Here's a picture of me dancing.

    We left on the 5th and arrived in Portland, where we met up with my Auntie Ginger. We had dinner at an artisan pizza restaurant and Bill and Laurie Wilson joined us (Bill is an 'old' family friend...) Auntie Ginger spent the night with us at an RV park on the east side of Portland.  She has a catering business that is booming this time of year. She is doing weddings every weekend! We were lucky enough to join her on a trip to the farmer's market in Portland the next morning. It was absolutely amazing to see all of the fresh produce. We got there early to get the best pickings, so we saw some of the booths getting set up. It takes a lot of work to get all of the produce up on the tables. Plus, you have to make it look beautiful! After we did some shopping, we had lunch with Bill who had joined us at the market. It was fun to all be together. While we were eating, we saw a peculiar sight. A man pushing a piano with a chihuahua on top of it. I decided to go investigate. I found out that he was doing something he called "Piano Across America." He started in New York and played his way to the West Coast. He played beautifully. I really liked the map he put on the front of his piano. He marked where he had been in a red marker. Totally awesome!

Bill, me, Auntie Barbara and Auntie Ginger
lunch at Portland Farmers Market

    Well, thanks for letting me rewind a little bit. I'm glad we found out how to put in pictures! It makes the blog so much more interesting in my opinion. It's getting pretty late now, so I think I'm going to sign off. Until next time!
    Love,
        Haley