If you've never been on an impromptu vacation, you don't know what you're missing. I'll tell you what you're missing. Stress and anxiety from not knowing if you'll find someone to feed your pets until the day before you leave. Packing everything from clothes to sunscreen to groceries for the entire family, then realizing the toddler has more things to take than anyone else and really needs her own U-Haul trailer.

It was a tempting thought to tie everything to the roof like the car on the IKEA commercials.

"Whoa."

But, once that's squared away, and the school year planning has been set aside for the week along with the guilt of procrastination, you're able to sit back and enjoy the 3-hour drive. Sure, you're white knuckled because your husband is taking those turns through the pass just a tad faster than you'd like, and is getting a little too close to the guard rail that happens to be the only thing between a family of six and the valley floor 150 feet below, but isn't that just part of the excitement?

That said (and all tongue-in-cheek, of course), we had a great time on our trip to Eastern Washington. My brother-in-law has a charming 1,800 square-foot "cabin" on the Columbia River. His is just one of a few vacation properties in the neighborhood with lawns that stretch all the way to the river (give or take 10 or 30 feet, depending on how much the Wanapum Dam downstream has been opened). The only drawback is that the geese like the grass, too.

The dam had been opened more than usual last Tuesday, which made the river somewhat shallow for about 50 feet from shore. I, along with Jesse and Erica (Lonnie and Joel had stayed in the house), took Bethany down there to get her feet wet. The water, though, was so warm I decided to let her toddle around on her own...with one of us right there, of course. She had the best time and didn't want to leave the river. What an experience for her: She had her first taste of freshwater clams (put the shell in her mouth before I could get to her, but she spit it right out). Even better, I found out that her diapers are capable of adding 10 pounds to her total weight when full of water and, being full of the afore-mentioned water, can hang down to her knees without ever leaving her waist.

While our feet were stuck in the mud of the Columbia, a very-cool-something out of the north caught my eye. What was it but a fighter jet! I felt like we were on the History Channel. These guys scream through the gorge on a regular basis, and if you're in the house and hear one go by, it's already too late to see it. I believe that's called going just a smidge faster than the speed of sound.

So here comes this guy, quiet as can be, heading straight for us, and me without my camera. I yelled to Jesse to pick up Bethany so she wouldn't be scared, and we all stood and watched in awe. The jet was less than 50 feet above us, and he turned up his wing as he flew over. That gave us a good view of the plane's belly, but I was really hoping to catch a glimpse of the pilot. Hopefully he saw us wave before he tilted his plane. 

What a treat this was for Jesse, who loves to watch military shows on TV, especially the ones about the WWII dogfights (fighter jet vs. fighter jet).

After he was past, we heard the roar from his jets and he was gone, speeding southward through the gorge. Like synchronized gawkers, my kids and I all turned toward the house just in time to see my husband run out on the deck... just a moment too late.