Whee!

The 1989 Mitsubishi Montero is a four-seater. You can get a fifth person into the middle-back seat, but they won't have a seatbelt. Or much hip room. There's a rear door that opens onto a bit of space behind the back seat; just enough for a box of the stuff most people would keep in the trunk (or, in a real pinch, a husband [wouldn't you know that was the ONE time I've ever forgotten about the homemade speed bump on that street...]). If you have to haul something larger than a milk crate or a small man, you can fold the back seat down, or even down-and-up-the-other-side, but then of course you've got yourself a two-holer.

My parrot has herself some fairly spaceous digs, so when I need to transport her there's one option and one option only: She sits in the front passenger seat. It works pretty well if I remember to empty her water dish first. I pet her at stop signs and she seems pretty content as long as her big plastic peanut doesn't get to swinging and bop her on the head. (The parrot needed to be dropped off at Yolanda's house because our house sitters never seem to feel up to risking life and digits to feed her.)

The girls did their own packing, so they each had a kid-sized bag. I had a backpack of clothes and a second bag with paperwork, paperbacks and a couple of (paper) things to pull out when the kids got bored. We also had a plastic bag with groceries and a six-pack of refreshing beverages. And a separate bag with a bunch of bananas that never would have made it through the weekend otherwise.

Oh, and we have a quilt retreat coming up next week, so I had to take my two sewing machines over too.

So we've got a parrot on the front seat, sewing machines under the kids' feet, backpacks & groceries stuffed in on each side of the children. And behind the back seat? That was where I put the watchdog, who also had to be evacuated because last time our housesitter was here she tried to bite (he says "castrate") him.

Did I mention that this is the dog who throws herself bodily against the sliding glass doors whenever the parrot is visible within? Let's just say it was an exhilarating ride. And I should have put the sewing machines in the back.