It was an almost normal summer afternoon. I say "almost normal" because I knew someone was arriving today!
Yes! That's her! My best friend Inky!
I ran outside, "Inky, you are here! In Utah to visit again!" I said. "Violence! Holy hotdogs I've missed you!" Inky said.
Inside she said she had something to show me, and when she opened her luggage presents fell out everywhere! "What is all of this Inky?"
Inky said "best friends always bring presents." Isn't this purple Ugly Doll the cutest? He's new!
And Colette made me some of her extra special t-shirts. The girl on the tube looks like me!
"Oh Inky, what is this?" I said opening the last present.
"What!!?? You got me the American Girl doll I was wishing and saving for?" I asked in total surprise.
"Yes! I didn't send you a birthday present, so consider this a late present!" Inky said. My new doll, Rebecca, was the one I had been hoping for!
The next day Inky and I decided to go on a hike. When you are in Utah, you have to enjoy the mountains, because they are so so pretty here!
We hiked across huge meadows and pretty streams.
And looked at the views of Mt. Olympus.
Once we got to the woods we rested for awhile.
"I sure have missed you Inky" I said.
"I know! But next time you see me, you'll have to visit me again in New York City!" Inky said.
"That would be so fun! I love visiting you in the city" I said. It was true, Inky's house was so fun. She had two kitties and lived in an apartment right in the city!
A few days later Mama and Daddy packed up the car, we were headed out on a long car trip. We drove and drove and finally crossed a state line - Arizona! Both Inky and I were so excited!
Only about an hour later we slowed down, we were there! Grand Canyon National Park! Inky and I LOVE National Parks, and we've been to a lot together!
We checked into a cabin right on the North Rim, and look at the view! Yes, this is the view only 20 steps away from our front porch!
The next day we wore our hiking clothes and took a hike to Bright Angel Point.
"Violence, why do we love National Parks so much?" Inky asked.
"Because they are totally awesome Inky!" I said.
Back at our cabin Inky and I did something very important - work on our Junior Ranger booklet. Inky and I are Jr. Rangers in lots of National Parks, we probably have a dozen badges each!
The next day we drove along the North Rim to Cape Royal. Isn't this arch in the rock amazing? And do you see people above the arch at the view point?
"Inky, I love traveling so much, and I love traveling with my best friend." I said.
Also along the North Rim there are ruins of a Pueblo village you can visit. This was extra special, because Colette is Pueblo!
On the last day Inky and I dressed in our Jr. Ranger t-shirts and said goodbye to our little cabin on the canyon rim. (Can you spot Daddy on the porch?)
Then we visited the historic North Rim lodge one last time. In the Sun Room we each sat in big leather chairs.
And of course, before we left, we said goodbye to the view. This is the view from inside the Lodge's Sun Room! Amazing!
And the last thing we did, of course, is get our Jr. Ranger badges!
A few days later we decided to take a drive up in the mountains to try to escape some of the heat!
Inky and I took a little hike too, it was very pretty, but very hot!
Along the hike we saw a lake with something swimming in it. See the tiny brown dot?
A moose! Inky was so excited because you don't often see swimming moose in New York City.
Back at home we decided to play dolls, it was just too hot to be outside. Inky was telling me about the fact that it was Apollo 11's fortieth anniversary on Monday, 40 years since man walked on the moon!
"Wow! That is really interesting!" I said. Inky knows a lot about space and is always teaching me things.
"Oh yes! I'm going to ask your Mama to help me plan a party, and I'll invite you, Violetka." she said.
The next day Inky told me it was time to come outside to celebrate the moon landing.
She told me to wear white, like an astronaut's suit . I even had some leggings with stars on them, so I wore them, because they were spacey!
"Hi Violence, welcome to the moon landing party!" Inky said.
"And look at the moon cake," she said. "I even made the four and zero numbers for the 40th anniversary!" she said proudly.
"Oh Inky, this is wonderful!" I said.
Inky then told me about the fact that there were three important astronauts on Apollo 11's mission. She also told me about the space race, and how her country, USSR, really wanted their astronauts to walk on the moon first. And she told me about how dangerous this mission was.
"Wow Inky! That is amazing. The space race is interesting, because my country was the first to put a man on the moon, but yours was first to put a man in space!" I said.
"Yes, the USSR is the best country ever!" Inky said. I giggled. We decided it was time for cake.
And Inky pulled out some root beer and ice cream from the cooler! Root beer floats! We lit the candle but we didn't know any space songs, so we decided to sing Inky's favorite "It's a pity that a birthday is only once a year."
"Violetka, isn't it amazing that there is a man that is still alive today that set foot on the moon?" Inky asked as we ate our cake.
And the cake was good!
But the root beer floats really tasted the best on a hot summer day, July 20, the day man first set foot on the moon.
A few days later it was Pioneer Day, a state holiday in Utah. Inky and I dressed in red, white and blue and visited my cousins Suzy and Abygael.
We all were most excited for the fireworks!
As soon as it got dark the fireworks started! Aren't they neat?
Can you see us sitting on the back of the sliver car? What a view!
The next weekend Inky was lucky enough to join me at the farmhouse!
"Violence, I love the farmhouse" said Inky, "and I love Ice Bat!"
"Well I love my new Rebecca doll" I said, looking down at my new doll with the crazy hair.
We played with our favorite toys all around the farmhouse. Inky has been here so many times she knows all my favorite spots!
Later that day Abygael joined us! We climbed up on the fence to enjoy the Utah view.
"Why are you wearing matching shirts?" Abygael asked?
"Oh these shirts are super special because they were made by Colette!" I said.
"And we both really want to see an owl down here, so we wore our owl shirts together for good luck!" Inky finished.
"That is really neat!" Abygael agreed. But we looked and looked for an owl and didn't spot one. Maybe next time Inky is in Utah.
The day before Inky left we decided since it was so hot it was a good idea to walk around the corner and get a snow cone.
The snow cone shack had a HUGE list of flavors (they even have a dill pickle flavored snow cone)! We looked them over carefully. Inky finally decided on Cherry, because it is red, her favorite color.
I decided on sour grape, or purple, my favorite color.
"I am going to miss you so much Violence" Inky said as we ate our snow cones. "I wish I could join you in Canada next week!"
"I know! Mama says that she and Daddy have a 'one doll limit' on any international trip. I wish you could come too though!" I said.
After we were all finished the snow cone guy wanted to hear about how we were both travel dolls, and how Inky was from NYC, and I from Utah. We asked him if he wanted to take a photo with us, and he said yes!
The next day Inky and I sat in my room talking about her wonderful visit. This is the third time she's visited me in Utah!
It was hard to say goodbye, but I know I'll see my best friend again really soon.
