Odds and ends

Although it wasn't the main purpose of our visit, my sisters and I did some house cleaning while we were in California. Most of the items went straight to the dumpster, but a few things found their way home with me. These included letters...

and postcards from days gone by,

some childhood artwork...

and a handful of old photos.

Christmas 1978, starring Breyer's Justin Morgan

Here's a picture of my sisters and I riding an elephant in 1975.

Elephants were my first love. That was a big day for me.

Here are a few moments from another big day, this time a 1974 field trip to a farm.

We got to pet a lot of animals...

and I met a pony!

I've shared that picture before, but not the companion photo of the pony by itself. He or she was very cute!

Here's something that didn't make it into my suitcase: a hand drawn Horseopoly board.

I'm pretty sure my older sister did most of the work on this one - no doubt a futile attempt to get me interested in board games - but the names were definitely my work. 

They include a number of racetracks...

and Thoroughbred breeding farms...

mixed with a smattering of local stables.

More evidence that Colleen had a hand in this. I would have surely written Eaton Canyon Riding Club, rather than Eaton Canyon Stables.

There is actually a real Horse-opoly game. We sell it at work.

I don't own it because I'm still not a board game fan - sorry, Colleen! - but here's a picture of a picture of the game board.

It's pretty snazzy, but I think I like ours better, Eaton Canyon Stables and all. Maybe next time I'll bring it home with me, or maybe it will end up in the dumpster. Either way, it was nice seeing it again.