The Saga of Mr. P.B. & Putting An Old Friend to Rest With A Little Humor

Mr. P.B. (as we call him) is our picnic bag. Yep, just an ordinary thermal picnic/cooler bag.  You can’t really call it a basket and not so ordinary after all.  We took a drive to Barstow, CA, yesterday for something to do and wound up at the Bass Pro Shop sporting goods store after a nice big breakfast at Richie’s Diner (a great find with 50’s décor and oldies music, plus huge portions).   As we ambled up and down the isles at Bas Pro, a new thermal picnic/cooler caught our eye.  We thought for a moment-do we want a new one or should we continue to hold the old one together with tape?  We voted for new.  Shh..don’t tell P.B. yet!

In our travels,  Doug and I have a habit we created of packing a picnic lunch whenever we go exploring for the day.  It is just something we really enjoy and eating outside while enjoying nature makes food taste better, plus it is so relaxing.  I always keep the picnic bag ready with the essentials and we just add the food.  Here is P.B. enjoying lunch with us.  

    and so on….

I know it seems silly to blog about a picnic bag, but P.B. is very special.  Oh, the tales P.B. could tell!!!  P.B. has been everywhere!  We bought him 20 years ago as a product on special sale by my company at the end of my favorite job at the corporate accounting office of Weight Watchers in Va.Beach, VA.  P.B. has been all across  America several times, been to Alaska twice (one of those trips on a ship!), and seen Nova Scotia, Canada.  He has been to most of the national parks, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific.  P.B. has been on top of mountains and down in valleys.  He has been in rain, snow, heat, freezing cold, wind and sand storms.  His favorite spots are in the shade of beautiful trees in a forest and by a stream.  We have stuffed him until he couldn’t hold another thing but he never complained as he kept our food cold/hot and fresh.  P.B. has shared so many adventures with us, always riding in the back seat like a well behaved child. 

It is sad to give him up because when we looked at him, it was always an instant reminder of all the wonderful places we have had picnics.  But, alas, the little repairs didn’t hold him together anymore. So it was time to let P.B. rest and replace him.  Let’s not be sad that he was disposed of in the trash bin, but think of him as going to that great picnic table in the sky.  And his legacy is still carried on by his cousins, Mr. Pepper and Mrs. Salt Tupperware, who are even many more years older that he was.  So, P.B. the 2nd is now packed, ready to go, and waiting to start his adventures with us…….