It's So Hanna-Barberaesque

Just tubing down the Apple River on the July 4th weekend

Whether it was Huckleberry Hound or yours truly as came up with the notion of having your Hanna-Barbera pantheon tubing on the Apple River to fill space (and kill holiday weekend time) between Lake City Water Ski Days and Robbinsdale Whiz Bang Days, and the relevant Character Convocations, is probably moot ... but when all was said and done, what could have been a more fascinating gathering of our Funtastic confraternity, and the modus operandi therefor, than to go tubing down the celebrated Apple River around Somerset, Wisconsin?

Even with glass and polystyrene containers now forbidden, it was smoother sailing with recyclable aluminum and plastic such ... and you could just imagine all the cooler floats as were recruited to serve our several parties and keep things refreshed among us. And with the weekend being as warm as it was, not to mention feeling muggy and borderline uncomfortable, who could imagine the relief ensuing from the river's coolness, excusing an occasional dunking into same with our bodies?

Who could just picture the likes of Emmy Lou and Jenny Lee ... Penelope Pitstop ... Daphne and Velma from Scooby's crew ... Kitty Jo from the Cattanooga Cats ... even Sheena the Lioness and Raquel Wrench in rather cool-looking one-piece tankini suits while riding repurposed, upcycled even, innertubes floating lazily along? Not to mention The Banana Splits improvising over bananas (how else?) and sharing chatter with fellow tubers; in fact, many of us fellow Funtastics were pretty much of the kind fond to share conversations laden with memories and nostalgia, as well as plenty of the old ja-ba-da most animated (pun not intended!) as greatly broke quite the ice on a muggy summer's afterlunch.

Even Top Cat and clowder, with their back-alley backgrounds of Brooklyn and Hollywood, were rather surprised by the country background of the whole milieu, and trying not to conceal their anxiety at such an experience as innertubing on the most legendary of rivers in this respect, the Apple. Brain, in particular, couldn't help but control his surprise, remarking over some blood orange soda "Isn't this fascinating?!"

Even more fascinating: Bass Lake Cheese Factory, exemplar most interesting of the old-school, small-time cheese factories which, back in the day, epitomised the legendary cheeses such as Wisconsin was known for ... enough so that, at one time, there was a law requiring restaurants serving a slice of cheese-topped apple pie with any meal as cost 50¢ or more! And you could just imagine many of us stocking up on their nine-year-old Cheddar, said to be of exceptional taste and repute for even sophisticated lions like yours truly, and pretty much everyone else among us ...

What could feel more refreshing heading into Robbinsdale Whiz Bang Days, our next such Convocation, details to follow hence?

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I'm not sure if he's a Plott Hound (as is Notth Carolina's State Dog), but at any rate, picture That O So Merry, Chuckleberry, Huckleberry Hound being a staple at Hollywood's North Carolina Picnic (an annual gathering for such expats of the Old North State as have taken roots in Southern California) and being called upon to lead the North Carolina State Toast over glasses of Cheerwine--to wit (sourcing):