Vacation Adventures

Because we had just left the restaurant a few miles back, we don't stop at the Florida Tourist Welcome Center. In fact, I don't believe we ever have, at least not recently enough for me to remember. We are on the last long stretch, and sort of in a hurry to get where we are going.

Florida, the Sunshine State, greeted us with a wet smack in the windshield. The rain started within a mile of the state line, and got quite heavy. It was pouring in sheets that required slowing down and cranking the wipers up to their fastest speed. It had slacked off some by the time we got off the interstate, and was a steady drizzle when we pulled into the parking lot of the megastore where we stop for supplies each year.

First order of business this time was a skirt for Little Girl, swimsuits for Bigger Girl and #2 Son, and pants for #2 Son, who was down to two pair of jeans with holes in them. Kids outgrow the stuff before I can even think to get more sometimes. We found what we needed and headed for the grocery section of the store.

Now comes the fun. I look for staples and fruits and veggies, the kids go get all the treat foods they don't get a chance to have during the rest of the year. #2 Son went for the Red Bull, which I told him he could have one a day (same caffeine as two colas). Makings for root beer floats. Chips and cookies. Mini cupcakes and cookies to take to church the next day for our contribution to the monthly church meal. Everyone picked something to have for dinner, all of it easy to fix as I'm not cooking after the long drive. To the checkout line with my insulated bags, we don't want all this stuff melting on the way, and we have about another 15/20 minutes driving time to the actual place where we stay.

The rain had stopped by the time we got out, so we scrunched in close, jammed in our purchases, and headed in. It is a two lane road from here, the rain drizzled off and on, and there were thunderheads menacing; somehow I knew that rain wasn't finished with me yet, and I was right.


Today is

Best Friends Day

Betty Picnic (honoring everyone in the world named Betty)

Bounty Day, Norfolk Island (celebrates the arrival of the Bounty descendents from Pitcairn Island)

Feast of Bona Mens -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of right thinking)

Lindisfarne Day (commemorating the Viking raid on Lindisfarne in 793)

Name Your Poison Day

National Jelly-Filled Doughnut Day

St. William of York's Day

Upsy Daisy Day

Watch Day (sign that you are over 30 -- you still wear a watch!)

World Ocean Day


Birthdays Today:

Kim Clijsters, 1983
Kayne West, 1977
Keenen Ivory Wayans, 1958
Tim Berners-Lee, 1955
Boz Scaggs, 1944
Nancy Sinatra, 1940
Joan Rivers, 1933
Jerry Stiller, 1927
Barbara Bush, 1925
Robert Preston, 1918
Francis Crick, 1916
Frank Lloyd Wright, 1867


Today in History:

Vikings raid the abbey at Lindisfarne in Northumbria, commonly accepted as the beginning of the Scandinavian invasion of England, 793
Richard the Lionheart's Crusade begins with his arrival at Acre, 1191
American attackers are driven back at Trois-Rivières, Quebec, 1776
The volcano Laki, in Iceland, begins an eight-month eruption which kills over 9,000 people and starts a seven-year famine, 1783
Mr. Hall of NYC advertises the first commercially made ice cream, 1786
Ives W McGaffey of Chicago patents the first vacuum cleaner, 1869
Herman Hollerith receives a patent for his punched card calculator, 1887
Theodore Roosevelt signs the Antiquities Act into law, authorizing the President to restrict the use of certain parcels of public land with historical or conservation value, 1906
Carl Laemmle incorporates Universal Pictures, 1912
Milton Berle hosts the debut of Texaco Star Theater, 1948
The United States Supreme Court rules that Washington, D.C. restaurants could not refuse to serve black patrons, 1953
The first World Ocean Day is celebrated, coinciding with the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1992