Vacation Adventures

The one thing I can say I do not like about vacation each year is the amount of driving we have to do to get to anywhere from where we stay.

Almost all of the roads are two lanes and low speeds, and it is miles and miles to anything. I like to drive, and I don't mind long stretches for road trips. What I mind is 6 miles just to the nearest store. What should be a short dash to pick something up turns into an hour or more sometimes.

After church, it was 3pm when we got back, and the weather had gone from beautiful and sunny to downpour. Little Girl and #2 Son changed into swimsuits and waited for the rain to end, which didn't take long. Meanwhile, Bigger Girl and I headed to the health food store.

The store we use here for our good produce and Ezekiel bread and such is a member owned cooperative place that we only pay $5 a year to belong to. It is worth it, as I would otherwise not have the organic greens like chard and kale, or any of the other fun things I like. They also have a smoothie worth the drive once per visit.

Grandpa cooked a brisket for everyone for dinner, and #2 Son baked up cinnamon rolls for dessert. Then it was time to hunt ghost crabs.

I use the term "hunt" quite loosely, of course, as they catch a bunch, carry them around in a bucket, then turn the bucket over to watch the little buggers scatter. It is a fun way to spend an hour each evening, especially when the kids yell and dance around after a crab has run over someone's foot.


Today is

Crowded Nest Awareness Day

Dia dos Namorados, Brazil (Valentine's Day)

Ghost in the Machine Day -- That explains everything!

Helsinki Day, Finland

Independence Day, Philippines

Loving Day

Machine Day

Madame Lou Bunch Day, Central City, Colorado (Old Flop House Celebration, complete with a bed race!)

National Peanut Butter Cookie Day

Peace of Chaco Day, Paraguay and Bolivia (commemorates the end of a war between the two)

Red Rose Day

Ride the Wind Day

Russia Day, Russia

St. Anthony's Eve, Portugal

St. Leo's Day

St. Onuphrius' Day

The Wicket World of Croquet Day

World Day Against Child Labour


Birthdays Today:

Marv Albert, 1941
Chick Corea, 1941
Jim Nabors, 1932
Anne Frank, 1929
Vic Damone, 1928
George Bush, 1924
Alexandre Tansman, 1897


Today in History:

Joan of Arc leads the French army in their capture of the city and the English commander, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk in the second day of the Battle of Jargeau, 1429
The French begin their colonization of Algeria with the landing of 34,000 troops, 1830
The world's first Fingerprint Bureau opens in Calcutta, India, after the Council of the Governor General approves a committee report that fingerprints should be used for classification of criminal records, 1897
Shooting begins on Paramount Pictures' Dr. Cyclops, the first horror film photographed in three-strip Technicolor, 1939
Anne Frank gets her diary as a birthday present, 1942
The United States Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia declares all U.S. state laws which prohibit interracial marriage to be unconstitutional, 1967
At the Brandenburg Gate U.S. President Ronald Reagan publicly challenges Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, 1987
Russia Day – the parliament of the Russian Federation formally declares its sovereignty, 1990
Queen Elizabeth II reopens the Globe Theatre in London, 1997