My Kentucky Adventure: Getting there is half the fun.

As opposed to My Kentucky Home, which name is taken and would be silly, because i don't live there.

Anyway, as was typical for me, i didn't get out of the house as smoothly as i had hoped.  It took a lot longer to pack the the car than i thought, and i left behind my raisins, and the vegan mayonnaise.  Also, i think i left all of the roux i made, but that's just oil and flour and time, and i'll make more.

But after telling everyone good-bye at least twice, and getting Bigger Girl to show me what to do when it won't shift out of park, i started on my way.

When i travel, i like to say that my favorite thing to do is take my time, stop every two hours, enjoy the ride, etc.  Well, the fact is, i had a long drive, over 11 hours even without traffic and construction zones, so i surprised myself.  This drive i went further without any stops at all than i ever have before, and the few i made were all short and sweet, and it was great.

Of course, i'm an old bat church lady, so i like to listen to Christian radio stations, and i had a list of them planned on the route.  When i couldn't get those, i found others, and so i got to sing and pray a lot on the way.  Traffic wasn't bad at all, except that i hit Nashville right at 5pm, but even that was more annoying than difficult.

One thing that always confuses me and my sense of time is time zone changes.  It looked like i was going to make it into the area i was going by around 8pm, and then i crossed into Eastern time, and so anyway, it was 9pm when i met up with Fivecat and she showed me how to get to the hotel.

Boy am i glad she did!  The back country roads are very windy, with deer crossings being frequent.  If i hadn't been following her, i would have been lost.  She got me checked in safely and then took me to a local pizza place where they not only had a gluten free crust, but didn't bat an eye when i said that i'm a vegan, could they make it with just sauce and veggies and no cheese!  As i hadn't stopped to eat all day, just snacking on a few things in the car, it was wonderful.

Little_Ninja was already at the hotel, but had been out visiting another friend she has in the area when i checked in.  She was back when Fivecat and i got in from the pizza place, and we sat and talked a while.

All in all, a good first day, even if i did get several calls from Sweetie about how the dishes weren't doing themselves and how they couldn't find the trash bags i had left right on top of the can.

Thank heaven i'm away for a few days!



Today is:

Batik Day -- Indonesia (UNESCO designated Indonesian batik as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage)

Buttering-Up Quarter Finals -- Fairy Calendar (I have no idea what this means, but anything to do with butter sounds good.)

Chung Yeung Festival -- China; Hong Kong; Macau (Double Nine Festival/Ancestors' Day; date differs in other parts of Asia)

Cowboy Hall of Fame Ceremony and Banquet and Rex Allen Days -- Willcox, AZ, US (the kickoff for Rex Allen Days, includes the Cowboy Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and celebrates Willcox's own silver screen cowboy; through Sunday)

Dalton Defenders Days -- Coffeyville, KS, US (honoring those who defended Coffeyville's banks against the Dalton Gang in 1892; through Sunday)

Dashain Festival -- Hindu (also called Dussehra, Dashera, Phulpati/Fulpaati, or Navratri, a celebration of victory of Lord Rama over evil; official government holidays for this multi-day festival vary throughout India, Nepal, Bhutan, and other countries with large populations of Hindus)

Day of Appearance of the Primordial/Eight Great Netjers -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Gandhi Jayanti -- India (Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary)

Go for a Stroll After Dinner Night -- because it's healthy

Great American Beer Festival -- Denver, CO, US (festival that holds the Guinness World Record for most beers tapped in one location; through Saturday)

Guardian Angels Day -- recognize and thank your own Guardian Angel
     Feast of Guardian Angels -- Spain (patrons of the police force)

Independence Day -- Guinea(1958)

International Day of Non-Violence -- UN, in honor of Gandhi's birth anniversary

Mehregan -- Iran (pre-Muslim Zoroastrian festival of Persia to honor Mehr, which means friendship, affection, and love; also called Persian Festival of Autumn)

Name Your Car Day (and i hope you don't have to name it "Old Unreliable")

National Custodial Workers Day -- US

National Fried Scallops Day

Old Man's Day -- Braughing, Herts, England (in honor of a 16th-Century man's escape from premature interment; he left money for a street sweeping and celebration on this day which is still observed)

Phileas Fogg's Wager Day -- he made his famous wager, according to Jules Verne, this day in 1872

St. Leger's Day (a/k/a Leodegar; Patron of blind people, millers; against blindness and sore eyes)

World Farm Animals Day


Anniversaries Today:

Redwood National Park is established in CA, US, 1968


Birthdays Today:

Paul Teutul, Jr., 1974
Kelly Ripa, 1970
Lorraine Bracco, 1955
Sting, 1951
Annie Leibovitz, 1949
Donna Karan, 1948
Don McLean, 1945
Rex Reed, 1938
Moses Gunn, 1929
George "Spanky" McFarland, 1928
"Sheriff John" Rovick, 1919
Alex Raymond, 1909
Graham Greene, 1904
Bud Abbot, 1895
Ruth Cheney Streeter, 1895
Groucho Marx, 1890
Cordell Hull, 1871
Mahatma Gandhi, 1869
King Richard III of England, 1452


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Moon Over Buffalo"(Play), 1995
"Ben Casey"(TV), 1961
"The Twilight Zone"(TV), 1959
"Alfred Hitchcock Presents"(TV), 1955
"The George Gobel Show"(TV), 1954
"The Jimmy Durante Show"(TV), 1954
"Comedy in Music"(Victor Borge one man musical), 1953
Peanuts(Comic strip by Charles Schultz), 1950
"Ah, Wilderness"(Play), 1933
Volkskrant(Dutch newspaper, first edition), 1919


Today in History:

Saladin takes Jerusalem from the Crusaders, 1187
Jacques Cartier discovers Mount Royal (Montreal), 1535
Kazan is conquered by Ivan the Terrible, 1552
Jan Lippershey completes a prototype of the modern reflecting telescope, 1608
George Washington transmits the Bill of Rights to the States for ratification, 1789
The Texas Revolution begins with the Battle of Gonzales against Mexican troops attempting to disarm the people of Gonzales, Texas, and meeting with stiff resistance, 1835
J Osterhoudt patents the tin can with key opener, 1866
John Logie Baird performs the first test of a working television system, 1925
The "Prelature of the Holy Cross and the Work of God", commonly known as Opus Dei, is founded by Saint Josemaría Escrivá, 1928
Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz is first published, 1950
The anthology series The Twilight Zone premieres on CBS television, 1959
Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as the first African-American justice of United States Supreme Court, 1967
NATO backs US military strikes following 9/11, 2001
American Samoa joins the North American Numbering Plan, 2004
NFL plays first regular season game outside United States when the Arizona Cardinals defeat the San Francisco 49ers 31-14 in Mexico City, Mexico, 2005
The parliamentary election in Georgia is determined by the OSCE to be "fair and free", 2012