Ten Memorable Vacation Moments

UPDATE: I knew I did this too quickly and I was leaving something out. I forgot two awesome vacations.

Bicycling through Door County, Wisconsin. This was with a tour group, so our luggage was transported to the next motel or Bed and Breakfast each day. We biked to lighthouses, crossed over to Washington Island, and ended up talking the captain of a minesweeper into giving us a tour of the ship in Sturgeon Bay.

Driving back from Los Angeles to St. Louis. We took a week and tried to see as much of the country as we could. We headed up first towards San Francisco and saw the Monterrey Aquarium and went on 17-mile drive in Pebble Beach. We saw the Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest in Arizona. We spent a few days in Albuquerque and drove to Sante Fe and Taos.

1. Riding in the car with my Mom, Aunts, sisters and cousins singing every obnoxious song we knew(like Grannie, Swingin' on the Outhouse Door and In The Little Red Schoolhouse) and verse after verse of "Oh you can't get to heaven".

2. With the same people, maybe on the same trip (?), stopping on the road next to a farmer's field to take some corn for dinner that night. Who knew farmers keep their sweet corn closer to home?

3. Playing all day long in the streams on Johnson Shut-Ins by myself. Where was my parental supervision?

4. Learning to sail a boat on Kentucky Lake.

5. Searching store after store in Branson to find the perfect souvenir t-shirt and moccasins.

6. My senior trip to Disney World. My first time on a plane, my first vacation with no parents.

7. My first trip into the bush in Canada. It was right after we were married and pure HELL. Someday I will give you all the details. (The directions said memorable not pleasant.)

8. Visiting Disney World with my entire family. After studying the guide books, my sister was able to lead us through without hardly standing in any line.

9. Going to South Padre Island after Mr. Geek came home from Desert Storm. College Geek was just two and we spent all day laying on the beach and doing nothing.

10. St. Petersburg, Florida with my entire family. My Mom rented us condos as a Christmas present one year. Almost everyone was able to make it (that's alot of people including by brother and sisters, their kids, and their kid's kids).

Ten on Tuesday

10 Inventions That Have Made Life Easier

[Note: No new phone calls from summer camp yet this morning. I'll keep you all posted.]

This Tuesday Ten is pretty easy.

First the Electronic Inventions

1. Cell Phones - This week especially I am grateful to be able to hear from anyone almost anywhere at anytime.

2. Computers - Just the word processing alone makes me want to weep with joy (as anyone who had to type on a typewriter will agree with.)

3. Internet - Whenever I want to know ANYTHING (which happens alot BTW), I turn on my computer, go to google and poof! Just like magic, I now know the difference between a Thinker, Lifer and Mandarin. (See quiz below)

4. Doppler Radar - It is nice to be able to call up the weather during thunderstorms and see how big and dangerous the storm is going to be. It sure beats the old fashioned way of sitting on the front porch and looking at the sky.

5. Automobiles

Then there are all the household items:
6. Hot Water Heaters
7. Dishwashers
8. Washers and Dryers
9. Microwave Ovens

And most importantly-
10. Coffee Makers - Last winter when we lost electric for a day, I missed this most fiercely. Only after we were able to perk coffee on the camp stove, I was able to stop panicking

Ten On Tuesday