h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

There, that title should cover Faith's birthday and our anniversary trip

Actually, I'll back up a bit, to the Fourth. Tom has been involved with a local feeding ministry (which I will describe a bit more fully in the next journal I do, which I'm *planning* on writing as soon as this posts) and was in the parade, as were Faith and I Faith had a ball throwing candy from the float, at least until it was gone (which wasn't very far on the route, because she was throwing *big* handfuls) and then had fun waving to people. It can be interesting going places with her, because she is *very* gregarious, and I prefer to be 'invisible'... After the parade, we went to a barbecue with friends, and stayed to watch the city fireworks (near Battery Point Lighthouse), before going out towards Point St. George, where it's really dark, to do ours. The local paper's photos of the Fourth of July celebration can be seen at http://www.triplicate.com/fourthofjuly/index.htm (our entry in the parade was a couple of spots *after* the last of the paper's parade pictures, though) The firework pictures, though nice, don't do justice to the real ones, especially since you can't see the *other* display that was going on by the Hampton Inn on the beach before the official one started.

Faith's party was the following weekend. The original time had been 2pm, to allow for people not expecting much more than cake and ice cream to eat (we've ended up doing meals for upwards of 20 people at Faith's birthday parties before). After a bit of waffling, we moved the time to 4pm, mostly because one of the things Tom's involved with in fundraising carwashes, and Faith's party was the same day as one (though I still think her party date was decided on first...)Because of this, I got a veggie tray and apple dip tray for the party. I made Faith a pinata (which I made a point of taking a 'before' picture of), and we were at a playground, so that was pretty much the entertainment, though I had looked up party games online, and had some planned. People kind of trickled in, though, so I ended up not doing anything organized, except the pinata, once it was clear no one else was coming. The carwash volunteers get treated to pizza, and most of Faith's adult guests were among the volunteers, so we were invited to move onto Pizza Hut to eat and do the cake, ice cream, and presents (the ice cream being in the cooler). So we packed up and did. Then, after eating and rushing doing the cake, we ended up doing gifts at Tom's parents' place (our place being full of boxes, since we'd been rescheduled to relocate on Faith's actual birthday, 4 days hence/thence) with just Pawloskis present. We got home after 8pm! I was shattered, but Faith had had a good time, so that's what's important.

On Faith's actual birthday, we didn't do much, though we *did* take her to pick out one thing for her birthday. (Yeah, she'd gotten gifts at her party, but not much from Tom and I.) She chose a kit. That day was also my h2g2 anniversary

The next day was Tom and my 10th anniversary, which I do believe was marked by a mention on here Thomas and Patty babysat while Tom and I went out to dinner and drove around a bit, looking at houses. Yep, we're back to looking, though our price range is still a bit low.

On to the trip!

On the 15th, we headed towards Fort Bragg in the midafternoon. A lovely drive, and I can certainly say that Highway 1, especially the northernmost dozen or so miles, is *very* twisty! Several 20 mph turns, and one that was posted 15 mph Just as well I can't drive a stickshift, and that's all we have right now we arrived at our motel, which was fairly standard, but nice and clean. We pretty much just checked in, went to get food, took it back to the room, ate, and then I crashed at an early hour (for me). Oh, yeah--before I went to bed, I went online (having taken both laptops, planning to take advantage of free wifi and download updates) to get more info on the Skunk Train, since Tom was asking what the big deal was. I found some reviews and, based on those reviews (one from someone who'd ridden it a few years ago, and then again this summer) we decided *not* to go (I'm typing this offline, and expect a call soon, so I'll get the link to the deciding review later) because most people that had ridden it lately had been severely disappointed. I woke up early enough to take advantage of the motel's continental breakfast (at least as a snack) and I picked up quite a few brochures for local attractions. I had time to eat, sort through the brochures, and get a good start on my library book (that Heinlein/Robinson collaboration I mentioned in the Salon) before Tom got up. I tried to talk Tom into a horse ride on the beach (the same cost as the Skunk Train) but my expectations of failure were fulfilled Instead, we went to the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. We were in luck--not only are there weekly guided tours, we were there the right day of the week, and the tour was due to start in half an hour So we wandered around a bit, near the entrance (the Gardens cover 47 acres, so it wouldn't be hard to wander too far to join the group). We're both glad we decided to join the tour (led by the head of the nursery)--we got a lot more out of the Gardens than we would've otherwise, and had quite a bit of fun! Took quite a few pictures. The tour basically covered (most of) the main trails, and Tom and I did a little more walking afterwards, but not much, because we were planning on driving to Mendocino and exploring there. We did, and explored some shops. We went back to Fort Bragg for dinner. We had a good night, and drove back by another route. When we got back to Crescent City, we picked Faith up from her grandparents'.

Pictures aren't online yet, but I'll let you know when they are

Oh, yeah, the review is at http://tinyurl.com/292tcg and it's actually better than some others.

Parades, multi-location birthday parties, and a really lovely get-away ... You HAVE had a busy time. Our own travels will take in
the Kew Gardens in London, which I understand are somewhat larger than the botanical that you visited. But we too shall have a guide, a Lady who just can't visit often enough and lives/breathes/dreams flowers and nature.

What with leaving in the middle of typing things out, I forgot to mention the deal Tom and I made during the trip--if I cook for the occasional feed, we will start saving a bit here and there for a trip to the UK. It'll take awhile (especially since Tom wants to go along) but still!

You're a brave lass to cook in this hot weather, Amy!

Well, 'hot' here is generally in the 70s, so not much bravery needed

You should have been with me Florence, Italy, a few weeks ago, when it was over 100 degrees F.

No thanks--I did those temperatures in Sacramento and, before that, in Redding (10 degrees hotter, on average)

Sacramento sounds like a real hot spot .

You're welcome to them. Our heat and humidty are plenty for me.

I'd gladly send mine to you. Interested?

Ummmm, ... we will be out of town for a time, a couple of weeks in the UK. Would you be kind enough to zip-lock it and send it along in November?

Proof of my temperature claims: http://triplicate.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=5292 (Story about several record highs being tied or broken--and the highest temp mentioned was 73)

73 degrees? You poor baby!

It was 95 degrees here in Boston yesterday. It's also pretty hot today

Ah, so THAT's how the infamous 'baked beans' are made, eh? Wait for ideal weather, and just set the crockery on the sidewalks.

Most of this past week has given us temps in the low 90's ...

Rev Nick, are you stationed somewhere in Japan, or have you returned to Canada?

Sorry mate, you have me confused with "rev. paperboy" (U217976). I'm the good-looking one, remember?

Mind, I am in Canada and have been posted a number of times, when I was military. Now I stay in one place and work for them as a contract employee.

I am rather easily confused, Rev Nick.
Do you reead the papers that Rev Paperboy delivers?

*could tell of one memorable occasion when Paul had 2 researchers confused for a few months*

A glance at his PS tells me that any tabloids or the like would be writ in Japanese. Not a language I'm very good with, I'm afraid.