...before I take you ole biddies with me again!

In 1977, I decided I wanted to go to Canada on vacation since that's a place I'd never been before. I also decided that I would take Mom along with me, as well as Aunt Rachel. So with the car packed and everyone loaded in the car, we took off for a week's work of vacation.

Not too far out of town, Aunt Rachel, who was seated in the backseat of the car commented, "Well Hazel, it must be a cold day in hell because here we are off on another trip with Carol"! (See blog "It'll be a cold day in hell..." dated 3/3/10 for further details).

Here's Mom tying her tennis shoes somewhere along the trip. (She was almost 43 at the time). On one of our stops in Canada on the way to Thunder Bay...

During our trip we visited a site where we walked down a path to the edge of Lake Superior and saw a mist-covered island and petroglyphs drawn on the side of a mountain wall; we were stopped by a rock slide on the only highway we were taking through Canada and were delayed about an hour; we saw some moose(s) for the first time ever and Mom made me get out and take pictures (found out later that was a big no-no as they could have charged me).

We had a wonderful time together and I'm hoping I find more of the pictures I took (like the moose(s) and add them at a later time.

Happy Cereal Day

I LOVE cereal - cold cereal, dry cereal, whatever you want to call it. My favorite? Frosted Mini Wheats and GrapeNuts, although I can eat most any kind. I remember when growing up that cold cereal was a treat which we didn't have a lot and when we did it was usually Corn Flakes or Cheerios. Hot cereal was usually the main staple of our breakfast particularly oatmeal with raisins (that's why I think I don't like eating raisins).

My most vivid memory regarding cereal happened in 1965 when our family took our first real family vacation and headed from Eglin AFB to Tampa. Mom had planned and prepped for our meals on the road so that we could save money. After all, we were a family of six and eating out on the road would and could be expensive. While in the commissary one day before the trip, she apparently ran across a great deal. She found boxes of Cap'n Crunch cereal that was .10 cents a box and bought LOTS of boxes of it. This wound up being our breakfast each and every morning while on our vacation. We would usually stop at some rest area along the wayside and Mom would bring out the styrofoam bowls, plastic spoons, jug of milk and the Cap'n Crunch. I have NevER bought Cap'n Crunch for me to eat since that time.

When I eat cereal, I eat it for pure pleasure. I like eating it when I can take my time. There is an art to proper cereal consumption:

1. Fill the bowl until the cereal is about even with rim. It can be leveled out with your hand.
2. Pour your milk (preferably 100% whole since it does taste best. However since I eat more than one bowl at a time and want to keep my voluptuous figure, I've opted to use 1% or skim) until the cereal starts to rise up over the edge of your bowl. If pieces of cereal are jumping overboard, it's time to quit pouring.
3. If your cereal is not pre-sweetened a couple of teaspoons of sugar should be sprinkled around on your cereal. Just dumping the sugar is not allowed as you will then need to stir your cereal to mix the milk and sugar and you could lose precious cereal from your bowl. And, the ultimate topping for unsweetened cereal is slicing up a nice firm banana. Those shouldn't be left to be eaten until the end though as they will tend to get rather mushy and that's not good! (No I won't and don't add strawberries or blueberries or any other fruit on my cereal. Yuk!)
4. Despite what the television commercials say, I don't like crunchy, newly-poured cereal. It's too sharp; too stiff and sometimes can even cut the inside of your mouth. Cereal tastes much better having the chance to soak up some of the milk. "Soggy" cereal does not bother me and will not be thrown out.
5. With each delicious spoonful of consumed cereal, the level in the bowl goes down and bits of cereal stick to the sides of the bowl. These are not to be considered "no good" bits but should be routinely and systematically shoved back down into the milk with your spoon and leveled off to keep the bowl of cereal in tip-top shape.
6. Milk left in the bottom of the bowl is evidence of a serious problem. You MUST drink all of the remaining milk. That is where the best flavors wind up and you discover that sometimes your milk has even turned pink or brown depending upon the type of cereal you just consumed. (One of the trials in my marriage is that Joe ALWAYS leaves LOTS of milk in the bottom of his cereal bowl. He doesn't like milk he says. Well, if you don't like milk, don't add so much the next time)!

Bet you didn't think there was such an art to eating cereal, huh? And, you've just read my philosophy on cold cereal which I've been honing for the last 50+ years. What about you?

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Pssst....I will admit that I've even eaten cold cereal straight from the box sans milk. Of course, it was some fabulous sweet cereal and I just needed something to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Did I mention that I LOVE covered bridges? I have been known to ride back and forth across one multiple times. I have been known to drive miles out of my way to be able to see one. I always roll down the windows and drive very slowly across the bridge and no one is allowed to speak while doing so.

Remembering RFK and the Bambi Motel - 40 Years Later

Bambi Motel
Originally uploaded by lespaceplie

The news reports today are reflecting back 40 years ago to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Sometimes things happen in our lives and it's easy to remember where you were at that time and what you were doing. And, RFK's assassination is one of them for me.

On June 5, 1968, our family was heading out on the first real family vacation we'd ever been on. It wasn't like our family had never traveled together before, but primarily it had been connected to moving in conjunction with Dad's job in the Air Force. This was going to be a real, genuine family vacation. We were living at Eglin AFB, Florida near Ft. Walton Beach and we were heading to central Florida to visit Busch Gardens and some of the surrounding attractions. (DisneyWorld, SeaWorld and the majority of the theme parks and attractions operating today were not even in business at that time).

I think the highlight(?) of our entire, life-long sleeping accomodations was the hotel we stayed in the first night. I'll never forget the Bambi Motel - wow! Located at 1829 U.S. Highway 19 in Perry, Florida, it was one of those roadside, non-chain motels that you drove right up to your room door. It was the kind of motel that you reached into the door first and turned the light on before entering. It was one of those kind of motels that you didn't want to get up in the middle of the night for fear that you might step on something that you could squish under your feet. If I remember correctly, the shower was pink tile accented with a green mold/slime border. Would you believe that according to the internet, the Bambi Motel is still in business? Holy Moly!!! Well,just remember, every vacation needs a high point and the Bambi Motel was ours

Derek in the Tabernacle on Temple Square - 4/18/08

Can You Say Jet Lag?!?!

We've made it back from Utah and here it is almost 1:30 in the morning and I should be sleeping - Joe is. Earlier in the day I would have given anything for a hot shower and a nap. So what happened? JET LAG! My body thinks it's only 11:30. Since we've arrived home, I've checked the mail, partially unpacked, sorted dirty clothes into piles, done a load of whites, balanced my checkbook, called the car rental place in Utah to give them a piece of my mind - part two will come when I speak to the manager, fixed a couple of bologna sandwiches, reviewed all my pictures I took on our trip, watched "Men In Trees", changed the light bulbs in the kitchen, figured out what I'm wearing to work in the morning (oops...this morning), printed out some pictures for my "grandma's brag book", etc. Whew, now I think I'm ready for bed. More on the Utah trip later especially about my fantastically wonderful new grandson! P.S. I think my friend Maxine says it best.

Go West Young Girl!!!

Well, it's the last night before the exodus out west begins with Joe, Mom and me. It's after 11:00 when I should be in bed. Afterall, I still have to work a full day tomorrow before we take off to spend the night in Jacksonville. So, why am I still up??? You look at the picture and maybe that will begin to explain why I'm not counting sheep. The bed is covered with a large suitcase for Joe, a large suitcase for Mom and two smaller ones for me. They're still on the bed since I'm still waiting for needed clothes to dry. (It's the last load, thank goodness)! You try packing suitcases for three people who are leaving 70-80 degree weather and arriving in a place where you found out it was snowing today. I figure between the three of us there are: 24 pairs of underwear, countless sweaters, 2 dresses, 1 suit, 2 ties, a couple of slips, a half dozen shoes, lots of socks, 2 large cans of boiled peanuts, presents for Derek, enough medicine to open up a family pharmacy, hot rollers, Joe's special hairbrush, pants, jeans, blouses, shirts, etc., etc., etc. And, remember no suitcase can weigh over 50 lbs.

The dogs, BJ the Dog and Blaze, were bathed by Joe today and delivered to Granddaddy tonight. He figured it was a fair trade to swap Grandmother for the dogs. The neighbors have been told to be on the lookout for persons who might want to invade our homestead while we're gone, the money taken out of the savings account, the post office is holding our mail, and I've remembered to collect all the airline, hotel and car rental confirmation paperwork.

I'm sure this will be a memorable flight for everyone involved. Hopefully, Mother Nature will cooperate, hopefully flights will run on time so we can make our connections, hopefully luggage won't get lost, hopefully we can manage to flag down one of those beeping stretched out golf carts to move us from one gate or terminal to another, hopefully the bathroom lines won't be too long, etc., etc., etc.

I could go on and on, but thank goodness for everyone that the dryer just buzzed!!! :) That means maybe I can go to bed by midnight and get up in six hours.