Word of the Day

Quizine - Multiple choice quiz; a menu of answers.

I waited a bit for the heat of the day to cool and finally went out hunting the wild raspberry. We really need some rain. There are wild raspberries but they're all really tiny and dry. I managed to pick a bucket of them but it was really hard picking. I just finished cleaning them all and I got a total of 4 cups after all the hulls were removed...and the bugs and worms. Yuck! I'm hoping for some rain. There still are wild raspberries out there that haven't ripened. I'll go out again in a couple of days to pick again. Hopefully, I'll manage to get enough for at least one batch of wild raspberry jam. I noted that there were a lot of blackberries out there that are waiting to ripen. They'll need rain too our they'll dry on the bushes and produce more seeds than juice.

Sunday, July 16th, was the day we left Laughlin. HTP and I had to meet our shuttle to the airport at 7:05 AM. It was supposed to depart for the airport at 7:20 AM. We got downstairs with plenty of time for me to get coffee and rolls to take with us to the airport. HTP made a final visit to the player's club desk to get some Walmart gift cards for his points. It's amazing how slow people move when you're in a hurry. HTP and I barely made it to our shuttle before it was due to depart.

There was a long line at the airport as we all waited to check on our bags. Strangely, although they asked to see my driver's license, no-one asked me if some stranger messed with my luggage. No-one had but... Anyway, after our bags were checked in, HTP and I took one look at the security line and decided that we didn't have to stand in that line for a while. We chose to get some more coffee at the gift shop. We still ended up standing in a long line to get through security but at least HTP only tripped the metal sensor once. He forgot to remove his watch.

The airport in Bullhead City has added on some since our visit through there last August. Big improvement. After going through security, we moved onto another building with real air-conditioning and a real bathroom. Woohoo! It wasn't long after that that we were able to board our plane back to Wisconsin.

I think they plane shrank. HTP tells me that it was the same type of plane that we arrived in but I don't remember the plane that we came in having so little leg room. The thing is, I have really long legs. I admit it. My theory is that they squeezed another whole row of seats onto this plane. I traveled 3 1/2 hours with my knees embedded into the seat in front of me. Ouch! By the time we got to our destination, my ankles were swollen twice their normal size. Not to worry. This happens to me occasionally. It's just feels weird. Again we were fed. This time, we got cheeseburgers. They weren't fantastic cheeseburgers but they were edible. They would have been better if someone hadn't petrified the buns. No amount of catsup and mustard will reanimate a petrified bun.

After deplaning, HTP and I collected our luggage and toddled off to find our car. Home. Well...almost. HTP and I drove as far at the city, where we thought it might be a good idea to stop for groceries. Neither of us had any idea if #1 son left us any food in the fridge for our return. We loaded up on groceries and hit the road to my folks' place. We had to stop at my folks place to pick up our dogs. They had been dog-sitting for us because #1 son was sure about his work schedule or whether or not he would have to make a trip into The Big City while we were away. Anyway, it was early enough that I thought it would be a good idea to retrieve the dogs.

By this time it was around 4 PM and the temperature outside was beastly hot and humid. It was so humid that when I stepped out of the car, my glasses fogged up. We quickly loaded up the dogs and continued on our way. Home. Well...almost.

Not 20 feet down our driveway a wondrous sight met our travel-weary eyes. Right there in front of our car was not one, not two, but three huge trees. Now...I maybe should explain that our driveway is 1/2 mile long. You cannot see our house from the end of our driveway. I've had many a deliveryman tell me that he thought he was lost when he was looking for our house down this driveway. So, 20 feet isn't all that far down the driveway when we have to stop. We have lots of trees in our woods. Unfortunately, these three trees decided that it was time to fall right across the driveway.

Now, as you recall, we have in our car, our luggage, a multitude of grocery bags full of groceries, and two little dogs in their kennel. The temperature outside the air-conditioned car was well over 90°F and the humidity may have almost equaled the temperature. There was no way that HTP and I planned to haul our luggage, all the groceries, and the dogs down the 1/2 mile driveway to our house. I called #1 son who was hopefully at the house using our cellphone. Thankfully, he was at the house. He drove up to the other side of the fallen trees and parked.

HTP, #1 son, and I managed to transfer all the luggage and the groceries to #1 son's awaiting car on the other side of the fallen trees. This required a slight detour through the woods to circumvent the obstructing trees.

At this point all that remained in our car were the dogs in their kennel. I know how heavy the kennel is when the two dogs are inside it. I decided that it would be a better idea for us to carry the empty kennel through the woods and around the trees and let the dogs use their own little legs to walk that distance. Made sense to me. It's not like I haven't had dogs who used to love running wild through these woods when I was a kid. Tiny dogs. Many a time I remember how my tiny little dogs would corner skunks in hollow logs and how we'd have to spend hours bathing them with tomato juice and vinegar. So, I figured, my two little dogs would follow in my footsteps, into the woods, and around the fallen trees. We'd already beaten a path. I took the dogs out of their kennel. #1 son took off with the kennel down our beaten path. I whistled to the dogs and headed down the path. And then...I looked back. My wimpy weenie dogs (two little spoiled rotten chihuahuas) took one look at the woods and the path and turned tail back to the car. There was no way that they wanted anything to do with heading off into uncharted territory. The woods. No amount of coaxing on my part would change their minds. They gave me this look that I interpreted as saying, "Are you nuts?! Bears pee in that woods!" OK. By this time, #1 son called out to see what the hold up was. I informed him that we owned wimpy weenie dogs who were afraid of the woods and that he's have to come back and carry one of the wimpy weenie dogs. I must say, that it was truly hilarious watching #1 son gently cradle Mancha as he carried her through the woods. I carried Muggsy...but I must say, I'm totally disgusted with their wimpiness. Good thing I love those stupid dogs or with all the heat and humidity, I would have left their sorry scrappy bones out there for the bears to find. Shhh...don't tell GI Joe about this incident! He already has a poor opinion of what he calls little yappy rat dogs. Oh well...at least I don't have to worry about them disappearing into the woods and tangling with any skunks.

#1 son drove us and our all stuff and the stupid dogs the rest of the way to the house. Home! We were finally home. HTP headed off to see what he could do with the fallen trees but...well...I could see that it was a job that was a bit too big for HTP and me. I called a neighbor who does this sort of thing and arranged to have him clear the trees for us...the next day. In the meantime, #1 son drove up to the fallen trees, hiked around the trees, and then drove our car to work that night. Maybe I should have reminded him about the flashlight that I keep in the glove compartment but he managed to get through the woods upon his return by hitting the unlock and lock button on the remote for his car...on the far side of the fallen trees.

Our neighbor came bright in early the next morning to clear the trees. We didn't even hear the chainsaw. At least, I did hear the chainsaw when I hiked up the driveway to see if I could take a picture of the fallen trees. I got there just in time to see him finishing up the job. So all that was left for me was to retrieve the car and return it to our garage.

And so ends the saga of our Laughlin trip. I'm sure there's a moral to this story somewhere but you'll have to figure that one out on your own.

Murphyism of the Day

Beryl's Second Law

It's always easy to see both sides of an issue we are not particularly concerned about.