10:17 pm PDT ~
It’s 10:17pm in Oregon, 1:17am in New York, and 7;17am in Budapest. How do I keep the times straight? I have clocks on my desktop. Nope, no cheating….being smart.
We left JFK airport on time without any stewardesses cracking any whips. We weren’t in the air more than fifteen minutes when the pilot told us he expected to shave an hour off our flight time because of “favorable tail winds”. A nine-hour flight shortened to eight hours? Fine with us!
This plane has odd sized overhead bins and we had to struggle a little to get Mom’s and my bags in there but we did it.
There is a young boy, maybe two years old, who howled for the first two hours or so. It was better than two hours now that I think about it because he was a pill when we were boarding and he only howled louder as the movie played and supper was consumed. His mom’s method of dealing with him was to “shhhh” him. The only effect it had was to make her sound as if she’d sprung a leak. He eventually fell asleep (thank goodness!) and slept for a couple of hours. Then we got into some pretty fun turbulence again and he’s just woken up. Oh, joy.
I’ve never been overseas so have nothing with which to compare but we’ve had periods of pretty calm flight interspersed with nice, exciting bouncing. The pilot turned on the seatbelt sign shortly after supper and it hasn’t gone off yet. Mom, the experienced international traveler, says this is nothing.
I decided I was thirsty a couple of hours ago (before the Star Trek movie. Mom asked why on Earth those boys seem to keep getting into fights?) Mom had filled my water bottle when she filled hers at JFK and I took it out of my bag to, well, get a drink. This water bottle is a Nikken which has a filter inside and a silicon straw to suck it out with (yes, I know that was un-grammatical. It’s late and I’m tired) The bottle has a flip-top lid that bends the straw over and keeps it from leaking. Now, back to the story.
I pulled the bottle out of the bag and flipped the top over…..and got a miniature Old Faithful down my shirt front. Note to self: When you fill a bottle at sea level, it WILL spew at 33,000 feet elevation. Mom said I had and Old Faceful.
I just happened to look out the windows and saw it’s dawn and brightening up pretty fast. The sun tends to come up quickly when you’re flying straight into it. We still have about three hours inside this metal can with a yelling child.
I was thinking a while ago that an airplane is sort of a world unto itself. We can see by the map (when a movie isn’t playing - they don’t have individual screens on the backs of the seats here like they did the last flight) that we’re flying over, say, Newfoundland or that we’re south of Reykjavik and coming up on Ireland but in the dark, we may as well be flying to the moon for all the connection we have with the world under us.
2:40 Budapest time (4:40 Oregon time) ~
We landed in Budapest at 10:25, a full hour and 5 minutes early. As we came in, my first thought was that the roofs of the houses looked different than they do back home. A lot of them were red-orange and I’m guessing they’re made out of tile. I think you’d get the same effect coming into Spain or another Mediterranean city.
We went through customs and I got the first stamp on my passport. Yay! Hmm….I haven’t looked at it yet, just slid the passport back into my holder and got out of the way of the next person….oh how disappointing! It looks as if they’d nearly run out of ink and the black part is unreadable but he red date stands out clearly. Let’s hope the Czech Republic’s is better.
We’re at the hostel now and I’ve had a number of firsts besides the first stamp in my first passport. Let’s start with all the firsts that came with my first taxi ride…
I’ve heard all kinds of stories about how the taxi driver raced through side streets where cars are parked in a solid wall on both sides and maybe six inches to spare on each side of our car. Well, I lived it this afternoon and Rhonda got a picture from the backseat. How we escaped with nary a scratch is a mystery to me. I found out that yellow lights mean speed up and red lights only count if you see them before you go through the….intersection.
I hesitated because lights don’t occur only at intersections. Sometimes they appear in the middle of the street. I finally noticed broad, dirty white lines painted on the street going with the traffic, not across like our cross-walks would. Those are pedestrian crossings. I understood why they have these special areas for foot traffic when I kept bracing myself expecting the car to stop when people were at the curb and the driver would just plow on. Pedestrians certainly don’t have the right-of-way here!
We were stopped at a light when all of a sudden a dirt bike - at least that’s what it would be called here - came off the curb beside us, cut between us and the car ahead of us (there might have been 18 inches), made a sharp right between that car and the one beside it, and disappeared in a roar and a cloud of grey exhaust.
Rhonda pointed out the strings of parallel parked cars that had - I’m not kidding - four inches or less between their bumpers and the hitch of the one in front of it. Mom wondered how on earth they got out of there, voicing my thoughts before I could speak. Rhonda explained that they go forward until they bump, reverse until they bump, and keep doing that until they’re turned enough to get out.
At another light, I noticed a convertible with Florida plates. Rhonda thought it was a high-end Nissan. I stared at it for a while before I realized what I was seeing. Then I had the weird sensation of my head trying to be in two places at the same time.
We saw a man with his forearm in a cast…painted in some way to make it look like a Holstein cow.
We saw some wonderful buildings. They had to be pre-communist and they looked pre-Victorian, too. They’re built of brick and/or concrete, about six stories tall, filled a city block, and are topped with fancy furbelows. One building had a doorway overhang that was held up by two carved concrete men. One of them had quite a grimace on his face. I would, too, if I’d had to hold up a concrete overhand for a few hundred years.
We’ve checked in to my first hostel. Did you all know I’m a card-carrying member of the Hostel Community? “That explains so much,” you all say. We have a three-bed room to ourselves with an attached bathroom/shower. It’s really a bathroom/shower. The room is rectangular, tiled throughout with the toilet at one end, the sink nearby, and the shower at the other end. Two drains, no curtain and the toilet is tall enough to please a family of professional basketball players.
We didn’t go directly to the hostel. The taxi driver took us to the Budapest Hotel instead of the Budapest Hostel. Quite a difference between a Youth Hostel and a four-star hotel. Yikes!
Added to my list of “I can’t believe I forgot to do this!” was to install a program to take pictures off of the cameras. How brain-dead was that? No, don’t answer. I’m sure I can get something off the internet but in the meantime, you have to slog through my writing when a picture can explain so much.
But pictures can’t give you the complete alien-ness of voices talking around you and not being able to understand a single word. There are cars of different design, buildings of unusual architecture, and incomprehensible street signs without words but what really makes me feel isolated in this great city of hundreds of thousands of people is not being able to communicate. Pantomime only gets you so far. I challenge you to walk into a motel where the receptionist doesn’t speak English and ask if you can use their wi-fi service.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
From Portland to New York
15 Sept 200
And we’re off!….like a dirty shirt….
Our flight (Delta #744) left on time from Portland. Rhonda believes it’s because the stewardesses are from New York and crack the whip quite professionally. They were on the PA system about every 45 seconds telling us that they can’t close the doors until every bag is stowed, the overhead bins are closed, and everyone is sitting down with seatbelts fastened. Then they tell us that we want to depart on time so passengers can make connecting flights. You could almost hear the whip sizzling through the air..
According to the in-flight tracking map on the back of the seat in front of me, we are just south of Kennewick and only 40 minutes into the flight. We are going 535 miles per hour and are at 31,044 ft. in the air. The flight has been a little rough the past few minutes but things are smoothing out now.
Cameron and Serena drove up to Cottage Grove with Richelle and me to meet Dianne and catch a ride up to Portland with her and then they drove back home. We got to Mom’s in time for supper and some good laughs and went to bed around 10pm.
You know, 4am comes pretty early. But we were up and leaving by 4:45. Dianne and Richelle took us to the airport and we arrived in good time to go through security and were at the boarding gate fifty minutes before the flight was scheduled to leave.
It seemed like a lot of “hurry up and wait”. Rush to have things ready to go through security; hurry to find the boarding gate; sit and wait for the boarding call; rush for the line; inch towards the door; fling your bag into the overhead bin; wait for everyone else to do the same; wait our turn to take off….and, finally!….screaming down the runway.
9:50 PDT ~ We’re north of Rapid City, South Dakota traveling 526 miles per hour at 35152 ft elevation. I look out the window and see frost on the wing. Well, at a temperature of -65° F, I can understand why.
This is starting to sound like a documentary and that’s just not how I write. How about I describe the itsy-bitsy bathroom where you could use the toilet, the mirror, and the sink at the same time? Or about the cutest little blond, curly-haired 11-month-old baby girl sitting in front of us who peeks over and grins at us every so often? Right now, she’s off with her papa getting her diaper changed. Then there’s the 6 foot tall stewardess with what looks like a military hair-cut and another stewardess who was impressed with our assortment of dried fruit and almonds that Mom brought along for snacking.
2:35 PDT ~
We’re in the JFK airport terminal at the gate where we will be boarding the plane to Budapest in another two and a half hours. Mom is sitting on my right with a word-search book in hand - Rhonda is sitting on my left, earphones in her ears, writing a letter. At the rate I’m getting internet service, her recipient will get the letter before you all read this on the blog.
Our plane from Portland was late landing in New York in spite of the inspirational stewardesses. I’m not sure why; we had a tailwind the entire way that reached speeds of 89 miles per hour towards the end. There must have been a stack of planes because we made a large figure “8” and then another circle before we landed. The pilot said there were a number of international flights that took up the terminals so we were directed a distance away and a bus came to transport us to where we were supposed to be.
Well, I've wasted about 45 minutes trying to get my blogger password.....because I wasn't smart enough to bring it with me. And, as Mom says, "The hurrier I go, the behinder I get." We've only about forty minutes to download the flight pictures from my camera and upload them here. We'll see what I can do
And we’re off!….like a dirty shirt….
Our flight (Delta #744) left on time from Portland. Rhonda believes it’s because the stewardesses are from New York and crack the whip quite professionally. They were on the PA system about every 45 seconds telling us that they can’t close the doors until every bag is stowed, the overhead bins are closed, and everyone is sitting down with seatbelts fastened. Then they tell us that we want to depart on time so passengers can make connecting flights. You could almost hear the whip sizzling through the air..
According to the in-flight tracking map on the back of the seat in front of me, we are just south of Kennewick and only 40 minutes into the flight. We are going 535 miles per hour and are at 31,044 ft. in the air. The flight has been a little rough the past few minutes but things are smoothing out now.
Cameron and Serena drove up to Cottage Grove with Richelle and me to meet Dianne and catch a ride up to Portland with her and then they drove back home. We got to Mom’s in time for supper and some good laughs and went to bed around 10pm.
You know, 4am comes pretty early. But we were up and leaving by 4:45. Dianne and Richelle took us to the airport and we arrived in good time to go through security and were at the boarding gate fifty minutes before the flight was scheduled to leave.
It seemed like a lot of “hurry up and wait”. Rush to have things ready to go through security; hurry to find the boarding gate; sit and wait for the boarding call; rush for the line; inch towards the door; fling your bag into the overhead bin; wait for everyone else to do the same; wait our turn to take off….and, finally!….screaming down the runway.
9:50 PDT ~ We’re north of Rapid City, South Dakota traveling 526 miles per hour at 35152 ft elevation. I look out the window and see frost on the wing. Well, at a temperature of -65° F, I can understand why.
This is starting to sound like a documentary and that’s just not how I write. How about I describe the itsy-bitsy bathroom where you could use the toilet, the mirror, and the sink at the same time? Or about the cutest little blond, curly-haired 11-month-old baby girl sitting in front of us who peeks over and grins at us every so often? Right now, she’s off with her papa getting her diaper changed. Then there’s the 6 foot tall stewardess with what looks like a military hair-cut and another stewardess who was impressed with our assortment of dried fruit and almonds that Mom brought along for snacking.
2:35 PDT ~
We’re in the JFK airport terminal at the gate where we will be boarding the plane to Budapest in another two and a half hours. Mom is sitting on my right with a word-search book in hand - Rhonda is sitting on my left, earphones in her ears, writing a letter. At the rate I’m getting internet service, her recipient will get the letter before you all read this on the blog.
Our plane from Portland was late landing in New York in spite of the inspirational stewardesses. I’m not sure why; we had a tailwind the entire way that reached speeds of 89 miles per hour towards the end. There must have been a stack of planes because we made a large figure “8” and then another circle before we landed. The pilot said there were a number of international flights that took up the terminals so we were directed a distance away and a bus came to transport us to where we were supposed to be.
Well, I've wasted about 45 minutes trying to get my blogger password.....because I wasn't smart enough to bring it with me. And, as Mom says, "The hurrier I go, the behinder I get." We've only about forty minutes to download the flight pictures from my camera and upload them here. We'll see what I can do
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Europe
Most, if not all, of you know one of my sisters and I are going to Europe with our mother. I've been preparing since July but haven't allowed myself to get excited too soon. This time next week, we'll be in the air above the western edge of Europe so I think I can now allow myself to start getting excited.
I've never had a passport so that was first on my "to do" list. Then I had to put "Get certified copy of birth certificate" on the list above "passport". I was getting a little antsy because the passport website said to allow six to eight weeks and I thought I'd need a couple of weeks to get the birth certificate first. It turned out that my certificate only took a little better than a week and the passport came in two weeks and two days after I submitted it at the post office.
Then I needed to arrange care for Richelle since she's homeschooled. I talked with local family and they were willing to pass her around but I didn't like that idea too much because that would be a lot of effort for them. I talked with Kimberly and she was quite happy to have Richelle visit for one of the weeks. They also homeschool so that's works out perfectly. Then a close friend of the family (my bil's sister) offered to take Richelle for the remainder of the time. Things are falling into place so nicely, it's almost scary!
We fly out of Portland to JFK in New York at about 6:30am Pacific time Tuesday, Sept 15th on flight #0744. We leave JFK at about 8pm Eastern time on flight #0098 and arrive in Budapest at about 11am Wednesday Budapest time. If I've done my math right (and I think I have) that means we land in Budapest at 2am Pacific time Wednesday.
We don't have a solid itinerary - or if we do, I'm not aware of it - but we will travel by Eurorail from Budapest to Czech Republic, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden. I understand that we'll be passing through France on our way to Belgium.
The big challenge is that we're not checking any luggage so must live out of a carry-on and a large purse for two and a half weeks. I'm glad I've had years of experience in Scouts of only taking what is essential!
I will try to post every day while in Europe and include pictures and will probably post at least once before we leave.
It still seems unreal that I'll be going to Europe but I'm getting excited anyway!
I've never had a passport so that was first on my "to do" list. Then I had to put "Get certified copy of birth certificate" on the list above "passport". I was getting a little antsy because the passport website said to allow six to eight weeks and I thought I'd need a couple of weeks to get the birth certificate first. It turned out that my certificate only took a little better than a week and the passport came in two weeks and two days after I submitted it at the post office.
Then I needed to arrange care for Richelle since she's homeschooled. I talked with local family and they were willing to pass her around but I didn't like that idea too much because that would be a lot of effort for them. I talked with Kimberly and she was quite happy to have Richelle visit for one of the weeks. They also homeschool so that's works out perfectly. Then a close friend of the family (my bil's sister) offered to take Richelle for the remainder of the time. Things are falling into place so nicely, it's almost scary!
We fly out of Portland to JFK in New York at about 6:30am Pacific time Tuesday, Sept 15th on flight #0744. We leave JFK at about 8pm Eastern time on flight #0098 and arrive in Budapest at about 11am Wednesday Budapest time. If I've done my math right (and I think I have) that means we land in Budapest at 2am Pacific time Wednesday.
We don't have a solid itinerary - or if we do, I'm not aware of it - but we will travel by Eurorail from Budapest to Czech Republic, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden. I understand that we'll be passing through France on our way to Belgium.
The big challenge is that we're not checking any luggage so must live out of a carry-on and a large purse for two and a half weeks. I'm glad I've had years of experience in Scouts of only taking what is essential!
I will try to post every day while in Europe and include pictures and will probably post at least once before we leave.
It still seems unreal that I'll be going to Europe but I'm getting excited anyway!
Convention 2009
A couple clips from the memory files of Convention 2009:
Before we left, I was giving orders to Richelle right and left - sometimes not even giving her time to complete one before giving her another. "Did you get your coat?" "Remember to put in the mirror." "I need you to take out the garbage." I didn't even give her much of a chance to swallow lunch and was giving yet another "must do" when she silently pointed to a sticky-tab affixed to her shirt. It read, "Out of Order".
Kimberly came Friday with her girls and I'd saved room on our bench for them. Richelle sat between the girls and Kimberly sat at one end while I sat at the other. Kimberly jotted a note down on her tablet during a meeting and passed it along with her pencil to one of her girls. Kayla wasn't paying attention when she took the tablet and the pencil fell to the floor next to my foot. She glanced at it, read the note, replied with her own pencil, and passed the tablet back to Kimberly. Kimberly motioned that she needed her pencil back and Kayla looked up at me as if to ask if I'd get the pencil off the floor for her.
"I can't reach it," I very quietly whispered. "I'm too fat."
Oh, my! The smothered giggles that exploded from Kayla...! Kimberly looked at her sternly and Kayla frantically signed for the tablet. Kimberly passed it to her, Kayla retrieved the pencil from the floor and, shaking with giggles, wrote what had happened. She had to pause several times to let waves of laughter pass by but when she got the the part "...said she was..." she dropped the pencil into her lap and her face into her hands while the bench vibrated with her quivering.
Before we left, I was giving orders to Richelle right and left - sometimes not even giving her time to complete one before giving her another. "Did you get your coat?" "Remember to put in the mirror." "I need you to take out the garbage." I didn't even give her much of a chance to swallow lunch and was giving yet another "must do" when she silently pointed to a sticky-tab affixed to her shirt. It read, "Out of Order".
Kimberly came Friday with her girls and I'd saved room on our bench for them. Richelle sat between the girls and Kimberly sat at one end while I sat at the other. Kimberly jotted a note down on her tablet during a meeting and passed it along with her pencil to one of her girls. Kayla wasn't paying attention when she took the tablet and the pencil fell to the floor next to my foot. She glanced at it, read the note, replied with her own pencil, and passed the tablet back to Kimberly. Kimberly motioned that she needed her pencil back and Kayla looked up at me as if to ask if I'd get the pencil off the floor for her.
"I can't reach it," I very quietly whispered. "I'm too fat."
Oh, my! The smothered giggles that exploded from Kayla...! Kimberly looked at her sternly and Kayla frantically signed for the tablet. Kimberly passed it to her, Kayla retrieved the pencil from the floor and, shaking with giggles, wrote what had happened. She had to pause several times to let waves of laughter pass by but when she got the the part "...said she was..." she dropped the pencil into her lap and her face into her hands while the bench vibrated with her quivering.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Lessons on Packing for Airport Security
Cameron went to the east coast in 2005 at age 15 with a large group of Boy Scouts to attend National Jamboree. He was going to be gone for a little more than two weeks and one of the items on the packing list was detergent so they could wash their clothes.
When Nick went in 2001, I could buy pre-measured packets and did so. I looked high and low when Cameron went four years later and couldn't find anything. No problem. I'm resourceful and imaginative. I measured out eight or ten small load's worth of detergent, vacuum-sealed them individually, put them all together into a gallon zip bag, and gave them to Cameron to pack.
A couple of weeks later, we were standing in one of many long lines of uniformed Boy Scouts at the Eugene airport waiting for their luggage to be checked. I'm thinking 'checked' as in 'checked baggage, not carry-on' and it was 'checked' as in the TSA officer having the boys open their bags so he could check the contents. Not a problem. I knew Cameron didn't have anything he wasn't supposed to have.
Cameron's checked bag was a very large duffel stuffed fairly full. He shoved it along with his foot as the line inched closer to the officers. Eventually, he came to the front and the officer asked him to open his bag. Cameron obligingly reached down and, with one smooth, quick motion, zipped it open. The sides of the bag promptly fell wide, revealing a gallon zip bag full of smaller packets containing white granulated stuff lying right on top.
The officer stood there transfixed and I instantly realized what he thought he was seeing. I practically gibbered as I tried to explain what that packet was and offered to open one to prove it. I think I might have even asked Cameron if he had his knife on him to open one.
After a moment, the officer seemed to come to himself and waved away my offers. "You're Boy Scouts," he said. "I trust you."
"Besides, it doesn't look like drugs, really," he added.
When Nick went in 2001, I could buy pre-measured packets and did so. I looked high and low when Cameron went four years later and couldn't find anything. No problem. I'm resourceful and imaginative. I measured out eight or ten small load's worth of detergent, vacuum-sealed them individually, put them all together into a gallon zip bag, and gave them to Cameron to pack.
A couple of weeks later, we were standing in one of many long lines of uniformed Boy Scouts at the Eugene airport waiting for their luggage to be checked. I'm thinking 'checked' as in 'checked baggage, not carry-on' and it was 'checked' as in the TSA officer having the boys open their bags so he could check the contents. Not a problem. I knew Cameron didn't have anything he wasn't supposed to have.
Cameron's checked bag was a very large duffel stuffed fairly full. He shoved it along with his foot as the line inched closer to the officers. Eventually, he came to the front and the officer asked him to open his bag. Cameron obligingly reached down and, with one smooth, quick motion, zipped it open. The sides of the bag promptly fell wide, revealing a gallon zip bag full of smaller packets containing white granulated stuff lying right on top.
The officer stood there transfixed and I instantly realized what he thought he was seeing. I practically gibbered as I tried to explain what that packet was and offered to open one to prove it. I think I might have even asked Cameron if he had his knife on him to open one.
After a moment, the officer seemed to come to himself and waved away my offers. "You're Boy Scouts," he said. "I trust you."
"Besides, it doesn't look like drugs, really," he added.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Birthday
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Today was my birthday and it started out in a unique way by Richelle sitting me into a chair and giving me a hand-lettered breakfast menu complete with appetizer (applesauce), entrées (scrambled eggs with my choice of bacon or sausage and whole wheat or oat bread toast; hot oatmeal; and cold cereal of my choice from Cap'n Crunch, Lucky Charms, or Honey Crisp Medley), beverages (water, coffee, teas of several varieties, hot chocolate, or milk), and dessert of apple with or without caramel. The menu came complete with prices and a baggie of play money.
She left me to make up my mind and then returned a few minutes later wearing an apron and carrying a small pad of paper in one hand and a pencil in the other. She took my order rather professionally, I thought, and went back to the kitchen. A few minutes later she brought me my applesauce and left again. In due course of time, back she came with a plate of Scrambled Egg Supreme with bacon and a slice of oat bread toast and a cup of vanilla chai, all done to perfection. I don't even recall teaching her how to properly scramble eggs or how to fashion and cook a sausage patty (husband of the birthday girl was also waited on) from bulk sausage! There are times I'm convinced that child learns by osmosis.
She came once to ask how everything tasted and if it was to our liking and then returned once more to present the bill...which I paid for with the play money provided.
I made lunch since Mike is on swing shift but at supper time, Richelle led me to the table which had a candle burning in the center and was set with one placing of silverware wrapped up in a napkin and a supper menu. The appetizer was peanut butter and honey on wheat bread toast; entrée was my choice of a Sandwich Slam (whatever I wanted between two pieces of bread), cheese toast, mac 'n' cheese, cheese quesadilla, turkey wrap (turkey slices rolled with sliced cheese), and Bacon a la Cheese (crumbled bacon and grated cheese); drink choices were Mountain Dew, Kool-aid tropical punch, Kool-aid lemon-lime, milk, and Kool-aid orange; dessert was fresh, homemade oatmeal cookies. We don't really consume that much cheese and certainly not that vast amount of Kool-aid but she went with what she could make.
What a hoot! I loved it and am saving those precious menus with the date lightly penciled on the backs. Those meals was her gift to me and a wonderful, thoughtful gift it was. I will always remember it. Such a darling daughter!
The little grand piano at the top of this post was Mike's gift to me. It's a trinket music box that plays "I Just Wanna Be Loved By You." I know each year that I'll get a grand piano figurine of some sort. It's not the piano that's the gift but the reason for it.
You see, years ago when the kids would whine about not having something they wanted, I'd point out that I'd always wanted a baby grand piano but they don't see one in the front room. That was always my standard retort....until Melissa gave me a little grand piano figurine at Christmas in 2000. She was so tickled that the house almost couldn't contain her and when I opened her gift, she squealed, "Now you can't say you don't have a grand piano anymore!"
I received two more from her and Mike has carried on in her memory.
Busy Times
It doesn't seem all that long since I posted about our camping trip but it's been a couple weeks of busy-ness.
The week after camping was day camp for our local Girl Scouts. Richelle was a Program Assistant this year instead of a camper - a mile-stone she's been looking forward to reaching. Program Assistants are Girl Scouts going into seventh grade or older who help the leader give the day camp program to the younger girls. Richelle's goal was to give the younger girls the same wonderful experience she had. She was a splendid PA, working hard and never complaining even though it was very hot and the girls were demanding.
Our day camp is a week long outdoor event located on a private semi-developed park area. There is a large concrete pavilion, flush toilets, running water, picnic tables, and a fire ring. I say semi-developed because the road is gravel and the lawn is mowed down native grasses and it isn't well-watered. There's also poison oak around the edges and little green frogs in the bathrooms.
The temperatures ranged from 103 up to 108 that week. I made it clear to the leaders and PAs that I wanted everyone drinking water like little fishes and I wanted everyone hosed down four or five times each seven-hour day. I wasn't the first-aider -my job was to crack the whip over the heads of the PAs- but I didn't want any girls not having fun because she was ill with heat exhaustion. So I told my PAs that it was their job to keep the girls drinking water and getting wet. They had no problem spraying the little urchins with water and making them shriek. And the little urchins had no problem shrieking for more water. All together, great fun was had by all. I didn't see any girl dodging the water. Instead, I saw girls standing in front of the hose, water coming down their faces in sheets, shoes squidgiting, yelling that they weren't wet enough. Not one girl came to the first-aider for heat-related problems.
Last week was the local fair. I posted earlier about Richelle's entries so won't repeat except to say that her Lego house ended up with a garden roof instead of having an attic full of attic-y stuff.
The judging for her category (Science, Electronics, and Technology) was on Monday before fair so her jitters were over with early and she could enjoy things. We attended every day because the 4-H SET program is fairly new to this area and we wanted to give as much exposure as possible to the public. With that in mind, we gave demonstrations for two hours each afternoon and allowed any youth who wanted to program a robot and run them. We especially wanted Richelle and her female club member there to help attract girls who were interested. Legos and robots still seem to be a boys domain and it was good to have the girls there demonstrating, tutoring, and being knowledgeable.
I didn't take pictures of her house and my camera is acting up right now (I got some pictures of what could be ghosts but is really the light coming in the sliding door between the curtains) but here is a picture of her robot.
This is a Butler Bot and his name is (appropriately) Jeeves. He was designed to carry a plate of goodies to a guest in their room. The basic bot with the motors, wheels, and 'brain' placement was put together from a diagram. The rack to hold the plate and the touch sensor placement was Richelle's own construction. She wrote the program and built in a delay so the robot wouldn't move until the plate was loaded on. All of the motors the club had were being used on other kids' projects so she didn't have a third one to allow Jeeves to knock on the door. Instead, she programmed him to say, "Good morning" repeatedly until the plate was removed. He says a quick, "Thank you" and returns to base. Then it is all done again for room #2. Jeeves has a bit of an English accent and it's the cutest thing to watch.
All her entries got blue ribbons meaning they exceeded expectations for her category. All her entries were also selected for state fair and her robot got champion and reserve grand champion. She did well.
State fair runs from August 25th to September 5th. I'm curious how well her robot will do against the best in the state.
The week after camping was day camp for our local Girl Scouts. Richelle was a Program Assistant this year instead of a camper - a mile-stone she's been looking forward to reaching. Program Assistants are Girl Scouts going into seventh grade or older who help the leader give the day camp program to the younger girls. Richelle's goal was to give the younger girls the same wonderful experience she had. She was a splendid PA, working hard and never complaining even though it was very hot and the girls were demanding.
Our day camp is a week long outdoor event located on a private semi-developed park area. There is a large concrete pavilion, flush toilets, running water, picnic tables, and a fire ring. I say semi-developed because the road is gravel and the lawn is mowed down native grasses and it isn't well-watered. There's also poison oak around the edges and little green frogs in the bathrooms.
The temperatures ranged from 103 up to 108 that week. I made it clear to the leaders and PAs that I wanted everyone drinking water like little fishes and I wanted everyone hosed down four or five times each seven-hour day. I wasn't the first-aider -my job was to crack the whip over the heads of the PAs- but I didn't want any girls not having fun because she was ill with heat exhaustion. So I told my PAs that it was their job to keep the girls drinking water and getting wet. They had no problem spraying the little urchins with water and making them shriek. And the little urchins had no problem shrieking for more water. All together, great fun was had by all. I didn't see any girl dodging the water. Instead, I saw girls standing in front of the hose, water coming down their faces in sheets, shoes squidgiting, yelling that they weren't wet enough. Not one girl came to the first-aider for heat-related problems.
Last week was the local fair. I posted earlier about Richelle's entries so won't repeat except to say that her Lego house ended up with a garden roof instead of having an attic full of attic-y stuff.
The judging for her category (Science, Electronics, and Technology) was on Monday before fair so her jitters were over with early and she could enjoy things. We attended every day because the 4-H SET program is fairly new to this area and we wanted to give as much exposure as possible to the public. With that in mind, we gave demonstrations for two hours each afternoon and allowed any youth who wanted to program a robot and run them. We especially wanted Richelle and her female club member there to help attract girls who were interested. Legos and robots still seem to be a boys domain and it was good to have the girls there demonstrating, tutoring, and being knowledgeable.
I didn't take pictures of her house and my camera is acting up right now (I got some pictures of what could be ghosts but is really the light coming in the sliding door between the curtains) but here is a picture of her robot.
This is a Butler Bot and his name is (appropriately) Jeeves. He was designed to carry a plate of goodies to a guest in their room. The basic bot with the motors, wheels, and 'brain' placement was put together from a diagram. The rack to hold the plate and the touch sensor placement was Richelle's own construction. She wrote the program and built in a delay so the robot wouldn't move until the plate was loaded on. All of the motors the club had were being used on other kids' projects so she didn't have a third one to allow Jeeves to knock on the door. Instead, she programmed him to say, "Good morning" repeatedly until the plate was removed. He says a quick, "Thank you" and returns to base. Then it is all done again for room #2. Jeeves has a bit of an English accent and it's the cutest thing to watch.
All her entries got blue ribbons meaning they exceeded expectations for her category. All her entries were also selected for state fair and her robot got champion and reserve grand champion. She did well.
State fair runs from August 25th to September 5th. I'm curious how well her robot will do against the best in the state.
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