I confess to having 8 quilts, 10 hostess aprons, 9 saltcellars and 2 chandeliers from antique and thrift stores.  I simply love to stop into antique malls in small towns and to slip into thrift stores in big cities.  I still miss the huge thrift store in the Mission district of San Francisco. I don’t know of anywhere else that has fun and funky clothes sold by the pound.

My latest finds are 2 cut crystal coasters that were made to hold drinking glasses on a table.  I realized when I picked them up that old coasters are the perfect size to hold pillar candles.  My dining room table now has two beautiful and elegant candle holders that were just 2 dollars apiece.  My guess is that so few people use the crystal or silver coasters anymore that there isn’t much of a market for them… but as candle holders, they are perfect.

I always keep my eye out for old silver plate flatware.  I have a collection of mismatched forks, knives and spoons that I use for backyard parties. This is a fun and inexpensive item to buy at flea markets.  Since I haven’t tried to match patterns and simple buy a fork or knife here or there, I have quite a collection now.

Shopping must be in the air, because the thrift shops and antique stores are calling my name.  I guess it’s time to hunt for more crystal coasters.

Our RV trip was by far my family’s favorite vacation. It was all of the fun of camping, without any of the hassle and comfortable beds to sleep in.

We flew to Salt Lake City, rented an RV and then drove to Grand Teton and Yellowstone. Driving through and camping in those two huge national parks was perfect. I would not recommend traveling long distances in a rental RV unless you are certain you are getting a newer RV. Our RV was very nice and clean, but was built on a very old F350 drive platform. I would also rent the shortest RV you think you can get away with, they are tough to maneuver and I would trade a few feet of extra comfort any day. The RV we rented for our family of four was 23 feet and we could have had one more adult or two small children easily. Be ready to spend the first 30 minutes seeking out LOUD rattles and shakes. We ended up using rubber bands to hold the cutlery secure, a towel over the slamming screen door and paper towels between the cereal bowls and inside the microwave.

The trip would have been a whole lot easier if we could have rented the RV locally and packed it with our own things right in our driveway. Linens were provided, but I had read that they were sparse. Before leaving home we used vacuum space bags and packed sleeping bags for the kids, a nice blanket for us, kitchen towels and pillows. We were glad we had them. This is the one time in your life you want thin towels, they dry much faster. In Salt Lake we did end up also buying a toddler bed rail so we felt more comfortable with the kids sleeping and playing over the cab. They LOVED being over the cab.

If you are traveling during the summer and want to stay were there are hookups for water and electricity, I would book my campground stays in advance. We wanted the freedom to decide as we went and ended up spending a lot of time on the phone. Arrive at campgrounds early in the day, before lunchtime, and you will get the best choice of spots. Very few campgrounds allow you to reserve a specific spot.  The photo below was taken from our beautiful camp site near Mammoth in Yellowstone.

I would consider getting to my first campground with plenty of daylight to spare to give you time to figure out your hook ups and get settled.  The electric hook up is easy, you just plug in. The water is simple as well, you connect a hose and then all water for toilet and sinks comes from the campground and doesn’t deplete your on board holding tank.

As you leave the campground and go to empty your black water tank is where the fun comes in. If you saw the movie, RV, remember Robin Williams… If you aren’t going RVing anytime soon, feel free to skip to next paragraph. It is gross, but with some smarts and rubber gloves (buy a pair at the grocery store before setting out), you only touch a bit of dirty water. After hooking up the hose and putting the business end into the hole in the ground, my husband would open the toilet valve first and let that empty and then open the grey water from the shower/sink to wash down the line. He would also close the grey water line after that first flush of the system and even fill up the grey water tank half way (to flush with clean water) before unhooking the hose and moving to the next campsite. I must admit the first time he did this, the kids and I were watching through the window, cracking up and waiting for a horrendous disaster to happen. By the way, never drink the water from the tap in a rental RV.

I will write a follow up post to the about the unbelievable natural beauty of these amazing national parks. This was a trip of a lifetime. I hope we can do this again soon and travel through Alaska with an RV.

We’ve all heard of a swarm of bees and a team of horses. But would you have guessed at a parcel of pigs or a mischief of mice? Well, my brother got me thinking about these fun sayings recently, and I simply had to find a few more. Here are some ….

Parliament of Owls
Mob of Kangaroos
Creep of Tortoises
Pod of Dolphins
Troop of Gorillas
Bed of Clams
Exaltation of Larks
Pride of Lions
Herd of Swans
Float of Crocodiles

The origin of these collective nouns, as they are really called, is uncertain but there is a bit of logic to them, they are often based on animal behavior. On a trip to the Virginia Safari Park I was thrilled to rub the noses of a flock of camels that all gathered around searching for treats. So the next time you are hiking through the woods and see a murder of crows, take a look at their behavior and see what you think.

Here’s a photo of a float of crocodiles from Cathy’s trip to Costa Rica-

I wonder what you call a group of hermit crabs?  I’d call them a scatter of hermit crabs!

Now is a perfect time to visit rose gardens throughout the United States. One of my favorite gardens is the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden. When I bought my first house in California, it had a beautiful rose garden with roses that had huge rootstocks and many were as almost 40 years old. I had no idea how to take care of them and went to a pruning clinic at the San Jose garden. I learned a lot, met some great friends and ended up with beautiful roses in my home garden. I still go back to my old house in San Jose and check on my roses.

I also think rose gardens are great places to take those family holiday photos.

Here are a few you may want to visit -

McGill Rose Garden - Charlotte, NC

All-American Rose Garden - Hattiesburg, MS

Ben Lomond Historic Site & Rose Garden - Manassas, VA

Walnut Springs Memorial Rose Garden - Seguin, TX

Rose Garden at the FDR National Historic Site - Hyde Park, NY

Lucille E. Anderson Memorial Rose Garden - Saginaw, MI

I have a crab from Baltimore, a pink pig from South Carolina and L’Avenue des Champs Elysées from Paris. What are they? They are fabulously, tacky key chains. My excuse for buying these bad souvenirs? I need them, of course.

I live on a farm and we have many keys to the various machines, out buildings and locks. Like in many homes, the miscellaneous keys are tossed in a drawer all mixed up together. Normally this would be a problem, but I know that I mow with the crab, the carpenter’s level from a discovery museum opens the office and a luggage tag from Lost Mountain operates the truck.  I love to buy these travel souvenirs. It’s really nice to grab the keys to do some work and instantly be reminded of a great trip, even if the keys chain for the most famous street in Paris was from my friend’s trip. I can still dream.

Do you collect something special on your adventures? If so, what’s your favorite travel souvenir?

We are excited to announce that you can now find outings all across the country.

A Day’s Outing has been growing state by state over the last year.  We started in our home state of Virginia, and now we have reached the sunny shores of California.  Now when you’re looking for a fun day trip or a special vacation side trip, check out A Day’s Outing.  Now that we are nationwide, you’ll find outings wherever you go.

We would like to tip our hat to Chris Morancie and his development team for all their hard work.  It’s been quite a trip to get here and we’re glad they have been along for the ride.

Have fun!

We took a fabulous vacation last November back to Costa Rica. I loved all of the fresh fruit juices that were everywhere to drink. They were very light and not nearly as sickly sweet as most of the juices we have here. One of my favorites was watermelon agua fresca. As summer rolled around, I started to look for recipes. I blended a few recipes I found and here’s and easy way to make my new favorite summertime drink. You can adapt this many ways, the key is to infuse the water with fruit essence without turning it into a smoothie or slushy drink. My husband (who doesn’t like to see anything go to waste) came up with the fruit leather recipe below while thinking about ways we could use all of the pulp from the making the drink.

Watermelon Agua Fresca

1 Seedless Watermelon
2 Cups of Good Quality Limeade (I like Newman’s Own)
4 Cups of Water

Cut the watermelon flesh from the rind. In a blender, process half the watermelon pieces until smooth. Pour through a strainer into a pitcher. Repeat the process with the remaining melon. Set the strained pulp aside and below there is a recipe for a quick and easy homemade fruit leather. Add juice to a large pitcher, combine with water and limeade. You can add more limeade or water to taste.

Watermelon Agua Fresca Cocktail

This was a hit at a dinner I had for some friends recently. Follow all of the above steps. Add ice to a cocktail shaker, a shot of Ketel One Citroen Vodka, and the juice from above. Shake and pour into a tall glass. Garnish with a skewered watermelon ball and a lime wedge.

Watermelon Fruit Leather

Pulp from the Watermelon Agua Fresca above
¼ Cup of Superfine Sugar
1/8 Cup of Lemon Juice
Non-Stick Cooking Spray (Plain, mine was Sunflower Oil)

Preheat your oven to 170 degrees. Mix all of the above together. Very lightly spray a 9 X 13 baking pan with cooking oil. (tip- place the pan on the open door of you dishwasher before you spray and you’ll have no mess to clean up on your counter) Wipe up any excess oil. Pour the mixture from above into the pan, it should only be a very thin layer about 1/8 of an inch thick. Place in oven until the fruit is completely dried out and not at all sticky to the touch. In my oven on convection, this took about three hours. I think it would take about 4 ½ hours in a standard oven. When it has cooled, you can peel it out of the pan and cut into strips.

Last week we were fortunate to spend time along one of South Carolina’s many beautiful beaches with our good friends.  While the weather was a little hot, we had a wonderful time.  One of our entire groups favorite things to do was getting up bright and early and heading over to beautiful Huntington Beach State Park to go shelling and hunting sharks teeth.

We found if you went early, it was much cooler and you could look before most of the people got there.  Huntington Beach is stunning and many people come to enjoy it, especially on summer weekends.  The kids were in heaven hunting for their treasures.  They were running up and down the beach showing everyone what they found.  I was lucky enough to find a treasure trove that included two pristine tiny red olives, tiny welks and numerous augers.  I like the tiny shells because it is easier to make things from them.  An artist in our group also found beautiful architectural pieces she can use in the jewelry she makes.

We were also very careful to make sure we did not disturb any live shells or sand dollars, or shells with hermits in them.  Those hermits always pick the prettiest shells!  The welk below let us know he was very angry with us for picking him up by shooting water us.

My littlest and I are now looking to see what we can make from our treasures.  We are hoping to make something as fabulous as this!

I had a new experience finding shark’s teeth at the beach this morning. Last year, I learned to look for shark’s teeth at the water’s edge as the waves washed up, as well as in the tiny piles of shells left by the receding tide. My son has the eagle eye and can find the tiniest teeth imaginable.

Today, I found the largest tooth I have ever found in a tide pool.  I didn’t know I should be looking there and was shocked to see the tooth about 6 inches below the edge of the water. I wasn’t even sure what it was, but the shape made me reach in and pick it up.  My daughter also found a shark’s tooth as large as mine in another tide pool 50 yards away. Her tooth was crystal white and was so new that it had sharp barbs on either side of the main tooth.  Sadly, she insisted on carrying her treasure herself and dropped the tooth in the sand on the way back to the car.

While there were some tears on the way home, we learned a few new things about finding shark’s teeth, as well as how to make sure they make it back home.

We were the ultimate tourists in New York City — we took a horse drawn carriage ride through Central Park. Actually, only half the ride was really in Central Park, but I’ll get to that in a moment.

In Midtown Manhattan, the carriages line up along West 59th Street at the southern end of Central Park. It is quite a sight to see all the horses and the beautiful carriages in a row. Some of the drivers even dress up for the occasion with top hats and coats.

The carriage rides start at $40 for a twenty-minute ride. Even at that cost, we had a lovely time. The weather was amazing and it gave us a moment to relax during our adventures in the city that day. I did learn that if you take a carriage ride, you want to get into a carriage that is closer to 5th Avenue, near the Plaza Hotel. We made a mistake and choose a carriage closer to Central Park West, at Columbus Circle, which meant we rode half of our ride on the street with cars and only came through the park on our way back. If we had chosen a carriage closer to 5th Avenue, we would have ridden our whole ride in the park…. And really, that’s what a carriage ride through Central Park is all about.