Travel Planning Has Never Been Easier

We've been planning for our next vacation for the past two or three months now.  For the past 26 years our vacations have centered around the beach, a theme-park or an exotic locale.  But this time, since I haven't been on the east coast much, we thought we'd take a whirl-wind east coast vacation.

The plan is to fly into Washington, D.C. and spend two-and-a-half days there, jump on the Amtrak and jump off at Philly for just the afternoon and night.  The next morning we get up bright and early and get back on Amtrak and go to New York City.  We'll spend three days sightseeing in NYC before we jump back on Amtrak to Boston for two days.  The trip ends when we fly back home from Boston.

Whew!  Sounds exhausting doesn't it?  A normal person would probably turn our 9 day whirlwind trip into four separate trips spending four or five days at each city...mulling around museums and taking tours at each place, but that's just not in our DNA.

My husband doesn't really enjoy historical tours or vacations and he's really doing this for me. So, I've been trying my best to plan our itineraries via the internet so that we monopolize every minute we are gone.

What I've found is that there's a wealth of websites to help you plan your vacation.  There's the websites that you probably are quite familiar with like Fodders and Frommers that provide one, two and three day itineraries that suggest sites you won't want to miss.

Then there's TripAdvisor and Yelp that provides reviews from people who have already experienced a hotel, museum or attraction.

You can also find a wealth of information by just "googling" the place you plan to visit.  People have written about their experiences on blogs or you will find other independent websites.

Finding good restaurants to eat at while on your trip is a snap with Urban Spoon or even Yelp.  And there's a plethora of cell phone apps available that offer tour information in cities.

But here's an idea that you may not have thought about.  Try pulling up Google Maps and entering the hotel in the city you plan to visit.  Now click on directions and type in a restaurant or an attraction you plan to visit.  Keep adding destinations (restaurants, museums, whatever...) and click "get directions." Your trip is now mapped out.  You'll probably, at that point, find that you want to re-route certain destinations, which is as simple as clicking and holding a letter and moving it up or down the route and clicking on "get directions" again.  Print it out and you have a mapped itinerary.  You can even select the car, walking, public transportation or bus route.

Or you can do like I do and map out each day which includes restaurant options along the way.  Or do one map for each day and maybe have a separate map of restaurants you'd like to consider along the way or one just for museums, one for parks.  The options are really endless.

Supporting the cause

Every June thousands of people show their support of the fight against breast cancer by participating in the St. Louis Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure.

The national Susan G. Komem organization formed in 1982. The St. Louis race began in 1999 and set a record that year with a first-year attendance of 10,000.  In 2010, more than 70,000 people participated making it the largest race in the world!

That's a lot of people and there were more!

Fabulous Friday Finds!

I thought that by searching through, finding and highlighting five blogs I found interesting that were written by the 2013 bloathoners each week would make for an easy Friday post.  But boy was I dead wrong.  What I've found is that I can lose an hour or two of time just reading all the interesting blogs. 

But I managed to get my nose out of my computer screen and found the time to highlight five of my faves from this week.

Up first is Lois Middleton's Playing a New Game.  It's a delightful blog about...well life. The post that caught my eye was about food that we'd be surprised to learn is Vegan.  And boy was I surprised!  I have new reasons to buy my next bag of Double Stuffed Oreos! Check out Lois' blog.  She also has a heart-warming post written by her dog! 

Avid readers won't want to miss Andria Tieman's Thursday post on her blog, Find Me Frugal(er) that offers short reviews of 10 books she recommends for summer reading.  Her blog isn't normally about books though.  She blogs, as her blog name states, about living for less, enjoying what you have and she offers some thoughts on not taking life so seriously. 

If you take a lot of digital photos and you're concerned about how to preserve them, you won't want to miss Phillip Griffith's blog posting "Preserving Your Digital photos for the Future."  Every day this past week, he's piqued my curiosity with "10 Tips for Summer Vacation Photos," "Saving Kid's Artwork," and "Telling Your Story."  Anyone who enjoys taking photos will enjoy his blog.

Another blog post that caught my eye this week was Michelle Nahom's blog post about decorating your house with photos - on removable wallpaper.  I have to admit that after spending HOURS removing "real" wallpaper from countless walls over the years, the term "removable" in front of "wallpaper" makes me still cringe and begs to question...is this an oxymoron?  And not that I will likely do this, but it's an interesting idea. Check out Michelle's "A Dish of Daily Life"

And this week's humor award has to go to Tara Phillips "Two Hands and A Road Map."  Whether she's blogging about losing the battle to carbs, the beloved squirrel in her back yard or when she hands her keyboard over to her husband, I always chuckle several times reading her posts, and I think you will too!

That's it for this week!  Have a great weekend!

A hungry visitor

I was wondering why the new petunias I planted in pots on my front porch had disappeared.   Thought maybe the storm had blown them away, but then I caught this little culprit red-handed.  

 While mowing the grass yesterday I stumbled upon their rabbit hole/den.  It was out in the open in our back yard and what looked like some dead grass was actually their home.  They scattered as I came close.

I'm sure there's plenty of people who would rather not have a bunch of rabbits living in their yard.  Heck, my husband isn't thrilled about them either, but they are so darn cute.

Just one more critter to add to our menagerie!  He and his little siblings can hang out with the baby robin that's learning to fly in the back yard, the chipmunk that lives in the mulch out front and the squirrel that joined our menagerie last fall.

Soda addiction? Four reasons to cut back or cut it out of your diet!

Four years ago I went cold turkey.  I decided that drinking three or four Diet Cokes a day was not a very healthy thing to be doing.  Do you realize what sodas are doing to your body?

Whether you call it a soft drink, soda, pop, soda pop or simply a coke, here are just four reasons to consider removing sodas from your diet or at the very least- cut back.

Tooth Enamel Damage - Aside from the obvious reasons why regular, sugary sodas damage the enamel on your teeth, consider that sodas are very acidic.  That acid wears down tooth enamel which is so very important in protecting our teeth from plaque and cavities.

Bone Loss
Sodas in general have no calcium nor any healthful nutrients.  By substituting milk with just one serving of your daily liquid intake, it can increase your calcium intake which protects your bones.  And if you're a regular soda drinker, they create even more concern for healthy bones because regular sodas contain high levels of phosphate.  At first blush, it would seem that lots of phosphates would be good for our bones since healthy bone growth requires both calcium and phosphate, but in reality too much phosphate and little calcium is detrimental to bone growth.

Kidney Damage
A 2009 study on the effects of diet cola on kidneys in women reported that  the consumption of two or more daily servings of artificially sweetened soda increases a woman's odds two-fold for a decline in kidney function. 

Weight Gain/Weight Loss 
I throw these two in together because we likely know that regular soda is sugary, empty calories that can cause weight gain, but drinking Diet sodas doesn't help you lose weight either.  Many scientists believe that diet sodas not only don't help with weight loss but, quite possibly, have the opposite effect.  While your body is expecting that sugar content from the sugary diet soda taste, it actually gets none and a liquid with little to no nutritional value which leaves you still hungry or thirsty.  Many scientists also have reported that those who drink Diet sodas tend to over-eat because they feel like they've "saved" calories by drinking a diet soda and can, therefore, splurge - eating more calories during meals or snacks.

Other factors to consider and explore are: What is all that carbonation doing to your body?  Have you looked at the label on that soda?  What ingredients does it contain?  Are they all chemical in nature?  What impact do those ingredients have on your body?  And how many empty soda calories are you consuming a day?

I think we all are well aware that water is the BEST option.  If you work at home, fellow blogger Jan Udlock's post, can give you an idea to ensure you're drinking water all day while you're working as well as some key reminders about the importance role water plays in our body.

I realize that by suggesting you ditch the soda, that I'm quite possibly proposing a complete lifestyle change.  But even if you're like me and you "kick the soda habit" but fall off the wagon a  few times a year, you're at least making a significant impact on making your body a little healthier. And it's all about baby steps!

The honey bee demise?

You've likely heard about how the U.S. honey bee population is plunging.  Reports say bees are dying at the rate of a billion a year.  It's estimated that 10 million bee hives have been lost in the last six years alone, and the problem isn't getting better either.

Aside from honey bees being the producers of honey, honey bees also are responsible for pollinating many U.S. food crops such as soybean, apple, peach, brocolli, squash, zuchini and all citrus fruits. Their role is crucial!

Sadly, a condition called CCD (colony collapse disorder) is causing the vast majority of bee deaths, but  researchers have yet to determine CCD's cause. 

A new Department of Agriculture report noted that the absolute cause of CCD wasn't found, but that they eliminated that there was one single cause.  Instead, they determined that several factors such as drought conditions, poor nutrition and parasites were just a few of the causes. 

Others have suggested that crop dusting, pesticide dusted seeds or simply the over-use of pesticides by the general population are causes of the honey bee demise.

When a friend in the horticulture industry told me a few years ago about how the honey bee population was being depleted, he pointed out that if I looked around, I'd notice that there are far less honey bees around. 

I did notice and have been more aware of honey bee sightings which is why as I was walking through my neighborhood last night, I was totally taken aback as I rounded the corner and heard a loud "buzzzzzzzzzzz."  There, buzzing around my neighbor's two trees in their front yard, had to be hundreds of bees, primarily honey bees.  I haven't seen that many honey bees in years.

Searching online I couldn't figure out exactly what type of trees these were, but every summer they bloom with white, odd-looking flowers.  The trees also always have a very pungent sweet smell.  It's quite strong.  Although, the strong aroma may be coming from the sheer size of these two trees with their thousands of flowers.  The trees easily must be at least 25 feet tall.

I stood there in awe for quite awhile taking photos of the bees, watching them traverse from flower to flower as I wondered if all of these bees would be in bee heaven next year?

I certainly hope that researchers can solve the mystery of what is killing honey bees because not only are they instrumental in pollinating our nation's food supply, they truly are one of the small wonders of the world.

I'm planning to stop by the local university's garden this afternoon to see if the director can identify this tree, but if you recognize it, please leave a comment.

Lack of common courtesy? Sounds more like entitlement to me!

One of my all-time favorite St. Louis Post Dispatch columnists, Joe Holleman, wrote about a topic yesterday that's been on my blog-list.  His column, Life Sherpa, was about common courtesy and how it's a topic that comes up often with his regular readers.

Holleman's article was a fun read, as always. It was about Kevin Williamson, a national TV commentator and editor for the National Review, and his run-in with a woman seated beside him in a New York theater who wouldn't get off her cell phone. 

Williamson wrote about the experience in May in the National Review which I encourage you to read here.  Williamson writes that when he asked the woman to turn off her phone, she suggested he mind his own business.  With that remark, Williamson writes, "So I minded my own business by utilizing my famously feline agility to deftly snatch the phone out of her hand and toss it across the room, where it would do no more damage."

Holleman, always putting a humorous spin on his writing, loved that reaction stating "So good for Williamson.  People who show such little regard for their neighbors deserve the same amount of courtesy in return. And if I ever find out that he has been criminally charged, the "Free Kevin Williamson" movement in this space will begin."

Holleman is so witty which is why I enjoy reading his quirky columns, but what I'd like to add to this topic is that I'm suggesting that it's more than people showing a lack of common courtesy. I submit that we're becoming a nation of entitlement.

Think about these other "lack of common courtesy" or "entitlement" situations and tell me that you don't see them routinely.

• You board an airplane and take a seat.  You watch as a person with a piece of luggage passes first class seating and enters the main cabin where she stops, opens the overhead bin at say, row 10, puts her baggage in the overhead bin and then proceeds to take her seat in row 27.  Then you watch as someone seated in row 10 looks above to find no room for his luggage so he proceeds to the back of the plane to find space in an overhead bin.
• You're in a check out line at the  grocery story.  You are in line with your cart about two people away from being able to place your items on the belt.  When suddenly, the register next to your lane opens and and the people behind you b-line it to get in front of you over at the open register.
• You're in a restaurant eating dinner with your spouse and there's a couple with their two young children at a table near by.  The two year old is just obviously having a bad day because he's been crying hysterically and screaming for at least five minutes, but mom and dad don't take him outside to allow him to settle down.  Nope, they just continue with their dinner as the child screams on.

And let's not forget the example that Williamson experienced - only I suspect that you experience people using their cell phones, as I do, in the movie theaters all the time.  I could really go on and on with examples, but the point is I feel that we're becoming a nation of people who feel they are special or "entitled."  For some reason more and more people feel they are "entitled" to special priileges and exempt from following the rules or common courtesy.

I truly feel that it's becoming an epidemic, and that's just sad.  And not that I'd ever condone Williamson's actions, but I have to admit that it put a huge smile on my face.  I secretly wished I had been there to see that woman's face because let's face it, I know I'm not alone in saying that I've thought about doing that a million times before.