Erin's Journals

Where did July go? It’s just the sweetest month and although it’s been a rainy one in the east, at home in Victoria, the days have been long, sunny and a comfortable 25-28C. We sure have nothing to complain about.
 
When I posted a sunrise picture from our bedroom a week ago, someone asked on Facebook “Why would you leave?” and that’s a question that is always worth asking. Here it is, in case you missed it.
 

 
Sometimes coming home and (eventually) unpacking a suitcase just makes you more grateful; other times, it’s clear that if you’re going to pursue a dream, you simply have to pick up and go. Life, as we know, is short and sometimes you don’t get a second chance. Especially when it’s a bucket list item.
 
When I was a teen, I would dance my butt off (quite literally; I lost track of how many times I’d choose a thinner notch in my kilt waist buckle after coming home from school and dancing for an hour to Saturday Night Fever or the FM station out of the US). One of the bands I couldn’t get enough of was ELO: The Electric Light Orchestra.
 
From songs like “Turn to Stone” and “Roll Over Beethoven,” they always had a beat, orchestration and production that was unmatched by anyone else. I’ve loved Jeff Lynne forever. But since I was a mere teen when he and ELO were touring, I had no chance to get to the big city (from where we lived in Brighton, Ontario) to see them.
 
The passage of time, Jeff’s work on myriad other projects (including working on Beatles’ later releases like “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love” and as a Traveling Wilbury) made it seem impossible that he’d ever take to a stage to perform ELO’s hits again.
 
So, imagine my excitement when I learned several months ago that he was embarking on a limited eight-city tour! That soon turned to disappointment when we saw that the only Canadian stop he was making was Toronto. No Vancouver. Not even nearby Seattle! So we made the decision to buy tickets and see ELO in Oakland, California.
 
Rob and I had long wanted to take a drive along the California highway that runs beside the ocean. From BC all the way to the Golden State, we had visions of top down, wind in our hair and sights we’d never forget. This concert provided the perfect opportunity! Just for laughs, we checked to see where the Blue Jays are these days and, lo and behold, there they are in Oakland that same week! So we’re going to see Jeff Lynne, the Blue Jays and Alcatraz all on the same little road trip.
 
As we did in the case of the US southwest driving trip we took in early June, Rob is driving down in three days, while I’m flying in a few days later (today). All going well, he’ll meet me this afternoon in San Francisco and our adventure together will truly begin.
 
I plan to post pictures and stories again and hope you’ll come along for the ride. Take care and talk to you here in August – or tomorrow – whichever comes first!
 

Welcome in! I hope you had a terrific weekend and if you did try those mini Capreses that I shared Friday, post a pic on FB, won’t you? I hope you had great success.
 
I mentioned to you on Friday that we’re on the road again and I’ll explain more here tomorrow. But first, there’s a story I didn’t share with you earlier this month when I shared tales and pictures of our drive from Nevada to Arizona, Utah, Idaho and Montana. It’s a tale of sheer panic and it’s set in an airport.
 
I’d given myself 90 minutes to get from the Victoria-Seattle flight to my connecting trip to Las Vegas, where Rob was to meet me after having made the drive (and ferry trip) from our home near Victoria, BC. You’d think with all the air miles I’ve accumulated over years of flying as a kid with my folks, on my own as a teen to Alberta to spend summers with my grandparents, and the pleasure and work trips that came in the decades that followed, I’d feel pretty “at home” in an airport.
 
Well, no: without Rob at my side to calm me and lead me to where I need to get, I just feel lost most of the time. And I have an innate talent of going exactly in the opposite direction to where I should be. 
 
It didn’t help that there wasn’t a ramp ready for us after a 30-minute flight to Seattle; apparently one was broken and due to construction or some other reason, we had to wait for a full half hour for a chance to off load the airplane. Then there was a shuttle bus taking us to the terminal; that added another 10-15 minutes. By the time we got inside, I was shaken to see a very long single line for passengers transferring to the US.
 
Because I have a Nexus card, I’m usually fortunate to skip long lines and just sail through. But not this time. A fellow traveller, a man coming in from Nashville, told me that there was a different line for “trusted travelers” of which I thought I was one. So, at a sprint, we headed off on a kilometre-long trek to get to what I hoped was a checkpoint that I could speed through.
 
We took a shuttle train to the proper terminal and then made our way through the busy airport to get to security. On our way to it, we passed a huge Disney World-worthy snaking line of people waiting to get through a different checkpoint. I said a silent “thanks” that I wasn’t going to have to be in that awful mess.
 
Out of breath and by now quite frantic over possibly missing my flight, set to leave in one hour, I showed the security agent my boarding pass. But there was no sign of me being approved in advance. Something had gone wrong in this new world of increased screening and, nope, I was going to have to go back to that endless lineup. Actually, it did have an end: someone was standing by an escalator several hundred feet from the actual queue holding up a sign saying “End of Line.” That’s sure how it felt for me, too. I called Rob and said I wasn’t going to make the flight and that I’d keep him posted.
 
I stood in that line, constantly checking my watch and waiting for any signs that we were making progress. Yes, we were moving, but at an impossibly slow pace. Eventually I made it to the security check. I had no luggage (Rob had the packed suitcases with him as he drove to Nevada) and I was asked a few times about that. 
 
I ran to my gate and sat, awaiting word on our Delta flight’s fate. We were past boarding time by then, but still all of the seats at our gate were full! It turns out that luck was in my favour and the flight was having a similar difficulty to that which faced my earlier incoming plane: a shortage of ramps and gates at which to park. (An $830 million expansion appears to be the cause of all of this, including the initial difficulties with long lines and a shuttle from one terminal to another that was also in the midst of a construction zone.)
 
Finally, we boarded our flight to Vegas. But if I thought my travel troubles were over that day, I was wrong. When I got to the terminal, I just followed a flight crew and got onto a shuttle connecting to a different arrivals area. I had told Rob I’d meet him in the arrivals parking lot; I was to call him when I landed and he’d pull up and get me. Or at least that was the plan.
 
Rob had gone to the terminal at which Delta lands; I’d instinctively headed to the place where we had landed on Canadian flights in the past. So I stood there in the 38C heat, trying again and again to call Rob. No answer.
 
After about six attempts, he picked up. Apparently he was in an area with poor cell reception – at a different terminal! Yes, I’d said I’d be where I was the time before when he caught the shuttle to a rental car agency while I scooped up our luggage and then stayed at the airport to be picked up. But Rob assumed I’d be in the parking area of the terminal at which I landed. I think I probably should have been. But it was just the icing on a slice of really lousy travel cake that day.
 
My next US flight, I’ve left two hours to connect. I’m going to make sure my boarding pass says exactly what I think it says. After all, I don’t want that whole debacle to have occurred with no lessons learned! And fortunately, a bad luck day at two airports certainly did not foretell my fortune once I got seated at a favourite video poker machine (as I told you here two weeks ago).
 
Here’s to smoother travels and the things we have to experience to make sure we do it right the next time! Tomorrow, I’ll be doing it again with a smoother outcome – I hope!
 

NO, you aren’t on the wrong blog site – I’m actually going to share with you a little appetizer trick that I made last week! 
 
Do you love Caprese salad? You probably know it: slices of tomato interlaid with slices of sweet mozzarella and garnished with fresh basil and balsamic vinegar. We love it, too. And after being inspired at a dinner party, I decided to try making a miniature version for appetizers. 
 
Well, here’s the first tip: buy enough tomatoes. I bought a small plastic carton and it turns out I had about one per guest for the dozen or so who came over. That was a real mistake – they were popular!
 
I bought tomatoes that weren’t full size but weren’t tiny cherry ones either. I wanted them to be pop-in-your-mouth and about the same size as the tiny balls of mozzarella I found in marinating, herbed oil in the deli section.
 

 
Then comes what (to me) was the same amount of work as making sushi. I pulled up a chair and started to work. It was really quite enjoyable! First, you slice the bottoms of the tomatoes to make them sit still on a plate. 
 
Then you slice them across the equator (or what I felt was in half). Then you add a slice of the tiny cheese balls and a small basil leaf, either from a plant or a package.
 

 
Then add a sprinkle of fresh ground pepper and salt and you’re done! Place them on a plate and get ready for accolades….
 

 
….or that’s what I thought. I’d just wiped a plate clear of spices and a few errant tomato seeds and carefully placed my little creations on it, when I realized I’d forgotten the balsamic. DRAT! Back to the drawing (or cutting) board. I had to take the lids off all of them and start again, but how to make the vinegar stay in or on the tomato? I poured some into a small dish and dipped the tops of the tomatoes – open side down – into the vinegar. And then, using small ice tongs, put these little treats back together.
 

 
The finished product went fast and I realized the error in my counting skills! (But I also had prosciutto-wrapped canteloupe slices while we awaited the fruits of Rob’s barbecuing skills. And cashews that I forgot to put out.)
 
As I said last Friday, in the midst of the scurrying to try to get a last-minute voice job done, I’d been glad to have prepared most of the meal the day before. These ones, however, were done a little earlier in the day. The melon was prepared as Rob changed computer files between each of the “chapters” of the video I was voicing. Talk about multi-tasking!
 
Me being me, however, I had to ruin something: in this case I left almond slices in the toaster oven too long and had to pitch them. Luckily I was able to candy some pecans in the few minutes remaining before our guests arrived, so that the spinach salad would have a little bit of sweetness (besides the strawberries).
 
OH! That reminds me: did you know you can slice strawberries with a hard boiled egg slicer? I did just that, and even though I bent one of the wires that is used to cut the egg, it still was a massive time saver. Give it a try if your berries are just soft enough but not too mushy!
 
I just thought I’d share this tomato idea with you today in case you were looking for something to do with your kids or to try yourself. It was a lot of fun and so worth it. Have a terrific weekend and I’ll be back with you Monday. We’re on the road again – this time California or Bust!
 

Thanks for the great feedback about yesterday’s “mother of invention” journal. Today, as I did last Thursday with Lisa Brandt’s terrific book Make the Media Want You, I’d like to take a moment to shine the light on someone’s brilliance.
 
Our little grandbabe Colin, who’ll be four in the fall, has taken to some nocturnal activities. Darn that growing out of the crib stuff! One of his favourite things is to get out of bed and turn on the light so he can read his books. Now, while I’m all for literacy of all ages, it’s not exactly the best thing for him to be doing in the night.
 
So Brooke took his little lamp out of the room (the one we gave them that had been Lauren’s; its base is a blue beehive and Winnie’s digging in). That meant the little man had to go big or go bed…and he went big, starting to reach up to turn on the light switch. What to do? You can’t just unscrew a light bulb or two every night.
 
Using what I think is downright ingenuity, Brooke looked around her tool box and found a butterfly hook that one would usually see on walls where strings from blinds are wound up and out of the way. I can’t imagine what made her try, but it was a perfect fit for a light switch!
 

 

 
Told you she was clever! I told her she should sell them: paint them in ladybug or butterfly colours and let other parents use them as nursery decorations. (She opted not to, so that’s why I’m sharing this idea here for free. But if you make a million dollars off it, be sure to remember where you saw it and share!)
 
Now, feel free to pass this on or give it a try in your home if someone has a habit of turning on lights that shouldn’t be on. I thought it would be great to use if you have a vacation rental or some place where you can’t be around to tell people not to turn off the furnace switch, or not to touch a certain light that has to be left off. It kind of gets the point across, don’t you think?
 
Have a bright day and we’ll be here with you tomorrow. Adventures in the kitchen with a really neat little appie idea that went over huge. It took some work, but I sure wish I’d made more!
 

I had promised at the end of Monday’s journal a story about some travel troubles. I’ve moved it to next week as we’ll be “on the road again,” as Willie Nelson sang. So here we are with one I’m hoping you’ll find entertaining.
 
Yes, the old saying goes that “Necessity is the mother of invention.” We found out for ourselves that very thing when a modest hotel left Rob with a thirst for beer and a problem to solve. I don’t think Ms Christie would consider this lazy at all, unless it was to solve us the hassle of leaving our hotel room after an exhausting day to find a convenience store….
 
Last year when we travelled to Seattle for the Jays’ stand there, my uncle introduced Rob to a sweet beer called Alaskan Amber. Unable to purchase it at home in BC, Rob was delighted to find it in a grocery store cooler on our travels through the States a few weeks back.
 
We picked up a six-pack and went on our way, checking in that night in Provo, Utah. And no, we didn’t bring our own because we were deep in the heart of Mormon country; that thought didn’t occur to us! And besides, there are plenty of bars in the state – at least in Salt Lake City – as pointed out by ads in the Utah tourism guide we picked up at a rest stop.
 
After a long day’s drive, I know he was looking forward to popping open an Alaskan; he’d put a few on an ice pack in a thermal bag when that day’s journey began. As we settled into our hotel room, he said, “Oh no. There’s no bottle opener.” Yes, he’d chosen a beer that was not a screw cap and we’d forgotten that. So, what to do?
 
We started looking around the room for something that could give him leverage. I’m sure Youtube has ideas as to how you could fashion a bottle opener out of dental floss and a paper clip but I wanted to come up with something myself. I spotted that metal arm that flips over to lock your door from the inside, but it wasn’t attached well enough to withstand a good yank. Besides that, it had all rounded edges. No good.
 
That’s when I turned around and spotted this:
 

 
A removable metal piece covered the built-in tissue box compartment. Taking it off was a snap; housekeeping has to do just that to refill it. What the lid wasn’t meant for, of course, was opening beer bottles. But that’s exactly what it did.
 
Applying just the right force at the perfect angle, Rob was able to open his beer, which was still fairly cold (or cold enough). After sustaining a little foamy spillage from the beer having been jostled all day in the car, he enjoyed that sweet amber ale. Our lid idea worked so well that he tried it again with similar success. We bought a can punch the next day at Walmart and it lives with our suitcases now.
 
Coincidentally, the same day that we were trying to come up with a solution, my sister sent us pictures from Mexico of something rather ingenious they sell there: toilet tissue that is meant to come apart from the roll so that you can take it with you – and not just sheet by sheet!
 
We’ve been fortunate on our forays to Mexico: any place we’ve gone has had paper in plentiful supply. Some countries we’ve traveled have left us high and…well, not dry…but at least we’d been prepared with our own! However, that’s not always the case, I guess. And that’s why THIS is a thing!
 

 

Have a great day – thank you for stopping by – and I’ll be back with you here tomorrow with something pretty clever a family member came up with. You may want to borrow it if you have a child in the house!