Memorial Day Weekend

Friday 25 - Monday 28th May

The end of May and Memorial Day - the weekend which, coupled with Labour Day at the start of September, seems to define summer.  We were really looking forward to this long weekend as, the absence of a long weekend at the start of May had left us feeling in need of a break (it is surprising how the ebb and flow of public holidays gets into your pyschy and how a different schedule gets things all awry).

To continue our exploration of national parks, we headed camping in The Delaware River Gap (http://www.nps.gov/dewa/index.htm).  This park spans the Delaware river as it crosses from New York state to New Jersey.  It is particularly famous for the "Gap" - a gorge formed over squillions of years as water erosion has split the Kittatinny Ridge (on the Appalachian trail) into two - Mt Minsi on the Pennsylvania side and Mt Tammany on the New Jersey side.  We arrived kitted out with our new hot weather tent (no need for outers designed to keep heat in and water out here - although we did end up pitching the tent in a thunder storm and fortunately did not get wet .......).  We also had our newly washed and rewashed sleeping bags so that no bears were tempted to snack on us during the night.

We camped at Dingman's Ferry - crossing point of the ENORMOUS Delaware river and enjoyed some rather ecletic music at the campsite "festival" on the first night - although I think that the atmosphere might not have been as hoped due to rain.

On the second day we walked from the camp ground on a 4 mile round trip through the Eastern hemlock forests to see firstly Silverthread falls (80ft single thread drop & a good warm up) and then the main attraction -  Dingman's falls - a 130ft drop of several falls cascading down the hill side.  The falls were great but we hadn't quite bargained on the tropical like heat and humditiy (I like to think that this was the reason for a long face) and the uphill trek didn't really help.  By the end of the day, when there was no sign of another thunder storm to clear the air, we decided to break camp early and head home and so we didn't actually see the Gap (or any bears for that matter) at all - next time.

Immigration Day

Thursday 24th May

The whole of 2nd grade joined together today to experience what it was like to be an early 20th century immigrant with immigration day.  I dressed up in a tartan dress, a head shawl to keep me warm and a satchel to carry my things.  Even my teacher had dressed up with a peaked cap and braces.  All of us were bundled up together in one classroom to remember how crowded it was on the boats. When we disembarked we had to complete a written test and we were given a passport.  We then had to visit the immigration officers - one for legal test who checked our names and what we were going to do on admission, one for mental test who checked we could think straight and the last one was a medical check.  The doctors checked our eyes, throat, hair for lice and listened to our chests.  My doctor (in fact my Mummy.....) was really mean and I failed the test and had to go to quarantine until I was healthy.  Once our passports were fully stamped we could enter USA.  We then got to try food from all the different countries people have come from in my class.  I liked the chocolate croissant from France.  I think I am glad that we emigrated in 21st century on an aeroplane.

There was a party in the USA

Friday 18th May To coin the phrase of the current Miley Cyrus house song, today there was a party in the USA. A little girl was 6 and decided to make it her personal mission to introduce Roger Hargreaves creation to the unsuspecting locals. With all the usual family party razzmatazz we had Mr Messy and his tangled silk game, Mr Muddle's confusing treasure hunt, Pin the arm on Mr Tickle and pass the parcel with Mr Men forfeits (this was an entirely new game on the locals). It was great fun and was rounded off nicely with a Little Miss Giggles cake. Happy birthday C.

Mother's Day

Sunday 13th May Well for some unfathomable reason Mother's Day in USA is celebrated in May rather than in March like in UK which leaves those of us with a foot in both sides of the pond with 2 dates to remember.  Nevertheless Mother's Day is always a treat whenever it comes and both small people arrived home from school with beautifully made crafts and gifts.  Also what better day to choose to make a trip to the local Chanticleer gardens http://www.chanticleergarden.org/.  Following a burst of enthusiasm about Canterbury's history before leaving UK, we know Chanticleer to be the proud cockerel on Chaucer's Nun Priest's tale who was tricked by the cunning fox, but, according to the garden blurb the gardens were named after Thackeray's Chanticleer in The Newcomes who was, apparently, "mortgaged up to the very castle windows".  My literary knowledge is not good enough to be able to vouch for this but who are we to dispute the blurb.  The gardens were formerly home to the Rosengarten family who owned one of the many local pharmaceutical companies and which was acquired by Merck in 1920's.  The gardens were very beautiful with streams, pools, rockeries and dotted with Armish style deck chairs from which to enjoy the serenity.  It was good for us to see that so many plants that we associate with gardens in UK thrive here as well - we were not sure if anything much would grow by way of flowering plants due to the heat.  If we ever get a garden of our own it will provide lots of inspiration.   We look forward to many more Sunday afternoon strolls.

Accidental damage

Tuesday 8th May I am sure many manage to move themselves cross continents without so much as a by your leave but, for us, the USA has brought more brushes with local healthcare than we have had in many a long year.  This time it was my turn as, armed with a kitchen knife, I tried to cut one potato just too thinly chopping off part of my fingers instead.  Straight to the local minor injuries clinic - the same medical team were on shift as for THE eye incident - so after the jovial pleasantries we were in and out in a flash of a stitching needle.  I don't know who was more nervous - the doctor when I said I was an attorney or me when he said he charged by the stitch so had put in an extra couple, but it will take me some time to recover from the cross selling of the tetanus jab.  At least we were assured that the invoice covered removing the stitches as well - it really is very different. Excuses, excuses but this does also explain in part why we are now having a MASSIVE blog catch up!