Capital City Trip, Day Three

Day three: Tuesday, July 1: We were up by 7 a.m. After breakfast, Hubbie and I rode bikes again. This time we saw a pair of geese with seven goslings swimming in a line near the river bank. A flock of geese near the marina were begging campers for treats. Among them was another pair with juvenile goslings.

American flags, patriotic design table clothes, red white and blue pinwheels and wind socks were everywhere in evidence at campsites in anticipation of the upcoming July 4 weekend. One camper displayed three flags...the Stars and Stripes, our state flag, and a black MIA/POW flag.

Most campers, we noticed, also had at least one pet. We saw a few cats, but mainly there were dogs of every description...Shih Tzus, Yorkies, Pomeranians, one standard black Poodle, and other large and small breeds. I'm not sure I'd want a large breed sleeping in the cramped quarters of an RV.

It's a joy to ride bikes on the wide, paved, tree-shaded roads of the campground. There are enough inclines to make riding up them more aerobic, and it was fun to feel the wind in my face as I whizzed down the other side. It brought out the kid in me.

After our bike ride, we relaxed until lunch time. After lunch, I had a hankering for a low-fat frozen fudge bar, but discovered it and everything else in the freezer unit of the refrigerator had thawed. The lower part of the fridge was warming, too. So we hurried to unload what could be saved and put it in an ice chest, and then threw out any questionable food.

Hubbie called a repairman, who diagnosed the problem over the phone, but said it would require a part that would have to be ordered. And since he thought he knew what the problem was - a bad freezer coil or something - he didn't think we'd want him to come and look at the refrigerator to the tune of $115 service call. Indeed we did not.

Since there was nothing we could do about the fridge, Hubbie and I went on to my photography session. Fortunately, Sis dropped by the campsite to visit with Mother for the afternoon, and she pulled our fat out of the fire by going to the worldwide discount chain store and buying a huge ice chest (the thing looks big enough to stuff a person into...sort of like a big, white coffin). She also bought five bags of ice for the chest, and then she and Mother loaded all the food into it.

Today at the photography session, the kids made pinhole lenses for oatmeal box cameras. For this exercise, the kids cut out poster board rounds to fit into a plastic lid. Hubbie cut openings into the lids, and the kids taped kitchen foil to the rounds (which Hubbie also cut openings into). After they taped the foil down, one of the volunteers used a needle to make tiny holes.

One by one, the kids went into the darkroom with me to load photographic paper into the bottoms of the boxes (which had been spray painted black inside). The lid was then taped down securely, allowing no light to enter the box. Each lid was equipped with a black tape "lens cap."

Each child was given a shoe box with cutouts for the oatmeal box to rest in, and then Hubbie escorted them to a place outdoors to make exposures. All the children removed their "lens caps" together, and then each placed the cap back on the box at their assigned time (15 seconds, 20 seconds, etc.).

They brought the boxes back into the darkroom, and we developed the paper negatives. As expected, some got decent exposures, and some were overexposed. After the kids determined the correct exposure time, they went back out to try again.

Each child went home with pinhole camera negative and positive prints, to show their parents that pictures can be taken with nothing more than an oatmeal box and photographic paper...no sophisticated optics needed.

The downside of this exercise was that the unruly boy in the group found a wounded pigeon outdoors and proceeded to kick at it. Hubbie about came unglued and scolded the boy severely. The unruly girl decided to toss her oatmeal box camera around while she was still in the classroom, so one of the volunteers took it away from her.

During the break, Hubbie and I walked the short distance to the farmer's market. This market has a festival atmosphere, with all sorts of vendors besides those selling vegetables and fruits. One booth offered face painting. Another sold jewelry. Still others offered hats and purses.

One guy, dressed as Michael Jackson, with face painted white, moved robotically in hopes of receiving tips. There were musicians, too, entertaining for tips.

We arrived at the market about 20 minutes before they were ready to close. I was looking for home grown tomatoes, and was checking out one vendor's goods when he commented that since the tomatoes I was looking at were seconds (odd shapes, and blemishes), I could have all I wanted for free. I bagged them all...about 10 pounds worth. We served them the rest of the week, and they were delicious. Besides the tomatoes, we picked up a few peaches, which were not so delicious.

After we got back to the museum, I walked around the facility for a few minutes. This is a wonderful, indestructible, hands-on museum suited to kids of all ages. Today, I was interested in the three shrunken heads and the 600 BC Egyptian casket.

After the photo session, we got back to camp about 5 p.m. Sis had left, and Mother reported that my friend from California had called and said she was sick from food poisoning, so she wouldn't be able to come visit me after all. I hated that I wouldn't see her this trip, but I hated it even more that she got sick.

After a supper of barbecue, sauteed potatoes, and corn on the cob, Hubbie and I rode bikes. Although the day was cool this morning for our ride, the evening was pretty warm. So when we got back from riding, I wanted a 7-Up over ice. But the ice was buried under so much food that we couldn't get to it, so off we (including Shih Tzu) went to the grocery store to get another bag.

While Hubbie went into the store to fetch the ice, I rolled the truck window down. When he got back, we found that the window wouldn't roll back up. Yikes! I hoped I wouldn't have to ride all the way home Saturday with the window rolled down. I kept trying to roll it up, and it did inch up little by little, but didn't close all the way. We decided to let it rest until morning and try again.

Later in the evening, we played our usual games of Skipbo. Hubbie won two games this time, and I won one. After that, we were plenty ready for bed.