Let it rain, who cares, we need it everywhere in Florida. Tony, I am building a shrine to you for the Mother raspberry plant. Are you not going to grow them any more?? I am so excited that I will be meeting up with all my old and new gardening buds at the swap. It is going to be so much fun!! I just hope we have the sense to finally go home and not decide to sit forever comiserating while Ricky & Karen are getting tired of all of us invading their home, which is lovely!! Ricky's BBQ is OUTSTANDING, so if this is a first time for you, be prepared to enjoy his masterpiece! And then there is all the accoutrements everyone else brings. Talk about PIG OUT!! I am on the road tomorrow at 2 to spend the evening on the east coast with a very special friend. (please don't tell Lady I burnt the brownies today and threw them out-I never burn food!!) I completely forgot they were in the oven and went out to get my plants together. Sprinkle seedlings and get everything ready to pack in the car. See ya'all Sunday!! Drive safe everyone!

I live in a rural area near the Ellisville Harbor State Park, and a road runs right by the salt marsh. At low tide the mudbanks butt up to the road and a few years ago I took this photo. At the time I knew almost nothing about ducks, and noticed the strange looking mallards in the mud. My philosophy is always shoot first and ask questions later, so I shot and went home to check the references. I didn't even know Green-winged Teal existed. At that distance my Canon Powershot S5IS with a 12X zoom can handle it, although I don't get that nice feather detail. Some day I'll get better equipment, but not right now. Claire

Good thread Jerry! Best-- any of the times we head out to our favorite remote wilderness site on the lake! Every time is awesome and for each time there have been some priceless moments. Last year's priceless moment was out kayaking from the site with my daughter watching a loon family. Then sitting in the rain in the kayak watching a bald eagle that was perched in a tree by the shore line! The year before a mother moose and calf spending the afternoon at our site while a bald eagle circled above! worst-- would be a tie between the place with the power plant humming in the background that sold colored condoms in the camp store but no milk or the place in NH where golf carts zipped around and through our site at all hours, the bathroom was falling apart, and the campground looked like a trailer park with all of the seasonal campers! They all looked at us strange too because we were the transients! We left that place early! Couldn't leave the one with the power plant early because we were there to attend my cousin's wedding! Gotten lost-- I'm sure we have but I'm drawing a blank on that one right now! Honestly, I'm pretty good at reading maps and directions but my husband is not. You men might understand that he doesn't always appreciate my input in those situations! Ran out of gas-- well, I had a close call one summer when towing a boat up to Maine! Luckily, I did make it to the gas station just in time! stranded-- sort of, once when we were taking our boat out on one of our tidal rivers we packed up all of gear and got in the boat. Untied the boat at the dock and the incoming current immediately pulled the boat upriver away from the dock. Then the boat would not start! So my husband started throwing a rope to the shore to some people on the dock. The rope wouldn't reach and tide was pulling us further away. Then he finally just jumped in the river and swam to shore with the tow line. Then he pulled the boat in. We tied the boat up and he went and got the tow vehicle (at that time a van) to pull the boat out! I stayed with the boat. Then the next thing I know he was just standing next to the van and the van was running. I couldn't figure out what the problem was so I went over! HE LOCKED THE KEYS INSIDE THE VAN! He calmly told me what happened and I just lost it with hysterical laughing! I laughed so hard I fell down! This was also one of those times where I'm not sure he appreciated my input! He ended up doing something to remove a hinge on one of the back windows and then was able to open it completely. Then he lowered our screaming child through the window and sent her up front to open the door!

I wish I'd seen this thread before posting mine! Yes, you can use a pressure cooker on the propane stove. I had a pressure cooker in my RV (and plan to put it in the camping equipment for this summer's trip). I have also used it on the white-gas stove (older Coleman model), when we were renovating the kitchen at home. We looked at those 12-volt refrigerators. My husband was annoyed that he got rid of his after leaving the trucking industry. Well, how could we know! Thanks for the tips on the newer ones. As far as camping reservations go: from experience, the national park campgrounds fill fast. Many of them are on the reservation system, and others (like in Arches) will require you to start trolling through the CG at daybreak, looking for departing campers. Our trip is about the same length as yours, though we are staying in motels and with friends and family instead of tent-camping. From experience with long trip tent camping, though, you'll want to get a motel room or find a truck stop with reasonably priced showers (bring shower shoes) every 3-4 days. Your trip sounds like a lot of fun -- we're heading from CA to ME via Orlando, FL, and back through MO (daughter, son-IL and new granddaughter live there). So we're going opposite of you, grin. I've placed a link to a great resource for road-trip planners. It's one of my favorite Internet sites. Donna Here is a link that might be useful: Road Trip America