Hi girls, Cindy I bought the vials on a market flower where they sell flowers in cuts like roses, orchids and others. puglvr1 those cuts came by mail, I only bought in my luggage the fragiles ones, only 10 or 15 inside the pants, LOL, and they passed through customs with no problem, I even lost 2 cuts after arriving, I could not find them in my clothes!!!! It was a great pleasure to share with all of you my Los Angeles Adventurer TRIP!!!! I'm returning on my next vacation but probably going to Florida where hoyas are more common, because in Los Angeles I didn't find any!!!! So I had to buy some from Ted Green and did not buy more because I was very scared about bringing them to Brazil, now I'm more confident than ever!!! And I know already that I can ship them in the vials and they will arrive just perfect! We all could go to Thailand, let's make a nice trip together all the hoya lovers in Thailand! Let's plan!!! Mitzi

We didn't take vacations when I was growing up. The road trips we took were to move from one of my dad's duty stations to another. I vaguely remember driving from Virginia to California, via Alabama to meet my dad's relatives. I was only about 6 years old. When I went back to visit them years later, they told me a funny story about that trip and my mom. The water quit or power went out or something so they couldn't take a hot bath. My mom asked for water from the stream by their house because she just couldn't go without a bath, even for a day. They got buckets of water and poured them over my mom so she could get clean. She's Japanese so I guess she wasn't embarrassed bathing in front of the female relatives. They said she yelled and carried on from the cold water but got her bath. This was the year my brother got three birthday parties! One in Alabama on this trip, one in San Deigo at another stop we made at the home of one of my dad's old friend's. Bill got a puppy from them too! Then when we got to San Pedro, my dad was assigned to a submarine and they had another party for him, in the sub! Brat. The other big trip we made was from San Pedro to Fallon, NV when my dad got stationed there. We drove through Sequioa and Yosemite National parks, and through the Lake Tahoe area. The only thing I remember about that trip was the trees. When I was in high school a friend came to visit from Virgiina and my dad took us to Bodie, the ghost town in California. (I forgot about this trip!) Then after I grew up and was in the Air Force, I came home on leave and my dad and I took a trip out to New Mexico to help his step mother and brother. We went through Utah's Bryce, Zion and Capitol Reef parks. On the way home or to, we stopped in Santa Fe and visited his dad's grave, went to the capital building. I'm glad we took that trip, even though it was kinda sad. The kids and I took a short trip to Cave City here in Kentucky a couple years ago and stayed in the teepee motel...they still joke about that place. It was old, with no updates to the electric or rooms, probably built in the 50s. Then we went cross country last year out West. I don't know if they are going to remember anything, though...I bought them both moose Christmas ornaments to remember Yellowstone..or rather outside of Yellowstone. Coming into it we saw a moose and then after we left we saw a mom and her baby, but Alex said "what moose?" when I explained the ornaments. How could his memory be that short?!!!

We'll be there for the whole weekend and at least the day before. That's why I want to bring food, since it's quite something to feed a crew for a whole weekend. Mostly oldsters, and I mean REALLY old, my 'rents are in their 80's and my uncle is 89. His wife is 70ish. My cousin and her grown kids and their babies might show up. Anyway, I was just asking about holiday travel foods in general, not my specific case. Unfortuantely, that mulled wine, my "go to" hostess gift, is out since the oldsters can't drink I think due to medications. Last year I brought what I thought was the perfect hostess gift--wine to a family of winos. But they had so much wine already they never opened mine. Farm fresh apples and cider were appreciated though. I'll bring that this time, and probably some homeade bread and jam. Shortbread savory cookies would be a good thing to have on hand over the weekend but I can't eat them and dad and his brother both have cholesterol issues. Perfect for my diabetic mom though! :) Oh yeah, and I have to deal with my dad, the pickiest eater on the planet. Maybe some spiced mixed nuts, that might be good. Anyway, what foodie gifts do you like?? I made apricot thyme liqueur this year thinking it would be good for gifts but it just isn't good. I used unsulfered apricots and cheapo brandy and it just tastes like cough syrup. Here is a link that might be useful: Eating Well Healthy Homeade Gifts for the Holidays

I just heard an interview with Maya Lin, the artist behind the Vietnam War Memorial in DC, talking about her latest project. I am linking it here - it is pretty amazing and with the Lewis and Clark connection, thought you (and/or your kids) might find it worth looking at for possibilities. The webpage is very complex about what she/they are doing, but fascinating to read. I'll link to the interview, too, in case anyone is interested, but will have to add it later, as it's not available online yet. Edited to add link to Maya Lin interview...it's good! new-maya-lin-art-installments-track-route-lewis-and-clark Confluence project