Quickie Stone Tools - Useful, Satisfying and Easier Than You Think

I recently learned that the oldest known designed tool is the stone hand axe. The keyword being designed. While interesting, it does beg the question: what came before designed tools? Apparently, before we were finely crafting hand axes we used an even more basic technique: bashing two rocks together. That's right, when you're using the right rocks, just hitting one against the other can produce a flake and often times these flakes can be both sharp and tool shaped.

I'd heard about flaking rocks in the past to make tools, but it was always in the context of flint knapping. This technique, as the name suggests, requires two things I lacked: pieces of flint and the precise skill of knapping.

Thanks to this video and ones like it on YouTube, I've learned that I've been over-thinking this whole process. Yes, to create a sexy looking tool you need flint or some other specific rock and much skill. However, to create a simple rock cutting tool all you need is a healthy selection of rocks (a typical stream bed will do) and a few minutes of time. The recipe boils down to this:

1. Find big 'ol flat rock you can use as an anvil stone
2. Find a hefty, yet comfortable rock to use as a hammer stone
3. Put a piece of quartz, or really any rock, on the anvil stone and bash it with the hammer stone
4. Examine the results. If you're lucky, you'll get a flake that's both sharp and in a useful shape
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 as you like

So easy, even a caveman can do it, right? Actually, that's an insult to cavemen. They would look at the above recipe and laugh at my beyond primitive technique.

How, in all my years of Scouting and hanging out in the outdoors had I never learned that: (a) quartz is functionally equivalent to flint (though, hardly ideal for fine knapping tasks), and (b) a basic cutting tool is a smash away, is beyond me.

So last night, while on a jogging along 4 Mile Run, I couldn't help but give my new rock bashing technique a try.

Here was my very first attempt:

The rock split in two with a satisfying thunk. I'm telling you, bashing rocks felt primordial. Even if I got no usable tools out of it, it just felt good. Anyway, in the above photo you can see my hammer stone off to right side of the frame and the anvil stone in the background. The rock itself, was a complete bust. It was, if I had to guess, sandstone and didn't flake. I bashed it a couple more times to be sure, but I just ended up with sandy dust.

I spent another couple of minutes looking around and found myself, what I believed to be, quartz:

There you can see my target stone with the hammer stone sitting next to it. I bashed away, and to my shock, I got something resembling flakes. Of the small pieces I created, this one was actually somewhat usable:

I repeated the process a few more times and jogged away with two small cutting tools. The whole process took about 10 minutes, and that was with being totally clueless. Had I known what I was looking for, I'm sure I could have cut the process down to a minute or two.

At first I was a little disappointed that my tools weren't as razor sharp as those created on YouTube. But then I realized that I'd performed that bit of magic that humans have been doing for millennia: I'd created a tool that allowed me to accomplish something that I couldn't do with body alone. If I wanted to cut or scrape something, what options did I have? My teeth? My finger nails? As primitive as the tools I created were, they would indeed allow me to accomplish these very tasks with relative ease (especially compared to having no tools). For a brief moment, I felt as one with our caveman ancestors!

This is definitely a skill (if you can call bashing a rock with another rock, a skill) that's worth knowing. I could totally see enhancing my outdoor kit with a couple of these on-the-fly rock tools. Watch the videos below to learn more. Happy bashing!

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Update: I really can't emphasize how cool these quickie stone tools are. While doing some gardening, I noticed that there was a hefty piece of quartz in a pile of discarded stones in our back yard. I bashed it with a nearby rock and broke off a flake that I then used to cut various lengths of bank line. The flake wasn't scalpel sharp, nor did it look especially impressive, but it cut the bank line with almost no effort. Something that would have been very tricky, if not impossible, to do without any tools at all. Later in the weekend we were on a hike and I came across numerous large chunks of quartz. Heck, one was boulder size. It would have made for all sorts of interesting tools had I needed them. Like my recent fungi interest, it's terrific to see the outdoors in a fresh new light.

An Unspecting Source for Mad Outdoor Skills

I enjoyed reading Live From Mongolia, the tale of one woman pursuing her dream of becoming a news anchor by quitting her job and heading to Mongolia to read the news. But I stand by what I wrote: I'm more of a do it now, scale later kind of guy. A news anchor, of all things, is something you can be in an hour or so: grab cell phone, record news, post to YouTube. Bam! you're a news anchor. A watched and beloved anchor? Not exactly, that takes years of work to achieve.

In that same vein, I give you: AlfieAesthetics. Alfie is a YouTube personality I've recently discovered and pretty much adore. He has a series known as Camp Aesthetics that's worth your time and solidly demonstrates my point above.

Consider camp aesthetics #1. This video is little more than a bunch of cheeky blokes fooling around on camera. This is the equivalent of grabbing your camera and pretending to be a news anchor. It kind of works because Alfie is so not your standard mountain man: he's more of that goofy sidekick in a British TV show that provides the comic relief.

But if you stick with it, you'll see that Alfie ups his game (as he likes to put it). By Camp Aesthetics #13, we've come to learn that Alfie is more than the goofy anti-outdoorsman. He's got skills. Mad skills. And rather than just talk about them, he's all about demonstrating them on camera. In one later episode he makes bread from scratch around the campfire. As in, picking the wheat, scratch.

Apparently he has a graduate level knowledge of mycology and a disarming way of teaching you about it. The result is that I know far more about fungus than I'd ever imagined, and I've watched him eat stuff on camera that I just assumed was totally off limits. During one episode he brought up a scientific paper relating to one type of mushroom, and talked about how there's evidence of important health benefits being suggested. Not many folks can mix scientific papers and the outdoors. Combine this with his eye for quality audio and video and his continued cheeky style, and you have a really compelling YouTube channel. His work is far better than anything I've seen outdoorsy on TV.

Our most recent hike was made far more interesting because I had Alfie's fungus lessons rolling around in the back of my head. No, I didn't sample anything on the trail. But I did treat fungi with a new respect, looking for different varieties and traits. Anyone who can help me see the world through a fresh lens is more than worth my time.

But it's not just that he's good - it's that he started blah and got good. He's got a unique personality on the subject, which I think very much works for him.

Even if you're not interested in what a giant puffball is, or want to see a dakota fire hole in action (versus described in the Scout Handbook), Alfie's videos are probably worth your time. Use them as inspiration to find your own path.

One word of caution: Alfie's humor seems, well, Frat Boy'ish. Which sort of works because he's not in a Frat Boy scenario. But, occasionally he does get too off color for my tastes. Bottom line: these aren't videos for your kids to watch. Which is sort of a shame. Maybe someone needs to get Alfie to make a kid friendly version of his videos.

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The Meadow Next Door

As you can see from the photos below, the Black Eyed Susans have exploded in this field. And that's not a huge surprise, as Black Eyed Susans are quite hardy and will grow pretty much anywhere. What is remarkable is that this field is little more than an abandoned lot located across from the Air Force Memorial. Just a few years ago, this space was a parking lot and now it's a buzzing field.

Apparently Black Eyed Susans are pioneer plant, often being the first to appear after a natural disaster. I'd say going from concrete to soil probably fits this description.

One has to wonder though, were these planted intentionally? The results are pretty striking and I'd give the developers serious bonus points for actually putting some interesting looking plants in the unused space. Or is this just nature being its own guerrilla gardener? Either way, the results are quite impressive at the moment.

Very Locally Sourced Infused Vodka

I'm keeping an eye on our garden and just waiting for some of the larger veggies to ripen up (curse you, slow growing tomatoes!). But in the mean time, I've thought of a way to put some of the already growing plants to use: flavor infused vodka! With our mint, as well as a number of other herbs ready for harvest and the Internet providing instructions, the process couldn't be simpler.

1. Collect up plants. I had visions of making two different infusions: Mojito Mint and Borage, as well as Mojito Mint and Thai Sweet Basil. Alas, I didn't have enough mint to go around. So I settled for Mojito Mint with a few snippings of Borage and a Thai Sweet Basil.
2. Filled jars part way with Vodka, dropped in the plants, filled the rest of the way.
3. Shake.
4. Wait.
5. Repeat.

Did I use the Mojito Mint leaves too, early? Did I add enough Mojito Mint to flavor the vodka? Will basil flavored vodka be evenly remotely tasty? Will three leaves or so of borage make any difference in this concoction? Who knows. But I'll learn something when this is done.

Incidentally, those white stickers labeled J1 and J2 aren't just stickers. They're NFC tags. I'm using the system I described here to track this little experiment. The way it's setup, I can hold my phone next to the jar, speak some notes and they are added here. So feel free to tag along and see how this little experiment goes.

L'Chaim!

Getting Crafty: Intrakitchen Messaging, v2.0

After finishing a project I found myself with a box of 90 or so craft friendly magents. This got me thinking: what could I attach them to, to put them to work?

On a whim, I Gorilla glued a magnet to the back of a Dannon yogurt container:

The result was a little cup that attached perfectly to our fridge. OK, now what?

Well, I give you the Intrakitchen Messaging Center™. While v1.0 (the yogurt container with a magnet attached) was functional, it lacked features. Mainly, the ability to detect when a new message has been delivered as well as archiving capability.

Version 2.0 now includes a flag that can be set to indicate new messages (a biff, if you will) as well as a second yogurt container which can be used for archiving messages. Here's me crafting the flag:

And here's the final setup:

Behold, the power of Gorilla glue, magnets and of course, duct tape!

Special thanks to my wife for teaching me the difference between inter and intra, and why my original name Interkitchen was so wrong.

Hiking Wildcat Mountain

Perhaps it's the name Wildcat Mountain that works against this Northern Virginia friendly hike. After all, the hike's missing both wildcats and a mountain. There's no epic view, crazy rock scramble or monster distance to cover. In many respects, it's just 2.9 pleasant miles of hiking.

But that's just shows you how spoiled I am. I mean seriously, hiking this trail was a splendid hour and a half of trail time. The trail is well marked and there's a couple of decaying home structures to catch site of. There's even an audio tour you can follow. The biggest highlight for us, though, were the raspberries (or were they blackberries?). The trail was overflowing with them and so we noshed our way around the loop, opting to eat 100% organic fresh berries over the trail snacks we brought. How often is that an option?

Other than the berries, there wasn't much in plant or wildlife highlights. Fortunately, I'm on a fungi kick (more coming on that soon, I hope) and there was a quality spectrum of shrooms to observe. I have no idea what type of mushrooms I was looking at, but it was nice to notice the various colors, shapes and unique characteristics.

All in all, it was a wonderful hike and I applaud The Nature Conservancy for a very well maintained area. I wouldn't put this on my must-do list, but if you find yourself in the area, definitely check it out.

Details for the hike can be found here.

Help find the missing piece - A Community Puzzle

During my last visit to the library I noticed this scene:

I think I'm looking at a community puzzle. What an awesome idea! Deliciously low tech, yet an effective way to engage library patrons. I'll have to return to the library in another day or two and see if the puzzle is complete.

Hmmmm, I wonder how I could mash up this idea with the front yard library concept?

Name that Plant: Pretty, Pink and Much Maligned

While walking near Gravelly Point I couldn't help but notice this impressive looking plant:

It didn't take a whole lot of Googling to learn its name: Lythrum salicaria, aka Purple Loosestrife. A little research shows that in about 150 years it has gone from miracle drug to scourge. Here's a couple of highlights from its glory days:

"In the 18th century in Switzerland purple loosestrife became famous, for it cured thousands of people during a typhoid epidemic" source

"It was during the epidemic of 1848 that the sanative and healing influence of "Purple Loosestrife" was first made known by the inhabitants of North, North-East, and parts of West Lancashire, where it became the means of saving hundreds of people from death by cholera, and again in 1852-3 and 1864 and 1868 it was the means of preserving a good number from death through the same disease." source

Today, however, purple loosestrife is considered a noxious weed:

Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is a highly invasive non-native plant that threatens significant portions of Maryland's marsh, swamp, and coastal habitats. By crowding out native wetland species, purple loosestrife can reduce biodiversity, eliminate food sources for marsh animals and change water flow patterns.

This seems to cry out for an Eating Aliens type solution: that is, figure out how to make purple loosestrife medically valuable again, and then set the entrepreneurs to work gathering it up. In no time you'd see purple loosestrife on the endangered plant list. If there's one thing we're good at in this country, it's using up important resources!

Caption Me: Creepy Crawly and Vroom, Vroom

Solved: The Mystery of the Red Fuzzy Cones

While hiking a couple of weeks ago, I came across this odd looking plant:

Tried as I might, I couldn't get Google to tell me what I was looking at. Surely those red fuzzy cone things are so distinctive that an identification should have been trivial.

This past weekend, at the end of our rafting trip, we took a big 'ol WWII Army truck back to our starting point. As we slowly crawled up the ravine towards our car, we passed a wall of raspberry bushes. And then it hit me: could those red cones I saw while hiking be hiding raspberries? I tried to get Google to confirm this, but had little luck. I did find this image, which was very promising.

Yesterday afternoon though, I finally solved the mystery. Check out what was growing along the W&OD trail:

To my eye, those are the same structure as my first set of photos, though now with the raspberries burst through. Who knew?

It boggles my mind that I've been noshing on wild raspberries my whole life and yet I've never seen them in their red-coned form before. Probably because I wasn't paying attention.

5 Geocaching Tips for the Beginner with Kids

Recently a friend and self described "not so outdoorsy mom" asked if Geocaching was for her and her daughter. My answer: absolutely! Here a few tips to try to make your first geocaching experiences as much fun as possible:

1. Keep an eye on the last time a cache was found. For beginners, you'll want a cache that was found within the last couple of weeks, if not sooner. After spending a couple of minutes looking for a cache you're going to think: aha, it's not here any more. That may be true, but if it was found recently, that's probably not the case. This cache is ideal because it was found yesterday:

Along with when the cache was found, check the comments for other feedback about how difficult the cache was. Though, don't read too much into any of this: I've been totally stumped on caches that others flagged as a "quick find."

2. Avoid caches that are surrounded by public activity. It's tempting to try finding caches that are close to home, say near a shopping center you park frequent all the time. The thing is, these caches survive because they are extremely well hidden. That's not to say you shouldn't try for them, I just wouldn't make them my first set of attempts. Our most recent treasure hunting expedition took us to Potomac Overlook Park and accessing the cache required hiking a couple hundred yards. This led to a cache that was kid friendly, requiring that you do little more than look under a log. This only works because the foot traffic through this was infrequent.

3. The GPS will get you close by, your geosense will get you the rest of the way there. To geocache, you'll need an app on your phone. I use c:geo on Android and it works well. Regardless of the app you use, the GPS on your phone will get you close to the cache itself. But it won't do all the work. Once you're in the neighborhood of the cache, you've got to use your other senses. The general strategy I use is to look for anything that seems out of place. Does that large rock seem like it belongs? Or why is that big chunk of bark leaning against the tree, just so. Another strategy: where would I hide something if I were looking to stash something in this area? Is there a hallow in the log or tree that would be a perfect hiding place? Don't forget to check the hint on the geocache entry and read the comments. More than anything else, just look for something that's just not right.

4. Avoid micro and nano caches. A micro and nano sized cache are going to be harder to find and they aren't going to contain any trinkets for you or your little one to take home. It's often tempting to go after these because they may be stashed near your home. See #2. Most caches we go after are "small" or larger, like this one:

5. Practice a take one, leave one, policy. When we do find a cache, I strive to always leave something if we plan to take something. So make sure you head out caching with a couple of goodies on your person. It doesn't need to be anything remotely fancy. I've left stickers, Play-Doh, coins (both foreign and domestic) and even a p51 can opener. The treasure we've found has never been worth more than a few cents. But it's treasure none the less, and the kids who we've gone geocaching with have treated the eraser, playmobile figure or coin for a foreign land as though it was as precious as can be.

Ultimately, not finding a cache is part of the experienc too and does make finally finding a cache all the sweeter. It took me at least three geocaching attempts before I finally found one, so don't be shocked if the same happens to you (though, I didn't follow the above advice).

So what are you waiting for? Sign up for the free membership over at geocaching.com, install the app on your phone, and go treasure hunting today!

Riding the Rapids - A Harpers Ferry Rafting Adventure

Today's big adventure: riding the rapids in Harpers Ferry, WV. Shira arranged a rafting trip through Harpers Ferry Adventure Center. I'd been rafting a couple of times and had high hopes for the trip. For Shira and the rest of the group, this was their first time on whitewater.

My hunch is that the success of these trips are driven by two factors: how much water is on the river and how good your guide is. Without enough water volume, the rapids just don't exist. We lucked out on both accounts. Yesterday's full day of rain meant that today there was plenty of water. In fact, our guide judged that the Potomac was at around 8 feet, instead of its usual 2 feet, and that they won't run the trips when it hits 10 feet. In other words, we couldn't have asked for better conditions.

And our guide, Ian, was awesome. He kept things interesting, all while being in 100% full control. It's exactly what you want in a whitewater guide. He tell us he's been riding this river since he was 9 years old, and I believe it.

This was definitely my kind of adventure. I was only bummed that we couldn't explore Harpers Ferry more. The area was overflowing with Civil War history. Still, to have an activity that pleased everyone from a 5 year old to a sophomore in High School is no minor feat and one I'm thankful for.

All the photos of this trip were snapped with my Polaroid XS 100 Action Camera. It was the perfect camera for the trip, as I didn't need to worry about it getting wet or even losing it.

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Camping at Point Lookout State Park

After a few days in a plush hotel I dragged Shira and J to Point Lookout Maryland State Park for some camping. The park promised a beach, birding and history and delivered on all fronts.

Our original plan was to stay at the park from from Thursday to Sunday. However, the full day of rain forecast for Saturday, caused us to trim the trip down to just Thursday night and Friday. Still, we packed a lot of adventure in this one overnight.

The first order of business was to setup camp. Our campsite (#144 in the Hoffman Loop) was perfect: a bit secluded, but an easy walk to the (very clean!) bathrooms. After that was taken care of, it was off to the beach. The beach, while not as flawless as Cumberland Island, was still quite nice. After the beach, it was back to the campsite for dinner.

We supplemented our usual hot-dogs and baked beans cooked over the fire with corn on the cob. Turns out, it's easy to make: just wrap the corn and a couple of tablespoons of water in a aluminum foil and toss in the fire for 20+ minutes. The results were quite tasty!

Thursday night, we had our traditional camping trip thunderstorm (a tradition I'd very much like to discard). The lighting was blinding, the thunder was booming, but no strike ever got within a mile of us, so there wasn't really anything to worry about. Friday morning the storm had cleared up and we a day of sun to explore the park.

Friday morning, after breakfast and the campsite had been cleaned up, we took a short hike through the marsh. The ospreys and herons active, giving me plenty of interesting photo ops. From there we made our way to the point itself and tried to explore the lighthouse. To Shira's relief, it was closed. I dragged J over to look at the pelicans and asked him what he saw. His reply: a shark. As I tried to explain to him how wrong he was, I saw the same fin he saw in the water. He wasn't crazy at all -- though it wasn't a shark was seeing, it was a stingray. It was an excellent find!

Next it was off to rent a canoe. Unfortunately, because of the impending storm they weren't renting. Oh well, we'll have to try again next time. We then hit the beach for more fun in the sun. I busted out our $20 Amazon raft and J and I had a heck of time playing with it.

As beach time turned into lunch time, I had one last request: could we go explore Fort Lincoln? The sign on the beach said it was a 1/4 of a mile away. Shira and J were up for it, so off we trudged. I was expecting to find a simple sign detailing the fort, but was instead greeted with the fort itself! (though the buildings are reconstructions). We were able to get into a number of the buildings, which was a nice bonus. From there, we followed signs to the Prison Pen and arrived at at the infamous Point Lookout Civil War Prison Of War Camp.

There's not a whole to see in the prison section, but what is there made quite an impact on me. They've got a section of wall reconstructed, and markers showing where the deadline was. Apparently, the origin of the word deadline goes back to the Civil War POW camps, and means what you think it means: prisoners who crossed this line could (or would?) be shot. Life was horrific in the camp and over 3000 inmates died there. There's an impressive monument to those lost that's visible as you enter Point Lookout State Park.

History, hiking, swimming and roasting marshmallows over the fire. What more could one possible ask for in a camping trip?

Lancaster Adventure, Day 3

With Dutch Wonderland behind us, we had a full day to explore the rest of the Lancaster Area. We started with the Turkey Hill Experience. This is your chance to not only learn more about ice cream than you've ever wanted to know, but you'll hit the lab and make your own ice cream creation.

My custom flavor: mint ice cream with peanuts, chocolate chips and sprinkles with peanut butter and cake batter mixed in. It was delicious, if I do say so myself. The lab experience was actually pretty cool. Consider that I put 5 drops of mint (yes, drops) in my pint of vanilla ice cream and ended up with mint flavored ice cream; it was like magic. The non-lab parts of the experience were interesting too, with plenty of interactive exhibits for the kids to play with (though, to get the most of the exhibits you needed to be an older kid). And really, the kids mostly just loved the ball pit.

The main gotcha with the Turkey Hill Experience is that when you're done with the lab experience, you're handed a pint of ice cream and told that if you can't get it to a freezer in 15 minutes, you should just eat it now. Which is crazy, and yes, I consumed my entire pint of ice cream (plus some of Shira's and J's). Yikes! They didn't even provide a good setting to enjoy your treat in; we just picked a bench among the exhibits and chowed down.

At a minimum, they should have allowed us to continue to "harden" (remain in the super cold freezer) the ice cream while we walked around for 30 ~ 45 minutes checking out the exhibits. For bonus points, they should have sold us a freezer friendly bag with a re-usable ice pack to give us a chance to enjoy the ice cream later in the day or something. Otherwise, it's a bit ridiculous to expect people to effectively throw out the ice cream they just spent time and money creating.

But I digress. Everyone really did enjoy the experience and I won't look at a tub of Turkey Hill ice cream the same way again.

After the Experience we made our way across the area to the Kitchen Kettle Village. This cluster of shops is easy to write off as a tourist trap, but we enjoyed it. The Jam and Relish store was a fun one, with dozens of samples to try. Perhaps I should have read the label *before* I gave J a sample of the Mango and Habenero jelly. Oh well, live and learn. Definitely lots of unique things to try here. Also on the site is a tiny petting zoo (perhaps 10 animals in total) and playground, which J really liked and didn't cost a cent.

From there, we made our way back to Abe's Buggy Rides, where we did the touristy thing and took an Amish Buggy Ride. It was actually quite enjoyable, and a wonderful way to see the country side. We passed a number of Amish Farms, which exclusively use horses to plow their fields; talk about old school. Abe's also had some goats, chickens, turkeys and horses for J to oggle, which combined with the playground, made for an easy place to wait for our turn to ride in a buggy.

We had planned to do something train related while we were in Lancaster. Though, we didn't think we had quite the time or energy to tackle the Railway Musuem. Instead, we opted to visit the Choo Choo Barn to get our railway fix. The Choo Choo Barn is a massive and extremely detailed model train layout. That description hardly does it justice. You walk through this room and see dozens of scenes, mostly modeling the Lancaster area, ranging from an Amish barn raising to a zoo, to Dutch Wonderland. Not only are there trains running through the scenes, but the scenes contain "animations" which give life to the layout. Some scenes are remarkably complex, like the house on fire which ends with the fire department putting out the blaze, to the simple, like the accidentally opened out-house door. J and I were impressed and took two laps around the room. Shira wasn't as moved by the whole experience, impressed, but once around was fine for my non-musuem loving wife.

We finished up the evening with pizza and one last trip to the pool. Definitely a fun day, and I'm confident we'll all sleep well tonight!

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Lancaster Adventure, Day 2

After a fun preview of Dutch Wonderland on Sunday evening, we dedicated all of Monday to visiting the park. Our first priority was to hit the water section of the park, which includes one raft/slide ride and a large sprayground. The kids (and adults) thoroughly enjoyed both parts. J especially enjoyed the sprayground, specifically turning the wheel that triggered a deluge of water on some unsuspecting victim.

After water time, we hit Merlin's Restaurant for lunch. While the food was good, the service was downright impressive. Every request we made was met with a "sure, no problem." I know I shouldn't be shocked by this, but it was nice none the less.

After lunch we walked the park hitting rides and attractions we hadn't seen the night before. We watched a diving show which everyone enjoyed, took the train and monorail and hit the Merry-Go-Round a few times. J loved driving the remote controlled boats, the bumper cars, the log flume and the Silo Slide (a slide wrapped around a simulated farm silo). By 4pm we were all pretty wiped and called it a day.

Overall, Dutch Wonderland was a hit for the kids. It definitely feels a bit Old School when compared to Disney. But the smaller park size really works for the 3~5 year old age group. Essentially, everything in the park seems targeted to this age group. Older kids will find stuff to go on, but by 8 or 9 years old, they seem outside the target demographic.

After the park we found our way to Noodle King in Downtown Lancaster for dinner. J insisted on eating his Pho with chopsticks, which was amusing but at times a little on the slow side. What, with consuming one noodle at a time and all. But he was a good sport and even though this wasn't exactly the pasta he was used to, he ate up.

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Lancaster Adventure, Day 1

We're one day into a week of summer vacation fun. Unlike most of our vacations, we aren't flying off to some exotic locale. In fact, I'm typing up this post a mere 2 hours from home. But as anyone who's ever been to Lancaster, PA will tell you, this place is worlds away from the hustle and bustle. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Yesterday, Shira needed to step away for a few hours, leaving me and our friend's 5 year old, J, to fend for ourselves. After wrestling with the question of how we should best use our 9:30am free time on a Sunday, I decided to go with an oldie but a goodie: treasure hunting.

We hit Potomac Overlook Park for a little geocaching. There are three caches in the area, and our route took us near all three. In the end, we only found two of them because we ran out of time. Both caches were just hidden enough that they weren't obvious, yet J was able to discover each of them. And both caches had a few little goodies in them, meaning that we could walk away with some treasure. The Donaldson Run trail in Potomac Overlook Park is one of my favorite hikes in Arlington, as you're required to make a number of stream crossings. I'm quite thankful I wore my water shoes, allowing J to hop from stone to stone, while I tromped along in the water next to him making sure he didn't end up on his tush. Good times.

After that, our vacation really began! We made our way to Lancaster, PA and met up with friends. The main attraction: Dutch Wonderland, and old school amusement park that's ideal for J and our friend's 4 year old, A.

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm not the biggest fan of amusements parks. I could probably make up some highbrow reason, but really, I'm just too scared of the rides. But even I have to admit, this place is perfect for the kids. Dutch Wonderland has a policy that allows you to visit the park for the last 3 hours the day before a full visit. This preview option is truly fantastic: the kids got to experiment with almost every ride, and the parents got to get a lay of the land to know what supplies we'll need for main day.

The kids loved everything they rode, with the log flume and roller coasters being top choices. J even went on the big coaster with Shira. And I got to offer my services as bag holder and photographer, which let me feel as though I was contributing.

Day 1 was a huge success. With a full day of playing at Dutch Wonderland ahead of us, I expect Day 2 to follow suit!

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