Two things of note

Well, one mini-vacation accomplished. Of course in this house, mini-vacations are considered standard vacations, but, thus is the way of a teacher's salary. We went to Howe Caverns today. We have actually gone there before, a couple of years ago. It only takes a little less than three hours to get there... totally dooable for an, adventure-seeking, day-tripping, young family. The caverns are pretty amazing: over 150 feet under ground, carved out by a downward driving river. Its kitschy, and a bit old-world, like those old "Country Inn's" in New Hampshire that have no real reason for existing. You can tell that this was built in the 20's and was built around some strange anomaly. The town around it hasn't really grown in industry at all. So there is this one thriving spot, in the middle of some amount of poverty. The Schoharie Valley, in which the cavern runs under, is, in some places, breath taking. It is agrarian and feels as timeless as you could imagine.

Henry and Nora completely loved today. The cavern is always 52 degrees, so they had to wear sweatshirts. Jenny forgot hers, so she froze, I have....extra reserves of "insulation" and was fine in shorts and a t-shirt. Even if you aren't into kitschy, kinda zany, vacations, the cavern itself is nothing if not impressive. Real stalagmites/stalactites. Really deep under ground. Very fun for a family with young kids. They even have an adventure tour that allows for real spelunking in the less explored areas of the cave. (I think that was new this year). This was of course, a bit too much for our family, so we stayed on the brick walkway, but I know everyone really liked our time there.

I also personally have had strep throat for the last four days. I also rocked out an "Under Oath" song publicly while having strep throat. The doctor called today to tell me that the strep test I had a few days ago came back positive. Super... guess I should start taking antibiotics. I think I was just beating it naturally, well hopped up on motrin to keep the fever down and the woozy feelings at bay. I think I also may have lovingly given it to Jen as well. :) I am a generous man.

db