Today the hot temperatures finally broke so Pop, Mum and me decided to go for a afternoon motorcycle ride.  Pop got me situated on the back of the bike which is my place to ride.  While it’s true I ride looking at where we’ve come from, I don’t mind.  It gives me a longer time to look at things.

Anyhow we got started but right away knew the wind was going to be a problem.  Going East and West was difficult.  No matter how hard I tried to stay on straight, the wind kept blowing me sideways.  It’s not as much fun when I can only see on one side of the road.  I’d turn my head but the wind would just turn me back around.  I finally had to put my goggles on as the wind was making my eyes water.

After we went about 20 miles Pop decided it just wasn’t much fun to fight the wind so he turned the bike around and we headed for home.  Can’t say I was very disappointed.  My neck was getting really tired trying to hold it straight.  Pop said that after days like today that Mustang Convertible is looking better and better.  I know I’d look good riding in a Mustang convertible.  I think a bright yellow one would be perfect.

Decided to instead stop at a Harley Davidson store and Mum bought herself a new pair of HD riding boots.  A darn good looking pair of boots but WOW!! do they get a lot of money for their stuff.  Good thing they don’t have boots my size.  Pop would have to get a second job.  Pop says that HD stands for hundred dollars.  I think he’s right about that.

All of the heat we’ve gotten in the last week sure has made Mum’s garden’s grow.  Last Friday and yesterday Mum and I spent the better part of a day pulling weeds.  We’ve eaten all of the radishes from the garden and the peas and beans are really growing.  Also the lettuce is growing like crazy.  I love the lettuce from the garden.  We gnomes are primarily vegetarians so love things like lettuce, radishes, beans and peas.   Mum says that apparently so do the rabbits.  They’ve been doing a number on the garden.  Although I know Mum gets really mad when she sees the rabbits have been in there, I like rabbits.  Rabbits have always held a special place for gnomes and we try to protect them whenever we can.  Mum put a couple of my gnome friends in the garden.  Their job is to convince the rabbits to go somewhere else.  Pop says he can convince them to go somewhere else with his “22″ but I don’t like to hear Pop talk like that.

I’ve waited a few days to write this post because I’m still adjusting to my new mode of travel.  My brother explained to me that the airlines, train companies and bus companies won’t allow me to travel by myself.  They all say it’s because I’m to little.  I think I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, but whatever!

As result my brother had to once again mail me home.  At least this time he sent me priority mail and at least I didn’t have to spend any time in a post office.  Actually I have to admit that the trip went quite fast.

The big drawback was that I had to travel home with some company in my priority box.  I’m not really complaining because my traveling companions were quite entertaining.  They were 3 elephants directly from Ecuador.  Very handsome elephants if I must say so myself.  However, they never stopped talking.  Did you know that elephants can talk in Spanish?  At least I assume it was Spanish, since I hardly understood a word they were saying.  Plus swinging those trunks around allows for very little moving around room. Sort of like traveling with a circus.

Carmen’s Mum sent these back for my Mum.  Mum said that was a great surprise since Mum collects elephants.  A perfect addition to her collection. By the way if you like to collect elephants here is a great place to look for some carved elephants to add to your collection. Carved Elephants

I have decided that I’m through traveling via the mail however.  Next time I go someplace it won’t be by myself.  Apparently no one can appreciate a traveling gnome traveling alone.  Go figure!

By the way I will be making a post about my Ecuador trip.  My brother hasn’t gotten all of the pictures back yet so want to wait so you can see them.  Then I’ll tell you all about that adventure.

We touched down in Panama City just after ten in the morning.  By this time the air was already thick with humidity and the sun strong, reminding me to look for a Panama Hat in the duty free while we waited for our connecting flight.

Alas, it would not be, as Panama Hats didn’t actually originate from Panama (so I learned), but rather from the Ecuadorian town of Montichristi.  How ironic, considering our destination.

I didn’t get to see much of Panama, except by way of the small airplane window, but it sure looked pretty with two gorgeous coasts, and dense rain forests covering much of the countryside.  My brother explained that the twisty isthmus of Panama is actually the only place in the world where you can watch the sun rise over the Pacific Ocean, and set over the Atlantic.  I though that was pretty neat.

Panama is probably most recognizable from the man-made canal that divides the country in two and allows thousands of ships to save lots of time and gas moving thru the western hemisphere.  It hard for a little gnome like me to appreciate the scale of the canal, especially from up high, but I can appreciate digging in the dirt, so I can only imagine how many men and gnomes it took to dig it out.

I’d like to go back some day and see more.  My brother says he wants to retire there, so maybe I actually will.  But right now I better get ready for my next flight; I think they are starting to board.  Next stop: Ecuador.

Yesterday Mum told me that even though we wouldn’t be going to the family reunion this year not be get discouraged.  We were going to go to a surprise birthday party for my cousins Brenda and Brad’s 40th birthday.

Mum said this time we were going to do some serious camping so I quickly grabbed my camping gear and off we went.  It didn’t take long to get there so we arrived when it was still light out and lots of people were already there.  My cousins were so surprised to see us as they thought it would be just another camp out.

Imagine my surprise when I didn’t see any tents.  Isn’t that what camping is all about?  All I saw was lots of campers.  Mum said those are vehicles that people take with them so they get all of the conveniences of being at home and still get to be by the lake.  Seems strange to me.  Why not just stay home! 

Now since we don’t have a camper, Pop walked me over to where the bathrooms are.  This is definitely something I’ve never seen before.  “You do what in there?  It smells so bad out here I can’t imagine how bad it smells in there.  Luckily my new friend Dee Dee took me to her camper and said to feel free to use her bathroom whenever I felt the need.  I quickly realize one can’t have to many friends at a time like this.

We all had a great time, great food, a campfire, and a few beverages. 

Then came the next surprise.  Since we didn’t have a camper, Pop then tells me I get to sleep in the back of the pickup.  Now I’ve never been camping but none of this is going like I imagined.  No way I tell Pop,  I’ll just stay out here with the rest of the party and you and Mum can sleep in the pickup. 

What a great time I had.  We stayed up late, late, late.  I think I must have fallen asleep at some point but Pop said this was how he found me in the morning.  I never did get a chance to sleep in one of those campers but next time I’m bringing my own tent along.  Happy Birthday Brad and Brenda, thanks for letting me be part of your birthday celebration.

I’m getting ready to leave my brothers house in California and heading back to my Mum and Pop.  I was thinking that when I got home it would be time to go to the lake for our annual vacation. Mum just told me we’re not having our annual family get together this year at the lake.  I’m really sad about that.

Mum was reminding me that when we started doing this annual vacation at the lake it was planned by my Grandpa and Grandma and everyone would come.  Grandpa, Grandma, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins and even some friends thrown in.  We’d all get together, share all of our meals together, play games together, have our auction, our fireworks and whatever fun someone could think of.

Grandpa and Grandma said that when the time came that they could no longer come to this annual vacation, we needed to work really hard to make sure it continued.  That the only way we would keep in touch with our families was to set aside a few days each year to catch up on what everyone was doing, where they were working, admire new babies, watch children grow up and leave their nest and watch the evolution of life.  After Grandpa died and Grandma couldn’t come anymore it started to get smaller and smaller.

People said they couldn’t afford it or they couldn’t take the time off work, but I think that’s just an excuse we use because our lives get to complicated.  I know I don’t have a job and I don’t have any money but I miss not seeing my aunts, uncles and cousins.  I also know that as time passes, people move away, people get sick and sometimes people die and we never get these times back with them.

My Mum reminded me of the year when Mum, Pop & I shared a cabin with my aunt Barb and it smelled like cat pee really, really bad. Wecould hardly stand to be inside.  No problem, we just spent most of the time outside.  Now we laugh about it and look at the pictures and reminisce about it.  One cabin we even had to chase a bat out before we could sleep in it.  Isn’t that what memories are all about.  Even the bad situations create good memories with time.

Over the years we looked for better and better places which made the price go higher and higher and more of the resorts would only rent out cabins for a minimum of one week.  Very costly for those who could only come for a few days because they had to pay for the whole week.

Maybe it’s time to get back to the basics.  It’s not about the cabins or the time.  It’s just about getting together as a family and making memories like before.  Maybe we need to look harder for a central location for everyone with not such great cabins for shorter stays.  There must be some place we can go and still spend time together without spending a lot of money.

I hope next year we can go back to the way it used to be when Grandpa and Grandma were there.  I think they would like that.  I know I would.