Thing 90

90. Drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains in the autumn

I took a day off from work and drove to the north entrance of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I woke up early to start my day trip, but I forgot to take into account that I was running on "Makeroni Time," which means I felt compelled to stop at snarfs along the way. I had to keep making up rules for myself regarding what I was and wasn't allowed to stop for--otherwise I'd never make it there!

I ended up getting there around 11am (an hour later than I'd planned, due to snarfs, wrong turns, and traffic). I had two plans regarding how much to see on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The first had me bailing out after an hour; the second had me bailing out after three. I ended up doing the longer one, because I really, really enjoyed the drive. I ended up making it to 3 of the 13 visitor's centers along the way, I snarfed a few things from my car, I got out a few times to take photos at overlooks, and I even explored a few stops along the way.





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Thing 84

84. Visit Appomattox

On my way home from the Blue Ridge Mountains yesterday, I planned my route to swing my through Appomattox so I could cross this off my list too. I've been wanting to visit Appomattox for years to see where the civil war "ended" in my state.

I would have had more time to spend there if I hadn't run into SO MANY snarfs along the way that I had to stop for. At the end of the day, I passed a trail that had 4 snarfs along it, but the park closed at 5 and it was 4:48pm. So I had to pass those by. Still, I saw everything in the "village" including the building where the surrender took place. The ranger on duty showed me and a few othe visitors who were there the opposite directions Grand and Lee walked from when approaching the house to meet. It was neat standing on the porch and imagining that happening.

Lots of the buildings were gone, but a map showed us where they once stood. And the buildings that were still there had a lot of dressing that was interesting to explore. Definitely a nice place to visit. I wish I'd had time to watch one of the orientation videos, but I managed to see all the buildings before the park closed, so I'm satisfied with my trip.



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Thing 5

5. Read 25 books off the FCPS shelves at the library

I finished two books yesterday during my day trip drive around Virginia.

I read The Great Unexpected by Sharon Creech. I don't think I fully understand this book, which is a little sad-making as it's juvie fiction, and I feel I should understand it if kids are meant to understand it. I liked some of the characters and the Ireland connections. Other characters I liked much less.
http://katekintailbc.livejournal.com/195519.html

I also earread Shug by Jenny Han. I really enjoyed this book. It was a realistic portrayal of middle school life, which was one of the roughest parts of my life. So I definitely felt for Shug as she dealt with all the changes going on in her life from parents to friends to a would-be-boyfriend.
http://katekintailbc.livejournal.com/195794.html


Progress: 19/25

Thing 73

73. Get to 50 loans made on Kiva.org

I checked my account today and found I had enough money in repaid loans to make two new loans! So I did, both in countries I have never loaned in before.

I loaned to Aferdita in Kosovo through the Becky's Hugs group. She needs money to renovate her stable (she has goats!)
http://www.kiva.org/lend/780632

I also loaned to Tamin in Ghana through the Nerdfighter group; their current theme is kids, so I loaned to Tamin, a college student studying banking and finance who needs money to pay his tuition and apartment rent.
http://www.kiva.org/lend/780194

I made a small donation to Kiva with the remainder of my account balance.

Progress: 44/50