Mom's California Visit, Part 1: Alameda County Fair

My sister has lived in Idaho for nearly a decade, but she was able to keep the job she had here in California when she moved out of state. While Kari can work from home for 10 months of the year, she needs to be in person from mid-May to mid-July. Her job is about 50 miles from where I live, so I'm usually able to see her (and my niece, Allison, who travels with her) a few times while they're here. When I was visiting Idaho last December, Kari and I planned a trip for our mom to come to California in June while Kari was here. That trip just happened and I'm eager to tell you about the fun that we had!

On Thursday, June 18 my brother-in-law (Brian) and my mom flew from Boise to Oakland. They spent a few days with Kari and Allison before Brian returned home and my mom went to stay with friends in my hometown of Livermore, where she lived for almost 50 years. She had a really nice time. 

My portion of the trip started on Wednesday, June 24. Trevor and I met up with Mom, Kari, and Allison at the Alameda County Fair. 

We spent the day looking at exhibits, eating fair food, and finding all the things that have changed since last year.

This is new: Mom sponsored the Dave Jones Memorial Award for Woodworking, in honor of my dad who was an avid woodworker. 

She also sponsored an award for food preservation. Mom is an avid gardener and preserved a lot of food when they still lived in California and had tons of fruit trees.  

Speaking of fruit, this pineapple slushie came in a hollowed-out pineapple. I love fair food. 

One of the highlights of the day for me was meeting up with Ina Fried. I was 16, Ina was 14, and Kari was 13 when we met on a cruise. Kari and Ina have seen each a few times and I've stayed connected via Facebook, but this is the first time I've seen Ina in person in 38 years!

Off to the Hobby building! I love seeing people's collections on display. 

The fair has a new 9/11 Memorial exhibit this year. It's beautifully done. 

Also new was this big screen, one of four designated area for soccer watch parties. 

Another fun addition: painted pianos. I wasn't sure how many there were - turns out I spotted four out of five. What a fun idea! I've never seen this giant goat before either. When given the opportunity, always pose for a picture with a goat or GOAT.

  

I didn't make them pose with the rooster. 

I love seeing the cut flowers...

... almost as much as I like the garden displays. 

We watched the Rubber Chicken Variety Show, which was unique and punny. 

We went through the tractor displays... 

... and checked out the model railroad. 

I don't remember seeing this fountain last year. The Sky Ride has been there since 2018 and I still haven't been on it. I'm not a rides person. We didn't even go into the Midway on this visit. 

After a fun-filled day at the fair, we headed to our hotel. We spent the evening playing cards while snacking on kettle corn. 

We had a full day of activities planned for the following day. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. 

Idaho, December 2025

This layout includes 10 pictures from the five-day visit Trevor and I made to Idaho in December 2025. We stayed at my sister's house as usual. We filled our days with lots of games, good food, and family time. We went for a walk to investigate the nearby construction; Allison intentionally stepped in a hole with no concern for what might be in there while Trevor behaved like the Californian he is, fascinated by a frozen puddle. 

 

Idaho, December 2025 (affiliate link)

One day, my mom took Trevor to the World Center for Birds of Prey. (I skipped it because I'd been there twice before, most recently in 2024.) While they were gone, Kari and I planned a June 2026 trip to California for our mom. We just got back from that trip, so I'll tell you about it tomorrow. 

Interesting US Maps, Part 2

Ready for more interesting US maps? Here are five more that I found fascinating. 

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I love etymology. It's absolutely fascinating to learn what the names of each state and capital mean. My favorites are Sky-Tinted Water (Minnesota) and A Good Place to Dig Potatoes (Topeka). 

 

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In our travels, I've heard numerous people say they're afraid to come to California because of the earthquakes. First, I've lived here for 54 years and have only experienced three significant earthquakes, none of which caused any damage where I was. Your chances of dying or being injured in an earthquake in California are tiny. Second, I've never heard anyone say they avoid Hawaii because of earthquakes, yet the magnitudes of the strongest-ever recorded earthquakes in California and Hawaii are the same: 7.9. Curious why Wisconsin is greyed out? Here's the answer. 

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I've never thought, "Gosh, I wonder what US capital city is closest to me right now?" while traveling, yet I can't take my eyes off this map. Look at Kansas - only about 1/4 of the land is closest to the capital city of Topeka and the remaining 3/4 is split between the capitals of Nebraska, Colorado, and Oklahoma. I grew up about 85 miles from our Sacramento and live about 45 miles from Sacramento now, so it's completely foreign to me not to have easy access to our capital. 

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This map is similar, except it shows the closest world capital. It's funny how normal it seems to me to be close to my state capital, yet I'm about as far away from the national capital as I could be. In fact, not only is Mexico City closest to here, Ottawa is almost exactly the same distance from me as Washington DC is. Check out Alaska! Reykjavik?! Tokyo?! So interesting!

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It's very interesting to see which cities The Associated Press consider well-known enough to not need their state name. They're not necessarily the most populous cities - Forth Worth (the 10th largest city in the US) needs Texas as an identifier. San Jose is the 13th biggest city in the US but could be confused with the capital of Costa Rica and thus needs California with it. 

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I will never not love maps. What about you? Let me know in the comments what you found the most interesting!

Interesting US Maps, Part 1

I collect interesting maps. Not physical ones, but every time I see an interesting map online I save it. Today you get a peek into some of the maps I've collected recently. 

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This map refers to the 63 National Parks (not the remainder of the 433 National Park units). Someone in the comments said they need a Tornado Alley National Park, which totally cracked me up. Many people pointed out that Hot Springs, Gateway Arch, and Cuyahoga Valley are all urban parks, so that portion of the map doesn't represent proximity to what many people think of as what a National Park should be. I thought it was interesting that I live in the only part of California that is yellow-green. With 9 National Parks, most of the state is pretty close to one. We're 130 miles away from the nearest, Pinnacles.   

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Spanish is the most commonly spoken language in 43 of the 50 states, so it is fascinating to see what the next most common language is. I'm not one bit surprised it's Tagalog here in California. The one that surprises me the most is Hmong in Minnesota (I would have guessed Somali) and Tagalog in Hawaii (I would have guessed Japanese). 

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This map was posted on Terrible Maps, but it is not terrible at all (other than the fact that it doesn't have a title). It shows the most populated city in the US that starts with each letter of the alphabet. I wish I had thought of this idea. I would have LOVED to research this. It makes me want to visit Xenia, Ohio and Zionsville, Indiana, which were definitely not on my radar before. 

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This map compares the geographic center of each state with the population center. I'm not especially interested in the geographic center, but I'm fascinated by the population center of each state. In many cases, it's not biggest city. Take California, for example. As best I can tell, the icon is sitting somewhere between Buttonwillow and Maricopa, which is apparently the average between the massive cities of LA, San Diego, and San Jose. 

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I'll be back on Monday with Part 2 of Interesting US Maps. Enjoy your weekend!

How to Draw an American Lobster

I feel sorry for lobsters. 

I literally can't think of another animal where every craft project, sign, or other visual representation portrays it as dead. A red lobster is a dead lobster. Can you imagine if you wanted to make a cute chicken craft and instead of this 🐓, the only options looked like this🍗? It seems... rude. So today's craft honors the living version of Maine's state crustacean, the American lobster. 

My lobster, while realistic, is not intended to be a scientific drawing with every feature exactly perfect.  This is the level of detail I'd use with the 4th or 5th graders who are most likely to be studying their state symbols. I chose to use watercolors, which is the easiest way to mimic the mottled colors of this fascinating animal. Affiliate links below. 

How to Draw an American Lobster

Materials: 

• watercolor paper
• pencil
• watercolors
• colored pencil

Steps: 

Start by drawing the main part of the lobster's body in the middle of your paper. I'm struggling to describe its shape; the best I can come up with is a stubby carrot or an elongated guitar pick. 

Next, draw the abdomen. There should be six segments, not four like I drew (sorry). I was looking at a photo of a live lobster while drawing and it looked like four from that angle. 

Add the tail fan - two segments on either side of the middle segment. 

Now draw the claws. An American lobster's claws are asymmetric. The larger one is used to crush its prey. The smaller claw is for holding or tearing the prey. A lobster can be right or left "handed" depending on which side has the crusher claw. 

Time to add legs! The lobster actually has ten legs, but you've already drawn two of them (the claws). There are 8 "walking legs" along the body of the lobster. The first three pairs have small claws, but you don't need to draw that level of detail unless you want to. 

From the angle we've drawn, one pair maxillipeds ("jaw legs") are visible near the lobster's mouth. There are two other pairs that are hidden in this view. The lobster uses them to pass food to its jaws

I've also added the eyes, antennae, and smaller antennules. If you won't be painting your lobster, draw them now. Otherwise wait until after painting. 

I said before that a red lobster is a dead lobster. That isn't quite true, as approximately one in ten million lobsters is red while it is alive. Read this article to learn about other rare colors! Most American lobsters are a mottled greenish-brown color, so that's how I chose to paint mine. 

I painted the lobster itself, let that dry, then painted a watery background. When that was dry, I used a brown colored pencil to outline the lobster and add some details. I used a black pencil for the eyes, then went back to the brown pencil for the antennae and antennules. 

I learned so much about lobsters in the last 24 hours! I love how much I learn with practically every craft project I do.