Wet and Dry Money

I realize that I skipped a week. I just thought that I'd give everyone a break. I hope that everyone had a very Happy Independence Day.
Today is Isaac's 2nd birthday. JB told me that they were going to celebrate it at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. That's a beautiful spot to have a birthday celebration, not that a two year old cares about things like that, but I hope that Isaac had a good day, Patrick was lucky he got to be there also and it wasn't even his birthday. See, there are some advantages to having a younger brother. For awhile Patrick and I were trading emails, with his Dad's help and that is a real joy. JB - that's a hint.
Guides love to get a tip at the end of the river trip and they don't mind making it obvious. I admit that I like getting tips, but I do figure that I'm getting paid to do something that I love to do, so that is reward enough. But a tip does say that you gave your guests a good trip and they want to show their appreciation. When I trip lead I use the line about if you want to show your guides your appreciation they seem to really like pictures of founding fathers and dead Presidents, so it would be nice to give them some of those. I've gotten a $3 tip this year, a $4 tip and a $9 dollar tip. That is way too many pictures of George Washington. I prefer pictures of Andrew Jackson or Alexander Hamilton. I got a picture of US Grant last Friday, my first good tip of the year. Guides really like pictures of Benjamin Franklin, but that is a rare treat. I've heard a lot of appeals over the years about tips, some say remember what we taught you about your paddle, it has a shaft and a tip, now you have to decide which of those you want to give your guide, more - if you enjoyed your ride, tip your guide, another - our guides don't know how to spell gratuity but they will sure accept one if you had a good trip. One company would hand guests an envelope with their car keys at the end of the trip that said guide tip and a spot to write in the guides name, that is a very strong hint. ACE doesn't push guide tips as much as other companies. Working for Alpine at Appalachian Bible College a tip was a very rare occasion. Oh yeah, wet and dry money, when someone hands you wet money at the end of a trip it says to me that they came with money in their pocket and were prepared to give you a set amount regardless of how good the trip was. I prefer dry money, to me that means that they have actually thought about it after they got back and decided on an amount big or small that they wanted to give to show their appreciation. I do think that the economy being down has a lot to do with the size of the tips this year.
All last year I had 22 trips and it is only the beginning of July and I already have 21 trips logged in my logbook. I am loving it.
Like checklists, I like keeping logbooks. I have a log book of my flight times, a log book of my scuba dives, a log book of hikes, a log book of every river trip. They provide rich information and memories.
We've been getting a lot of cucumbers and squash out of the garden. There are also new potatoes and green onions. I can't wait for the tomatoes, we have lots of green tomatoes, but no red ones yet. That first tomato sandwich is going to taste great.
We had company over the 4th of July Holiday. Debbie, Sharon's oldest sister and her husband Bob came down from Clarksburg and spent three days with us. Then on Saturday Marci surprised us with a quick trip down. I was good to see Aidan and Sheridan. Marci, Happy 29th birthday yesterday. I hope you had a very Happy one. The town of Fayetteville really does put on a big celebration for the 4th of July, it lasts all week, with activities every day. There was a carnival across the street from us and Sharon and I took Aidan and Sheridan over to it. I'd love to have had a video of Aidan going down the big slide, he was afraid so the attendant had to go down with him and he had a look of sheer terror on his face the entire way down and once he got to the bottom the look of relief that "I made it" I remember when JB was just a little feller, we allowed him to go up a giant slide and he came down his head just a bobbing, I thought he was going to break his neck, no terror on his face, when he hit the bottom he grabbed his burlap bag and was headed back to the top before anyone could even get to him. Aidan and I went on a spinning ride and Grandpop got a little dizzy spinning that car so fast. Sharon noticed how green my face looked.
We would love to have anyone and everyone come down for the 4th of July. Fayetteville has a 30 minute fireworks display that is mighty fine, mighty fine. Paid for by charging folks with out of state tags $150 for 1 mile over the speed limit. So if you do come on down, drive slow, don't be in such a hurry.
Well I've rambled aimlessly way too long.