Encyclopedia Brown Strikes Again: 12/23/06
Of the four Encyclopedia Brown books I've read so far, Encyclopedia Brown Strikes Again is my least favorite. Leroy's motivation for solving these crimes is unclear and at times he seems to be doing it just for greed or other equally obnoxious reasons. There is one mystery where Leroy stalks his friend Sally out of jealousy. It isn't cute; it's creepy.

Then there is the lengthy vacation with the Browns where Leroy and the rest of us have to listen to the local lore and then solve some ancient mysteries. These have no immediacy and just come off as long boring tales that managed to put me to sleep before I got to the question at the end.

There is only one good mystery in this book, a classic locked room mystery. How does one swap a glass of ice for a glass of ginger ale without making a noise?

Gratitude #23: Departures and Arrivals
I am thankful that the day our trip down to southern California is finally here and that we have finally arrived at our first destination (South Pasadena). I just wish traffic could have been smoother. the trip normally takes about five hours. Today it took nine and a half hours. We rarely made it to the speed limit of 70 miles per hour. We often times were stuck at zero miles per hour. Besides the traffic being bad, the restaurant service was slow in both places we stopped. We ended up not tipping at one of the places.

If our children were older we probably would have tried to make up lost time by not making as many stops. But Sean needed potty breaks (understandably) and Harriet needed to nurse and get diaper changes. Despite the long driving both kids were very good. Harriet complained a bit here and there but rarely did any out right howling. Sean complained some too but not as much as I expected given how frustrating the drive was.

We left at nine thirty in the morning and we arrived at long last at seven at night. It was nearly two hours past Harriet's bed time. She was hungry and confused so it took another hour or so to feed her and get her settled enough to sleep. Then Sean finally got to bed just after nine but he wasn't really interested in going to bed either. At least we are here safe and sound.

 

Steps: 3500