Happy National Trail Mix Day

On August 31, we celebrate National Trail Mix Day. According to Wikipedia, Trail mix is a type of snack mix, specifically a combination of dried fruit, nuts, and sometimes chocolate, developed as a food to be taken along on hikes. Trail mix is considered an ideal snack food for hikes, because it is lightweight, easy to store, and nutritious, providing a quick energy boost from the carbohydrates in the dried fruit or granola, and sustained energy from fats in nuts.

The combination of nuts, raisins and chocolate as a trail snack dates at least to the 1910s, when outdoorsman Horace Kephart recommended it in his popular camping guide. The word gorp, a term for trail mix often used by hikers, is typically said to be an acronym for "good old raisins and peanuts" or its common ingredients "granola, oats, raisins, peanuts." The Oxford English Dictionary cites a 1913 reference to the verb gorp, meaning "to eat greedily".

Common ingredients in trail mix may include:

• Nuts, such as almonds
• Legumes, such as peanuts or baked soybeans.
• Dried fruits such as cranberries, raisins, apricots, apples, or candied orange peel      
• Chocolate: chips, chunks, or M&M's
• Breakfast cereals, such as Granola
• Pretzels
• Seeds, such as pumpkin seeds, Brazil nuts, cashews, or sunflower seeds
• Carob chips
• Banana chips
• Shredded coconut
• Ginger (crystallized)

Happy National Trail Mix Day!

Go Greyhound Bus!

Image Credit: http://greyhoundhistory.com/

When was the last time you took a bus ride to travel across the Americas? How many of you traveled by commercial motorcoach services like Greyhound or Trailways bus systems? While driving down the interstate last week, we rode past a Greyhound bus, and a flood of memories came back as I reminisced about riding the bus home during my freshman and sophomore years in college.

According to Wikipedia, Greyhound Lines, Inc., usually shortened to Greyhound, is an intercity bus common carrier serving over 3,800 destinations across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company's first route began in Hibbing, Minnesota in 1914, and the company adopted the name The Greyhound Corporation in 1929. Since October 2007, Greyhound has been a subsidiary of Scottish transportation company FirstGroup, but continues to be based in Dallas, Texas, where it has been headquartered since 1987. Greyhound and sister companies in FirstGroup America are the largest motorcoach operators in the US and Canada.

Along with its flagship Greyhound brand, the company also jointly operates BoltBus, the NeOn bus service and YO! Bus with other carriers. In the late 1990s, Greyhound Lines acquired two more members of the National Trailways Bus System. The company purchased Carolina Trailways in 1997, followed by the intercity operations of Southeastern Trailways in 1998. Following the acquisitions, most of the remaining members of the Trailways System began interlining cooperatively with Greyhound, discontinued their scheduled route services, diversified into charters and tours, or went out of business altogether.

On September 3, 1997, Burlington, Ontario-based transportation conglomerate Laidlaw Inc. announced it would buy Greyhound Canada Transportation ULC (Greyhound's Canadian operations) for $72 million (USD). Greyhound operates 123 routes serving over 3,800 destinations in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Greyhound's scheduled services compete with the private automobile, low-cost airlines, Amtrak, and other intercity coach companies.

And as the old slogan that started in 1956 goes, "Go Greyhound and leave the driving to us!"

August is Happiness Happens Month

The Secret Society of Happy People started celebrating happiness with Admit You’re Happy Day on August 8, 1999. In 2000 they expanded the celebration to the entire month of August. Eventually the month was renamed Happiness Happens Day and Month.

To get you in the spirit of HAPPY, here is two of my favorite "HAPPY" songs by Pharell Williams and the other by Bobby McFerrin called "Don't Worry Be Happy!" Check out these videos and have a HAPPY DAY!