Cool Geography Games

A friend of ours, Ron Tagliapietra, is an avid mountain hiker, published author, and a professor who has created several on-line geography games. Here is the email he sent us... give his games a try!

"Dear friends,

I now have 22 geography games on the website, http://purposegames.com . Links for games appear below. When you are done playing a game, you can hit the back button to rate the game and/or to post comments on its strengths or weaknesses. My games need players, so I hope you will check them out.


The most popular games on the site are identifying the 50 US states and identifying the countries on 4 continents. I made country games for 2 other continents.

N. America (23 countries, 4 territories):


Oceania (14 countries, 3 territories):



City games are also popular. I have contributed 5 of these.

Capitals of North American countries (23 capitals)


Capitals of Oceania (14 capitals)


Cities in California (18 with populations of 200,000)

Largest city in each state
(question format)



While nowhere near as popular, hikers may be interested in these 8 games.

22 Cascade Mountains

40 Southern Sixers

Highest waterfall in all 50 states

National Parks (all 58)


50 state highpoints

13 Canadian highpoints

5 county highpoints in HI

14 islands in Hawaii

Counties
Every state has a county game except NY, VA, and maybe NC, just search the site for the state. To find WV, you must search for "counties". I stumbled on MS (and maybe NC) and don't know how to find them. The CO and AK games are not up to date (missing newest counties). I made the 7 county games listed below (in order of popularity):

RI (5 cos.)
OR (36 cos.)
VT (14 cos.)
MA (23 cos.)
SC (46 cos.)
MN (87 cos.)
MT (56 cos.)

I am working on a game for the most powerful waterfall in each state. I will probably also eventually do county games for the 3 missing states.

Finally, there is a worldwide prominent mountains game (made by Wentu).


Please try out some of my games!
ron tag (my nickname on purposegames.com)"

Skype Birthday Party for Rebecca!

What do you do when your daughter turns 30
but she's 9,000 miles away in Singapore?

Throw a Skype Party, of course!

(Yes, that's the Taj Mahal, in India. Josh took her there for her birthday, and made her wear the goofy tee-shirt and mask. As you may notice, she's carrying her next child, due in August.)

First thing was making sure she got her favorite cake! For as long as I can remember, Rebecca asked for cakes with strawberries on her birthday. I got online and found a place in Singapore, 7th Manna, that delivers fresh strawberry cakes at a reasonable price! They were so easy to work with.

Next, we invited about 30 local people to come (and Jessica from Roseville who is in frequent contact with Rebecca). I prearranged with Josh to have Rebecca home and ready on Saturday morning, when it would be Friday evening for us. The time zone difference is 15 hours, so we set it for 6 PM here.

A couple of weeks ahead of time, we mailed a box full of small gifts, paper party goods, and a couple of decorations to Josh at the school where he teaches. He did a great job of hiding it from Rebecca. The day before the party, the cake was delivered to Josh, also at school, and he took a taxi home to keep it fresh (it gets pretty hot in Singapore, and he usually rides public transportation).

We had a sketchy start; we lost internet connection for two hours before the party started. I was pretty stressed knowing the party couldn't happen without a connection. Dan was on the phone with a tech at our provider's, then Dustin came and helped complete the fix. We came back online FIVE MINUTES before the start of the party! Soon, we had a room full of well-wishers.

Yvette and I had told Rebecca we would be calling. Ever since they moved over there, we talk frequently by Skype. It's a FREE internet video calling service, requiring a webcam. For the party, we set up Dan's Mac laptop in my kitchen. We had it turned so that she could just see Yvette and I. Everyone else was waiting a few feet away, quietly, in the living room.





We chatted a few moments, then told Rebecca that her Grandma and Grandpa had come in and wanted to say hi. As we turned the laptop, everyone started singing "Happy Birthday". I think Rebecca was TRULY surprised! I hope she'll comment about it here...




One by one, everyone from the party came up to the monitor to speak a few minutes with her. She was online for about two hours!




Dan (above) explaining to Rebecca that he was bummed when she turned 16 before him, but now...






Then, it was time for Cake! Josh had gone to get the cake from their refrigerator (he'd told Rebecca that she couldn't look in the fridge that morning), and I was off-screen lighting the one we had here. Simultaneously, she had cake coming from behind and on-screen. Once again we sang, and she blew out her candles in Singapore. Rebecca D. blew out the candles here!


As Rebecca continued to speak with all her guests, Yvette, two of the D. girls and I handed out cake here. Then, she opened her gifts.




All in all, it was the next-best thing to being there! I only wish I could have given her a big ole birthday hug and kiss. I can't believe it's been thirty years since that wondrous day when my life was blessed with this beautiful daughter.

Happy Birthday, Rebecca!

*for some reason, the photos are pretty blurry.

We Three

(us at the rest area, 3-18-08)

What a day we've had!

We woke up this morning and decided we needed a day off work. Since Rick took an early retirement two years ago, we've had our noses to the grindstone, building our Offbeat business. Things haven't gone as planned exactly (in more ways than finances; children moving away, health, etc.) and I've been really blue lately. We thought a drive to the mountains to immerse ourselves in Spring and all the fresh green hills and colorful wildflowers would be comforting.

Right away, I sensed the Lord in our conversation. We talked easily of our dreams, our disappointments, our vision for our future, and how we trust the Lord to guide us. Can I just say that I am married to an amazing man?! I am so blessed to be partnered with this guy. He provides such a balance for me. I have a natural tendency to pessimism (don't look so surprised-HA!) and melancholy. The further we drove, the more optimistic I felt about things. I felt hopeful with a renewed sense of Christ's love for me.

About 40 miles up, we passed over a river bridge and noticed a little deserted rest area. Deciding to stop for a few moments, we turned off the road and doubled back to it. As we pulled into the parking lot, we saw a car tucked back out of sight from the road. It looked familiar.

(Bryan, Ces, Mia and soon-to-be-born Baby)

Before I knew it, I was jumping out of the car and running toward some of our very best young friends, Bryan and Ces! What a random meeting! A Tuesday morning, far from home, on a work day. Coincidence? I think not...

We had such a pleasant interlude with them and their tiny daughter, talking about our lives and catching up. (They have filled some gaps for us since Bec and Josh have moved, and Shay and Charity live a few hours off.) This dear family was out there with their canoe, fishing, also enjoying the day, and reveling in their Creator.

As we drove away, Rick and I looked at each other and just smiled. It was obvious that our Silent Passenger had spoken; we were driving, but He was directing. We can count on Him to do that with us. Always.

And that is very comforting.

(continued...next post down)

~~

Taco Feast!

We had some young friends in this evening for a Taco Feast! C----- brought a chile relleno casserole, S---- brought the guacamole, and Y----- brought Coca Cola and Jaritos in the glass bottles. I fried 25 terribly-unhealthy-but-delicious-tacos; not one was left.

We girls (two are expecting) ate at the kitchen table, and the guys balanced plates on their laps in the living room.

It was a wonderful evening! We also celebrated C------'s birthday. I love the freshness of these friends. I'd like to make it a monthly event...


(The first two pix are taken with my camera phone; not the best)