Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

DRIVEN: Today we did the I-5 thing - heading down south just before 7 a.,m. and returning this afternoon, home by 5-ish.

We had a special delivery to make. CJ and Annabelle have decided a young friend of theirs would use their train table way more than they do, so we cleaned it up, said a poignant 'goodbye' to some beloved toys and delivered them to a friend in Portland this morning.

By noon, we were heading back across the Columbia River to Vancouver, to stop and say 'hi' to the grandparents, just in time for lunch, lucky us. :)

G&G have already done a whole lot of Christmas decorating. It was fun to see all the Santas, nutcrackers and such.  CJ and Annabelle also demonstrated some songs they've learned on the guitar.

MOBILE CLASSROOM: With some six hours in the car, there was plenty of opportunity for some 'seat time' learning. The kids did two math assignments in their book, and I quizzed them on the multiplication tables.  They quizzed each other about the states, using a neat kind of fan deck of cards we scored at Value Village a couple months ago. They also did some reading (Nintendo Power, Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and Science News). And we sang along with a whole lot of Christmas carols. So, our "captive" time was productive.

OPPORTUNITY "WALKS": While Curiosity is getting all the press, let's not forget about the hardest working rover on Mars, Opportunity.

Launched in 2003 for what was supposed to be a three month mission on planet, that little workhorse is still getting the job done. Go NASA!

The latest job for Opportunity has been to complete a "walkabout" of a crater rim site called Matijevic Hill in honor of the late Jacob Matijevic, who led the engineering team for the twin Mars exploration rovers Spirit and Opportunity for several years. 

The white lines above show how Opportunity drove about 1,160 feet (354 meters) in a counterclockwise circuit around Matijevic Hill in October and November, bringing the total miles driven on the mission to 22 miles (35.4 kilometers). The rover's travels are helping researchers ID the best places to further investigate.

So far, two top contenders are Whitewater Lake, a is light-toned material that science team members believe may contain clay, and Kirkwood, which contains small spheres with composition, structure and distribution that differ from other iron-rich spherules, nicknamed blueberries, that Opportunity found at its landing site and throughout the Meridiani Planum area it has explored. 

Cool stuff!