Jelly Belly Factory

Advice for visiting the Jelly Belly Factory a few days after Christmas...don't. even. think. about. it. We drove there today to go on a tour and when we arrived saw a huge line out the door and around the building. I thought it was for some special event. Nope. It was just for the tour. I went to a point in the line far enough back that I have never had to wait from that point even, and asked how long they had waited. More than an hour! Oh my. Change of plans. We went and looked at the Jelly Belly Factory store and bought some yummies. No tour this time. But still managed to get a picture of James before leaving.



Meal planning followup. I have had a number of people ask me about preparing meals in advance. I checked out quite a few books from the library and ended up trying Mimi Wilson's "Once-a-Month Cooking" which has three 2 week plans and 2 one month plans. I have done a two week plan and liked the recipes enough that I went out and purchased the book. I am now preparing to do another two week plan in the next couple of days.

The saga of the van continues. Now, in addition to the transmission acting up, the air conditioner doesn't work, some of the dashboard lights don't light sometimes, there are weird sporadic noises, the back top brake light doesn't light, and I am sure there are a few more things I am forgetting, the pièce de résistance is when we were leaving the Jelly Belly Factory, a horrible smell and white smoke come from my car. We pull over, look at the engine, and nothing looks amiss. So, I drive home cautiously with no issues....but I think the van has now lost my vote of confidence. So, off to the car lot soon. We are entertaining the possibility of a Toyota Sierra or a Honda Odyssey. Sigh. I like my van....but want reliability too.