On the road seeing the sights of the beautiful mountains of New Mexico and Colorado. Motorhome travel has its own special treats. Pull over and stop whenever you please (within limits). This morning I poured myself and my wife/driver nice paper bowls of a good Kellogg’s cereal, the kind that has a variety of flakes and dehydrated strawberries. Once the milk hit the bowl the strawberries came to life.

We each finished our last bite at the same time. I actually scraped the bottom of the bowl to get the very last of that yummy goodness. That last spoonful tasted much differently than the rest. It had a green apple taste which wasn’t bad, but it also left a taste in my mouth, reminiscent of having it washed out with soap as a kid. Not that I ever remember having that treatment happen.

Night before last we had an outdoor cookout at our parking spot near the town of Antonito, Colorado, grilling nice Chama Beef NY Strips and ears of fresh corn. Those aromas attracted more flies than a medium sized dog has hairs on its back. Dozens of those things flew in the door of the motorhome each time we opened it.

The flies all seemed content with going to sleep when we did. But they also came to life once we stirred early the next morning. It was important for me to be rid of every last one, so I logged on to the trusty World Wide Web to get the answer to my problem. I found an article listing 15 ways to get of house flies.

I also found out that there are around a million species of the fly found on earth. The common housefly was but one.

As I scanned down the list I found one that seems fairly simple. Simply take any brand of dish detergent as long as it was green apple scented. Where would I find such a thing? I looked under the sink an low and behold there was a bottle of Dawn Dish Detergent, Green Apple Flavored. I got one of our paper bowls down and put a goodly amount of the dish detergent in it and put enough water in, so that it would make bubbles when vigorously stirred. I became excited. I watched and waited intently for the first fly to land on the bubbles and die. They were paying it no attention.

It became time to leave and hop aboard a train that would take us from Antonito across the plains, over mountains and through the valley to see the changing of the Fall Colors as we traveled to Chama, NM. It was surely the best day possible to see the vibrant colors.

Eventually we returned from Chama on a bus, but it had taken all day so it was nearly dusk by the time we arrived back to our motorhome and the flies. Upon inspection I don’t believe a single insect had touched my surprise concoction.

So much for that experiment. I opened the door and flung the little bit of liquid out the door. The trash bag was overfilled so I set it by the sink, thinking I’d dispose of it later. With the busyness of getting ready for bed after a long day left the paper bowl sitting there and my wife dutifully started preparing our breakfast spread, sitting out bowls and spoons. I took over the duties after that.

The lesson in this story is: don’t think liquids will not penetrate and be absorbed in a Chinet White Paper Product.

BTW: My last bite of breakfast cereal ended up back in that paper bowl and in the trash as soon as I figured out what had transpired.

You haven’t lived until you wash your own mouth out with dish soap !!!