Five Things Friday:Labor Day

Nap time for Jeep

  September is here and it won't be long before the morning air becomes a little cooler, the leaves will become more colorful and the days will fade to black just a little earlier. These of course are symptoms of Summer 2016 demise. But we are given one more holiday weekend to send Summer out with a bang in the form of Labor Day.
  Whether you're hitting the trails, beaches or backyard BBQ's with your family don't forget that there are still plenty of good weekends left in the year to get out and celebrate adventure. Today in honor of Labor Day we take a closer look at the holiday in this week's Five Things Friday. Enjoy!

1. Labor Day is held on the first Monday of September and is intended to celebrate the achievements of the American work force. That's right, this holiday is all about you so live it up.

2. Around 15.6 million people are expected to be flying over for Labor Day in 2016. But if you're wondering how many people will be driving this year you'll just have to count them yourself. The national Auto Club, who usually forecasts these statistics, has decided that Labor Day isn't a big enough holiday to do the math for this year. Sorry, Labor Day. You can't win them all.

3. Oregon was the first state to sign Labor Day into law in 1887. Other states followed Oregon's lead but it wouldn't be until 1894 that Congress would make it a national holiday.

4. Labor Day isn't unique to the U.S.A. I counted 93 other countries that celebrate some form of the holiday although not on the same day. Each country has their own history as to how Labor (or Labour) Day was created which of course is reflected by all the different dates.

5. The first recorded category five hurricane to hit the United States happened over Labor Day in 1935. Known simply as The Labor Day Hurricane, this storm made landfall in the Upper and Middle Florida Keys and a second landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida. This storm ended up taking the lives of 400 people (some papers of the time reported more) including author Earnest Hemingway. I only bring this fact up because we currently have Hurricane Hermione creating some rough weather for the folks living on the east coast of the U.S. so be careful out there.

So there they are. Five things to ponder as you head out on your adventures for the weekend. Please keep it a fun and safe one and don't forget to come back next week to see where our next adventure leads. And keep up the good work!

Brandan