Summer Roadtrip, Vol III

Eastern Carolina- Raleigh and surrounding areas...

We were in Lori & Dave and George's new city for two days. We stayed with George who took us to "The Pit" for Carolina Style BBQ. We shared the triple meat platter- was good!

Alex and I went with Lori and mom to Jordan Lake for some mild hiking and lake swimming. We had a good time with them and then Lori took us on a drive through the UNC campus.

We like what we saw and so we went back the next day with our bikes. We spent about three hours riding around the campus. We saw the Football stadium and the basketball arena, and rode through the campus and downtown Chapel Hill. On Cheslea's suggestion we found the Cosmic Cantina and had amazing burritos. It reminded us a bit of Gainesville joint, with all the hippie flair and cheap food. After that we found a grassy quad and threw the frisbee (in barefeet with that soft grass we don't have in FL) where it all began. Then we relaxed on the grass. We decided the red brick and big trees reminded us of UF, but UNC was a lot prettier and more charming (our stadium kicks UNC's ass at least).

Then Alex decided he needed more biking so we went to Umstead State Park and rode some pretty cool mountain biking trails for a couple hours. These trails were different from the ones earlier in the week. We had to work pretty hard, but like the last ones, the downhill reward was awesome!

Next stop- West Virginia, baby!

P.s. Lori got a job today- she'll be teaching 4th grade!!!! We're celebrating tonight... Lori has a job, Alex passed his test. Her summer is over next week :(

Summer Roadtrip, Vol II

Western Carolinas and the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains...

Alex and I spent one day in DuPont State Forest in Western NC southwest of Asheville. We had so much fun. We did several pretty rugged hikes, all of which had a huge reward at the end... Massive waterfalls that we had so much fun playing in. We went to Hooker Falls, Triple Falls, and High Falls.Then we got out our mountain bikes and did several trails. We thought we'd stick to the moderate trails since we are from FL and used to little elevations. But we ended up lost and on an extremely rugged trail. It was so fun and we had to work really hard, but the downhill reward was awesome, and we look forward to doing more biking on this trip.

Then we camped at Cascade Lake and had the cutest little campsite right on the lake's edge. The air cooled down and we had a very peaceful sleep. We woke up to a flat tire, which Alex had to switch out and we later spent some time having it patched at Sears since it was under warranty.


The next morning we went to Chimney Rock State Park, southeast of Asheville. We did some more hiking, and played in the 400ft waterfall, which was the film site from Last of the Mohicans. We avoided the snakes that were sunning and swimming at the base of the falls. Also we got buzzed by a C130 doing flight trials in the mountains. We were at the top of Chimney Rock and it flew at eye level. Very cool.

My smart husband

Alex joined me in Atlanta Saturday evening after taking his national certification for EMT in the morning. He called at 7:30 in the morning to tell me that he was lost and couldn't find the testing center and could I get online and give him directions (no computer access). Well he finally found it, and was in and out in 40 minutes. This test is weird because it is computer-based and ends itself either when you prove you can pass or prove you can't. Nobody seems to know exactly the formula and their isn't s set number. Alex felt confident despite my begging him to study, and last night he found out he passed! Now, after more than a year he has satisfied all the requirements to be hired as a fire fighter. Now he has to interview, so keep him in your prayers for this last phase in the process. Yeah for Alex, the EMT valedictorian!

Here is a picture of us gangstas happy to be reunited after a few days apart.

ECHO Hockey

We got the Flying Camels together again. The core team of myself, Devon, Rachel, and Sarah have added a few new friends to the old team. We have fun playing together after all these years. We won some tournaments last year, but unfortunately we didn't win this one. We did win a few games and had some fun in the process while getting a lot of exercise and little sleep. We lost in the final so we came in second place. Check out our cool trophies. As nearly 30 year old adults we'd rather get t-shirts or even hockey tape, but whatever.

Summer Roadtrip 2009, Vol I

Yesterday I began the first leg of my summer roadtrip. I had a great drive to Atlanta where I will be for a few days. Today was the birthday party for Jen and Milo's boy Zachary, who turned 4 at the beginning of June. We had a pirate themed party, complete with a big bouncy house and a very elaborate pirate cake. Milo cooked out as always and the house was full of happy children and their parents. It amazes me how big my Joshua is getting, and Zachary as always has the sweetest heart.

I had a great time today seeing Jaime and her kids too. Her boy Ben is about 10 months and this was the second time I've really met him. The last time was when he slept in my arms for about 4 hours. Today he was engaging and happy, with big smiles and baby cooes. I'm so impressed with Jaime and her strength and sweet heart as a mom for her two kids. I had so much fun watching Ben for a few hours while Jaime ran some errands. I just love the smell of little babies, especially after baths when they have soft skin and that damp baby hair and love to be held. Jaime and Jen left with the kids and Grandma Roz to Michigan in the afternoon and will be there for a week.

I will spend the rest of the week with the hottest women in all of hockey. Our "Flying Camels" are back again, and look to do some nastiness in the ECHO tournament later this weekend. More on our successes later.

All for now... the house is quiet and peaceful. Milo and I are off to work out his boys' team for a little pre-tournament practice.

A fond farewell

With Lori moving to Raleigh this week we decided to have a nice girls Slumber Party it Longboat Key. The roster included my Aunt Anne, my mom, Lori, and me... until my cousin Debbie went into Labor with her first baby and Aunt Anne had to leave (happy to report mom and baby boy are doing well). So my mom, Lori and I went to lunch on the beach at the Sandbar restaurant, then went to the house to relax. Mom brought old home videos and we watched ourselves, reminiscing on old times and also feeling a little sad to see Lori go. Then we went to the beach for sunset and threw the frisbee for a few hours. My mom was pretty good, too! It was a beautiful night. Later we played Scrabble. Lori won for probably the first time ever, and I lost in a similar fashion. We stayed the night. It was fun and I have come to really enjoy my times in Bradenton with Lori and Dave; going to outdoor cafes for lunch, playing frisbee, and spending our days off at the quiet beaches. I will miss all that fun, but I'll miss my sister even more. We will spend about a week together next week in NC and WV hiking, camping, and white water rafting. We are really looking forward to it. In fact, I think it is our first vacation together with our husbands.


It was also my 29th birthday. And Lori got me a pickle birthday card. It said "I bet you didn't think you were going to get a pickle for your birthday."... No I did not. After initially throwing it as soon as I pulled it out of the envelope I tried my best to hold it.