East Coastin' Pt. I

Whew! Well it's been a whirlwind so far! I got into Anchorage the morning of the 11th, ran around with Mom and Dad all day, then we left the same night (or very early the next morning). The trip itself was mostly uneventful (except for Mom nearly losing her ID and Chile's not taking dinner orders past 11 pm - we got there at 11:15) and thanks to staying up way too late the night before, goofing off and finally packing, I slept a lot of the way.

When we got into DC, we went to get our car and they kept trying to upgrade us for just a little more money... heh. No. Silly sales-people. We did rent a GPS to take with us, however, which has become a bit of an adventure itself. It took us a few minutes to figure it out and I think it unnerved Mom a little trying to listen to a computer AND pay attention to the road. I... may have been convinced she was trying to get us killed. Here, I should probably reference the first photo in my new album (http://picasaweb.google.com/floundergirl/EastCoast09?authkey=Gv1sRgCN2b6ITwpIv6NQ&feat=directlink).

We finally made it to aunt Sally and uncle Stephen's house and they fed us quite the feast. We had grilled scallops, crab, salmon, swordfish and meat along with corn, other veggies and MANY appetizers. We were stuffed, but then of course, aunt Sally had to pull out a cake. And it was covered in the best chocolate frosting I've ever had! Guess what. It only has two ingredients - melted chocolate and 4 cups of heavy cream. Oi. I've been giving aunt Sally a hard time for trying to fatten me up before I go to Hawaii :P

The next day was Columbus Day, so uncle Stephen had the day off and drove us around DC. We visited the National Museum of the American Indian, which was pretty awesome, but lacked a little in that the changing exhibits were closed :( The food was really good too, but the cafeteria was a little chaotic, so it took poor me a while to actually settle into a line and decide on some food (thanks to the help of my momma). Then we went to the Botanical Gardens and spent quite a while there. I think I probably added to the time because I felt a need to take LOTS of pictures with my new camera. I love taking pictures of flowers. After the gardens, we decided to call it a day and head back to Sally and Steve's. Shortly after we got there, aunt Carol and uncle Chuck showed up to join the party and we had an encore of the meal from the night before - plus some shrimp that our newest additions brought from North Carolina. Oh, and carrot cake. Holy. Any excuse to have desserts!

So Tuesday, we decided to just have sort of an easy day and not really plan anything out. I got to sleep in a little (which doesn't end up being much sleep because mentally I've still been in an Alaskan time zone... at least at night), then we decided we'd go to Potomac Mills (huge mall) and go shopping. We all picked up a few things along the way, but it was mostly uneventful. That evening for dinner, Carol and Chuck's daughter-in-law, Danielle, joined us for dinner and socializing. It was a lot of fun having her there and it convinced her to come up to Connecticut for a day and join the party here (bringing her honey, Patrick, too!).

So Wednesday, we started driving north. Somewhere around the time we got on the NJ Parkway, our GPS decided not to work. Dad thinks it was because of sunspots, but either way, we were VERY lucky that uncle Stephen had the foresight to print our directions into Brooklyn. If he hadn't, there's no way we ever would have made it to visit Christopher and Emily. We got into Brooklyn and found the right place okay, but it just so happens that the school across the street let out about then too, so it was nearly impossible to find parking. We drove around the block half a dozen times (and had a nice chat with a police man) and finally settled on a metered spot a little farther away. We had a walk around the neighborhood with Emily and the boys (William and Ezra) after nap time was over and got to taste a few local treats like pumpkin whoopie pie and some of their favorite pizza. We had a good time watching William chase squirrels too :) Shortly after we got back to the apartment, Christopher got home from work and we had a good visit (despite his lack of voice from a recent illness). We got all arranged with and air mattress for me and the pull-out sofa (a European one, which is apparently a bit more comfortable) for Mom and Dad.

Ahh... this novel I'm writing. It'll be over someday ;) So anyways, the next day, I guess it was Thursday, we continued our drive the rest of the way to Connecticut. We got to Guilford just before noon and had lunch at the Shoreline Diner before we checked into our room. It was nice to be off the road and spend some time getting ourselves situated to stay for a few days. We went over to the Hearth to visit aunt Bobbie before dinner, then took her to join the rest of the crowd at the Aqua. It's fun to have everybody here and the following days are looking like they'll offer even more fun! After dinner we were visiting around in each others' rooms (yes, we're ALL staying in the same hotel... on the same floor... in the same wing in fact). It was a mostly quiet evening over here in 107 and our only visitor was aunt Carol, who followed mom over for a glass of wine.

Today! (Hurrah! We're finally up to date!) It was breakfast in the lobby and kind of a slow morning. We all met for lunch at Lenny and Joe's Fish Tale (a family favorite going WAY back). I had some fried clams and found out later that it used to be my grandma's favorite thing to order there :) Next we went to Hammonasset Beach to look at how little beach is left due to erosion and go for a walk. The walk didn't actually happen for most of the crowd, it was a little chilly and windy. I went walking down the beach with my camera and ended up having my young cousin, Kelly, in tow. When we got back to the grown-ups, there was a fellow that showed up to feed the gulls some bread and I had more fun with my camera (as evidenced by my web album - *prod prod* you should probably look at it). After the beach we took a drive to Bishop's Orchard... which is much expanded from the apple orchard with which it first started. They have a little market now and I found all kinds of nice goodies to tempt me. I even bought some Greek yogurt (honey flavor) to have for my breakfast :) It'll be much nicer than a bagel. Mom and I went and looked at the llamas, alpacas and goats on our way to the pumpkin patch, then it was back to the hotel until dinner. Our meal this evening was at Malone's Restaurant (which most of my family still refers to as Lynch and Malone's). Aunt Bobbie had her meal paid for by Timmy Malone, whose father went to high school with Aunt Bobbie, so that made it even more special for her. Oh, and he got her a piece of cheesecake with a candle in it too. We had people over in our room for wine and scotch afterward and now the parents and I are just relaxing.

Well, it's all very long-winded, but I'm glad I finally had time to catch up! Thank Isaiah for being off reffing volleyball tonight instead of calling me. Look for more to come and I'll continue to post pictures to my web album!

Back in NAK

Well, like that title says, I'm back in Naknek now. Robbie brought me down on Monday evening, and it's a good thing too! The last two days have been nothing but rain (thankfully not much wind down here!). I guess the weather turned to wind and rain up on the Lake too, so there wouldn't have been a better time to bring me down. I'm glad I made it!

So because it's been raining and gray, I've been mostly sitting at my computer the last two days. It's funny how I just get stuck here, but never really accomplish much. I can't even say what I spent my time doing yesterday when I was on the computer... amazing how it all disappears from your head. Last night I did fix up my honey's myspace for him though, because apparently some boys just don't like to figure out the internet machine very much. That's a very new sensation for me. And another new realization - I'm the nerd in my relationship. Scary, huh?

Today my time was mostly spent shopping, but not buying anything. Good times. It's hard not being in school, because I don't know what I'm saving my money for right now, but I still don't feel like I should spend it. At the same time, it's kind of burning a hole in my pocket, but I've decided to save it for my travels mostly. I'm sure I'll find plenty of fun things to spend money on over the next month and a half.

I guess I've already told where I'm going in a previous post, so I'm not gonna say it again, but I'm taking off from home this coming Saturday. I'm getting pretty excited, but I really need to get my mind about thinking what to pack. It's going to be quite the challenge considering the many different climes I'll be staying in. I'm sure I'll manage SOMEHOW. Plus, there's always that shopping I was talking about. Guess I might be spending a little money on shipping stuff back...

I'm going to try to keep up on my blog a bit, but I don't know how much time I'll be left with, especially on this first, most family-oriented leg of my trip. I'll be taking lots of photos, though, so I'll try to keep those updated. Probably make a web album for that... I'll let you know when the time comes.

I guess I don't have a lot else to say. There are other things I could say, of course, but none of it is of much importance and I feel that I ramble a bit. So, here end my ramblings for the night. You know where I'm at now and we'll see if you (and I) can keep up with my adventures!

Oh! And I just remembered what I spent my time doing yesterday. The majority of my computer time yesterday was focused on sorting through ALL of my pictures to find suitable ones to put in a slideshow to share with my aunties when we go down to Connecticut. I'm still trying to weed some out and Mom has a ton more for me to look through. Oh joy!

Ooops!

So apparently the address for my web album went and changed on me, so ignore that link below. Here's the new address:

http://picasaweb.google.com/floundergirl/Fall2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ_LxoK4jK2-lQE&feat=directlink

What a bugger. We'll see how long that one stands. Thanks for the heads up, Karl. Hope that works for ya!