we left this morning for maine...(which means we got to honk the horn 4 times since we went through new hampshire and into maine)....dom's even getting into he honked for maine!! haaaaaaa
we stopped for gas and lunch at a little hole-in-the-wall place in NH....little subs were decent...
got a great picture of a sign telling us to brake for moose...haaaaa will share pic as soon as i learn how to upload them...
well we're about to stop for beer to bring to the lobster fest...wow...im going to be sleeping in a tent tonight...don't remember the last time i slept in a tent apart from the 3-day walk...loads of fun and stories to come im sure...
ps. i got my first mosquito bite yesterday...will need to break into 1 of my 4 bottles of bug spray..
Friday, June 8, 2007
Thursday, June 7, 2007
why....why....but why....
kids are so funny and right now isadora is in that stage of 'whys'...so it would seem that for the past week or so seth has been prepping isadora for meeting me...(she adores dominic...very cute)...i have been labeled dominic's special lady friend to her...seth and jen wanted her to use it while we were here...before our walk yesterday we were all in the mudroom getting our shoes on and i ran out to the car for something and isadora asked "where is dominic's special lady friend going?"...i didn't hear it all go down but needless to say seth had a proud dadda moment...haha
later that night she would only refer to me as "that girl"...while dom was refilling our glasses she followed him into the kitchen asking what he was doing and why...he told her he was getting more beer because he was thirsty and when she asked why he was filling the 2nd glass he responded with...because my special lady friend is thirsty too...she was quick to remind him..."her name is mikaela...(or as she usually says...akaela)...it was so cute...we have been having a great time answering her questions....
she is also learning how to poop on the potty...she has been told that she will get a lollipop when she poops on the potty....at dinner last night she asked "how come that girl hasn't pooped on the potty"...my response was of course..."i did and my lollipop was greeeeaaaat"!!
she is a very sweet and intelligent little girl...very fun to be around....
later that night she would only refer to me as "that girl"...while dom was refilling our glasses she followed him into the kitchen asking what he was doing and why...he told her he was getting more beer because he was thirsty and when she asked why he was filling the 2nd glass he responded with...because my special lady friend is thirsty too...she was quick to remind him..."her name is mikaela...(or as she usually says...akaela)...it was so cute...we have been having a great time answering her questions....
she is also learning how to poop on the potty...she has been told that she will get a lollipop when she poops on the potty....at dinner last night she asked "how come that girl hasn't pooped on the potty"...my response was of course..."i did and my lollipop was greeeeaaaat"!!
she is a very sweet and intelligent little girl...very fun to be around....
vermont...
ok...so i knew vermont was beautiful and scenic but i still wasn't positive as to how i would feel about it...not sure if you can understand but i will try to explain...sometimes when you go somewhere it just feels like home as if you are supposed to be there...you are so comfortable in your skin and it just feels right...up to this point bonaire is the only place i have had that feeling...like the island is just part of me...well i feel that same way here in vermont...i am in awe of the beauty around me...it is such a great feeling being here...let me back up
when i last left you we were just rolling into town about 1:30am...seth (dom's friend) was waiting up for us...we finished off the beers he had, moved on to the actually pretty good boxed wine after this i stuck to water while dom and seth polished off a bottle of purple champange...we finally went to be around 5am...only to wake up about 5 hours later...
dom and i took a stroll into town...this being the first time i had seen it in daylight...very cute and welcoming...we had a great BLT at the bakery before taking a walk around town with seth and isadora (his little 2 1/2 year old daughter)...we had a great time looking for mud...(isadora decided to wear her mud boots hence the search for mud)...
the afternoon wore on and seth and dominic started their games of horseshoes...close match...jen (seth's wife) and i played with isadora and bob (the mutt rescued from conn.)
it was a great relaxing first day in vermont...
day 2 led dominic and i on an adventure...we went on a hike up the mountain behind seth and jen's place...it was a beautiful hike...(we have both discovered that we are out of shape being as our legs were shaking on the way down)...the hike led us up to a ledge where on a clear day we have been told you can see a long way..it was hazy today...but the view was amazing...(pics will follow once dom shows me how to do it)
we split a great pizza and took a nap...finished the day up with dinner at the bobcat...the local bar/restuarant...jen works there on the weekends...fun atmosphere and good food...the beer is mainly local so very good as well...
right now as i sit here catching you up on the latest...jen is putting isadora and baby bug (isa's baby) down to sleep and seth and dom are tied a game a piece from horseshoes today and are playing the tie breaker while finishing the high lifes off...
we are off for maine tomorrow for the lobster fest...hope the rain holds off and that i like lobster...haaaaaaaaaa
when i last left you we were just rolling into town about 1:30am...seth (dom's friend) was waiting up for us...we finished off the beers he had, moved on to the actually pretty good boxed wine after this i stuck to water while dom and seth polished off a bottle of purple champange...we finally went to be around 5am...only to wake up about 5 hours later...
dom and i took a stroll into town...this being the first time i had seen it in daylight...very cute and welcoming...we had a great BLT at the bakery before taking a walk around town with seth and isadora (his little 2 1/2 year old daughter)...we had a great time looking for mud...(isadora decided to wear her mud boots hence the search for mud)...
the afternoon wore on and seth and dominic started their games of horseshoes...close match...jen (seth's wife) and i played with isadora and bob (the mutt rescued from conn.)
it was a great relaxing first day in vermont...
day 2 led dominic and i on an adventure...we went on a hike up the mountain behind seth and jen's place...it was a beautiful hike...(we have both discovered that we are out of shape being as our legs were shaking on the way down)...the hike led us up to a ledge where on a clear day we have been told you can see a long way..it was hazy today...but the view was amazing...(pics will follow once dom shows me how to do it)
we split a great pizza and took a nap...finished the day up with dinner at the bobcat...the local bar/restuarant...jen works there on the weekends...fun atmosphere and good food...the beer is mainly local so very good as well...
right now as i sit here catching you up on the latest...jen is putting isadora and baby bug (isa's baby) down to sleep and seth and dom are tied a game a piece from horseshoes today and are playing the tie breaker while finishing the high lifes off...
we are off for maine tomorrow for the lobster fest...hope the rain holds off and that i like lobster...haaaaaaaaaa
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
what to do in a car for 15 hours....
wow...this has been my challenge...for those that know about my VERY short attention span..haaa that might be a bit of an understatement...
i got this internet card from sprint which is amazing!!! honest...we are able to be online all the time...this came in handy this afternoon...we were moving along and i had not long posted my first entry of the day when i decided to go online again and see if i had gotten any emails from the schools i have applied to....just as my computer was logging me into yahoo messenger i am sent a notice that jake barlass has logged on...i instantly started writing to him...we were able to chat for an hour...he also had a webcam on his computer so i was able to see him too...i started to cry...it was so amazing...he looks good...i am so proud of him! what an amazing brother we have!! he says hi to all and he loves us...
we stopped for lunch after he had to get offline...we ate at burger king...im not a big fan of their burgers but thought i had found one that i would like...double stack with bacon is how it was advertised...took my first bite and was overwhelmed with a strange taste...i peeled away the bun to discover they had slathered it with thousand island dressing (not something that should be on a hamburger in my opinion)...long boring story short...i ate the bottom burger and bun...which was fine i was full with that...
i took over the driving duties at that point...we were just on the west side of cleveland...i drove for a tank and a half of gas...haaaaaaaaa not sure how many miles...i think we figured somewhere around 350....this is the point where i was starting to go loopy...i suggested to don that we do a crossword together...i thought this was a good idea when i thought that i would just read the clues to dom and write down his answers...but roles were reversed...and i stink at crosswords...so dom read the first couple of clues and i had nothing but blank expressions on my face so he proceeded to work on the puzzle without my 'help'....after doing this for a bit dom took a nap for a little while and then played around on his computer...(check out badcolonies.org to see his blogs)...i put my ipod on shuffle and told myself i was going to listen to every part of the songs that came up...this idea didn't last long...i got bored with the songs that i didn't know the words to and then bored with the songs that i knew too well...hard to find a balance...
there were a lot of cops out as well in new york...we passed a deer that had just been hit and was twitching...i had to look away quick...was so sad...don't tell bambi...
dom took over driving right before we got off the main drag of I90 that we hadn't left yet...neither of us shed a tear as we finally made our way off of it...we have spent the last hour or so making our way through little villages in northern new york on winding roads...i think it is a beautiful trip but hord to tell when it is 12:30am...
well that's it for now...stay tuned as dom says
i got this internet card from sprint which is amazing!!! honest...we are able to be online all the time...this came in handy this afternoon...we were moving along and i had not long posted my first entry of the day when i decided to go online again and see if i had gotten any emails from the schools i have applied to....just as my computer was logging me into yahoo messenger i am sent a notice that jake barlass has logged on...i instantly started writing to him...we were able to chat for an hour...he also had a webcam on his computer so i was able to see him too...i started to cry...it was so amazing...he looks good...i am so proud of him! what an amazing brother we have!! he says hi to all and he loves us...
we stopped for lunch after he had to get offline...we ate at burger king...im not a big fan of their burgers but thought i had found one that i would like...double stack with bacon is how it was advertised...took my first bite and was overwhelmed with a strange taste...i peeled away the bun to discover they had slathered it with thousand island dressing (not something that should be on a hamburger in my opinion)...long boring story short...i ate the bottom burger and bun...which was fine i was full with that...
i took over the driving duties at that point...we were just on the west side of cleveland...i drove for a tank and a half of gas...haaaaaaaaa not sure how many miles...i think we figured somewhere around 350....this is the point where i was starting to go loopy...i suggested to don that we do a crossword together...i thought this was a good idea when i thought that i would just read the clues to dom and write down his answers...but roles were reversed...and i stink at crosswords...so dom read the first couple of clues and i had nothing but blank expressions on my face so he proceeded to work on the puzzle without my 'help'....after doing this for a bit dom took a nap for a little while and then played around on his computer...(check out badcolonies.org to see his blogs)...i put my ipod on shuffle and told myself i was going to listen to every part of the songs that came up...this idea didn't last long...i got bored with the songs that i didn't know the words to and then bored with the songs that i knew too well...hard to find a balance...
there were a lot of cops out as well in new york...we passed a deer that had just been hit and was twitching...i had to look away quick...was so sad...don't tell bambi...
dom took over driving right before we got off the main drag of I90 that we hadn't left yet...neither of us shed a tear as we finally made our way off of it...we have spent the last hour or so making our way through little villages in northern new york on winding roads...i think it is a beautiful trip but hord to tell when it is 12:30am...
well that's it for now...stay tuned as dom says
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
traditions
traditions are those things that remind us that we are a part of something bigger...family...as i am taking this road trip with dominic i am realizing all the 'traditions' that have been a norm in my life while on road trips...i have been given curious looks by dom as he is introduced to the traditions...the first induction came when we crossed from minnesota into wisconsin at the beginning of our trip...i was driving as i drove past the "welcome to wisconsin" sign i honked the horn twice...this registered a look of confusion across dom's face...i then had to explain that honking the horn twice as we pass into each state is just 'what we do'...he took to this really well and actually let me know today as we were passing into ohio...good guy this dominic...
the 2nd less well known tradition is listening to chicago and singing your heart out (joy you're with me on this!)...i proceeded to do this everytime a chicago song would shuffle through my ipod...the look i got from dom was one of amusement (probably because i'm such a great singer and he is amazed that i didn't make it onto american idol...NOT) i have been known to call my sisters and leave them voicemails of me singing the songs that remind me of them...
the 3rd tradition has yet to be brought into this trip...going to save it for trip to maine...the alphabet game...where you are in a contest with the other people in the car to find all the letters of the alphabet first...(i have never been very good at this game...might leave this tradition as a memory)
number 4 is something that we loved to do as kids...wave at the truck drivers and see how many of them will honk their horn or even wave...this actually got a laugh out of dominic...as i like to think...you never know what a smile or wave will do for someone's day..
i am also enjoying the fact that we get to start our own traditions...clifford riding on the dashboard...stopping for french fries at least once a day seems to be one that is developing...(watch out butt)...listening to a W I D E variety of music from my r&b/rap/pussycat dolls to gypsy kings, jj cale etc...
oh yeah...me driving for more then an hour at a time is also taking shape..haaaaaaaaaaa
the 2nd less well known tradition is listening to chicago and singing your heart out (joy you're with me on this!)...i proceeded to do this everytime a chicago song would shuffle through my ipod...the look i got from dom was one of amusement (probably because i'm such a great singer and he is amazed that i didn't make it onto american idol...NOT) i have been known to call my sisters and leave them voicemails of me singing the songs that remind me of them...
the 3rd tradition has yet to be brought into this trip...going to save it for trip to maine...the alphabet game...where you are in a contest with the other people in the car to find all the letters of the alphabet first...(i have never been very good at this game...might leave this tradition as a memory)
number 4 is something that we loved to do as kids...wave at the truck drivers and see how many of them will honk their horn or even wave...this actually got a laugh out of dominic...as i like to think...you never know what a smile or wave will do for someone's day..
i am also enjoying the fact that we get to start our own traditions...clifford riding on the dashboard...stopping for french fries at least once a day seems to be one that is developing...(watch out butt)...listening to a W I D E variety of music from my r&b/rap/pussycat dolls to gypsy kings, jj cale etc...
oh yeah...me driving for more then an hour at a time is also taking shape..haaaaaaaaaaa
gary, indiana...stinks
well we are on our way out east...we spent a day in chicago getting errands done...i bought a camp towel (didn't even know such a thing existed!)...kinda excited to give it a try...got to be patient will have plenty of time to use it...
anyway...this morning we were up before 6 and moving...dom's back is slowly getting better...(the wine and advil seem to wear off somewhere between 5 and 6 in the morning) so up and at em...dom finished packing (doesn't seem to be as tough for him...hmmm i should observe more closely next time...might help me)
After our necessary stop for coffee at starbucks we were off and rolling...left chicago about 9am and arrived in gary indiana a short time later...yikes...driving through gary brought back memories of road trips as a kid and the jokes we used to make about who farted because the air in gary is very ripe....haaaaaaaaaaa
that's all for now...
oh yeah for those of you that know or have met clifford...he is riding on the dashboard bobbing his head enjoying the ride...pics will be taken and shared at a later date
anyway...this morning we were up before 6 and moving...dom's back is slowly getting better...(the wine and advil seem to wear off somewhere between 5 and 6 in the morning) so up and at em...dom finished packing (doesn't seem to be as tough for him...hmmm i should observe more closely next time...might help me)
After our necessary stop for coffee at starbucks we were off and rolling...left chicago about 9am and arrived in gary indiana a short time later...yikes...driving through gary brought back memories of road trips as a kid and the jokes we used to make about who farted because the air in gary is very ripe....haaaaaaaaaaa
that's all for now...
oh yeah for those of you that know or have met clifford...he is riding on the dashboard bobbing his head enjoying the ride...pics will be taken and shared at a later date
Sunday, June 3, 2007
first leg...
as some of you know dominic and i were planning on leaving for our trip on saturday morning...this plan was delayed a day for 2 reasons...the main one being that dom threw out his back moving the keg for the party on friday...and the 2nd...weeellll because i hadn't even started packing as of noon on saturday...no big surprise there for anyone that knows what a tough time i have packing for a week...let alone a couple of months...i always think 'well you never know...you might want to wear this..or it might get warm enough to wear this' makes packing a tough task...that and the fact that i have a tough time focusing haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
anyway, back to the story...
i spent most of saturday packing and getting things sorted around the house...we finished things up on sunday morning...we stopped by mom's on the way out of town for last goodbyes and her famous sourdough bread and choc. chip cookies...(thanks mom)
since dominic threw out his back (which has gotten better thanks to lisa for her amazing chiropractic skills...go see for adjustments if you have never been!!!) i drove to chicago...this is good for me on many levels...1. i usually fall asleep within 10 min. of being in a car (as a passenger obviously)...2. i get bored very easily so driving for 6+ hours teaches me patience (and dom too :-) )...3. i only got a couple hours of sleep due to the fact that i hadn't finished packing so my mind was busy thinking about that...so worried that i was going to forget something...(more on that later)...who knew kev that i was capable of driving more then 1 hour at a time...sorry about that...ha
we got about an hour or so into our trip and my mind was buzzing with all the things i could have forgotten to do or bring with me...
i knew i had ample supply of shorts, t-shirts, underwear, socks, and 4 bottles of bug spray (dad, shar...you know how the mosquitos love me ha)...and then it hit me like a mac truck...i had left the only pair of jeans that fit me in the dryer...arrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhh....they were still damp this morning so i put them in the dryer for 20min to finish drying...and left them there....so i made frantic phone calls to both roommates and text messages asking if either of them could overnight ship my jeans to vermont (we'll be there tuesday night) for me so i have something other then sweats to wear out...LOVE my roomies...the jeans will be there tuesday when i arrive...
my mind began to calm down a bit...i started to enjoy the beauty of wisconsin...we were surrounded by dark, looming clouds but the sun was shining down on the impala...as we got onto I90 the clouds seem to form in front of us...before i knew it we were in a downpour...i could barely see out the windshield...we were going about 30 miles an hour...people were pulling over onto the side of the road...(which dominic and i decided was not a great plan since they were still going to be travelling in the direction of the storm anyway)...15 min. later or so we emerged on the other side...the rest of the way was smooth sailing...
we got to chicago about 7:30 tonight and are now just about to fill our bellies with some thai food...yum...
anyway, back to the story...
i spent most of saturday packing and getting things sorted around the house...we finished things up on sunday morning...we stopped by mom's on the way out of town for last goodbyes and her famous sourdough bread and choc. chip cookies...(thanks mom)
since dominic threw out his back (which has gotten better thanks to lisa for her amazing chiropractic skills...go see for adjustments if you have never been!!!) i drove to chicago...this is good for me on many levels...1. i usually fall asleep within 10 min. of being in a car (as a passenger obviously)...2. i get bored very easily so driving for 6+ hours teaches me patience (and dom too :-) )...3. i only got a couple hours of sleep due to the fact that i hadn't finished packing so my mind was busy thinking about that...so worried that i was going to forget something...(more on that later)...who knew kev that i was capable of driving more then 1 hour at a time...sorry about that...ha
we got about an hour or so into our trip and my mind was buzzing with all the things i could have forgotten to do or bring with me...
i knew i had ample supply of shorts, t-shirts, underwear, socks, and 4 bottles of bug spray (dad, shar...you know how the mosquitos love me ha)...and then it hit me like a mac truck...i had left the only pair of jeans that fit me in the dryer...arrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhh....they were still damp this morning so i put them in the dryer for 20min to finish drying...and left them there....so i made frantic phone calls to both roommates and text messages asking if either of them could overnight ship my jeans to vermont (we'll be there tuesday night) for me so i have something other then sweats to wear out...LOVE my roomies...the jeans will be there tuesday when i arrive...
my mind began to calm down a bit...i started to enjoy the beauty of wisconsin...we were surrounded by dark, looming clouds but the sun was shining down on the impala...as we got onto I90 the clouds seem to form in front of us...before i knew it we were in a downpour...i could barely see out the windshield...we were going about 30 miles an hour...people were pulling over onto the side of the road...(which dominic and i decided was not a great plan since they were still going to be travelling in the direction of the storm anyway)...15 min. later or so we emerged on the other side...the rest of the way was smooth sailing...
we got to chicago about 7:30 tonight and are now just about to fill our bellies with some thai food...yum...
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