Welcome to Kentucky!

What happens when two Yankee gals find themselves in the beautiful Bluegrass State? They drive until they find a good beer, of course! Happily, the scenery along the way made the trip a pleasure. If you thought we'd had enough of verdant, rolling hills and eroded-but-still-venerable mountains in Virginia and West Virginia, you'd be wrong. Patsy Cline kept us company as we sped along, Robin manning the wheel and me manning (an overstatement, for certain) the iPhone. My task was to locate a bar in the greater Lexington metro area that offered craft beers and a decent meal. The humbly named "The Pub" seemed to offer all the necessities-- plus they claimed to show the Olympics. We made a beeline for it, and Robin enjoyed a Lake Eyrie Monster IPA (Great Lakes Brewery in Cleveland) and I tried some kind of local brew made in bourbon barrels (worth sampling but more novel than tasty). Plus, there were gymnasts and wait staff in kilts ( the wait staff, not the gymnasts). Thank you, Kentucky.

crossing west virginia

we spent the day slowly crossing the state of west Virginia. it was rolling, and scenic. we continued to chat and catch up on random things... and just let the view go by while listening to music. all in all, a lot of hours in the car, but nice and mellow.

roadside stop

a co-worker recommended a fun little iPhone app called "roadside America" that is an amazing wealth of little tid bits of things to do and see. seems that many of them are large figures and "statues".

we just happened to drive by one of said stops in western west Virginia... a 20' statue of "minnehaha", wife of Hiawatha. ms. haha had a callipygian figure. (look that one up!!) ;)

harpers ferry, WV

we started the morning with a stop at the harpers ferry national historic site. somehow managed to be there just at 9am when it was opening up, so we were some of the first people to take the shuttle down into the village.

the old town is a cross between preserved colonial town, and gift shop Mecca. it was cool to stroll around by the river, and take in some historic plaques. we then moved along to the john brown museum where we refreshed our civil war history. made a stop at the john brown wax museum, but it was an additional fee, and quite creepy, so we kept moving.

spend a few hours wandering around, then it was time to hit the road!

The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum!

Can you really be a good American until you've completed a cross country road trip? I'm about to find out what I've been missing all of these years on our east and west coasts. Driving into West Virginia felt like traveling somewhere rather than arriving somewhere. Although the landscape isn't remarkably different from the northeast, the cuisine (gargantuan portions, white bread smothered in gravy, bacon in the green beans) leaves no doubt that we've crossed the Mason-Dixon.

I'm looking forward to seeing Harpers Ferry tomorrow and exploring, Kentucky, another state that will be new to me. I hope that I can be a proper co-pilot to Girl Wonder; after all, I have big shoes to fill after Christina's stint in the passenger seat. If we don't end up in Alabama tomorrow, you'll know I've been doing my job.

7 state day!

today we made some good miles, dropped down our of MA, crossed CN, slid through a corner of NY, into PA... and rounded out the day crossing from MD, through a sliced of VA, to end in harpers ferry, WV.

now that we are out of new England, we will have bigger states to explore. we are planning to check out the Harpers Ferry national monument park in the morning.... then haul across WV, into KY. we are aiming for Mammoth Caves the following morning, so we will see what we find along the way, and how far our travels get us tomorrow. stay tuned! :)

1st tourist stop!

we made our first dorky tourist stop at "chocolate world" in Hershey pa. being a mid-summer Sunday afternoon, during a rainstorm.... we unfortunately were not the only ones with this idea. the place was MOBBED!

we waited a short time in line, and went in the free "how chocolate is made@ amusement ride. totally funny little attraction, with singing cows and all (took 2 hours to get the annoying song out of my head! ha).

the tour of course dumps you into the gift shop, but it was so crowded and chaotic that it was not at all enjoyable. :( I tried in vain to find a postcard for 10min, then couldn't stand it anymore! we barely made it out alive... without a single chocolate souvenir. oh well.

chatting away, passing time through the thunderstorms!

Kate and I quickly passed time chatting away, catching up on months and months of goings on's. time went by quickly, and we stopped somewhere in northern pa for a bite to eat. during lunch, the first of several spectacular thunderstorms blew through. it was going to be that kind of day. with all this heat and humidity, we are driving smack into the storms!

crossing the pa turnpike towards Harrisburg, the second big storm cracked down in us, and it was a doozy! traffic almost came to a standstill while we were blanketed in sheets of rain.

...and we're off!!

sanjiv (Kate's husband) made us some delicious coffee this am (it was so yummy!), we packed Kate's stuff into the car, said our farewells, and drove away around 8:30am. we stopped at a coffee shop in Northampton for a bite and to make a plan for the day, and were on our way! :) destination, harpers ferry WV.

szmytty's big boy house!

on the way out to western mass this afternoon, I stopped by to see szmytty's new house in auburn, NH (just east if manchester).

it is such a great space, that fits him and his toys perfectly with several garages, privacy on the property... and even a horse corral out back! so happy to see him finally settled in. :)

just a small town girl

it was super bittersweet leaving Atkinson today. I really had a nice visit with my parents, brother & fam, neighbors and friends while I was here. it is a comforting and familiar place, easy to slide back into.

it has also been a brain scramble and tiring to be so out of my own life and routines. there is so much I had hoped to do while I was here, but I ran out of time before I got to dig into any of my planned projects. oh well! I reached saturation.

my gears are changing slowly back to road trip mode, and in a few short days, I'm sure I'll be carefree and refreshed again! :)

tomorrow, I am handing the blog over to Kate to say hi, and let you know what our plans are! it's time for me to sleep.

Hampton beach with dad

dad and I decided to get out of the house on Monday, and drive up for an afternoon at Hampton beach. it was by far the mist gorgeous day thus week! after a pretty rainy couple if nights, it was 77°, with a nice breeze at the beach. we got lunch at Markies (YUMMY lobster salad!), then parked, and walked the new boardwalk down to the bandstand. the renovation at the beach ate really quite nice! it was fun to stick my toes back into the Atlantic ocean for a minute! sure was Warner than the pacific! ;)

bill & Toni's wedding!

on sat July 28th, bill & Toni got married at their house in northwoods NH. it was a fab gathering if old friends, and their families. as the photographer of our friends for so many years past, bill asked me to photograph the wedding for them. it was a a fun way to be part if the festivities (and get to know my camera much better!).

wedding was beautiful, and a fun night was had by all... until the mosquitoes showed up late that night. ha. ;)

Lake Winnipesaukee, NH

ever summer Greg & michelle rent some cabins on Lake Winnipesaukee with some friends, and spend a week swimming, playin, boating, bbq'ing and relaxing. this year, I was lucky enough to be around to take advantage of some of the time!

I managed to get a few little projects to work in early that week (yea! just enough to pay the rent this month!), so worked at my parents house early in the week. Tuesday, dad and I made a jaunt up to the lake. it was a gorgeous day!! we had lunch and ice cream in town, saw the mt Washington steam boat, then went back to the cabins for some tubing in gregs boat. all in all a very nice day!

I returned to the lake later in the week for a night. the skies had finally broken into rain, but I enjoyed the time with Greg, michelle, Christina.... and the delicious brisket!

kristin's surprise 40th b-day party

to surprise Kristin in advance of her 40th b-day this November, her sis and mom put together a surprise evening out with her girlfriends in NH. it was so exciting that I was here to join in the fun, and a perfect night. :)

after surprising her at a McDonald's, we all piled into Tracy's car, and drive to Hampton beach where we had lovely dinner together, then went over to the Hampton beach casino ballroom for one of kristin's favorite bands, daughtry. there were three opening acts, so it was a long night... but we all had a blast chatting and dancing! even mrs lawson who had a good table boogey going on!

big thanks and kudos to tracy and mrs L for putting together such a fun night!!

guilty of blog neglect!

for the past two weeks, I've been camped out in NH at my parents house. its been real nice to unpack the bags, dump the car out, and sleep in my own bed.

it has been a nice long visit in NH, packed with a lot of visiting and activities. i enjoyed being in one place for a bit, and honestly had a hard time willing myself to put everything back into the car to hit the road again. excited to travel again, changing gears again is happening slowly.

first a few catch up photos, then I'll talk a bout what next! ;)

home sweet Atkinson!

after three weeks of traveling, I made it home to the house i grew up in in Atkinson NH tonight. :) I am so happy to be here, and plant my feet on the ground for a few weeks.

went out to a casual dinner with the folks tonight, and I am now happily tucked into bed, in my old bedroom. :D

tomorrow I relax. then possibly do some laundry, and a good clean out of the car. but relax comes first. :)

cape cod Lawson-fest 2012

drove north from NY to cape cod to visit with Kristin (lawson), Jason, grace and Cameron at their vacation house in Chatham. tracy (lawson), Emily and Alivia were there as well, mr and mrs lawson rolled in shortly after I arrived, and Andy came in that evening. it was a wonderful and chaotic reunion to see the Atkinson Lawson's all in one place!

all the kids have grown up so much, it was fun to spend time with them, and watching them play together.

spent two days on the cape with them, shuttling the clan to the beach, avoiding thunderstorms, playing games, reading books, and sharing good old fashioned family meals together.

also had the pleasure of catching up with teddy bear! we even snuck out for a night, and had a lovely kid-free dinner together in chatham.

had a wonderful time with my "atkinson family" at Lawson fest, but my fatigue from being on the road and living out of the car, sleeping on couches and non-stop visiting has totally caught up to me. I'm really pooped!

red house kids & their kids

leaving pa tues morning, I continued north into ny, and stopped by to visit my college buddy andrew, his wife Amy and their cutie kids Nate and Emily in westchester. super fun to see my friends all growed up n stuff with new houses, kids, jobs, etc. so proud. ;)

we went out for a yummy Thai dinner (welcome change after a lot of road food!), and then met up with Duncan for a drink. it is funny how much we have grown up, yet I still feel like we are all the same dorks we were back in the Syracuse red house days!

crashed for the night with Amy & Andrew, and was back in the car again early the next am as they got the kids packaged up for school. and, again. I was a slacker and didn't get any pics with those guys. :( next time....

catch up time with cousin jakatt's

after a lovely lazy morning with Melani, she had to head to work, and I drove out to coatsville to catch up with auntie Maria and uncle steve.

auntie Maria welcomed me right Ito the house, and made me a sandwich for lunch. it was really nice to have some quiet time to chat. after that, mark, Jessica and their kids Braydon (vivacious 3 year old with a new Mohawk!) and emleigh (4 months) surprised me with a visit! shortly after that Erika also came by, and uncle steve returned with maria's cousin patty from holland. it was nice to see everyone, and we lazily hung out for a few hours catching up.

after the kids left, I stayed and had a yummy dinner with Maria steve and patty. our conversations wandered all over the place, and then steve and I dove into his files on our family history. it was super interesting to hear more about my fathers mothers family and our Lithuanian heritage. I am going to have to bug my dad when I get home to dig up anything he might still have of my grandmothers. I know some stories from my grandparents, but I really eat this stuff up! :)

i spent the night, and had such a nice relaxed visit. my extended family is so small, and we see each other so infrequently (weddings and funerals), so this was really special to have this time.

bummed I didn't snap any pics of the kids, I think we were all pictured out after the wedding!