A baby.

After NYC, we went back to Chris’ brother’s house in New Jersey. There was a baby in the house, JT, who was having a big weekend.

 

He got to play with his Uncle Chris:

 

He got to hang out with his two favorite dogs:

 

He went for a long hike, which left him tuckered out:

 

He got all dressed up for a party:

 

He became a baptized catholic:

 

 

And got to hang out with his awesome folks a bit:

 

While he was doing all that, I was eating copious amounts of food, playing with dogs, closing a shutter many times, attending my second ever catholic mass, and drinking half a bottle of whiskey. Not necessarily in that order, but close.

 

A great weekend was had, and far too soon the majority of the Marciano clan hopped into a taxi back to the airport, and I was headed south to see my sister again.

Sooo…. Boston

I arrived in Boston mid-afternoon and had a few hours to kill before meeting up with my cousin Lori. I walked around the Cambridge area, I saw some pretty buildings and even a bridge or two:

 

Then I met up with Lori, who I haven’t seen in many years. We went out to a great restaurant for dinner (chicken cordon bleu) and a few brews, then went home and bought a six pack. We talked of family, we got to know each other over again. The conversations were great, and we had a total blast!

 

The next day my old room mate Steve flew in from New Hampshire to hang out. We walked around downtown Boston for an entire day. We had fun people watching, checking out a little graffiti, drinking coffee, and just wandering aimlessly. We went to a brewery for a tasting, but they were closed. We went to a local irish pub for burgers and beer, then wandered the streets some more. It was a fun day that left my feet sore, and me happy to head back to Lori’s house once he headed back to the airport.

 

From there Lori and I went to the store, got some supplies, and then I cooked some fajitas up for her and a friend. More great conversation and a little pumpkin pie was had before we all collapsed in exhaustion.

 

It was a lot of fun getting to know my cousin, as well as see Steve. Come morning time though, it was time to head to New York!

OOps, backwards

I totally skipped Boston! Well, so now this is not only a terribly poorly written blog, it is now out of order as well. Things are headed downhill fast. :)

A trip into New York City

I drive on an interstate, five soul-crushing hours of seeing absolutely nothing but getting to my destination quickly. I’m meeting up with Chris and his family in New Jersey, and I want to get there quick.

 

Some dinner, some hellos and hugs, and then Chris, Brady, and myself are off to a scenic lookout of the city:

 

The next day we three are taking a bus into the city to walk around for a few hours. We check out times square:

 

Central Park:

 

Ground Zero:

 

Chinatown:

 

We think about going to the statue of liberty, but the line to get there is way too long, so we find a starbucks, which was right next to a pretty museum:

 

Eventually we all three tire out, hop on the subway back to the bus station, and head back home.

And for the first time

This post will put me current. I drove north from Philadelphia on Monday on my way to Boston. I have a cousin who lives there, and an old room mate who can meet me there for some hanging out. I drove through PA, NJ, NY, CT, and am currently just outside of Worcester, MA. It is cold and rainy, and begins getting dark at 4:00PM. This does not make me happy.

 

The plan as of right now is to hang out up here until thursday morning, then head to New York City to meet my friend Chris at his brother’s house. From there I will be bombing south to warmer weather. :)

A quick visit with Daryn

I dragged my feet getting out of Virginia. Such a good time I was having I didn’t manage to leave until mid-day, which put me a bit late into the Philadelphia area to see one of my good friends, Daryn.

 

I arrived in the evening and we had some ‘deep’ and ‘philosophical’ conversations as we always do. The type of things that just don’t translate to a blog. It was time that I enjoyed, even if his little dog Khalil didn’t like me. His fiancee Becky is amazing and patient.

 

On Sunday we took the dogs for a hike, then came home for some vegging out time, something I haven’t had in a little while. We watched a few movies, which I haven’t been able to do in a while either.

And then, there were children!

After driving through Shenandoah National Park I was headed to Alexandria, VA. The goal? To see my sister, her hubby, and their six kids. All the nieces and nephews one uncle can handle.

 

I spent three days hanging out, roughhousing, holding, consoling, laughing, giggling, and smiling with this amazing family. I taught the kids a little something about training a dog, and about using a camera. We spun and wrestled, we bucked and battled.

 

Abby was my little princess, always in my lap as she played with my beard and sucked her finger:

 

Jack, Sam, and Kaden battled it out with light sabers:

 

 

Chloe enjoyed training Scrappy a few tricks:

 

Overall it was great to see everybody, great to get a chance to see my sister’s day to day life, and great to be surrounded by love. I hope to stop back by their house on my way back south.

 

Thanks you guys for having me!

And then, I spent five days driving

Five days on the Blue Ridge Parkway. And it was amazing.

On my way to the parkway, I went on a hike to some beautiful waterfalls:

 

And then I was in the Great Smoky Mountains national park. A beautiful park I am sure, when you are not surrounded by a billion people, all clamoring to get in during the peak fall colors on the last weekend of the season. For me – it was madness, spending hours going two miles per hour around the scenic loops. I was restless, I was discontent. I drove through the park without enjoying myself. I spent the night in some boring town at a walmart where I fueled up and got ready for a day of driving in the mountains.

 

The next few days I was in heaven as I drove through bits of North Carolina, and most of Virginia. I’d stop in nearby towns when I needed some human interaction. Places like Asheville, Boone, and Forward Royal. I saw things like this as I drove almost the entire 500 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway:

 

It recharged my spiritual batteries, and prepared me perfectly to spend a few days with my sis and her family in Virginia. A few days of romping around with six kids, and having a good ol’ time.

Chattanooga Tennessee

That’s where I went for the halloween weekend. I bought a cheap priest’s costume from the store, and looked up the local info on the Chattanooga Pulse website. It listed a concert going on that night, and since I’ve never been to one, I decided that this was my weekend to do it. I bought a ticket, and decided to meander around the town.

 

I really enjoyed the main street part of town, which is currently being gentrified. Lots of broken buildings with great ideas moving in. Although we checked out the whole city, and walked around most of it, this was the part that appealed most to me.

 

I found a dog park and took the dog there for a few hours, met a few really friendly people who gave me some ideas of where to go in town to have a good time. I worked out in the beautiful warm weather that they were having, and then I dressed up and went to the concert friday night. It was mediocre at best. The sound and light setup were great, the space was awesome, the talent was lacking. It was, however, a costume-required type of party and so I really enjoyed seeing everybody else in all their holiday getups. The beer was free, and it’s hard to have a bad time with free beer and costumed people.

 

Saturday I spent almost all day walking around. Took a few pictures, but mostly just enjoyed the movement and sights. Night fell and I decided to go people watching in the touristy section of town. Unfortunately, I wasn’t up for as late of a night as they were, and got sleepy from all the walking before all the fun started. I went to bed around nine thirty.

 

Sunday I was up and decided to hit the road again. I was heading towards another park –the great smokies!

 

 

And a picture, that didn’t fit in the post:

And now – a mashup of many days of travel

From dad’s house I drove to Hot Springs National Park. I didn’t know what was there, but I felt like being in a campground instead of a walmart parking lot. I arrived to a town, not so much a park. Although the park system does keep and maintain many of the old bath houses, as well as providing lots of informational signs, it wasn’t quite the park like setting I had been expecting.

 

I did see water, which is the whole point:

 

And pretty plants, which are watered by springs:

 

There is a really pretty ‘hot springs recovery center’:

 

So, after walking around the town for a while, grabbing a quick bite to eat, and allowing the dog to water every bush in sight, I headed for the campground. It was idyllic. Set off the highway a ways, with lots of walking trails leading over the hill to the bathhouses, and filled with people. I sat myself down on the picnic table, read a bit, drank some whiskey, and went to bed as the rain started to fall.

 

I woke up to an odd noise outside my truck. And then Scrappy started going wild. Turns out there was an unknown interloper roaming around the grounds:

No tags, nobody knew her, and she was looking awful skinny. I gave her a bowl of dog chow, ate my own food, and headed for the high road. I was off to Tennessee.

 

I ended up in Memphis for the night, and proceeded to do the touristy thing: went to Beale St. to see blues and have a drink!:

 

I was early, so wandered around for a while before catching a show. As I meandered  I saw tons of people taking pictures. Yep Tourist City!  I came back the next morning to get my own shot, uncluttered by the masses:

 

The blues was okay, the food and drink were over-priced as I’d expected. Overall – meh. I didn’t need to spend a second night in Memphis.

 

I stopped in Lynchburg for a tour of the Jack Danielle’s distillery. It was very fun, loads of info, and I even got my picture taken with Jack:

followed by a quick jaunt to a town called McMinnville to sleep for the night.

 

Waking up early, I headed to Fall Creek Falls state park on the advice of my father. It was great. Lots of great waterfalls. Lots of fun:

 

 

I stayed the night in the campground here, enjoyed hanging out for hours with the dog, reading, writing, and whatnots. It was a good time.

 

Woke up before sunshine, took a shower, and rolled out in the dark. I wanted to be in a city for the halloween weekend. I had my eyes set on Chattanooga.