Fun and Games Dept

Today I took the day off from work with some comp time earned with my last run of on-call. Earl was out of town so I didn’t really go anyplace exotic with my favorite co-pilot installed in the passenger seat. Instead, I indulged in my roadgeek tendencies and drove through around the Capital District of the Empire State.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. People fascinate me. I could sit in a mall or a busy downtown area and just people watch for hours. So many people walking about, oblivious to what’s going on around them, going on with their daily business. Since it’s the end of March with temperatures in the mid 40s, some people are bundled up like they’re headed to the Arctic while others are wearing cargo shorts and a t-shirt. I was a fashion hybrid in this regard today, wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

Since I was in a city bigger than a breadbox, I stopped at Crossgates Mall and went to the Apple store. We now have a black 4GB iPod Nano in the household. It’s for Earl to use when he is working out at the gym. I bought a Sportswrap for it so he could attach it to his arm. I also bought myself a Sportswrap for my iPod. I hope I don’t forget where I am and start singing Madonna tunes out loud while I’m on the treadmill or something.

I stopped at a K-mart to make a pit stop and to get a box of tissues for the car, because I was slopping my packed lunch all over the place while I was driving. I grew up with K-mart and have traditionally considered it one of my favorite department stores. But what has happened to these stores over the past decade? I suspect the downfall began when they became “Big K”. There was nothing bigger about the store when they put up those tacky signs. In fact, when the “Big” concept made it’s debut in 1990, little was done to renovate existing stores. And still today, the stores have not had any upgrading aside from a few new signs and a fresh coat of paint. I’m afraid I’m going to have to scratch K-mart off my list and start shopping at Target instead; I’m finding the K-mart stores too depressing.

K-mart aside, I’m happy with my little headstart on the weekend. It’s going to be a good one.

Happy Travelers.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Earl and I are now safe and sound in our own home after an 11 1/2 hour journey today.

We left Virginia Beach around 9:30 after a stop at the hotel breakfast buffet and then an energizing walk along the boardwalk. We walked around 1 1/2 miles, 1/2 of it along the boardwalk and 1/2 of it in the sand, right along the ocean. The temperature was already quite warm in the mid 60s, I ended up buying a pair of shorts for the ride home.

We took the sides off and put the top down on the Jeep when we were ready to leave, we made it all the way to Alexandria, Va. with the top down before it got a little chilly. We made it from there to York, Pa. before we put the sides and the back windows back in. By the time we hit Harrisburg it was in the low 50s and raining.

Quite a difference from Virginia Beach!

We did the Jared thing both yesterday and today and had lunch at a Subway. Tonight’s supper was at a Lone Star Steak House in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Surprisingly, we kept it sober and relatively healthy as we went out of our way not to stuff ourselves.

We just got home and are getting settled in and ready for the work week. Tom has already cursed us out for leaving him alone for the weekend. But he doesn’t really mean it, he’s purring like a mad man.

And so are we. We’re ready for the next adventure.

Crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Earl and I spent the afternoon and evening in Virginia Beach, Va. for our little spontaneous weekend getaway. Keeping in line with our newly found healthy lifestyle, we walked the entire length of the boardwalk round trip, clocking in five miles of walking. It was refreshing, relaxing and invigorating all at once.

To celebrate this healthy endeavor, we headed to a locally owned restaurant called “Abbey Road” for some seafood. Unfortunately, a few moments before we arrived a large group of 38 people arrived and asked to be seated. They did not have reservations. Who on earth would walk into a restaurant and ask to have a group of 38 seated without any advance notice? That would be a group of cheerleaders in town for some rah-rah championship. They were loud, they were obnoxious and their group bogged down all mechanics of the restaurant.

We didn’t care.

Understandably the service was slow. The food was good and was relatively close to what we ordered. The three beers helped with the situation. The management did take 10% off our bill even though we didn’t complain at all. That was appreciated.

After dinner we decided to take another walk. Per my friend Dana’s advice, we walked down the ocean and felt the temperature of the water. We did it with our hands though, since we were quite comfy in our sneakers. We then walked on the beach a bit and enjoyed the clear night air. It’s relatively chilly tonight in the low 50s but nothing to really complain about.

Tomorrow we have a long drive home. But we both are ready for the week that lies ahead. Let’s hear it for spontaneity!

Weekend Getaway.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Earl and I have found our destination for the weekend. In the search for sun and fun we decided to head to Virginia Beach.

Time to go exploring.

Earl and I had planned to go to Buffalo this weekend to enjoy hanging out with our friends and going to bear night. We looked at the weather forecast for the weekend and noticed that not surprisingly, Buffalo was going to have similar weather to what was forecasted for us: windy, rainy and a high in the mid 50s.

Southward looked much better.

We had such a good time last weekend escaping life with just the two of us that we decided to reprise the experience this weekend. So we canceled our plans to go to Buffalo and jumped in the Jeep and headed south. We are spending the night in Newark, Delaware. It’s not our final destination.

Most couples understand the need to get away from it all. Earl and I enjoy each other’s company and actually look forward to “we” time. We’ll make it to Buffalo to see our friends soon. But for now we just want to do a little exploring together.

New Sunglasses.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Earl and I drove home from West Virginia today. There’s nothing like a spontaneous weekend trip to get the blood moving and to clear the cobwebs out of the head. I tried something a little different when it comes to our road trip adventures today.

I rode the entire trip home as a passenger.

When Earl and I travel, I usually take the helm and he acts as co-pilot. His role is very important as he provides witty dialogue, a much needed neck rub after several hours of travel or a joyous symphony of snoring while he naps and I keep my eyes glued on the road.

Today we reversed roles and he drove while I snored. Actually, I only snored through Scranton, Pa. And everyone snores through Scranton. What else is there to do?

I think I’ve been the designated driver of the family (of my own volition) for all these years because I’m a control freak. Earl and I approach driving differently. He has a casual approach, using one hand on the wheel and only signaling to change lanes when there’s a driver close by that will actually notice the turn signal. Me? I’m the world’s best driver (if I do say so myself), obeying all rules of the road except for the maximum speed limit. I set my own when the speed limit is as high as it’s going to get. But I usually only do that in New York, now that I think about it, because I kind of think that 55 on these rural stretches of two-lane roads is dumb. So I usually do 70.

Nevertheless, Earl was the designated driver today, allowing me to see sights that I haven’t noticed as a driver. For example, the drive on I-81 between Harrisburg and Hazleton is quite high up and quite beautiful. Usually I only notice the potholes.

I think I’m going to try being a passenger more often.

Earl and I settled in Martinsburg, W. Va. for the night after driving almost seven hours to get here. All in the search for sunshine. We drove through the quaint little downtown area which seemed quite nice but was rather deserted. We also drove to the next city down Interstate 81, Winchester, Va., to see what was going on there. Winchester had a nice downtown area as well, but again, they seemed to roll the streets up quite early on a Saturday night. So we headed back to Martinsburg.

The retail district of Martinsburg is quite busy for a town this size. There’s a number of chain restaurants, a mall and the obligatory collection of big box stores. I think development has beat infrastructure in the race for readiness, because there’s quite a few traffic jams in this area on a Saturday night, but it’s all good.

We ended up eating at a Texas Roadhouse. The wait was over an hour so we bellied up to the bar for a couple of beers. It’s a good way to get a feel for the locals and Earl and I were chatting with the bartender and a couple of people at the bar in no time. Everyone was quite friendly. One thing I like about here is that the pace is seemingly ramped back a notch or two but not slowed down to a crawl that has you beating your head against the wall in frustration.

After an hour or so we were finally seated and enjoying unlimited ribs. I wish we could say that we didn’t go crazy, trying to be healthy and all, but this was our one splurgefest of the week. We kept it reasonable.

When we got done with supper we realized it was too late for a movie, so we went back to the hotel to freshen up a little bit. Having several beers in me from bellying up to the bar, I instantly fell asleep.

Earl is so patient with his lightweight lover.

Tomorrow we head back home. In the future when we reminisce about this weekend, Martinsburg, W. Va. will bring a smile to our faces.

Earl and I jumped in the Jeep and decided that we need to see some sun and ground that wasn’t covered in snow. We took a gander at the weather websites and logically decided that we needed to head south.

We’ve set up shop for the night in a Hampton Inn. We are in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

Neither of us has ever been here before. But it’s considerably warmer than it was at home, the sky is full of sunshine, even a little after 5 p.m. and there’s a definite feeling of spring in the air here.

We have no idea what we are doing tonight. But we’ll have fun doing it.

Earl and I have finalized our plans for the grand Jeep tour in May. We are passing through 18 different states, not including the “repeats” on the way home.

In 13 days.

Earl says that’s just sick, but he’s really looking forward to the trip. For the curious, here’s the states we’ll be in, in order of appearance: N. Y., Pa., Ohio, Ind., Ill., Mo., Kans., Okla., Tex., N. M., Ariz., Utah, Colo., Wyo., Mont., S. D., Minn. and Wis.

The trip is a little over two months away, but I’m already counting down the days.

Central Phila.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Earl and I have spent a wonderful weekend in the greater Philadelphia area. Last night we went to the Philadelphia Wings lacrosse game (they didn’t do as well as we’d like) and enjoyed the amenities of the “Victor’s Lounge” with Earl’s brother Dave and his friend John. The Wings didn’t win but the buffet and the whole lacrosse fan experience made up for it.

Today we kicked off the morning by stopping in to see Earl’s dad and his stepmother. Then we met up with Rick and Helen and headed for Atlantic City, where I quickly lost my shirt but Earl won a good chunk of change at three-card poker. He made up for everything I lost, everything we tapped the ATM for to play and then doubled it all! A good way to enjoy his birthday weekend (his birthday is tomorrow).

Tomorrow we are going to get up early and take the long way home. I wonder how many states we’ll pass through. 🙂