State Side

Down South

Annie, Lila, and I

After a loooooooooong journey back to the States (motorbike, plane,plane,plane, bus,bus, train, taxi), I almost immediately left for a trip down south. The first stop was Raleigh, North Carolina to see Annie and Matt. I know Annie from ASU and Matt from NCSA, but you'd never have guessed that these two barley knew each other. We spent the evening gorging ourselves on delicious American cuisine and laughing so hard my belly hurt.

Annie and I cruised up to Asheville to spend the weekend with our friend Lila and her boyfriend. Besides a bad encounter with some greasy Mexican food, it was the best weekend I had had in a long time. We explored Asheville, caught up on each others lives, and (of course) played Clue.I also meet up with my college roommate, Meghan, and her husband for a good ole southern brunch of biscuits and gravy.

The next stop was Mount Holly, NC at the Melograna-Ward family farm. My little cousin Dorian drained all the energy from my jet lagged body and mind but it was worth it. Dorian's being home schooled now so we went to the museum and learned all about the lives of cowboys. Talk about the ultimate adventurer job. Too bad I never learned to herd cows. 

I had a delightful (and cheap, only $4) Megabus ride up to Richmond, VA to visit with Lisa and the boys. Besides the usual endless games of Skip-Bo and Yahtzee, I also went through my storage boxes to search for my teaching supplies. A daunting task, but successful. 

My uncle Charles drove me from Lisa's to Gaithersburg, Maryland where he and I stayed with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. Leslie, Celia, Zach, and I played a hysterical game of Apples to Apples in which Leslie asked 14-year-old Zach, 'Have you ever seen porn stars?' instead of 'Have you ever seen Pawn Stars?'

Then a final train ride back to New Jersey where I stayed with Ken and Sherri. Nothing like coming home after a long trip.

The Holidays

Christmas was a merry event down at the Jersey shore filled with the traditional gluttony, alcoholism, and...Law & Order: SVU. 

On Boxing Day, Jordan, Dad, and I spent the day in the city sloshing around in the wintery mix of NYC. We went to see the tree at Rockefeller Center which seemed extraordinarily large when compared to our meager one. 

After enjoying a few drinks in Grand Central Station, Jordan and I said goodbye to Dad and headed down to Chinatown where we stayed with old friend's of Jordan's. The next morning we flew out to Los Angeles.

New Year's started at a very Hollywood party in Los Angeles where I touched an Oscar and ended at a pub. About 30 seconds before the ball dropped a guy approached me to ask if I had anyone to kiss at midnight. We had enough time to exchange names before we kissed. A pleasant surprise.

The Channel Islands

Potato Harbor

Jordan, our friend Jon, and I took a ferry out to Santa Cruz, one of the  Channel Islands, for a two night, three day camping trip.And wouldn't you know, camping in December is cold. After shivering through the first night I shared Jordan's tent on the second despite his threats of flatulence.It was a fair bit warmer. 

The first day we hiked 2 miles to Potato Harbor and soaked in the beautiful view. Before a glamorous dinner of Backpackers Kitchen we did another short hike to a different side of the island. That night we hung out at the beach, drank beer, and made up really inappropriate songs.

On the second day we slugged through 4 miles of mud to a peaceful beach and back again. Because the Channel Islands are a national park, it is wonderfully undeveloped. At times it felt like we were the only ones on the island. On the way back we spotted a few foxes and marveled at a double rainbow. That night we hung out at the beach, drank beer and made up more really inappropriate songs. 

On the final day we broke camp and spent a few hours relaxing on the beach. We even spotted some whales. I wore just about every piece of clothing I had to Jordan's amusement and was still a bit cold...so I broke out my sleeping bag too. I warmed up on the ferry ride back while enjoying a cup of hot chocolate. Despite the cold, it was a fantastic trip.

There's No Place Like Home

Before, between, and after traveling the US I enjoyed the delights of New Jersey....diners, subs, and a bitter cold winter.

I stayed with Ken and Sherri as always. No place feels more like home than theirs. I took advantage of their Jacuzzi bath, cable, washer and (so excited) dryer.  I chauffeured a post-knee-surgery Sherri around and helped Ken bottle his home-brewed beer. 

I tried to use my free time productively. I read through my old school notes, education books, and books about the history of Japan. I wish I could say that I also spent a lot of time learning Japanese but that would be an extreme exaggeration since in truth I only committed about two hours of my time with a poor result (I can say hello and goodbye). 

I also picked up some serving shifts at Tula Restaurant which helped put a little spending money in my pocket. And spend it I did. I pretty much replaced my entire ragged and worn down wardrobe correctly assuming that it would be difficult and expensive to find clothes my size in Japan. I also treated myself to several delicious American dinners, fun nights out, and a Wii fit. The latter of which is so much fun and I love that it rather sassily scolds me if I miss a day of exercise.

I managed to squeeze in a trip to Atlantic City as well. Lisett, Jeff, and I arrived around 10 pm to check into our super cheap hotel room and get gussied up for the evening, The dealer kept beating me by one (I'd get 19, she'd get 20, ect) so I lost $40 in about ten minutes at the blackjack table and called my gambling to a halt for the night. We spent the rest of the night at the bar and dancing in the club. The next morning we ate a nice greasy 'breakfast' at Johnny Rocket's to coat our hangover tummies and did a little last minute gambling. I actually won at roulette...before I lost it again. 

Another memorable occasion in Jersey include a visit down the shore for my dad's birthday. We made it to my Dad's local watering hole before the snow storm really began. The evening started out with a few beers and ended in several shots. In between, my dad sang a song he'd written and danced with a what he called a female dinosaur. Meanwhile, I danced with a nimble bar tender and played the hat switching game. We stumbled down the street through the snow to one more bar before taking a taxi home. I woke the next morning to the grunts of a very hangover father...oops. 

There were also games nights, ice skating (finally!), and a night at the Stress Factory, the comedy club in New Brunswick. It all went by so quickly and ended with a farewell party at the George Street Ale House which had become my bar of choice. New Jersey and especially the New Jerseyans will be missed.