The Obligatory
"Play safe. Ski only in clockwise direction. Let's all have fun together."
Saturday, July 08, 2006
New England Summer Adventure Photos!
A few weeks ago, our CEO announced that the entire company would be closed on the Monday before the 4th of July. They gave us a paid holiday so we could fully enjoy the 4 day weekend. Fortunately, that also opened up the opportunity for taking off a few more days to take a trip back to Connecticut.
With some subsidizing from the family, my tickets back home weren't too expensive, and I snagged a red-eye from LAX to Hartford on Thursday evening. There was, unfortunately, a slightly long layover in the Las Vegas airport. I hate Vegas. Even the airport, which is pretty much an extension of the rest of the city - a giant strip mall theme park, filled with fat tourists and loud slot machines.
I really hate that city.
Instead of running through the entire trip, I'll just do a few photo highlights / summary.
My sister enjoys my DS Lite on the way back from the airport.
I spent most of the first day lounging around with the family dog and lying outside reading Bill Bryson's "I'm A Stranger Here, Myself." Good book.
The next day was spent at my aunt's farm in western Massachusetts, to visit my Goddaughter and cousin. They are adorable. The setting was beautiful, and anytime we drove near the farm, we were followed by the World's Happiest Dog, literally bouncing through the fields.
We also stopped in the town's Historical Society, where they had a very nice collection of well-preserved local artifacts. I spent some time talking with one of the curators of the museum - mostly about how I hate that Los Angeles doesn't preserve any of its history, and some of the quirkier aspects of New England that I miss. I also commented on the museum's collection, noting in particular the password hole upstairs for Know-Nothing Party meetings - a short lived anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic party that popped up in the mid-1800s.
Drank some good New England brews (Long Trail summer hef - nice and citrusy; and Smuttynose Shoals Pale Ale) and played guitar with my brother. He's still way, way better than me.
Woke up early to hike the Appalachian Trail with my brother to the highest peak in Connecticut. It's not the highest elevation in the state (that's part of the slope of Mount Frisell, whose peak is in Massachusetts), but the views were nice, the rock-climbing was great, and the trail was an explosion of green.
I also forgot how many mosquitos the east coast has.
It was my first time on the Appalachian Trail, and I was kind of hoping to meet a through-hiker. Luckily, we did. A middle-aged fellow with the trail name of "Sandman," who'd started from Georgia in April. He looked like he was having the time of his life, and he told us how great the trail was so far. I was incredibly jealous. Here's to a safe finish for Sandman.
Had a big family picnic and played a game my cousin Daniel invented called "The Game." You've got to toss these home-made golf ball bolos at these PVC pipe goals. If they stay on the poles, you get points. It's also got a lot of hyper complicated backup rules, which makes it even more appealing to me. The first time I tried to throw, the bolo hit my leg and fell 3 feet in front of me. The second time, I accidentally tossed it backwards. After that, though, I got the hang of it. It's actually very fun, and my brother and I even managed to win a few games.
It was fantastic to get a nice, big, head-clearing break from Los Angeles, surrounded by family, beer, animals, trees, Dunkin' Donuts' iced coffee, and a fairly rural environment. It was also nice to be back in New England for the summer, which I hadn't seen since I moved out to California.
There's a bunch more pictures up on Flickr, with some especially nice ones of the old Massachusetts town my aunt lives in, the Appalachian Trail, and general family shenanigans.
Oh, and Mom dug the DS Lite, too.
With some subsidizing from the family, my tickets back home weren't too expensive, and I snagged a red-eye from LAX to Hartford on Thursday evening. There was, unfortunately, a slightly long layover in the Las Vegas airport. I hate Vegas. Even the airport, which is pretty much an extension of the rest of the city - a giant strip mall theme park, filled with fat tourists and loud slot machines.
I really hate that city.
Instead of running through the entire trip, I'll just do a few photo highlights / summary.
My sister enjoys my DS Lite on the way back from the airport.
I spent most of the first day lounging around with the family dog and lying outside reading Bill Bryson's "I'm A Stranger Here, Myself." Good book.
The next day was spent at my aunt's farm in western Massachusetts, to visit my Goddaughter and cousin. They are adorable. The setting was beautiful, and anytime we drove near the farm, we were followed by the World's Happiest Dog, literally bouncing through the fields.
We also stopped in the town's Historical Society, where they had a very nice collection of well-preserved local artifacts. I spent some time talking with one of the curators of the museum - mostly about how I hate that Los Angeles doesn't preserve any of its history, and some of the quirkier aspects of New England that I miss. I also commented on the museum's collection, noting in particular the password hole upstairs for Know-Nothing Party meetings - a short lived anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic party that popped up in the mid-1800s.
Drank some good New England brews (Long Trail summer hef - nice and citrusy; and Smuttynose Shoals Pale Ale) and played guitar with my brother. He's still way, way better than me.
Woke up early to hike the Appalachian Trail with my brother to the highest peak in Connecticut. It's not the highest elevation in the state (that's part of the slope of Mount Frisell, whose peak is in Massachusetts), but the views were nice, the rock-climbing was great, and the trail was an explosion of green.
I also forgot how many mosquitos the east coast has.
It was my first time on the Appalachian Trail, and I was kind of hoping to meet a through-hiker. Luckily, we did. A middle-aged fellow with the trail name of "Sandman," who'd started from Georgia in April. He looked like he was having the time of his life, and he told us how great the trail was so far. I was incredibly jealous. Here's to a safe finish for Sandman.
Had a big family picnic and played a game my cousin Daniel invented called "The Game." You've got to toss these home-made golf ball bolos at these PVC pipe goals. If they stay on the poles, you get points. It's also got a lot of hyper complicated backup rules, which makes it even more appealing to me. The first time I tried to throw, the bolo hit my leg and fell 3 feet in front of me. The second time, I accidentally tossed it backwards. After that, though, I got the hang of it. It's actually very fun, and my brother and I even managed to win a few games.
It was fantastic to get a nice, big, head-clearing break from Los Angeles, surrounded by family, beer, animals, trees, Dunkin' Donuts' iced coffee, and a fairly rural environment. It was also nice to be back in New England for the summer, which I hadn't seen since I moved out to California.
There's a bunch more pictures up on Flickr, with some especially nice ones of the old Massachusetts town my aunt lives in, the Appalachian Trail, and general family shenanigans.
Oh, and Mom dug the DS Lite, too.
Labels: travel
that one guy you know, 9:41 PM
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1 Comments:
oooooh the know nothing party. i made a shirt about them once. Millard Fillmore's party after he was president. Silently pro-slavery. Their symbol was the awl. The awl.
