Category Archives: Roadtrips

Aug7

Ben’s 26th Birthday weekend in Acadia National Park!

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Birthday weekend in Acadia

12-Jul-13 through 14-Jul-13

Friday, 12-July

  • Bike home from work late… wanted to leave around noon, but leave work @ 13:30
  • Relax around the house, packing up and having a bit of a snack
  • Get to Maine later than aimed for – arrive at Bridgette’s place at 21:30
  • Dinner at Olive Garden, woo!
  • Allie meets up with us there, we all hang out and catch up
  • Go to a house party for one of Allie’s sorority sisters.
    • Some fun, some cake, one drunk girl keeps stroking my dreads
    • Cops come
    • Hostess hides, literally, under her bed.  So they can’t find her and charge her with… something.
    • We leave
  • Head back to Bridgette’s place, chill, crash.

Saturday, 13-Jul

  • Wake up slow – Bridgette has work, but calls in sick so that we can grab breakfast instead
  • Breakfast is tasty and awesome, and I shoot the shit with the owner for a bit about cars and Mustangs and winter and everything
  • Allie packs up all her stuff while Bridgette and I grab some random gear from her folks place
  • Tent is HUGE
  • Go back, find Allie, relax a bit, then head out to ACADIA!
  • Long drive is fun – especially with the top down
  • Go to the campsite, set up tent, it’s cooler when NUHOC isn’t there 😛
  • DAMN the weather is perfect!
  • Tent is hugemongous
  • Gear back in the car, roll out to explore!
  • Hit Echo Lake, do a bit of hiking
  • I go to explore the rocks, damn they’re pretty!
  • The girls bail and go down to the water to swim and chill
  • Amazing splitter cracks, perfect laybacks, and even a few tough sport routes
  • Drive into town to get FOOD!!!
  • Park, wait in line for a bit
  • Geddys!
  • Lobster and steak
  • Steak is crap, lobster is awesome
  • Appetizer is AMAZING!
  • Roll out, explore a bit more.  Drive back to camp, light fire, relax
  • Cigars, chill chatting
  • Girls go to bed, I stay out and read for a while.  It’s nice.

Sunday, 14-Jul-13

  • Wake up semi-early, but no real rush
  • Clean up camp, check out, and head into town for breakfast
  • DAMN!  Strawberry / rubarb jelly is awesome!
  • Girls go shopping, I hike around Eagle Lake.  Do some reading
  • Head back, pack it in, drive out!
  • Get lost, drive the wrong way… who cares?  It’s nice out, fuck it.
  • Stop at the ocean for a quick dip
  • Drop the girls off, drive home under a perfect sunset
Aug4

Weekend trip to Philly for my sisters graduation!

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Weekend trip to Philly

13-Jun-13 & 16-Jun-13

Friday, 14-Jun-13

  • Drive down after work
  • Long, through NYC at night
  • Boring, but not too bad since the top is down.  Basically, convertibles make everything better.
  • Wrong hotel
  • Link up with Dad & Denise

Saturday, 15-Jun-13

  • Wake up on Saturday to Dad’s face… ahh!
  • Link up with Mom & Steve and Co at the breakfast
  • It’s kinda cool – lots of good food, and small.  Just her major
  • Chat for a bit
  • Go to the graduation, Denise gets a ticket!  Woo! I go to wander
  • Through Drexel, into UPenn
  • Read & Write
  • Find a water garden with tons of turtles
  • Get the call to come back
  • Hang out in the hotel
  • Take a nap before dinner
  • Go to White Dog
  • Link up with everyone there
  • It’s fancy, and wicked cool.  Meet Kevin’s mom
  • Amazing salmon

Sunday, 16-Jun-13

  • Wake up on Sunday, roll out via driving.
  • Park near the BBQ place, take the Septa to the farmers market
  • Wander around old philly a bit
  • Pretty parks and water fountains
  • Farmers market isn’t bad – neat stuff, and I pick up bacon & espresso
  • Fathers-Day Lunch at BBQ!
  • Long drive home… very long drive home.
  • Take a few back roads when traffic gets really bad
  • Take the parkway around NYC to the Tappen Zee, instead of the George Washington
  • But it’s still long.  Like… 8 hours, when it should take 5.  I am quite cranky on this drive, since it’s silly traffic.
  • Finally home, just in time to sleep for work the next day.
Aug1

Exploring Western Mass, all on me onesie

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Friday, 10-May-13 through Saturday, 11-May-13

Friday, 10-May-13

  • Start the weekend out slowly… no rush leaving work, and no rush packing the car.  I grab dinner at home before making the final sweep to make sure I didn’t forget anything, and then jump in the car, pointing the nose toward the West.
  • A long drive… and actually a cold one at that.  Before the chill gets to me though, the rains hit and I have to pull over to put the top up.
  • I arrive at Beartown park late… maybe 10:30 or 11:00.  Exploring leads me to a near-perfect campsite – close to the main road, but far enough from other people that I don’t really need to worry about being loud.
  • I learn that I do need to worry about the height of my car though… and that it IS possible to get the Mustang stuck on a rock.  I leave it where it is for the morning, since I can’t really see anything.
  • Set up camp, start a wee fire, and relax ‘till sleep takes me.

Saturday, 11-May-13

  • I start the morning off right – actually waking up at a sane time, and going for a nice hike around the lake which gives the park its name.  It’s nice… kind of a boring trail, but relaxing.  I wish I could start more mornings like this!
  • I meet an interesting group, taking a pair of German Shepherds for a walk.  The dogs seem friendly enough, but the family is terrified of me getting near them – they leash the dogs and run back 20+ feet off the trail when I pass them.  Sure, why not?
  • When I get back to camp I shoot the breeze with the ranger for a bit – talking about places that I could find climbing, what times of the year are unbearable due to the blackflies, etc…
  • Move on into town to find some climbing!
    • Great Barrington holds some possibilities, a few good routes off a road aptly named “Quarry Road”.
    • The main climbs are kind of boring, but there’re a ton of good cracks that could use some exploring and wire brushes… I think I’ll come back!
    • Next I move on a town called Westfield… I think.  It’s right off the highway, and you can see some huge slabs from I-90.  I drive into town and follow my eyes and gut, finally finding myself at an old abandoned power station at the base of the rocks.
    • They look good, really good.  But the area is… sketchy, at best.  A lot of decrepit houses and cars, with a good number of folks who look as if they’d like nothing more than to release me from my mortal coil.  So I move on, without stopping to explore.