Angel Oak

The other weekend we spent down in Charleston (specifically Isle of Palms). We walked the beach, we ate overpriced food, we visited the South Carolina Aquarium, and most importantly-to me at least- we paid a visit to Angel Oak. 

Angel Oak is an awe-inspiring site. The street is massive and sprawling. It reaches up and then spreads it's branches wide, dipping back to touch the earth, and twists on itself. In it's presence, you do feel like you're at church. 

This was our second visit, the first time we went was on a Monday and it was sunny and virtually empty. The photos I took on that day were especially beautiful, but sadly, I haven't uploaded them. Maybe one day. 

On a Sunday, there was a lot more traffic, but it was still a great visit. These were just photos taken with a camera phone, but you still get an idea for how beautiful she is. 

Travel Rewind: Inbetween Days

Between leaving Pennsylvania and going to Kentucky, we stopped in West

Virginia. This was a hard time for us as a family and me personally.

This is when I was crying and saying "I want to go home! I don't need

to see any of these things!". We had been rained on too many days. It

was starting to get cold. 2 nights before we had stayed at one

campground and during the night a bear was sighted in the dumpster.

This gave me a panic attack that lasted for days on end. How do I keep

my baby safe from a bear? Everything we do to be safe, suddenly didn't

feel safe enough. In Greenville, you sometimes hear about a bear being

in the city and climbing up someone's tree and usually it's ushered

back to safety or makes its own way. To me, it's something else

entirely to be in the bear's environment. I felt very vulnerable with

only a tent around us.

The next night we found a campsite that reassured us there were no

bears. It was hard enough getting into the campsite tho, because there

was a storm coming and it was after 8. Griff begged and finally the

let us in so we could set up. We quickly got the tent up and our bed

settled. I asked Griff to drive me up to the restrooms because I

didn't want to try and find it in the dark when I didn't have my

bearings.

The bathroom was on par with the one from Trainspotting. I came out

retching and gagging. The rest of the night wasn't easy either. The

loudest thunder storm I have ever heard came right on top of us. The

thunder was so loud I was coming out of my sleep in a panic.

Amazingly, Oz slept thru the entire thing.

The next morning we packed tent and headed out towards West Virgina.

We stayed at what was called a State Park Resort. Confused? Me too. It

has camping and trails, but also a hotel, spa and golf course. And

marina. And signs warning about deer, possums and BEARS. Good Grief.

It was during our stay here I thought I was going to lose it. We went

out to breakfast and a sign on the wall said something along the lines

of "Don't wait for the storm to pass, but try and find joy in the

rain". We smirked and tried to realign our thinking.

Instead of trying to figure out where were would be going day to day,

I sat down and mapped our journey all the way through to Seattle. I

said I wanted to do KOA's for a few nights, instead of just trying to

find somewhere, also day to day. I wanted from there on to know where

we would be sleeping that night and have the tent up before dark.

That night was our coldest ever. Griff and I slept hardly at all

between freezing and making sure Oz was warm enough. Of course he was.

He has the warmest space in the bed, cuddled right between Griff and me.

Since then, we've done pretty well. Obviously. I had my cry, and we

trucked on. We found a KOA directory and I have been pretty great at

aligning our stops with their campgrounds. They are hardly ever

scenic, but they are convienent, and for that I'm grateful that they

exist.I'm hoping I will be over my bear anxiety soon enough so we can

do a few more scenic places. I feel like it would be wasteful

otherwise. We'll see tho. Right now we're just enjoying ourselves.

 On reason for the cold, was that we were right on the water. 

 Another reason, the tent had to be on this platform and the wind would blow in off the water and then come right up through the deck. It was absolute hell.

GRIFF: Thank you again for my hat.  This has been the coldest night of the entire trip (If I looked carefully with the torch, I could see Oscars breath while he was asleep in the tent) and the hat and gloves and thermals that you insisted I buy made a HUGE difference.

Travel Rewind: Groundhog Day!

 We went to Punxsutawny, Pennsylvania. The Weather Capital of the

World. If you are so inclined to take a visit, make it a stop. We did

and we did everything worth doing there in an hour. That's not to say

it's not a nice place, but if it's not Groundhog Day, the small town

doesn't have much to offer, entertainment wise. Unfortunately, the

film also made it look a lot cuter than it is. It sounds like I'm

dissing Punx, and I'm not. I'm justs saying...it's small. And you can

do it in an afternoon.

 GRIFF: Groundhog Day is one of my favourite films, so we had to visit Punxsutawny (I'll trust Ashleys spelling) and it was fun, but it seems like the touristness of the town is exclusively set up for just a weekend or 2 each year and would be a lot more fun during that time.

Travel Rewind: I'm Nobody, Who Are You?

I do not understand a lot of poetry. In high school, like most angsty

teens, I took a try at writing some. But there are people who play at

poetry and then there are poets. My sister, Deborah, is a poet, and

she also loves Emily Dickinson. So, for her, I went to Amherst to see

Emily Dickinson's Home. I didn't pay to tour the house, if I could

take photos inside I would have. But instead, I toured the gardens and

took photos for my sister.

The gardens are to some extent, maintained the way Dickinson kept

them. Knowing that a great deal of her poetry deals within nature and,

I couldn't help myself, I was taken in by it all.

Travel Rewind: The Witch Is In

 I love Salem, Massachuesetts. I loved every single bit of witchy tourist tat they had going on. We spent 3 days there (probably 2 more than we expected) and I spent my birthday there. We went to every single witch museum they had and enjoyed different things about each one. All gave historical accounts of the Salem Witch Trials, but they all had very different interpretations of how to represent the word

"witch". And while at one would give a sympathetic approach to the story of Corey Giles, the 80 year old man who was pressed to death, by the end of all the museums both Griff and I found him to be a bit of dick who had sold his wife out as being a witch (that said, he still shouldn't have been pressed to death!). So long story short, we enjoyed them all and I didn't have a favorite.

 Our stay at the campground in Gloucester was also really nice and quiet. It was also the first time I had a run in with a snake. Alright, a dead snake (it's head had been run over), but I saw a snake! So I spent some time trying to find out what sort of snakes are in Mass and whether or not they are poisonous. The one I saw, was not. Hurrah!

 GRIFF: Salem was fantastic, and it was fun going to 5 witch museums.  They all had a different take on the history, but did repeat things a bit.  We also went to a pirate museum which was really good.  The tour guide was very into it which always helps. (Although it was a little awkward as we were the only ones in the tour group)

Hoots

I love thrifting. My husband loves it to, so we usually have a lot of fun on our adventures. We found these 2 owls on our road trip and I *had* to have them. They were just too cute and since they didn't have a price on them, they sold them for $5. STEAL.

We found them on our road trip in Lawrence, Kansas (which, by the way, has some AWESOME thrift stores. I could have furnished a house with all the things I found. But we weren't traveling with a moving van, so unfortunately, only these owls could come home with us). 

 I named them Sam and Dean. 

Travel Rewind: Stephen King's House (Bangor, Maine)

We pretty much only went up to Bangor, Maine so I could see Stephen

King's house. It's a well known spot, and the hotel we stayed the

night in even had directions on a printed out sheet. So knowing that,

I can only try to put into words how uncomfortable I felt "stalking"

out someone's home.

 For someone who enjoys their share of Perez Hilton and celeb-culture,

I don't actually like meeting famous people. I never know what to say

and I agree, the paps are bad and people need their space in life. The

whole drive up towards his house I felt like I was being very invasive

and it made me feel squeemishly uncomfortable. I wanted to see his

house, and now I have. It's a really cool house.

 Maine, whether or not the residents like it or would agree, is Stephen

King country. We crossed into the state at Gilead and Griff turned

into a little fan boy. Roland, the main character of the Dark Tower

series, is from Gilead. The entire time we were in the state we made

references to this book or that. We wanted to read Stephen King books.

I even made a mental "Salem's Lot Trail" to enjoy inside my head. It's a

fictional town, but there  are very real surrounding areas. I think if

it hadn't been raining we would have stopped more. We will be making

more trips to Maine so I'm not too worried about it tho.

GRIFF: I hate the whole celebrity culture, but somehow didn't feel as awkward as Ashley did.  I think because we were following directions given to us by the hotel. and we didn't ask for it, it was just part of the "things to do in the area" papers they give you.  And it was a really cool house.

***also? I'm going to try and make Tuesdays my Travel Rewind day! I WILL catch up! I will not be defeated by the internet!

Travel Rewind: Ferry Ride Part II

After getting through the Adirondacks (which were fucking beautiful, by

the way) we decided to cross on the ferry from New York to Vermont.

Further evidence that my kid loves boat rides.

Travel Rewind: Black River Drive In

After Canada we crossed back into New York and made our way towards

the Adirondacks. Along route, we passed an operating Drive-In theatre.

We were both cursing it being the middle of the day and our dumb

unfortunate luck that we wouldn't be around to stop and see a movie

that evening. They were playing Final Destination 5 and Fright Night.

Neither would have been my first picks, but fuck that...IT'S A DRIVE

IN. But it didn't matter, because we couldn't go.

We started driving and it was getting later and later. We found a

campsite and it turned out we were only about 30 minutes down the road

from the Drive-In. You may be confused at this point. How could we

whining about seeing the Drive In and not going early in the afternoon

and then be camped out 30 minutes down the road? All I can tell you

is, there was a LOT of around your elbow to get to your ass driving

that day. I'm only glad we stopped when we did.

I went online and found out showtimes for the Drive In and it was

settled that after dinner we would go. I don't remember what we did

for dinner that night. I do remember that we put on our PJs and made

sure Ozzy stayed awake so he would be good and tired and sleep on the

drive there (so hopefully he would sleep through the movie).

We decided to miss the first feature, Final Destination 5. I haven't

seen any of those movies and I don't understand how you can have a

title that has the word "Final" and is number 5 in the series. I

wasn't over the moon about seeing a re-make of my beloved Fright Night

either, but it's the lesser of two evils. Either way, I thought it was

fucking cool to see a horror movie at the drive in. That just felt

right.

We pulled up within minute of the film starting. The girl at the booth

was about to shut for the night, so we barely made it. Unfortunately

we missed the concessions. BOO. We were really excited about popcorn,

nachos and soda. We had a tiny dinner to make room for all the junk

food we would now not be having. It didn't kill the mood tho. WE WERE

AT THE MOTHERFUCKING DRIVE IN.

We found a place to park, adjusted the seats and started the movie.

You didn't have to open your window and adjust a speaker into the car.

They told you what station to tune your radio to and you were able to

listen to the film that way. It was awesome. Ozzy slept through the

first half of the film and woke up around the second half. What's

great is that we were able to enjoy a film and not "disturb" those

around us. I was able to put Oz in the front seat with me and nurse

him back to sleep, where he stayed until the credits rolled.

And my film nerd self can't help but take a minute to reflect on the

film itself so here goes:

Of course it was no where near as good as the original. Re-makes

rarely, if ever, are. A really great cast did the best they could with

some pretty crap material. Colin Farrell was gorgeous, but had zero

charisma. I'm going to put this down to him using a bad American

accent and not being all sexy-brooding in his natural Irish accent. An

Irish vampire would have been sexy (something that I always felt was

lacking in the original. Chris Sarandon is a great villain, but he is

never sexy. Or maybe it's an 80's thing I don't get. Because I don't

think Michael Douglas is sexy either and his ass was always naked

during the 80's.). David Tenant was sorely underused, but hilarious.

It wasn't until I was listening to BBC Radio 4's Mayo/Kermode podcast

when it was pointed out that Tenant is doing a Russell Brand

impression, that the light bulb went off. Fucking brilliant and

hilarious.

The film is pretty clunky and uninspired. I was disappointed with

Sarandon's cameo as a motorist who gets bit. I think it would have

been cooler if he and Farrell had passed a knowing look in the dance

club scene. The 3-D sequences were pointless.

So while it sounds like I didn't like the movie, I had an awesome

time. Being at a Drive In made a bad movie completely worth it, and I

enjoyed it 1000x more than if I had seen it in a cinema or on dvd.

It was so refreshing for us to be seeing a movie. In our pre-baby

days we went to the movies almost every single week without fail. We

had thought about trying to take turns seeing movies while on the

road. Or going to an early showing during the week, when the cinema

would be all but empty. We haven't had a chance to do that yet. But

our eyes are always peeled for another Drive In.

Travel Rewind: Boldt Castly & Ferry

One of my favorite things about our trip is that I've been able to
meet some of my Imaginary Friends (aka Friends from the Net, for those
of you not in the know). On our trip to Boldt Castle I met imaginary
friend Christie and her husband Phil. If we hadn't met up with them I
wouldn't have any idea about Boldt Castle and it was a lovely day out.

It was also Oz's first time on a boat and he LOVED it. He loved the
rocking and sway and how it messed up his balance slightly. He loved
being out on the front deck and feeling the breeze (no, let's be
honest, it was wind and it was rough!) on his face. He was just a
squealing ball of excitement.
The trip to the castle takes about an hour and along the way you see
the Thousand Islands. What's so cute are all the houses that are set
up on these teeny tiny islands!
If you didn't follow the link to the castle itself, I'll fill you in a
bit. Mr. Boldt was building it for his beloved wife and when she
unexpectedly died, he ceased all work on their future home and there
it sat. Unfinished. Several years later (after Mr. Boldt) it was
decided to resume work, and the over the years the house has been open
from it being in complete disrepair. It's one of Christie's favorite
days out and I thought it was very cool that she has seen its
progression of renovation with subsequent visits. It makes her a part
of its history by being a frequent visitor. There are so many beautiful
details to find throughout the Castle. Christie pointed out all the
hearts that have been worked into the design, so I spent a good
portion of our visit hunting out all of the hearts. Unfortunately, I
didn't get a good picture of Christie and I together. When Phil was
taking a photo of us, I assumed that Griff was taking one as well. I
assumed wrong.


After the trip to Boldt Castle (and it's a full day!) we decided on an
easy dinner back at the campsite. Ozzy was really fucking tired and
C&P were kind enough to go pick us up a pizza. Griff decided to try
the Canadian dish Poutain, which is fries covered in cheese and gravy.
Not my thing, but Griff devoured it and when we were up in Maine he
found another resteraunt that served it and gobbled that up too.
Pretty much anything covered in gravy and cheese is a good meal to
Griff.


(*I have no idea why that last paragraph is underlined in blue. )

I've been everywhere, man

So we're done. I have a lot of posting to do and I still intend on posting all of it. So it may be weird for you to read about travels that have already happened, but now I'll have pretty steady, reliable internet access it will be so much easier to post about all the things we did and places we saw.

So how did coming home come about? Well I guess you could say it started in California.

We spent 4 lovely days in the same place, staying with a friend and her family in a very comfy home. Our kids played together, we still did some sight seeing, but in the evening we came back to a house with indoor plumbing and kitchen. It was nice. Very nice.

From there we traveled further down Cali and had a pretty good time. Griff and I came down with colds and it was pretty rough going. Oz didn't catch the cold, but he was teething and those canines were just starting to peak through (and at this moment are still taking their precious time coming through. Canine incisors, I shake my fist at you!).

Then we were working our way to Vegas. And when we got to Vegas we realized, "Hell, there is not a lot you can do with a baby in Vegas". We *knew* this going there, but then it was really sort of a let down when we got there.

(FYI there were a lot of things happening in all these places and I fully intend on expanding on each and every one of them.)

So in Vegas we broke down the last few things that we really, really wanted to see and decided that after Roswell, New Mexico we would just book it home and not tell anyone. We had originally wanted to be home for Thanksgiving anyways, so this was really just cutting the trip another week short. But funds were running low and so was our will to carry on. So done. We really enjoyed our last week and now we have a little money left over to get our hair cut. I'm done with feeling like a dirty hippie all of the time and eating camp food or road food.

It was a fucking awesome journey.

We got into Greenville at around 11 and scared both my Mom and Dad to death. There were a lot of screams, tears and laughter. I love doing stuff like that.

The 'Other' Big Apple **

This is one of those things about the Road we were really looking forward to and always enjoy. Bizzare roadside attractions. We had been driving for a fair few hours and Griff needed us to switch. I spend most of my time in the car knitting, so I'm always happy to switch with Griff when he needs a break. Just as we were coming up to an exit, we spotted the apple. It's like the Peach, but an Apple, and less butt-like.

But it's wasn't just an Apple. It was an Apple Pie store. We had fun going up the big apple, and we did eat a not so great but completely edible lunch. I didn't buy an Apple pie, but Apple dumplings (which weren't that great, I should have gone with the pie. My bad.).

The Apple was great.

...O and I should probably mention that the Apple was in Canada.

**New addition to the blog! You may notice below, that Griff is going to start commenting and adding his own little notes here and there. So enjoy!

GRIFF---

I actually loved the food, it was basically a cheeseburger covered in BRown Gravy and a precurser to the canadian specialty of Poutine which I loved.

Family on top of the Apple

In case you didn't notice, it's a big fucking apple.