So we broke a few "Rules"

I'll start by saying that we went up Charlottesville VA to meet/visit a friend and her family and it was awesome. I thought Charlottesville was adorable and I now want to take my little sister up there and go camping. I will make her enjoy it (no seriously, I think she will).

We needed a roof rack. We have been packed like sardines in the car, hoping we could make it work, but we just couldn't. So we spent a good 2 hours trying to find one. Dick's Sporting Goods had 2 but couldn't find the keys to unlock them. The Subaru dealership wanted $500 (!?!?!??!) for one plus installation costs. Finally we found the perfect one at Sears, ON SALE and was easy to install. We call it "Loretta's Hat".

So then we decided to go a bit out of our ways to see Dinosaur Kingdom in Natural Bridge. Natural Bridge is weird, but a good kind of quirky weird. Their attractions consist of some caverns (that we didn't go see, because the country is full of caverns and I really would like to see the caverns in Carlsbad again, and I'm assuming if you've seen one cavern, you've probably seen em all. I could be wrong tho). ANYWAYS, their other attractions included Dinosaur Kingdom, a Haunted House, a Wax Museum (with a factory tour!) and a toy museum. O, and Foamhenge (like Stonehenge, but made of foam). We did 3 of these. Dino, Haunted and Foam. They were all awesome and completely worth the trip out.

But the plan was to see these things and then head up to the outskirts of DC and set up camp. So we started driving and realized we are not going to make it to camp before dark. Not good, and against one of our "Rules". So we decided we'd drive till we felt like stopping, eat dinner and stay in a hotel for an evening. We had said we'd do a hotel when we wanted/needed it, so no biggie.

During our drive we were caught in a HUGE rain storm. I'm talking driving down the interstate at 30 with hazzards on rainstorm. Not fun at all, but it made us all the more happy we weren't camping because that would have sucked. So we sorta dodged a bullet there.

So we find a Cracker Barrel and stop for dinner. I had chicken fried chicken with a side of fried okra and steak fries (to dip in the gravy). SO GOOD. mmmmmmmmm. Then we pull into a hotel for the night. Only they are all booked up. What the hell? It's not like we're near anything important. So we pull into the next. AGAIN. All booked up.

Apparently the 40 miles garage sale was going on this weekend and EVERY hotel in the 40 mile radius was completely full up. Not good. Oz was seriously done with being in the car and he has acquired the highest squeal EVAR. I was on complete edge and feeling sick, hearing his cries an it till us close to an hour to finally find a hotel to stay in. A bit more than we wanted to pay, but we got a good night's sleep. And thereyago.

O The Rules. We had said we would never do the late night driving not knowing where we'd stay and have Oz all stressed out. *sighs*

Virginia is for Lovers

Greetings from our Road Trip! I am currently sitting in a Starbucks in Richmond, VA trying to not look like a complete douche by typing on the laptop. I'm probably not succeeding. I'm sure people trying to enjoy their frappacino's are a little annoyed at a very hyper Oz as well. Ah well. What can you do?

So the drive up was pretty uneventful, but that's a good thing, right? AMAZINGLY, Oscar slept most of the journey up, which was awesome.

Once we got into Richmond it was close to 630 so we had to find the KOA campground site we had a reserved a tent site for the night. I know, I know, KOA is hardly rustic, but considering we have 0 camping skills between us, it seemed like a good idea to start our journey at. We got the tent up with no problems and started cooking up dinner, which was a chicken/cheese/saucey/bread crumb mix. It was good, and I only burned one side just a bit. Totally edible :D Oz even ate the chicken so I took it as a good sign.

Unfortunately, Oz wasn't a fan of the site itself and he was a bit freaked out during the evening and just wanted to be held. By the end of the evening he was happy to be in the tent, and he laid down to nurse with me easily and was asleep by 930, with Griff and I to follow by 1030. We woke up bright and early at 7 and it was LOVELY.

Seriously, we had such a great morning. Oz woke up dancing to the alarm clock, it was nice and cool outside. Griff and Oz had a shower and then after getting Oz dressed I was able to take one (see, another KOA perk!). Then we set to cooking breakfast. Griff made us tea and set out some blueberries for Oz, which he of course devoured. Then we had french toast. YUM. It was a great morning and we were set to head into the city by 1030 and it was just starting to get a bit warm.

Overall, I'm sorry to say, I don't really like Richmond. The city is laid out wacky and is difficult to get around. We went to the Edgar Allan Poe museum and the Museum of the Confederacy; which I felt weird about at first but we enjoyed it. History is history, even the parts that make us uncomfortable. Ozzy was SUPER loud in there tho, which makes me a bit anxious about taking him to the Holocaust museum in DC. So we finished the day early, allowing me time to blog some and then we are heading to the store to pick up dinner for tonight.

I think we may pick up a roof rack for the car tho. Our car is uncomfortably pack like a sardine. I thought we were over packing, but hell, we're packed for about 3 months and it's pretty minimum compared to what I've seen people back for a weekend at the beach before! SO hopefully today we'll get a roof rack and an electric blow-up-the-mattress-thingy.

We have a few more things to see in Virginia and then it's off to DC!!!

Simon Pegg's Nerd Do Well

Nerd Do Well by Simon Pegg

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Simon Pegg doesn't like to talk about himself. He really doesn't and tells you straight from the start. So how does a memoir written by someone who guards their privacy work? Well, surprisingly well. Pegg waxes nostalgic a lot about his childhood and how his belief in chaos theory- all the interests he had and choices he made- brought him to the point he is at now.

But in my opinion, the book shines when Pegg talks about the things he loves. Like Star Wars and zombie movies, and being a fan of those myself (who also studied film theory as a major at university) it was hands down the best part. Honestly, if Pegg just decided to write a book about films and general geekdom it probably would have been a more interesting read.

Because there was some disappointment. It took so long for him to finally start writing about his professional career, and when he finally did it was highly glossed over quickly and then the book ended. As a huge fan of both Spaced and Shaun of the Dead, I think he could have written more about those times without pointing the finger at anyone who maybe was less than stellar to work with.

Gossip-y Hollywood Memoir it is not. Which was nice, but there wasn't a lot of substance as far as his professional career is concerned either. Oddly enough, when it was over I didn't feel like I had wasted my time, I kinda just wanted to sit down the pub and talk Star Wars.

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Countdown (the sequel)

So we are leaving on Tuesday. Originally it was going to be Monday, but due to finances and the bank it will now be Tuesday. We said we were going to make our first stop Roanoke Island in North Carolina, but we've decided to spend the first day booking it thru NC and straight into Virginia. The logic being, if we live in South Carolina, we have a lot of years ahead of us to spend time in NC. I've been busing myself with buying a few last minute essentials (boots, fan, book-bag etc) and laundry. I need to still finish mapping out some of Virginia/DC/Pennsylvania. I am so ready to hit the road I can hardly stand it!

In the gutter

If you look at my Goodreads "What is Ashley Reading" box, it will tell you that I am reading 7 books. This is, in fact, a lie. I am in a book rut. An ugly, ugly, ugly book rut. Let me break it down quickly:

1. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes- Was it really 2 years ago? Could it have been? Maybe not...but it's been well over a year since I began reading through all the Holmes stories and I haven't been able to progress in this one at all. We're at stalemate, and I don't know when this will change.

2.The Baby Book by Dr. Sears- I don't know why I decided to list this one as something I am currently reading. I use it when I need it, but I by no means am reading the whole damn thing cover to cover. I haven't actually "needed" to pick it up in months.

3.Road Trip USA- I bought this because we're going on a road trip, so obviously I wanted a book about going on a road trip. I have to say, I've been pretty disappointed in this book. It's full of parks to see and places to eat. And the suggestions for places to stay are usually of the more pricey variety. Again, WHY did I enter as something I am currently reading? I do not know. Personally, I have gotten a lot more use and enjoyment out of used and outdated copy of Lonely Planet's Guide to the USA. But whatevs....

4. A History of Wife- I first took this out at my local library when we lived in England. I returned it before we moved and then when we landed in the US, I went to my parents local library and took it out again. It's a fascinating and a very well researched book, but it reads like a text book which is making it a slow one to get through.

5. Azazel- Every so often Griff and I will beg the other to read one of our favorite books. Griff and I have very different tastes in reading (he being of the sci-fi/fantasy variety) and occasionally we try and overlap and expand the others' mind a bit :) So he gave me Azazel which is a collection of short stories about a tiny demon. It's pretty good, but I can't read short story after short story, I have to break it up a bit. Unfortunately, the copy of this book suffered an accident. My water bottle leaked in my purse and now the book is SOAKED and I'm waiting for it to dry out. Luckily it's hot as balls outside, so hopefully it will dry out soon.

6. The Life of Joan Crawford- WOW. What can I say. This book sucked so hard I threw it across the bed and refused to read another page. The author is such an unapologetic fan that his whole history of Crawford is skewed. And he had the annoying habit of summarizing each movie. I can't stand that when reading a biography. I understand that sometimes the film an actor/actress was working on plays into the biography, but not every single film. It was horrible. But I started it with the intention of finishing it. But I'll be honest, once upon a time I would have. A time before Oz and I could finish shitty books for the sake of saying I finished them. But that time has passed. If I'm going to read something I'm going to damn well enjoy it.

7. Nerd Do Well- This is Simon Pegg's autobiography, and so far it's pretty good. I don't love it tho. I feel like I'm going through the motions. Which means I'm sort of dragging my heels about reading it.

When I'm reading a good book, I can't get enough. I actually look forward to Oz's nap time because it means we get to snuggle in bed and I get to read for a good hour or so. Right now, I get him to sleep and then do chores. The last series I read, The Hunger Games, was so brilliant and intense I just haven't been able to fill the void. Yet. I'm on it tho. I will find something good to read. Till then, you will have to just bear with the ridiculous list of 7 in my corner and know, that NO, I am not really reading all of those. It's just that if I mark it "As Read" then it will go towards my goal of 50 and that would be lying. And I don't lie...not even on the internet.

Oscar Loves the Ocean

This past weekend we took a short family trip to Charleston to visit my best friend, Wendy, and her family. Saturday we spent the day at the beach in Isle of Palms. It was absolutely lovely. It was warm and sunny and there were nice breezes and clouds to give us occasional breaks from the sunshine. All in all a perfect day.

This wasn't Oz's first time in the ocean. A few weeks ago we had been to Surfside (Myrtle Beach) and he loved the ocean. Being at the beach again, I was happy to see it wasn't a fluke.

My kid really loves the ocean. He crawls around in the water like it's his job. Last week he learned to walk, so there was walking in the ocean as well as crawling. I would say his favorite was walking in the water, and then plopping down in the waves to a huge splash.

Back before we had Oz, when I imagined parenting...it was moments like these. Watching your baby experiencing something new and taking so much joy from it makes your heart want to explode from happiness and pride. This, my friends, is the good life.

What I'm missing right now...

I'm not completely "homesick" for England (yet), but I am definitely starting to miss some things. Right now, the number 1 thing I am missing more than anything:

A good cup of tea.

My mom's kettle apparently doesn't boil water hot enough and the milk is different. I'm still using my Twinings English Breakfast Tea, but it's just different. And it makes me sad and I miss my tea, damnit!