Maine-Bound

The drive to Rochester, NY was rough. It was raining the whole way. Enough to make me nervous. I hadn’t felt stressed for the past two and half months and all of a sudden it seemed like I couldn’t get rid of it. It started with the computers going down at the testing center that didn’t allow me to take the GRE. Granted, I didn’t study much as I usually don’t for useless, yet required, standardized tests. But I was mentally and emotionally prepared. After waiting for two hours for them to fix the problem, I was turned away and given a ticket number so I could reschedule. That threw everything off. I sort of planned things around that day. And then the stop in Canada. Usually it’s easier to get into Canada than the US, but this time was not the case. The guy at the border had something up his butt. He wanted to know “other than the clothes I’m wearing right now, what am I bringing with me?” After telling him all the strange junk I had in my car, he sent me to immigration. On the slip he gave me, under things I claimed, he wrote “sleeping bag”. Why that’s an issue, I don’t know. After waiting for about 40 minutes, a new person asked me some questions and let me go. The rain didn’t help my situation either. I started feeling knots and form and a soreness around my shoulder bones. I daydreamed about the stress-free life I had not even a week ago. It’ll come again.

Next thing I know, I’m at Erin’s. As soon as I saw her, I knew the next couple of days would be a lot of fun. It’s always a fun time with Erin. The word no seems to disappear when I’m with her. “Wanna do this?” The reply, either from me or her would always be “YEAH!!!” like we were little kids being asked if we wanted ice cream for dinner. I took a rest and we got on the road again to get a head start to the 11 hour ride to Maine. She wanted to know all about my trip. She claimed I would have some details that I didn’t share in my blog. I ended up talking for two hours. My throat was dry, I started getting light headed and I started getting times, places and events mixed up towards the end. Being exhausted from driving so long and talking her ear off, we stopped in Bennington, VT for the night. The next day we continued our way to Acadia National Park. There was much construction on the way. Apparently New Hampshire had been flooded. The towns we were passing had a lot of character to them. We finally made it to Acadia.

We decided to drive through the park and check it out. It was a weird park in that it had one main one-way street, and you don’t really pay to get into the park until you’re half way through that road. It’s not by any entrance, just out in the middle of nowhere. I don’t know how they figured that one, but I’ll spare myself the agony of trying to answer what is most likely unanswerable. The day had been rainy, and the clouds lingered into the evening. So everything was hazy and gloomy. The park had potential though. We saw a beautiful sunset even though it was behind the clouds. We tried driving up a mountain along the way, but it got too foggy at one point. The scenic overlook was just a light shade of gray in every direction. We didn’t make it to the top, but we figured it was moot to go any further. So we drove back down, and went into downtown Bar Harbor. Had some delicious food, shopped around for a little bit and picked up maps and brochures so we could lay out the rest of our visit. She’s an early sleeper, so now I’m kind of stuck, wide awake, in a cute room with spotty internet because the building is made of metal. I guess I can organize some pictures so I can post them, like the CO ones. Maybe I can study some too… I’ll think about it.

09/19/11 

Washington, DC

The Megabus was awesome! Getting to New York was a breeze, and the Megabus was easy, convenient and way cheap. I slept almost the entire way. I was exhausted from the night before. Like I said, always a good time with Miranda. But I also had to stay up and write. I’m slow at posting. Anyway, I got to DC, called Miranda’s sister, Nina, and she told me to take the red line over to her place. Again, super easy transportation. She picked me up, we had lunch, and hung out for a while. She lives in Bethesda. A lot like Stamford, nice, cute, but nothing really new. I called Mike to see if he could hang out while I was in town. Crazy enough, he lived right across from Nina. Small world. I hung out with Mike and Sun that night and talked about what to do the next day. There’s a lot to do in DC. A LOT. I’ll definitely have to come back for a week or so just to do all the stuff I want to do.

The next day I woke up and took the train into DC. I saw the Capitol, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, National Archives, the White House, Jefferson Monument, Old Post Office, and… I guess I don’t remember any other sites. I walked a lot that day, from the capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, and back. That’s about 2.5 miles each way. Thank goodness for my Keens. I started off at the botanical gardens. Not very impressive. The one in Chicago is much better. Perhaps because nothing was in bloom at the time, and everything just looked like green shrubbery.

I haven’t taken many pictures on this trip, but I feel like I more made up for it today. I was a little upset that I didn’t have the Kroeschell truck with me though. I could’ve gotten so many good ones! It’s ok though since I’m planning on going back. Most pictures I took were of monuments and such. I don’t know why I didn’t go into any museums. I guess I thought I’d see the monuments then go into the buildings. But everything closed at 5:30. I did walk into the national archives. I saw the thin, faded, and unreadable Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. And a lot of other stuff that was uninformative. I guess I should have known better. Such a big building with little of it you can see on the inside.

The Old Post Office was pretty cool. I went up into the self guided tour of the tower, got to see a good overview of the city. I wanted to go inside the Newseum, but I thought I’d get it on the way back. And the newspapers from all 50 states posted outside made me want to cry. 9/11 sucks. The White House was… white. 

At this point, I grew a little bored. I was by myself and it was boring. If at any point I found something interesting, I couldn’t share it with anyone. But I walked on hoping for something worthwhile. The Washington Monuments was closed because of the big crack in it from the earthquake. It’s ok though, I didn’t feel like going in it anyway. The Lincoln Memorial isn’t as cool as I thought it would be. It’s huge, and empty. Maybe I don’t get the point of it, or maybe I was still bored. The reflective pool was under construction, so I couldn’t picture Jennay and Forrest. It was clear as mud. Hah! Now I sound like Barry.  

One the way back, I stopped at the Korean War Memorial. That made me really sad too. Thinking of all these people that went to all these wars, whether by choice or by draft. I thought of how they left children fatherless and mothers to bury their children. It all felt wrong. The fountain said “Freedom is not free”. Well why not? Why does it have to be fought for? Why do people have to die for it? It shouldn’t be that way. Do we make it that way? I don’t know. But I felt saddened by the idea and sorrow for everyone involved. DC left me sad and lonely. Next time I go I’ll just look at cool stuff like the international spy museum and air and space museum. Yep, I’ve got nerd written all over me. I just like proving it over and over again.

On the way back to the metro, I couldn’t help but see all these huge buildings that did… well, a lot of nothing. Huge building for agriculture, or printing, or god knows what. They were pretty though. I ended up at the capitol again and asked a guy to take a picture of me next to the capitol. He happened to be Asian, and I happened to get 6 or 7 photos from him. At least I’ll get to pick the ones I like. I should’ve taken a picture of him. And then a creepy guy came up to me and started chatting, started being more creepy, so I decided it was time to head back and call it a day. I met up with Mike and Sun again for dinner, had some delicious cupcakes and then packed up for the flight back home.

By the way, I got through security with a huge bottle of eye contact solution. Not that I was trying to clean the pilot’s eye contacts or anything, but jeez. They make this huge fuss about security and liquids and shoes and nail clippers and then I get through with what I had. I don’t know about you DC… I’ll have to give you another whirl.

09/12/11

Stamford, CT

Before I go on my rambling, I would like to apologize to everyone reading this blog. When I write, I write to myself and mostly for myself. It’s more like a journal to help me remember what I was doing and what I was thinking. Sometimes I forget that others are reading this. My thoughts are scattered, random, and probably insignificant. I wonder if I’ll look back at this one day and probably think how silly I was. I feel I’ve become repetitive and uninteresting. I think too much, and sometimes thinking is depressing. I'm sure things will light up, hopefully. I’d also like to apologize for the first post on this blog. Those are not my words. I’ve gotten comments on it of how good it was. It’s not mine. I should have credited the person who wrote that poem. It was on the radio back in 1999, and I’ve never forgotten about it. I still don't know who it was by. However, I’m glad that people like it, and I hope it’s meaning to them doesn’t change, because it’s great advice. That’s why I used it. But I apologize for deceiving anyone that didn’t already know that song.

That being said… back to the over thinking. I took the train from Jersey to meet up with Adam in NYC before I head over to Stamford. While waiting at the station, I did what I usually did, I people watched. This was different though. They were all kinds of people. Artists, people dressed up in suits, always on the go and in a hurry, homeless people, travelers, and I guess what you would call “average” people. I wondered what kind of people they were. If they were trying to make it big or just trying to make it through. Either way, it sort of saddened me. Going through life either way is just not… fun. I looked at one guy in a suit. Thought he might be a big shot. Then I looked at his eyes, and they were very humble. I figured he was one that was trying to make it though. I hope I’m right, but only because I’d like to think that I can’t be deceived.  

I got to New York in a heartbeat. New York City always seems to bring out the worst in me. Not always, just sometimes. And that day, it did. I’m not sure what it is. The people aren’t really that mean, the streets aren’t really that dirty. Maybe because it’s so busy? Maybe because I’m trying to get somewhere at a certain time? I don’t know. But I become not such a good person. Like the poem said, leave before it makes you too hard. 20 minutes is kind of short. Ha. I’ve been to New York plenty of times. It’s a great city. Guess that just wasn’t my day. I did meet with Adam and his girlfriend, had dinner and caught up a little bit. It’s always good seeing a friend. Even though we hung out for a few hours, it felt like it was a couple of minutes.

I took a taxi to Grand Central Station. Best cab driver I ever had. He was so much fun to talk to. He was from Idaho. Who’s from Idaho? He said there’s nothing there, maybe a few potatoes. Anyway, Grand Central was beautiful! I took the train out to Stamford. Have I mentioned how awesome the public transportation is out east? It’s awesome. You never need a car. It’s organized, reliable, and pretty cheap. Not just in New York, but the surrounding areas. It’s fantastic. Anyway, Miranda picked me up from the station and we started our weekend. I hadn’t seen Miranda for a couple of years. But when I saw her, I immediately became 17 again. I don’t think she did though. Ha, that’s ok. It was great couple of days with her. It’s always a great time with her. I feel like she’s changed, but maybe not. Maybe she just matured and I went back to being my immature 17-year-old self. I am quite happy for her. She seems to be in a good place.

Stamford was nice. It didn’t have anything particular or anything that stood out. Definitely not a touristy town, but it was nice town, much like home. If I go there again, it would only be to visit Miranda. But then again, that’s pretty much the only reason I went there in the first place. And it was a lot of fun. Tomorrow is an early day. Going to New York to catch the Megabus to DC. Maybe I should’ve have planned things out better. Who would go through those two cities on 9/11? I guess I’m going to. It’s ok, it’s not like I’m Middle Eastern or anything…

09/09/11

Long Island, NY & Clifton, NJ

This trip hasn’t been like the other two. The past few days haven’t been so much about seeing new places, but more about catching up with old friends, and that I did, and it was great.

My wonderful sister dropped me off at a rest stop by her house early Labor Day to meet up with Jo and her dad. I was driving out to Long Island with them. I figured I’d help with the driving and we could keep each other company. It was more like Jo driving and me playing with the cat pretty much the entire way. I don’t know how she does it, and she did it in the rain. Her father did it in a moving truck in the rain. But I really did enjoy my time with her, even the silence. It was a comfortable silence. I guess that’s how you know you have a good friend vs a friend. Driving through Ohio wasn’t bad. Pennsylvania was long, very long. The rain didn’t help. Although I did drive for about a half hour. We stopped in some weird place off the highway to spend the night. They had been up since 4am and the rain wasn’t helping the situation. I, on the other hand, was wide awake. But I wasn’t the one driving, so I was okay with stopped for the day… at 3:30pm.

That night I pondered the gift Jo had given me earlier and the card she wrote. The gift was very thoughtful and her words extremely kind. In a way, I wanted to give the card right back to her. I wished she would see what I saw in her. She tends to over think things and in the process, lose her confidence. Perhaps she looks too much behind her, the woulda’s, coulda’s and shoulda’s. I’m guilty of doing the same, but I feel like hers is more extreme and sometimes crippling. There’s nothing more than I can do than tell her everything will be fine, but those are just words. I wish I could show her what I see.

The next day we got up early, had breakfast, and got on the road again. Another rainy day, but it was light out and everyone was well rested. Drove the last hour through Pennsylvania. There’s really not much to see off the road there. Lots of pretty trees and greenery, but I’m pretty spoiled nice views by going out west. But I-80 through Pennsylvania felt like they just stuck a road in the middle of nowhere for people to get from Ohio to Jersey. Yeah, Jersey…

We stop in the Bronx for a bathroom break. Ugh. Grossest McDonald’s I’ve ever been to. I usually like McDonalds because they have very clean bathrooms, but not this one. And the Bronx was so hectic. It was too much fo me. Apparently, Jo didn’t like it either. We finally get to her house. I get to see where she grew up! We unpacked the truck (and by “we” I mean her and her father while I watched), and ordered pizza. Apparently, it’s called pie on Long Island. I must say though, it was delicious. Everything has been delicious the past few months. I’m going to get fat. Anyway, her brother came home from work, we all had pizza and then played a game of Phase 10. I’m again reminded of all the wonderful people that come into my life. She has such a great family. They are very fun, and lovable, and warm, and playful, and sweet, and… I could go on and on. I felt at home. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more comfortable at another person’s house. They treated me like one of their own, no different.

The next morning I had cereal and waited for Jo to take me to the train. As I had breakfast, I watched her father clean and improve the air conditioner. It was quite intriguing as he was very meticulous. I didn’t know if I liked it because I appreciate it when people take the time to do something right or because I could relate to him in how I do things. I then realized that that’s how he did everything, he was meticulous about everything. It’s something Jo picked up from him. I thoroughly enjoyed sitting at the table watching him do a simple task.

Shortly after, Jo took me to the train station so I could head to New Jersey to see family. As I waited for the train to arrive, all I could think about the night before. Jo’s mom gave me a kiss goodnight and said “Joanne is very lucky to have you.” But I think it’s more so other way around. I’m very lucky to have her in my life.

Just arrived at Penn Station. I’m off to New Jersey.

******************************************************************************

Well, I haven’t had the chance for internet since I’m writing everything on the train. I’m quite impressed with the transportation system out here. Not just New York, but the surrounding states as well. It’s very easy and convenient, and relatively cheap. It’s actually kind of exciting being lost in a big city. I thought I’d be a little scared, but I’m not really. Kind of exciting exploring on my own.

Anyway, I made it to New Jersey. There’s really not much to see. I heard you get a great view of NYC from Hoboken, but we didn’t get the chance to do that. Pretty much rained the whole time I was there. We did attempt to go to Time Square, but it poured, so we came back. I’m ok with that though. I’ve been to NYC so many times. The purpose of this trip was to see family. One of my cousins came out from the Middle East. I haven’t seen him in seven years. We were close back in the day.

When I saw him, I felt like I was 12 again. I didn’t realize how much I missed him, and his family. I started crying at the dinner table, tears of joy. There might have been a tear or two of sadness. How could I not keep in touch? In an age of so many communication technologies, it’s not that difficult. I hope I can hold on to this feeling and hold true to what I’m promising myself I would do to keep in touch with him. But I had a great time. We caught up, and joked, and made of fun each other, and shared stories and experiences. Normal stuff cousins do. It was really good seeing him. It was good seeing the entire family of course, but we were close friends when we were younger.

Well, out of Jersey and back to NYC to have a drink or two with Adam.

09/05/11 – 09/08/11

Jeff & Katie's Wedding

Guess who showed up late? Don't worry, it was just me. As usual, I’m never on time. I felt horrible, but I snuck in without anyone knowing. Jeff and Katie were standing up there, side by side, as usual weddings go. But they seemed to have a sense of comfort, like that’s where they belonged, naturally. I noticed Jeff did very well with his plan on slimming down for the wedding, and Katie looked absolutely gorgeous. Now I know everyone says stuff like that to bride anyway, but let’s face it, it’s what you’re supposed to say. Katie, however, was truly and genuinely beautiful. Maybe because I know how sweet of a person she is (sheesh, she married Jeff for Pete’s sake). I kid Jeff, you’re pretty awesome. Anyway, the wedding was short, or maybe because I got there late it didn’t seem long at all. But I did enjoy watching their wedding while I was ignoring everything the priest had to say. Why start listening now? As the wedding ended and the wedding party went back, I thought “holy preggers!” It looked like half the bridesmaids were expecting, a couple any minute now. But Katie had picked very flattering dresses whether you’re a stick or got another human in your belly. By the way, the dress I wore was the exact same color as the bridesmaids’ dresses. Not sure why it’s a big deal, but I felt like it was. Luckily, there were a couple of hours between the wedding and the reception. So I found a mall and went dress shopping. Like I need an excuse to buy a dress. I bought two.

Made my way over the reception. It was a very nice place, as most country clubs are. Everything was set up elegantly. I decided to sign the guestbook even though I know they’ll never read it. Who had time for stuff like that? Let’s talk about important stuff. Food. The appetizers were delish! Mmmm… cheese and fruit, and pizza, and veggies, and meatballs. Mmmm. Going into the hall, we got to congratulate the newlyweds and their parents. I was a tad disappointed that Jeff’s dad changed his bowtie to a regular tie. Yeah, I’m weird about irrelevant details. Dinner music was mostly Sinatra. And the table behind ours knew every song, and they sang them loud and proud. Dinner was super delish! I felt like a total pig stuffing my face while all the other ladies were taking their time eating their small bites. I need to hang around more girls more often. This whole engineering thing makes me feel like an outcast sometimes. Whatever. At least I got to sit at a table with other nerdy fellow engineers. This was the first wedding I’ve been to in a long time that I haven’t been in, and I was a little worried about not knowing anyone else there. But I had nothing to worry about. Everyone there was extremely kind and fun. Looking back on it, I had nothing to worry about in the first place. Good people draw other good people.

Dance! Not going to lie, I can do without the first dance and the Daddy/bride and Mother/groom dances. Although Jeff and Katie looked wonderful and having a great time. But I get antsy and I just want to dance. And I danced. Even by myself, I didn’t care. It was good music, I was in a good mood, and I just wanted to dance. Unfortunately, I was pretty tired from my travels the day before, so I left pretty early. I looked for Jeff to say goodbye, but I couldn’t find him. I’ll admit it though, the candy table got my attention, like I need more sugar with the week I just had. But it was good candy, and it was pretty too. They had little baggies and jars of all different kinds of candies. That was basically your favors from the wedding. Best idea ever. Jeff had told me about it, but I forgot. It made a nice surprise though. Mmmm… what a delicious wedding. How can you go wrong with great people, great food, and great music? It an awesome way to start a life together.

Congrats Jeff & Katie

08/27/11

Denver, CO

Denver was… fun. Really, REALLY fun. It’s definitely not what I was expecting. Just coming back from an outdoorsy trip, and going to an outdoorsy place, I expected a lot of hiking, mountains, and whatnot. There was some of that, but it was just fun. And I think I know why. There’s a lot to say, but I don't think I can say it all. A lot to remember, maybe I'll have to go back to the mile high city and recall a few things, but I'll do my best, so…

It started off with calling my friend that I met while living in the Chicago area. She moved a couple of years later to Denver. Let’s call her Charlie. I told her we would be in the her neck of the woods and hoped we’d meet up for a couple of events. Well, that’s not what happened. She was the most generous exquisite host. She picked us up from airport, gave us a place to stay for all ten days, and even biked to work so we could have her car, and showed us around the fun stuff in Denver. She even made us breakfast most of the time. Not only did she do all that, but she was excited about all of it. I honestly believe if it wasn’t for her, this trip would have been vastly different.

Denver. I thought there were a lot of hippies in Ann Arbor and a lot of homeless people in Chicago. Not so much anymore. It’s like headquarters for both those groups in Denver. Wow. I also figured Denver to be a bigger city. It was a good size, but maybe I’ve been spoiled by big cities being like New York and Chicago that make Denver look like a small town. Although I just came from small towns that had a populations of 10, a few hundred, or as much as one of the Ann Arbor high schools. I guess expectations change the way we see things.

The touristy things we did: firefighter museum, a tour of the Coors Brewery, and a tour of Hammond’s Candy. The HUGE REI, and of course the bars, restaurants. We attempted to visit the mint, but… let’s not talk about government now. The firefighter museum was pretty cool. I really wanted to pretend to be a firefighter and slide down a pole. There were six of them! But they wouldn’t let me. Bah. Coors tour was not so good. They didn’t really show you much of anything, just a lot of boards and reading. They only thing they really showed you is the packaging of the cans in a case. On the other hand, they gave you three free beers. Three! Why would you need three beers? I don’t even like beer, but I had a Bluemoon… or two. The candy factory tour was cool. They make all their candy by hand. It takes three years of training to know how to do everything they do. Of course I bought a ton of candy, and of course I ate it all. Mmmm.

Before going on the candy tour. We stopped to eat at a Mexican place. It food was alright, but I had a Coca-Cola, from Mexico, in a glass bottle. My goodness was it delicious. It didn’t have any of the preservative crap, and it didn’t have any taste from its container. How wonderfully delicious it was. I was definitely savoring every sip. Craig said I looked like I came out of a commercial for it. Maybe those commercials were made with the original recipe and they really weren’t faking. I’d be addicted to pop if it tasted like that all the time. Thankfully, it doesn’t. It’s crap.

Other than that, there weren’t any touristy things. We went on a couple of small hikes and had delicious Korean and Vietnamese food here and there. The food I had in Denver was by far the most flavorful and delicious I’ve ever had in my life. Just sayin… so yeah. We actually avoided most museums, except the Tesla “museum”. I’m not going to talk about that any more. Anyway, I was actually sick of history museums. I feel like they’re all just sob stories of how this one poor guy came from god knows where and started some kind of cult that is now a great city of blah blah blah. And there’s a lot of arrowheads too. Yay, history. Don’t get me wrong, I like history, but I like true history. The whole story, the deep story. Tell me where this guy came from and what he was thinking and what he was trying to do. Tell me what he ate for breakfast and the people he met along the way. More about wonderful Denver…

Like the weather. It's awesome... all the time. Snow today, gone tomorrow. And not too much heat, and 300 days of sun. What else can you ask for? There was a an even called the biker cruise. Every Wednesday, a ton of people, and I mean a ton, go out onto the streets of Denver in their bikes, meet at the “circle of death” and ride around for hours. Most people just sit around watching them. There’s a different theme every week. We went to two of them and didn’t dress up for either. But it was a lot of fun. I feel like it would be something I would do every Wednesday if I lived there. And no problem if you don’t have a bike. They have bike stations where you can rent one. They’re everywhere, and they’re a great idea. Silly tree hugging hippies have something going here. But I realized how much I loved riding. They’re not mountain bikes or street bikes where you constantly bend your back to grab the handle bars. They’re cruiser bikes, the kind you had when you were little. A comfy seat, wide handle bars, and you just ride like you’re going to your friend’s house to play. It even had a basket and a bell. All I needed were streamers and the wheel decorations.

We also drove up to Mt. Evan, a “fourteener”. It was gorgeous. It was a short hike up to the tip, but my dislike of inclines combined with the thin air due to elevation, I didn’t care for those two hundred feet. But it was a great mountain. On one side you can see nature and mountains and all kinds of cool scenery, on the other side, you can see Denver lit up just like any other city from a distance.

Denver was pretty close to other cities too. Boulder wasn’t too far away. And once you go there, you know exactly why you call it Boulder. There was a natural amphitheater not too far away either, Redrock. That was a site to see. I would love to go to a concert there. And I will, even if it’s a band I don’t like. It would be amazing. The last night we were there, we went to a club with a dub step thing going on. I’m not too fond of the music, but by the end of the night, I couldn’t stop dancing. I was quite energetic and having a lot of fun. This may have been my favorite night. I watched everyone enjoying this horrible music. I saw Charlie jamming with her workout clothes and pigtails. And I saw Craig dance. This was invigorating. Craig never dances, and when he does, he’s being silly and makes fun of how he can’t dance. But he was moving with such comfort, and he was having fun. It was great to see. And Charlie. She’s one of a kind. She doesn’t give a damn about anything, she’s just enjoying herself. And she’s like this all the time. I guess I can’t say enough good things about Charlie. She’s fun, kind, generous, and heaven help anyone who gives her shit. And she’s fun to be around because of that. She loves to have fun and it reflects off of her. I often wonder how lucky I am to have so many good people in my life. Not only Charlie, but my other friends, my family, and even strangers I meet. I come to this realization again at Jeff’s wedding which I’ll write about later. But Charlie in particular is my hero. She’s who I want to be, or at least what I’m working towards being. Her motto: Less stress, more fun. And I think that’s great. There’s so much fun to be had, and I had a ton of it in Denver.

August 2011