Jun 30, 2010

After doing a few things at home I went to Ocean City to meet Ryan at his family's beach house. We went down to the water first and ran headfirst into the frigid water!

Doing it all at once made it pretty easy to get in. I think if I walked in I wouldn't have made it past my knees. There was no doubt that it was cold though.

We stood in the water for a while, fighting the waves. It would have been a good day for surfing. We basically just stood in the water and talked while jumping waves until we decided that we had been in long enough.

We took a walk down the very crowded beach which was also littered with broken shells, making it difficult to walk with bare feet.

After changing into regular clothes, we played shuffleboard at the club. We had a few good games. It seemed odd since the last time I played the boat was rocking and the discs didn't slide like I expected.

After a walk down the boardwalk and a stop at the arcade to be ripped off and then settle for pinball and air hockey, we went back to the house to relax and watch the History Channel's Presidents series for a bit. We decided to play some tennis since the weather was perfect for it. We played on the turf courts, which were different in a few ways from the cement courts we usually play. The ball didn't bounce as high or far and the footing was a little precarious at times. The game was good though. It seemed like we hadn't played in quite a while.

When I got back home, Jimmy and Josh came over to unload Jimmy's things from a trailer. It wasn't too much trouble besides a few items that we had to twist around to get up the stairs.

Jimmy got his things set up and made his room seem like home to spend his first night here. Sketch seemed to take an immediate liking to the house and made himself comfortable as well.

Sometime after midnight I went for a run around the neighborhood. Nights like these are great and I hate to waste them sitting inside.

Jun 29, 2010

I picked up Shannon early (reeeally early if you ask her) and brought her back to Millville to kayak on the Maurice River (pronounced Moor-ihs, for anyone who might think it's pronounced Moor-ees..).

We dropped our kayaks in right by the dam, where Shannon took some time to get used to the controls and the current of the river.

We headed down the river through downtown Millville and under the walking bridge that it seems like no one ever uses. It looks much nicer from above the river level.

After we got through town and passed a dock, we took a break at the 50 buoy. We rested for a little while and then started up again. Resting always makes it seem worse when you get back into whatever you were doing.

We continued following the river, being passed by a few motorboats and passing a rower headed the opposite way. The river opened up really wide as we got farther down and we weren't sure where we would be able to get out to a road. We asked a fisherman who suggested we head back to the dock we passed since it was a long way to anything in the other direction.

We heeded his advice and headed back. We were going with the current on the way back so we didn't have to put in as much effort. That's probably for the best since we were both a little tired from fighting it up to that point. We got back to the dock and called for a ride so we could get the truck and load out. It was a fun trip but hard to believe it's the same river that Ryan and I take through Vineland.

After I took Shannon home, Katie and I went to Cherry Hill Mall to do some browsing. I'm not much of a shopper but Katie found a pair of shoes she really loved and had to have. I like them as well and they weren't too expensive. We spent about fifteen minutes at a loose leaf tea shop sampling hot and cold teas while learning about the processes by which they mix and steep the leaves to get certain flavors. All of this was of course leading to the sales pitch which we awkwardly turned down and left. The teas were delicious.. I just didn't want to spent fifty dollars on loose leaf tea today.

Instead, I spent a reasonable amount on this delicious drink, the Bahama'Rita, at Bahama Breeze outside the mall. We each got one and it lived up to Katie's hype for it. Gotta love some girlie drinks.

On the way home we stopped at Rowan to play ping pong, which was the original plan for the trip before we detoured to the mall. We played something like four games and I lost them all again.. but I sort of won one. I got to 21 first but since Katie had 20 (and I guess you have to win by 2) she came back and destroyed me again. I'll get better.

She dropped me off at Quizzo, where I met Chuck to make a two person team for this week. We did pretty well, placing third overall, even though they didn't award a prize for third this week. Damn you, Wisconsin and Missouri! Two times in the History/Geography round we were off by one when giving the number of states which border Canada and the number that begin with the letter M.

That was pretty much my night. I was pretty tired when I got back home so I didn't waste much time before trying to fall asleep.

Jun 28, 2010

I spent the morning and early afternoon moving all the stuff out of my room and then Jimmy came over and helped with some bigger stuff and cleaned it up to get ready to move his things in.

After working up a sweat moving things because the humidity was about 105 percent we went swimming. It was great but the wind started blowing really hard and dark clouds rolled in shortly after we got in so it didn't last too long. It started to rain right after I left.

The rain didn't last long and, after I got dinner at Moe's, I met up with Carissa and we took a walk by the lake. The sun was setting nicely over the water and people were swimming to keep cool since the rain did nothing to calm the heat.

We went back to her house to swim in cleaner water. I've been doing a lot of swimming lately. I like it. I miss having a pool of our own to swim in at any time of day or night. After being in the pool for a while we played a few games on Wii before calling it a night.

I came back and moved a few things around in my new room. It doesn't look like much because everything is still disorganized but it will be nice soon.

After watching a few episodes of Entourage I got myself to sleep.

Jun 27, 2010

Ryan, Nathan and I headed to Delaware early to play Brandywine. It was still morning but the heat was already oppressive, hence the turban on Nate. Although I had to spend some time searching for discs during the first few holes, I was doing pretty well.

We were joined by Mike, a guy who was playing solo, for the back nine. He was a nice guy and much better than us at the game. It was cloudy for most of the rest of the game so it wasn't so bad.

After getting some lunch we came back to the park and took one of the trails. The worst part was the extremely steep grade at the very beginning. Luckily after making it through that it was fairly easy going.

There were a few less steep climbs and little stream to cross on the fairly short trail. It was shady along the path so that made us happy. Happy enough to whistle in unison. I hope someone heard us.

We almost took another path farther into the park but decided that we should call it a day and do something more refreshing.

Once we got back to town Nathan and I went to Flipper's Custard for banana ice cream. This is a small. I'm pretty sure it would be hard to put much more on there and still have it stable. I presume that they charge you for whatever size you order but give you the same amount. Or the ice cream girl liked us. Whichever is more likely.

We met up at Ryan's aunt's to go swimming. It felt great to get in the pool even though the air conditioning in the car cooled us down on the way home. Nathan discovered the fun of a waterproof camera.

We took a lot of videos doing stupid things in the water and tested our skills at shooting water from our hands and laying down on the bottom of the pool. It was a lot of fun. We hung out in the gazebo for a while to dry off and chat while Nathan made a whistle out of a blade of grass.

I got a message from Brian inviting me to play ultimate frisbee again so Ryan and I jumped at the chance. We got there on time which, it turned out, was far too early. We admired the great playground in the park that had a climbing pole, which we would like to have. We did an arm hang slalom around the swings until people showed up.

Once Troy, Jess and Laura were there and we had a frisbee to throw around we practiced a bit and realized that we were not doing so well. Throwing disc golf discs really makes it feel odd to throw regular frisbees. After throwing it a few different ways I started to get the hang of it but I still wasn't really happy with it.

Once Brian and a few others showed up we broke into two teams and took to the field. I'm not sure why but this game was so much more fun than last time. I felt like I was playing much better. I got to make a good amount of plays and score a few times. I was totally drenched in sweat by the end. I wish we could play this much more often.

I met Shannon for a swim when I got back home. We snacked on some hummus and pita chips poolside before getting in.

The water felt great and I was enjoying my beer quite a bit. We decided against attempting a two person whirlpool and just drank and played basketball with an inner tube instead. By the time we got out we were pruny.

I was completely dead tired when I got home and I barely remember lying down before falling asleep. Great day.

Jun 26, 2010

I picked up lunch to go at Moe's and went to my mom's house for a while. We ate and talked for a while while she showed off her new Droid phone. I want one.

I picked up the kayaks and then met Ryan at the river. As soon as we got moving we noticed a few trees that had fallen across the river that weren't there before. They weren't blocking our way, but it foreshadowed the coming problems we'd have.

There were far more instances where we had to maneuver around and over logs. It made it difficult at times but we managed to make it through them all without tipping over. The river is only a few feet deep at the most, yet I feel it's necessary to stay in the kayak at all times.

It made the calm parts even more enjoyable in contrast. The scenery was nice as always and the heat wasn't overpowering at any point.

I'd call the trip a success and I'm looking forward to going to somewhere that gives us more of a challenge in the form of rapids rather than logs.

I went home for a while before meeting Ryan for a swim a little later. It was still humid out so it was a great night for swimming and the pool felt even better than it did in the daytime. We did laps and they seemed easier for me this time.

I had plans to go out but they were canceled so I stayed in and tried to get to sleep early.

Jun 25, 2010

I woke up with an urge to go kayaking so I called up Jimmy who has been trying to get on the water all week and we headed to Laurel Lake. We went to the other side of the bridge where I hadn't been before and promptly left after being attacked by tons of bugs.

It was a really nice day to be out on the water. We went over the opposite end of the lake to the inlet and took a break, enjoying the scenery.

I really like this picture and the lily pads in this area of the lake. It's really calm over there so they just look like green spots on the water. There was nowhere else to go after that so we headed back to the dock.

This is the proper way to carry a kayak. If you ask me. It's probably not good for your neck.

We dropped off the kayaks and then went to play a game of disc golf. We met a guy that was out from Texas who asked if he could play with us since our course is pretty hard to navigate, especially now that half of it is flooded. He was a nice guy and a good golfer. We played as many holes as we could and then Jimmy and I went to his house to have lunch and watch The Daily Show.

Ryan met up with me back at the course where we ran most of the holes, doing marine squat push-ups at each basket. It was quite exhausting and by the end I was beat.

We went for a much needed swim after exercising. It was a good workout but I felt like doing more. After I cooled off in the pool I felt fine again.

We changed our plans a little for the night so Christie and Tracy picked me up and went to Landmark. I haven't been there probably since a random Quizzo night during last semester.

I was drinking Shock Top all night since they were on special. The DJ was not entertaining at all so I entertained myself by doing this with my napkin. We had a waitress who only asked the question, "Are you guys okay?" We were.

We talked about plans for the summer that will probably not happen... but we always like to talk about them anyway. I practiced making faces while everyone else smiled like normal. I was also excited because I got my beer and Christie's took a long time. We also finally got the DJ to play some songs we wanted to hear and it got much better right as we were leaving. It would.

We did some night swimming at Christie's for a short time. It was pretty chilly after getting in the water. The pool wasn't completely filled either so it was hard to stay all the way under. A warm shower felt good after that.

I was extremely tired once I got home and I passed out immediately. Really good day though.