May 31, 2011

I had two half-day jobs at Lakeside, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. I only had one class in the morning and then an assembly for Memorial Day. They are always having assemblies there. I had a decent break for lunch and then came back for an easy math class with only a few classes.

I met Ryan for a game of tennis after work in the somewhat extreme heat. We were sweating by the second game. After it cooled down a bit I felt like doing some more so I went over to the bluffs for some trail running. It wasn't anything too strenuous. There are a few hilly sections, but the main challenge is the soft sand areas.

When I finished I sat down by the lake and watched the sunset and drank a bunch of water. It was a nice end to the evening.

I came home and made plans for the next day's hike then got to bed early so I could wake up very early.

May 30, 2011

After a quick breakfast, we headed to Sourlands Preserve, near Princeton, and got out on the trail. Not as early as we'd have liked and quite a few more people at the trailhead than I prefer, but as we got moving and made it to the more strenuous section, people tapered off.

The trail was steeper and more rocky than I was expecting from the look of the place so that was a nice surprise. There were some big boulders along the first loop of the trail that we could climb on if we so desired.

Farther along we came upon a nice stream littered with giant boulders. We couldn't pass that up so we got onto them and started climbing up the slide.

Joanna had to find her way to the top of this big one, despite the difficulty getting up.. and getting down.

We stopped for a little rest before heading back down. It's so beautiful. I love giant rocks.

The views continued to be nice throughout the hike. There were a few more streams to hop over and we went in a circle at one point, but it was a lot of fun.

We were really hungry by the time we got back so we found the nearest Chili's and got ourselves a black bean burger and corn soup. So good. If only they served Gatorade.

We stopped at a park on the way back and played frisbee in a big, open field. It was pretty hot out and I was sweating just standing and throwing the disc around. After tossing for a while, we went over to the water fountain and dipped our feet in, watching little kids swim around in it.

We got back and I headed home and fell asleep for a while watching Fringe. I got up briefly, but went back to sleep since I had a job in the morning.

May 29, 2011

Alex and I went for Jamba Juice "breakfast" at 1pm at the mall. I wish I lived closed enough to a Jamba for any meal. We hung out there for a bit and then came back to her house for a bit before she had to get packing for her trip to Europe for a month!

I met Joanna at a trail system called Six Mile Run nearby and we left one car at the trailhead and went down to another for a longer hike. It was mainly a flat hike across a swampy area.

There were a few ups and downs throughout and it had a lot of nice, changing scenery. The weather was good for it and we were shaded most of the time as well.

This was my favorite scene from the whole hike. It was perfectly framed and beautiful with the wind blowing gently through the grass and the big puffy clouds ambling across the sky.

We encountered a few obstacles like this to cross several streams toward the middle. There was a warning that we'd have to cross a stream with no bridge on the map, but it was an easy rock hop across. The hike seemed to stretch on toward the end when we though we were done. A few strange turns and big fields later we were back at the parking lot.

After retrieving our cars we went looking for food and found a Malaysian place called Coco not far away. I tried their curry dish. It was quite different than other curry I've had and Very Spicy. I liked it. The staff was super friendly as well.

Since I was in the neighborhood I went back down to Kelly's in New Brunswick to visit Diana and have a drink. That was plan, but it turned into a few drinks and a couple of shots. Fireball shots are soo good. She wasn't too busy so she could stop and chat. We played good music on the jukebox and then hooked up my iPod to the speakers. Free drinks and my choice of music? Yeah, it was hard to leave.

I did leave, however, and went back to Joanna's, where we pitched the tent and slept on the soft grass in the nice night air, hoping it wouldn't rain too much.

May 28, 2011

I drove up to Secaucus Junction early to meet Nathan at the train station and head out for some hiking. We stopped a little bagel shop to get some sandwiches for lunch and then headed into New York.

We got to the Storm King trailhead already quite a way up the mountain with a nice view from the road so we wondered how much we'd have to climb up. It started ascending immediately, with small boulders strewn about and lining our climb.

There were a few spots where we had to do some actual hand-over-hand climbing. Just briefly. And we took some routes that added that as well. It was a nice, rocky ascent.

The views from the top were great. We could see to Breakneck Ridge, which we hiked in November. The views were plentiful as well. We thought we had made it to the top, but later found out that we had gone around it and circled back on our way down. Amusing and silly, but once we got to the top we were almost done our hike. It was a good one.

We decided to check out the Storm King Art Center, which is a huge sculpture park. There were tons of large-scale sculptures made of steel in the first big field we encountered. There was also the long wall made of rocks done by Andy Goldsworthy. That guy does amazing things.

The park was great and so expansive that we couldn't see everything. Some of the smaller sculptures were collected around the visitor's center. This was one of our favorites. We walked around until we tired of walking and the park was closing. I want to go back.

I dropped Nathan at the train station and headed to Alex's. After I showered we decided to go out for food. We went to Sunset Bar with Roxanne and her boyfriend. We sat outside in the back area, which is located on a small airfield. It was a cool setting and great weather. The food was quite good as well.

We went back to her house and I played pool with John for a bit while Destanny tried getting everyone to play a dancing game with her. Alex challenged me to a game as well and she won. It's been a while since I've played..

We watched The A-Team movie and stayed up most of the night. I finally took my place on the couch and tried falling asleep watching infomercials and Full House.

May 27, 2011

I began the day at Lakeside working for Erika but having no students because of an assembly. After my break and lunch I went to Memorial, where I showed movies in both classes and it went well. I got a call for a night school job so I took that and moved on to the Senior High. There I had few students in each class and we ended up leaving a little early after an emergency drill. Throughout the day I finished reading my book so I felt productive.

I met Chuck at Wildflower to get the vegan chili I was eying up the day before. Actually the jalapeno cornbread was what caught my eye. It was great. I'd like to enjoy that on a cold day. I love cornbread.

We zipped over to the movie theater and picked up our tickets for The Hangover 2. It was on and off funny for me, though I'm not sure what I was expecting. I think I'd laugh more if I watched it again.

It was quite a full day and I enjoyed it.

May 26, 2011

With no job, I slept in a bit and then took my bike to Randy's to get the back tire fixed and a tune-up while I was there. I picked up a new lock as well since I forgot the combo to the old one.

I went over to the zoo to park and then ran the trail along the road which led to a training path through the woods behind the high school. It was a maze of paths, but it wasn't easy to get lost so I took a bunch of them in different directions. I encountered a deer and some fallen logs along the way.

When I got back I took a stroll through the zoo to cool down. There really aren't many animals there. Or at least they weren't out, but it was a hot day. I hung out at the lemur cage for a while and then exited.

While I waited for my bike to get done I sat on the bridge over the stream and read more of The Girl's Guide to Homelessness. Good book. I got through a few chapters before I got the call and picked up the cycle.

Chuck and I went to Wildflower, where I got the chicken(less) salad sandwich. Really good. It may be healthier in some ways, but it makes me want to eat more food.

A little later I took the newly tuned-up bike out on the road for ride to my mom's house. I hung out there for an hour or so talking to her and then rode back in the cool air of night. It was a little more than twenty miles total. Not a bad start.

I was tired when I got home, but stayed up until I got a job that I didn't expect around 1am.

May 25, 2011

Day two of choir class went pretty well. There was a movie with the appropriate length for the class this time. We watched Anastasia in all of the classes and went to Erika's band class during fourth block to see a pitch for marching band. It was a nice change.

I went up to Rowan after work and met Joanna. We talked a bit and I cleaned out some of my stuff from the building. There is still quite a bit more of mine there. I remember when I made that thing in 3D Design.

I went to rec center and played a bunch of games of ping pong with Christy. I won. Most of them anyway. They were all close games. We need a running tally.

We sat at the big kids table for Quizzo for some reason. Strangely it was more difficult to hear him when we were right next to him. Despite our best efforts we managed to come in second place! I really didn't think that would happen after we missed so many on the first couple of rounds.

It was a good evening and a surprise win for us.

May 24, 2011

I worked at Memorial for the first of two days as the choir teacher. I expected a class that was tough to deal with but they were all pretty good. Their teacher had me show them a short series of CGI music videos and title them. Then nothing. So we sat there for an hour after that, I'm really surprised they didn't burn the place down. I wouldn't have blamed them.

After a nap, I met Ryan, Christy, and Elaina at the courts by the high school and we played quite a few games of doubles. We started off with Ryan and me vs them and then Christy joined me and we played against the other two. That worked much better and we had a lot of really good games that way. I like doubles.

I mentioned ice cream during the game and we all wanted it after we finished so we went to Custard Corral for some waffle cones. It was delicious and melty in the warm night air.

This guy was also there hanging out on the table. He was upside down and break dancing most of the time. We went back to the court and took a walk around the pond before we all parted ways and I headed home.

Shannon met me at my house and we took a walk on the woods trail in the dark while Glee downloaded. When we got back we watched the season finale and talked a bit before she went home.