Oct 26, 2013

I slept as long as I could in the morning and met the crew downstairs for a quick breakfast. I finished getting dressed and dragged all my gear downstairs to the truck and we headed to the arena. There was a lot of traffic coming into the parking garage when we got there so we jumped out early and took the gear in while Derrick parked. Our setup wasn't bad. We put up a backdrop on either side of the stage, put the cameras and flashes together, taped our marks, and then tested everything out. It went pretty smoothly and then we just had to sit and wait for the first speakers to go through their speeches before the graduates started coming up.

The whole room seemed smaller than I expected. The graduates came down the line, one by one, stepping up in front of the backdrop and I shot them quickly and they moved on. It was a well-oiled machine and it worked out perfectly. It seemed like we got through the whole crowd really fast and suddenly it was time to break down. Pretty easy and still fun. After breaking down, we headed back to the car, said goodbye to Kevin and Max, and were back on the road to PA.

We dropped Rena off at home once we were back in Maryland then Derrick and I stopped for something to eat in the car for our remaining few hours. We made good time until we got to 476 in PA, of course. There was an insane amount of traffic on a Saturday afternoon for some reason and we inched along, knowing that if it was clear we could be at the office in twenty minutes. Finally, we made it back and unloaded the gear and took it upstairs. Then I was home free.

I listened to a few podcasts on my drive home and then fell happily into my computer chair where I remained for the evening until I was ready for bed. The long drive really took it out of me even though I wasn't behind the wheel. It was just nice not being in a car seat for a while.

Oct 25, 2013

I got to sleep in a bit in the morning, but I still was not looking forward to the drive to the Legacy office. I got there on time, but, as I figured, everyone wasn't there or ready yet. We had to wait for Derrick to get there, and then we had to wait for Dave to get there with his car because he didn't realize we were leaving that early or something. Once all our gear was packed, checked, and stowed in the back of Dave's Volvo though we were ready to hit the road. After a stop at Wawa of course.

The drive wasn't bad. I enjoy conversations with Derrick so that helps the time go by much more quickly. Plus I can occupy myself on my phone when there is nothing being said. That's the nice part about being a passenger. We picked up Rena at her place in Maryland and continued down Route 13 to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. I remember being much more enamored with it in the past. I think the idea of it was always cooler than the actual experience. Or maybe I just want to see it from above or on the water. You can't see it that well when you're driving it.

We stopped briefly at the rest area in the middle of the bridge as the sun was going down. Kevin and Max were right there with us in their car somehow. I thought they'd be way ahead. When we got to the Aloft Hotel, I was eyeing up my coworkers, wondering who I'd be rooming with. To my surprise I saw five keys being handed to Derrick and then he distributed them at random. I had my own room! A wonderful surprise. Too bad we weren't really staying long enough to enjoy it. We headed to our respective rooms, which are super nice, and took a short time before we headed out to get dinner.

We went to Carrabba's, where I got a tasty Sam Adam's Oktoberfest at the bar while we waited to be seated. Beer tastes better when it's paid for by the company card. So does the food. We had some great food and good conversations at the table. Rena and I have a lot in common, especially when it comes to skiing. She told me about how different skiing in Colorado is on fresh powder. One day I'll find out for myself. Maybe this year...? We hung out there for a while after we finished our meals and then spent a little time at the hotel bar before retiring to our rooms for the night. The bed was really comfortable and I wish I didn't have to set an alarm...

Jun 15, 2012

We had a nice sleep in the tent after our long day of hiking, but then we had to go home. We packed up the site and got on the road.

It was a really nice day, and we stopped a couple times to get food and gas. We didn't hit much traffic except for near DC.

Just back into New Jersey we got pulled over because Steph didn't yield the left lane to a cop that was behind her. She was worried because the right blinker was out. In hindsight she probably should have just moved without the blinker.

When we got home I went home and chilled out for a while. Later I met Ryan for a neighborhood run and then a walk and talk.

Jun 14, 2012

This story is best told through photos. We slept in for a while and then got up to eat and head to the Dragon's Tooth hike along the Appalachian Trail.

The hike started off rocky and uphill. This feature would show up continuously throughout the day.

There were also some nice flat, heavily wooded areas.

It wasn't too long before we got to the Dragon's Tooth feature, which was on an offshoot to the trail. We had to climb up to get to the very top.

The view was beautiful from the top, though it was a little scary standing up straight on the narrow section.

We hung out and had a snack while we sat up there and then we climbed down and hiked back down the trail we came up.

We went to a little gas station to get some snacks and drinks to go with our food for lunch and took them out to a field next to it to have a little picnic. We ate and lay in the grass. And Steph ate her green pepper like an apple. I have never seen that before.

After we hung out for a while, we headed over to the trailhead for McAfee Knob, another Appalachian Trail section. Steph and I waited in the car for a while as Jess hiked ahead.

The trail was interesting and well-maintained with bridges and log steps that took a moderate grade up the ridge.

It got more rocky at some points and we were rewarded with some overlooks along the way. The trail was mostly wooded, though it passed through some open fields and under high tension wires.

When we got to McAfee Knob, it was an amazingly beautiful view. We took a lot of photos of the view and then of each other on the famous outcropping. We had a lot of fun taking different shots and trying not to fall off as we got close to the edge.

The sun started to go down and we were treated to a gorgeous sunset of orange and deep purples. I got some amazing shots.

We took some fun silhouette shots after it got a little darker. We tried a bunch of things like getting Jess and Steph to jump at the same time and make a heart with their arms. Then I had them flip their hair around. We had a good time.

As we walked around we ran into some thru-hikers who had made a fire at the top. They were planning on camping nearby. We talked to them for a while about hiking the trail and how nice the place was.

We went back to the knob area to take long-exposure shots of the stars. I got some nice star trails. This shot looks better after I edited down some of the city light and brought the stars up some.

Our hike back to the car was fun in the dark. We had a couple of flashlights out the whole time, but we were taking it slow so we didn't trip. We did trip. It was slow going and we worried that we might get lost at times, but we found our way back and happily headed back to our camp.

Jun 13, 2012

I met Jess and Steph in the morning and we began our long drive south to Roanoke. We stopped along the way at a nice park to have a picnic lunch. For the first time, and many, many, many subsequent times on the way down, I heard "Call Me Maybe" on the radio. That's what happens when the radio is on.

Once we got there we went to the nearest grocery store to get camping supplies. Only the essentials.

We got back to the campsite we started a fire to cook some sausages. Finding sticks sturdy enough was the hardest part, but once they were cooked we feasted! And it was good.

We explored the park we were staying in for a while, walking around the trails and up the nearby hills looking for firewood for later.

We found a hike nearby that we had to drive to. We were looking for a good sunset view. We drove to a strange area, parked, and walked for another mile or so down a path that was overgrown in places and seemed to lead nowhere. We found no good vantage point for sunset and had to head back down the boring trail.

When we got back to camp we got a fire going and Steph and I decided to sneak into the swimming pool for a night swim. We had fun in the pool, but once we got out it was freezing so we rushed back to the fire to warm and dry ourselves.

It was a great day of fun and we sardined into my tent for the night. Not too much rolling around allowed.

Apr 11, 2012

We started heading north in the morning and headed through North Carolina to Virginia. We stopped at a small brewery to try a few samples and then headed on our way to the next one quite a while up the highway. Blue Mountain Brewery had an amazing selection of brews including the Evil 8 Dubbel. I wanted to stay here.

After searching out several vineyards, Barren Ridge ended up being the one we stopped at. They offered 8 free samplings and they had a nice selection of wines. Kate got a bottle to go.

As we neared DC it rained a bit and a rainbow came into view for a little while. We found an Olive Garden to use our gift card at and had a nice dinner. It's been some time since I've been to the Garden.

One last brewery before the home stretch, we stopped at Mad Fox Brewing, where We had one of the best arrays of beer I've ever had. The place was classy too, with high ceilings and a nice set up. This led me to believe it would be a run-of-the-mill sports pub with some in-house brews. I was quite wrong. We got two growlers here. There was a Black IPA that was fantastic and their Wee Heavy was amazing. We need to make a return trip here.

The next three hours on the drive home went pretty quickly. As always, it was nice to be back home to lie down in my bed and watch some tv. It was a good trip and we came back with a lot of beer!

May 20, 2011

We got up around dawn and started breaking down our tent, greeted by the only other person awake at the campground who informed me about the reticulated woodpecker she's been on the lookout for in the trees. We headed right for the nearest Waffle House for our planned pajama breakfast. It's a great place. We split waffles and hash browns and had the cheap and delicious egg biscuits.

After several attempts we found a place to shower and then, refreshed, took back to the road looking for something to do. We saw signs for Shenandoah Vineyards so we decided to go for it. We were their first customers of the day and the pleasant woman behind the counter promptly got us some glasses and started pouring! Gotta love free wine. And it was all really good wine to boot. There were several that I wanted to have bottles of, including the Rebel Red and a dessert wine that I can't recall the name of.

We took a self-guided tour of the vineyard and took some photos while I mulled over my wine choice. When we came back in I had settled on the Sweet Serenade. It was between that and Rebel Red and I'm still not sure I chose the right one. Should have gotten both.

We took to the road once more and headed north into familiar territory.. and familiar traffic. Once we got near D.C. we slowed to a crawl for a lot of the beltway. We looked for more wineries with free tastings, but it seemed that our luck was only good for one. Either way it was a great one to stop if we only got one.

When we got home it was pouring as we unloaded Alex's car and I got my stuff back into mine. I bid her adieu after our five days together and then headed home to veg out and nap before vegging out and sleeping.

May 19, 2011

We followed the highway the rest of the way up through North Carolina to Stone Mountain State Park and prepared for our hike. It was a warm day but I was ready to get on top of it.

After a bit of an uphill hike with some switchbacks and various foliage, we came out to a really nice view and large exposed rock that made up a big ledge atop the mountain.

We continued our hike up, partly on woods trails and other parts walking across the face of the rock. At the top we had an awesome view of the valley and straight down if you looked over the edge. I walked down to the edge as close as I could go relatively safely. I just sat there for a while as Alex lay out on the hot rocks to have a nap.

We had a little snack and then continued the hike down around the other side. This was a less fun experience as there were tons of stairs to walk down. The views were still very nice and it was nice to get a look at where we had come from when we reached the bottom. We had just been straight up there looking down at this spot.

We had to follow the trail back up since we had parked at a middle parking lot on the loop and after much more uphill walking we came to several waterfalls. The first was not noteworthy but this one was really nice. I like that it's not what I pictured. We sat there for a while in the shade enjoying the view before tackling even more stairs upward this time. Not a fan of the ending, but I'd say it was definitely worth it.

With no plans of what to do, Alex suggested we get food and find a nice spot to watch sunset. I thought it was a great idea and we got food from a market and found this golf course to sit under a big tree and watch the sun go down as people teed off and putted right up to our spot. A nice way to end the day.

We spent a few more hours driving into and through Virginia until we found a suitable (ish) campsite. It was actually really creepy and insanely dark. To add to it, none of the sites were flat or relatively suitable for putting up a tent. We finally decided on a small patch of ground held up by wooden beams that was level but lumpy. It beat the alternative and we quickly got the tent up and got to sleep early.