Jan 14, 2017

I got up early and got a lot of little things done that I've been putting off. Becca wanted to go for a run so we met at Parvin. I ran the Black Oak trail for 4 miles. It felt good even though the temperature had dropped back to the normal cold. We walked a little after running separately then took off.

I felt like staying outside a little longer so I went to the park and ran 10 baskets, alternating 10 push-ups and 20 V sit-ups after each one. I played a decent game for being in a hurry.

I spent the afternoon packing, doing laundry, and taking it easy. Becca and I headed up to Philly early to meet up with Andrew to FINALLY get my MacBook Pro. We met at a Qdoba near Temple and made the exchange. I'm excited to have it, but it's frustrating to have a new thing and not be able to use it right away. We went to Blackbird and got delicious pizza and a sandwich then stopped at La Colombe for a cold brew.

We got to Union Transfer just as Hidden in Plain View was finishing up, but they sounded really good. The Early November played a full set of songs from The Mother, The Mechanic, The Path. It was a good mix of songs that I knew and some I didn't. The second set was worth the wait. It was full of all the songs I would want to hear including Fluxy! They ended on Every Night's Another Story which was an incredible end to a really fun and special night.

After the show we started driving North toward Watkins Glen. We drove about three hours, but it didn't feel like it because we chatted the whole time. We stopped at a rest area just over the New York border where we set up camp in the back of the car. It was cold and my sleeping pad sprung a leak so it wasn't very comfortable either, but I got to sleep.

Jan 13, 2017

We woke up early, but I still got to work just about on time even though it hardly matters since the meetings start later than arrival time. Silver Run was an easy day but still seemed long. I went to Becca's to have leftover gnocchi for lunch and she got home at the same time so we got to hang a little. It was a nice day so the kids went outside to play and we wanted to do the same, so I rescheduled my dentist appointment.

We went to South Vineland Park to play disc golf for the first time in a while. We both did pretty well after some time off. It was nice being outside, though it did start getting a little more chilly and windy by the time we ended the game. Still can't complain for a winter day. I was supposed to go to Circa Survive, but Alex got sick and I couldn't get in touch with her so I decided to sell my ticket and have a relaxing night in. I was watching The Blacklist and in bed before 11.

Jan 12, 2017

It was a surprisingly quick and easy day at Memorial subbing for choir. It was also beautiful and warm outside so I didn't want to be in there at all. We had a fire drill at the end of the day just to rub it in a little bit.

Becca met me after work for a run because there was no way we couldn't get outside for a little bit. We ran two miles kind of fast along the river trail. It was really nice, but we both felt like we weren't used to the warmth. We saw the mother bald eagle again, but by the time I got back with my camera she was gone.

Once Becca was done work she surprised me with a puzzle of the arch from Canyonlands. It's a pretty picture, but the puzzling has been a pain in the ass to start with. The black border has been really difficult. What is puzzle lighting anyway? I always forget how much the glare affects it.

During all that we also made sweet potato gnocchi. It was a much more involved process than I remember and we had to keep adding flour to get it right. Much kneading and rolling and boiling and frying later we had a delicious meal. We watched a couple episodes of Love, did some more puzzling, and got to bed somewhat early.

Jan 11, 2017

Today was a nice reminder of why I used to take CST meeting jobs all the time. I had short/reasonable length meeting coverage with breaks in between a couple and my last meeting I didn't have to go to because the teacher was off that period. That meant I got to leave around noon and didn't have to come back. I went home and ate, did a few things and tried to nap a little.

I went to Becca's and we decided we should take the cats out for a walk since she just got a harness for them. Lilo was not feeling it so much, but she was okay riding on my shoulder. We took Loki out next and he was much better at walking on the leash, but he definitely had his moments where he just lay down and would move but let me pull him along the ground. It was fun and weird and a lady stopped in her car to ask us if we were taking our cat for a walk. Making friends already!

Jan 10, 2017

Our last day wasn't as bad packing up as I expected. We had everything in the car and ready to go pretty quickly. I struck out on getting a bagel because we were heading in a different direction to Okemo, but it was a nice drive on different roads. We got to Okemo and put our gear on and headed out for our last day on the trip.

The weather could not have been better for the morning. The sky was blue, it was warm, and we were happy. Besides the $5 fee for our RFID cards and a short issues at the first gate with them, we were having a great time. We went down some of our favorites and found some other that we didn't remember as well. It got a little colder starting in the early afternoon and we went in for a lunch break.

We didn't stay in as long as the other days, and when we went back out it was still quite cold. We spent the rest of the day hitting as many trails as we could before the lifts stopped moving and then bid the mountain farewell. It was a great last day of skiing and then the drive home was fast and without snow, which was a concern. It rained a bit, but overall we were moving quickly. It couldn't have been worse than the drive up. We had fun listening to 80s music and The Beach Boys. It didn't feel like a 6 hour drive, and it was good to be home.

Jan 9, 2017

We had a little slower start in the morning getting ready going to the grocery store so I could get some hummus and then to get a bagel to eat on the way with it. The drive seemed longer, but it was much clearer than the way home last night. We got there and got ready inside since there were so many less people that we could park right next to the lodge.

We got out on the mountain and skied some of the same trails before venturing off to the other side of again to see if we could get anywhere new. We went there for a short time and raced down one of the green routes once or twice before deciding to go back over toward the gondola with everyone else.

We did a few new trails and found a fun double diamond area that was very hilly and ungroomed to ski. We both fell on it once in different places, but I wish we had done that more. We did one glade, but it was mostly open and a little icy so it wasn't something we wanted to do more. We had one group of people in the gondola ask us if they could pop a window to smoke a joint. I politely declined. We finished on a good run and hit the road in clear conditions.

Superfresh Cafe closed really early so we couldn't go there, but we went to another place and I got a good quinoa bowl. I made another stop at the brewery for another small tasting of the delicious sours before we came back to the hotel for the night. We played some Nintendo games and finally finished the annoying Ninja Turtles 3 that we started a while ago. We played Blades of Steel and a couple other games to cleanse our palate after that. It was a good way to kill time before bed. Last night here!

Jan 8, 2017

Ryan and I got up and, after briefly considering taking a lazy day after our long drive, we got on the road to Stratton. The roads were fine in the morning and I think we were both ready to get on the slopes. After the usual fun of putting our boots on at the car we caught the lift bus up to the resort to get our tickets.

The weather was perfect. The sun was out and it was cold but not windy. Our first runs were fun and then we headed to the other side of the mountain where things turned very cold, especially on the lift. The snow-making didn't help matters there. We took a couple of short breaks and decided to head back to the other side to get food.

The trees at the top of the mountain were so beautiful covered in ice and snow. I couldn't capture them all the way I wanted to, but I'm going to try tomorrow. Some of them were just icy and others had these thick layers of snow hanging from each branch making them look heavy and wise. I love the imagery, but I hate that the environment is so inhospitable.

We had a good lunch of soup in bread bowls for a steep price before I went out to get my other face mask and hit the trails again. The other mask made all the difference. Also taking the gondola and not the open-air lift probably helped. We spent the rest of the day on that side of the mountain exploring trails until it was almost time to go. We found a diamond we liked a lot called Upper/Lower Spruce and decided to do it twice to end the day on that good note.

The Thai place we went to for dinner was right next door to Hermit Thrush Brewery so I stopped in to try their sours. Everything I had was really good. It was great to have a flight of only sours that exceeded my expectations. Some of the non-aged beers weren't as amazing, but it's not fair after trying my favorite style to judge those ones. They seemed really good too. I left with a mixed 4-pack of cans and a desire to go back again very soon.

We went next door to Thai Bamboo and each got curry that we had been thinking about all day. It was a little pricy, but the food was really good. We also had a pretty view of this outside the window by our table as it snowed lightly. The drive to the hotel was careful and slow on the snowy roads, but we made it after navigating around some steep hills. It's early bedtimes and drying out facemasks now.