Jan 15, 2017

We woke up after a few hours of questionable quality sleep in the car at the rest stop and watched the sunrise from the parking lot. It was a nice view over the mountains even if it wasn't the most colorful sky. We ate some tofu scramble that I made last night before leaving which ended up being a great idea. Good start to the morning.

We drove about two more hours until we got to Watkins Glen. We found our way onto the Falls Trail and were immediately blown away by the icicles everywhere along the walls.

The trails were really icy so we strapped on the microspikes and the yaktrax that Becca got which seemed to work incredibly well. It got her up and down these steps.

This view was my favorite place in the warm weather and I didn't know Rainbow Falls could look any more insane. We stood here and wandered around under the frozen falls on the path for a long time just existing in awe. Everything was so beautiful there. Even better was that no one else was around.

We went into the town of Montour Falls to check out the couple of falls that are weirdly right in the middle of town behind some houses. Not a bad view for these people. It was a nice little break for a snack and then we left.

We went to see Taughannock Falls next. We saw them from above and then found our way to the trail along the river to get here. The viewing platform at the end of the trail was so icy, and getting down to the edge of the water where these crazy frozen branches were was really tricky. It was definitely worth it for the shots I got.

We decided to stop at Ithaca Brewing for a couple of flights before turning in for the night. They had some great beers including a chardonnay barrel-aged, a great double IPA, and a raspberry berliner. It was a good choice stopping here. We stopped to get Ethiopian food at a place called Hawi. We got takeout because they charge a stupid fee to share a plate. We grabbed coffee at Gimme! and headed to the hotel.

What should have been simple was annoying as we checked into our room and then ended up having to change to another building because the wifi didn't work at all and Becca needed it for her online class. The woman at the front desk didn't make things easier since she was an asshole and she didn't know what she was talking about. We eventually got situated and I ate the takeout and played with my new MacBook a little before getting into bed before 8pm.

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!