recent goings on

A week ago I experienced my first earthquake. That was exciting. I was at work and the building was rumbling quite a bit. In case you don't know, Charlottesville is only about 35 miles from where the epicenter was. But even though I had an armchair and coffee table precariously set upside down on my couch to make way for the carpet cleaners, they didn't fall off or anything. I also woke up a couple nights later to an aftershock.

Then a hurricane headed for Virginia. I went to Richmond on Saturday to visit with my family, which meant I headed closer to the hurricane. After lunch we lost power at my grandparents' house, which we were pretty sure was going to happen eventually anyway, and it was then that it finally dawned on my aunt and myself that maybe Grandma and Grandpa shouldn't be stuck in a house with no power. So with wind and rain and branches thrashing the windows, we frantically ran around the house packing up food and clothes and bedding and loaded up the van. Then we all headed through the storm to my apartment in Charlottesville, where it was only lightly raining. Five of us and Danny the pug spent two cozy nights in my one-bedroom apartment, and while it wasn't ideal, it wasn't so bad either. They got their power back Monday morning and didn't waste time getting back home.

After the crowed cleared out I had a little time to straighten out my apartment, join Josh for lunch, and then head up to Fairfax for my first night of classes. I'm taking seven credits this semester instead of the four I took each semester last year, so I'll be keeping busy. I sure enjoyed my summer break, but I'm also ready to get back at it.

Arizona was pretty great, too.

So Wednesday (the 10th) we arrived in Flagstaff around 7:30 or so. We stopped by Ryan's house, which was fun to see, and then drove on to Sedona. He works at a resort there, where Josh and I stayed. After checking in the three of us had some dinner, but then we had to drive back to Flagstaff (45 minutes and over 2000 feet up in elevation away). That was so we could drop Ryan off but keep his truck. That also meant I had to drive back to Sedona on a windy mountain road and through a canyon in the dark in Ryan's giant truck that I don't recall every driving before. So that was scary, but we lived.

The next day we used his truck to drive to the Grand Canyon. That was pretty exciting. And first things first, we had a pistachio sighting!





We also hiked down about a mile and a half.


While hiking we saw two California Condors, and a big horned sheep. Plus lots of greedy and bold squirrels.

After the Grand Canyon we drove to Flagstaff for dinner. Then it was back to Sedona. Ryan was working, which was lucky for us because when a group of javelinas ran through the grounds of the resort, he called us so we could run out and see them. Those things are big!



Other than wild javelinas running around, the resort was really nice. Friday morning we had breakfast sitting down by the creek.


After breakfast we explored Sedona a little. But then we got roped into going to a timeshare sales talk, which was not so exciting. (And don't worry, we didn't buy.) On the way back from the timeshare talk we stopped to take some pictures of Sedona's red rocks.




As our reward for enduring the timeshare ordeal, we got a free jeep ride!


We did that Saturday morning. It was lots of fun and our guide was great. The views were amazing.






After the jeep tour we had lunch with Ryan. Then we used his truck to drive back up past Flagstaff to...Bearizona! At Bearizona you drive around like a safari looking at western animals.




After driving you get out and there is a small zoo with the baby animals. Look at these adorable bear cubs.


They also have a petting zoo.




Saturday night we had dinner back at the resort in Sedona and played a little Scrabble. We also said goodbye to Ryan when he got off work that night. Sunday morning we caught a 7:15 shuttle to the airport in Pheonix, and spent the rest of the day traveling back home.

This trip out West was really really great. We saw lots of stuff, and I got to spend time with my family. An excellent vacation, I would say.

say cheese

I forgot to tell you all that our time in Durango also involved taking this gem:

then we went to Durango

Now for more trip updates. Let's see, Monday morning Josh and I had breakfast at the Chocolate Maven, then went downtown. He bought himself a knife made out of dinosaur fossil, which is pretty awesome, and we looked at art on Canyon Road. We also ate green chili burgers for lunch.

Monday afternoon we all drove to Durango, Colorado. That included my parents, Ryan, Josh, and me. It took about 4.5 hours, so we got there in time to check into our hotel and then head downtown for dinner. After dinner we walked around a little bit and got dessert at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Then Josh and I hit the swimming pool back at the hotel for a few minutes before it closed.

Tuesday everyone but Mom rode the narrow gauge train to Silverton. It took 3.5 hours to travel about 45 miles, but it was a lot of fun. Here we are waiting to leave from the station.


And here is the cute station.


There were lots of great views from the train, including steep drops into a canyon with a roaring river.


The train takes you up to Silverton, an old mining town that is now just a tourist stop for people riding the train.


Mom drove up to meet us there, and we all had lunch. Then I bought some shoes.


Instead of taking another 3.5 hours to get back to Durango, we just rode back with Mom. It took about an hour. We stopped on the way at Honeyville and bought some honey. Ryan even got a bag with 100 flavored honey sticks. When we got to Durango we had a little bit of time to kill, so we walked around downtown again and made sure to drink caffeine. Because next up was the chuckwagon!


Josh and I wore our boots for the occasion.


At the chuckwagon you eat outside off of tin plates and listen to a western stage show. My favorite song was "Old Matt Palmer had a misfit farm."


The next day we headed to Durango Mountain Resort to ride the alpine slide. Here we are at the top.


And here Dad is at the bottom.


After that we went back to downtown Durango for lunch, and then Ryan, Josh, and I hit the road for Arizona while Mom and Dad stayed another night in Durango before going back home. It was a 6 hour drive from Durango to Flagstaff, and we made sure to stop at the Four Corners Monument.


Josh wanted to run around the four states, so we did that, too.


As we continued on the drive we saw this ominous western rock formation. Pretty cool.


Stay tuned for the Arizona portion of the trip!

we got to Santa Fe

Saturday was our travel day. First there was the drive to Richmond, then the flight to Dallas, and then the flight to Denver. We had a long layover in Denver, so my Colorado friends Katie and Andrew came to the airport to hang out and eat a meal, which was very nice of them. We also stepped outside of the airport to look at mountains and take this photo.


After Denver was the flight to Albuquerque, where my dad picked us up at the airport and took us to dinner near UNM. Finally there was the drive up to Santa Fe, where we arrived about midnight and went straight to bed.

This morning Josh and I got up and went for a run. Only running at 7,000 feet when you're not used to it is pretty hard. We did at least three miles though, and Josh even threw in some other exercises because he is more hard core. After getting cleaned up we (including Ryan, who drove in from Flagstaff the night before and got in at 3am) met up with dad at church. After church we had a Mexican lunch with my grandparents, which left me stuffed for the rest of the day. This afternoon we walked around downtown for a while and visited shops and the Basilica. We also stopped for this photo at Burro Alley.



The evening was spent at my grandparents house, eating dessert and visiting with family on the back patio.

This is a super short trip to Santa Fe for me (I guess my shortest ever), because tomorrow we all head to Durango!

headed west

Josh and I are headed west tomorrow for a nine day vacation. I'm pretty excited. We'll spend time in Santa Fe, Durango, and Sedona. Lots of sights will be seen, and we'll get to hang out with my family. Stay tuned for updates and pictures!

drive-in

Last night Josh and I joined a few of my co-workers for a night at the Goochland Drive-In. It's about thirty miles away, but worth it considering you get to see two movies for only seven bucks. We got there in time to grab dinner from their snack bar. Between the two of us we had two cheeseburgers, a Goochland dog, a regular dog, fries, popcorn, and two large drinks with refills. Yikes.

The first movie was Captain America. I thought it was fun. And I was pleasantly surprised by the sound quality since it was through the radio. Our group sat outside in chairs we all brought, so we used portable radios. The second movie, which I was hoping we wouldn't bother staying for since it didn't start until about 11:30pm, was Transformers 3. I had never seen any of the Transformers movies, and to be honest, I still wish we'd left early.

Overall we had a really fun time though. It was nice to sit outside where you can also see stars and bats flying around. A perfect summertime excursion.

day 2 of Philly conference

So that wasn't my UPS advisor getting in the elevator. I was just overzealous I guess. But professors from two schools combined with current work colleagues means this is still a clash of worlds for me, which is kind of fun.

Today I went to two morning sessions, then a graduate student lunch session, and then an afternoon session. I skipped the last session and instead walked a few blocks to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. I only had 40 minutes before they closed, but I went ahead and paid my admission and walked around anyway. It was worth it. They have several paintings by various members of the Peale family, and recently I've decided I really like Charles Willson Peale. Not just for his art though. He was an awesome guy I think. My favorite piece at the museum was his Self-Portrait with Spectacles. I used to think portraits made for really boring art, but as a history lover (especially of early America) I've come to really appreciate portraits because they let us see the people we read about. And some of them, including Peale and his contemporaries, made some really good portraits.

Philly

So I'm in Philadelphia for a history conference. It doesn't start (for me) until tomorrow, but I actually got up here yesterday so I could spend today doing some research for work. So let me give you a rundown of my day.

This morning I wandered around the streets of Philadelphia looking for breakfast, and I finally found a nice little cafe where I got oatmeal, fruit, and coffee. It was a great start to the day. Next I went to the Library Company of Philadelphia and looked at some old stuff.

From there I walked over to the American Philosophical Society and looked at some more old stuff. I also took a lunch break and wandered the streets of Philly a little more until I found this place where Josh and I ate lunch a few years ago. I had a sandwich. After finishing up at the APS I decided I would forgo museums or historical sites and instead I trekked many blocks to drink some beer. On the way I passed this gem:



Seriously, how awesome is that?! The beer I was walking so far to imbibe was at the Yards Brewing Company. When I finally arrived at their tasting room I sat right down at the bar and ordered a flight of their "Ales of the Revolution." They have a George Washington porter, a Thomas Jefferson ale, and a Benjamin Franklin spruce ale (that tastes like a tree). I also ate a cupcake, to reward myself for all the walking and successful navigation. And just as I finished tasting all my beers they announced that they were doing an impromptu tour of the brewery, so I went on that.



By this point I decided I should head back downtown and toward my hotel. I walked along the Delaware River and had a pistachio sighting! It took three tries crouching on the sidewalk to get this shot with my phone.



After more walking I happened upon Christ Church, so I looked at that and walked around its gardens, and then a couple blocks later I came to the rest of the church's burial ground and saw where Franklin lays. This day was pretty full of that guy. From there I kept walking and finally arrived back at my hotel. I dropped off a few things, and then headed out again, because apparently my feet weren't tired enough yet. After more walking in search of a light dinner, I finally came upon a Whole Foods, where I secured dinner and tomorrow's breakfast for under $9. Score.

So back to the conference. It starts tomorrow. And my history worlds are colliding. I had dinner last night with my NCSU advisor. I will see my GMU advisor tomorrow. And I think I saw my UPS advisor just step into the elevator. I'm excited.

holiday hike

For the 4th of July, Josh and I went for a hike at Humpback Rocks in the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's a short hike but steep, and then the views are amazing.





We also had a pistachio shell sighting!



After the hike we had lunch at the Blue Mountain Brewery. We sat outside with views of the hops farm and mountains, and it was pretty great.

Rain spoiled our fireworks-watching plans so we just watched the show from the Capitol on TV. Overall it was still a good holiday.

Weekend(s) Update

Let me tell you (briefly) what the haps have been. Last Saturday (er, the one almost a week and a half ago) my parents flew into Richmond. Sunday we celebrated Grandma's birthday and Sunday night Dad and I enjoyed brews and live tunes at Legends Brewery. Monday Dad went with me downtown and wandered around while I did some research for work. My parents stayed in Richmond all week while I came back to Charlottesville, but then I took off of work Friday to get ready for Grandpa's recital. He had a professional pianist come to the house Friday night and give a salon concert, so we got all dressed up and had the event catered and everything. It was very nice. The next day Dad, Josh, Jay, Sunni, and myself all went tubing on the James River, and Saturday night was a sort of "girls night out" with my mom and aunt.

So there you go, two fun weekends with family (including my parents!).

(This post is short because I'm writing from work [after hours] while I figure out how to get the internet to work at my apartment again, after a big thunderstorm Sunday. Just FYI.)

I want one of these

Last night I got together with some ladies from work for dinner and a movie. The movie was Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and we planned the rest of the meal around a Spanish theme to match the movie. We started with ceviche (not really Spanish, but from places where they speak Spanish...), then some manchego cheese and bread, and our main course was gazpacho. But between the cheese and the gazpacho came chorizo, cooked in a Portuguese pig!

One of the co-worker ladies is from Portugal, so she brought her pig. You put alcohol in the bottom, light it on fire, and it cooks the chorizo. It was delicious.



Ole!

Timo 5k

Yesterday I ran in a 5k race. Other than the Montalto Challenge, I haven't raced a 5k before (only 3.1 miles), but a coworker helps run the Timo 5k, and all the proceeds benefit the rescue squad where Josh volunteers. He and his roommate ran, too. It was hot and the course was cross-country with grass and hills and dirt and stuff. So pretty tough for a 5k. But we all did very well!


I won 3rd place for women overall (prize = technical shirt from local running store), and 2nd place for women in my age group (prize = red ribbon). Josh's roommate also won 2nd place in his age division.


Afterwards the three of us celebrated with lunch and a beer.

summer fun

Last week/weekend was fun. My Richmond family (plus Ryan, who flew out from Arizona) had a rental house at Lake Anna, so I went and joined them Wednesday after work and stayed until Friday. There was lots of hanging out, swimming in the lake (even after dark), playing games, eating, and even a little kayaking.

Friday we headed to Richmond so the fun could continue over the weekend. We had pho Friday night and celebrated Sunni's birthday, and we went swimming in the James River on Saturday. More fun stuff happened Sunday.

I'm enjoying my summer so far. It's pretty nice getting to hang out and relax and not do homework.

geocaching adventure

For Memorial Day Josh and I wanted to do something exciting outdoors, but weren't quite up for a long hike (the original plan), so instead we broke out his new handheld GPS and went geocaching right here in Charlottesville. We printed off the coordinates for seven caches at a local park, and headed out...



We found the first one! As you can see, it was a micro cache.


Josh is recording our find.


We ran into a creek next to the river at one point and had to find our way around. This part of the park was wooded and felt like we could have been miles away in the mountains.


The GPS is kind of fun because you know what direction to go, but you don't necessarily know where the trails are. Sometimes the GPS seems confused though, and you have to wander around in clearings until it figures itself out.


We couldn't find two of them, and we bipassed one when there were people around (apparently you're supposed to be secretive about geocaching and not let "muggles" see you). But we found four, so that's exciting. Here is Josh finding another one in a tree.


People trade out little toys and other random stuff. We added this to the cache.


At a different cache, we traded a finger puppet for this sweet eraser.


All the walking and searching for two hours, plus the 90 degree heat, meant a break by the river was necessary. Here you can see my first temporary tattoo of the summer.


We also ate snacks.


Overall we had a lot of fun being outside and finding "secret" caches. It was also nice to be reminded that the river and wooded parks are so close by. It was a successful first try at geocaching, and I'm sure we'll do it again.