Lauren's Aunt's House

After some forceful negotiation, I managed to replace the lock on my topper. I had to get new bolts at a local hardware store. They had shoplifting warnings everywhere, even life-sized cut-outs of police officers in all the isles. They had to go into the back room for my bolts, but the woman said they were only 43 cents, I could just have them. We pretty much wasted the rest of the day, until Linda came home and made dinner. In the morning we gathered some things and headed toward the city. We walked about 5 blocks to where I thought a shoe store was to sew Riley's service dog patch on, but we didn't see it. We caught the train into Penn Station and walked up to Times Square. Lauren got a blue M golf ball at the M&M's store, then we headed up to meet her cousin Joe. He gave us a tour of the studio where they master albums. We walked around the aircraft carrier Interepid, and met back up for some German food. It was a little pricey, but it was amazing. I have to learn how to make herring like that. After lunch we headed toward Tom's Restaurant form Seinfeld, but it was several blocks, so Lauren waited for me in Central Park. I had an apple and a brown bag, and I came back to meet her. We went into the subway, but the trains were down, so we walked down one station. We sat on one for about 30 minutes, but when it finally left, it went the wrong way. we got turned around and checked out ground zero. We were going to Ellis Island, but it got to be too late. I got a PBR, and Lauren's knees were hurting, so we headed toward the house. This morning, I picked up my new camera at Best Buy, and played with it for a while. I got a message from Joe (Hamsher) saying he got a tattoo, but thats all the info I have. We went to a diner with Jayne (Linda's cousin), and it was very good. Linda asked if we wanted to stay for another week so we could watch her dog, Froto, when she went out of town, and we said that would be fine. I'm exhausted, so I'm going to stop before I make any more typos.

Long Island

We got up, packed up, said our goodbye's and loaded up the truck. We headed into DC to check out the sights, and we were finished withing 20 minutes. Then, we got stuck in traffic for an hour. We went through downtown Baltimore and up into Delaware. We drove all the way down to Chincoteague island and spent the night in the parking lot of a Comfort Inn. Delaware blows. This morning, we had the free continental breakfast, and headed to the Assateague Island visitor center. We saw some ponies in a coral, and walked out to see more of them in the wild. The mosquitoes were awful. They hurt when they bit you. On the way back we stopped for gas and some off-brand Fanta Slurpees, and drove north. We were almost to the Cape May Ferry, when Lauren's aunt, Terrie and her daughter opted not to have us over, even though we are rarely able to visit. The ferry took about 70 minutes and was nice. Not 46$ worth of nice, but nice. So we drove up through New Jersey, dodging every toll. We went to the Quick Stop from the movie, Clerks. We tried to set the GPS for Brooklin, but we still had the toll avoidance enabled, so it recommended we drive through Minnesota, and through Canada. We turned off that setting, paid 8.35 and were there in 2 hours. We are staying with Lauren's aunt, Linda, and she is very nice. Her Pomeranian  is pretty neat too.  I ordered my digital camera, and I'll pick it up around here in 5-7 days. I'm going to replace the topper lock on the truck tomorrow, then head into the city Thursday to meet Lauren's cousin Joe. I'm going to try to catch George if he's still on Long Island, but we'll see.

Lauren's Parents' House: Still

We went to The Cheesecake Factory; I had never been. It was good. Mike decided to leave. Then next day we rescheduled our visit with Kristin, had some tilapia, and went to the mall. I replaced my North Face high-tech action shorts that had a hole in them, and we looked for a charger for my camera. I've been waiting for years to get a waterproof camera that had a better zoom. They have always been 3x. One came out that was 3.6x, and I finally settled for it. While we were at the mall, I see that they now have 5x for only 40$ more. I've only had mine for two months. I'm going to try to sell mine to my brother, and get the new one. 

   The next day we went to the VA DMV, it was excruciating. Lauren's number was B78, and they were only on B62. I went for a walk and got some Mcdoanlds. It was so busy that cashiers were taking orders with clipboards and umbrellas all around the sides of the building. I ate my Mcgangbang +bbq, and headed back. B65. I went back out to the Sheetz and got a Tilt and an orange cream cookie sandwich. I drank the Tilt in the tractor supply store, and got a new light bulb/ac adapter adapter (they're priceless when you need one). I brought the cookie back to Lauren; B72. We traded off playing games on her new cell phone until it was time. Then we went to the nursing home. It was nice, Lauren's grandmother was doing well, and looking good. We had some Giovanni's and went to walk some dogs. I also checked at Butt's for some "Doah"/"Mac" Stickers, but they were closed. We came home and started recording the Redskins game with the DVR, but since neither of us new how to do it, it was on the wrong channel. It was the game, but we recorded the first 4 minutes in standard definition, rather that high definition. I don't know how we could have been so foolish. I decided to take a long nap.

  The next afternoon we went to see Lauren's friend Kristin and her husband, Joey, and her son Caleb. While we were waiting, I got a tall boy and a hot sausage. The credit card machine was screwy, and the lady was a bitch about it. We had Chinese, in Berryville, and went to the Clarke County Fair demolition derby. They only had 3 rounds, but it was still fun. I stopped for a refreshment on the way home, and went upstairs to rest.

  We are doing our best to destroy the leftovers, and Lauren is doing the laundry. We were going to DC today, but its kinda nasty out. It is definitely time to continue on.

Lauren's Parents' House

We went to see Mel and Brook Byers at their kennel out past Charles Town. We watched part of Blazing Saddles, then headed to meet Melissa for dinner. On the way, I ran a red light beside a cop and pulled off before he could even turn on his lights. Mi Degollado was great. Lauren left her camera there, but she went back for it. Budek came over to the Inn for a while, and we hung out with Jesse and Josh. Jesse even gave me a harmonica. In the morning, we cleaned up, said goodbye to Melissa, got some postcards, and headed to Bakerton and River Riders to see the progress. Then, we went to a kennel in Purcellville to get a dog tag and to let Lauren visit an old friend. On the way we saw a KFC/Taco Bell combo that got me thinking about burritos and gravy. We headed for her parents house, and I had some of their leftover Chinese food. Lauren's brother, Mike has his cat here and he's great. I think we are try to organize a trip to the Cheesecake Factory; I've never been. We're watching a Tivo'd episode of America's Got Talent. Woo...

Melissa's place, Harper's Ferry

Change of Plans. We left ASCI a little later than we wanted to, so we could eat more free food. We said goodbye to Angel, Brent, and Colin. Then we hopped over to Ohiopyle and hung out with Grizz. We decided to run the Cheat at 1.8', and it was a blast. I borrowed a Z and Lauren shredded with Grizz. I think she's already purchased a Shredder in her mind. After we sorted out gear we headed for Harpers Ferry, but there was a wreck on I68, that cost us an hour. Melissa was too tired to come to her place, so we crashed there. This morning I finally closed my JSB account, and received a whole 32.99; 20 of which went to new brakes. (US 381 pushed 'em over the edge) I got a High Gravity 40oz, and went back to the apartment/hostel thing to put 'em on. I think the old ones were original. I had to lower the truck onto the wrench to get some of the bolts out, but it only took about an hour. Once Lauren finally got up, we went down to see Melissa hard at work. We then went to Taco Bell, and Lauren visited a friend. In about an hour, we're going to go run the Needles. Tomorrow, we kill time until 6:30ish when we go to Mi Degollado for Margaritas with Budek, Melissa, Lydia and Rebecca. Early Wednesday, we head to Sterling, VA. I left my camera charger in my parents car, so it will need to be mailed. And Lauren phone alarm goes off for like 3 seconds then turns itself off completely; we need a 3 rd party application or maybe a hack. More to come...

ASCI, MD

So far, so good.We swung by Riply to visit Grandmom Beyer. We're hanging out between races at ASCI.  My parents are North American Open Canoe Mixed Recreational Combined Slalom Champions. They have one more race today for the regular slalom championship. We plan to have a quick dinner, and head to Ohiopyle to meet Grizz at 8. Lauren's phone alarm wasn't effective this morning, and we were almost late for the first race. Got to run..

The Precepice: Charleston, WV

Lauren and I are packed and finishing our laundry. Our dinner reservation at South Hills Market fell through, because the power was out. We will leave as soon as the laundry is done. We plan to be back in time for our aniversary on June 20th. We leave tonight to get stuff out of Lauren's car in Jackson County, then to Morgantown, and on to ASCI Whitewater park in Maryland. We'll stay there to watch my parents race untill Saturday. Then we cruise up to Ohiopyle, PA is we can get ahold of Grizz. Then we go to Harpers Ferry for a quick float trip and Mi Degollado. Afterwards, we go to Sterling, VA to see Laurens parents, her brother, her grandmother, and maybe her sister. When that business is over with, we check out DC, then go to her Aunt's in New Jersey. We'll pass the Quickstop in Leonardo, NJ on the way to New York city. We'll make a quick loop around the northeast and Nova Scotia. On the way back down, we want to see Niagra Falls, Cedar Point, and on to Chicago. We intend to see a few sights, parks, and landmarks on the way to Seattle, WA. We'll try to establish a long-ish term home base. I'm going to try to get a job with some sort of personal water craft, or maybe a kitchen gig. Lauren wants to work in a kennel. We will see how closely we adhere to the "plan." Wish us luck!