long weekend upodate...
OK. So my weekend began on Thursday last week andended at about 3:30 this morning... So, I guess that's actually a full week, not a weekend, but whatever...
Thursday:
Went with Chris to NJ. Early dinner with Mom for her birthday. She decided we should go to Perkins. I told her wherever she wanted, and she chose Perkins. Whatever. Apparently she also thinks (and has told Tina) that the reason I didn't hand in a major history paper in 11th grade was because I didn't want to have to give a speech at graduation. Wrong. But, when I try to correct Tina on this, Tina insists Mom is right and I (who made the decision) was wrong. Go figure...
Friday:
Travel to Vermont. 6 hours, including a stop to pick up Steve. We got up to Hawk Mountain Inn & Resort by about 5, just as te rest of the weeknders had come back from a hike. We had shis-kabobs that night prepared by Kenzie, but had a damn hard time getting the grill to cooperate. New charcoal and cleaning the grill eventually dealt with that... So, yeah.. staying up late at night and drinking... Was that the night we played Trivial Pursuit? Don't really remember... That may have been Saturday...
Saturday:
Pawel's throat really hurts and is swollen. He decides to stay in bed most of the day (which is a joke, really, because the "day" never really started for us before noon...). Chris and I and Steve and Jess do grocery shopping for the night and snacky things. We forgot linch stuff... oh, well... Anyway, That afternoon was hot, so Max took us to a swimming hole at Quechee Gorge. 1/2 a mile down a trail, and we had a previous broken foot injury, so it was a bit difficult. The swimming hole was baeutiful though. So we spent about an hour or so there and the back up the trail. Then the group split: some went back to the condo with Max, and Chris, Chris, Kenzie and I took a longer time and stopped at whetever stores took our fancy. We were strollong though Woodstock, VT, when the cold fron came through. Lots of heavy, cold rain and thunder and lightning. We out drove it, though, and mad it back to thecondo hours before the lightning storm there. That night, Chris and I made hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, and also "beer-can" chicken, which is supposed to be done on a grill, but the one we had wouldn't have fit.... To make beer-can chicken:
1) open a can of beer.
2) drink half of it.
3) make a spice rub for the (whole) chicken, and rub it all over the thing.
4) shove the beer can up the backside of the chicken.
5) (in an oven set to 375 ish...) stand the chicken up in a baking tray using the beer can and its legs to make a tripod.
6) cook until done.
It was wonderful...
Maybe that was trivial pursuit night....
Sunday:
Chris and I go to 11:00 mass at the local church. We stop fpr cold cuts at the super market on the way back because we forgot them yesterday. Pawel is still feeling ill, so he decides to return to NYC and a hospital. Jess has work that she really shouldn't blow off, so decides to go with him. Max and Charlyn drive them to Amhearst, Mass (i think) to catch a bus back to NY. Chris, Chris, Kenzie, Steve and I crowd into Chris' car and drive in the general direction of Burlington. North. Very north. I navigate, so decide on a scenic route. We stop a few times and look at nature trails and stuff... We drove through Middlebury, which I remembered from going there with dad years ago. It's still a really pretty town... We get to the Vermont Teddy Bear Company too late to actually go in (It is a Sunday...) And then finally to Burlington in time for dinner. Dinner ended up being at the Burlington Brew and Pub (i think that was the name), and then we wandered around the waterfront for a while. Wht water fron is there in Vermont, you ask? Lake Champlain. It's really pretty at sunset... Driving back was via the less scenic route of interstate highways, but the speeds were higher... We got back to the condo at about 11pm. Snacking and drinking ensued.
Monday:
Steve's Birthday! A number of things happened. We went for a walk to the top of Okemo Mountain... sort of. Okemo ski center is near to the condo, and max said something about the fire tower at teh top and we could walk to it... Chris and I went most of the way up before we decided the bugs had one. Max, Charlyn, and Steve went to the top. Chris and Kenzie got caught at the first steep rise due to the foot injury. So, after we came down the mountain, we went grocery shopping for steve's cake. since no one ate dinner at the condo yesterday, it was to be hamburgers and hotdogs for dinner, because this was going to be our last night. Pina colada ingredients were also acquired.
We then split up. Max, Charlyn, and Steve went back to the condo and then hiking, Chris, Chris, Kenzie, and I went shopping... sort of. We decided to drive around and look for those cute little boutiques that are supposed to be in Vermont for tourists who want to go shopping. Not much luck. Then we wandered into Weston and stopped because we thought we saw an antique store. We had. It was closed. So, since we were parked, we decided to wander and "see what Weston VT had to offer." As we walk down the street, I notice a sign and say to Chris, "Hey you don't think that that sign is for THE Vermont Country Store, do you?" As we got closer, we found it was! It was like walking into their catalog. Only problem is we got there at 4:30 and the close at 5. So we wandered around for a bit, bought some stuff and vowed to be back tomorrow.
Back to the condo, Kenzie and I start baking. Steve had selected a "double chocolate raspberry rum cake" for his birthday cake. I improve on the recipe by covering it with ganache instead of the glaze... Wonderful wonderful stuff... I got the proportions or the ganache slightly wrong, though, so it didn't set as much as I wanted it to... tasted good, though, and the extra covered strawberries very nicely...
Pina Coladas and Taboo... what a combination... Then Dr. Strangelove became the movie selection of the evening...
Tuesday:
Leaving Vermont. Chris and I left at about 8:45 in the morning so we would have time to explore the Vermont Country Store some more. We left the Vermont country store at about 11:30...
Drive was uneventful. Got back to Chris' in NJ about 4:30 or so. Dinner with the folks and then they put us on a train back to NYC. We got in about 9pm.
Wednesday:
Sleeping in late. I went home to drop my stuff off and get my gming stuff. On the way back to Chris' that evening, I stopped at Sahadi's and picked up some more henna. Gaming started at about 6:30 or so and went until 3-ish. Well, what do you expect when we are gaming the penultimate battle of good vs. evil? We needed to finish the campaign because fairly soon, Pawel will be going back to Chicago and we won't ever see him again. It was fun.
Thursday:
Back into the swing of things.... Dance class tonight, so I need to pick up my music stuff from my apartment as some point...
Other stuff... Too much writing... more later...
Thursday:
Went with Chris to NJ. Early dinner with Mom for her birthday. She decided we should go to Perkins. I told her wherever she wanted, and she chose Perkins. Whatever. Apparently she also thinks (and has told Tina) that the reason I didn't hand in a major history paper in 11th grade was because I didn't want to have to give a speech at graduation. Wrong. But, when I try to correct Tina on this, Tina insists Mom is right and I (who made the decision) was wrong. Go figure...
Friday:
Travel to Vermont. 6 hours, including a stop to pick up Steve. We got up to Hawk Mountain Inn & Resort by about 5, just as te rest of the weeknders had come back from a hike. We had shis-kabobs that night prepared by Kenzie, but had a damn hard time getting the grill to cooperate. New charcoal and cleaning the grill eventually dealt with that... So, yeah.. staying up late at night and drinking... Was that the night we played Trivial Pursuit? Don't really remember... That may have been Saturday...
Saturday:
Pawel's throat really hurts and is swollen. He decides to stay in bed most of the day (which is a joke, really, because the "day" never really started for us before noon...). Chris and I and Steve and Jess do grocery shopping for the night and snacky things. We forgot linch stuff... oh, well... Anyway, That afternoon was hot, so Max took us to a swimming hole at Quechee Gorge. 1/2 a mile down a trail, and we had a previous broken foot injury, so it was a bit difficult. The swimming hole was baeutiful though. So we spent about an hour or so there and the back up the trail. Then the group split: some went back to the condo with Max, and Chris, Chris, Kenzie and I took a longer time and stopped at whetever stores took our fancy. We were strollong though Woodstock, VT, when the cold fron came through. Lots of heavy, cold rain and thunder and lightning. We out drove it, though, and mad it back to thecondo hours before the lightning storm there. That night, Chris and I made hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, and also "beer-can" chicken, which is supposed to be done on a grill, but the one we had wouldn't have fit.... To make beer-can chicken:
1) open a can of beer.
2) drink half of it.
3) make a spice rub for the (whole) chicken, and rub it all over the thing.
4) shove the beer can up the backside of the chicken.
5) (in an oven set to 375 ish...) stand the chicken up in a baking tray using the beer can and its legs to make a tripod.
6) cook until done.
It was wonderful...
Maybe that was trivial pursuit night....
Sunday:
Chris and I go to 11:00 mass at the local church. We stop fpr cold cuts at the super market on the way back because we forgot them yesterday. Pawel is still feeling ill, so he decides to return to NYC and a hospital. Jess has work that she really shouldn't blow off, so decides to go with him. Max and Charlyn drive them to Amhearst, Mass (i think) to catch a bus back to NY. Chris, Chris, Kenzie, Steve and I crowd into Chris' car and drive in the general direction of Burlington. North. Very north. I navigate, so decide on a scenic route. We stop a few times and look at nature trails and stuff... We drove through Middlebury, which I remembered from going there with dad years ago. It's still a really pretty town... We get to the Vermont Teddy Bear Company too late to actually go in (It is a Sunday...) And then finally to Burlington in time for dinner. Dinner ended up being at the Burlington Brew and Pub (i think that was the name), and then we wandered around the waterfront for a while. Wht water fron is there in Vermont, you ask? Lake Champlain. It's really pretty at sunset... Driving back was via the less scenic route of interstate highways, but the speeds were higher... We got back to the condo at about 11pm. Snacking and drinking ensued.
Monday:
Steve's Birthday! A number of things happened. We went for a walk to the top of Okemo Mountain... sort of. Okemo ski center is near to the condo, and max said something about the fire tower at teh top and we could walk to it... Chris and I went most of the way up before we decided the bugs had one. Max, Charlyn, and Steve went to the top. Chris and Kenzie got caught at the first steep rise due to the foot injury. So, after we came down the mountain, we went grocery shopping for steve's cake. since no one ate dinner at the condo yesterday, it was to be hamburgers and hotdogs for dinner, because this was going to be our last night. Pina colada ingredients were also acquired.
We then split up. Max, Charlyn, and Steve went back to the condo and then hiking, Chris, Chris, Kenzie, and I went shopping... sort of. We decided to drive around and look for those cute little boutiques that are supposed to be in Vermont for tourists who want to go shopping. Not much luck. Then we wandered into Weston and stopped because we thought we saw an antique store. We had. It was closed. So, since we were parked, we decided to wander and "see what Weston VT had to offer." As we walk down the street, I notice a sign and say to Chris, "Hey you don't think that that sign is for THE Vermont Country Store, do you?" As we got closer, we found it was! It was like walking into their catalog. Only problem is we got there at 4:30 and the close at 5. So we wandered around for a bit, bought some stuff and vowed to be back tomorrow.
Back to the condo, Kenzie and I start baking. Steve had selected a "double chocolate raspberry rum cake" for his birthday cake. I improve on the recipe by covering it with ganache instead of the glaze... Wonderful wonderful stuff... I got the proportions or the ganache slightly wrong, though, so it didn't set as much as I wanted it to... tasted good, though, and the extra covered strawberries very nicely...
Pina Coladas and Taboo... what a combination... Then Dr. Strangelove became the movie selection of the evening...
Tuesday:
Leaving Vermont. Chris and I left at about 8:45 in the morning so we would have time to explore the Vermont Country Store some more. We left the Vermont country store at about 11:30...
Drive was uneventful. Got back to Chris' in NJ about 4:30 or so. Dinner with the folks and then they put us on a train back to NYC. We got in about 9pm.
Wednesday:
Sleeping in late. I went home to drop my stuff off and get my gming stuff. On the way back to Chris' that evening, I stopped at Sahadi's and picked up some more henna. Gaming started at about 6:30 or so and went until 3-ish. Well, what do you expect when we are gaming the penultimate battle of good vs. evil? We needed to finish the campaign because fairly soon, Pawel will be going back to Chicago and we won't ever see him again. It was fun.
Thursday:
Back into the swing of things.... Dance class tonight, so I need to pick up my music stuff from my apartment as some point...
Other stuff... Too much writing... more later...