Weekend o' Whee II!
Hello again, dear readers! Thog here, recently back from a long-awaited and much-needed trip with samurai_x2 up to North Carolina to visit Mr. and Mrs. Dragonfly!
TIME TO RE-TIRE
**********************
Our story actually begins a couple weeks before the trip. The AC/fan blower motor in my car gave up the ghost, so I had to go get that repaired. Not only that, but I'd been in need of new tires for a while now, and I figured I'd better get them before traveling any great distance from home. As you may expect, sometimes routine repairs begat other revelations of things that need to be done. I had a strut that was dangerously close to failing, probably a symptom of the accident I had a couple years ago now; I think they must've left the old ones on. And since struts are replaced in pairs, I had to get two. Throw in an oil change and alignment, and a new serpentine belt, and the price tag is still too painful to revisit. Yet I would've paid twice as much not to miss the trip to come! There's still some more maintenance I could have taken care of on my faithful Eight Six, but none of it is urgent. I just took care of what could potentially cut my trip tragically short.
AND THEY'RE OFF!
************************
After work last Wednesday, Florida was in the midst of torrential downpours since the previous Sunday that flooded parts of the state and only recently stopped. After work was over, I was laden like a beast of burden with two bags of stuff, including one containing my PS3 and other media. The bag wasn't quite weatherproof, especially not in this kind of rain, so the top layer of my things inside got slightly wet, including my ATHF DVDs, but only just a bit of the outer covers, and thankfully not the library book I took along and never did read while I was in NC. What took the brunt of the rain was the directions to Jenn's place I had printed out! Soggy and slightly tattering when I removed them from the bag, they were still just intact enough to read. I only really needed directions for the last few miles there, and thankfully, these were still legible.
It seems that whenever I leave town, the toughest part of the trip is actually *leaving town*. I had little choice but to start traveling in the midst of Orlando's rush hour, and in bad weather to boot. The traffic alert signs told a tale of crawling traffic ahead, so I took a gamble on a possible shortcut I know of. Even though someone cut me off and made me miss my exit, forcing me to take a long loop around, I cut about 20 minutes off what I would've spent in that mess on I-4! I still had to deal with slow-and-go for the rest of the way in the Orlando area, but once that was through, aside from some brief slowdowns due to the sheer volume of the rain, I was free and clear and Jacksonville bound, where I spent Wednesday night at samurai_x2's.
We slept in, so to speak, not leaving until around 8:30. The trip northward went smoothly for the most part, except for a total traffic stop somewhere in Georgia, on a bridge. There was some road work up ahead, and the flash of emergency vehicle lights in the distance. There was enough time to stop the car and get out and stretch our legs. I'd say it was a good 20 minutes before traffic started moving again, and still very slowly for another 10 before we got past whatever trouble there was. When you get stopped in traffic, you like to know *why*. But by the time we got to where we thought the trouble was, everything looked normal. I have my suspicions that the work crew working between the northbound and southbound lanes might've accidentally dropped something in the road with their crane. I guess we'll never know, and it didn't stop us from reaching our destination. X2 and I stopped for another hour a little further up the road to seek baby registry gifts for agermain and ginreisan at the local Wal-Mart, and for lunch. After this, we made pretty good time the rest of the way, walking up on Jenn & Rob's doorstep around 6 PM, I suppose. After exchanging warm greetings, we all left together again almost immediately to enjoy dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant J&R know of. Thus began a weekend of rather hearty eating for me and X2! After we got back, the *other* major pursuit of the weekend began, and I was introduced to the anime series, Bleach. It's funny how a series I knew almost nothing about two weeks ago would now stand head and shoulders with my all-time favorites. Thanks to Rob's diligence and the work of some fine fansubbers, X2 and I watched more or less the complete second season, the Rukia rescue arc (I eschewed the first season so X2 wouldn't have to retread what he'd already watched, and I caught on to the nuances of the series fairly quickly). I can see what all the fuss was about now; truly an enjoyable series. A few episodes took up the rest of that Thursday night.
BLEACH-CASUAL FRIDAY
********************************
We didn't do a hell of a lot on Friday, mostly since J&R were both mostly indisposed between work and appointments, which was fine with us. X2 and I both were in need of some time to relax and just be, and Friday was the perfect day for that. We mostly just watched more Bleach, with the odd Robot Chicken or South Park episode thrown in. Jenn's sister visited later that afternoon, and after a rousing game of Apples to Apples, we went out to Chili's. Looking back, the service was less than stellar, and X2's food, on top of being wrong the first time, was on the cool side. We cheered ourselves back up with more Bleach back home for the rest of the evening.
TICKED OFF!
****************
We rose on the early side Saturday morning for a nice nature walk near, Harris Lake I think it was. A beautiful place, with the cooling tower of a nuclear power plant looming somewhat ominously in the distance. We walked maybe 90 minutes worth of trail near the lakeside and nearby forest, coming upon a particularly lovely semi-clearing, dominated by two great old trees, possibly elms. The crumbling remains of the corner of some forgotten building were there, with a walkway almost fully reclaimed by the forest. By the time 11:00 rolled around, it was already starting to get rather warm for walking, so we made our way back to the car. Then...the horror began. It started out small, as I noticed a tick crawling up my pant leg. I took the pest outside to the pavement and found, by way of overkill, a rock about the size of my head to crush it with. With this deed done, the terror was forgotten for the moment. But then, a few miles up the road, Jenn found one on herself, flicking it out the window. I joked that each of us probably had one, but I would soon find out how unfortunately correct I was. Brian was the next to find one on him. Rob never did have a tick on his person that we know of, *but*, almost *immediately* after Brian found his, the others spotted one crawling up the driver's seat *near* Rob. By this time, Jenn had had it. We stopped and vaccuumed out the car at the next available gas station, spot-checking every inch of the floor, seats, and loose items that we could. J&R found it a welcome excuse to clean out the car a bit anyway. Thankfully, no further ticks were seen for the rest of the weekend.
'TIS BETTER TO GINREI THAN TO RE-SUSHI
*********************************************************
By the way, I've been posting so little this past year, that my post of *last* year's trip to NC is *still* hanging on. This post will push it *right* to the bottom, just in case anyone wants to compare the two. The point is, last year's trip was built around the Animazement con. Last year, while we got to see A&G, shadrad and the whole gang, the con space was quite crowded. Even though the con, now moved to a larger space elsewhere, wasn't included in our plans this year, X2 and I still didn't want the weekend to go by without seeing our friends, especially now that we were bearing gifts for some of them, so we took the opportunity to join them at the same Japanese restaurant they were all meeting at as last year. We enjoyed a delicious meal sprinkled with a little wackiness, chatting all too briefly with the mother and father to be and presenting them with the stuff we snagged on the way up. After getting home, we used what little time there was left before bedtime for Bleach. Oh, yeah, we ate a lot that day, too.
OMG WTF BBQ!
********************
Sunday was another relaxing day, marred only by the fact that it was the last of the weekend. Jenn's parents had a cookout planned, which we would attend around midafternoon. In the meantime, what else? With time quickly slipping away, we got through more Bleach, growing more exciting by the episode. Then we headed for Jenn's parents' place. They were there along with Jenn's sister and her friend. There was a simple yet delicious spread set out of barbecued chicken, Rice-a-Roni, potato salad, fruit, and more, and everyone was required to have at least two full plates of food, not counting the gigantic slices of chocolate cake Jenn's Mom surprised us with! We digested over some enjoyable conversation about future travel plans and past enjoyments. Eventually, it was time to go, and back at the Dragonfly residence, we finished out the last few episodes of the arc we were in in Bleach, and watched the first movie as well.
THE WEEKEND HEADS SOUTH
****************************************
At last, like a thief in the night, Monday morning had snuck up on us, and after gathering our things and exchanging reluctant goodbyes and thanks for their hospitality and a wonderful, fun-filled weekend, we left the area at the stroke of 9 AM. On the way back, after testing the fuel efficiency of the Eight Six when the needle is on E, we made another stop at that (in)famous roadside stop at the NC/SC line, South of the Border. SotB somehow manages to get shittier every time I pass it. After refueling, we took a slow drive around the property, seeing what was open and what was not. I think we can now say with a great deal of certainty that there's much more that's closed (or *should* be closed) at SotB than is open, entire buildings with dead plants in the windows and who knows what else behind these. Still, X2's love for this place won't be denied, and he says if he ever hits it big, he'll use his fortune to revitalize South of the Border. To its credit, at least SotB invested in maybe five new billboards since last year, and I'll be the first to admit I'd at least like to go back in time to whenever this place was at its peak to see what it was like. Beyond this diversion, we made good time back to Jacksonville. Regrettably, I didn't stay very long after dropping X2 off, and continued on to Orlando, safely home that evening, the entire weekend having blurred by like a dream, and the past couple work days coming along, same as it ever was, as though nothing had happnened, but my shoulders and heart lighter in knowing that it *had*.
On behalf of X2 and myself, thank you again, Mr. and Mrs. Dragonfly, for hosting us this weekend, for your wonderful hospitality and a steady diet of Bleach! We're already looking forward to Memorial Day 2010!
Today on YouTube's Greatest Hits, the popular classic, Hitler Gets Banned From World of Warcraft. Rated NSFW for strong language. Also contains WoW geekery.
Making a joke of one of the greatest villains of our time. God Bless YouTube!
Until next time!
TIME TO RE-TIRE
**********************
Our story actually begins a couple weeks before the trip. The AC/fan blower motor in my car gave up the ghost, so I had to go get that repaired. Not only that, but I'd been in need of new tires for a while now, and I figured I'd better get them before traveling any great distance from home. As you may expect, sometimes routine repairs begat other revelations of things that need to be done. I had a strut that was dangerously close to failing, probably a symptom of the accident I had a couple years ago now; I think they must've left the old ones on. And since struts are replaced in pairs, I had to get two. Throw in an oil change and alignment, and a new serpentine belt, and the price tag is still too painful to revisit. Yet I would've paid twice as much not to miss the trip to come! There's still some more maintenance I could have taken care of on my faithful Eight Six, but none of it is urgent. I just took care of what could potentially cut my trip tragically short.
AND THEY'RE OFF!
************************
After work last Wednesday, Florida was in the midst of torrential downpours since the previous Sunday that flooded parts of the state and only recently stopped. After work was over, I was laden like a beast of burden with two bags of stuff, including one containing my PS3 and other media. The bag wasn't quite weatherproof, especially not in this kind of rain, so the top layer of my things inside got slightly wet, including my ATHF DVDs, but only just a bit of the outer covers, and thankfully not the library book I took along and never did read while I was in NC. What took the brunt of the rain was the directions to Jenn's place I had printed out! Soggy and slightly tattering when I removed them from the bag, they were still just intact enough to read. I only really needed directions for the last few miles there, and thankfully, these were still legible.
It seems that whenever I leave town, the toughest part of the trip is actually *leaving town*. I had little choice but to start traveling in the midst of Orlando's rush hour, and in bad weather to boot. The traffic alert signs told a tale of crawling traffic ahead, so I took a gamble on a possible shortcut I know of. Even though someone cut me off and made me miss my exit, forcing me to take a long loop around, I cut about 20 minutes off what I would've spent in that mess on I-4! I still had to deal with slow-and-go for the rest of the way in the Orlando area, but once that was through, aside from some brief slowdowns due to the sheer volume of the rain, I was free and clear and Jacksonville bound, where I spent Wednesday night at samurai_x2's.
We slept in, so to speak, not leaving until around 8:30. The trip northward went smoothly for the most part, except for a total traffic stop somewhere in Georgia, on a bridge. There was some road work up ahead, and the flash of emergency vehicle lights in the distance. There was enough time to stop the car and get out and stretch our legs. I'd say it was a good 20 minutes before traffic started moving again, and still very slowly for another 10 before we got past whatever trouble there was. When you get stopped in traffic, you like to know *why*. But by the time we got to where we thought the trouble was, everything looked normal. I have my suspicions that the work crew working between the northbound and southbound lanes might've accidentally dropped something in the road with their crane. I guess we'll never know, and it didn't stop us from reaching our destination. X2 and I stopped for another hour a little further up the road to seek baby registry gifts for agermain and ginreisan at the local Wal-Mart, and for lunch. After this, we made pretty good time the rest of the way, walking up on Jenn & Rob's doorstep around 6 PM, I suppose. After exchanging warm greetings, we all left together again almost immediately to enjoy dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant J&R know of. Thus began a weekend of rather hearty eating for me and X2! After we got back, the *other* major pursuit of the weekend began, and I was introduced to the anime series, Bleach. It's funny how a series I knew almost nothing about two weeks ago would now stand head and shoulders with my all-time favorites. Thanks to Rob's diligence and the work of some fine fansubbers, X2 and I watched more or less the complete second season, the Rukia rescue arc (I eschewed the first season so X2 wouldn't have to retread what he'd already watched, and I caught on to the nuances of the series fairly quickly). I can see what all the fuss was about now; truly an enjoyable series. A few episodes took up the rest of that Thursday night.
BLEACH-CASUAL FRIDAY
********************************
We didn't do a hell of a lot on Friday, mostly since J&R were both mostly indisposed between work and appointments, which was fine with us. X2 and I both were in need of some time to relax and just be, and Friday was the perfect day for that. We mostly just watched more Bleach, with the odd Robot Chicken or South Park episode thrown in. Jenn's sister visited later that afternoon, and after a rousing game of Apples to Apples, we went out to Chili's. Looking back, the service was less than stellar, and X2's food, on top of being wrong the first time, was on the cool side. We cheered ourselves back up with more Bleach back home for the rest of the evening.
TICKED OFF!
****************
We rose on the early side Saturday morning for a nice nature walk near, Harris Lake I think it was. A beautiful place, with the cooling tower of a nuclear power plant looming somewhat ominously in the distance. We walked maybe 90 minutes worth of trail near the lakeside and nearby forest, coming upon a particularly lovely semi-clearing, dominated by two great old trees, possibly elms. The crumbling remains of the corner of some forgotten building were there, with a walkway almost fully reclaimed by the forest. By the time 11:00 rolled around, it was already starting to get rather warm for walking, so we made our way back to the car. Then...the horror began. It started out small, as I noticed a tick crawling up my pant leg. I took the pest outside to the pavement and found, by way of overkill, a rock about the size of my head to crush it with. With this deed done, the terror was forgotten for the moment. But then, a few miles up the road, Jenn found one on herself, flicking it out the window. I joked that each of us probably had one, but I would soon find out how unfortunately correct I was. Brian was the next to find one on him. Rob never did have a tick on his person that we know of, *but*, almost *immediately* after Brian found his, the others spotted one crawling up the driver's seat *near* Rob. By this time, Jenn had had it. We stopped and vaccuumed out the car at the next available gas station, spot-checking every inch of the floor, seats, and loose items that we could. J&R found it a welcome excuse to clean out the car a bit anyway. Thankfully, no further ticks were seen for the rest of the weekend.
'TIS BETTER TO GINREI THAN TO RE-SUSHI
*********************************************************
By the way, I've been posting so little this past year, that my post of *last* year's trip to NC is *still* hanging on. This post will push it *right* to the bottom, just in case anyone wants to compare the two. The point is, last year's trip was built around the Animazement con. Last year, while we got to see A&G, shadrad and the whole gang, the con space was quite crowded. Even though the con, now moved to a larger space elsewhere, wasn't included in our plans this year, X2 and I still didn't want the weekend to go by without seeing our friends, especially now that we were bearing gifts for some of them, so we took the opportunity to join them at the same Japanese restaurant they were all meeting at as last year. We enjoyed a delicious meal sprinkled with a little wackiness, chatting all too briefly with the mother and father to be and presenting them with the stuff we snagged on the way up. After getting home, we used what little time there was left before bedtime for Bleach. Oh, yeah, we ate a lot that day, too.
OMG WTF BBQ!
********************
Sunday was another relaxing day, marred only by the fact that it was the last of the weekend. Jenn's parents had a cookout planned, which we would attend around midafternoon. In the meantime, what else? With time quickly slipping away, we got through more Bleach, growing more exciting by the episode. Then we headed for Jenn's parents' place. They were there along with Jenn's sister and her friend. There was a simple yet delicious spread set out of barbecued chicken, Rice-a-Roni, potato salad, fruit, and more, and everyone was required to have at least two full plates of food, not counting the gigantic slices of chocolate cake Jenn's Mom surprised us with! We digested over some enjoyable conversation about future travel plans and past enjoyments. Eventually, it was time to go, and back at the Dragonfly residence, we finished out the last few episodes of the arc we were in in Bleach, and watched the first movie as well.
THE WEEKEND HEADS SOUTH
****************************************
At last, like a thief in the night, Monday morning had snuck up on us, and after gathering our things and exchanging reluctant goodbyes and thanks for their hospitality and a wonderful, fun-filled weekend, we left the area at the stroke of 9 AM. On the way back, after testing the fuel efficiency of the Eight Six when the needle is on E, we made another stop at that (in)famous roadside stop at the NC/SC line, South of the Border. SotB somehow manages to get shittier every time I pass it. After refueling, we took a slow drive around the property, seeing what was open and what was not. I think we can now say with a great deal of certainty that there's much more that's closed (or *should* be closed) at SotB than is open, entire buildings with dead plants in the windows and who knows what else behind these. Still, X2's love for this place won't be denied, and he says if he ever hits it big, he'll use his fortune to revitalize South of the Border. To its credit, at least SotB invested in maybe five new billboards since last year, and I'll be the first to admit I'd at least like to go back in time to whenever this place was at its peak to see what it was like. Beyond this diversion, we made good time back to Jacksonville. Regrettably, I didn't stay very long after dropping X2 off, and continued on to Orlando, safely home that evening, the entire weekend having blurred by like a dream, and the past couple work days coming along, same as it ever was, as though nothing had happnened, but my shoulders and heart lighter in knowing that it *had*.
On behalf of X2 and myself, thank you again, Mr. and Mrs. Dragonfly, for hosting us this weekend, for your wonderful hospitality and a steady diet of Bleach! We're already looking forward to Memorial Day 2010!
Today on YouTube's Greatest Hits, the popular classic, Hitler Gets Banned From World of Warcraft. Rated NSFW for strong language. Also contains WoW geekery.
Click to viewMaking a joke of one of the greatest villains of our time. God Bless YouTube!
Until next time!