Wednesday, September 26, 2007
OBX
Ever since I have moved down to Virginia, I have seen cars with 'OBX' stickers on them. I discovered that this was for the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Lee and I went to camp down there for our 1-year wedding anniversary.
We left at about 8:30am on Saturday morning. We had both our kayaks on my Jeep, so it took us a lot longer to drive down there than it should have. We had to stop a couple of times to adjust things. About two hours later, we arrived. I had called the campgrounds that we planned to stay at and asked if we needed to reserve a spot. The guy said no, since it wasn't the busy season anymore. When we got there, there was only ONE other tent in the entire place. I guess we didn't need reservations... I'm surprised the guy didn't laugh at me! It did mean that Lee & I got our pick of spots! We chose a place next to these guys...
After setting up the tent and whatnot, we ate some lunch and drove around. We planned to kayak, but we didn't know where. Lee was dying to kayak on the ocean, but I was wary. The waves looked a little much for me. I am not exactly a pro kayaker. Well, we couldn't find any other place, so we went to the ocean. I was hoping Lee would help me get my kayak in the water and I look up and he's already like 100 feet off the beach kayaking. Um, thanks... So, I try and get going in the kayak. A huge wave comes and picks up the kayak and hits me in the side with it. I get knocked over. OUCH. So, I go to the beach and Lee rides in and decides to help me. THANKS. I get going and am almost past the crashing waves when a tidal wave comes in and dumps me BIG TIME. I swallowed about a gallon of water and inhaled about a quart more. I'm done kayaking for the day. So, Lee went out and played and I swam in the water and watched people surfing and body boarding (yes, that's how big the waves were, people were surfing...).
We went back and showered up and went and played miniature golf. I was doing well and was even leading for the first 8 holes. Then my ADD kicked in and I stopped concentrating. After hitting the stroke limit 3 times, Lee destroyed me. Time for some food! For dinner that night, we went to an awesome restaurant/bar called Hurricane Mo's. The food was quite tasty and the special was $1.99 pints of BUD LIGHT! I'm in love...
Sunday morning we had an adventure planned. HANG GLIDING! The Outer Banks has these huge soft sand dunes that makes it a forgiving place to learn to hang glide. This is also why the Wright brothers came here when they were learning to fly. There were 7 of us in the class. Lee and I ended up being the best ones, but that wasn't saying a whole lot when compared to the rest of the class... I was good at landing on my feet. Lee was good at flying farther. He didn't so much believe in landing on his feet, so needless to say, it was pretty funny to watch him land on his stomach! I have videos for this and I am going to attempt to put them in here, but it may be beyond my realm of abilities... I believe these videos have now been posted to my blog. Please see above this blog... We really enjoyed hang gliding and have already signed up to go again. This time it will be a tandem hang glide where we are pulled up into the air by an airplane and we go 2,000 feet high. I must have been drunk with adrenaline when I decided to do that!!!!
After de-sanding our bodies, Lee and I stopped to get some souvenirs before heading home. Now we have some sweet OBX gear. And Lee was dying to get a picture by this giant ship prop. He is such a salty sailor. Even Jeepers made it in the picture!!
One other thing to note about the Other Banks. They have Brew Thru's. (See above.) This looks like it might be an oil change place or car repair place, but it is not. You pull into the garage and buy alcohol! Mother of GOD this is an awesome setup. When you pull in there are refrigerators on one side and just stacks and stacks of cases on the other side. They also sell beer paraphenalia like equiptment to play beer pong. I hear this place very much...
We left at about 8:30am on Saturday morning. We had both our kayaks on my Jeep, so it took us a lot longer to drive down there than it should have. We had to stop a couple of times to adjust things. About two hours later, we arrived. I had called the campgrounds that we planned to stay at and asked if we needed to reserve a spot. The guy said no, since it wasn't the busy season anymore. When we got there, there was only ONE other tent in the entire place. I guess we didn't need reservations... I'm surprised the guy didn't laugh at me! It did mean that Lee & I got our pick of spots! We chose a place next to these guys...
After setting up the tent and whatnot, we ate some lunch and drove around. We planned to kayak, but we didn't know where. Lee was dying to kayak on the ocean, but I was wary. The waves looked a little much for me. I am not exactly a pro kayaker. Well, we couldn't find any other place, so we went to the ocean. I was hoping Lee would help me get my kayak in the water and I look up and he's already like 100 feet off the beach kayaking. Um, thanks... So, I try and get going in the kayak. A huge wave comes and picks up the kayak and hits me in the side with it. I get knocked over. OUCH. So, I go to the beach and Lee rides in and decides to help me. THANKS. I get going and am almost past the crashing waves when a tidal wave comes in and dumps me BIG TIME. I swallowed about a gallon of water and inhaled about a quart more. I'm done kayaking for the day. So, Lee went out and played and I swam in the water and watched people surfing and body boarding (yes, that's how big the waves were, people were surfing...).
We went back and showered up and went and played miniature golf. I was doing well and was even leading for the first 8 holes. Then my ADD kicked in and I stopped concentrating. After hitting the stroke limit 3 times, Lee destroyed me. Time for some food! For dinner that night, we went to an awesome restaurant/bar called Hurricane Mo's. The food was quite tasty and the special was $1.99 pints of BUD LIGHT! I'm in love...
Sunday morning we had an adventure planned. HANG GLIDING! The Outer Banks has these huge soft sand dunes that makes it a forgiving place to learn to hang glide. This is also why the Wright brothers came here when they were learning to fly. There were 7 of us in the class. Lee and I ended up being the best ones, but that wasn't saying a whole lot when compared to the rest of the class... I was good at landing on my feet. Lee was good at flying farther. He didn't so much believe in landing on his feet, so needless to say, it was pretty funny to watch him land on his stomach! I have videos for this and I am going to attempt to put them in here, but it may be beyond my realm of abilities... I believe these videos have now been posted to my blog. Please see above this blog... We really enjoyed hang gliding and have already signed up to go again. This time it will be a tandem hang glide where we are pulled up into the air by an airplane and we go 2,000 feet high. I must have been drunk with adrenaline when I decided to do that!!!!
After de-sanding our bodies, Lee and I stopped to get some souvenirs before heading home. Now we have some sweet OBX gear. And Lee was dying to get a picture by this giant ship prop. He is such a salty sailor. Even Jeepers made it in the picture!!
One other thing to note about the Other Banks. They have Brew Thru's. (See above.) This looks like it might be an oil change place or car repair place, but it is not. You pull into the garage and buy alcohol! Mother of GOD this is an awesome setup. When you pull in there are refrigerators on one side and just stacks and stacks of cases on the other side. They also sell beer paraphenalia like equiptment to play beer pong. I hear this place very much...
Monday, September 24, 2007
Gotta love some football humor...
My grandma sent me this today... I LOVE IT!
A seven-year-old boy was at the center of a Franklin County courtroomdrama late yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who shouldhave custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by hisparents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keepingwith child custody laws and regulations requiring that family unity bemaintained to the highest degree possible.The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat himmore than his parents did and he adamantly refused to live with her.When the judge suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boycried and said that they also beat him.After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learningthat domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, thejudge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose whoshould have custody of him.After two recesses to check legal references and confer with the childwelfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the 2007 NotreDame Fighting Irish football team who the court determined are notcapable of beating anyone.
I just hope that Purdue isn't the team to ruin their losing streak!!
A seven-year-old boy was at the center of a Franklin County courtroomdrama late yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who shouldhave custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by hisparents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keepingwith child custody laws and regulations requiring that family unity bemaintained to the highest degree possible.The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat himmore than his parents did and he adamantly refused to live with her.When the judge suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boycried and said that they also beat him.After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learningthat domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, thejudge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose whoshould have custody of him.After two recesses to check legal references and confer with the childwelfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the 2007 NotreDame Fighting Irish football team who the court determined are notcapable of beating anyone.
I just hope that Purdue isn't the team to ruin their losing streak!!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
They paved paradise and put up a parkin' lot!!
While I hate that song, it appears to be true:
"Digitalized aerial surveys taken in 2005 were used to calculate the total area devoted to parking lots in Indiana's Tippecanoe County and revealed the paved lots covered an area larger than 1,000 football fields and that there were three times as many parking spaces as drivers who lived in the county, said study leader Bryan Pijanowski of Purdue University."
It really doesn't surprise me. The county has three Wal-Mart's!!
At least now I have a way to describe where I'm from other than "You know, where Purdue University is..." Now I can just say "That huge parking lot northwest of Indianapolis."
"Digitalized aerial surveys taken in 2005 were used to calculate the total area devoted to parking lots in Indiana's Tippecanoe County and revealed the paved lots covered an area larger than 1,000 football fields and that there were three times as many parking spaces as drivers who lived in the county, said study leader Bryan Pijanowski of Purdue University."It really doesn't surprise me. The county has three Wal-Mart's!!
At least now I have a way to describe where I'm from other than "You know, where Purdue University is..." Now I can just say "That huge parking lot northwest of Indianapolis."
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Trip to the Eastern Shores of Virginia
Wait, I thought Virginia Beach WAS on the eastern shore of Virginia... Well, it turns out that there is a part of Virginia that is only connected to the rest of the state by a bridge. This area is actually a peninsula that is connected to Maryland. Seems like it should be part of Maryland, but hey, I didn't draw the state lines.
So, we crossed the extremely long (24 mile!!) bridge (and 2 tunnels) to check out what was over there.
The answer... Not much. It was really pretty though.
We saw some deer at a wildlife preserve.
Walked along a very soft beach.
Looked around a tiny little town. And ate dinner at the most delicious gas station restaurant EVER.
So, we crossed the extremely long (24 mile!!) bridge (and 2 tunnels) to check out what was over there.
The answer... Not much. It was really pretty though.
We saw some deer at a wildlife preserve.
Walked along a very soft beach.
Looked around a tiny little town. And ate dinner at the most delicious gas station restaurant EVER.
It had something called the Crab Imperial that I just had to order. I wasn't fully sure what it was, but I figure Imperial generally indicates awesomeness. It turned out to be pretty delicious! Imperial apparently meant softshell crab mixed with some mayo and other tastiness. There were a lot of articles on the walls about the restaurant. Apparently we weren't the only ones to be impressed with the food...
All in all, it was a lovely little Sunday!
All in all, it was a lovely little Sunday!
Friday, September 7, 2007
The Summer Drought is Almost Over!!!
No, I'm not talking about the weather... I'm talking about TV! It has been a rough summer of no tv. I have even started watching "My Boys" and "The New Adventures of Old Christine" to passt the time. But, that is all over! Yesterday I decided to write down all the shows that I need to DVR and their start date. The list got slightly out of hand...
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ~ Sept. 13th
Survivor: China ~ Sept. 20th
The Biggest Loser ~ Sept. 11th
Desperate Housewives ~ Sept. 23rd
Grey's Anatomy ~ Sept. 6th (This if for Lee. Yeah, I married a woman.)
30 Rock
Las Vegas
My Name is Earl ~ Sept. 27th
The Office ~ Sept. 27th
CSI: Miami ~Sept. 10th (Happy 33rd CFunk!)
How I Met Your Mother
The Unit ~ Sept. 11th
Without a Trace
24
American Dad
Family Guy
The Simpsons
The War at Home
The Loop
Dirt
Nip/Tuck
It's a good thing the weather will be cooling down soon, because I am going to need to spend a lot more time in my apartment watching TV!!
(2 blog posts in one day... It MUST be a Friday!)
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ~ Sept. 13th
Survivor: China ~ Sept. 20th
The Biggest Loser ~ Sept. 11th
Desperate Housewives ~ Sept. 23rd
Grey's Anatomy ~ Sept. 6th (This if for Lee. Yeah, I married a woman.)
30 Rock
Las Vegas
My Name is Earl ~ Sept. 27th
The Office ~ Sept. 27th
CSI: Miami ~Sept. 10th (Happy 33rd CFunk!)
How I Met Your Mother
The Unit ~ Sept. 11th
Without a Trace
24
American Dad
Family Guy
The Simpsons
The War at Home
The Loop
Dirt
Nip/Tuck
It's a good thing the weather will be cooling down soon, because I am going to need to spend a lot more time in my apartment watching TV!!
(2 blog posts in one day... It MUST be a Friday!)
GO COLTS!!!
As most everyone knows, last night kicked off the NFL regular season.
It was an opportunity to see the Superbowl Champion Indianapolis Colts take on New Orleans. Now, normally, I WOULD cheer for Drew Brees, as he said in his introduction, "Drew Brees, Boilermaker". But, not when he is playing against my Colts.
Lee and I were decked out in our Colts gear. Lee's Colts shirt was dirty, so he had to borrow one of mine. And he refused to wear any of my shirts with Peyton Manning on it, claiming it is gay to have another dude on your shirt. Whatever.
The game started out awesome, with John Cougar Mellencamp singing "Small Town". What could be better? I could have done without Faith Hill singing her song that was popular back in 1998 (estimate), what the heck was that about? Anyway, I was a little nervous when I went to bed at halftime (I'm old) and it was TIED 10 to 10, but was VERY happy to wake up to this.
COLTS 41
Saints 10
Shut down in the 2nd half!!
GO COLTS!!
It was an opportunity to see the Superbowl Champion Indianapolis Colts take on New Orleans. Now, normally, I WOULD cheer for Drew Brees, as he said in his introduction, "Drew Brees, Boilermaker". But, not when he is playing against my Colts.
Lee and I were decked out in our Colts gear. Lee's Colts shirt was dirty, so he had to borrow one of mine. And he refused to wear any of my shirts with Peyton Manning on it, claiming it is gay to have another dude on your shirt. Whatever.
The game started out awesome, with John Cougar Mellencamp singing "Small Town". What could be better? I could have done without Faith Hill singing her song that was popular back in 1998 (estimate), what the heck was that about? Anyway, I was a little nervous when I went to bed at halftime (I'm old) and it was TIED 10 to 10, but was VERY happy to wake up to this.
COLTS 41
Saints 10
Shut down in the 2nd half!!
GO COLTS!!