Earthquakes and Hurricanes

On Tuesday (August 23rd), I experienced my first earthquake. Surprisingly, I felt it right here in central New Jersey. The epicenter was in Virginia and the shock could be felt as far north as Canada. It was a lame little shake -- something I'm sure Californians would barely notice. But holy crap, did it get everybody excited.

This weekend, the Northeast is preparing for hurricane Irene. New Jersey is already in a state of emergency, with the governor urging evacuation of the Jersey shore. If it turns out to be as bad as they're speculating, we're in for a doozy.

I wouldn't mind some power outages and flooding. Back to basic survival mode. I'll just travel via canoe if I have to.

Dreams

I'll own a few dozen acres of land. Wooded land, with trails for hiking, quads, and dog sledding. There will be plenty of streams and a path to a lake, for swimming and fishing. There will be a little dock to keep my boat. The water will be clean and full of big, fat fish.

There will be a little cottage hidden within the acres. Nothing too elaborate: just a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, den, and office. With a porch for drinking coffee at sunrise, beers at sunset.

Behind the cottage there will be a garden, full of vegetables and fruit. A couple chickens will be pecking around it, keeping it free of insect invaders. The safety of their little coop will be nearby, should a fox come prowling. At the edge of the garden will be a bee hive and a worm compost, each with their own special duties -- keeping my garden blooming.

This dream isn't too far-fetched. It's actually very attainable. Who knew being completely secluded and more self-reliant could be so affordable. No, I get it, it's not something most people want. But I do. So much so, I get anxious just thinking about.

One day, it will come true.

Wordless Wednesday: Maine Reflections

The Pine Tree State

On Thursday evening, AJ and I drove up to Maine. We didn't get there until 2:30 in the morning, but it was well worth the long drive. We chatted with Woody and Audrey (our hosts) for a few hours, and finally fell asleep as dawn began to break.


We spent all of Friday on Peabody Pond, except for a sandwich break. Several hours on a canoe will leave you with some serious sea legs, FYI. We fished and drank and drank and fished. The boys caught big monster bass, the girls hooked monsters that broke lines. Everyone caught something, though, so no complaints.


After the (gorgeous) sunset, we paddled around by moonlight before finally heading back to land. The night ended with Ramen noodles, card games, and shooting stars.



On Saturday, we loaded up the trucks and headed out to Lake Sebago, where we'd spend the next 24 hours camping. It wasn't our usual brand of camping -- each campsite was right up next to its neighbor, there were dozens of RVs, a playground, running-water bathrooms, and showers. Not exactly "roughing it". Despite the abundance of "conveniences", we made do with what we had, and had a pretty good time at that.


We got one more beautiful Maine sunset over Sebago. The moon was even brighter that night, complete with a rainbow moon dog as the clouds passed by.

The next morning we trudged home through rainy New England. It took more than eight hours to get home, due to slow traffic and construction. Not to mention a plethora of accidents along the way. Now, as I sit in my cubicle in water-logged NJ, I'm already thinking about my next trip back up North.

Wordless Wednesday: From the Garden

The Buckeye State

Last week, a group of friends and I drove eight hours west to vacation in Ohio. Maybe not your usual getaway destination, but I assure you, it was a lot of fun. We arrived in Sandusky on Sunday afternoon (after leaving NJ at 4 AM and driving straight through) and proceeded to eat (at "Ze Sirsty Pony, yah!"), nap, and relax. That evening, we went to Cedar Point for a quarter of the usual admission price and tore shit up. Meaning, we rode lots of rides with very short lines.



The next day we woke up early and hit the park again. We went on nearly every roller coaster, road the water rides, ate turkey legs, won toys, and drank over-priced but overly-delicious lemonade. I think there was crack in that lemonade.



I'll admit it, some of the rides managed to scare the crap out of me. Primarily, their "Power Tower" ride. The ride itself wasn't scary. We went on the side that brings you up 300 feet and shoots you down. Something about just sitting 300 feet up, waiting to fall, really shook me. Definitely had to go on twice.



The dudes and I also paid a little extra to do the "Ripcord" ride. You basically get hoisted up and back 180 feet. Then someone (in our case, Tom) has to pull the ripcord, sending everybody flying downward and outward. I've always wanted to do one of these rides (they have them all over the place), but never gathered the courage (or the cash -- it was very cheap at Cedar Point). I'm glad I finally knocked that one off the bucket list. I'll consider it preparation for bungee jumping and/or sky diving.



After an exhausting day and a half at Cedar Point, we ventured across Lake Erie to Put-in-Bay, or South Bass Island, depending on what map you're looking at. As suggested by locals, we ate our first dinner at The Goat. I almost wish we had saved it for the end of the trip, the food was amazing -- nothing else we had could really compare. I tried escargot for the first time, which was actually really good. Most of the group ate the perch tacos. As a fish taco fancier (haha), I'd have to say, they were among the best I've eaten. Haha. Soup and whiskey were their other specialties. I only sampled the former, and it was quite delicious.



The remainder of the trip was a blur of excitement mixed with naps and relaxation. We drove our golf cart, jet skied, bicycled, and mopeded (mopedaled? moped?) around the island. We drank at Mojito Bay, an outdoor tiki bar with sand instead of a floor and swings instead of bar stools. I ate more perch, walleye, lobster, and steak. We made use of the hotel's pool and 40-person hot tub. We woke up to the smell of a roasting pig (but didn't get to eat any) and the sounds of a DJ bumpin da bass at 9:30 AM.



We saw lots of white people, primarily age 40 and up. We listened to a nerdy cover band play 80's songs, which many white ladies danced to. We ate fantastic ice cream -- mine was red velvet cake flavored. We crept around in a cold, wet cave. Most of the group tried fancy wines at one of the island's wineries. We ate Mexican food from a pizza place, and it was as disappointing as you'd expect.



We drank coffee from the "Chocolate Museum" and watched a gorgeous sunset. All in all, a pretty fantastic trip. I got to do lots of new things -- things I didn't expect to do on a tiny island in Ohio. Hell, I didn't know Ohio even had islands.

So thank you, Buckeye state, for showing me a good time. I'm happy to have added you to my list of travel destinations.