Denver, CO (Robbie & Darnelle's Wedding, Sarah, Z and Jeffy)

I just got back from Denver. My friend Robbie got married! Holy cow! I left Friday after work and Sarah picked me up from the airport. Sarah is working for Americorp and finished up a project just in time for Z and I to stay with her in Denver. I haven't seen Sarah in ages and it was so good to catch up! Z was out with the boys for the bachelor party and so it was a girls' night. Z came in late, and a little tossed :), so we had a quick hello before going back to bed. The next morning we got up and had breakfast at Breakfast King, delicious! Off we went to Red Rocks for a hike. The hike that Z had found online didn't exist so we wondered around the amphitheater for a bit. I wish we could have gone to a show there, it was absolutely beautiful. Good thing Sarah plans on sticking around because I spent most of the weekend creating a list of things to do. When we headed out to hike we had a security guard tell us that we had to leave because there was a man with a gun in the area. Sweet! We decided to chance it in hopes that whatever plans he had would keep him out of the area we were headed for. Red Rocks is fabulous! We didn't have a chance to visit where the dinosaur tracks are, but the area is so unique and beautiful I don't feel like the trip was any bit of a loss. About half way through our walk Z's shoes died. We headed up to the gift shop to get some duct tape. We cooled off in some AC and taped up Z's shoes.
After hiking we went down to Washington Park to people watch and hang out. It is such a cool place! There were people everywhere. They were playing slosh ball and running, rollerblading, there were dogs everywhere! It is a really neat spot.
Showers at the campus proved to be very interesting. The shower head hit me below the shoulder! Cleaned up and ready to go we headed out for some Mexican food. Illegal Pete's had some great food and delicious boy watching :) Heyloo!! Celtic Tavern was our next stop. The place was huge and complete with a bowling ally and live band. The first rounds of drinks were ridiculously sweet. Sarah, being the sweet girl she is, simply dumped it out in the bathroom and lied to the waitress who sold it to her as one of her specialties. Jeffy showed up later with Carlie. It was so fun to catch up and shoot the shit with the boys!
All dressed up and ready to see Robbie tie the knot! Z was my and Sarah's date to the wedding, pimpin'... We picked up Jeff on the way and pre-gamed in the car. We got there and sat down... on the wrong side! We saw Katie, Rob's sister, sitting on the other side so we got up and ran across the isle. Rob couldn't help but laugh at us, especially since Katie was on the wrong side and soon moved to our original side after we settled in. The wedding was sweet and just short enough to survive the heat. The reception was so fun! I haven't seen Rob's parents in so long! I adore them and it was good to get to talk to them as well as Rob's sibs, Katie and Scottie. Our table consisted of Z, Sarah, Jeff and I, another couple and Mr. Gauddi, the scariest man I have ever seen. After the wedding we took off for Sancho's Broken Arrow, a Grateful Dead themed bar. Fooseball, air hockey and pool was the name of the game. The bar is complete with a bit of San Francisco decor, including Filmore posters! After a few six packs of PBR we encountered some very interesting characters. Our intro to the girl that Z wrested in the video was her coming up to me, straddling me on my chair and asking if she could hump me for a minute... I could have sworn I was in some dive in San Francisco at that moment. Sarah had to leave early so she could get up for work the next morning, so me and the boys finished up the party strong for her. The next morning we got to meet up with Rob and Darnelle for breakfast. Z and Jeff got to fill Darnelle in on all of the stupid shit they used to do in high school while we nursed our hangovers. The morning was cut short by my need to get to the airport, boo! Z and I dropped Jeff off at home before getting ourselves a bit lost heading back to the campus. Sarah met Z and I at the dorm and we were off.
The weekend was full of surprises that will bring a smile to my face for a long time to come. There is nothing like new memories with old friends.

Weekend Videos

There is a lot that went on this past weekend that I will have to write about when I have more time. For now I leave you with the videos of our trip.

Cammy dancin'!

Baldwin and I fooseballin' it.

Z's victory lap... GOOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!

Z wrestling the crazy chick who had, earlier in the night, humped me. Love the crazies!

SAILING

Friday I woke up excited. Only one stop before I could get up to Annapolis and see Calliope in the water. When I got there J was putting, shall we say finishing touches?, on the boat. There wasn't much I could help with so I ran things to and from the truck until we were ready to go to the Boat Club. J took off in the boat and I drove to the grocery store on my way to meet him and James for dinner.

We had steak. And when I say we had steak I mean, we had the largest steak I have ever had. It was delicious and the salad and pasta salad were pretty damn good too. It was so nice to sit there and watch the sunset on the water. It's been quite some time.

An hour late for our full moon sail, we got out onto the water. Sailing at night easily ranks in my top five favorite things. Skimming over the dark water with the enormous yellow moon lighting the way, not much can beat it. Being around the open salty water felt like home.

To get into Swan Creek we had to be careful not to get into shallow water. For this I sat on the bow with a Maglight and look for the reflective material on the buoys. Going into port you have to keep the green buoys on the port side (left), and the red ones on the starboard side.

J told me that in Europe it is the opposite. In Baltimore they switched the buoy colors so that when they were attacked the ships would run ashore. Simple and brilliant eh?

It took us a little while to get in and we finally dropped anchor at one in the morning.

When we woke up the sun was shining and it was already warm. The perfect time for a swim! We swam over to the boats that we were supposed to meet up with the night before for coffee. After a little chat we went back to the boat for breakfast. Bagels and cream cheese with lox... MY FAVORITE!

Once we cleaned up the whole group took off for Baltimore. We were flying! Passing everyone up! We switched to the engine before passing under the Key Bridge. As soon as we did the motor started to putz out on us. Every once in a while it would putter down to nothin'. During out little struggle to the marina we passed the buoy marking where Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner while watching the bombing of Balitmore as POW on a British ship during the war of 1812. Before too long we were at Inner Harbor in Baltimore.Once in Baltimore J did a few more repairs on the boat. Turns out we had water in the fuel and that was why we were fighting out way into the marina. The big success for the day was when J installed the chocks! Yey!

At six we all headed out for the Orioles game. J and I had Parrish's ticket so we were going to meet her and James at the gate when they got there. We got all the way up to our seats, after the fabulous discovery of black and tans at one of the beer stands, when Parrish called. Back we went. We picked them up at the gate and went for food and more beer. The O's played Detroit and it was a hell of a game! The O's won in the 10th inning, 10-9. Back at the boat it was time for some Dark and Stormies. I must say, that for not liking rum, I sure do enjoy a good Dark and Stormy! James was supposed to head back that night but I don't think that was ever a realistic plan. Brie with minced sun dried tomatoes, yummy. We all crashed out on the deck. After the third time J's foot slipped and knocked me in the head I went down below.

The next morning we were all a little slow to get going, except for James who had to be on his way out at five a.m.. We got dressed and walked the few blocks to breakfast. We sat down with the group from the game to eat. I must say that I really enjoy the sailing community. Everyone I have met is very welcoming, nice and laid back. There always seems to be good conversation.

After breakfast we headed back to the boat for showers and a few last minute tune ups before leaving for Annapolis. We got back and met up with Parrish's friends Marci and her boyfriend Roger. Both were super nice. Considering the air was completely still when we woke up in the morning, we were very happily surprised to find it blowing right along once we were out of the shelter of the marina. The engine was acting up again so J went to work switching out the filter. It took some sweat and coercion to get the filter to cooperate but J got it done.

We sailed on, into the wind, for some time. It felt so nice, but unfortunately Parrish was on a little bit of a time crunch, so we opted to motor our way back. The water was choppy and it was really fun!

I had a fantastic weekend and can't wait to get on the water again, that is, if J will have me. I'm pretty useless on a sailboat. I can follow directions, but only those that I can understand. I will study up on the sailing vocab before I try again.

Say, Aaaaallllll Greeeeeeeen!

07-12-08Saturday was a great day for me! Shenandoah was perfect. Parrish, James and I took off for the a 12 mile hike on the west side of Shenandoah National Park. It was a hot day but the hike was almost entirely in the shade. It was so nice to be outside! The first part of the hike had a swimming hole that we will be returning to take advantage of for sure. The hike was a little rough, lots of hills, but worth every moment once we got to the clearing. After hiking we headed back to my house to shower up before dinner and then went to see Wall-E.

07-13-08

Sunday I headed up to Annapolis to help J work on the cooler for his boat. I guarantee I cannot properly tell you how it works. If you are really curious as to how to build a boat cooler look here, http://calliopelog.blogspot.com/. It was good, hard work. I cut and shaped foam for the installation of the cooler and then we covered the sides in fiberglass. J has been working on it for a long time. I was really lucky to get there on a day where the whole thing really came together.

07-15-08

Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay is one of my all time favorites!

Tuesday I headed to Wolf Trap for Amos Lee and Al Green! I met Jeff and Ting at the Ballston Metro and we grabbed some food for the road. Amos Lee went on first. He is a great performer! I had only heard his slower stuff and after hearing him Tuesday night went and downloaded all of his stuff. We were on the lawn and had a few beers and some wine. The guy in front of us needed a wine key so Jeff passed him ours. He then proceeded to drink three bottles of wine in about an hour. Him being so drunk would have been less entertaining if he wasn't a giant. He kept turning around and giving Jeff love. Then he would get up, put his hands over his head and wiggle his ass for a little while.
After Amos Lee's set I went up to get his autograph. The line was quite long but I waited anyway. At the front of the line I could see girls swarming him for pictures. The poor guy looked so uncomfortable! After he signed my ticket I went back down for Al Green's set.
Al Green was a trip! He had dancers and once of the back up singers kept saying, "Let me hear you say Aaaallll Greeeeeennn!". It was a super fun show once he got past some of his new songs, that I'm not a big fan of, and once he stopped saying, "The reverends still got it!". It was a very random show, with everyone singing along and dancing.
Driving home from D.C., for the second time, Jeff, you loser :), I was thinking about all of the concerts I have been to over the years. Here we go, in no particular order...
Aerosmith, Bush, Green Day, Kiss, CCR, The Judds, Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper, Brooks and Dunn, (get ready for the boy band segment of the list) Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees and N'Sync, Doobie Brothers, Pedro the Lion, Steve Miller Band, Rage Against the Machine, The Roots, Cyprus Hill, Marva Wright, Keith Frank & The Soileau Zydeco Band, Cher, B.B. King, The Beach Boys, Stone Temple Pilots, Celine Dion, Clay Walker, Emmylou Jarris, Faith Hill, The Shins, Tim McGraw, (my boys) Aratic, Forthmorning, Thought Crime, Fredalba, MaNdonna, Domeshots, Hard Nox..., Goo Goo Dolls, Charlie Daniel's Band, Mike Doughty, Muse, Rascal Flats, Travis Tritt, Wanda Rouzan... a good dent but I'm not done yet!
It was a night of "baby makin' music", that warranted, at least, a good make out session on the grass... There's always next time!

Sophia

Yesterday I went to pick up my new bike, Sophia! After Sophia Loren of course, because I need to channel some serious Itallian bombshell to whip my ass into shape to ride my new Bianchi the way she deserves.
Off to Wayne, Pennsylvania!
Aren't we going to be a fabulous threesome?

Just because, seriously? Spread Eagle Village?!

Turns out that to get to Pennsylvania you have to go through Delaware, go figure.

Just making sure she's still there. I wasn't entirely sure that I put the truck rack on properly.

Off to Annapolis to meet up with J for food.

We headed to Ram's Head for dinner and ran into J's roommate Will. It was exactly what the doctor ordered. Crab melt and a few beers can cure almost anything.

Lusa Blanks

Okay, so Lisa pointed out to me that the last blog left quite a few unanswered questions. Especially since I haven't posted a blog in quite a while. So I'm going to fill in the Lusa Blanks:
I met James in Parrish through my friend J. I met J almost two years ago on a flight out to Lisa and David's wedding. After Memorial Day weekend of no friends I decided it was time to tap into the friend reserve and sent J an email. After hanging out he got me in touch with Parrish. Parrish is his sister and has also just moved to the area. James is J's friend from Annapolis that I met when we all went climbing.
The people in the picture are Alicia (maker of quiche and olives), Parrish and James at the Sunday Brunch. We hung out at Parrish's house and watched Wimbledon.
Ray's the Steaks is a steak house that I have applied to work at. They are currently in the process of openning (a few days ago) a burger joint right next door. After that they will be expanding the steak house and that is when I will be able to start. I didn't write anything about that previously but Lisa asked and I figured it wouldn't hurt to throw it in there.

Happy 4th of July!

This weekend was spent with my friends Parrish and James. Parrish is new to the DC area also so it was fun to see the sights together. On Friday we went to Iwo Jima to watch the fireworks. The view was damn good but there wasn't quite enough wind to keep the smoke moving. There were so many people there!

Saturday we met up at REI to get Parrish climbing gear and me some cycling stuff. I am now the proud owner of a bike pump and some mini tool that, although it is a super sweet little guy, I have no idea what to do with. After REI we went to climb in Rockville. It was a very decent round of climbs. On our way back to DC we went to pick up James's car. After a little drama with the 24 hour key pick up box, we gave up and headed to DC to go and see Wally. When we found out it was sold out we went back to Parrish's and assisted James in making some very yummy veggie stir fry. When we were done with dinner we went over to hang out with a few of Parrish's friends who had gone berry picking that day and made cherry pie! Delicious! The drive home was a wet one.

Sunday brunch at Parrish's was amazing! Baked french toast, corn pudding, banana crepes, asparagus and chicken crepes, fruit salad, two kinds of quiche, rhubarb bread, champagne punch, bloody marys... Mmmmm! It was really fun to hang out and meet some good people.

I left just in time to get home and win my new wheels on Ebay! I can't wait to pick her up tomorrow and bring her home! Out with the running, in with the cycling. Should be interesting. Full of new toys and new ways to hurt myself.

Hope everyone had a good 4th!

New Goal

I needed something to work towards to get me onto a bike. So on October 4th I will be doing the Sea Gull Century out at the Eastern Shore! That's 100 miles people, get excited! Not any real idea where to start but I always seem to figure it out.