Wedding in PA

So, this past weekend I was in PA for my step-brother's wedding. I left last Thursday morning, drove to Manchester, NH and then flew Southwest into Philadelphia. The day started great, said goodbye to Emily at 6AM and was on the road. 3.5 hours later I was at the airport... right on schedule. My flight was supposed to leave at 12PM; however, due to weather in Philly and a mechanical issue it was 2PM when we left. Bill picked me up around 3:30PM in Philly. From there we went to pick up our tuxedos and run some other errands. The rehearsal started at 6PM and lasted an hour. From there we went over to Sligo's... an Irish Pub. It was fantastic. As a best man gift, Bill got me a new digital camera. I was floored!!!!!! So, here are some pictures from the pub.

















Friday morning… it was still raining. Golf at 7:30AM never happened because of it. So, we went to Denny’s for breakfast and then back to the hotel to have naps. I ended up sleeping until 11:30AM and it felt good. The afternoon was spent running around finishing up errands and car shuffles. The limo was 30 minutes late in picking us up and the wedding ended up starting an hour late. It was dark in the gazebo, but it was still a nice ceremony. The reception started promptly after and we partied until 1 Am. Below are some of the wedding pictures.









Saturday found me returning the tuxedos in the morning and then driving back to Reading. I spent the afternoon hanging out with my dad and brother. Went to bed early that night because I was beat.

Sunday was up around 9 AM and on the way to the airport just after 10 AM. The flight from Philly was on time and I landed in Manchester at 2:30 PM. Made the final drive and got home around 6:15 PM. Relaxed for a bit and then went to bed.

So, that sums up the past weekend… The weekend before, Emily and I were canoeing on the Saco River in Southern Maine. The camera I had sucked and the photo quality is wicked bad. So, no pictures from that trip.

This coming weekend is the Common Ground Fair. Time to see if I can defend my 4th place finish in the horse shoe toss.

Been a while... Backpacking trip

Well it's been a while since I posted. Camera was down and work has been busy. Summer has been good, things are going well with Emily. Below are pictures from the 3rd annual Labor Day AT hike weekend. Emily drove us up on Thursday night and picked us up yesterday. The hike was 30.4 miles on the Appalachian Trail from Monson - Gulf Hagas.

This pictures are from last weekend. Mike, Lynne, Emily, and I went camping at Baxter State Park and climbed Mt Katadhin on the Appalachian Trail. It was one of the hardest things that I have ever done.

The above pictures are from this past weekend. On Saturday, Emily and I went to Rockland for the day. It was foggy but still enjoyable. Sunday found us sailing with Mike and Lynne. This is at pier last night getting ready to put the boat back on the mooring. What an incredible Rainbow.




These above pictures are from the Memorial Day weekend trip on the St Croix River. It was a beautiful weekend!

Emily and I spent this past weekend in Portland... We left work around 3:30PM and headed south. We arrived in Portland around 6:30PM and got checked in to the hotel, The Inn at St John, after that we went next door to the Dogfish Cafe. It was an excellent meal and drinks. After dinner Em and I walked up to the Old Port district and back to the hotel... approx 4 miles round trip. It was a nice night.

We woke up late on Saturday and went out for breakfast to a fantastic little dinner on the waterfront called Becky's. The place was packed and we waited for a half an hour to get a seat at the counter. I highly recommend this place. After breakfast we ran some errands to the Art Supply store and then walked around the Old Port more. We met my friend Ian who works there and then walked around more. We ended up getting caught in a thunderstorm and got soaked. On the way back to the car we made reservations for dinner at an upscale resteraunt. Made our way back to the hotel to get showered and changed for dinner. Dinner qwas at a small palce called Cinque Terre. It was awesome, after dinner we walked around the Old Port more and then headed back to the hotel.

Sunday we got to sleep in late again... This time we went to Uncle Andy's Diner in South Portland. After breakfast we headed over to the Portland Head Lighthouse. See pics above. After that we started our trek home, but made a detour in to Freeport for some shopping and walking around. We ended up getting back to my place around 8 PM last night, watched some tv and went to bed around 11PM.

So here it is... Monday, back at work and ready to leave again.

Joe

This past weekend, Mike, Lynne, and myself went on our annual winter camping trip. We hiked into Leeman Brook Shelter on the AT from Monson. It was 6 miles round trip in some different conditions. Parts of the trail had 3 feet of snow, parts had ice, parts were muddy, and parts were clear. This trip made 3 weekends in a row of hiking, this Sunday will find me on another day trip in Acadia.

Other news... Emily is back in Maine next week.... Wooo Hooo! I am really looking forward to that. Work is busy and we have our reservations for our Baxter State Park trip in June. More to follow.

Joe

Most of the month of March, I have been doing a lot of hiking. This is from a day hike in Acadia National Park, looking towards the Beehive from the Great Head Trail.

So, after work on Tuesday, I headed down to Manchester, NH. I left the Bangor Store at 5PM and was to the hotel by the airport at 8:30PM. I grabbed some dinner, talked with Emily for a bit, and then went to bed.

Up at 5Am on Wednesday morning wasn't a big deal. I got to the airport and checked right through. When flying to Baltimore, we flew just south of Reading... close enough to see Limerick, and the city. From BWI, I flew into Indianapolis.

Emily picked me up at the airport at 11:10AM. From there we toured around downtown. Saw Monument Circle and had some coffee at the Abbey Coffee Shop. From there we headed to Emily's parent's house. It was a very nice house. We hung out there for a while, Emily opened her gifts, and then we went to run some errands. Emily was impressed by my navigational skills. She made me drive home from the mall and I went a different direction. I found my way without any help. We went to dinner at Ambrosia, an authentic Italian Resturant. Excellent Food! After dinner we took a short little walk around the area and then headed home.

Thursday found us up around 10AM. We went back over towards the mall for breakfast. I had an awesome omlette with ham, swiss, onions, and mustard. The cinnamon toast was fantastic too. We ended up going back to Emily's after breakfast and played Battleship and hung out. We headed out around 4:30PM for dinner.... Mexican and it was yummy. From there, Em took me back to the airport. I flew out Indianapolis at 7:25AM. My flight from Chicago was 20 minutes late landing in Manchester.

I started my drive home at 1 AM this morning. Stopped in Yarmouth, ME around 2:30AM and slept for 2 hours. From there, I drove to work and worked the full day. Other than that... I picked up my new glasses on the way home from work today.

All in all... It was an AWESOME trip! It was even cheaper than my trip to PA the other week.

J

Well.... It's over!

I had my root canal done this morning at 10:30 Am. I was out of there by 12PM. It was pretty painless. Now I get to drive to Manchester, NH tonight and tomorrow... I fly out to Indianapolis to spend Wed and Thurs with Emily for her birthday. 3/1 for those who didn't know.

Em, has many activities planned for the trip and I look forward to them, now that my tooth isn't hurting.

Further updates to follow on Friday.

J

GRUMPY BASTARD!

So, Friday night I started with a toothache. On Saturday it was worse in the morning, so I went to Walmart to get Anbesol and Advil to help with the pain. On Sat evening when I was talking with Emily, the pain started going away and I thought I was over it. Well, I woke up around 6AM on Sunday to find my face all swollen up like in the picture. I hopped in the shower and headed to the hospital. I was prescribed Penicillen and needed to see a dentist.

Well, it's Monday and I just got back from the dentists office. My original root canal has failed and need to have it redone. UGGGHH!!! So, tomorrow at 10:30AM, I am having root canal again! :-( The good news is, I'll be able to travel on Wed and Thurs without pain.

I'll give you guys an update after tomorrows procedure.

J

My Trip to PA and West Virginia - Long Update

I left for PA on Valentine's Day, just after 4 PM. I drove as far as the first rest stop in New York on I-84. It was around 11:30PM when I stopped. I folded the rear seats of my truck down, filled up my therm-a-rest, and rolled out my sleeping bag. Emily made the last 1.5 hours of driving fly by, by keeping me awake on the phone. I woke up around 7:00AM on Wed, and got everything packed up and ready for travel again. My first stop was gas and breakfast in Montgomery, NY. Who know's what's in Montgomery? ooh, ohh! Orange County Choppers. I drove by the shop around 7:30 in the morning, snapped some pictures and saw Paul Jr. on a smoke break. I ended up driving over to him and talked with him for 5 minutes and also got an autograph. See Pics below. From there, I went to the store and bought a t-shirt and scooped out all of the bikes.




I rolled into Reading around 1 PM in the afternoon. The afternoon was relaxing, went and got the car washed and checked out all of the new crap in the area. New strip malls want to make me vomit. I had dinner with Mom around 5 PM and then headed into the city. The old Rajah Theater is now the Sovereign Performing Arts Center. I was there to see INXS perform. I realized that it had been 20 years since I had seen there first concert. I am getting old. JD was an excellent choice for the lead singer. He pulled the old stuff off as good as Michael Hutchens did. I got home from there around 11:30PM. On Thursday, Mom and I drove to NJ to visit my grandparents there. It was a short, but nice visit. Dad, Kyle, and I went out for dinner on Thurday night.

Friday mornning, I started my next adventure towards West Viriginia. Emily and I decided to meet halfway to have a long weekend together. I arrived at the hotel in St. Clairsville, OH around 12 PM. Some past thoughts of this place.... I stayed at that Red Roof Inn, and I learned how to drive stickshift in that Mall parking lot. Em and I had a great weekend away! Some activities included bowling, going to Cabela's, visiting the Artisan Center in Wheeling, The Burial Mound in Moundsville along with the old prison. See pics below...



Yesterday, I made the 15 hour drive home and I'm back at work today.

8th Annual Banff Party Weekend was a complete success!

We had a group of over 20 both nights of the event. Let's go back... Friday night was the annual party at Mike and Lynne's house. It was a blast since most people got into town early evening. We partied well into the late night hours.

On Saturday, Mike got up and cooked breakfast for everyone and at high noon, the poker game started. I wasn't there for this part as I had to be a work most of the day. :-( We left for the festival at 6PM and got good seats. Here is the opener that they used for this year. The music is a rush! LINKY. Saturday night was cultural night. Some of the movies included:

Balancing Point
Becoming a Man in Siberia
Charles, Edouard ou le temps suspendu
Hockey Night… in Ladakh
The Khumbu Mighty-Mites
The Lost People of Mountain Village

Sunday, was another day of breakfast at Mike and Lynne's. From there we went and did our outdoor activity. We hiked around Great Head in Acadia National Park. A good hike with some dangerous stretches, especially in a blizzard. All survived. After that our group went to China Hill for feast before the films. Sunday nights movies were sports related. Some of the movies included:

Middle Kaweah
Person as Projectile
Praszczur (Grandpa)
Solilochairliftquist
The Tangerine Dream [short]

I must say that all of the films were fantastic. Our group is actually going to make a documentary on our annual ritual to submit for next years competition.

Sand dollars at Ames Cove

BLOG UPDATE: I have enabled the comments portion on this site. Feel free to leave any comments.

Well, it's been a fun week so far... Poker was cancelled on Tuesday, I've been fighting a cold, and works been busy.

So the next couple of weeks are going to be fun and busy too. I have to work most of this weekend. Oh, well the time adds up for when I take vacation in 2 weeks.

Next weekend is the 10th annual Banff Mountain Film Festival in Ellsworth. You should check it out! Most of the crowd from New Year's will be here for this show.

On Wednesday, the 15th, Jack and I leave for PA. Jack will need a drive from PA to Baltimore since I will be going to the INXS concert that evening. This will be awesome... INXS is the first band that I ever saw in concert back in 1986. While in PA, I will go to NJ to visit Poppy and Lucille and then on the 17th, I head to Wheeling, WV to have a weekend get-a-way with Emily. I drive home to Reading on the 19th and then drive back to ME on the 20th.

So, that sums up the next couple of weeks... I'll be sure to throw some other updates in there.

This is Emily and Me at Ames Cove. It was a windy day if you can't tell by my hair.

Ames Cove, Cape Rosier, ME

I spent Friday with Emily... her last day in town before she headed off for her 2 month furlow from the Park. Emily and I have been dating for 3 weeks now and I'd have to say it has been the best 3 weeks in my life or atleast in a long time.

I'll post another picture right after this post.

J

This was the sunrise last Thursday morning on my way to work. Time flies when you are having fun!

Work is busy and will be busy for another few weeks.

We finally got some snow... about 4" fell yesterday and they are calling for another 1 - 3"'s tonight.

Well, well... 2006. This picture is from Rusty's Hard Time Hollow in VA on New Year's Day. I had a blast hanging out with the hiker trash that was there. Met some new people and hung out with old friends.

It would appear that 2006 is going to be an interesting year... Banff is in February and then I head to PA again for the INXS concert. It should be a great time. I'll get to see some family that I didn't get to see at Christmas time.

I all hope your 2006 celebrations were excellent and safe.

Fall has been very rainy here in Maine. This is water runoff of Cadillac Mountain back in early November.

Work has been keeping me super busy.