Road Trip!

What do you get when you mix together 9 states, 4 city-stops, 3 cases of root beer, 2 star-crossed lovers, 150 Twizzlers, and a Honda Fit?

Road trip, baby!

Celeste and I had the week of the 4th off and decided to take to the open road and visit some of our favorite people and favorite places.

Day 1
After a long day of classes, we shot up I-95 and arrived in Philadelphia just after nightfall.  We stayed with Marcus Anderson and his expectant wife, Candice.  Marcus and I have been friends for as long as we can remember. As he put it, "Your mom used to make me waffles, man."  So true.  So true.  Even though Marcus is a BYU alum and a Romney supporter, I just can't help but love the guy.  We talked, laughed, and reminisced all night.

Just where our country was born...no big whoop.

Day 2
We hit the pavement of Philly and didn't come home until we were ready to collapse.  We did it all.  The Rocky statue/steps (yes, I ran up them like a charging idiot - of course I did), Logan Square, Philadelphia Free Library (we ain't no uncultured swine, y'all), Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and of course, Chinatown.  I bought a wooden katana and a cassette tape of Chu Chin-Yen, a portly Chinese pop-star who looked as though he had been dressed by Tim Burton.  We also treated ourselves to the original Philly Cheesesteak, and let me just say this, folks: Subway's got it all wrong.  That sandwich was otherworldly.  It belongs in the cornucopia of ambrosia along with watermelon, steak, and Big League Chew.

The Rocky Steps

Day 3-4
What would a trip to New England be without a stop in Highland, New York?  We had the pleasure of reconnecting with The Coopers, Celeste's aunt, uncle, and cousins.  Good folk, they are.  We spent a lot of time playing with cameras and photography.  It was while we were in Highland that I took these precious babies:

Mid-Hudson River Bridge, Highland, NY

High Falls, NY

Anopheles quadrimaculatus (a.k.a. mosquito)

Day 5-7
We first visited Boston back in 2010, but back then Boston was Gabe-less and Ellen-less, and therefore only scratched the surface of its true potential.  With Gabe and Ellen Bush in the picture, that city was hotter than a 2-dollar pistol.

We did some traditional stuff like Boston Common and the Freedom Trail, but we also kayaked on the Charles River, saw the new Wes Anderson Film, "Moonrise Kingdom," got a table at the top of the Prudential Building, watched the Boston Pops (apparently that's a big deal, though we didn't know it till we got there), and went to an antique collectible store where I found a sweet RFK campaign button from the '68 presidential election (during which he was assassinated) and sang our favorite songs from high school, classics "Girls Just Wanna' Have Fun", "Scat Man", "I'm Blue", and "Mambo #5".

Atop the Prudential Building, Boston, MA

View of Cambridge from the south bank of the Charles River.

Kayaking the whitewater rapids of the Charles

Yep.

Gabe (Orphus), Ellen (wife of Orphus), and Celeste (wife of Delfidius)

After a crazy night of Mariokart and scary movies, I woke up on my birthday and entered the kitchen where I found a card, platter of donuts, and a root beer from my friends, the Bushes.  The card was addressed to "Scat-Man". I dang near shed a tear it was so beautiful.

Day 8-10
Leaving Boston was only made easy by the fact that we were on our way to see my wonderful sister and her beautiful daughters.  Oh, and she has a husband.  His name is Adam, and he has a mullet.

Now, I'm well acquainted with many beautiful places in this world.  I've seen Paris and been to the Grand Canyon.  I've watched the sun rise and fall over the ocean's distant horizon, and have stood on a mountain a mile-high and seen the world stretch out before me like it would never end.  That said, I would now like to officially add Connecticut to the upper echelon of beautiful places on this earth.

The towns are quaint, the homes swell with colonial allure and antiquity, and the roads are bordered by small stone walls like the kind you'd find in the Irish countryside surrounding potato farms and thatch-roofed cottages.  My sister lives in Mark Twain's carriage house, if you can believe it.  That ole grizzly bear moved to Connecticut and spent the last three years of his life there.  His carriage house is a half mile from the house that he died in, and that's where my sister lives.

On my birthday, we went to one of these magical little towns, so brimming with charm that it spilled into the streets like water from a broken dam.  The place is called Ridgefield.  The beauty was everywhere.  In the old stone church, the local bookstore with the bell above the door that marked your entrance, the ice cream shoppe...it was a big slice of delectable Americana.  Then we found a park and set up a picnic.  A bluegrass band of immeasurable talent danced their fingers upon banjo and mandolin and filled the park air with its frenzied music, and we ate pizza and threw the frisbee around, the way I used to with my dad at Olsen family reunions.

Holly's girls are really something else.  They were so excited for our arrival, that they decorated their driveway and front porch with chalk, then promptly presented us with a menu for lunch and a list of games we could play.  It wasn't long before I had a quesadilla in my belly and was sitting around a small table playing pick-up sticks for the first time since I was in kindergarten.  We played board games, roasted marshmallows, and they also put on a fashion show for us that was, as you can see below, UH-mazing.

Me, Rooster, and Viv.  NomaSo was too busy eating marshmallows to sit for a photo.

Look close at Noma's face.  Preciosa.

L-O-freaking-L

We drove back in a fury, stopping only to eat in Washington D.C. with my brother-in-law Marshall, who's currently interning there before his last year of law school.  He informed us he's thinking of hitchhiking to the ocean before he flies back to Utah.  Carpe diem, Marshall.  Carpe diem.

The End.

A Visit from Bonnie Boops

Enjoying a visit from my sister Bonnie!

This past weekend my sister Bonnie came to visit us! She and her husband moved to Virginia for the summer - and as you can see she is pretty far along in her pregnancy. She is so brave to move right before her baby is born, but she acts like it's no big deal. Bonnie is five years younger than me, and it's been pretty rare in our lives that we've been able to spend some time just the two of us. I was so glad to to just hang out and get to know her better!

It was her first time visiting us, so we dragged her all around the Triangle to experience a few of our favorite spots. We went to the outlet malls, the American Tobacco Campus in Durham, NC State campus to disc golf, historical Wake Forest, and (of course) to the pool. She was such a trooper - she waddled around without complaining!

At the American Tobacco Campus in Durham

Outside of Durham Bulls Athletic Park

At the Duke Gardens

Hilarious Moments of the Visit:

1. Bonnie has the worst memory for movies, movie characters, musicians, etc.  She started off a conversation by saying, "Have you guys seen the Action Movie this summer?"

Jackson: The what?

Bonnie: The Action Movie.

Jackson: What action movie?  There are several.

Bonnie: You know, the one with the Hammer Guy and the Iron Guy?

Jackson: Are you talking about Thor and Ironman?  From the Avengers?

Bonnie: Yeah, that one!

Jackson: (palm to forehead)

2. Playing cards with Bonnie is always an experience, as all us Britts can attest.  She's very proud of the fact that she's been "off" cheating for 12 months, but let's just say that she uses a loose interpretation of the word "cheating."

3. While driving to Durham, Jackson stopped at a random Thrift Store on the side of the highway.  We stepped inside, and stepped back in time.  There was a friendly toothless Southern hillbilly running the shop, who spoke to us in the finest Southern accent in all the Carolinas.  The shop was filled with crazy, CRAZY stuff.  We each picked an item from the store to remember it by.  Jackson picked a sketching of a lighthouse, I got a bundt cake pan, and Bonnie got a pair of earrings (for a dollar, by the way) that looked like cats.  They even had tails that moved.  It was incredible.

4. I love Bonnie's flare for fashion.  Her new cat earrings were a perfect or (purrfect) match for her leopard skin maternity wear, which she wore with bright red pants.  She doesn't like to draw a lot of attention to herself... :)

5. I found it fascinating how many times she got up to pee.  Every activity, large or small, was centered around bathroom proximity and timing.  Only once did it get so bad that she threatened to squat, but luckily we averted the disaster.  I guess that's something to look forward to.

 Walking around Historic Wake Forest.  The shadows made us look so skinny!

The Bell tower at the South East Baptist Seminary in Wake Forest

A historic home in Wake Forest 

Bonnie disc golfing - at first it was a little challenging...

  The most flattering shot of the day... Thanks Jackson!

Would you believe I got a tick on my shin after playing???  Ridiculous.

By the end of the day, she was getting pretty good!!

I'm glad that Bonnie is close (at least for the time being!). It was sad to see her go, but we are planning on visiting her and her husband in Virginia next month.

Love you, Boops!!

Wonderful Bald Head

A couple of years ago, Celeste and I visited Bald Head Island over Thanksgiving break.  We didn't stay long, but long enough to fall in love and wet our appetites.  Maybe it was the charming seclusion of the island, about a mile southeast of North Carolina's southern coast.  Perhaps it was the unique ordinance banning automobiles, leaving golf carts and bicycles as the only legal wheeled forms of transportation.  Or maybe it was the fact that that we were on the beach at Thanksgiving.  Whatever it was, something about the island cast a spell over us that day, intoxicating our senses like freshly baked bread, leaving us wanting more.

Two years later, this Memorial Day weekend, we returned, and we brought others with us to share the magic.  Holly and Adam had just moved with their girls to Connecticut.  Then we learned that Kristen and Marshall were going to be in D.C. for the summer.  Then, figuring it was an Olsen/Kidd family tradition to be together on Memorial Day, we invited my cousin Daniel Kidd down for the weekend as well.  And don't forget the kids: Viv, Rooster, NomaSo, Liza-Loo, and Pedro.

At Cookout the night before.  Bringing visitors here is now a staple of our hosting routine.

At the Deep Point Marina, just moments before boarding the ferry to the island.

After arriving at the island, we received curb-to-curb transportation via this golf-cart tram taking us to our beach house.

We rented a beautiful beach house on the southern shore of the island.  Upon entering the house, Eliza, 6, who tends to wax eloquent, proclaimed "This is really quite the place."  Viv, 6, agreed by saying "Yeah, this is like a rich house."  Then they ran up to the third floor where the kids room waited for them with bunk beds, books, legos, and a view of the ocean.

Our front door a stone's throw from the beach.  Surrounded by conch shells and palm trees, clear skies and perfect weather, it was impossible for us not to have a good time.  We spent a lot of our time on the sand and in the water, jogging, building sandcastles, trying to surf, or just soaking up the sun.  The kids got to see some wildlife up close, too, including crabs, jellyfish, and dolphins.

Little NomaSo takes a turn driving one of our golf carts.  We had two for the weekend, but they called this one "Speedy Gonzalez" because it was faster than the other.  Pedro's favorite thing was to ride in this cart, and with the wind blowing in his face, yell "We're Speedy Gonzalezes!"

I used to hate taking naps (ages 4-24).  Now, after three years in the trenches of the Education Battle, I can't help myself.  I'm in a perpetual state of exhaustion.  It's getting tired in here...

It was great to be around the kids.  We've missed them so much, only getting to see them about once or twice a year.  They were equally excited to see us, and it seemed for a while there as though there was a powerful magnet between their arms and my neck.  They also got a kick out of how publicly affectionate Celeste and I are.  One time we were seen giving each other a kiss in the kitchen.  Ruby and Eliza were witnesses, and asked, "Are you guys having love time?"  I then dipped Celeste for a dramatic kiss, sending the girls running and screaming, threatening to put us in jail.

The happiest couple God ever joined.

Three chilluns and the endless sea.

Little Pedro, still able to run "a hundred fast."

Now that's a Bald Head. (Word play!)

Momento precioso.  I gotta say, Sonoma has transformed her personality dramatically in the last few months.  When I saw her in Utah for Josie's wedding just a few months ago, she was cold, calculated, and clingy.  Now she talks with radiance and verve, and she LOVES her Uncle Jack :)

Treasure seekers, marine conservationists.

Rooster posing like a pro in front of Old Baldy, the island's lighthouse.

"Uncle Daniel" with NomaSo inside the lighthouse.  She's clearly loving it.

Hammin' it up!

Love this pic.  Holly always seems to be suspicious of my motives.  Perhaps as a result of a lifetime of  sneaking up behind her and squeezing her kidneys till she screams.  Kris is clearly cool with my work.

Awwww...

Love this guy.  We ran six miles together with Daniel.  Pretty sure I came in first, guys.

Les and Noma

Thompson Family, Memorial Day 2012

Smith Family, Memorial Day 2012

It was equally enjoyable being with siblings and family.  We've been the lone wolves out here on the east coast for a while, and it's nice to have some company.  We plan to see Holly and Adam again this summer, I just got home from a weekend in New York with Daniel, and in two weeks, we've got Celeste's sister Bonnie coming down (she and her husband are also in D.C. for the summer).

Lone wolves no more (for now), we were very happy hosts.  It was an incredible weekend.  But, like so many weekends, it was just a little too short.

The girls opened an Ocean Marine Museum on our front porch.  Then it turned into a store, and they started selling their goods for reaonsable prices.  Dimes, nickels, pennies, whatever we had.  When people ran out of money, they started selling their treasures "for free or candy."

Saleswomen at work.

We found a few of these on the beach, and learned that they're called a "Mermaid's Purse."  They look cool, yes, but they also hold shark and ray eggs at some point.  Pretty sure this purse was empty.