February 7, 2011

Out East

Most of you know by now that I took a very spur of the moment trip out East a few weeks ago.  But, I wanted to share more about my trip... and how it came to be.

My good friend EJ moved to Vermont back in the summer of '09 (or was it '08)????, anyway, it's been a while.  I've wanted to go visit her for about that long as well, but the price of a plane ticket just didn't fit into my budget.  And, I felt guilty taking a trip without my family, or at least my husband.  So, I kept talking about it, but never went.  Since EJ has moved she has had two babies (to go along with her other two boys).  Each time she has a baby my desire to get out there and see her is even greater.  When EJ had her first son I spent a LOT of time with him (and her), and then I had Landon 18 months later.  When EJ had her second son I had a baby (Bailey) 13 days later.  Our kids were close.  We were close.  We had gone through a lot together.  When EJ had her third son I couldn't be any closer than a phone call.  It sucked.  And then, only 18ish months later she had her fourth son (yup, four boys... bless her heart) and I still couldn't be there.  It sucked again.  EJ has been home two times since moving east, but it's never for long enough. 


Anyway, around November my friend Anna and I had discussed flying, saving money, getting tickets etc.  It WAS going to happen, we were determined.  Then came the text message. 
"Hey, have you talked to our friend out east lately?" she asked. 
"What are you doing this weekend?" I asked.
Fast forward a few hours.  I call EJ...
"Hey, what are you doing this weekend?" I asked.
"No WAY!  Are you coming?" She said.

And two days later we were headed out at 4:30 in the morning.  We traveled across Michigan, across the border, to Canada, through Canada, through upstate New York (definintely not to be confused with New York city... there is NO confusion, let's just say that we passed through Carp capitol USA (don't blink or you will miss it) and an indian reservation where apparently everyone smokes.  A lot. I would say that tobacco shops outnumbered the houses.  A lot. Oh and somewhere in their there was a Bingo hall, just in case you need to stop if your ever in the area... fishing for carp or something).

We got stuck behind a school bus that stopped at approximately EVERY house on the main road through "town", which just gave us a chance to really appreciate the landscape.  Really really appreciate it!  Then we hit Vermont.  A few hours into Vermont we finally arrived at EJ's house.  Around 5:30pm.  Pretty good time, we thought!

 It was so good to see her.  So good to see where she lives.  So good to meet Julian and to see Rowan, Austin and Denver again.  We visited, ate dinner, visited some more and then Anna and I crashed.  
 


Friday EJ had to work so Anna and I headed out to Church street.  We had directions to Pine street as well, but we never made it there.  We shopped for a while and then we headed to a main attraction.  Think "Everything but the...", "Chubby Hubby", "Half Baked", "Fossil Fuel", and "Mission to Marzipan".  Did you figure it out?  No?  We headed to Ben & Jerry's for a factory tour. 
Friday night we headed out to dinner, just the three of us.  We sampled some fine Vermont cheeses, the girls sampled some beer, I enjoyed the water... and most importantly we enjoyed visiting and catching up!  Good times!  (End of first day)

Saturday we were able to go watch Denver play basketball and score a basket!  Good stuff!  We did lunch together and then us girls and baby Julian went shopping for a while!  We picked up Thai food at night and played some Bananagrams!  (End of last day)

Sunday morning we were up bright an early again (ok, so it really wasn't bright, but it sure was EARLY).  We headed back out at 5:30am.  At one point, the GPS got confused and tried to tell us that this would be a good route to take back home.  We disagreed. 


After following a few snowplows on the highway in Canada (for about an hour... at 35 mph) we were ready to start moving.  We made it home by about 6:30.  It was a short trip, but it was a good trip as well, good to spend time with friends, good to laugh, good to shop, good to get away!  So glad to have been able to do it and so ready to go again!

1 comment:

Nora said...

You deserved it! Glad you were able to get away and not feel guilty. As moms, we sometimes forget to make time for that. Good for you!!!