Road Trip Weekend

Got back last night from the exciting Pig Roast weekend in Massachusetts, which involved a heck of a lot of driving but was all sorts of fun.

Anja and I met up on Friday afternoon in Grand Central Station and caught a train up to my mom's, and after a quick lunch there, borrowed her car and hit the road. Unfortunately, the road hit back. No, not an accident, just annoying traffic and delays almost from the moment we made it to Connecticut through exit 65 or so. Hours and hours and hours of mind-numbing traffic, but we finally made it to Jamestown, RI, this beautiful old New England town where Anja's grandparents live. Overflowing flowerboxes and a gorgeous view of the bay, and the Newport Bridge, and a house on a rock surrounded by water, reachable only by boat. I could imagine living there -- taking deliveries by rowboat, sitting out on the porch staring at the water from every side of the house, the view from every window a calming one of water and sky. I'll have to put up a picture later. For now, it's stuck in my head.

Saturday morning, after dipping our toes in the water, we got back in the car to check out an unfortunately fogged-in lighthouse, then took a more direct route on less crowded roads up to Kelly's in Weymouth for exciting pig roastyness! Made super time, though we were barely there for long before I figured it was best to leave, and head up to the other party I had to go to that day in Massachusetts, so I could come back all the sooner and start drinking. So I left Anja in Kelly's capable hands, and drove up to Rachel's, where I finally met her beautiful daughter Jacki, helped her with her party set-up, and then turned around a little over an hour later to head back to Kelly's. Where I then stayed for the rest of my trip.

The party was buckets of fun -- hung out with a number of Kelly's friends and family members, enjoyed the sound of the Rolling Stones and The Doors from a garage band of 14-year-olds, ate pig (though I turned away from the pig brains, thank you very much), had a bushel of petite little Coronitas, played some pool, wore our Yankees caps as soon as we found out they'd beat the Red Sox, were subjected to (mostly) good natured teasing, relaxed in hammocks, and generally had an excellent time. I won't be able to help comparing the pig roast party with my family's annual summer beach BBQ, and will cross my fingers that it's as much fun. Though I think there's something to say about being invited guests at a party where you're a stranger to mostly everyone, and can spend time getting to know a select group of people, versus being one of the host family, knowing almost everyone, and not being able to spend all the time you want with your favored guests. But we'll see.

Yesterday, Sunday, after lunch and helping Kelly and her family clean up, and piling all the empties in one giant stack on their porch (gotta get that photo too), Anja and I headed back south, and made it back into the city around 7pm, and home shortly thereafter. The Keelster was just making dinner, so I had a little of that, and spent the evening reading A Stroke of Midnight by Laurell K. Hamilton, which, yes, is sort of as dirty as it sounds. But also about fairies. So there.

And that brings us up to date! Got my writers' group tonight, so I have to take some time today and read all the pieces that have been sent around, though luckily, most of them are revised versions. Oh, oh, oh! And Elena was able to get both my and Timothy's copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince signed by the illustrator. Whee! I love having connections...