4th of July Recap

Now onto a recap from last weekend's relaxing getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city and even the suburbs. Off to the mountains we went, particularly to the Andes in upstate New York. It's part of the Catskills in a really cool county: Delaware County :) Representin' the First State in the Empire State - hell yeahhh.

Hung overly, I drove with the company of my roommate Jordo (nickname) and our friends Chelsea & Courtney. We hit some traffic going up north, probably some people going to Lake George even further north. We saw a car accident happen - at least I did. Some guy totes rear ended some other guy and stopped in the middle of traffic and checked out what happened. That definitely caused some further back up - I-87 N was certainly constipated that day.

We made a pit stop for some gas at some over crowded and diversified rest stop. I usually get weirded out by rest stops and try not to stay in them long. But we got some grub and sat down and I was bugging out. There was an Asian baby crying and flailing in his mother's arms while we were in line for some food. "Aww, he's probably upset that there isn't a Panda Express here," I said. I was probably right too.

We sat near a table full of Indian people checking other people out and judging them. A European couple walked by us a few times speaking in tongues. This rest stop was poppin' and it was scaring the shit out of me. We got outta there, tried samples of dried veggie snacks a local farmer's market was giving out (again, at least I did), filled up the car with gas and went on our way. About 2 hours later we were in mountainous, slim-to-none-phone-service land. Tor drove her 4-wheel drive vehicle down to my rear-wheel drive vehicle that wasn't going to make it up the rough unpaved path to get us and our belongings. It was like a roller coaster ride driving up there and then the trees parted and we were greeted by her lovely house, pond, and beautiful view of the reservoir.

 With very little contact with the outside world, we drank, played games, sat outside by the fire, watched movies, ate shit, and drank some more the whole weekend. Most of us also chain smoked like chimneys. Parliaments are probably my new favorite social smoking device. Mind you, I only smoke when I drink occasionally and someone has some (also being generous enough to share with those, including myself, who smoke when they drink).

Considering I was hung over from an adventurous night out the night before, on top of a Thursday evening out at some techno event where I ended up staying out til 5am, I was running on about 10 hours of sleep. I was out like a light bulb when my head hit the pillow that Saturday night.

We awoke to torrential downpour, thunder, and lightning Sunday morning. But that didn't stop everyone, sans Tor and I, from playing a drunken wiffle ball game out in the rain after the thunder subsided. Tor and I got acquainted with Anna Faris in The House Bunny. "Can I just get the one mahi?" So funny.

Sunday was sunless but the boys put together a sad excuse for a fire - granted, we were up in the mountains living in a cloud that day...literally. The moisture from the cloud smothered all of us and everything on the top of the mountain we were staying on. It was actually kind of cool!

We did fireworks late Sunday night considering the 4th landed on a Monday and most of us had to work the next day and opted not to be sitting in traffic. Bryan, our designated firework master of ceremonies, supplied us with the entertainment. He even got us all a shit ton of sparklers to play with.


We also lit up some roman candles and shot them out toward the pond. Don't know what a roman candle is? Here:

Our roman candles that we lit weren't this intense. But they were colorful. And I do enjoy color just as much, if not more, than fire. Fireworks are a combination of both of them and they always fascinate me. Ugh, I love an excuse to set some off. 

Monday, I caught some rays. I woke up, putting my bathing suit on straight away. Not seeing any sun the day before made me seem like I was an opposite vampire trying to rush and get sun before we had to leave (and as an opposite vampire, I'd die slow and painfully if I didn't get enough sun in one day and therefore had to savagely eat vitamin C-induced fruits like oranges. Ugh, if only). 

The pond near Tor's house is full of newts and frogs. I wanted to bring a newt back and make it my pet. Sir Isaac NEWTon would've been his name. But I refrained considering I didn't have dry worms to feed it and the necessary essential pet gear to have it live more than a few hours. Next time though, I'm gettin' me a newt!

My new friend: Sir Isaac NEWTon :)

Great weekend away from reality with amazing company. I always know how to relax up in the Catskills. Who needs phone service? I honestly didn't mind not having any. 3 days of not being able to be reached by the outside world sounds scary (like what if something bad happens...God forbid. Besides there were some dry spots around the house that had phone service - one just couldn't move from that spot while they were using his/her cell phone) but at the same time it's like a cleanse from things we use daily. A detox from routine, of constantly having to check your phone for texts, bbms, e-mails, notifications, etc. Ugh, who needs it?! I'll gladly take 3 days of being unpopular over a being busy bee with a phone hit up by the world. I like things simple sometimes. Eh. Until next time.