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I almost forgot to mention here.



Today is our Daughter Allie's 24th birthday!



I BBQd Pork Ribs and we had cake! And we are taking her to Dracula's Ball to boot!

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xxEmaeraldxx
00:07 Aug 31 2008

Happy Birthday Allie! Who would of ever thought you and Gina had a daughter that age!

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Gina and I along with our Son David, our Daughter Allie and her Boyfriend Zack are heading down to Dracula's Ball in Philly tonight.



We will be meeting up with Faeriemoon from HE down there. We haven't seen her in a while so it will be nice to catch up with her.



The funny part will be Allie and Zack. Allie is the quintessential preppy. Her boyfriend Zack is a good old country boy. They are driving in from Gettysburg today and Gina is taking them out to find something for them to wear.



I will try to take some photos tonight and post them tomorrow sometime.

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faeriemoon
09:10 Aug 31 2008

I thought she looked a tad uncomfortable. :p



It was nice to see you guys again and meet David, Allie and Zack. Sorry I didn't get to give you guys a proper good-bye. It just figures that at a goth event I pick up the only guy in a tux. :p

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KCRC
01:35 Sep 01 2008

LOL.



I just sent you a message re: Brian. I actually already knew him as he used to go with another friend of ours!



Allie actually said she had a GREAT time. She is just quiet but she enjoyed the people watching.

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faeriemoon
03:42 Sep 01 2008

I just think it's really, really cool that you guys made it a family event. Watching you interact and goof around was wonderful. I can't wait for the next time!

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Got the checks from State Farm Yesterday.



As I mentioned we decided against a new car in order to not have a ginormous car payment plus the outrageous bills we will be paying for fuel oil over the next several months.



We bought another Dodge Stratus (1997) instead. We already have a 1996 Stratus that we bought new. Our Daughter Allie is driving it now, and we have had pretty good luck with it. We also already have a roof rack and other stuff that goes with this model vehicle so we should be good to go.



We picked it up yesterday afternoon, I already switched over the EZ Pass transponder on line. Gina took the car today to bring Chrissy home for the weekend. (She was back at school for 4 days and now has a 4 day weekend? What are they thinking?).

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Morrigon
18:54 Aug 28 2008

wooooh congrats on getting this thing over with and not taking it up the bum!

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birra
19:12 Aug 28 2008

Good job! And good planning!



Now... can you find a car for Morri?

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Vampirewitch39
00:21 Aug 29 2008

You left out what I wanted to know- color. Is it sporty red?

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KCRC
15:38 Aug 29 2008

Oooh Don't go there Rat...Long story...I'll send you a message.



It's White with Grey interior.

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So, I fianlly settled up with State Farm on the total wreck of the Escort. They ended up being very fair, giving me basically what we paid fro the car plus the expenses we incurred from the wreck in CT / RI.



Now we were pretty much set on getting a NEW car....But some facts of life entered the equation.



1) Gina spoke with our heating oil supplier. The current price of home heating oil contract is $4.66/gal. We used about 700 gallons of oil last winter.....At today's price that would be $3,262.00 for this coming season. IF we "lock in" now that would be about $400.00 per month! That is, coincidentally the same amout as the payment on the new cars we were considering! Add to that about a $50.00 per month increase in car insurance for a new car and it doesn't sound like such a great idea anymore.



Soooo....We are going to pick up another used vehicle and take the safe route. I really don't want to get in a situation where I would have to choose between paying for a new car or buying oil to keep the house warm.



Oh well, no "new car smell" this year! Sometimes being responsible sucks! But I don't REALLY need to be breathing in all those pthalate plasticizers anyway!

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Morrigon
15:36 Aug 26 2008

*solution*



Live in the car!



You can thank me later.

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artemka
19:12 Aug 26 2008

*another solution*



buy an old car and spray those pthalate plasticizers around inside it

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Vampirewitch39
07:19 Aug 27 2008

Damn... Art took my idea. :P

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Nightgame
14:18 Aug 30 2008

We're going to have to gag Art, he gets in with the good quips first!

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Ratings Score: 28 ( 14563 of 14506 or 100% )





Rated more stuff than there now is on VR.

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Vampirewitch39
13:25 Aug 25 2008

Congrats! Now you have to keep it up. ;)

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Nightgame
02:59 Aug 26 2008

*blows a rasberry at Rat* But it is a great feeling!

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birra
19:12 Aug 28 2008

Can I have the overage?



*hates rating*

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I dropped David off this morning at the Boy Scout cabin, they were leaving for a trip to Cape Helopen Delaware for the weekend.



Chrissy returned to Bloomsburg for the start of the Fall semester of her Senior year of college today.



Soooooo.......



Gina and I will be alone all weekend!!!!





WOOT!

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Vampirewitch39
20:31 Aug 22 2008

Wow.. what will you do? ;)

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artemka
14:56 Aug 26 2008

Tsk VW, they'll put the pond in the garden of course



*runs*

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We've been visiting car dealers pretty much every evening trying to decide on a new ride.



We want something that has good gas mileage, room for lots of "stuff" for going camping, etc., decent performance and has safty features such as ABS, side curtain air bags, good NHTSA cras ratings.



Initially we were taken by the Dodge Caliber, as that is what we have as a rental from the insurance company. But comparing the available models with wht is on the market fro other companies, it doesn't quite match up.



We have narrowed it down to two vehicles. The Kia Rondo and the Mazda5. Both are about the same price, get the same gas mileage and have similar equipment. The Mazda is sportier, looks nicer and can carry an additional person. The Kia has more cargo room and a better warranty.



I guess we have a few more in depth test drives and some pondering to do.

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faeriemoon
11:40 Aug 22 2008

I vote for the Mazda. The Kia may have a better warranty but, it's probably because you're likely to use it more.

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We still haven't gotten a poyoff offer from State Far.. I called them yesterday and the (explitive deleted) lady on the phone said "We just picked up the car on Friday....We haven't even lookes at it yet. We will CALL you when we have some information! I was like...."Yo bitch - Progessive had an estimate done within 4 hours of me dropping off the car!". (of course I really didn't SAY "Yo bitch"...I just thought it!)



So...We wait for their low ball offer before I start arguing with them about what I think we are owed. Insurance companies are just plain stupid. Years ago when our daughter Chrissy was run over by a car we totaled up our expenses from the time she was in the hospital and home in a body cast, and submitted them to the driver's insurance company. The total was about $4K. The adjuster blew a gasket and acted like we were trying to commit insurance fraud. How DARE we ask to be reimbursed for meals we bought while sitting in the hospital for a month....So they refused to pay the $4K. We went and talked to an attourny and 3 weeks later they settled for the full amount of coverage on the driver's policy. Idiots.



In the meantime we are looking at cars and it's a mind numbing process. There are just too many damned cars out there! We have no idea what we will have for a down payment until State Farm gets their head out of their ass...So we are taqking our time narrowing down the candidtes before we can "talk deal".



So .... There you have it.

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Morrigon
13:37 Aug 20 2008

You pay your bills for insurance. WHY should we have to fight them tooth and nail to get them to hold up their end of the deal?



Asshats. I'm going to break some legs.

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Friday morning I had to go get all my personal stuff as well as the liscence plate off the car. It was at the Progressive Drive-in claim center. The car was supposed to be picked up and towed to State Farm (The insurance Co. that Chrissy's Boyfriend had) for THEM to decide if it is indeed totaled and if so how much they will pay us for the loss.



In the meantime, they did set us up with a rental car. The rental is a Dodge Caliber and it is very nice. We are thinking of buying one once the settlment goes through. We stopped by at the local Dodge dealer and the guy we talked to said he has sold 5 of them recently to people who rented them from the same Enterprise office where we picked up the one we have.



The had a nice orange pearl one on the lot....I'll keep you posted.

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Elemental
14:26 Aug 18 2008

That is the color of my Honda Element - I named him Sunny :)

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Vampirewitch39
22:43 Aug 18 2008

Dodge makes a good car. And its sexy... what else can you want?

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We dropped off the car at the Insurance center yesterday to get it repaired.



The estimator just called me to let me know that it was totaled! Apparently not only the bumper and tailgate were messed up but the exhaust system was trashed, the transmission messed up and the frame was bent in 3 places!



Now we have to go find another car!



GGGGRRRR!

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Irony
22:33 Aug 14 2008

Damn, I am sorry:/ That truly does suck.

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Vampirewitch39
22:15 Aug 15 2008

:( Well.... at least you had the fun with the family, the stars, and the butt wax. lol

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Nightgame
17:00 Aug 16 2008

Well that's one way to go for better gas mileage! *not the fun way though*

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Friday 8/8/08



I woke up around 5:30 to some bizzare bird making odd noises. I couldn't locate it to figure out what kind of bird it was.



I roused my son up at around 6:15 and we started tearing down and packing up stuff in order to hit the road. Everyone else was up by about 6:45 and we got everything together so I could start packing the car. It was a real pain in the ass trying to load up the station wagon through the doors as the tailgate was all smashed and wouldn't open from the crash on Saturday. We finally got it all in and were in the car by 9:30.



We stopped at a Burger King (by request of my daughters) for breakfast then hit the road in earnest.



Traffic was aweful! We stopped at the parts store in Rhode Island where we bought the no good alternator on Saturday and they were very appologetic and refunded our money.



Back on the road traffic was stop and go with many wrecks and bad storms thorgh most of Connecticut. When we got into NEw York it was no better and was basically bumper to bumper all the way until we hit 287 in New Jersey.



When we went to get on 78 in New Jersey the traffic was backed up for a mile or so and then 78 was bumper to bumper for a good 15 miles.



We finally got home around 7:00 PM - 9 1/2 hours for a 6 hour trip.



It was good to be home, the cats were happy to see us! It was really nice to take a nice long shower in private and sleep in a rea bed!



No more vacations for a while!

Thursday 8/7/08



This was to have been a "Beach Day" at Skaket Beach on Cape Cod Bay. The weather, however, was not conducive to a day at the beach. When I woke up at 6:30 it was 55 degrees and it was not forcasted to get much more than 70 in the afternoon. So we decided to alter our plans and take a trip to Hyannis.



I made sausage and French Toast for breakfast and we loaded into the cars around 10:30.



My Grandmother's maiden name was Marston, and growing up I was told that "Her People" had come to America from England in the Seventeeth Century and settled a town on Cape Cod. So before heading into Hyannis we went and scoped out the town my ancestors founded. The name of the town is Marston's Mills and here is the sign welcoming visitors.







There was also an historic marker noting the location of the first of the Marston's Mills to be built.







I wished that we had the time to visit the town hall and library to do some research on my ancestors and their lives here.



We made it into Hyannis and had fun browsing through the stores on the main street there. Around 3:00 we headed back to camp, made dinner (Goat Cheese crostini, Grilled steak, corn on the cob and roasted potatoes and onions) and started packing stuff up for our departure the next morning.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008



We knew all along from the long range forecasts that Wednesday would NOT be a beach day! We reserved Wednesday for a trip to Provincetown.



We had a fairly leisurely wake up, I was up first at around 7:00 and was now in a routine of making a pot of coffee and enjoying a cup before anyone else woke up. It was kind of damp and drizzlely this morning, so a hot cup of French Roast really did the trick. I cooked up a bunch of bacon, which got everyone stirring and we had “Plastic bag omelettes” for breakfast. This entailed chopping up a bunch of different ingredients (ham, cheese, onions, green peppers and mushrooms), each person whisks up 2 eggs in a bowl, adds the stuff they want and pours it into a zip lock sandwich bag. You then place the bag into a pot of boiling water for about 4 minutes and viola’! an omlette!



We got into the cars at about 10 and headed up route 6 to Provincetown. I was the only one in the family who had been to Cape Cod before. Everyone was amazed at how narrow the cape is as you approach P-Town, Cape Cod bay on the left, then Dunes and the ocean on the right. I could not imagine how rough it must be there in a bad storm!



We got to P-Town around 10:45 and it only took about 25 min, to find a parking spot. We got out and walked though the various shops, antiques, clothing, jewelry, crafts etc. The rain kept picking up gradually through the day.



Gina and I did go through one very interesting store. Perhaps some background on Provincetown is in order first. Provincetown is a nexus for the East Coast Gay and Lesbian community. There are always many openly gay couples walking through P-Town, holding hands, etc and almost every shop displays a “Rainbow flag” indicating their support of gays & lesbians. I mention this to put into perspective our visit to this store……The name of the store was “Eros” and it was an “adult oriented” “toy shop”. We were just floored with the merchandise in this store. They had every imaginable size and shape of replica male sex organ, all sorts of leather clothing, undergarments and bondage device, many different typical “Male tradesman work shirts” except where normally the name of the plumber, mechanic etc would be it had monikers like “Sissy”, “Butt Buddy”, “Ass Man” etc.. The one item that stood out for us, however was a large tub (about the size of a half-gallon of ice cream) labeled ”Butt Wax”. I guess when you are ‘going there” maximum lubrication is the key!



Around 2:30 the rain really started picking up so we decided to head back to camp and stop for a late lunch on the way back to camp. We stopped at a roadside place called “Moby Dick’s” and all enjoyed some New England Clam Chowdah and Lobstah Rolls!



The rain pretty much let up by the time we got to camp. As we had a late lunch we really didn’t have dinner, per se. At around 7:30 I made some grilled Italian bread and chopped up some tomatoes, onions and parsley and made brushetta.



Another day closed with a camp fire and S’mores.

Tuesday 8/5/08



Tuesday was planned as our first "Beach Day". There is very limited parking at the beaches on Cape Cod and for our first beach day we wanted to get to the beach in good time and we chose a beach that had the highest chance of getting us a parking spot.



I woke up at around 6:30. I made a pot of coffee and sat for a while in the moring quiet sipping my coffee and listening to the birds start their day. Around 7:15 I started cooking breakfast. We had sausage links and pancakes for breakfast. Like a charm the smell of the cooking sausage roused everyone up. We all made sandwiches for lunch, packed a cooler with drinks and got in the cars to head to the beach.



We picked "Coast Guard Beach" on the Cape Cod National Seashore as our destination for the day. There used to be a parking lot just next to the beach, but it was washed away in a winter storm some years ago. Now there is a large lot about 2 miles from the beach and the Park Service operates a tram to the beach from this lot. We got to the lot at around 9:45, caught a tram and were on the beach by 10:00. Low tide was at 9:15, so we had a rising tide on the beach for our time there.



The kids immediatly ran into the water. They had little experience with New England beaches so I was amused at their enthusiasm! The temperature at 10:00 AM was around 75 degrees, the surf temperature was 56 degrees! Needless to say most of them didn't stay in the water long! David was the exception. He was having a great time with a boogie board jumping into the waves about 300 feet off the beach. Gina was getting kind of anxious about him being out their on his own. Once I reminded her that he was a fully qualified lifeguard, her fears were somewhat calmed.



Gina spent most of the day between reading a book and cooloing off in the water. I went for a long walk along the beach, taking my camera along to snap some shots of anything interesting. I ended up walking about a mile and a half north almost to "Nauset Light Beach" which is the next lifeguard protected beach area on the National Seashore. I am always taken by the sand cliffs on the cape and the constant erosion. I saw the remnants of the foundation of a house hanging off the cliff at one point. It really puts into perspective the constant struggle between man's enterprises and the awesome power of nature.



Goofing around I snapped these photos of my feet in the surf. I had no idea at the time the further implications this coolong of my toes would have!









After my walk we all gathered on our beach blankets and ate lunch. The temperature had gotten up to around 80 and the surf temp peaked at 62 F, so the kids all went into the water again (with Gina this time) and were jumping in the waves of the incoming tide. They played in the waves for about an hour or so.



We packed up and left the beach just as High Tide hit around 3:00pm. After a quick tram ride to the car we headed back to camp with a pit stop to the grocery store for ice and a few other items.



Dinner tuesday night was Hamburgers, chips and salads. We had another nice campfire that evening but we all turned in early as it was starting to rain and we were all tired from the day at the beach.

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Morrigon
00:53 Aug 12 2008

Mmmmm and the kelp. Don't forget the kelp!

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Monday 8/4/08.



Woke up about 8:30. Made a pot of coffee and started to make breakfast. We had bacon and eggs along with bagels or toast. Everyone started waking up as soon as the bacon started frying!



Got the campsite a little better set up, went out to a grocery store to get food for the week. Sort of generally explored the area, but we go going too late to make it to any of the beaches (as the lost fill up by 9:30 AM). Dave went down to the pond in the campground and caught a bunch of fish, which he released.



The rest of the day we just kind of chilled out and relaxed.



For dinner we had steamers, corn on the cob, scallops sauted in olive oil and garlic and rice.



Had another nice campfire and made "Hobo Pies" as well as more S'Mores.



The "kids" went back to their campsite to get drunk off their asses at around 10:00, at which time Gina and David turned in for the night. I stayed up until the fire went out, just watching the flames and looking up at the stars.



It was a very good day!

Sunday 8/3/08.



We woke up around 9:00 AM. The hotel Gina found was an "Extended stay" hotel so it had a small kitchen area. Saturday night we bought some eggs, bagels, danish etc., so the kids came down and I cooked breakfast for everyone.



The part for the car was not due in to the garage until about 1:00pm and the check out time for the hotel was 11:00 am. The nice folks at the hotel let us store our luggage their until the car was ready.



We had several hours to kill before the car had any shot of being fixed. We decided to go walk around the malls across the street from the hotel. We had to shuttle between the hotel and the mall as we had 1 car that sat 4 and 7 people.



We decided to start at the "Rhode Island Mall". We entered through a Sears store. We browsed through Sears and then decided to walk through the Mall. We were faced with the most eerie sight any of us had ever seen. There were NO stores in the mall! Every single store was closed and completely empty! It was like a scene from a horror movie! We decided to try the "West Warwick" mall instead!



The West Warwick Mall was more in line. We walked through the mall, had lunch in the food court and just killed a few hours. At about 1:45 we decided we would check on the car. Of course in all the excitement of Saturday none of us thought to get the phone number of the garage.



Gina nad I had Liam drive us over the the Pep Boys and the Manager told us the car would be done in 20 to 30 min. So Liam went back o the Mall to wait for us to call. The car got done on time...New Alternator (#2), New Battery, Battery Terminal = $450.00!



We all met back up at the hotel, packed up the cars and got back on the road. Another 45 min and we were out of Rhode Island finally!



We made it to the campground at about 3:00pm. We schecked in and the clouds were getting scary looking. We made it to our sites, quickly got tents set up and the clouds blew away!



After getting set up, Gina and Chrissy headed out to the grocery store for stuff for dinner. Sunday night we had grilled brats on New England rolls and chips...A quick meal but not bad.



We cleaned up and lit a fire, made S'mores and got to bed early.



A much better day than Saturday.



A photo before cooking dinner.







Clockwise from left - Gina, Chrissy, Liam, Allie, Zack

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sahahria
16:06 Aug 10 2008

YAY for getting the car fixed! And actually getting to go on your vacation :)

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So we left for vacation on Saturday morning 8/2/08 at about 6:30 am. We got the cars loaded up the night before and were ready to go. Gina, David and I were in our car and Chrissy, Allie and their boyfriends Liam and Zack were following in Liam's car.



The weather was perfect for driving, with just enough clouds to prevent glare. We made i into and through New Jersey, Through New York and most of the way through Connecticut, making great time. In Olde Lyme, CT traffic started to slow down a bit. In this area Interstate 95 goes from 3 lanes down to 2. As I slowed down to keep a safe distance between my car and those in front of me, Liam was apparently not paying attention to what was going on. He slammed into the back of our car! I was able to pull over to the side and no one was injured severely (though both my and Gina's back and neck are still sore). After determining that I could drive the car and Liam could drive his, we pulled off of the highway. As I was calling my insurance company a State Trooper showed up. We spent about an hour while the Trooper filled out the accident investigation and I had to re tie some stuff onto the roof rack that had busted loose when we hit. The car was still driveable, though the liftgate would not open so we decided to press on.



About 45 minutes up the road, just as we entered Rhode Island I was driving along at about 65 and the speedometer dropped to 0, the radio stopped working and everything else electrical died. I managed to pull off an exit before the car totally went dead. So I called AAA and they sent out a tow truck.



The tow truck arrived and hoked up the car and towed us to a local garage....WHich was closed! The AAA folks had no idea where an open garage might be, so I had them tow us to an auto parts store, as I was pretty sure the issue was the altenator.



The parts store did not have an alternator to fit the car. They were, however, able to find one and get it for us. So I started working on replacing the alternator. Just as I almost had the new one in, the heavens opened up in a monsterous thunder storm. So I got soaked and got the alternator in. However, the car wouldn't start! It turned out that the main fuse blew. We were able to jury rig a fuse as the store did not have the right one.



So we got going down the road again and about 10 miles down the road, the same thing happened, the car was dying. Luckily I was able to make it into the parking lot of a Pep Boys that was open.



They got the car in and said that the NEW alternator was no good! However, they didn't have one! They found one at another store in Providence, but they couldn't get it unril after noon on Sunday.



So we ended up having to find hotel rooms for the night, which Gina accomplished with much frustration.



We got KFC for dinner, ate in the hotel room and prayed for a better day on Sunday.

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imagesinwords
19:11 Aug 09 2008

What a wonderful vacation! Sounds like many I've had :P

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Nightgame
04:29 Aug 10 2008

o-0 Wow the road trip from hades! Hope your prayers were answered :)

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