Ape for Apples

Just a quick post to link to some photos showcasing the outdoorsy fun we’ve been enjoying during this lovely season: Fall!

An Apple Picking We Will Go

Over the weekend, Justin and I went apple picking, wine tasting, stopped by a dairy for some fresh bread and cheese, and even spotted a baby black bear!  It was awesome!  I also go to sleep in on Saturday, which was brilliant and much needed.

Setting Up Camp

Rugged Campers With Our Air Mattresses

The weekend before last, we went camping with some friends (Olivia, Alex, and Marisa) in Clarence Fahnestock State Park.  We also brought along Ruby and Eve.  Olivia was accompanied by her pup Winston.  Good times – even if our Hyundai was a little weighed down!

We sat around the campfire until the wee hours of the morning.  We hiked.  We roasted marshmallows.  Good times were had.  Marisa and I saved the day by jogging two miles down a windy road, mostly uphill, to locate our car.  Yah, we’re tough.

Enjoy the photos!

Five days until mine and Justin’s fifth anniversary!

Justin and I got back from a weekend in Puerto Rico late last night. We had a blast!!!! We took one of his coworkers (Alex) and his friend (Marisa). They said it was one of the best trips of their lives (and they’ve been all over the place). This is how our trip went:

Day 1: Breakfast at Casa Cubuy in El Yunque, hike through the rain forest and swim in a variety of pools. Get back to the hotel and discover there are masseuses-in-training just down the street. We each get a 1 hour massage for $20! Drive to Naguabo and go out with Capt. Paco to see Monkey Island and snorkel. Capt. Paco was super busy so he dropped us off on our own with a kayak and supplies! We snorkeled out there – just us, monkeys, fish and seagulls for almost 2 hours. It was great!!! We even got to take turns kayaking. We also saw lots of starfish.

It was amazing. Return to Naguabo and have dinner. Head back to the hotel with a stop to grab rum and mixers. Sit outside for hours talking and drinking before hitting the hay.

Day 2: Breakfast at Casa Cubuy then head to the end of the road, where no cars are allowed. We were informed of a neat hike that takes you across a metal bridge (actually, not so much a bridge as a big pipe over a river). We were the only ones on the trail (actually – on both days!). Hiked for a while and came to a beautiful scenic overlook. On our way back, Justin suggested we head down to the river. We found and amazing lagoon at the bottom of a treacherous looking waterfall! Marisa kept climbing up rocks and finding neat places to jump in from.

There were lots of tiny little fish and even some prawns! Leaving El Yunque, we stopped at a beach on the way back to San Juan, walked along it, and spotted some hermit crabs. Back in San Juan, we bought some food to take back to the airport with us (I got amaaaazing camarones enchilados – shrimp in hot sauce, and beans) and stopped for pina coladas at Barrachina – of course!!! We made it back to the airport just in time to get on the flight!!! All in all, an action packed, exciting weekend. :)

There were only 2 minor hitches and they both worked out. 1) Our camera tumbled into raging water and somehow we managed to find it. The memory card compartment came open during the fall and somehow we managed to find the Flash card, too! 2) Alex forgot his wallet at a gas station on the way back to San Juan when he was changing in the bathroom. This morning he spoke with a woman there that found it and is FedExing back to him free of charge! So nice!!!

Re-reading my entry above, I feel kind of like I am reading a diary entry from when I was a little kid. I was pretty much never patient enough to go into things in depth. I guess that isn’t really a bad thing. :) Photos to follow. <3 :D

Photo Update
Ness’s Flickr Photo Gallery
Justin’s Facebook Photo Gallery

Beware – these photos get quite gruesome.

The trail was beautiful… Lush green trees densely crowded the muddy, rocky path which ran alongside a creek. In the creek were glistening silver-gray rocks and many levels of small falls, creating a beautiful visual effect as well as a musical audible effect throughout our hike, which was a half mile in length and took us upwards to the main attraction: a gorge into which a tall, thin, cool waterfall streamed. Val! and I made it there first and excitedly headed towards the falls. It was during this time of mindless hurry that I slipped on a wet rock and sent my left foot (and force of my body) into a hole surrounded by rocks. One of these rocks was incredibly sharp… As I extracted my leg, I noticed a deep gash exposing flesh and white fat folded up under the skin. The first words out of my mouth were “E.R.”

After Justin bandaged my leg with part of Joey’s shirt, we all headed back to the car and to the nearest emergency room. It’s never nice to hear a doctor refer to your cut as a gaping wound… even though that’s exactly what it was.

The worst part of the experience: Other than seeing the initial, frightening damage, the worst part (by far) were the numerous, painful shots I received to my wound area prior to being stitched up (10 stitches). I lost it and ended up crying…

The best part of the experience: Having my loving family there for me… Thanks Mom, Val! and Justin.

Things like this really help put life into perspective… And also remind me to be more careful. This is the third time in 3 weeks I’ve hurt myself, and the second time I slid off a rock and hurt myself. Sheesh.

Jenny & Cody’s Visit

Jenny & Cody Visited the Big Apple – June 2007 – Click to check out the album!

Hiking in the Shawangunk Mountains

the Gunks – June 2007 – Click to check out the album!

Budget, you question?

First things first – to answer the anonymous poster’s question about budget: We had guests in town a couple of weeks ago, so we managed to go over budget a few times. The last couple of weeks we’ve done very well, staying within our budget when food is in question. Today, for instance, we may have spent $25. However, as Justin’s birthday is coming up, as is Val!’s, I have purchased some small gifts that fall outside the budget. Even still, I don’t expect birthday purchases to TOTAL over $150 – $200. Very much on the cheap this year. I guess my summary is that the budget is being minded and is going well. We did go over budget the night we ate at Carrabbas, however!

Hiking in The Gunks

Justin and I went hiking in Minnewaska State Park/Mohonk Preserve the weekend before last. It was lovely. Tons of rock climbers there too, very hardcore. It makes me want to be more into that sort of thing. I love hiking and climbing. I wish I lived upstate so I could more readily pursue such things. The expedition was nice, though, and the views were delightful.

“Fun Day” at work

Last Friday we had “Fun Day” at work, which was sort of a team building thing for the marketing/revenue departments. It was basically a “Revenge of the Nerds” style decathlon. 7 people were chosen to be captains and I was lucky enough to be one of them. My team consisted of 12 other people (two of which could not attend). Every other team (7 captains = 7 teams) had between 11 – 12 other people.

Leading up to the Fun Day, I was madly preparing for the Simpsons Launch and still trying to get my team organized, motivated, and stylish. Luckily, I had an awesome group of people on my team. We were the “red team.” Every team was based on a color (no one was blue – but I bet you can guess why). After a brain storming session, we decided we’d call ourselves the “Chili Peppers” and all have names that would include the word Pepper. I was ONI, for instance, like Pepperoni. We had a Pepper Jack, Peppermint Patty, Fresh Ground Pepper, Pepper Spray, Hot Pepper, Sergeant Pepper, Pickled Pepper, Dr. Pepper, and Salt & Pepper. We had an awesome logo (a fabulous graphics designer was on our team), kick ass bandanas with chili peppers on them (a very motivated gal in Revenue Management was on our team) along with cool socks, and we were all wearing fantastic matching red shirts (tanks for the girls, tees for the boys) with our logo on them. Thank heavens for Old Navy.

Throughout the day we supported one another, strategized, cheered each other on, and competed our little hearts out. It was definitely worth it, because our team WON #1 OVERALL, and, perhaps more importantly, we won for Team Spirit!!! Now we all have positive space tickets as a result of winning 1st and one of our members won a getaway (it was a random drawing out of a hat – but the winner definitely deserves it)! I got a couple of freezing cold bowls of ice poured on my head by my teammates. I have to say, leading a group to public, undisputed victory where everyone enjoyed themselves the whole time and was really proud to be a part of the entire process was incredible. Even more so than successfully launching a promotion. Not that there is anything wrong with quiet victories, but they are not as satisfying.

House

We are looking at buying a house. We looked around Queens, but everything is so unreasonable. I wish we could live upstate, as mentioned before, but I think the commute would kill us. I am open to any and all suggestions, however. I’d like to stay within 1 hour of Forest Hills, and prefer north NY to south (not the Bronx, from what I’ve seen of it, however).

I will try to get some images of hiking and Fun Day up soon!

Val! and I went to Portland, Maine last weekend and drove around to see what we could see. We had some lobster and we weren’t impressed, especially for the cost! We saw some gorgeous scenery and amazing houses, and we had some delicious ice cream and lemonade. Check out all of our photos in our gallery here.

]]> http://js-kit.com/rss/www.adventured.net/p=41 4 http://www.adventured.net/blog/2007/03/20/catskills-v-1/ http://www.adventured.net/blog/2007/03/20/catskills-v-1/#comments Tue, 20 Mar 2007 03:02:00 +0000 Vanessa http://adventured.net/?p=12 Catskills #1 – March 2007

Justin and I went to the Catskills the first weekend in March and had a great time snowtubing, hiking, and just plain getting tipsy at wineries. Check it out! :)