Crosswords and Camping

Crosswords, I have found, become quite addicting. First you think you are awful at the things, then you get a few easy ones. Next, you finish an entire puzzle. Then you start seeing the same clues, written in different ways and start to think, "man, how dumb do these people think I am?!"

After a few of those and it's a damn near heart attack if I don't get my daily fix. Seriously! Every night, even if I'm completely exhausted from working 12 hours a day, I'll still work out a couple of clues. It's so sad. Good news is, I hear it keeps your mind alive so you don't get Alzheimer's, so I've got that going for me. :)

In other good news, I just found out yesterday that I will be receiving a raise for the last 3 weeks of my summer (full time, paid!) internship! Sweetastic, eh?

Also, I just found a decent deal to come home for Christmas. I impulse bought. So now, I'm helplessly asking for donations of early Christmas presents to help me actually fund the trip. Any takers? :) I'll be coming home on the 22nd and leaving the 28th, oh and I want to bring Ashley back with me for her birthday! (Haha, that would only be in a perfectly optimal world...but seriously Ash...think about it.)

As for recent happenings, I just got back from camping in upstate New York! The Finger Lakes to be specific. It was an awesome trip! A mere 7 hours from Boston, we got to our campsite at Keuka Lake around dinnertime. We set up camp, roasted up some dogs and drenched ourselves in bug repellent. We smelled terrific! The boys got up early to do some fishin', although none were big enough to keep.

We started of the day with swimming in the lake, well more like wading. I was the only one to get all the way in! Since we had 2-3 functioning scientists/engineers, we had a blast turning over rocks to find sneaky little crawdads! Equipped with nets and strawberry plastic containers, we collected enough to have for the next morning's fish bait. (and yes, George caught a fishy with a crawdad the next day! But still was too small to keep...)

We gathered up our things and headed out to taste the fruits of the region...grapes! More specifically, the wine. Up and down the narrow paths and unsigned streets, we took many sips of delicious Reislings, Blushes and Cabernets. We even had a taste of the "Foxy Lady", which was fantastic as well. We went on an unforgettable wine tour at Bully's and sang songs about how Napa Valley is really just an autoparts store. We went the the "pretty" place, where I found a semi-dry reisling to buy, but sadly I left it in a car that belongs to upstate New York. Sad panda am I.

Later that night, we headed to the Yates County Fair in Penn Yan, New York! How the country folk were flying that night, holy moly! Let's just say that the "front butt" is not a good look...on anyone! Fried food galore, we feasted and then took a ride on a gravitron-like ride. Ugh. Bad idea, and the first ride at that! Bumper cars, enoromous slides, scramblers and getting denied for the swings because we were too heavy, left us satiated and satisfyed.

The rest of the week, we headed up to Ithaca where the great Cayuga Lake stands. We hiked around Watkins Glen and Robert H. Treman State Parks, waded up the rivers and gorges and saw amazing waterfalls. We found abundant wildlife including toads, snakes (a black rat snake!) salamanders, fish, and spiders. George was even working on the trip as he taught and showed the snakes to kids hiking along the way. We even ran into some good old Utah folks! Crazy.

There were many shenanigans along the rest of the way, including catching fireflies, dropping watermelon in the dirt AND still eating it, trying out the Asian Squat and of course, the Hoofah. But all those are stories for another day.

Alright, I've done my laundry and now need to put it away. That is the worst part. I absolutely hate putting laundry away. Doing it? Fine. Putting it back? Agony. I think Mom will attest to this...