Vacation and Other things.

I've been negligent again. Life is chaotic like that. Work, work, and more work. Even if I'm not at work I feel like I'm working. Laundry, dishes, pets, yardwork, errands...it all gets in the way. Plus..it is sooo hot here..I'm ready for fall! We've had a bit of a reprieve here the past week where it's only been in the 80's, but the sticky Carolina air still makes it unbearable to be outside for long. I can't wait for fall and some Hokie football! On to the updates!

The last week of July we took our annual vacation to Fontana Dam, NC. It's in the southern part of the Smoky Mountains near the TN border and it's Heaven to me. Every time we go we see something we've never seen and do something we've never done. It's remote and secluded, yet there's a never ending list of stuff to do in the area. We go for the Miatas at the Gap gathering every year and this year, we took Milo. He's such a small dog and we didn't want to have the expense of boarding a 4th dog knowing we had his surgery to pay for. Milo did great in the car! He either stayed in my lap or perched on the arm rest.

Hmm..let me rephrase and expand on the car trip. He was fine on the highway but once we got

on curvy mountain roads, it was another story. He was ok most of the time, but after a spirited run back across the Dragon, he threw up. I can't blame him..318 curves in 11 miles..I'm surprised I don't throw up every time we go across. I at least planned for this and had a towel in my lap. Shew!

We thought Milo would be a bit of a burden since we're usually on the go during our vacations and there's little down time, but most places allowed him in. We went hiking for a day and got caught in the rain. I wore the wrong shoes, so my foot was in severe pain and I stopped while Jeff ran with Milo the mile or so back to the car. He was worn out that night! As timeshare members, they came to us saying they wanted to discuss some changes, etc. and they'd give us $50 for our time. It was a sales pitch to upgrade our ownership and was the weirdest meeting I've ever had. I'm pretty sure the guy was high. He kept saying he was going to cut through the b.s. and get to the point. After an hour, he still hadn't told us how much or what we'd be gaining, so we left. We used the money to rent a bass boat and went out on the lake. I don't know that Milo necessarily enjoyed it, but he tolerated it very well as he does most things. He doesn't seem to like water very much and I don't see him being a swimmer which is disappointing, but I can't force it on him. We did dip him in the lake a few times to cool him off and he was ok with that! Side note: I didn't catch any fish. Again.

This is a short video where we tried to get Milo used to the water before we went out on the

boat. Um..it didn't work. He's not afraid of it..he just doesn't like it.

We drove across the Cherohala Skyway at sunset one night and it was amazing!

After the sun went down, the sky was so clear you could not only see multiple layers of stars, but an entire arm of the Milky Way. It's breathtaking! Sadly, my camera couldn't capture that and we couldn't stop for pictures anyway because we had to get back to the cabin to meet Jonathan and Candi. Candi is a good friend from college that I never get to see as often as I'd like, so knowing I had a weekend with them was fantastic! Mentioning my camera reminded me of something. Let me back track to the beginning of the week, before we left for Fontana.

The evening before we left, we were cleaning out the car, polishing the inside, cleaning the windows, etc. No wait..let me back up further..several months back I noticed a horrible smell every time I got near the porch. I couldn't put a finger on it..kind of like stinky stagnant water and maybe sewage. Jeff said not to worry it was just water under the porch from rain. I poured bleach and it went away for awhile..but would always come back. So..forward to the night before Fontana. Jeff comes back in and asks how much more laundry do I have to do because there's a break in the water line and the laundry water is just dumping under the house. Lovely. That would explain the stagnant water smell. Then it hit me. Sewage. That whole end of the house is connected to one pipe..so MONTHS of laundry, shower, sink and toilet water were just ending up under the house..not into the septic tank. Crap. Literally. It kind of put a damper on vacation knowing we had to come back to have that fixed. Just another expense.

Ok..so back to why the camera reminded me of all that. After we got to Fontana, we had my delicious Fajita Lasagna that I invented out of thin air and then Jeff goes to pick up his bag. The bottom half is for a camera and lenses, the top half for a laptop. The camera portion was open and his nice Canon Rebel XTI fell out and hit the floor breaking an $800 wide angle lens. He was LIVID. SO..that's why we don't have pictures of the Milky Way. The week didn't start off well.

Alright, back to vacation goodness. The day after Jonathan and Candi arrived, we went on a winery tour to Calaboose Vineyards and Valley River Vineyards with a rather large group of Miatas. Both were very hospitable, had great wines and it was a very fun way to spend a day.

Miatas at Calaboose Vineyards

The day after the vineyard tour, the men went to the Miata picture at the Dam while Candi and I stayed in the cabin. After that, some relaxing by the pool and lazy river while the men went running and did Miata stuff. They joined us at the pool later for awhile and then it was off to shower to get ready for dinner and the wine/beer swap. We met some great people who brought some home brews. One was like an orange wit-beer and the other was a pink hibiscus wit-beer. It was to die for! Floral, light and it was pink! But, if you mixed the two beers together..it tasted like ruby red grapefruit. I have no idea why because it doesn't make sense given what was put in them..but it was like the 4th of July in my mouth! I tried many wines and was tipsy. Maybe more than tipsy. Possibly drunk. Yeah, I was drunk.

Beer table. You can't even see the rest of the selections. There was a LOT!

The day after was a yummy breakfast and the trip home. Fantastic week that just solidifies my love for Fontana. It's not only the place, but the people too. It feels like home to me. I made new friends and got so see some old. My soul was smiling. After returning with some tan lines and great memories, we did get the pipe under the house fixed and for cheap..even if Jeff did have to crawl through crap to reseal the joint. Turns out the support hangers in that area were attached to the plastic and insulation instead of to the wood..so the pipe fell. Easy fix..just a hassle. The lens is still broken and I'm still peeling from the sun I got. SPF 30..and I didn't get hardly any sun. SPF 50..and I'm burnt. ?? Milo had his surgery..but that's another post. So now you know what I've been up to the past few weeks! =)

Um...what?? Bacon Vodka?!?!

I don't understand this. Bacon flavored vodka?? Seriously?? Yes, it's real! Check out this article I found on Digg.com (orignally from www.baltimoresun.com ) :

The scoop on bacon vodka

I did it.

I drank ... drum roll please ... bacon vodka. At Capt. Larry's.

Oh yes.

You: So, stop stalling and tell us how it tasted, Sessa!

Me: OK.

Do you know those dog treats Beggin Strips? That's what it reminded me of.

Not to say I've eaten Beggin Strips. But I've smelled them.
And, oddly enough, they were the first thing to come to mind when I did the shot.

If I were reviewing bacon vodka for the New York Times, I would describe it thusly:

"The drink had a robust, meaty aroma that pleased the palette, grounded by a sharp undercurrent of liquor. It will surely stimulate the senses of breakfast aficionados." --Sam Sessa

Wow. Just...wow. What next? Baked beans vodka? Sausage & Egg Vodkatini's...and instead of an olive..it's a chunk of sausage...rimmed with sausage fat and biscuit crumbs instead of sugar? Yum yum..makes you start to salivate, right?? I'm kinda grossed out...but it's a concoction that represents the good ol' American diet. Fatty meat and liquor. Both are good in their own right..but combining them..I just don't know. I'm not the biggest bacon fat..I mean fan... in the world...and vodka makes me ill, so I imagine this would leave much to be desired for my palate. Jeff however, would probably love this.

Last weekend, we went to a housewarming party at his friend Matt Cheeley's house. The last time we saw him and his wife Kristie-Sue (sp?--sorry if it's wrong!) was at Adam's Christmas party. He served water chesnuts wrapped in bacon and it sparked the conversation that it was just an excuse to eat the bacon. Then, Cheeley commented that someone should just bring bacon to a party because everyone would be saying.."Bacon?? Why would someone just bring bacon to a party?"...all the while..chowing down on it. So..my husband brought Cheeley's ideas to fruition and brought bacon to the housewarming party. Two packs of it actually...and wouldn't you know, Cheeley was right! Everybody was devouring the bacon all the while saying things like.."Bacon? Well this is unusual" and "Mmm..this bacon is awesome!" or "This is some good bacon!" I think there were only a couple of pieces left by the time we went home. So for your next party..if you have no idea what to bring..bring bacon. It's cheap, easy and a huge hit. We took Gwaltney's Brown Sugar Bacon. The key is to cook it on a low heat..it comes out perfect.

So..on to other things. Cheeley's party was a lot of fun. His house is awesome and very unique. There's lots of holes in it..going from room to room..we're assuming for air circulation. While really neat to look at, you can also hear everything going on in the house from any room...this must be why the one to the master bedroom was sealed off. The house is in a secluded woodsy area just on the outskirts of Cary..so you still get the rural feel while only being a few minutes from the city. We had a great time, good food, some laughs and ended up with a free dog house which we get to display when we throw our party in August. We were volunteered to throw it by some of Jeff's friends since we live in the middle of nowhere. I just know the words guns, bonfire, and beer were mentioned. Oh boy...great combination...LOL! I think we'll tell people to bring tents if they wish so they can crash somewhere if they drink too much. We have some room in the house, but plenty of space for everyone to pitch tents. Hopefully by then we'll have the fence finished and the moulding in the den back up.

Anyhow..the only other news worth mentioning is that Summer..a girl I sporadically work with gave me a bunch of stuff to give to Kelly since she's having a girl. I went to pick it up this week and it included a Pack and Play playpen, a lot of clothes, toys, a carrier, bottles, bottle liners, a wipe warmer, bottle warmer, a walker..and that was just this time around..she still had a ton of stuff left. I also got to talk with Summer for about 2 hours and play with her little girl Aspen. I hadn't seen her in awhile, so it was nice to catch up.

The last bit of news is that Jeff and I bought another car today. He's been eyeing a new Miata for MONTHS and finally found one worth going to see. It's a 91 british racing green Miata with tan leather seats and a tan top and it only has 46,000 miles on it. It was owned by a guy who collects cars so it's been garaged for 17 years. It has a couple dings here and there but that's to be expected on any car. The engine is super clean and it runs great. We also got it for about $3,000 less that what it's worth b/c the guy didn't know what he had. There were only 4,000 of that particular car made that year with that package in that color..so it's fairly rare. We hadn't really intended on buying a car right now, but at the price he was asking..we couldn't pass it up. He's going to try selling his Caprice and then I'm going to use the red Miata he's been driving as a commuter to save the mileage on my Nissan.

Ok..I think that's all for now. If I think of anything else worth mentioning..I will. Hope everybody enjoys their weekend and has time to kick back with a nice glass of bacon vodka!!

A flea market anniversary

You ever have days where an unexpected surprise just makes your whole day? This was another great weekend as Jeff and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. There wasn't a big to do over it, but we had a lot of fun none the less. We hadn't been to the flea market at the Raleigh Fair Grounds in a long time, so we decided to go. We took our time riding around in Jeff's convertible enjoying the gorgeous weather on our way there. We spent the day looking at all the trinkets and watching people. I got to see the most beautiful colored pitbull in the world. He was a tri-colored blue fawn with the most gorgeous blue eyes! And such a sweetie!! We also got to see the toy show and taste free food samples...ah..yummy.

Anyway, we spent most of the day there and upon leaving and trying to decide what to do for dinner, Jeff drove to RDU because he'd heard about a new observation area they'd built. The observation deck overlooked the runway and had speakers so you could hear what was going on in the tower. There was also a playground area for the kids with a sandbox as well as picnic tables. We stayed for quite awhile watching planes land and take off. Jeff is an aviation fanatic, so I wasn't at all surprised that he wanted to come to RDU. After an hour or so, we thought we'd go see what the other observation area looked like and see if we could get some dinner. There's a cafe in the General Aviation building, but it was closed..so we just watched the planes on that side.

It turns out, this area overlooked the other runway where all the executive and private planes are parked. Jeff noticed a caravan of cars waiting off to the side and we wondered who they were waiting on. We watched a rather expensive plane land and taxi into the parking area. About this time, the caravan pulled up to park next to the plane. We waited a few minutes and I'll be damned if Kid Rock didn't get out of the plane with his entourage! We snapped a few pictures but didn't get a clear one of his girlfriend. I was kind of hoping it was someone else, that way I could sell it to a tabloid for money...but it looks like her from picture comparisons. Dang.
Anyhow..once he noticed us taking pics, he turned his back on us and got in the car. We were trying to figure out why he was in Raleigh, but apparently he's really good friends with the son of the owner of the Hurricanes and comes in all the time. This was according to the front desk guy, which means maybe we need to hang out at RDU more often! That was our unsuspected surprise for the day which preceded dinner at Johnny Carino's. Oh, and I also put some pics up in my "My Photos" folder of Kid Rock.

Today, we detailed Jeff's Miata and made a trip to Cary to go to Target. We detoured for a country drive which led us to the American Tobacco Trail and the Hope Valley Railway. I had no idea any of that was near me, so that was very cool. For $9, you can ride the train on the 1st Sunday of every month. I have no idea where it goes or how long the ride is, but it's still neat. It's been a tiring weekend, but a lot of fun since Jeff and I got to spend some uninterrupted time together and experience new things. I love stuff like that! The next few weekends are full of college graduations and then a trip to Busch Gardens Williamsburg with some friends...including Lou who's coming over from Switzerland to visit! I can't wait!! They're opening up their new coaster..the Griffon! Woo hoo! If I live..I'll tell you about it!