thanks to all the (e:peeps) who came out to meet lisa... we had an awesome time!

My bff Lisa and her girlfriend Miriam are coming to visit me Friday - Sunday! :-) Lisa lives in NYC now, but she used to live with me in Maryland.






We've invited my meetup.com group to happies at Adonia's at 7pm on Friday, 8/21, and I'd like to extend a general invitation to the (e:peeps). Please come!

:-)

omg I'm so excited!! I had a commitment here in Buffalo today so I couldn't go to my skatepark demo...I was sooo bummed. But the Wilkes-Barre, PA, NBC affiliate came and reported on it!

Go see the video!!!


Jill & Kelly said about 200 people attended - a phenomenal turnout. All our old fogies even showed up.

(The last time WBRE reported on anything in Blossburg was when the drunk driver killed the woman and horse riding down Main Street in 2006... so you can see why I consider this a REALLY BIG DEAL :-)


Here's one of Kelly's photos:

Earth - Fire - Air (haze) - Water









Texas Longhorns on the way to Forksville.







A and I went camping near Worlds End State Park - we wanted to drink some beer and PA state parks don't allow alcohol so we camped at the Almost Heaven campground in Forksville, PA.



The campground storefront had ads for live bait, the annual turtle race, lawnmower races, Kramer's Mountainside Inn, and Steve's lawn service. You can also get copies of Outdoor Life, Pennsylvania Outdoor Journal, and the Endless Mountains 2009 visitors guide.



Nisha was really not sure she liked being outside in the dark with just a fire. She curled up at my feet and worried. She liked the tent a lot though.





We had a beautiful campfire and A cooked - roasted peppers, grilled corn on the cob, burgers, mozzarella, tomatoes & basil, and white bean dip and spinach artichoke dip that were left over from Jill's party. We ate so much for dinner that we were too full to make s'mores!





Nisha and I went down to the creek while A cooked breakfast (homefries, burgers and the leftover corn cut off the cob... so yummy).





We didn't have a lot of time left to go to the state park after stuffing ourselves but we did go up this long winding road



to the Loyalsock Canyon Vista




See the third photo in this post for another view of the canyon. I love how the mountains weave together.



Pretty pink flower at the vista



A hawk we saw on the way back down the mountain (I'm so loving my new 70mm-300mm equivalent zoom lens.)




We were almost home and we had to wait for the heavy traffic... (seriously, four vehicles in a row is heavy traffic in Tioga County).

My colleague & co-conspirator Jill turned 30 on July 23. Our office manager Kelly, her husband Shane and I threw her a surprise party with about 60 guests on the Island, our community park, right next to where we're building the skatepark. We had a green & brown eco-friendly theme - potato starch utensils, cornstarch cups and natural fiber plates were compostable, the tablecloths were reusable twin bedsheets, rice paper (biodegradable) lanterns. (Mostly from Greenpartygoods.com ) She was tickled by the theme and totally surprised by the party. Kelly, Shane and 15 other people had taken her to Red Lobster on her birthday so she was really not expecting anything else. Shane persuaded her to take a walk to the Island and as she crossed the footbridge and recognized people's trucks, she thought we were all having a party without her. :-)

Jill & Shane walking up to the party. Her brother Mikey is the far background, their son Liam is on the big wheel.


Emily, one of Kelly's triplets, with Nisha.


Nisha, Jill & Shane's daughter Mataya, Emily and Christopher, another of the triplets. The triplets and Mataya are six. They argued over who gets to hold Nisha and kept coming to me for refereeing


Shane's dad Bill, who can best be described as a rake and scoundrel.


We had two big picnic tables full of food and a big sheet cake, plus Shane grilled chicken and veggie kabobs, and grilled strawberries.


Cake & Christopher


Liz, wife of one of Bill's nephews. I just like the picture.


We couldn't light the beeswax candles because it was too windy but Jill & Liam pretended.


Jill was also surprised by the bamboo flooring for our new office - lots of folks contributed for her big gift. She has been begging all of us for the flooring. She told me yesterday that it's being put in today. Can't wait to see it!




Oddly, the pix don't really show how crowded it was. I was completely overwhelmed by the crowed and ended up skipping the library's garden party the next day.