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anarchist_nomad Oct. 21st, 2008 07:14 pm)
anarchist_nomad Oct. 21st, 2008 07:14 pm)Heading back to Oxford after my first day back at work. Seems like an ideal time to finish blogging my latest US trip:
Last Friday morning, the delightful![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fawx_fae and I hopped a flight from New York to Detroit. We had a couple of changes to make to the existing plans -- largely to change fawx_fae's flight and luggage arrangements -- but my extensive travel experience pulled them all off seamlessly. There are some perks to having averaged twenty flights per year for the past decade[1]!
When we landed in Detroit, the wonderfultawneypup was there to greet us. Saying that it was good to see her again would be quite an understatement! We parted ways with fawx_fae at the bus stop[2] and went to meet tawneypup's husband and company for brunch. I couldn't decide between an omelette (breakfast) or a pita sandwich (lunch). Seeing how it was supposed to be brunch, I compromised -- I got an omelette on a pita! Yum! With a smooth, thick chocolate milkshake to wash it all down! Double yum!
After brunch,tawneypup drove me back to Lansing, where I was introduced to the Hayford House and its guardian, the unbelievably adorable Steel[3]. She has a very cool house; the upstairs bathroom is particularly impressive! I was exhausted from waking at 5:30am for the flight, so we settled into bed for a very pleasant nap. Got out of bed just in time to invoke the power of Greyskull a hot shower to make me human again before the Taco & Game Party[4].
And, oh, what a party that was! First off, let me just say that textured vegetable protein does make for some pretty good taco "meat."[5] Secondly, I was impressed at how smoothly dinner came together -- everyone brought one item needed for the taco party and, presto, there were tacos with virtually no cooking time involved! Very delicious tacos, at that! It was most excellent to see certain Starwood people without having to wait until next July! It was nearly as good to meettawneypup's other people, especially one who is a fellow bell ringer[6].
Since this was a Taco & Game Party, I will leave it as an exercise to the reader to determine what came after the tacos were all finished. Very good! We started out playing Apples to Apples. A2A is often played at the Event Horizon parties and one would expect me to do very well, seeing as I am one of the few people who knows all of the attendees. Nonetheless, I usually do quite poorly when playing. Imagine my surprise, then, to find that I came in tied for second place -- four cards in hand at the end of game, behind only one novice player who had five! I was "cheesy", "quite", "addictive", and one other adjective that I cannot quite recall. To my shock, I lost the round where I played the "Charging Rhinos" card -- I can't remember the adjective in play at the time, but Charging Rhinos always wins! Clearly spacetime has been broken!
Following up A2A was a game that I had never played before: Betrayal at House on the Hill (affectionately known at "The Shinning"). This ended hours later in a draw, as the traitor couldn't kill us and the survivors were not willing to commit suicide by attacking her demon lord. Fun game! I think that I shall have to procure a copy!
By about two in the morning, all guests were gone.tawneypup and I headed up to bed and, eventually, sleep.
On Saturday, we had a lay in until late morning. When we finally got out of bed, another shower was needed, then it was off to breakfast at a pancake house! Pumpkin pancakes were the order of the day! Double plus good! Following this refueling, I was treated to a tour of the Michigan State University campus, wheretawneypup had gone to school, and then we visited the stables where she rides horses. Since this is an important part of my sweetie's life, I wanted to see her ride. I was not expected to get on a horse myself, and was quite pleasantly surprised when offered the chance to! It seems that my quest to become resourceress at age ten is proceeding nicely[7]. tawneypup showed me how to saddle up and get my horse to walk, steer, trot, and do some small jumps! Lots of fun!
Upon leaving the stables, we went to get gas... and were greeted at the pump by an Anubis hand puppet! Veeeeeeeery interesting! We stopped back in at the Hayford House again for a couple of hours of quality alone time. Then it was off to the next stop of the evening -- Laser Tag! Surprisingly enough, I was a Laser Tag virgin. However,tawneypup was able to rectify the situation. I took to the game reasonably well, coming in third for both games that we played[8]. tawneypup and I were also on the winning team[9] each time. Go us! I have come to the solemn conclusion that wandering about in a maze shooting people is much fun, and I will have to do more of it![10]
By the time we were done zapping people, we were hungry. We went out for dinner, which was delicious and also consisted of too many cups of iced tea -- six for me, three for her. Then a little grocery stop to pick up breakfast supplies before retiring to the Hayford House and bed.
Sunday began with yet another lie in. After leaving the comfort of the bed,tawneypup whipped up some Freedom Toast for breakfast. Once fed, I was clad in waffle weave, to suit my darling's aesthetic tastes. Then it was off to Uncle John's Cider Mill for the afternoon. While there, we navigated our way through a corn maze -- tawneypup's first ever and my first since doing the self-proclaimed world's largest corn maze with cheshcat in October 2006. This time, we did it during daylight and without the rain -- what a difference that makes! Next up, we accelerated apples to high speeds with the help of giant slingshots! Peachy keen! I learned that I can hit a small target, like a scarecrow, with reproducible accuracy... but a large target like a wooden frame is somehow beyond me! Go figure! We also raced rubber ducks using water pumps! tawneypup had the cooler duck by far -- a witch duck! -- but mine went faster!
It seemed somehow unethical to visit a cider mill without enjoying some cider. Whilst on the refreshments line, we ran into the lovelylunarbitch and cjtremlett. We enjoyed cider and donuts and caramel apples with them, then parted ways so that we could drive to Ann Arbor.
In Ann Arbor, I was introduced to the GoatHouse II. We picked up the deliciousfawx_fae[11] and brought her to a Chinese buffet for her birthday dinner. It was a bit of a drive to the restaurant, but we made the time pass quickly with good conversation and fun songs. Amazingly enough, neither of them had ever heard the Zombie Jamboree before! Thankfully, the situation has now been rectified! Over dinner, the conversation ranged through a variety of topics, from my plans to get kicked out of assorted countries with fawx_fae to the striking similarity in tawneypup and fawx_fae's taste in men[12]. Following dinner, and another song-filled car ride, we dropped off fawx_fae at the GoatHouse (II) and made our way towards the airport.
tawneypup had cleverly reserved a hotel room for us near the airport, saving much driving on both Sunday night and Monday morning. We checked in and wound down for the night before enjoying the three and a half hours sleep that awaited us. When the alarm went off at 4:30am, tawneypup drove me the short distance to the terminal, and then we parted ways. Being Nomadic, I am quite familiar with the experience of parting with partners and traveling intercontinental distances. Still, it was difficult to say goodbye. Not only do we have a remarkable amount in common, but tawneypup is a clever, witty, kind, and generous woman[13] who is rapidly becoming very important to me. I know that I will see her again around New Years -- something to look forward to! -- but parting was still hard.
Nonetheless, I will not end this entry on a sad note! Our weekend together was phenomenal, filled with a perfect balance of activity and personal time. When asked what I would have changed, I could honestly answer: "Nothing." There has been a lot of relationship velocity in my life of late, especially over the past three months. Several relationships have been added, while others have been changed or lost. However, it looks like, as the metaphorical dust begins to settle, the emotionally significant relationships that are emerging are the ones that truly meet my needs. I have some amazing people in my life, and I am very happy about that...
[1] Seriously -- I log these things! I can remember every flight that I have taken since the start of 1990. In the past ten years, I have flown 199 times. People who only met me recently may not realise it, as this has been a very light year for me in terms of air travel -- only six flights so far in 2008. But, on average, I fly a lot!
[2] For the time being.
[3] Who has the cutest doggy eyes that I have ever seen, methinks!
[4] Dubbed "NomadFest" by the lovelylunarbitch -- the same woman responsible for giving me the nickname of "The One True Chia Pet of Love."
[5] I should also try using Quorn mince at some point to compare.
[6] She does "tune ringing" instead of "change ringing" but we were able to put our differences aside and have a bit of a cultural exchange between games.
[7] Now I just need to find a skateboard to flirt with and I should be all set...
[8] Out of twenty-nine players in the first game and eleven in the second.
[9] Red team, of course. None of that blue or green for me, thank you!
[10] It is really a shame that the Oxford Laser Tag shut down. Otherwise, I would be organising a group outing right now!
[11] Toldja she would come back into this story later! (See footnote [2])
[12] For which I am quite appreciative!
[13] Not to mention unbelievably sexy!
Last Friday morning, the delightful
fawx_fae and I hopped a flight from New York to Detroit. We had a couple of changes to make to the existing plans -- largely to change fawx_fae's flight and luggage arrangements -- but my extensive travel experience pulled them all off seamlessly. There are some perks to having averaged twenty flights per year for the past decade[1]! When we landed in Detroit, the wonderful
tawneypup was there to greet us. Saying that it was good to see her again would be quite an understatement! We parted ways with fawx_fae at the bus stop[2] and went to meet tawneypup's husband and company for brunch. I couldn't decide between an omelette (breakfast) or a pita sandwich (lunch). Seeing how it was supposed to be brunch, I compromised -- I got an omelette on a pita! Yum! With a smooth, thick chocolate milkshake to wash it all down! Double yum!After brunch,
tawneypup drove me back to Lansing, where I was introduced to the Hayford House and its guardian, the unbelievably adorable Steel[3]. She has a very cool house; the upstairs bathroom is particularly impressive! I was exhausted from waking at 5:30am for the flight, so we settled into bed for a very pleasant nap. Got out of bed just in time to invoke the power of And, oh, what a party that was! First off, let me just say that textured vegetable protein does make for some pretty good taco "meat."[5] Secondly, I was impressed at how smoothly dinner came together -- everyone brought one item needed for the taco party and, presto, there were tacos with virtually no cooking time involved! Very delicious tacos, at that! It was most excellent to see certain Starwood people without having to wait until next July! It was nearly as good to meet
tawneypup's other people, especially one who is a fellow bell ringer[6].Since this was a Taco & Game Party, I will leave it as an exercise to the reader to determine what came after the tacos were all finished. Very good! We started out playing Apples to Apples. A2A is often played at the Event Horizon parties and one would expect me to do very well, seeing as I am one of the few people who knows all of the attendees. Nonetheless, I usually do quite poorly when playing. Imagine my surprise, then, to find that I came in tied for second place -- four cards in hand at the end of game, behind only one novice player who had five! I was "cheesy", "quite", "addictive", and one other adjective that I cannot quite recall. To my shock, I lost the round where I played the "Charging Rhinos" card -- I can't remember the adjective in play at the time, but Charging Rhinos always wins! Clearly spacetime has been broken!
Following up A2A was a game that I had never played before: Betrayal at House on the Hill (affectionately known at "The Shinning"). This ended hours later in a draw, as the traitor couldn't kill us and the survivors were not willing to commit suicide by attacking her demon lord. Fun game! I think that I shall have to procure a copy!
By about two in the morning, all guests were gone.
tawneypup and I headed up to bed and, eventually, sleep.On Saturday, we had a lay in until late morning. When we finally got out of bed, another shower was needed, then it was off to breakfast at a pancake house! Pumpkin pancakes were the order of the day! Double plus good! Following this refueling, I was treated to a tour of the Michigan State University campus, where
tawneypup had gone to school, and then we visited the stables where she rides horses. Since this is an important part of my sweetie's life, I wanted to see her ride. I was not expected to get on a horse myself, and was quite pleasantly surprised when offered the chance to! It seems that my quest to become resourceress at age ten is proceeding nicely[7]. tawneypup showed me how to saddle up and get my horse to walk, steer, trot, and do some small jumps! Lots of fun!Upon leaving the stables, we went to get gas... and were greeted at the pump by an Anubis hand puppet! Veeeeeeeery interesting! We stopped back in at the Hayford House again for a couple of hours of quality alone time. Then it was off to the next stop of the evening -- Laser Tag! Surprisingly enough, I was a Laser Tag virgin. However,
tawneypup was able to rectify the situation. I took to the game reasonably well, coming in third for both games that we played[8]. tawneypup and I were also on the winning team[9] each time. Go us! I have come to the solemn conclusion that wandering about in a maze shooting people is much fun, and I will have to do more of it![10]By the time we were done zapping people, we were hungry. We went out for dinner, which was delicious and also consisted of too many cups of iced tea -- six for me, three for her. Then a little grocery stop to pick up breakfast supplies before retiring to the Hayford House and bed.
Sunday began with yet another lie in. After leaving the comfort of the bed,
tawneypup whipped up some Freedom Toast for breakfast. Once fed, I was clad in waffle weave, to suit my darling's aesthetic tastes. Then it was off to Uncle John's Cider Mill for the afternoon. While there, we navigated our way through a corn maze -- tawneypup's first ever and my first since doing the self-proclaimed world's largest corn maze with cheshcat in October 2006. This time, we did it during daylight and without the rain -- what a difference that makes! Next up, we accelerated apples to high speeds with the help of giant slingshots! Peachy keen! I learned that I can hit a small target, like a scarecrow, with reproducible accuracy... but a large target like a wooden frame is somehow beyond me! Go figure! We also raced rubber ducks using water pumps! tawneypup had the cooler duck by far -- a witch duck! -- but mine went faster!It seemed somehow unethical to visit a cider mill without enjoying some cider. Whilst on the refreshments line, we ran into the lovely
lunarbitch and cjtremlett. We enjoyed cider and donuts and caramel apples with them, then parted ways so that we could drive to Ann Arbor.In Ann Arbor, I was introduced to the GoatHouse II. We picked up the delicious
fawx_fae[11] and brought her to a Chinese buffet for her birthday dinner. It was a bit of a drive to the restaurant, but we made the time pass quickly with good conversation and fun songs. Amazingly enough, neither of them had ever heard the Zombie Jamboree before! Thankfully, the situation has now been rectified! Over dinner, the conversation ranged through a variety of topics, from my plans to get kicked out of assorted countries with fawx_fae to the striking similarity in tawneypup and fawx_fae's taste in men[12]. Following dinner, and another song-filled car ride, we dropped off fawx_fae at the GoatHouse (II) and made our way towards the airport. tawneypup had cleverly reserved a hotel room for us near the airport, saving much driving on both Sunday night and Monday morning. We checked in and wound down for the night before enjoying the three and a half hours sleep that awaited us. When the alarm went off at 4:30am, tawneypup drove me the short distance to the terminal, and then we parted ways. Being Nomadic, I am quite familiar with the experience of parting with partners and traveling intercontinental distances. Still, it was difficult to say goodbye. Not only do we have a remarkable amount in common, but tawneypup is a clever, witty, kind, and generous woman[13] who is rapidly becoming very important to me. I know that I will see her again around New Years -- something to look forward to! -- but parting was still hard.Nonetheless, I will not end this entry on a sad note! Our weekend together was phenomenal, filled with a perfect balance of activity and personal time. When asked what I would have changed, I could honestly answer: "Nothing." There has been a lot of relationship velocity in my life of late, especially over the past three months. Several relationships have been added, while others have been changed or lost. However, it looks like, as the metaphorical dust begins to settle, the emotionally significant relationships that are emerging are the ones that truly meet my needs. I have some amazing people in my life, and I am very happy about that...
[1] Seriously -- I log these things! I can remember every flight that I have taken since the start of 1990. In the past ten years, I have flown 199 times. People who only met me recently may not realise it, as this has been a very light year for me in terms of air travel -- only six flights so far in 2008. But, on average, I fly a lot!
[2] For the time being.
[3] Who has the cutest doggy eyes that I have ever seen, methinks!
[4] Dubbed "NomadFest" by the lovely
lunarbitch -- the same woman responsible for giving me the nickname of "The One True Chia Pet of Love."[5] I should also try using Quorn mince at some point to compare.
[6] She does "tune ringing" instead of "change ringing" but we were able to put our differences aside and have a bit of a cultural exchange between games.
[7] Now I just need to find a skateboard to flirt with and I should be all set...
[8] Out of twenty-nine players in the first game and eleven in the second.
[9] Red team, of course. None of that blue or green for me, thank you!
[10] It is really a shame that the Oxford Laser Tag shut down. Otherwise, I would be organising a group outing right now!
[11] Toldja she would come back into this story later! (See footnote [2])
[12] For which I am quite appreciative!
[13] Not to mention unbelievably sexy!
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