Pictures!

So, if you noticed the severe lack of pictures in the last 2 posts, it is because I got tired of fighting with the website and the tablet and the hotel computers and my phone and all other involved objects. Therefore, I started a Tumblr site.  This means I can update pictures real time from my phone and put little captions on them.  I am already addicted!!!  Sorry this means you have to check 2 sites, but if you just want the short version, the tumblr site might be all you care to read!  I promise to keep the blog updated with more detailed stories (because I know the three of us are ridiculous and you are LOVING this blog!) but it will probably continue to be a multi-update every 2 or 3 days.  The tumblr site will be continually adding pictures throughout the day (and night ;)).  Feel free to comment on either site!!! We love hearing from you, and will probably start working on responding to comments sometime in the near future.

Click Here To TUMBL

Enjoy!
~Ali

Sorry Y'all

So, internet is $2 for 30 minutes on your own device.  It is $0.20 per MINUTE on the hotel computers.  Ashley's tablet and I don't so much get along, so I can't edit anything right now.  Please DON'T read any of the posts that have been published tonight.  As soon as we get in to Boston tomorrow I will get on a computer and fix it all and put the pictures on.  We should have a better internet situation from now on so you won't have to catch up 5 days at a time.

===========================EDITED ==============================
Ok, it is Sunday June twenty-somethingth and I have officially fixed the garbage on the previous posts and you can now read them legibly and see associated pictures.

Can't take my eyes off of you...

Do you know what Wednesday is in NewYork? It's the day that Broadway shows have matinees!!!! We drug ourselves out of bed early to grab some breakfast and head to the TKTS booth on Times Square. We all had different ideas of what we wanted to see most, but it all depends on what is being sold at a discounted rate at the booth. We got there about 9:30, and the booth opens at 10, so we had some time to decide. Our top choices were Jersey Boys, Mamma Mia!, and Nice Work If You Can Get It. We ended up getting tickets to Jersey Boys on the recommendation of the lady in line behind us (small world - she was from Chicago!!!!) This was the best decision we have made so far! Jersey Boys is a musical about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. It won the Tony for best musical in 2006, and a bunch of others too we think. There were so many great musical numbers, and the show was quite humorous too. The sign on the way in warned that "Authentic, profane Jersey vocabulary" would be used in the show. They weren't kiddin'. By far the best musical number was when Frankie sang Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You. (Of course, Ashley and I were picturing Heath Ledger walking down the bleachers.)

Before the show, we hit up Central Park and FAO Schwartz. Elizabeth, Ashley and I jumped around on the giant piano - AMAZING :). Fun fact - that thing can be purchased for the low, low price of 250,000 dollars. We also looked at the Harry Potter and Hunger Games merchandise (Carol, Ali, Elizabeth) and the elephants (Ashley). I may or may not have purchased a Mockingjay pin. I tried to claim it was too dorky, but was shut down quickly and told I am already too dorky, so I might as well run with it. In Central Park we went to the free portion of the zoo, took pictures in the tunnel that is in all the movies, and climbed the rocks! Ashley and I were very glad we had our sturdy Chacos on. Elizabeth was proud of herself for doing the climb in flimsy Target sandals :). We also went to the bridge that is featured in many big and small screen images, which Ashley climbed atop to take pictures. I declined the opportunity to accidentally fall in a shallow body of water.

After the show, we split up. Elizabeth and Carol went to SoHo to see a show featuring Greg Laswell at the Bowery Ballroom. They ate dinner at a joint in Little Italy, where the owner apparently enjoyed serenading his patrons frequently. They both really enjoyed the show, especially the fact that they got to sit through the concert while most people had to stand, haha! Warning from Carol - do not judge a book by its cover. The Bowery Ballroom looks sketchy, but is a diamond in the rough.

While they were off being cultural, Ashley and I met Tamara and my big from my sorority, Amy, for drinks. Amy brought a gentleman friend from England, who turned out to be very fun! Not that there was any doubt, she generally has good taste in people ;). We were at a bar that chose to have ridiculous rules for their specials, but we are crafty young ladies and took full advantage. When the 95 degree weather started to wear on us in the UN air-conditioned bar, we left and went to a chillier location a few blocks away. Fun fact - to save space in New York, often the sinks are found in a common area outside the bathrooms and the boy/girl bathrooms literally just have toilets behind doors. I thought this was interesting, even though Amy and Tamara thought it was mundane.

After we left the bar because Tamara, Amy and Guv had to get up and work in the morning, Ashley and I went strolling around midtown looking for a bar to hang out in. So much for the "city that never sleeps."!!! Everything near our hotel was closed, even the TGIFridays! The TGIFridays in MURFREESBORO is open later. Gracious. We got back to the hotel quite late, but not too much after the concert ladies. Everyone went to bed so we could get up early for the long day of sightseeing planned for Thursday!

That's all folks!
~Ali

So Much To Do

Soooo much to do! It was a very productive day! We got up early (well, we tried...) and headed to the Empire State Building (ESB) in hopes of avoiding the 2 hour line of yesterday. 8:30 am on a Tuesday is apparently a very unpopular time to go to the Empire State Building. The only time we waited in line was the elevator on the way back DOWN. Ashley and Elizabeth went to the SkyRide, which is a virtual helicopter ride all over New York City. Carol and I didn't think being physically ill at the ESB seemed like a pleasant start to our trip, so we headed upstairs instead. We like to take our time and enjoy the sights anyway, so it worked out well. We found some landmarks we could distinguish, and took pictures of the buildings we wanted to learn more about. Teachers on vacation much? Lol.

After viewing the 360 degree NYC experience on the 86th floor observation deck, we went up to the 102nd floor! Even way up there, it still seemed less scary than the Hancock Building in Chicago last summer, I think because the bottom half of the wall wasn't glass like at Hancock. On our way back down, we picked up Ashley's tripod, as the ESB apparently feels the need to confiscate such things when you enter security. Fun fact - When built, the Empire State Building cost $9.20 per square foot.

Tamara Brown was awaiting our arrival when we descended to ground level! It was so great to see her and actually be able to chat and hang out, as the last three times I have seen her, one or both of us has been bridesmaiding it up. She took us to a great restaurant in Chinatown where they serve soup dumplings. You take the dumpling on your soup spoon, poke a hole in it with your chopstick, and suck the soup out before eating the dumpling. Odd, but delicious. Anyway, Chinatown smells awful, so we snapped some pictures of the cool fruits sold on the street and skedaddled out of there after lunch.

Elizabeth's friend suggested we go to High Line Park, and Tamara loves it so we hopped on the subway and headed (insert caorrect direction from Chinatown to HighLine Park here). I have never been as aware of how poor my geographical knowledge is until setting foot in this city. Anyway, back to the point. High Line Park was created where the trains used to run aboveground. There are fun benches, gardens, art installments, and yummy popsicle vendors. It is a unique experience to walk in a park OVER city streets. We all really enjoyed this part of the day!

Side note - car jails are unique to Manhattan (as far as we know) and befuddle the minds of suburbanites. There are rising platforms that have cars stacked 5 tall on top of other cars. This is too hard to explain and the picture is on my camera, not my phone. When I have the capability to, I will post a picture. Fascinating.

Final tourist event of the day - Yankee Stadium!!!! We saw the Yankees play the Braves, and of course, friends in Tennessee posting on Facebook walls in support of the Braves. We decided to go ahead and cheer for the Yankees since we have all heard the horror stories about the anger of the NY fans ;). There was a foul-mouthed, yet hilarious, New Yorker in front of Ashley, Tamara and I who had some great stories to share with the teenagers he was with. Just a little NY flavor. We ate the best nachos, classic Nathan's hotdogs, ice cream in plastic baseballs hats, and all in all enjoyed ourselves. The Braves ended up winning the game, which made for a lot of sad/angry Yankee fans. We then braved (yuk it up - I did it on purpose) the over-crowded subway back to the hotel. Somehow our timing was perfect and we all got seats on the train for the 30 minute ride home. Fun fact - There were 41,216 people in attendance at the game tonight! (It doesn't look like it because we got there very early, which is when I took this picture!)

We have another early morning tomorrow so we can get good tickets for whichever Broadway show we end up going to. Elizabeth is asleep and Carol is reading in the next bed over, while Ashley is sleeping with her elephant on her head next to me. Guess I should sign off and head to bed myself, especially since I am the one who likes sleep the most in the group. :)

Til we meet again,
~Ali

NYC or Bust!

We are HERE! Here being Hotel Pennsylvania in downtown New York City. We are across the street from such landmarks as Penn Station and Madison Square Garden. The hotel room is surprisingly large, all of us are pleased! We did decide it is eerily like the Titanic in the halls - lots of small hallways and a severe lack of people. Hopefully we won't hit an iceberg.

Leaving Kate's house was sad :(. I miss her family when I don't get to see them for so long (though it has actually been just as long since I have seen Kate herself, cough*that better not happen again*cough). The trip from PA to NJ was uneventful. I told Ashley we weren't stopping, so she was too scared to tell me she had to pee for an hour and a half. We got to David's camp before David and Carol, but luckily Carol knows us better than anyone and sent us directions to the restrooms without us even asking! We only got to say hi and bye to David before he had to get back to work, then we hopped in the car and headed to NYC!

Before we left the great (smelly) state of New Jersey, we stopped to get gas. FYI - you cannot pump your own gas in New Jersey. Very frustrating experience for 3 independent women who were in a hurry to get somewhere more fun. Especially when the gas station attendant decided his conversation with his coworker was more important than removing the gas nozzle from the full tank and letting us be on our way. David says this law was written to create jobs. We decided that there were many other solutions to such a problem that would have created more meaningful jobs. Any comments/opinions?

We came in through the Lincoln Tunnel and went straight to our hotel. Literally straight to the hotel, we didn't get lost once. I LOVE GPS! Elizabeth met us shortly after we got in. After I took a nap (of course!) we headed out to explore. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe on Times Square, saw the Naked Cowboy, passed the largest Macy's in the world, and walked in the middle of Times and Herald Squares. We were going to check out the Empire State Building, but it had a 2 hour line because it was the sunset view. (Our logic - 2 hours is not worth the "sunset time wait" when we wouldn't have made it up until looong after the sun went down.) So, we wandered for a bit and headed back to the hotel to relax.

There is not free wifi here so I will be writing the blog daily, but probably only updating once or twice. I will just post them when we have time to run to a Starbucks or McDonalds with free wireless. Sorry, I know you're on pins and needles to hear all about this fabulous trip, but there's not much to be done.

Adios amigos,
~Ali

493 miles to New York City

That's right, when you enter Pennsylvania on I-80 from Akron, the highway signs say 493 miles to New York City. No mention of any cities in Pennsylvania... We thought it was odd, until we realized the only cities of note in Pennsylvania are Philly, Pittsburgh, and
arrisburg, none of which lie on our chosen path. So, to the middle of nowhere we headed. 

Side note - We saw this sign and thought of Erin and Kristen!

Side note 2 - We saw this sign and wondered how the heck to pronounce it. Any native Ohioans think they could spell it phonetically for us in a comment? Gee thanks!

On the way to PA, we listened to The Invention of Hugo Cabret, because Finn says it's a better book than movie. The audio recording was interesting because there were sound effects every so often, like Hugo running through the streets of Paris, or trains coming into the station. Other than that, neither of us felt the book had any significant differences. Anyone else who has read the book and seen the movie care to share their opinion?

Pennsylvania was awesome. We got into Lykens ridiculously earlier than planned, because the GPS loves detours and when I make driving mistakes. It shaves minutes upon minutes off the ETA. No complaints here. We had some delicious lasagna and garlic bread for dinner (Thanks Judy!) and then got to celebrate Kate's mom's birthday with her :). We had raisin cake for dessert. Ashley and both really enjoyed it, but Dianne, Judy and Linda all said it is MUCH better when made with puffed seeded raisins. I'm not sure about all that, but it was the topic of much discussion.

Oh, Kate and Mike were there too. We sat around the fire in the backyard for a while after dinner, just chilling and chatting. I missed the Knorrs!!! Kate and Mike have been married a year, which means it has been a whole year since I have seen her family and been to the PA house. In college, it was never more than 2 months! We heard some odd noises outside, which Mike decided was a chupacabre. I don't think I spelled that right at all, but that is okay because it doesn't really exist. It lives in the land of the Loch Ness Monster, Sasquatch, and Chimera. Watching the History Channel show about it to describe its bloodsucking violent tendencies did not help me walk outside by myself in the dark though.

It is bedtime, up early to eat some baked oatmeal (It is exactly what is sounds like, oatmal that is baked!) and get on our way to New Jersey to pick up Carol and say a quick hello to David :). Don't worry, we didn't add a location, we are stopping by his camp to get Carol and heading straight to NYC to spend 4 days with Elizabeth in the city. That's right, 3 Hawkins in 1 day! Woohoo!

Goodnight to all, from Elderberry Hollow Farm in Lykens, PA.

 ~Ali

Wedding Day!

SUCH a beautiful day.  Beautiful weather for a beautiful wedding for a beautiful bride and groom.

Ashley and Molly left at 7:30 to get to the hair salon with the other bridesmaids.  I continued sleeping, because that is what I do best in life ;).  I got up eventually and met Ashley's mom to pick up her bridesmaid dress from Cleveland.  After getting ready, I hit Panera up for Day 2 and ate with Ashley's mom, dad and sister.  We had a delicious meal and headed to the wedding.  Here is a great street we ran across on the way...

In case you can't see, that is HAWKINS street :).  Can't wait to see Carol and Elizabeth Monday!

The wedding was hottttt, but very pretty.  John and Kim make such a great couple.  Ashley and Molly looked beautiful in their bridesmaids dresses :).  The reception was awesome and I can't believe I missed the opportunity to take a picture of the cake.  I will get one from Molly or Becca and post it later - it was BLUE!  Ashley drank several more captain and diets, but I lost count at some point due to having several captain and pineapples myself... sorry to let you all down!  I am sure it was at least 8, so we will assume a grand total of 16.  After the reception we hung out at the bar in the hotel with a couple bridesmaids and the bride and groom.  It was almost more fun than the reception because we could have good conversations with the most important people of the evening - Kim and John!!!

Here are a couple more pictures, then I am going to sign off for the night.  Longgggg night.

Thanks for reading!

~Ali

O-H

I-O!

Yessirree bob, we are definitely in Ohio! Had a great night at the Davis household, even got to sleep in real beds! (This is a big deal for me, normally I visit with the whole extended family and sleep in the basement with all the cousins.  This was the first time I got to be a real grown-up adult guest!) Ashley, Molly and I left Cincinnati and of course ran into a road block detour situation immediately.  I was driving and had to follow the GPS, buuuuut I don't follow directions so well and had to make a u-turn on the first turn.  So much for direct routes hehe.

Since we are in the great state of Ohio, Ashley saw a delicious treat at the Hallmark store and got them for us.  Can you guess what they are?

Molly had NEVER had a buckeye before! These were super delicious, with some sort of peanut butter fudge on topto seal in the deliciousness. 

After our lunch/card buying we went back to the hotel and discovered that BRAD PAISLEY is playing AKron tonight, and our hotel is the location for the roadies and bus crew! This is super coincidental for Ashley and I, because one of the first things we ever did as friends was go with our friend Danielle and her cousin to a Brad Paisley concert in some town in North Carolina (no, we do not ever remember which town it was). We got to hang out on the roadies' buses and we watched the concert from the sound booth.  It was pretty sweet. Hoping to see some Brad Paisley tonight :).

We chilled for a bit in the hotel pool.  There was a sign posted full of normal rules, like no horseplay and swim at your own risk, yada yada.  Then I got closer to the bottom and saw something almost anachronistic in its absurdity.  I'll let you look and see if you noticed what threw the three of us off.

 

Yep. This one right here.  Holy guacamole, a BATHING CAP?! Now, I used to wear one of those when I had tubes in my ears when I was a toddler, but that's a little ridiculous of an expectation.





The rehearsal and post-rehearsal dinner went well. I can say that because I sat in the car and took a nap and read a book during the hour and a half rehearsal, so it was relaxing for me.  Actually practicing the wedding in the hot, hot sun might not have been so enjoyable.  The rehearsal dinner was at the groom's aunt and uncle's house....can I just say WHOA.  It was gorgeous, huge, and elegant.  We hung out, met some fun people, hung out with some of the girls from the bachelorette party in March, and played ping pong.  We were both a little too nervous to try the rope swing on the giant tree on the hill, but it looked like fun for all the children.  I think the final count at the end of the night was 8 captain and diets for Ashley. There's still a wedding tomorrow though!!!!

Goodnight!
~Ali

"Songs I Should Be Embarassed About"

Yep.  The mountains killed the radio signal, so we went searching for CDs in the Carol-mobile and found a CD with those words handwritten on it.  Clearly we were super excited and put the CD straight into the player, all the while asking each other whose CD this could possibly be?! Obviously not Tim's (Carol's husband). Maybe Elizabeth's, or even Carol's. The first song is some inappropriate rap number that Ashley and I immediately began dancing to (while we SAT in traffic with the car in PARK may I mention...).  We cracked up and agreed that the title of the CD would make sense if indeed it belonged to Carol.  The next song was actually the song that Cliff (as played by the adorable Jesse Bradford) writes for Torrance (as played by Kirsten Dunst) in the 2000 classic film Bring It On. This is NOT a CD that ANYONE should be embarassed by! Other selections include such artists as Destiny's Child, S Club 7, BBMak, 'N Sync, The Backstreet Boys, and Bowling For Soup.  As none of the members of the Hawkins family were responding to our texts, we decided the disc must belong to Stuart, because who else could be embarassed by such wonderful songs from the 90s and early 2000's?  We decided we had to amend the title of the CD so it accurately reflected the music held within and others would not be misled as we were.

Other highlights from the first day of the trip include a car fire (don't worry, the firemen put it out, and it wasn't us, we saw it on the side of the road) and almost running out of gas (this was us, but it was Aunt Denise's fault for making Kevin drive her car that was already on empty).  We passed a professional ostrich farm but someone wouldn't allow it as a stop. I rationalized this by telling myself that they probably only allowed honest-to-goodness ostrich farmers onto the property anyway. Oh, and Ashley managed to spread her forgetfulness of leaving her nailpolish at the nail salon to Ohio. We do have pretty pink toesies now though.

When we got to my aunt's house, we hung out with my cousins Ryan and Nicki until the entire family was home and we all went out to celebrate Kevin's 22nd birthday. Red Robin...yummm. We came home and enjoyed some wine and frozen margaritas, Molly made it safely into town, and now the girls are enjoying some Jude Law and Robert Downey, Jr. in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. The boys are out playing basketball during half time of the game.  If you are as clueless as me, you might ask, "What game?" and one of the boys would say "Game 2" as if that were the most obvious thing in the entire world.  While you cleverly smiled and nodded, you may still need more clarification and have to ask Ashley "what sport are we talking about here?" behind your hand in a very covert manner.  Unfortunately, if you were like me you would have a friend like Ashley and she would laugh loudly and rat you out to the entire table.

Tomorrow begins the wedding madness.  I am looking forward to attending without having the stress joy of being in the wedding party. Anyone want to place a guess on how many captain and diet's Ashley drinks between the rehearsal and the wedding?

Sleep well friends!
~Ali

Off We Go...

Ali here. Just left Ashley's house.  We officially have a place to stay for all but ONE night of our trip :) Woohoo!  Ohio, New York and Boston hotels are booked, DC hotel taken care of through TEA, not to mention the wonderful friends and relatives that are putting us up on the way. Yankees/Braves tickets charged, NYC Circle Line cruise tickets purchased, and the car is packed.  I should say, my stuff and Carol's stuff is in the car...Ashley's suitcases were still on her living room floor when I left her house.  

For those of you new to our blog, here is a quick synopsis:

The three troublemakers from the end of the 8th grade hall are setting off on a grand adventure to explore some fun places on our way to the NEA Representative's Assembly in Washington, DC.  The conference itself will also be quite a riot (or at least the evenings will).  Ashley and I are going to Ashley's best friend's wedding (no Julia Roberts' style ridiculousness here though, sorry) in Akron, OH after stopping to see my wonderful cousins/aunt/uncle in Cincinnati.  Then we will head to Lykens, PA to hang out with my best friend's mom (her wedding was last summer, also no ridiculousness).  From there we will venture to Hackettstown, NJ to pick up Carol.  

It may seem weird that Hackettstown is in bold to you, but you have no idea the amazingness that springs up in my mind when this city is mentioned.  I have eaten many a delicious melt-in-your-mouth, not-in-your-hand morsel from that very town, as have you, though you probably could not have named the town those snacks came from!  I can thank a dear friend from college for that, and only the lovely 3 south ladies will understand my excitement about actually going there.  

Look at that, off topic already. Back to the point.  Ohio, Pennsylvania, pick Carol up in New Jersey, go to NYC and find her daughter Elizabeth.  Here's hoping Carol figures out where Elizabeth is coming in and when Elizabeth is leaving sometime before we all show up in New York.  The four of us will romp around the city, then Carol, Ashley and I will hightail it to Boston, MA for the weekend.  I don't believe either of them has ever been.  I can't wait to get back to New England, it has been far too many years.  A quick overnight stop in Rhode Island (the homeless night) and First Beach in Newport in the morning before heading to our final destination, and the main reason for this trip, our nation's capitol.  All the while, we will be sure to write about and post pictures of the awesome people we meet, sights we see, objects we trip over, arguments we have, and other miscellaneous cacophony that should ensue from 3 teachers going 2 many places in 1 summer :).

So, if you are already reading this far and you know one of the three of us, you are probably thinking, I guess I should follow and see what she's up to this summer.  If you know two of us, your interest is probably a little more piqued and you are most likely looking forward to seeing what shenanigans we get up to.  If you know all three of us, especially as a unit...I can only assume you are on the edge of your seat, hoping we post again before you turn your computer off.  It will be that awesome, I promise.  However, I do happen to know all three people going on this road trip, so I am going to sign off and go to bed, because I know what happens when Ashley and I are in close quarters and I haven't had enough sleep.  Let me tell you, it ain't pretty. (No, I will never ever ever use that word/phrase again.  My apologies.)

Thanks for reading, 

Ali

P.S. I was yelled at by someone's roommate for not having already posted this and someone said it wasn't getting posted until 2 am.  Check out that timestamp.  NOT 2 am.

P.P.S. Shout-out to my baby little younger sister as she turns 20 in just a quarter of an hour!!! Happy Birthday Jani!!!