KaZaK Camping Trip

We went camping at Pillsbury State Park in NH with a few people from work this past weekend. It was a good group of people… Me, Adam, Darcy, Kelly, Rob, Nicole and Steve. Darcy and Kelly brought Gus along so Kenzie had a friend to play with this time (even though Gus isn’t a big fan of playing, haha). We had to get two sites to fit everyone and all of our stuff. Luckily we did some moving around and got two sites across from each other. Everyone had a great time. It was not our typical camping trip of go here, hike there, do this, squeeze in that, etc. It was much more relaxed… we never even left the campground, which was actually quite nice for a change.

We all drove up Friday night after work (minus Steve who joined us Saturday night due to a fantasy football party) and got the tents set up, got a fire going, and started up the grill. With Nichole and Rob on site we were definitely fed well. The first night we cooked some awesome turkey tips on the grill and Nicole had made 3 different kinds of pasta salads and dips. I probably ate better on the camping trip than I do at home ;o). That night we had a mellow night around the campfire talking about work I’m sure and reminiscing about our last KaZaK trip to Vermont in the winter. That night in our tent, we heard some loons out on the lake. Their undulating calls were loud and echoed between the mountians. It was an awesome sound to fall asleep to... definitely a reminder that you were in the great outdoors.

The next morning, the feasting started early. We had eggs, bacon, bagels, and blueberry beer pancakes. Yes, you read that right, I said beer pancakes! I got the recipe from Backpacker Magazine and they are actually quite good – and super easy! (Pretty much just substitute a light beer for the water in your favorite recipe). The carbonation in the beer makes for extra-fluffy flapjacks! Yet another reason to love a good brew.

That day was spent mostly lounging around the campsite playing Bags and wiffleball. We had a record long match going of girls vs. guys… until Adam and Rob finally beat Nicole and I in an epic best of 3 series. For lunch we grilled up some sausages, kielbasa, and pepperoni. Oh yeah, pepperoni on the grill. The things you learn to cook hanging out with Italians… simply delicious!

There were a few ponds on the campground that we hung out at for the afternoon. We had two kayaks and two inner-tubes to play with on the water. There were warning signs posted about leeches being bad, so unfortunately none of us really went for a swim. I floated around on a tube for a while before the sun went down. Then I went for a nice paddle at the end of the day and got to enjoy the sunset over the nearby ridge. The wind turbines that lined the ridge made for a unique view.

For dinner on Saturday night we grilled up more tips, steak tips this time. We also had corn on the cob cooked over the fire, baked beans, peppers and onions, pasta salad, spinach dip, cookies, brownies, smores… like I said, Nicole is amazing in the kitchen. That night was spent around the fire again relaxing, playing the name game, categories, and exchanging ghost stories.

Sunday was a sad day. We all had to pack up and say goodbye (see you Monday! haha)… but not before another morning of bacon egg and cheese bagels on the grill, of course. I probably gained 10-lbs on this camping trip! It was amazing. I am already looking forward to our ski trip this winter!

Red Sox Game

We got four tickets to the Red Sox game last night from a guy at work. The game was the second part of a double header to make-up for Tuesday's rainout. The tickets were $20 and on the first base line. It's not every day you can get tickets for that cheap at Fenway, so we couldn't turn it down. Darcy and Kelly were able to come with us to use up the other two. It was drizzling rain again for the first few innings, but after that it actually turned into a nice night.

The Sox played the Seattle Mariners. Felix "The Cat" Hernandez was on the mound for Seattle and recorded his 1,000th strikeout of his career during the game against David Ortiz. It was that kind of night for the Red Sox... JD Drew hit a solo homerun in the 6th inning, but it just wasn't enough. The Sox lost 4-2. Even more disappointing was watching the Twins score in the outfield... they lost to the Rangers as well, 4-3. It was still a fun night out. Fenway is always guaranteend to be a good time!


Red Sox vs. Mariners..............................................Some of the original wooden seats

The Wave!...............................................................Fenway Park

Break Out Your Boots!

We decided to go to Country Fest out here this year. Which is not quite like the WeFests, Country Jams, and Country Fests I am used to back home, but it was fun nonetheless. It is just a one day gig held at Gillette Stadium (home of the New England Patriots). The line up for the concert was Easton Corbin, Sara Evans, Darius Rucker, Jason Aldean, and Brad Paisley. Brad Paisley pretty much sold me on the deal. ;o) The concert started at 5pm, but you could get into the parking lot at 2pm for tailgating before the show.

We went with Tara, Chris, Chrissy and her roommate Grace. This was Tara and Chris’ last weekend in Boston before they leave for Japan for 9 months… so we had to do it big. We left the house at noon giving ourselves 2 hours to complete a 45 minute drive… pretty typical for Boston traffic. One problem: this was far from typical. There is one road into Foxboro and it was a complete gridlock. We had plenty of fun on the drive though between jamming to some country and watching all the horrible Boston drivers. You would not believe the drivers out here… people driving in the breakdown lane to pass people… people driving in the grass outside the breakdown lane to pass people… honking, yelling… it was all quite entertaining! After 4 hours in the Jeep we finally settled into our parking spot and prepared for tailgating.

We managed to squeeze the Bags in the car with us, so we could play that while we waited for the concert to start. We only had one comment about the TC logo while in Red Sox territory… and they thought we were from Cincinnati! Haha We had our camping chairs, a cooler of beer, sandwiches and spinach dip, along with plenty of people watching. It was great - I could have tailgated for hours! We headed into the stadium around 6pm, so we missed the first show. I also missed most of Darius Rucker waiting in line for the bathroom, but I definitely heard him bust out some Hootie and the Blowfish songs!

We wandered around the stadium a bit for the first few shows, but we went down to our seats for the last two. We had floor seat tickets, so our seats were on the field! That was pretty cool. And we were actually really close to the stage. We snuck Tara and Chris up with us just in time to enjoy Brad Paisley. He put on a really good show! I loved it!

Afterwards we made it back to the car and sat in the parking lot/traffic for a few more hours. It was a fun, but exhausting day. Again, this is the reason WeFest is so great… no driving or traffic… pure concert and camping action for 4 days!! Maybe I will have to come home for WeFest next year instead! Yeehaw! ;o)

A Day at the Cape

This past weekend we took a day trip down to the Cape with Mike and Julie. We spent the day relaxing at Cahoon Hollow Beach in Wellfleet - home of the Beachcomber, a restaurant and bar on the beach that plays live music starting at sunset. We got to the beach at 10am when the parking lot opened and by 10:30 the lot was full! And for good reason. This beach is stunning! By far the best I've been to on the Cape so far.

Upon arriving to the beach you are staring at the Atlantic Ocean from atop a 90-ft cliff, as there are towering sand dunes that line the backside of the beach. Two long, steep paths lead down the slightly eroded dune to a beautiful stretch of pristine white-sand beach. As you look down the beach, the views are breathtaking... the massive 90-ft sand dune on one side and the deep blue Atlantic on the other. It was easy to find a secluded spot by walking just a few hundred feet down from the paths where most people were hanging out.









It was another hot day, so we went for a dip in the ocean to cool off. That is until we saw a bunch seals in the water about 20-yds offshore. They were entertaining to watch! One even caught a big fish and brought it up above the water to show off to crowds gawking on the beach. But as you may know, where there are seals there are most likely sharks...feeding! Great White sightings have been all over the news around here lately, so I stayed out of the water after that. Adam wasn't too bothered by it and played in the waves a few more times throughout the day. We climbed up and down the sand dunes a few times to enjoy the view, grabbed lunch at the Beachcomber, and tosses a ball around. At hide tide later in the day, the waves got really big. It was fun to watch the huge splash as they were crashing onto the shoreline. Just before sunset, we headed back to the city. It was a great day in the sun (maybe a little too much sun for some of us)!