March 15-18, 2011 Chicago, IL to Ames, IA through Dubuque, IA

Our stay in Chicago, IL was short but enjoyable. We managed to time our arrival into downtown Chicago at 5pm rush hour. Driving the Loaf through the crowed downtown streets to check out the 3^rd largest city in the US was interesting.  It was kind of like driving in India-nobody is really in their own lane and people are all over…it’s not nearly as bad as India of course but certainly a bit chaotic. Oh yeah and to make it more interesting—the passenger side view mirror is not functional now. The spring in the mirror mount rusted out in OH and is useless  now…the joys of a 1985 Westy!  We drove by Sears Tower (formally named Willis Tower)  the world’s tallest building from 1974 to 1998. It was preceded by the World Trade Center Towers in NY–which was the tallest building for 25 years. Modern day the Sears Tower has been surpassed by the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia. Sears Tower is a 108 story skyscraper in Chicago, IL and is the tallest building in the US. It’s still impressive.

We weaved our way around Chicago towards Wrigley Field—home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It is the oldest active major league ballpark (after Fenway Park on April 20, 1912).  Wrigley Field has a hand turned scoreboard. William Wrigley, Jr was the owner of Chicago Cubs team and the formerly named Cubs Park was renamed Wrigley Field in honor him in 1926. Jason’s Great Grandfather Tidholm was a traveling salesman for Wrigley’s chewing gum.  Like all those random bits of info??

After taking a walk around Wrigleyville, we headed over to Greg’s condo where we were staying that night. We just barely fit in the 8 foot tall underground garage and parked Loaf for the night. That night, we had Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza at Pequod’s-Greg’s choice. It was pretty good—Sonia is a thin crust East Coast pizza lover but it was still pretty good. The best part is the burnt cheese on the edges of the crust. We talked with Greg, who’s a Chicago Police Officer, about crazy stories he encounters working for the CPD. Sonia spent much time trying to convince Greg to quit his job and move to Leavenworth to a happier, healthier and safer lifestyle...we’ll see. He didn’t flat out say “no”. After dinner, we went to a local watering hole of Greg’s near his house. A few too many Dirty Martini’s and Sonia was tossed. We haven’t been drinking much on this trip and those Martini’s were a bit excessive. 

Surpirisingly, the next morning, Sonia was chipper and feeling pretty good—a bit dehydrated, tired and a bit hazy but she was laughing and functioning pretty well. We had coffee talk with Greg and his roommate, Phil, before we set out for Dubuque, IA to visit Lightbulb’s parents for lunch.

After leaving, this day kind of sucked and we’ll tell you why….

Last night, Jason put our wrapped up bicycle tires on the roof of the van so they’d be out of the way while we slept. They would be visible in the morning when we repacked and headed out. Yeah—you all know where this is heading….After a hazy morning, we organized the van and went upstairs to Greg’s place to wash up and say Bye. We came back down and pulled out of the garage. Sonia stood alongside the garage door to be sure the rocketbox on top of Loaf wasn’t going to hit anything. Got in and hit the road. About 45min later on I-90 West, Jason realizes that we never packed the tires—oh S**T!  We pull over, hoping by some act of aeronautic force they would still be on top of the van…wishful thinking for sure!  They weren’t—so we backtracked an hour’s drive in hopes of finding them along the roadside and perhaps we could salvage something of them…they are expensive mountain bike tires with 7 and 8 inch rotors for disc brakes and not to mention the bikes are out of commission without front wheels. (we have to take the wheels off because they cover the brake lights, its unsafe and illegal). So we drive back, praying to St Anthony the Patron St of Lost things (“Tony, Tony turn around, something’s lost, it must be found”).  No such luck.  So we deduce that they must’ve been stolen. Sonia would definitely have noticed them on the rooftop when pulling out of the garage this morning. Or we would’ve have heard or seen them fall when picking up speed on the Interstate. And if they did fall off, we should’ve seen them on the highway because they were in a big maroon, rubber bag-hard to miss. 

The City of Chicago has been condemning some of the project housing and relocating those residents to various locations around the city. They are also requiring new construction building to subsidize 10-15%of its units for these low income people. Greg lives in a decent neighborhood and certainly a nice, respectable condo where he pays full rent and the next door drug dealer or crackhead pays $150!  Not only are these people crappy neighbors, but they also make it unsafe as they may be dealing drugs, carrying weapons, etc…an overall not so good situation. So anyway, we think maybe somebody stole our tires in the locked, underground garage sometime. “ If it’s not yours, Don’t touch it!”.   Bummer…oh well atleast they didn’t try to take the bikes---that’s a major hassle.  They’d have to work for it. 

So that backtrack delayed our entire day by 2 hours. So, now we’re back on I-90 West going to Lightbulb’s parents house in Dubuque, IA. Sonia gets a call with bad news of a local Leavenworth guy who was tragically killed in an avalanche last week. Sonia calls Claudia to get the story. Our hearts break for Danny’s family and friends. Danny was a good ol’ boy . He lived a good life and lived it fully. He will certainly be missed and never forgotten.

So….now we’re both feeling like bike tires or death….we can replace our tires. Death certainly puts things into perspective, doesn’t it? 

Dubuque, IA—we finally arrive to Lightbulb’s boyhood home around 4:30pm—welcomed by Jacquee and Eugene.  These 2 are incredible. Jacquee is 85-86 and Eugene is 90 years old. They appeared to be in good health with sharp, active minds. We shared a meal together-lasagna, bread, asparagus and salad.  Dessert was coffee and poundcake. We had a great visit with them and got a tour of Lightbulb’s childhood home. For those of you who don’t know Lightbulb—he’s a eccentric and unique individual. A talented pianist, a linguist fluent in 5 languages,  a world traveler and just an all-around-great human. We are fortunate to call him our friend. He also officiated our wedding in Sanskrit and Hindi…and did an incredible job. We love Lightbulb—he’s family. After a short but lovely visit, we headed out to Ames., IA to see Sonia’s cousin, Hina, and Gurav. 

A 10 pm arrival into Ames, IA-we were greeted by more smiles and hugs. As usual, we stayed up late into the night-talking and visiting. We’re on vacation, Hina’s off tomorrow, but sorry Gurav you have to work. He’s got a good work ethic and worked all day while we played all day on Thursday, St Patrick’s Day. After breakfast, we met Gurav for Lunch at an Irish Pub and Restaurant. Black and Tans with lunch then headed out for a walk to enjoy the 60 degree weather in Iowa in March!!  

Hina was really wanting to go ice skating, so we went for an hour. It had been decades since, Sonia and Jason had been on ice skates but we actually did pretty well. Sonia was trying to teach Hina (b/c suddenly Sonia’s an expert) and get her off the wall. Hina was starting to get it, but was satisfied with her attempt and called it a day. Jason and Sonia did take Hina arm in arm around the rink a couple times. We all managed to stay upright and not take any falls---so that was good. It was fun to try something new.  Don’t think we’ll be trying out for the Olympic Speed Skating team.

Back to the apartment to get ready for the next thing….community service at the First Methodist Church. We volunteered to serve and clean up after a St. Patrick’s Day meal to those in need around the community. It was an enjoyable experience.  Jason and Sonia really gained some good karma points—we had the 2 dirtiest jobs—Jason scrubbed the inside of the oven after 6 trays of pork chops were cooked in it all day-grosse! Whlle, Sonia scrubbed the pans the food was cooked in-Yuck!  But we did it without complaining. Back home to change and go out to Des Moines for St Patrick’s Day celebration. We met another couple at Django’s a French-American restaurant—how Irish of us. We ate a fabulous meal, drank nice wine and had great conversation…what more is there??  Then we headed out into the absolute chaos of Des Moines on St. Patty’s night. Inebriated, sloppy drunks were abundant. Lots of police presence—we saw one guy get arrested---he’ll be asking himself “was it really worth it?” in the morning. We actually went to a German bar to have a round of drinks to be able to have a conversation without shouting. Then . we got drug into a place called Liars Club where Sonia was forced on the dance floor to dance to crappy music. She weaseled her way to the edge to be a wallflower and take in the sights. Lots more wasted people dancing shamelessly with friends and/or strangers.  Alcohol certainly does curb those inhibitons. It was entertaining nonetheless.  We stopped at a local sidewalk grill for hummus and veggie gyros before going home.  It was a cultural experience in Downtown Des Moines.

Back home to stay up way too late talking…again. Gurav woke up and worked while the rest of us slept in…what a guy!  We went out for lunch at a good Thai restaurant then procrastinated leaving but made ourselves go. 

We had a great visit with Hina and Gurav.  They are so gracious and showed us many of the niceities that Ames and Des Moines has to offer. Thanks again Hinki and Gurav….we’ll see you in Leavenworth this summer to go camping. Hina and camping—don’t really go together…but she’s willing to go for one night!! 

We are heading to Denver, CO and the surrounding area to visit more friends and family. It’s a long drive that we’ll break up over 2 days—hoping to arrive Saturday night.  Goodbye to the East and Midwest and Hello to the Mountains again!!

March 10-15, 2011 Powell, OH

We are on our way to Powell, OH just North of Columbus, OH to Sonia’s Brother’s house. Dipan, Renu, Aanika and Aanav are looking forward to Sonia Foi (another word for Aunt) and Jason Uncle visiting. Another heavy social event coming up this weekend. Renu’s brother and his family were also visiting from Cleveland  for the weekend.  It was fun hanging out with everyone.

The weekend revolved around food and food-centered outings….good thing we all have our priorities in order. Jason and Sonia love to eat and have actually gained some weight on this trip!!  Haven’t been getting too much exercise and eating too much rich food!! We ate Indian, Chinese, Sushi, Mexican and Italian—a cultural dining experience while in Ohio. 

We spent most of Friday and Saturday playing with the kids—ages 4-13 years old.  Wii, board games, Chinese jump rope, soccer, monkey in the middle, etc…anything to get moving. We had fun and so did the kids.

We picked up Aanika and Aanav from school on Friday in the Loaf.  We set them up with their snacks on the swiveling  table in the back of the van…they were enamored. It was pretty cute actually.  The Loaf was a big hit amongst the kids and adults alike. …a fort on wheels.  The kids all climbed up to the upper bunk and were happy hanging out playing dice—no gambling though!

Sunday and Monday were spent with Sonia’s neice and nephew, Aanika and Aanav. We visited the kids’ favorite Blue Park, named for the blue playground equipment. We all climbed monkey bars, slid on slides, swung on swings, ran around kicking a soccer ball, then did what Sonia and Jason enjoy---exploring the woods.

We found a paved trail and set out for an adventure with Aaniika and Aanav. Aanika , 6 y.o, loves to be outside and to get muddy. Aanav, 4 y.o, doesn’t like it so much and gets scared when branches break under his feet. He got over it quickly and began to see that a walk in the woods can be quite entertaining. A stick can be transformed into a walking stick, a sword or a twirling baton…how fun. He was soon walking across downed logs across muddy creek crossings and refusing our help. Aanika was excited to hunt for mushrooms, different shaped leaves and just tromp around in hopes of finding mud to walk through. We even did a little bushwhacking cross country walk back towards the car. Then it was lunchtime.  This is how we spent Monday—out and about at the park, exploring until we had to come home.

Jason and Sonia stayed on Monday to watch the kids so Dipan and Renu could work…sounds like it’s going to be a crazy couple weeks at work for them. We wished we could’ve stayed longer, but we have to keep motoring along. Jason and Sonia have had their fill of kids for a while… It was a great visit though. We were glad to help—everyone wins.

It was a sad moment when the kids were standing at the bottom of the driveway as we pulled away…wondering if we’d be coming right back....poor lil’ guys.  We’ll miss you guys and hope you come visit us this summer in Leavenworth. Thanks Dipan and Renu for everything.

March 9-10, 2011 Buffalo, NY

After spending $109 to sleep in a Holiday Inn (nothing fancy) outside of Saratoga Springs (hotel costs are on the rise), we set out for Sonia’s college town of Buffalo, NY.  Sonia made some calls and lined up a place to change Loafy’s oil, a place to stay and a place for dinner tonight. Loving texting!!  It was a lovely drive along a few small highways through some old historic towns in upstate NY before catching the I-90 West to Buffalo. Big, beautiful homes made of stone and brick, intricate trimwork, lovely beveled glass in doors.  It’s probably poorly insulated and the heat bills must be outrageous,  but the walls could tell some interesting stories.

The I-90 Thruway brought Sonia back to her college days…the service areas she would stop at along her drive to and from school on breaks and summers. Luckily, the weather was cooperative. Roads were bare and dry.  At the Rochester Exit (about an hour from Buffalo), it began to snow, sleet and was so windy!  The Loaf is like a solid box on wheels—nothing about this van is aerodynamic. We just get used to the 60 mph wobbles in the wind—it can be somewhat soothing if you’re the one sleeping. The driver is nervous with a white knuckle grip on the steering wheel….it kinda sucks actually. Anyway, we pass Rochester and are greeted with pouring down rain…welcome to western NY!!  Grey and gloomy skies.. a  typical Buffalo day.  Atleast it’s 40 degrees and raining rather then 30 degrees and dumping snow. 

Buffalo was booming during the turn of the century when the steel industry was at its peak. Buffalo is a blue collar town. Its pretty dismal here, but Sonia has nothing but fond memories here. She was here during one of the best times of her life-college. Buffalo has an excellent arts and entertainment population—ranging from painters to musicians---all those Right-brained artists.  There’s usually good local bands playing late into the night. Oh yeah, and Buffalo is a drinking town. So much so, that bars are open until 4am….not necessary but that’s how it is. That means typically you go out at 10 pm—bedtime for us now!  The cold, snow, gray days could drive just about anybody to drink copiously in February when the sun hasn’t peeked out since September!  The summer, however, is the absolute best. 70-80s, sunny, not too humid and everybody is happy to be out and about….its amazing what a little Vitamin D can do for people!

First stop was Dave’s new shop in Orchard Park just 10 miles south of Buffalo. Loafy needed an oil change and Jason was going to do it himself. The hassles of the Jiffy Lube fiascos on this trip has left Jason jaded and untrusting. This will be great because everyone gets what they want. Dave is a man’s man—he loves his shop aka the man cave. His shop is actually bigger than his house!! His wife, Brittany, and him must’ve had several heated discussions about the size of his shop…nonetheless, we were grateful to be inside changing oil rather than out in the pouring rain and wind.

Here’s the scene…We pull into the driveway. Dave opens the electric garage door from inside and waves us in-- just like the guys on the tarmac guiding in an airplane. Hilarious! He’s so proud. Hugs and smiles all around.  He just put his kids down for a nap and we took advantage of that time and got right down to business. Dave was somewhat disappointed that he wasn’t under the van getting greasy and monkeying around…but Sonia got to give him a tour the van instead. 20 minutes later, the oil was changed. Jason suffered a razor blade cut to the tip of his Right index finger when reaching into his toolbag pocket.  Blood everywhere….oops! Why was there a razor blade in the bottom of that pocket in the first place---a bad spot.  We got Jason’s finger to stop bleeding and bandaged him up.  Done…time for a beer.  Dave’s little boy , Liam, had woken up and was able to hang out with us in the shop—one day he’ll be tinkering right alongside his Daddy on his little Honda 90 or truck or something like that. What a little cutie…he was chillin in the van too. He loved it—what’s not to love right? Thanks for letting us use your shop Dave.

We headed North into Buffalo to Josh and Julia’s for a bit. Josh and Sonia have been friends for 17 years.  It’s going to be great to see them again. We stayed in their beautiful recently remodeled home that night. The beauty of these buffalo houses:  hardwood floors, wood trim, arches in doorways, interesting hardware on doors-doorknobs and hinges—not like the look-a-like Home Depot crap you get these days…just beautiful and sooo cheap. A house like that would be close to $300, 000 in Leavenworth…he paid a fraction of that for it in Buffalo!!  

A quick stop in at Heather and Mike’s house before Heather left for band practice. We got a tour of another lovely Buffalo home with all the above mentioned aesthetic appeal. Dinner at Sansiero’s—an old time favorite Italian joint of Sonia’s.  The menu is on the wall-it’s been the same since the 60s. Stick to just a few items but make them excellent. This Ma and Pop joint looks just exactly the same-the asbestos tile floors were installed by Julia’s Grandfather back in the day!! The red vinyl cushions on the black metal framed chairs…the smell, the open kitchen with huge pots of red sauce and meatballs. House wine served in carafes and 4 oz shot glasses.  Ya just gotta love that some things never change. Dinner was just as Sonia remembered it. Pasta Fazoola made with garbanzo beans, navy beans and small macaronis served with roasted hot banana peppers—yummy!  The chicken parmesan and eggplant parmesan are 2 other items you can’t go wrong with.  We all ate too much and were feeling fat and happy.

We spent the rest of the night hanging out at Josh and Julia’s house—Dave and Josh playing a poorly tuned ukulele and singing songs. We hung out telling the same old hilarious stories we’ve all heard a million times but is just as funny and entertaining as when it happened years ago.  A good night spent in good company.

The next morning, Sonia woke up with a pounding cheap red wine headache. 2 Aleve and a hot shower later, she was feeling good enough to take herself on a driving tour of Buffalo to some of her old stomping grounds. Good times were certainly had here in Buffalo. Breakfast at Betty’s in Allentown was excellent—spent in good company with Heather. Heather is expecting her first child to be born in June—very exciting!!  Great to visit with Heather, even though is was so short. Next time, we’ll stay longer.

We said our see-you-laters and left ruff and tuff Buff to head West and South to Columbus, OH to Sonia’s Brother’s house for a few days.

Buffalo was a short but sweet visit—good friends…you will all be missed. Thanks for carving out time for us on short notice. Take care  all.

March 2-8, 2011 Burlington, VT

We drove North to Burlington, VT to visit Sona-another close childhood friend of Sonia’s. The weather was getting colder and colder with each mile we drove further North. By the time, we got onto I-89 N, it was snowing, windy and icy road conditions—not ideal driving conditions, and certainly not for Loaf. Jason white-knuckled it for 40-50 miles while Sonia entertained him with random stories about Sonia and Sona’s childhood...Jason was only mildly amused but Sonia was greatly amused and getting excited to see her good buddy Sona.

By the time we arrived in Burlington at Sona and Lucy’s (Sona’s sweet black lab), it was 10:30 pm.  We were cold, tired and happy to be out of the van.  We had a glass of wine and talked…far too late into the night. The first night is always the latest night. The excitement of seeing each other since the summer kept us up for too long. We forced ourselves to go to bed knowing that we’ll all be together for the next 4 days. 

Our original plan for travelling in the New England states was to pick up Sona and Lucy then go to Maine and loop counterclockwise back to VT.  We collectively decided to cancel that plan because recreation is limited to skiing and/or snowshoeing this time of year….and we can do that Vermont!  Instead of driving the Loaf in snowy conditions and racking up a big fat gas bill (now at $3.89/gallon!! Geez!! Anyone want to donate to the Loaf Love Tour’s gas fund?…haha), we’d stay locally and enjoy Vermont.  Sona has a 12 year history here in Vermont and loves this place. She was happy to show off what Burlington has to offer…in hopes of us moving here some day. The community, the local organic food, the array of microbrews, some nightlife…mostly we were just glad to be with her.

Thursday, Jason and Sonia went skiing at Bolton Valley Ski Area in Bolton, VT-about 45 min drive from Burlington.  It was a sunny and cold 12 degree day—no new snow overnight, but we could ski in the Green Mountains. The mountain was more like a hill to us…we are spoiled skiing in the Cascades.  It was interesting to look out at the views of bare hardwoods all around us with the occasional evergreen tree dotting the landscape. This place would be lovely in the fall!!  Fast, carving snow on mildly steep slopes,  we skied the afternoon and went home to meet Sona after work. A fun day despite not having ideal ski conditions…it was nice to get out though—work off some of those calories we’re storing from our overindulgent week in PA.  Farm to Table was a beer and burger joint we went to that evening for dinner. So many incredible local brews to choose from.   Jason had a burger and was very satislfied with the taste, quality and quantity. Sona and Sonia split some amazing veggie burgers—good texture and flavors-not like biting into a cardboard box. Our first meal was excellent.

Friday, we had a leisurely morning and then went cross country skiing at Sleepy Hollow Nordic Center about 45 min away. Another cold and sunny day outside!!  Good glide and not too icy—well groomed. We spent 3 hours skiing around various trails…just enjoying being outside. Dinner-homemade beet and carrot burgers and salad—eating good, local food…gotta love that!

Saturday—Mardi Gras parade. It was a little strange celebrating Mardi Gras in Burlington, Vermont. It was far from New Orleans style despite all the Made in China beads. We didn’t see anyone lift their shirts to properly earn the beads—too cold and windy outside for that nonsense.  People-watching was very entertaining as we walked along Church St and onto Main St alongside the Parade.  An interesting variety of floats—the Love Machine was a psychedelic blue school bus with a bubble machine was a favorite. The transvestites on another float were pretty outrageous too.  We ducked into a little bar to catch a local blues/jazz trio at just the right time to get the best seats in the house…the last 3 barstools in the back facing the stage—a perfect place to warm up, dry out and listen to Myra Flynn’s beautiful vocals. We took the scenic walk along Lake Champlain home—cold, windy and frozen. The Adirondack Mountains to the west were barely visible in the fog and drizzle. The Lake was gorgeous though. Burlington is the smallest city in the US but the largest city in Vermont, population 40,000 according to a travel magazine we picked up. Sona says its 200, 000….that’s a little bit of a difference. Who to believe??  Burlington is lovely though…downtown offers shopping, dining and nightlife. There aren’t huge tall skyscrapers keeping more of a towny feel vs a city.  Neighborhoods are small streets lined with tighly packed in houses…thereby knowing most of the neighbors again making it more of a community vs a city.

We got in several XC skis over the weekend and then it dumped about 20 inches in Burlington Sunday afternoon to Monday morning. Snowdrifts were crazy.  I-89 was closed due to snow drifts and hazardous driving conditions. The city of Burlington was basically shut down—many businesses and all schools were closed for a snow day!!  We had an army of 6 people snowblowing, shoveling and moving cars around on Monday morning. Once we coulod get out of the driveway, we had to get out to ski in the fresh snow for a while. It was so deep in places, but everything was snow white and beautiful again.

Tuesday we departed from Burlington to downhill ski at Mad River Glen, Vermont’s steepest ski terrain. Their motto is “ski it if you can.”  MRG is the only skier owned co-op and resort in North America. They have the last single person chairlift in US.  Surprisingly the line moves pretty fast. The ski hill was packed with powder hungry skiers (snowboarders not allowed)  and got chowed up fast turning the runs into mogul fields by late morning. Fortunately, the snow was still soft and forgiving because it was only 12 degrees and sunny! Talking to some of the locals, days like this are very rare and this will probably be the best day of skiing all year!!  Yeah man, we hit it on the right day!!  We left MRG to drive South and West towards Buffalo, NY. We stayed in a hotel  that night when we got tired of driving. Thanks Sona for all your hospitality and showing us all the goods Burlington has to offer.

February 28, March 1-2, 2011 Bridgewater, NJ and Brooklyn, NY

After shedding a few sad tears upon departure, Sonia and Jason continued on the Loaf Love Tour from Sonia’s biological parents home to her Godparents home in New Jersey.  Ranjan Aunitie and Sanmukh Mama have been friends with Sonia’s parents for a lifetime it seems. Sonia’s Dad and Sanmukh Mama came to the States from India together in 1969 and have been friends ever since. Ranjan Auntie and Sonia’s Mom might as well have been cut from the same cloth and are more like sisters then just friends. They could talk daily for hours and never run out of things to talk about. Ranjan Auntie and Sanmukh Mama had Roshni (a girl born 2 months before Sonia’s brother, Dipan) and Chirag (a boy born 2 weeks after Sonia). Our families grew up together and the kids have been “womb-buddies”. 

We are welcomed with pure love and joy into their home. A big deal is made because Jason (a son-in-law) is coming home for the first time into their home…we even ate in the formal dining room. Sonia doesn’t recall eating in that dining room as a child—the kids were confined to eating at the kitchen table!! But anything for the precious son-in-law…haha!!  We ate, talked and visited a short while before we got directions into Brooklyn, NY to Roshni’s place—the next stop on the Loaf Love Tour. Before we left, we had to take more food to-go from Ranjan Auntie...Thanks for all the goodies, Ranjan Auntie and Mama.

After an easy drive from NJ to NY- thanks to explicit directions from Sanmukh Mama- we arrived at Roshni and Phillipp’s apt in Brooklyn. These are our hip city friends living in Williamsburg, NY….that means very little to us, but it seemed like a cool part of town. Roshni and Sonia have a very strange greeting of high-pitched laughs and hugs…something in a language of their own.  Baby Mira was asleep on arrival and we were able to visit with Roshni for a couple hours.   Roshni put Jason’s handyman skills to work and he was happy to help.  Eventually, Mira woke up and was standing in her crib—hair flopped in her face and looking very muppet-esque…very cute indeed.  She woke up happy and stayed happy.

Monday evening, Sonia’s high school friend, Mahveen and her husband, Aaron, came over and we went out for dinner. La Nonna Italian Restaurant—very good, casual Italian place---good sauce, good food. Sonia and Mahveen haven’t seen each other in 10 years and reconnected like no time has passed between them. That’s when you know it’s a good friend. All 4 of us talked, drank red wine and unfortunately had to cut the night short because of this thing that gets in the way of life called work. We would meet again on Wednesday for lunch at DiFara’s for the best pizza in NY!  We can alter our plans to get a slice of the best pizza in NY. A good night spent with good friends.

Tuesday was Jason and Sonia’s closest shot at their parenting skills yet on this trip. We had Mira duty all day. She’s an easy-going, happy kid…it shouldn’t be too difficult right? If Roshni and Philipp trust us to watch their firstborn child, then we should be capable. Roshni and Philipp were out the door early for work.  We heard the “whahh” from the back room and there she is, standing in her crib with that same muppet-do…soooo adoreable indeed.  Jason picks her up and she looks at him with a sideways glance and decides that he must be ok. Phewww!  She starts her day with “ohhh-ing” and using her little pointer finger at everything in her environment. She is just so darn cute. Sonia’s called in to do the diaper change and we can then start the day. Playtime, eat, play some more and eat, poop, repeat.  Sounds easy enough. We did venture out after lunch to check out the view of NYC from Brooklyn across the unknown body of water—maybe the East River. We geared up Mira in warm clothes, her bottle, her stroller, diaper bag and ourselves—to head out for a walk. By the time we got outside, we were already so grateful there were 2 of us to load this one 11 month old child up….there is a lot of things to remember and pack. How do single parents do it??  It was a sunny, but chilly and windy day outside. Mira was happy in her stroller cacoon and fell quickly asleep. Sonia was worried about Mira’s little neck all sidebent and flexed in the stroller. So, we decided to go back home and put her down to sleep in her crib. (We couldn’t figure out how to recline the stroller! That was the other reason!! )  Mira slept for 3 hours! She woke up, diaper change, play, eat, poop, repeat….this is familiar!!  We had so much fun with her. She is just lovely. Happy, easy-going, easily entertained and also entertains herself well. If all kids were like this…parenting could be a cinch…but not usually the case. Mira is cruising furniture and climbing up, in and around things but not quite yet walking. We all enjoyed ourselves today.

That evening, Roshni and Philipp got in from work and we continued what we did all day—hang out, play and eat…and poop. It was great to see Roshni, Philipp and Mira again. They are great people and we loved being there, even if it was just for a short time. Take care all.

Wednesday morning we packed up the Loaf and watched Mira until her proud grandparents, Ranjan Auntie and Sanmukh Mama, came to relieve our post. You should have seen Mira’s beautiful green eyes light up when Ba and Dada (grandma and grandpa) walked into the room. All of them were so happy, it was an incredible feeling. Ba and Dada were so proud of their first granddaughter and showed off her little talents of rhythm by singing and dancing and watching Mira shake her  thang.   It was soooo cute. We weren’t sure who was actually cuter -the kid or the grandparents. After another sad departure, we pulled out of Williamsburg and headed into another part of Brooklyn to Aaron and Mahveen’s house.

We got a tour of a 100 year old Victorian home in Brooklyn. An area with the largest concentration of Victorian homes in the USA.  Mahveen and Aaron bought this house recently and are in for a huge project. The house is gorgeous and will be even more spectacular when it’s remodeled and insulated!  Good luck with that project.

They took us to DiFara’s Pizza-voted the best pizza place in New York. The owner is an 80 year old gentleman who has only taken off 2 days in his career of 40 years owning this pizza joint. He is the ONLY one who actually makes the pizza. It opened at noon. We arrived at 11:45am to stand in line behind 4-5 others already. By the time, it opened the line was forming along the sidewalk…People taking pictures and anxiously waiting to sink their teeth into a slice of pizza. This ol’fella lifts the pizza straight out of the oven with bare hands….no pizza paddle needed!!  Well, let us tell you, this pizza is good. It’s better than good. It’s excellent. He spreads the tomato sauce, then pours olive oil and shreds chunks of cheese and toppings and lovingly places the pizza in the oven. The crust bubbles , the cheese melts, the flavors meld….yummmy. My mouth is watering just writing this!  It was good. It was better than good. It was excellent. After a couple slices each, we felt satiated and happy. We went back to their house and continued the Loaf Love Tour North. Next stop Burlington, VT to Sona’s house.

We haven't been doing our homework!!

Hello everyone--we know we have fallen way behind on our updates and stories...We are now at the half-way point of the Loaf Love Tour!! (we can't believe it)  We are in the Mid-Atlantic part of the East Coast-Pennsylvania (translated as "Penn's Woods" named after William Penn).   It is densely populated and fast-paced....does that explain a little of why Sonia is the way she is??  We arrived in Hatfield, PA at her parents house Monday night and have basically been going, going, going since we arrived. It's been great though.

Hey, we gotta pack it ALL in...or at least try! 

We have some stories of where we've been and what we've seen to come...check back again. Supposedly, we will be absolved of any social functions on Sunday (that's tomorrow) and have "scheduled" a day to relax, hang out and pack Loaf for the next half of the Tour...and perhaps get caught up on the blog.

We've visited with a bunch of brown friends and family in the Lansdale Area. Spent the night at David, Molly and Kai's in Quakertown, PA. David and Sonia were old friends from Philly-10-12 years ago.  We are heading to NYC to visit Sonia's "not-blood-related-Sister" Roshni, Philipp and their baby Mira.  Then driving up to Vermont to visit Sonia's very close friend, Sona and Lucy, her black lab...hoping to get some downhill and cross-country skiing in with Sona.  Work off some of the pizza, hoagies and pretzels....Then to Buffalo to see Heather, Mike and some others in Sonia's college era friends.  Columbus, OH to Sonia's Brother's family, Dipan, Renu, Aanika and Aanav.  We are looking forward to visiting with all these people. People that Sonia has known for her lifetime!! (maybe that will give Jason some insight into why Sonia is the way she is..haha)  Jason is such a trooper and is hanging in there with the heavy social calender. He married into the family...might as well get a proper dose.

P.S. If you've left us a comment earlier, check back to the post because we finally started responding to those also.  Feel free to leave more, it's always nice to get a little feedback.

Lots of Love to everyone!!!!!!

Thursday, February 24, 2011 Washington DC

Today we spent the day in the District of Columbia (the other Washington).   East Coasters call it Washington. We usually have to explain that we’re actually from Washingtion and yes we are crazy enough to drive a Volkswagen from here to there.  As everyone knows, the pace of life out here is much faster, especially the drivers. They have warning signs that say, “Be Aware of Aggressive Drivers.”  Funny!! We're used to seeing signs that say "Be Aware of deer or bears" not drivers.

Mangu and Niru came along to experience a little bit of the Loaf Love Tour adventure (unfortunately, without the Loaf-he was resting at home).  As usual, we packed in as much as we could in a day.  DC is about a 3.5 hour drive south from their house (more like 8 hours total if you include traffic).  We started at about 6:30 AM and managed to get out of the car by about 10:30. 

First stop was the Arlington Memorial Cemetery.  After the long car ride, it was nice to walk.  The cemetary sits on 640 acres and it is packed of headstones, dating from the early 1900s-modern day. It is a huge burial ground.  Soldiers from the many wars and many important people who served the US are buried here and many are still being added.  We witnessed a horse drawn carriage bringing in a soldier from the Iraq war to their final resting place.  So many people have died for our country and freedom, this place commemorates only a fraction of them.  We walked around for about an hour, visiting JFK’s grave, the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and so many others.

Next, we circled around the Mall looking for a parking spot and ended up in a fully packed underground lot below the EPA building (which required ID on entry from everyone).  We began our sightseeing with a long distance view across the manicured grounds of the White House to catch a glimpse of the Obama’s current home.  Unfortunately, no president sightings, only grounds keepers working around Michelle’s vegetable garden (which was all under plastic at the time) and the occasional secret service guard walking across the roof.  As you can imagine, security has increased around here and there are a lot more closed streets and fencing.

Next, we walked through the West portion of the Mall, grabbed mediocre pretzel, and visited the Lincoln Memorial, a very impressive monument.  Usually, there is an equally impressive view to the East looking into the reflection pool towards the Washington Monument.   However, the pool is currently under construction.  The pool is drained and protected by ugly chainlink fencing with flapping black canvas and construction vehicles...not so picturesque at the moment.

We strolled past the Vietnam Memorial Wall, the World War II Memorial, Washington Monument, and then the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.  This town is full of awesome museums and all are FREE!! Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time.  Jason has always wanted to see the Natural History Museum, being the science nerd that he is, so this is where we decided to spend the rest of our day.  It’s a place where you could spend an entire day wandering through, we did it in about 2 hours.  We learned about fossils, dinosaurs, gems, mammals, insects, geology, and much more.  Everyone was starting to show signs of exhaustion so Jason ran out on the mall to catch a quick glimpse of the Capitol building and the Smithsonian Castle.  We needed a few more days to see everything but this satisfied our needs at this time.  Thanks again Mangu and Niru (mom and dad) for your tour guiding and company.



WA monument with reflection pool under construction



Mangu & Niru keeping up with us



 

Feb 18-21, 2011 Outer Banks and Duck, NC (a little backwards order, sorry)

We rented a modest 3 bedroom house in Duck, NC right between the Currituck Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. Sonia managed to bargain the price down to $400 flat for 3 nights!  Sweet deal! It was a great location and being there in the offseason, it was pretty quiet.  It was 5 pm by the time, we all convened on the upper deck observatory deck on the 3^rd floor at the house, cold beers in hand. We took a walk down to the beach and enjoyed the evening’s nice weather. It was about 60 degrees and sunny…in February!!  We went back to the house, settled in a bit and just hung out. We went out for dinner that night in Nags Head, NC.  Seafood abounds on the coast! Jason was a happy man.

We spent the weekend relaxing, eating and enjoying each other’s company. Sonia and Ami frequently bursted into fits of giggling, laughing then crying from laughing…oh so therapeutic.  The husbands just stood by shaking their heads and saying “we can’t make them laugh like that.” We all had the greatest time…making memories together over good food, good drinks and most importantly good company.

Saturday, Feb 19, 2011

We took a unexpectedly long drive south to Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The tallest brick lighthouse in the US. We wanted to get to the local market before 6 pm to pick up some dinner food, so we had to get back sooner otherwise, we would’ ve lingered longer.  We cooked up a fabulous dinner with Seafood and veggies—Jason was a happy man again.  Crab, clams, mussels, prawns….a nice array of good eating.

Sunday , Feb 20, 2011

We visited the Wright Brother’s Museum in Kitty Hawk. December 17, 1903 was the first human flight.  The first Four flights occurred on that day.

-Flight 1 was 120 ft and 12 seconds.

-Flight 2 was 175 ft and 12 sec.

-Flight 3 was 200 ft and 15 sec.

-Flight 4 was 852 ft and 59 sec.

The Wright Brothers did it!! They were intuitively mechanical, intelligent, determined, ambitious and passionate to make their dream of flying become reality.  In 1892, they opened up a successful bicycle shop in Dayton, OH. Working on bikes gave the Wright Bros valueable skills and information to eventually build an airplane.  They made enough money to fund their obsession to fly. They came to Kill Devil Hills, NC because of the beach—isolation, high dunes, strong winds and soft landings. They set up camp in 1902 and shared modest living quarters with the glider they were building. They loved it.  They worked diligently and tirelessly to make their dream come true. Amazing. The Wright Brothers were a couple of smart fellas…they understood the principles of flight. Any aircraft design has to address 3 critical problems. Lift, Thrust and Control. But a successful flight also needs to consider efficiency, reliability and durability. A tall order…and moreso back then.

These guys actually built a wind tunnel to produce data and therefore could study the principles of flight a bit more closely…these guys are good!  Anyway, we could go on and on about Wilbur and Orville Wrights achievements…but let’s make it really simple. Without the efforts of these 2 brothers, we wouldn’t be able to get from Seattle to Philadelphia in 7 hours. 

After filling our brains, we went to Jockey’s Ridge Sand Dunes.  We wandered around and played in the sand dunes. Frisbee in the 20 mph winds was quite hilarious—not to mention the Frisbee was a cheap and floppy kind.  Once, we burned off some energy and were ready to be out of the wind and cold, we headed back to the comforts of Loaf. We ate some PB&J for lunch and went home. The rest of that afternoon, we all played at the beach-collected sea shells, flinging rocks and shells with sticks—playing, laughing and having a blast. Good times!  It was an excellent weekend spent with great friends. ThanksAmi and Neil for rallying and meeting us.

Jason teaching Neil Cribbage (Neil won with  little coaching)

Sunrise over the Atlantic