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

February 21-28, 2011 Sonia’s hometown, Hatfield, PA

We arrived at 9:30pm on Monday night after hitting rain and a little snow around Wilmington, DE—the first precipitation since the Oregon Coast nearly 1.5 months ago. We’ve been fortunate to have cold but clear weather along our travels. Sonia’s hometown, Hatfield, PA is a suburb NW of Philadelphia. More strip malls and more traffic lights have been added and traffic is consistently moderate.

Sonia’s parents, Niru and Mangu, were happy to have their daughter and son-in-law home for the first time since the wedding in June.  In the Indian culture, the sun and moon rise and set on the son-in-law. He can do no wrong and is showered with gifts of good food and plenty of attention. Luckily, Jason is good-natured and takes it all in stride and offers to help out and doesn’t expect the royal treatment. 

We talked late into the night about travel stories and made some tentative plans for our week at home. There are lots of close family friends Sonia has grown up with in the surrounding 5-10 miles and everyone wants to see us….so the week is shaping up to be busy with visiting and socializing. 

Tuesday we wake up, drink chai and clean house=clean Loaf. We take the van apart, wash all the pots/pans/dishes, clean the sink and stove, launder bedding and shop vac the inside.  Jason also took time to do some basic VW maintenance for the second half of the road trip. We putzed around all day. But the outcome was a nice, clean van again—like how we started out. Loafy was pretty happy.


Sonia and Kia having fun

We visited with some family friends for a short bit that evening after dinner, then drove up to Qaukertown, PA to visit friends who recently moved back to PA from Seattle, David, Molly and their 4 year old son, Kai. We arrived late and sat in front of the open fireplace drinking a couple beers and talking late into the night. We had the lovely pleasure of staying in this 100 year old house by our self that night. David and his family live in the pool house just across the way. This property was incredible. 30 acres of hardwood forested property near Lake Nockamixon. There’s a huge frozen pond out back to ice skate on when the snow has been cleared off of it. Plenty of space for kids of all ages to be out and explore—looking forward to that tomorrow.  We slept in a super comfy cozy bed and woke to to a cold but clear blue sky day.



Sonia woke Kai up and was greeted by a huge smile from ear to ear and then a whole lot of talking…and it didn’t stop for the rest of the day. How sweet he is though. We ate breakfast and finally coaxed Kai from his computer game and went out to play. We jumped on the trampoline. Jason and David were shooting a rifle at cans on snow piles. Kai learned a valuable lesson on how to load bullets into a clip…you know just another day in Pennsyltuckey!  (He was not allowed to shoot the gun, however, maybe next year…he’s gotta start with a bow and arrow says his Dad)  We had a great time.



Lee’s Hoagie House for lunch—the best hoagie place around. Sonia grew up eating Lee’s Hoagies and can’t say enough good things about them…they are GOOD! The consistency of the bread, the thin sliced cheeses and of course the special hoagie dressing….it’s just so good!! 


A necessary stop at Lee's Hogie House

That evening, we went to visit Suju, a close friend of Sonia’s who just finished 6 treatments of Chemotherapy for Lymphoma. Suju was in good spirits when we arrived… and she should be—we had a pizza pie in hand!! We sat around ate pizza and conversed for hours about all kinds of things…kids to weather to relationships to chia seeds to cancer to travels to super-tasters, tasters and non-tasters, etc….It was a great night spent in great company. Suju has been staying strong minded and is keeping a positive outlook and it shows. All the best to you Suj—we’ll be thinking of you as you regain your strength and health back.

The following day, Thursday, we went to Washington D.C with Sonia’s parents to show Jason our nation’s capitol. Read more on the blog about D.C.

Friday, Jason and Sonia had a leisurely morning-Fresh hot chai by Sonia’s Dad (we could really get used to this treatment) with a little breakfast.  We ran a few errands around town. After lunch, we went to Acts Inc., Sonia’s Mom’s workplace. People were so excited to see us in person. It seemed like most of the office was following our blog and we were just these two characters telling travel stories with pictures and supposedly the girl in the story was Niru’s daughter.  It was kinda funny- we felt a little like small-scale-celebrities. Luckily, it wasn’t an agro crowd because our bodyguard was taking the afternoon off…haha. It was rather strange but in a good way.  Many said they were envious and wished they could do that themselves. We received lots of good wishes for safe travels home and left feeling really good about our choices and our life. 

That evening we were hosting a small enchilada dinner like we do on Christmas Eve at the Karumsi house—only a mere 20 people this time. (it’s usually 50+ brown people under one roof- all talking louder and louder as the evening progresses. The volume could be understandable if there was a lot of alcohol consumption but there isn’t ….its just Indians being Indians. Sonia loves it and finds comfort and happiness in it…Jason is learning to embrace it-the feeling of a bunch of happy people in one house who are all talking very loudly is slowly becoming more enjoyable…or at least he’s beginning to understand it.  The Loaf was a scenic attraction and the kids and adults alike were fascinated that we can sleep, cook, brush our teeth and drive all in the same van.



Party in the Loaf



We took some of the kids for a short ride just down the street in the neighborhood…only a couple cars on the road and of course one has to be a cop. Small town cops…uh oh!! Niketa and Sonia look at each other a bit panicked and frozen. Niketa is sitting in the back seat holding a 2 year old on her lap and next to her are 3 other kids, 6 and 7 years old-none with seat belts.  Sonia’s co-pilot is 9 years old. Sonia casually made a right turn into the Industrial Park, the street right before where the cop was stopped. The cop turned right, probably thinking where’d this jalopy come from. Luckily, we have tinted windows in the van and as the van turned right, the cop turned right and probably couldn’t really see in. We slowly made our way around the building complex and stalled a bit to allow enough time for the cop to drive up the road and out of sight. We turned left out of the parking lot and drove the speed limit but hurried in to the driveway, turned the lights off, parked and went into home base, safely. Niketa and Sonia high-fived and poured themselves a glass of wine. Let’s just all be thankful that Sonia and Niketa aren’tt in jail, thereby ending the Loaf Love Tour.

Saturday, Sonia's parents and us went to Sonia's cousins, Nikunj and Samir's house in Philadelphia. Samir, Sneha and Rahill just welcomed Ronav to their family. Ronav is a 3 weeks old boy...he slept the entire time we were there, despite the running, screaming and general craziness in the house by the other 3 kids. Nikunj and Hetal have 2 kids, Suraj-6 y.o boy and Simeran-3 y.o girl. It was great to play with the kids and catch up with Sonia's cousins.
Saturday night, we went to Amita and Sunny's for Ethan's birthday party. We gathered around for more food and and brown people and good company. Sonia used to be babysat by Amita and Niketa as a small child. The running joke is why the parents entrusted kids to Amita and Niketa because they once dropped Sonia down the stairs.



Ethan's birthday party

 

A great visit at home again. We always have to pack in all the visiting but it's worth it every time.
Sonia's Mom is an excellent cook and made us lots of great meals. She even packed us up food to-go--cookies, chakris, nuts, dried fruit, etc....good thing we won't starve.  Thanks Mom and Dad/Niru and Mangu for everything. We love you and will miss you.
Take care all. 

Feb 16-18, 2011 Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN and Burlington, NC

Feb 16-17, 2011
After eating a mediocre continental breakfast at the Best Western (there was so much Styrofoam-plates, cups, etc- it was sickening) , we headed back into town to buy a few things we saw the night before. We really wanted to buy a T-Shirt that said “Think Globally, Act Hillbilly”—the shop was closed. Bummer. Sonia wanted to black out the “hill” and add “chum” for Chumbilly´…Leavenworth joke.

We left Nashville feeling a bit dull and crusty from the night before and headed for the Great Smoky National Park on the TN/NC border. We pulled into Cades Corner just after sunset.  The hardwood trees abound here and we both agreed we must visit again some Fall to see the spectacular fall colors. A few evergreens dot the hillsides, but mostly bare hardwoods this time of year. The Little Prairie Creek was flowing and had many small waterfall rapids in the creek and made it very calming and enjoyable to look at. These forests reminded Sonia of growing up on the East Coast as a kid.  It is nice to be among mountainous countryside again. 

The GreatSmoky Mountains got their name from the Cherokee Indians who called it “shaconage” meaning “blue, like smoke”. The bluish fog hangs over the mountain range and presents like large smoke plumes from a distance. The fog is mostly present in the mornings and after rainfall. The fog is a result of warm humid air from the Gulf of Mexico cooling rapidly in the higher elevations of the Southern Appalacia.  Its water vapor not just pollution! 

In 1934, the Smokies were denoted a National Park and it was the first national park assembled from private lands. The states of NC and TN, private citizens and groups, and schools contributed money to purchase these lands for donation to the federal government.  Pretty cool huh? We thought so. John Muir would be proud too.

The Smokies have remarkable biological diversity—more tree species then in Northern Europe, 1500 flowering plants, 200 + bird species,60 mammals and dozens of native fish. We wished we could’ve stayed longer to explore more, but we actually have to be on the coast of NC this weekend to meet friends.  Another time….how many times have we said that already? 

We took a nice walk along the Oconaluftee River and checked out some log homes from the early inhabitants in the 1920s and 1930s. The history lessons on this trip have been so interesting and eye-opening. We have so much to see and learn in this country.  We just love it.  We hope all of our blog followers are intrigued and/or inspired to carve out time to travel. Experience parts of the US for yourself and see what a diverse country we do live in—the people, cultures. Cuisine, topography, plants and animals, etc….it’s all fascinating. We have the luxury of having multiple forms of travel too…RV, car, motorcycle, camping, biking or bipedally….just get out and check it out. You won’t be disappointed…

We are driving along on I-40 East towards Burlington, NC to visit Sonia’s Uncle and Aunt for the night. Looking forward to a home cooked Indian meal.  But first, we must stop and get our brand new rotors checked out—they  are shaking and shimmey-ing…that’s not good.

Feb 17, 18, 2011 Burlington, NC

We drove around the Smokies a bit, on the open roads , and took in some of the beauty and wonder if the Great Smoky Mtns.  Naturally, we wanted to get the best view so we went to the top of the pass at Newfound Gap. Much to our dismay, it was totally socked in and could barely see 10 ft in front of you and certainly not into the valley…. that’s why they call them the Great Smoky Mountains. It was windy and a bit chilly at 5,ooo ft and as we finished our pancake and egg breakfast at home,  the views were opening up and it was lovely. A patchy blue sky with sun breaks, it was going to be a nice day.  We had just the morning to check out the park b/c we had a 4-5 hour drive to Sonia’s uncle and aunt’s later on. We drove down into the valley and it was absolutely beautiful. Sunny, warm, about 65 degrees—just beautiful.

We walked through a bunch of old log homes and buildings from the 1930s when people inhabited these mountains and valleys. It’s amazing how entire families were raised  n these one room cabins.  Why do we think we need 3-4+ bedrooms to raise families nowadays? Back then, people spent most of their time outdoors and were inside to sleep and eat only. We can dig that.  Being inside for us is a bit stifling these days.  We took a nice walk along the river, got the blood pumping and took in the peace and quiet of the Oconaluftee River.  The Smokies see more visitors per year, about 8 million, than any other National Park in the USA!! It was somewhat busy but nothing compared to the high season. 

By afternoon, we drove to Burlington, NC to visit Sonia’s Uncle and Aunt, “Nana and Nani”-she calls them. It means “small”; her Uncle is the youngest in the family and he also happens to be short and thin, therefore he is small—appropriately enough.  One year ago on Feb 16, 2010, her Nana received a heart transplant from a 30 year old man who died in a car accident. Thankfully, he was an organ donor.  Another person received his kidneys. One man dies and saves 2 lives…life is incredible. Nana is now doing quite well and is steadily gaining his strength and endurance. He has a greater and new appreciation for life. A spiritual man, he certainly believes in the power of prayer and in divine intervention. One day, he’s cleaning carpets and carrying on about his day. The next day, he’s going to the ER. He happened to have his initial visit with a local General Practitioner. The MD looked at his EKG and wasn’t going to let him go. My uncle was totally surprised-he felt fine and had no symptoms other then “cold and cough” he went to the doctor for in the first place. He was taken to the hospital and was in surgery that night. The next several days, he was in CCU with tubes, wires, the whole bit…this is serious. He had a hole between his 2 ventricles in his heart. His heart was functioning at 20% and had severe damage to the heart muscle and the only treatment option was a heart transplant. It was touch and go for a few days while he waited for a new heart. The donor team worked diligently and found a perfect match and its time for heart transplant surgery.

Local and out of state family and friends pulled together to manage their motel and business affairs. Cook, clean, babysit, and most importantly standby by the family for love and support. In times of crisis, it’s amazing what community can do. It’s too bad a crisis has to happen to bring people together. (We love Leavenworth for its community every day, crisis or not.)  Friends and family stood by, biting their nails in anticipation of a positive outcome from surgery. He made it. He’s in recovery and things are looking good. He said the very day he got his new heart, he instantly began to feel better. Blood and oxygen are pretty important for the body.   We are glad he’s on the up and up and recovering well. We’d be happy to have him around another decade or 3. 

We had a fantastic home cooked Indian dinner-Idli Sambhar . Yummy!  A nice visit. Thanks for all your hospitality, Nana and Nani. Take care.

The next day we had to wake up early to be at a local mechanic shop to get our brakes looked at.  Turns out they are were under warranty so the work was free, Awesome!!  The nice people at Norris Automotive not only got us on our way quickly but also traded dog and crazy customer stories with us.  The brakes were fixed with a bill of $0.00  four hours later…covered under warranty. Thanks Kandy and Mike at the shop for taking care of us. They were great.  We think Mike was joyriding with the Loaf and that’s why it took an extra 30 min when he was “test driving” it after the repairs. Everybody loves the Loaf!!  We stopped by Nana and Nani’s on our way out of town for a quick bite to eat and hit the highway.  Sonia was sooooo excited to see her longtime friend, Ami…and Neil  too, her husband. Ami and Sonia were babysat as infants together and have known each other for their entire lives. They are best friends and sisters.

We pretty much drove straight across NC to the coast. Sonia and Ami were occaisionally texting with ETAs and giggling already like little girls who were soo excited to see each other. Ami and Neil had a long drive down from NJ-about 8 hours. Sonia and Jason had less mileage, but drove about 8 hours due to the Loaf Factor= top speed 65 mph. As timing worked out, all 4 of us arrived within 30 min of each other!  Apparently, Ami was hightailing it down to get to Duck and they didn’t make any road side stops or anything—neither did we!