Sunday, May 30, 2010

field trip

I took my nephews on a ghost tour in the town my sister lives in I don't want to say the town or the mans name because I do not want my name or my blog to come up when the ghost tour is googled...

So I was looking for something to do and I went on the internet and on tripadvisor these ghost tours were rated number 2 of things to do. I went on the website and it said that it would be OK to take kids so I thought I could take my nephews, who are nine and seven. We headed downtown and the place where the tours start from was all ready very crowded. We paid the tour guide and later upon thourougly inspecting the website I realized that the tour guide over charged me he should not have charged me for my cousin Mark because he is seven and on the website it says eight and under free. He also told people just walking down the street to join our tour and they could pay him later, I later thought sure why not? you overcharged me who cares if they pay??

our tour guide was dressed in "peiriod clothing and had a long beard he carried a candle lantern.

our first stop was an abandonded house, that had a for rent sign. This used to be a restaraunt and now they rent out the rooms to people.He said that during the civil war that a confederate solider was walking down the street spying to count how many union soldiers and they caught him and he ran into this house and up the stairs and rattled the door trying to find somewhere to hide... but they caught him. to this day you can still here him running up the stairs and rattling the door.He said we would notice the for rent sign and that no one stays in those apartments for long even though you can take the Marc train from right across the street into DC and it will only take you an hour. He said that is anyone is brave enough to want to rent that room then he knows the owner and could hook us up and he would get a commission.... I was surprised anyone lives in it at all because the whole place looked ramshackle and abandoned. He also said that when it was a restaraunt that for nine Saturdays in a row something flew off a table. He said that he doesn't believe that because if something fell off a table once then he would never put it back there again.

our next stop was a little cave, where he said if we go in it now that a weird goat is painted on the wall. He said way back when this Dr. that lived in town used to do experiments on cats and dogs and with herbs and different things but not like serial killer like experiments real ones, to really know the scientific value of things and stuff and he liked to use this cave because it was nice and cool. He said that when the Dr. died he requested to be buried with his head out of the ground so that people could watch and see what happened to him and that after nine days he would ressurect and he hired to guys to watch his head in a glass case, after nine days they left then weather and the elements had there toll.then two kids played kickball with his skull, then I must have zoned out because all of a sudden we are talking about how the skull is in NY and blah blah blah he said this was not a ghost story but more of a legend and that he really would like there to be a headless ghost on his tour because so many other tours have them and he feels like by telling this story that maybe that ghost will come and haunt there....wow..

the next stop was another old house that is now a restaraunt and this confederate solider was there as a POW and the union solders were beating him up and he accidently fell out of the window and died. There is an apartment that is way nice in that house that can not stay rented and the previous owner does not like to go in the basement there. He said that that apartment is now a vacation rental and if we want to stay there he can hook us up cause he knows the owner and he would get a commission.

the next stop was this road called Hog Alley because they used to use hogs to clean up all the trash that was around town. When John Brown raided the town one of his cronies tried to get away and was killed very gruesomly, the tour guide told us ALL the details and if that was not bad enough his body was then taken to this alley and eaten by hogs. To this day you can see his ghost walking up and down Hog Alley and if you are brave enough to go up to him he will lift his hat and look at you with very sad piercing eyes, I later looked this man up on wikipedia and it said that there were letters found on his body from his family and I thought wow, if the ghost story is true it is a miracle that ANYTHING was found on his body I mean seriously but who do I believe the tour guide or wikipedia..??? both very repuatable sources..

the next stop was a house owned by The National Park service that several government workers that used to stay there have seen 3 ghosts in there a woman with a little girl and a fine dressed man, he told us all about who they are and stuff, he said that no one lived in there now and no one ever ever goes in there at night ever... he said they are just offices now, I said so people work in there all day then? he did not answer me. I am not sure the National Park service is a HUGE fan of him sense on of the options he offers is to get on the National Park bus tour with you and give his version of the history so you don't have to listen to theirs....

then we stopped at another house where interns at the National Park stay, three came out during the tour just to see what was up. He said a bunch of stuff happened there like a whistling ghost and a door that should not open did and stuff like that.

then we stopped at another house where a guy used to stay but a crying baby ghost lives there and it was killed by a cannon ball coming through the wall during the civil war. That apartment is also for rent because they cant keep it rented and he can get a commission on that.

Maybe he should take up real estate as a side job... or who knows maybe he IS a realaltor and that is why he gets a commission...

the next stop was back at the beginning of the tour and he told us when he was singing at this one place in town that a ketchup bottle was thrown across the room by the ghost of an angry confederate solider who was mad at him for dressing like a union solider..

he also sang us some songs, on the internet it says he is a musicologist and that he is a licenced tour guide, I am confused because most of the tour guides I get are college students, retired people or people that own the place and it is just part of their family buisness none of them have been licenced tour guides... dude probably just has a buisness licence to operate in this town...IDK

the issues I have with the tour are
1. he charged me for my nephew when he should have been free
2. he talked about whiskey and drinking and said things like " I don't know what they were smoking" and other references like they were not just drunk they were also under the influence of drugs. like anytime he could get a reference to drinking in he did like "one night when I was home reading and drinking a beer...
3. He talked about the ladies of the night in that town and mentioned many times that there were so many pretty ladies on our tour and blah blah blah I feel like he was just saying he was single and if anyone wanted to hang out after..
4. he was really graphic for kids and the jokes were just innappropiate for kids

I would have been OK going on the tour with an adult but I thought wow IDK that this or these jokes or stories are appropiate for a nine and seven year old kid

and my BIGGEST PROBLEM
5. on trip advisor his tours he gives during the day are rated number one and his ghost tours are 2. I find that suspicious because allll the ratings are five stars and they all sound the same like the same person wrote them like hmmmmm....

so I would probably go on his day tour with an adult cause he is informative if you just ignore all his innappropiate jokes but I would not take kids again.

I took my nephews out for ice cream after and Mark who is seven was fine but Alex who is nine was very scared he kept asking me will my house make noises when I go home I said did it make noises last night he said no I said well then it wont tonight. He asked me how I could be sure I said your dad built your house, no one has lived in it but you. they both slept with their parents that night...




field trip

My co-worker Victoria and took a road trip to the town on of Clifton,VA which is about 8 miles from our houses. Clifton is a historic town in Fairfax,VA which has about 200 people according to wikipedia the median income there is 110,000 a year and to have a house there you have to have at least five acres.

I was not feeling good that day BUT I felt like why stay home.

Victoria and I went to a park called Braddock Park it said on the internet there were "nature trails" there... not really just a little trail that led over by Centreville High to a rock where I think that the students smoke weed, drink alcohal and whatever else naughty HS students do...

we went to downtown Clifton and walked around and looked at the old houses, they had little historic signs outside them and more than half of these old houses, used to be bars. They have a small general store with aisles so narrow that two people can not fit down them. They also have a bar in the back

the town also has lots of places that sell wine and they are actually having a wine festival soon.

we went in a thrift store that in reality was an antique store.

we went to an ice cream store that according to the sign written on chalk boards it said it was "world famous" Victoria got ice cream but I didn't because I didn't feel good.

We also drove by a haunted bridge that they have in town called The Bunnyman Bridge. There are all kinds of local legends and lore about this bridge and a man/ghost /something that haunts this bridge. I would post a picture but I am so backed up on all things internet that I am not going to do that...so that is our day in Clifton,VA I RECOMMEND THIS TOWN!!! and hey why not go the ice cream is world famous! :)

field trip part 3

so I woke up at the beach and went to a 9am ward there. It was awesome. During Sunday school two ladies introduced themselves to me and invited me to stay after for a munch and mingle that was celebrating different cultures but I could not because I had to get home and drop off Spike and get over to Justin's so after church I went back to Danielle's and got Spike and drove home, I sat in a lot of traffic and FINALLY got to my moms dropped off Spike and went over to Justin's :)

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

field trip part 2


Vanessa and Spike Red Wing Park,
VA Beach,VA May 2010

So Spike and I are at the beach, I got up in the morning and watched one or two episodes of Glee, I so needed to catch up on that show. Then Vanessa and I went to a park called Red Wing Park. They had some nature trails that we walked around on, Vanessa spotted a HUGE SNAKE, huge as in LONG, the picture is on my FB you can check it out there. Spike had fun on the nature trails, they also were having some kind of "dog party" there which consisted of a bunch of vendors trying to get you to buy expensive dog stuff or adopt dogs I thought Spike was going to go nuts around so many people and dogs but Vanessa and I were both surprised he was a very good little boy! I am still shocked like hold on is this MY DOG??? what?? They had horseshoe pits there and basketball and tennis courts we did not do any of that, but they had this really cool Japenese garden which Vanessa is pictured in above that we walked Spike through. There were people from a community painting class painting where Vanessa stood :)When we finished walking through the garden we saw a sign that said, please no dogs... like well I wish I had seen that at the OTHER entrance oops... we walked on some more nature trails and through a fragrance garden then went home.
On the way home we passed a very rundown motel with chairs that looked like they stole them from homeless people and chairs taken out of vans, I want to stay there though because they do offer color TV and they are only 10 miles or so from the beach. They did not have a number outside which sucks cause I really wanted to check there rates...
When we got back I watched several more episodes of Glee like well... maybe SIX but that is it yeah just six or so... and waited for Danielle to get back.
Danielle and I went down to the ocean front and ate at an Italian restaraunt http://www.ilgiardino.com/ They had valet parking, our first expierience with that, It was prom in VA beach and the place was PACKED we were outside on a patio and with the ocean breeze blowing it
was COLD!!! They took AGES to even get our drink order, and then to even bring it then forgot mine and then FOREVER to get our order then to bring it, what we DID get though (manicotti and pepperoni pizza) was DELICIOUS!!! to bad the service was not to good. Danielle had to use the bathroom there and she said she had to tip someone in there too, first experience with that.
When we got back I finished watching Glee then went to bed :)

Monday, May 24, 2010

field trip

So I went to the beach a couple of weekends ago, I drove down on Friday night and so did a lot of other people. I sat in traffic several times several places.

When I left my house it was hailing and raining hard but I drove out of that storm

then I heard on the radio that there was a tornado warning but that was for MD so I was good ...phew...

then several times on the way down I heard that a HUGE storm was coming in and that it had FIFTY MILE an hour WINDS and that you needed to get indoors for it.. I thought um??? Im sorry WHAT????????FIFTY MILE an hour WINDS???? They even told what time it was suppossed to touchdown..

Lucky for me I was not in the path of that either, so I got down there all dry with out in tornados or fifty mile an hour winds

since Danielle has the internet and I don't....

I watched all the episodes of The Office that I needed to watch :) I think I missed one episode this week after that I will be all caught up with that show.

TBC:)

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Field Trip




Spike and I went across this


I have been going to Ellanor C. Lawrence park so much that I have almost exhausted all the trails there, so this week I called Lake Fairfax Park in Reston,VA.It is about 12 miles or so from my house.

They have a lake that you can rent boats and go out on and you can also go out in a little pontoon boat that I actually did as a teen on a date. There is a water park that was not there when I lived here before it is geared toward kids it is called The Water Mine and has an old west theme and everything in it is kid sized.

it has camping and picnic tables ( I wish I had someone to camp with) and it has playgrounds and even a carousel

BUT I was not going with anyone but Spike so all I cared about was if it had some trails that we could walk around on.

I called and asked if they had trails and the person that answered the phone had to go and check and came back and told me that they did... he did not really seem to know what he was talking about but I thought...how can he be wrong about this?? I mean he asked someone.

so I get there and I drive around the lake and the campgrounds and the baseball fields and see NO TRAILS and I was like oh man... I just drove clear to Reston....I hope that guy really asked someone so I was about to give up when I went into an area that said that it was reserved for big partys like you can reserve this area for big parties and I saw a trail leading off from there.I thought YAY!

So Spike and I head out and we met another lady and her dog.. She said that if I walked for a half hour that I would end up in Colvin Mill, which is way down on rt 7 so I kept walking... and walking I passed Colvin Mill and I crossed like 3 roads and I kept walking and I left the trail at Lake Fairfax and ended up on the Cross Country Bike trail and I yielded to lots of bikes and I kept walking and I saw lots of deer running and I ended up in Difficult Run Stream Valley Park... which is in VIENNA! THAT IS RIGHT ME AND SPIKE WALKED FROM RESTON,VA TO VIENNA,VA!!! It was about 4 miles

I stopped walking after we crossed the rocks in the picture above because we had to get back to the car in time for it to not be dark on the trail.

something I have noticed about lots of trails here is that people build houses EVERYWHERE HERE so on the left side of me was beautiful woodland and on the other side of me was woods and houses and neighborhoods... kinda wierd..Kathy says it is not like that in UT because the government owns most of the open space.

So Spike and I had a great day walking

and one day I just know that I will have someone to walk with us and instead of walking back to my car, we can walk back to our campsite and camp there fun fun :)

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

recipe

Baked Chicken-Bacon Alfredo
Recipe by Our Best Bites
8 oz. penne or bowtie pasta
1 (1 16-oz. jar would work in a pinch)
2 chicken breasts, grilled and chopped (about 2 c. chopped chicken)
6 oz. (1/2 package) cooked bacon, chopped
1 14-oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 c. chopped green onions (about 1 decent-sized bunch)
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
Salt and pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 350.
Prepare pasta according to package directions.
While pasta is cooking, prepare Guiltless Alfredo sauce. When pasta is done, drain and add to the sauce. Toss with chopped chicken, bacon, artichoke hearts, green onions, and 1/2 c. mozzarella. Season to taste.
Transfer mixture to an 8x8" baking dish and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is bubbly.
Serve with a green salad and breadsticks or a loaf of garlic bread made with Garlic Bread Seasoning.

I got this recipe off Our Best Bites :)

Sunday, May 2, 2010

field trip

when I was a little kid we went on a field trip to Frying Pan Park in Herndon,VA... even back then I loved being on a farm:) I begged my parents to take me back to Frying Pan Park they claimed that such a place did not exist, all though one of them signed the field trip form...well yesterday I FINALLY WENT BACK yesterday.

Beth, Chris and Dylan met me there yesterday. We were able to see and pet sheep,pigs,and chickens. we were able to see, turkeys, peacocks, calves,cows,horses, and goats.

our favorite part was that we saw these tiny baby piglets that were only TWO days old! so cute!

after the park, we went over to my house got Spike and went over to Ellanor C. Lawrence and walked around there, I saw a frog, and Spike and the boys had fun playing in the water.

we went back to my house and ate some dinner :)

INTERESTING PARTS OF THE DAY
1. there was a woman at Frying Pan Park that was around seventy years old and she was wearing VERY HIGH HEELS....they were getting all dusty....like who wears high heels to a FARM????????????????? im confused :)????

there were a lot of other interesting people there too but I think that you need to be there to appreciate our descriptions of them....