Jay-N-Gwendolyn

On Memorial Day weekend, Gwendolyn and I decided to spend the time camping. We were worried as the weather reports weren’t looking too good. We decided to go ahead and brave the weather and if it got really bad, we’d just head home. So off to Lake Livingston we went on Saturday. Surprisingly there were a few campsites available when we got there, so we were able to pick out a nice spot that was a little secluded. We spent most of Saturday just getting camp set up and resting. All day it seemed like it wanted to rain but never did. That changed however. While we slept the rain decided to come. It really wasn’t that bad, and it would just rain and on off. By the time we got up the rain had pretty much stopped.

Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day! We ended up renting a canoe for a few hours. We had a good time out on the lake in it. It was my first time to go canoeing while Gwendolyn is an old pro at it… so she says. Before our canoe time was up we decided to head to the swimming area and jump in the water for a bit. I have to say it was pretty fun. I can’t tell you the last time I actually went swimming.

When we got back to camp we decided to make some dinner, as the weather started to look dim again. Sure enough, as soon as we were done, we knew it was going to storm any minute. I was trying to clean up the dishes, when suddenly I heard a loud clunk in front of me in the bushes. I blew it off as something falling from the trees. I start to walk back when I heard a few more, and saw some white thing on the ground. Then another and another. I go in for a closer inspection and notice that its ice! Then it all starts coming down! Gwendolyn and I run into the tent and are amazed by how much hail was coming down! Not only was there a lot, but I have never seen hail so big! They were at least half dollar sized. And hearing those things hit the tent was awesome. It was a constant bombardment of hail hitting the tent, like fireworks going off. At first we had the tent totally unzipped so we could see, but it got the point where they were flying in the tent and the tent was getting soaked that we had to zip it up. The whole thing was rather amazing.

Monday morning was cold and wet. It was no fun packing up wet stuff, and definitely no fun unpacking it and drying it out. But overall it was a great camping trip and experience, that was 100x better than the first time we went camping.

Here are the pictures.

This of course was my favorite part of May. Two Nine Inch Nails concerts in 2 days! How awesome is that? The first show was in Houston at the Verizon wireless theater. I wasn’t able to get general admission, se we were seated in the balcony in the corner. Not too bad. The concert itself was Awesome! They had a great opener, the Dresden Dolls, who we immediately fell in love with. I’ve been to few concerts where I’ve heard an opening band that I liked that much.

On Wednesday the show was going to be at Stubbs BBQ in Austin. This was going to be hard as we had to make it out of Houston at rush hour and get to Austin before the show. It was especially difficult as it seamed everything was trying to keep us from getting there. Beyond the normal Houston traffic we also had to deal with wrecks and wrong turns! We finally did make it to Austin though. Unfortunately it was at the end of the Dresden Dolls set, so we weren’t able to see them play again. The great news though, was that Stubbs BBQ rocks! It had an outdoor stage that was about half as small as the Verizon stage. Before the show Gwen and I squeezed our way up pretty close to the stage. Once they came out, everyone pushed forward, and it got about 20 degrees hotter! Gwendolyn wasn’t able to take much of the pushing and shoving, so she stepped out to the side. I stayed in for a while and finally had to take a break about half way through. I sat on the side with Gwen for a few songs, and then headed back in. I was able to get right up front and center. Trent at one point bent down right in front and handed his guitar off to the crowd. I had a hand on it, but of course security took it back. I stayed up front for the rest of the show and rocked out.

After it was all over, we headed to a great little place to eat, which I’ll have to get the name of, as they had awesome breakfast tacos. We then headed home as someone had to go to court the next morning!

So our weekend was pretty low-key. It pretty much consisted of a little shopping and a ton of television! On Friday evening after work, Jay and I attempted (with no luck!) to acquire a couple of accessories to make our bike riding more enjoyable. We went out for dinner and then drove out to Cycle Gear only to find that we were too late. The store was already closed, so we had to come back on Saturday morning. But when we did, Jay got a cool grey jacket and I got a new (computer) helmet. Actually, I got my helmet at a different cycle shop (A.J. Foyt Cycles), but anyway let me tell you, I am in love with that helmet. It makes riding totally awesome. It was always fun, but with a full face helmet, riding is much quieter and way less windy!

To read about the rest of our weekend, click on the link below… (more…)

Wow…it’s been such a long time since we posted anything. I guess things have just been a little busy…between our fun wilderness adventure and a trip to the emergency room, we just haven’t had the time to write. But if you want to read Jay’s full take on the events, click below.

-G
(more…)

First off, sorry to have disappointed so many of you last friday! I too wish it would have been true, but just a little more time would make it better. Soon enough though.

So I’m sure you can see from the lack of updates, both Gwendolyn and I have been pretty busy, both at work and at home. I guess the biggest highlight would have been our motorcycle ride out to map(Lake Livingston|livingston, texas). We originally planned on going out there for a poker run. For those cage drivers out there, a poker run, is normally a charity event, where a bunch of bikers meet up and are given a map to a few key locations. You then go to these locations and receive a playing card. When you arrive at the last pit stop, you will then have a poker hand, and whoever wins, gets a prize. Its just a nice way to spend a day riding. However for us, we went to the meeting place, but found no one there! Now this could all be blamed on me, as I was the one that saw the flyer and wrote down all the info. We made the best of it though, and headed home going the back way through Coldspring and other back roads. Along the way we came across a few groups of at least 20 bikes each. Made us wonder if they were part of the poker run that we couldn’t find. We stopped in Coldspring again, and ate at The Hop. We all enjoyed shakes and floats and then headed on our way. I must make a mental note, to try the onion rings there, as they come highly recommended! Instead of going straight home, we decided to make another stop, and visit my dads cousin Sarah Jane, who lives out in the Woodlands. I think Gwendolyn fell in love with her house and that area.

Once we were finally home, we had to take a nap and unwind after a long day of riding. I think we were out for a good 6 hours. Definitely a long day. After a nice nap, we decided to watch some Scrubs. This activity was short-lived, however, because while we were on our second episode, all the power went out in the entire neighborhood. Then, the firetrucks showed up in front of my apartment. So we went out to investigate and make sure the place was not on fire. As it turns out, some tree branches fell onto the powerlines and caused all the commotion. So with no phones, no lights, no motocars (okay not quite…) we decided to get out of the house and go see imdb(Sin City). The movie just looked amazing. I’m not sure how much Gwendolyn liked it due to the violence, but I loved it.

This weekends plans, are partly up in the air. My cousin Veronica is coming into town with her husband, and a newborn girl. We’re going to my parents tonight to visit. Tomorrow night we might baby sit for them as they go to the astros/cincinnati reds game. Hopefully sunday will be spent with a little R&R.

Okay now you guys should be all caught up!

Well, I woke up to freezing cold, pounding rain this morning. What a change from just a few days ago. The weather was so perfect this weekend that I think Jay and I took advantage of every minute we could. On Friday evening after work, we braved the Houston traffic to have dinner with my family in Clear Lake. Afterwards we stopped by to visit Jonathan and Delena in town. We ended up fixing Mojitos (mmm…) and watching The Terminal.

On Saturday, Jay and I went for a bike ride up to map(Coldspring|coldspring, tx). Jonathan told us about a perfect, little country road that snakes through miles and miles of hilly landscape. The ride was awesome although the trip home was a little windy. Hehe…okay maybe it was a lot windy. I totally felt like I was going to blow away. Wheeee….

We had a pleasant surprise on Saturday night to learn that our friend, Jake, was making a one night appearance in Houston. He was on his way from Costa Rica back to New York and had a lay-over. So we went to visit him in Katy.

Sunday was so pretty that Jay and I decided to go on another bike ride to Katy to visit his parents. We went all the way on back roads, and it was a relaxing ride. In all, we rode 218 miles this weekend! Hmmmm…not quite ready to join the Iron Butt Association, but we’re on our way! In the evening, I made Jay tofu broccoli stir fry for dinner and a pineapple upside-down cake for dessert. Then we just watched our shows and chilled.