Vacation--June 5th, 2013

I succeeded in jogging the full length down to the south end—that street is Fredricksburg.  It turns out that’s the city line between Ventnor and Margate.  I’ll have to look to see just how far that is.  I walked, jogged, and did calisthenics on the way back.  I did pushups, lunges, side squats, mountain climbers, and some step-ups.  It felt good; taxing but good; all that after having a cheddar and broccoli omelet--a very good start to the day.

After that, I showered up and walked south down Atlantic.  That’s where I discovered the city boundary.  I kept walking south through Margate--all the way to Lucy the Elephant.  I bought Mom a t-shirt and a hat for me.  I meandered across the small parking lot to the Rooftop Bar at Ventura’s Greenhouse.  The food was really good.  I had a shrimp salad and a mudslide.  The only downside was after I got cash from the ATM—the menu said Cash Only—the server told me that they accept credit cards.  This was frustrating because there was a $3.50 surcharge for the ATM.

There was another success today—no sunburn despite the jog this morning or the walk this afternoon.  Winning!  Time to watch the CMAs on TV.

Vacation--June 4th, 2013

I think God knew that I would risk more sunburn yesterday if the sun was shining so He brought about rainstorms from late Sunday night til mid-day yesterday.  I stayed in and reminded myself why I don't subscribe to cable--too many damn commercials!  Then Mother Nature REALLY made her presence know come evening time.  I LOVE getting up every two hours to check and change things.  Not!!

Breakfast ws tasty and filling pancakes.  Time to reslather my chest w/sunscreen and head out.

I walked all the way to Rhode Island Ave.  It's a bit passed the new Revel Hotel/Casina but I'm not sure how far.  I stopped at Hard Rock Cafe for lunch and had a great tasting burger.  After that, I headed down to Arkansas 'cause I forgot to turn on Michigan Ave.  I made a stop at Wilson's Leather to see if they had tablet covers--they didn't but it was fun to look around.  I also stopped at Jockey when I saw they have a new way of bra sizing.  They measure the volume of the breast to determine where you're at--numbered 1 thru 10--then they measure band size.  It seemed really interesting.  I'd be curious to see if it affects other companies.

Wound my way back to Arkansas Ave and headed back down the boardwalk.  Hung in the room for a bit then changed into my suit for some tanning on the beach.  Maxed out after an hour or so, I returned to the Inn and changed for dinner.  There's a new sushi restaurant on the blockso I went there.  Had assorted tempura and dessert was a mango flavored gelato dipped in white chocolate and drizzled in dark chocolate.  It was quite good.  Now, just hanging out in the room until my freshly washed hair dries and/or cable bores me--whichever happens first.  Then it's off to bed.

Vacation--June 2nd, 2013

Some of this might be duplicated from my previous post but this is my journal entries from the week that I was on vacation.
After a fun week of shopping and tasty food--things that I wasn't able to do while deployed--I spent three hours at Heather's Holistic Health.  I got a facial, a full massage--which was NOTHING like the one that I got on base while deployed, thankfully--and a pedicure.  My toenails are cerulean blue.  Then, after a quick stop at Wawa in Smyrna, I headed to New Jersey.  There was a detour to the Hamilton Mall where I picked upa couple dresses and a couple pairs of shoes.  Got to the Carisbrooke Inn just after 6pm.  Checked in and then unpacked my sneakers so I could get in a quick walk down to the south end of the boardwalk.  It's three miles round trip.  It felt good to get some miles in.  More on my walking endeavor in a bit--my habit of typing has left my writing muscles weak and I need some recovery time or this will be completely illegible.

I actually slept in til 8 this morning.  I originally woke up at 5am but that just seemed too early to get up.  Had a great dream that had Hugh Jackman in it.  That was a fun one.  Although the dream was great, I felt like I had missed out on an opportunity for an early morning walk by not waking up at 6:30am like I have been for the past week and a half.  Tomorrow I will probably just get up when the sunshine coming through the windows wakes me up.  Breakfast was yummy French toast, sprinkled w/powdered sugar and layered w/sliced bananas.  Yum!  I've started drinking green tea so, after one cup of coffee, there was a couple cups of green tea.

After breakfast, I changed into my workout shorts and tank and set out southbound for another walk to and from that end.  Made a short pitstop when I go back to Little Rock Ave but set again.  Once that was complete, I headed north this time.  In the distance between light poles, I did lunges, side squats, and walking on just the balls of my feet.  When I ran out of non-bouncing exercises, I did pushups, one arm pushups (those definitely need work), one leg squats, plie squats, and leg kicks (to the front, side, & rear).  I turned back at Raleigh Ave.

My workout complete, I changed into my bathing suit and headed to the beach.  I did slather most of my body w/sunscreen.  I say "most" 'cause the parts that I missed are all too obvious. :(  The weather was perfect for sunburning.  It was sunny but breezy so you wouldn't even notice just how much sun you got.  The water was freezing though.  I went in to my ankles.  It wasn't even up to 60* yet.  I spent about an hour at the beach and then came back to the room and took a shower.  I then got my face on and headed north to Atlantic City.  Lunch was coconut shrimp at the The Rainforest Cafe.  No shopping though.  I'm gonna be here another four days--plenty of time for shopping later.

I got changed again when I got back to the Inn.  This time into one of the five dresses that I brought with me so that I could dress up for dinner.  Started the meal with a delicious seafood salad--fresh seafood in some sort of lemon vineagrette.  The entree was capellini with chunks of crab and dessert was creme brulee w/coffee.  More yum!

As the hours progress, my sunburn looks worse and worse.  :(

The vacation has begun!!

The Britney Spears concert on Sunday was awesome!!! I thoroughly enjoyed the whole two hours. It ended around 10pm and I then set out on I76 West. Made it as far as Carlisle, PA by midnight. The eyelids were getting heavy so I decided to find a room to stay in. I had originally planned on just finding a well lit rest stop and sleeping in the back of the Jeep but opted for a real bed instead. Slept pretty well and was up at 7am. I arrived at Wright Patterson AFB Monday evening around 5pm. Since I wasn't on the road today, I gave myself permission to sleep in. I did get up around 10am and headed out to find a place to eat breakfast. I ended up at Bob Evans. Not my first choice but it was pretty good. Then headed to Dick's Sporting Goods to get some compression shorts. It still hurts to run--the jostling is too painful in the hip-skin area--so I needed to find a way to work through the pain. The shorts are tight enough that the jostling should be at a minimum.
After that, I headed back to billeting to hang out and enjoy cable--something that I don't have at home. For dinner, I headed to the Found & Hound Pub & Grill. I met one of the ladies from the Grocery Challenge--oot n aboot--and her daughter and we talked and laughed and had a good dinner.
PB, it was great to meet you and I look forward to meeting up again on my return trip.
Tomorrow, I'm setting out for the second half of the "TO" trip. Taking I70 West to I74 to I80. I should be in Altoona by dinner time.

Route change

Okay, there might be a slight change to how I head west at the end of the month. See, I ended up buying tickets to a concert in Philly for Sunday, Aug 30th so I may just start my trek to IA after the concert. Haven't completely decided yet. I mean, to me, it just doesn't make sense to drive south/back home to drive north the very next day. Hmmm...

My Sept itinerary:

The cities that I will be in and when I'll be there:
Sometime between Aug 31st and Sept 4th, I will drive to Altoona, IA.
Sept 9th fly to San Jose, CA
Sept 9th drive from San Jose to Salinas to stay the night with my aunt
Sept 10th drive to Fresno
Sept 10th to Sept 13th bebopping around Fresno
Sept 13th drive to Blythe
Sept 14th to Sept 18th hanging out with my grandma and my mom
Sept 18th back to Fresno
Sept 18th to Sept 22nd bebopping around Fresno again
Sept 23rd fly back to Altoona, IA
Sometime between Sept 24th and Sept 28th, drive back to DE