Sunday 7/27/14 - Boston
Tomorrow begins my adventure into a new life on the West Coast. I begin the first leg of my drive to San Francisco, bidding Boston goodbye after living here for 10 wonderful years. It has been a bittersweet buildup, but I think today's rainy weather is a reflection of my own emotions right now. I'm excited to move and to start a new adventure in an amazing new city in California (one that won't have as many rainy days), but I'm terrified and sad to leave my life and friends here. Not to mention I will now be on the other side of the country from my parents and sister in Philly. It is extremely bittersweet.
My last day at GE was a few weeks ago, and while I'm excited for my new job, it was slightly sad to leave the job I've had over six years. The only real job I've ever had. But it will be an amazing career opportunity doing some really cool things with rockets!
During my funemployment, I've tried to knock some things off my Boston bucketlist, and have done a pretty damn good job of it. I finally painted the Tufts Cannon, which is a Tufts tradition that I've been looking to do for a while, and has been on my Under-30 List for quite some time. I was also able to see my Boston friends a fair amount these last few weeks. A final Capture the Flag game, a swim at the rooftop pool downtown, some runs, bikes, swimming, and rock climbsing (indoor AND outdoor because I "rock") all over the place, a few beach visits, and a FABAP (Finish All Boston's Alcohol Party). I was also able to get out of town a few times: to head home to Philly, to go to Portland just to adventure around, and to NH to tube down the Saco River... with plenty of beer in tow. There were also quite a few restaurants I made sure to experience one more time: Border (obvi), Shake Shack, Wahlburgers (yes, the Wahlbergs have a friggn burger place in Hingham), and an all-you-can-eat sushi place. So good!
In general, I had a great time re-exploring Boston - all over the place. From Quincy Market to Harpoon Brewery to the Mapparium. There were some feelings flying around, reminiscing at all my important spots around the city, but made me glad to know what a great life I've lived here. Looking at the entire city out at Spectacle Island one last tie reminded me why I love this city. Looking at the entire surrounding area from Top of the Hub one last time reminded me of all the amazing times I've had here. So yes, I'm sad to leave. But the flip side to this unhappiness is the intrigue and excitement (excititrigue) of trying it all again in a new place.
Tonight I will say my final goodbyes to a few great people here, and tomorrow I start on my way West. My first stop is Ithaca, where my family is vacationing this week. I'll enjoy a few days at the lake house they are renting. I will also collect my sister, who has never been West of Pittsburg, to join me on this road trip. I intend to show her a few cool things so she can see this world is a big, wonderful place with limitless opportunity for new adventures.
Monday 7/28/14 - Ithaca
Today is the day of my departure from Boston. I woke up at 5am and started driving out to Ithaca. It was a fairly uneventful drive through the rain (besides stopping at Stewarts for a milkshake), and I made it to my parents' lakehouse they are renting in about 6 hours. There, I was greeted by my parents, sister, and buddy Ian.
We spent most of the day indoors on account of the rain, but it was nice to watch movies, play monopoly, and just hang out. After a while I decided that the rain didn't matter for hot tubbing, so we just got in and had some beers. The rain may have even made it better, who knows. I made some ribs for dinner, and in general it was a pleasant, relaxing day. I was, however, exhausted from what I can only assume was my early wakeup, so I hit the bed pretty hard.
 |
| Hi there Khaleesi |
 |
| So majestic. So brainless. |
Tuesday 7/29/14 - Ithaca
It's Jessticle's birthday! We celebrated with a morning of lazing. Once again, weather isn't great, so it might be a wine tasting kind of day. Ian had to leave early on, but we started the day off with French Toast, so that's good.
My prediction was correct; we went on a winery tour around the lake today. I think we ended up going to four today, trying some great rieslings, the type of wine famous in the Finger Lake area. So yeah, those were great. We then went to Taughanaugh Inn (or however the fuck this waterfall is spelled) for Jess's birthday dinner. It was pretty decent. And then obviously we had a nightcap in the hot tub.
 |
| I'm a... sour grape? |
 |
| LET'S GET WASTED |
 |
| Wine tasting with views! |
 |
| I don't remember what I got for lunch but I remember it being horrible |
Wednesday 7/30/14 - Ithaca
Today started a little gray, but actually turned out to be a nice day. Mom and Jess went into town to go shopping or whatever it is that girls do, so it was Dad, me, and Lexie swimming in the lake.
 |
| Catching our dinner. We went to the butcher shop. |
 |
| Half my DNA comes from this man right here. |
 |
| What the fuck are you doing |
 |
| Gawwww pretty! |
At about midday I went and picked up my highschool/Tufts friend, Chelsea, who is in a PhD program at Cornell right now. So we were able to hang out and catch up by the lake and in the hot tub. It was great to finally have some nice weather and to see her!
At night we cooked up some great NY Strip steaks we got from the butcher in town. So good. Then we finished the night with some drinks in the hot tub and playing board games.
Thursday 7/31/14 - Ithaca
Another lazy, relaxing day at the lakehouse. We spent it shifting from the lake to the hot tub to indoors to read when it started drizzling. The weather here has been very strange the past few days. On and off rain non-stop (50% of the time it is mixed weather all the time?). But it was nice to relax and hang out with my parents. They seem upset that I am leaving for the west coast because they won't see me as much, which I understand, but I tried to explain that it's still very do-able.
Right now we're making some dinner, washing clothes for the big journey ahead, and getting in my last bit of not-driving before tomorrow, when Jess and I head out westward. After diner I'm going to meet up with Chelsea again for a drink in town.
 |
| If I fits, I sits. |
I met Chelsea and her girlfriend at a pretty cool bar downtown, where they had a delicious Gold Rush beer, which is very applicable to my current situation of moving out to CA. And the outdoor picnic area was really pretty and fun. But after a while I had to leave to prepare for the early departure.
