A reply to Katie's post...

In Katie's last post she talked about things she wanted to do before she was 30... My list is a little different. I don't want to be SMART goalsetter (shout out to JrNYLC!) and give myself a deadline because I'll end up changing the deadline anyway... so why fight it?

So here's a list of things I want to do... eventually:

Travel to Nepal (finally!) and at least see Everest.

Buy a house and restore it-- a la Save Our History (the Salisbury, NC episode)

Shave my head to see what it looks like.

Do Peace Corps again (because the language training is the best there is) probably in Africa or the Pacific.

Learn Arabic and/or Chinese.

Visit every National Park in the US.

Travel around the world like this girl Megan (I came across her blog and LOVE it).

Start a non-profit to help women get involved in the democratic process-- possibly in the EAME or Asia.

Get back into climbing and kayaking.

Volunteer or work with pandas!

What's on your list?

There be pirates, matey

So this weekend, the gang of three decided to go back in time-- to a time of ladies, knights, kings, queens, jousts, knife throwing... wenches and pirates?? Ah, yes, the Renaissance Festival. A place of good eatin' and random people dressed in doublets, tights, feathered caps, and puffy sleeves.

We drove to nearby Annapolis to experience the Maryland Renaissance Festival where it was Pirates weekend. From a non-costumed perspective, I would say that Renn Fests are both interesting and weird. There's so much to see (especially at this one just because it's HUGE!). We saw King Henry VIII, picking up ladies to be wives. We saw this old lady with a goose... turns out that she was Mother Goose! There were knights and jousts-- that part was really cool because they also had a part where they beat each other over the head with clubs! Who doesn't want to say Huzzah when people get beat over the head???

Gordon threw battle axes, with a funny hat to boot-- however, the hat didn't help make the axes stick into the target! Jenny, Gordon and I threw knives and some of them actually stuck! And we got cool prizes. We ate and ate and ate. There's just SOOO much food! Enough to make you want to puke. We saw magic shows-- why are there always magic shows at renaissance festivals?? There was this lady that was all bend-y and playing a recorder-- how that's renaissance-y, I don't know, but I couldn't look (ew).

What I DIDN'T get about the Renn Fest is... why pirates? The Renaissance was from about the 15th to the late 16th centuries. Pirates (as most of us know it-- the Johnny Depp kind, I'm guessing) didn't really show up in history until about the 17th century. However, there were some pirates attracted to the trade between Asia and Europe in the 16th century, it wasn't really part of the Renaissance. So my best guess is that pirates are the new trend-- thanks to Johnny Depp and his wonderful friends at Disney. Also... maybe the people at the Renn Fest (the ones who dress up) wanted to include their friends in the dress up madness and created Pirates weekend.

Either way, the Renn Fest was cool to see even though I wasn't dressed up as a lady, wench, manimal, or pirate. Good people watching there, too... the Renn Fest draws ALL sorts of people. Never thought I'd see an Asian fairy, pirate, or wench. And it was funny to see a full-on period dressed Pirate... talking on his cell phone.

I think that renaissance festivals aren't so much about the Renaissance as they are about the pop culture perspective of the time period. When people think Renaissance, I guess most people don't think about great art and literature, the plague, exploration, and the reformation. Nowadays, they think about incense, beersteins, tight corsets that make you pop out of dresses, fanatical people dressed as anything from wood nymphs to manimals to full on fairies, and tights. Maybe they just really like that "renaissance" style...

Great Falls Park... not so great?

So after visiting the Pope-Leighey house, we drove to Great Falls Park-- not really that close to the Pope-Leighey, but we figured we had a car, might as well drive it somewhere. I've always heard about Great Falls Park in Virginia. I heard about great climbing, great kayaking, and it's a park, so I thought that I would love it.



Here's what the NPS has to say about Great Falls Park:

Great Falls Park, a site that is part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway,
is an 800 acre park located along the Potomac River 14 miles upriver from
Washington D.C. The park is known for two things, its scenic beauty at the head
of Potomac River fall line and the historic Patowmack Canal.

Here's what I have to say about Great Falls Park:

It was kind of like Jellystone Park-- you know, from Yogi the Bear cartoons. Tons of people, tons of trash (it kinda smelled like it too), concessions stands, and 2 minute "trails" that led to the Falls. The Falls? Kind of cool-- a little foamy (like the gross, marshmallow-y foam that you find in rivers and lakes), some trash (Hey, look at that trash nest!), but it looked like it had some good rapids. There were some kayakers, but they didn't really do much while I was watching.

There were SO many people at the park! It was weird. It wasn't like being in any national park that I've been to. Like at Glacier, you only really see people on the really popular hikes, or at the hotels. In Great Falls, there were people everywhere. And it was such a crowded space that it was very claustrophbic. They have straight level trails (thanks to some wooden planks and boards) that lead you right to an overlook of the Falls. It wasn't like Glacier where you have to hike for at least half an hour to see something a cool.

I guess Great Falls is good for that "weekend warrior" who wants to get outside (outside being out of their offices and straight into a picnic area). I think I was expecting too much. Maybe next time I should try out the rock climbing-- I've heard it's actually pretty good.

Here's what the NPS has to say about Glacier National Park:

Come and experience Glacier National Park's pristine forests, alpine
meadows, rugged mountains, and lakes. With over 700 miles of trails, Glacier is
a hiker's paradise for adventurous visitors seeking wilderness and solitude.
Relive the days of old through historic chalets, lodges, transportation, and
stories of Native Americans. Explore Glacier National Park and discover what
awaits you.

I know, I know... I'm not being fair to Great Falls, but I can't help it. Glacier is the best park there is-- and I'm not biased at all!

I have a car... not really

So I finally joined the car-sharing revolution here in DC. I have to say, it sounds like a great idea! I just recently joined ZipCar because I wanted my sister and BF to have a chance to drive wherever we wanted in the city. It is kind of nice to not have to ask for a ride or wait until someone else is headed in the direction we want/need.

And today, we're using our very first ZipCar. We're going to Great Falls (finally!) to see a more nature-y side of suburb VA. And we're going to the Frank Lloyd Wright house nearby - the Pope-Leighey. It is a very cool house, that Jen and I have been to before. Gordon hasn't seen it... and neither Jen nor I mind seeing it again. I wish I could live in a Frank Lloyd Wright house! He has some really interesting architectural designs.

Anyway, so ZipCars seem like a pretty good idea-- I pay as much as I drive, they pay for gas, and ZipCars are at almost all the metros that I always at- which makes it even easier to get to places.

To all you metro-bound people out there, I suggest looking into a car-sharing progam (there are lots). I also like that I can now use ZipCar in Chapel Hill (why didn't they have it when I was there???), Boston (good to know for next year), and NY (in case I ever want to live on the edge and drive in that yucky city).

I'll post more after our first car-sharing adventure.

What about Bindi and Bob-Bob?

I'm sad that the Crocodile Hunter died! Pretty random that it was by a sting-ray. I hope they never release the video of his death... 'cause that's just weird! Who wants to see someone die like that??? Or at all?

I think it is really sad because have you seen his kids???? Bindi and Bob-Bob are the cutest little Australian-American kids! Now they don't have a dad. :( Animal Planet is doing a lot for his family and in his memory-- renaming a garden in Silver Spring, MD in his honor, starting a fund for Bindi and Bob-Bob's education, showing a lot a lot of his shows on Animal Planet (everyone should really check out the one where Steve Irwin and his family go to different National Parks in America! The one in with National Parks in Australia is also very cool.).

Anyway, I hope everyone will watch Animal Planet and watch out for the animals (because I like animals) and think about the great things Steve Irwin did for conservation and the environment.