Washington, D.C. – Monument Valley (the man-made one!)

Not our first time to the nation’s capital, but definitely the best one. We stayed with Cara’s aunt and uncle Rick and Julie in Silver Spring, MD. They took a couple of days off work to show us around the city and we packed it in. We saw the “Charters of Freedom” documents including the declaration of independence, bill of rights, constitution, etc. We also spent time in:

• the museum of art (Yay Jackson Pollock!)
  
• botanical gardens (Yay rare orchids!)


• amercian indian museum (Yay, Brian Jungen!)


• holocaust museum (no yay here, very very sad)


• Arlington national cemetery (Yay changing of the guard!)


• the capital building (Yay statues and paintings, oh my!)
  

Phew! Rick and Julie also treated us to a moonlight trolley tour of the monuments. We narrowly avoided getting struck by lightning next to the Jefferson memorial, but the storm cleared and distant lightning lit up the city. Thanks Rick, Julie, and DC!

Long Island – Damn, I Forgot to Bring my Beach Body

After the bustle of the city, we thought a nice, quiet state park campsite would do us well. So, we headed to Long Island (of course!). Our camp neighbors had a different scenario in mind – how does a nice mix of hip-hop, rap, and latino beats sound at full volume? Like diversity.
The next day we headed for the beach, where Tom won our competition for who could look the most like a boiled lobster. Tom says: Note to self #1: don’t try to body surf waves that are taller than you. You will be brushing your teeth with sand. Note to self #2: Apply sun block prior to going out in the sun, not after.

Jersey Shore – Headline: Rogue Wave Douses Foolish Couple, Camera in Critical Condition.

Picture this: a beautiful morning walk on the Jersey shoreline. The only people in sight are rich housewives doing yoga by the waves. Oh look, now you see a jetty, how nice. You go sit on the jetty and watch the waves roll on below. You take some pictures, you breathe in the warm air of summer. And then BLAM! You are smacked in the face by a rogue wave, soaking you and your damn expensive camera. Thanks for nothing Jersey Shore.
P.S. The camera lived to see another day.

New York City – "The Houses Behind You Are Very Tall"

We headed into the city for a long weekend with the intention of seeing three different people. Sadly, due to scheduling conflicts, we saw none of them. Fortunately, we are a power couple of fun and managed to keep ourselves busy. No, we didn’t spend the entire time in breweries (too expensive!) but we did find some good beer (see picture of me with four, count them, four mugs), good food (see picture of my baked ziti pizza slice), and good times (see me with adorable husband). Highlight: getting our picture taken in front of the buildings lining Central Park. The man who took the picture was a Swede who said to us, “I can’t get all the houses behind you, the houses are very tall.” Yes, those houses are very tall indeed.

Gettysburg – Abe Lincoln is my new homeboy

I’ve never been a history buff, but Gettysburg is amazing! We took a driving tour of the battlefield and must have read a hundred monument inscriptions and informational placards. When you see the landscape it is easy to imagine how the battle unfolded. Especially when Cara kept saying “you’re standing on a dead guy.” After the tour we stood in the Gettysburg Memorial Cemetery and read the Gettysburg address as Lincoln had done almost 157 years ago. Very inspiring.

Snakes are People Too (Who do Number 2's)

Lovely time spent at Matt’s in Harrisburg, but it was time for us to hit the open road. We headed south to Gettysburg, PA but stopped a little north to camp at a lovely little place called Calendria State Park. Some old guy made iron there in the woods before the civil war until those foolhardy soldiers burnt everything down. Dumbies. Anyway, it was a magical evening of lightning bugs and our first night in the tent. In the morning, we were sitting at the picnic table enjoying some coffee and the sounds of the morning birds. Then, strangely, out of the sounds of nature came another familiar sound. This sound is typically only heard when one is alone and has perhaps recently had a fried burrito. Tom and I were stopped short in our conversation, but the noise did not continue and we were left to guess if a bird or large squirrel had gotten into another camper’s supply of Cheetos. Then, about a minute later, Tom spied a movement in the grass near where the sound had come from. Lo and Behold, there was an ENORMOUS black snake not 15 feet away from us, slithering slowly along the outskirts of our campsite. We observed it for some time, with Tom taking pictures and me running after breathing, “holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, did you see that thing!?” All in all, it was somewhat uneventful, as the snake was pretty sluggish, but he certainly bestowed a gift of diarrhea at our camp and a laugh in my belly for the rest of the day.

(That thing was six feet long!)

Harrisburg is a Hoot!

We kicked off our trip with a perfect family bar-b-que on the 4th of July in Concord, NH. Thanks Mom, Dad, and family!

After leaving Concord on Monday morning we drove to central Pennsylvania to spend a few days with our friend Matt in Shermans Dale just west of Harrisburg. Matt has a beautiful house along a creek where we caught tons of fish, watched lightning bugs, and ate crawdads right out of water! Matt then took us into the big city to take a tour of the state house and watch the Harrisburg Senators (a AA affiliate of the Washington Nationals). Thanks Matt!

The Maigles Summer Tour 2010

Alright People, here it is! We have created a tentative schedule for your perusal. The dates and locations are flexible, and you can "request a visit" by email us at homebrewfool@yahoo.com. We are doing our best to see everyone and everything we can before settling in Denver in October. We've been on the road for a few days now, and if they are any indication, this is going to be a killer trip!!

Concord, New Hampshire July 3-5, 2010

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania July 5-7, 2010

Bath, Pennsylvania July 8, 2010

New York and Long Island, New York July 9-11, 2010

Washington, D.C July 12-14, 2010

Harrisonburg, Virginia July 15, 2010

Out and About, West Virginia July 16-17, 2010

Mammoth Cave, Kentucky July 17-19, 2010

Out and About, Illinois July 19-21, 2010

Cedarburg, Wisconsin July 22-25, 2010

Out and About, South Dakota July 26. 2010

Mt Rushmore, South Dakota July 27, 2010

Out and About, North Dakota July 28-29, 2010

Out and About, Montana July 30-31, 2010

Banff National Park, Alberta August 1-4, 2010

Vancouver, British Columbia August 5-7, 2010

Seattle, Washington August 8-9, 2010

Portland, Oregon August 10-14, 2010

Eugene, Oregon August 15-16, 2010

Redwoods and coastal fun, California August 17-21, 2010

Foresthill, California August 22-25, 2010

Yosemite National Park, California August 26-29, 2010

Death Valley National Park, California August 30-31, 2010 (holy hot!)

Las Vegas, Nevada September 1-2, 2010

Tucson, Arizona September 3-4, 2010

Flagstaff, Arizona September 4-7, 2010

Out and About, Utah September 8-11, 2010

Denver, Colorado Septmeber 11-21, 2010

Concord, New Hampshire September 21-25

Bogota, Colombia September 25-October 4

Boston, Massachusetts October 4-12 (and Concord too!)

Denver, Colorado! Forever more...