It Just Isn't A Real Vacation Until You Go To The Local Wal-Mart!

I may be looking like a train wreck after the flight and layover ordeals from yesterday, but I am still pretty sure I will blend in at the Wal-Mart.

 

If I am not out in 3 hours, send reinforcements!

 

 

A Carnival of Laughs

 

 

 

I had the distinct pleasure recently to celebrate the birthday of good friend and fellow geocacher FailedApparatus, and there is no better way to do so than with good food, potent drinks and absolutely hilarious trivia!

 

The party was held at a local Charlotte bar called Kickstand which boasts a cyclist themed atmosphere.  At one point a fellow partygoer ordered a sandwich which, once delivered, seemed to measure over 6" in height and we were certain would require mad python skills with the dis-hinging of his jaw just to take the first bite. Sadly, such a sight would not be added to the night's entertainment. Fortunately, there was so much to entertain and amuse that it did not even matter, there was not lack of laughter and fun!



The birthday boy and his lovely lady

The legendary high stacked sandwich in question, The Fender Bender

 

The entire evening was filled with plenty of laughs, provided in large by our trivia host Tiny and then in part by a very inebriated lady who just could not believe her luck at seeing a real live "Birthday Boy" in person. (At least 4 times I heard her scream "there he is, that's the birthday boy" to her friends when the door to the private room was open, that was just a little before she and her equally inebriated friends accosted said birthday boy.  I am pretty sure they were considering the idea of birthday spanking him, but unfortunately for the rest of us she decided against it.)

 

After several rounds of the most fun pub style trivia ever and a very educational birthday song regarding what to stare at the cheer ones self up, we entered the final round and team "Happy Birthday Randal", consisting of Chris (HoosierSunshine), Rich (goingpostnet), and myself (NinjaChipmunk), pulled ahead and took home the gold! In this particular case, the gold was in the form of a black gift card for $20 each, which I considered a very generous prize!

 

After several hours, the party might have ended, but the laughs sure did not as a the card game "Cards Against Humanity" was whipped out and some of the greatest jewels of wisdom created were dropped onto the table. This was my first time every playing the game and I certainly hope not my last! The closest I could come to describing this game was an adult version of mad libs.

All in all, it was one of the best nights I have had out in a long time and I am so glad to have been considered enough of a friend to have been invited to join in the shenanigan and tom foolery.  Many thanks again to Tiny (we were promised a birthday strip tease, why was there no strip tease??) for hosting the trivia and another big happy birthday again to Randal, with much thanks for growing another year older and having the most epic birthday party of the year and giving us an excuse to have that kind of fun!  Best night ever!!!

Snowmagedon 2015

Now that Snowmagedon 2015 has come to a close and we are beginning to rebuild our lives here in North Carolina, I thought I would share some photos of the epic snowfall that completely shut down our entire state. Please...do not cry for us, we are strong and we will survive!

 

Thank goodness we all had the sense to get to the stores and buy every bit of bread and milk available before this catastrophe hit. Just judging by the desolate shelves of the store, there must be nothing as comforting to a Southerner during times of trouble than milk sandwiches. 

 

Here are the photos of the aftermath of the storm (WARNING: May contain scenes too graphic in nature for some.)

Oh! The humanity!!  There has to be at least an entire inch and a half of snow!! Send help!

 

 

Desperate times=desperate measure.  Here is Alex being forced by his mom to remove the snow from the walk by hand.
Strangely, the only way he felt able to relocate the snow was by tossing it at mommy's back.

Note the massive snowman on the left?  We almost ran out of snow trying to build him.



hhmm, this method of snow removal does not seem quite efficient enough to me, but it lots of fun.  Alex might be on to something!

In closing, thank you for all of your prayers and well wishes.  I don't know how we could have gotten through this State of Emergency without them! And I will leave you with one parting meme (not my own original, but very fitting):

...and all that Jazz, a geocaching meet up

Saturday was just an all around amazing day, and what is the best way to end an awesome day?  With a Western North Carolina Geocachers group event, of course!  A big thank you to AtlassYMM and ScouterMom for setting up what turned out to be one of the best events our little group has had in a while!

Western NC Geocachers group photo

With 26 people in attendance, and a delicious cake to mark the 4,000 cache milestone of our fellow member debaere, there was no excuse for anyone not have had a great time! It was also a pleasure to have geocachers drive all the way from Durham - over a 3 hour drive away- just to spend this special time with us!


The fun was only amplified by random conversations to be heard at a certain table filled with trouble makers (you know who you are!) such as: threatening a minor with forced castration, getting your hair caught in your arm pits while you are trying to sleep, the improvement of any and all foods by adding layers of cake, and a very hearty shout by one member of "ooops, that wasn't a leg!"



There were also some very generous door prize donations from various members, though the drawing was of course rigged by the 4 children all of whom, without exception, seemed to have pulled out their own numbers at one point. But when you are as cute as that, you can get away with just about anything, so no one really felt the need to call Shenanigans. 

Dave preparing to massacre..I mean cut,
 his celebratory cake
 

All in all, it seems that the laughs and smiles were as free flowing as the sweet tea and no one went home sad or hungry as far as I could tell.  I am definitely looking forward to our group's next gathering, which should be to celebrate Valentine's Day with a delicious pizza pie party on February 14!!  Can't wait to see what these maniacs pull out of their hats for that day!

Thank You to you too, Mayor Harris

I just wanted to send out a big "Thank You" to Mayor Harris of the town of Pacolet, SC for the extra touch of sending a kind, personal handwritten note to me, along with my new geocoin for completing the Pacolet Geo Trail.  It is those added touches that make you want to revisit certain areas, and I do not think this will have been my last trip to their sweet little town. 

What a nice surprise to find in your mail!