One of these things is not like the other, hmm? But I was so swept with the idea of crossing "hot air balloon ride" off my bucket list that when a deal came up on groupon, I (after much deliberation, because I am never decisive) pounced. Trouble was, the company did rides out of Lancaster, so we had to pair it with a trip east. Once Lizzy's wedding was scheduled, I figured we could hit it on the way to NYC - not too far out of the way (easier when you're staying with an aunt that has no bedtime). We just had to cross fingers and toes that it would be a nice evening...
Guess it worked. It was a gorgeous afternoon, although very hot. Guess what else is hot? The burner in a hot air balloon. Surprising, I know, but for some reason neither of us had accounted for this little fact, and the part where it goes WHOOOOARRRRRRR. But once you got used to that off and on, the ride itself was very relaxing and awfully scenic. There's no wind and not really a dangerous feeling of being too far up - the basket is steady and the balloon enormous. Watching people pull off the road to take pictures, dogs barking in circles wondering what the hell we are, Amish people waving... that was all pretty awesome. For our finale we landed on the shoulder of a highway, which was hilarious. And then they drove us back to our cars and gave us some champagne and cheese. Not an experience I will soon forget. Funny, we haven't bought any new Groupons since...
But back to that wedding. It was a very posh kind of affair, held in a space that had a fantastic view, lots of stairs, and no handrails. An obstacle course in waiting when in conjunction with an open bar, but hey, it looked nice. I had similar thoughts about Lizzy's crazy-tall shoes. Unfortunately it was kind of misting and crappy out, but it worked out. The food was excellent and it was great to see that side of the gang, especially after I totally failed at being healthy for Kathy's wedding.
The next day we headed to Beth Ann's house, which is just awesomely decorated. I want her to do my house whenever that happens. We caught up over waffles and fruit (sharing typical Jewish recourse such as "there were no appetizers at the wedding?!?!" to which I about snorted milk out my nose) and then Peter and I promptly fell asleep on her couch. Sup, cousin? We were preparing for the drive, of course...hehe. She has an enormous garden and we swiped some fresh lettuce from it as well. The visit with that side of the family, including the three little girls I've barely met, was too short, but it's a heck of a haul from Long Island to Pittsburgh so we had to get on the move. We did have a little spare time to hit the I-78 scenic overlook (here because I know you're fascinated) that I spotted on my last NYC-PGH drive. It's actually disappointingly pointless, as it probably hasn't been scenic in the last thirty years judging from the dense tree growth (if it ever had been), but now my curiousity is sated. It's a good place for a driver switch and/or being a sketchy dude in a pickup. Now you know.
Finally, as a belated birthday cake and as penance for dragging him everywhere, I ordered some malted milk and made Peter a chocolate malt cake. It was basically the Hershey's Dark cocoa box recipe plus some malt, and it was pretty darn good. I also tried my hand at kohlrabi (think green vegetable sputnik) and rabbit in mustard sauce. Never too busy for crazy food!
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