JUNE 25-JUNE 27 The Trip Home

We ended our visit at the Zolides on a happy yet caotic note. Dogma, Mr. Giggles, Mimi, and I hit the open road for some fun times to come. An hour into driving Dad, wanting to speed up the driving process by driving in the High Occupency Vehicle Lane, cut across the median much to the entertainment of Mimi. It was funny at first until the car started making noises like a wounded T-Rex with robotic lungs. Alas. We had gotten a flat tire. Shredded is more like it. Ah the beauty of Karma...it truly does come back around....serves Dogma right for breaking the law. Unable to make it to the other side of the highway we were forced to stop on the left side with a flat on the back right. Stranded, hungry, and defeated we were all happy to see the bright orange state truck coming to our rescue. Two hours was a minor setback before we were back on the road. The rest of the day went smoothy with the exception of some death threats to Peter. We stayed in a hotel (guess which one) and went to Chili's for dinner. When we got back Peter, Dad and I relaxed in the hottub while Mimi, the freak that she is, worked out in the sub-par gym. Everyone slept in the next morning after a rough night. Dad snored the first half hour we were trying to sleep and Peter wiggled around like he was being electicuted. I slept very well however according to Mimi I kneed her in the back every three minutes and stole all of the covers...leaving her with nothing but her dignity. We made a quick pit stop at some outlets and then continued on the highway. We had a delicious lunch at Foster's Grill and drove the rest of the way home. Everyone's patience had been thouroughly tested so we were all glad for a break from one another. Overall it has been great trip and a serious bonding experience, however, we are all glad to be home.

Love from, Emily, Peter, Chris (aka the Human Compass or Dogma) and Peter.

I'll bring the liquor and meat

So since i havnt blogged in awhile i have lots to update everyone on. We left Maine and drove to my grandparents house in Actron, MA. We stopped in Portsmith, NH and did some shopping before we had lunch on the coast. The rest of the day was uneventful. The next day (Monday) we left Acton and drove to Framingham where Dad grew up. It was quite the trip down memory lane. Because we had no plan we drove past everywhere dad had ever been when he was growing up. And apparantly he dated a girl in every town, on every street, in every neighborhood...etc. Or atleast it seemed that way the way he described it. The line of the day was "lets go by ____, its on the way". Everything is on the way if you dont know where your going. I also got to hear lots of stories about dad running from the police which was...interesting. We also visited this old Griss Mill where I used to come when we I was little. Near it is a candy store that I have many fond memories of...it was really nice visiting a little bit of my childhood. We also visited the best hotdog place ever...Casey's; an old diner car in the middle of the city where dad went when he was a kid. We hung around in Framingham before going to visit some of my cousins in Whitensville. Peter flew up several days ago and was staying with them so it was a nice suprise for him. Their parents wernt home so we went out to Friendlies....the only fast food dad will eat. Peter's "Forbidden Fudge Brownie Sunday" sent him over the edge with giggles and he spewed sprinkles all over both tables we were sitting at. After that we met the family at the only resturaunt my Uncle Gus will eat at...The Agean. (A very tasty Greek resturaunt). Wanting to get the family together again Uncle Gus planned a throwdown for Tuesday night. His quotable moment of the night was when he said "yeah we'll all get together....I'll get the liquor and the meat". Anyways, the next day (Tuesday) we drove to Scituate where Mimi Booker is. We were planning to meet her with her with her family at a small beach. Yeah..."beach". Try piles and piles of rocks with ice cold water in close proximaty. Although it was very pretty...the only thing on this "beach" was rocks and broken dreams. After meeting up with the Books we went to the infamous Maria's Subs. Then we began the drive back to my Godparent's house in Hopkington. From there we went to Uncle Gus's party where indeed there was lots of liquor and meat as promised....he really pulled through. If your ever even TEMPTED to try Metaxa (A Greek liquor), think twice...it tastes like battery acid. We stayed at my Noona and Noono's house (Godmother and Godfather) where dad and the other Chris Pappas....also known as Dogma and Dogma....took trip number two down the memory highway...reliving all the run in's with the fuzz and all of the times Uncle Gus had come close to killing them. Mimi really enjoyed these stories. That brings us to today. We took an early start into Boston where we braved public transportation, something that i believe has the potential to catch on but clearly NC has not been tempted with yet. We took the subway into Boston where we visited the Isabella Sewart Gardener Museum; a historic house that was turned into a museum and had the most expensive art theft in history. Then we came back to my Aunt Janine and Uncle Billy's house. It was pure caos to say the least. Zack and Peter have been in mortal combat since we got here.....Zack is kicking Peter's skinny ass while Peter is foaming at the mouth with the sprite he keeps drinking before he breaks out in uncontrollable giggles. Dogma is futally attempting to light a fire with wet wood while almost having a fire poker driven through his abdomine. Tomorrow we begin the trek home with Mr and Mrs Giggles in tow...(Peter and Mimi). It should make for some interesting blogging. More news later!

Love, Emily, Mimi, Dogma, and Mr Giggles.

Poseidon must be angry in Maine.

Another beautiful day in Maine. We are camping with my Aunt Kathryn and her family on the lovley coast of Maine. We woke up and went int Portland for the day. Because HC wasnt navigating we got there with few problems and went to a beautiful farmers market with flowers and herbs and strawberries. We explored a creek, took lots of pictures of the scenery, and then headed into the city. All of us ate at an organic pizzary on the shore and bought lobsters named Doug and Bruce. In the car on the way back dad taunted me with Bruce and then put him on my Aunt Kathryn's shoulder while she was driving. She screamed and almost ran us off the road but it was funny. After that we drove to a lighthouse on the rocky shore. The fog had rolled in and it was extra cold but dad convinced me to go in the water anway. (Old man Pappas was afraid his frail body would go into Cardiac arrest should he submerge himself in the icy Maine waters) I however braved the 35 degree water. The ocean is a cruel mistress indeed. Just as i had stepped out of my shoes poseidon through a big one my way and soaked me. Good times. We came home and had some appetizers and are now cooking Doug and Bruce along with some steaks. Tomorrow we're headed to my Yiayia's house and then onto Boston.

Vale! Amor, Amelia et Christos.

Is that snow or crack cocaine?

We left Vermont around 9:00 this morning and headed to Mt. Washington. We made a pit stop at the beautiful Mt. Washington Hotel. (A very glamerous old shining-esk resort) We stayed there in 2000 for Christmas and on Christmas Eve it caught on fire and we were evacuated in 17 degrees below zero. Ah fond memories of Mt. Washington. Anways we stopped by and then continued onto Mt. Washington. After much driving we reached the bottom. 8 miles of twisting, winding, hairpinning fun later, we reached the top. After a little exploring and some souveniers we got ready to head back down. Thats when the fun began. As Forrest Gump would say "someone turned on the rain". It was rain at first however it soon turned to snow. June 20th and we actually saw snow. A very exciting trip over all which we both agree was the highlight of our trip so far. If any of our fellow bloggers ever make the monumous pilgrimage to Mt. Washington, we highly recommend driving to the summit. After Mt. Washington we headed to my Aunt Kathryn's summer house in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. A wrong turn landed us in the Story Land parking lot. It took me several minutes to recognize the tourist trap but after several minutes i was brought back to a vacation we once took at Moose Pond where my cousins and I visited the theme park. My dad, who has always hated forced fun, did not accompany us on this trip and has never quite experienced he magic of Story Land. His loss. No more wrong turns landed us saftley at my Aunt Kathryns where we had a lovely seafood dinner. HC seemed to have preformed up to par today which, although less entertaining, is a relaxing change. More news later! Love, Emily and Chris

So once again we continued our treck north in the beautiful adarondack (sp) mountains. Its cold here, like arctic temperatures. And neither of us brought more than one pair of pants. We took some seriously intense gravil road over the mountains and through the woods for about 2 hours and then stopped and took a ferry boat across lake champlain. It was raining so it wasnt too exciting. Additionally dad insisted that we needed to wake up at 7:30. This completely through off my circadian rhythm and REM cycle so i wasn't much fun today. Thats ok because dad's used to being grouchy. Anways we stopped on in a hotel (guess which one) on the border of Vermont and New Hampshire. We're right by Dartmouth University which is pretty cool. Anways we decided to go to Chili's for dinner and the human compass insisted that he knew exactly where it was. He even looked at the gps system but insisted on leaving it in the hotel room because he "knew the way there". It is possible that he looked at the roads but i doubt that he read their names. We ended up on a 6 mile road that said "dead end" at the beginning. However the human compass stops at nothing. Convinced that the dead end sign really meant that it was "shaped like a horseshoe and would dump us out at the Chili's", we continued down this lovely road until it proved him wrong with another dead end sign and we turned around. So we hit the highway. And the human compass (HC if you will) missed the exit and couldnt turn around for another 9 miles. Hungry, cold, and grouchy we finally found the Chili's. It of course was delicious but i have to say people in the north are just not as friendly as they are in the south. Its probobly because their always cold and their tired of driving up 12 degree inclines all the time. Thats all for now, tomorrow we are climbing Mt. Washington where i expect it will be MUCH warmer than it is here.....the high is supposed to be 45. So thats good news.

Love always, Emily and HC

Pennsilvania, New York, and Yuengling- Day 2

So once again plans have been unexpectedly been changed by Chris Pappas. I have come to realize he really is not one for consistency. We found a white water kayaking place near where we were staying in Maryland last night and decided to try it out in the morning. However in the morning, after both of us experienced the chilling maryland mountain climate, we decided that it was entirely possible for ice bergs to be floating among the rapids and that our southern blood was not fit for these arctic temperatures. So we hit the road! And drove about 4 hours to the middle of nowhere Pennsilvania (actually it was Potsville) so we could take a tour of the Yuengling brewing company. Of course we missed our exit several times and ended up being late for the last tour of the day. Determined not to miss out on the only possible excitement of the day we tagged on to a passing tour group and tried to act natural. Seems we missed an important memo about how no one should be wearing flip flops in the bottling factory due to broken glass on the floor. Oh well. Dad got good and drunk and so i had to drive the rest of the way to New York. Just kidding. But seriously they're "samples" are more like mugs. So after an entertaining tour and some refreshing beverages we and our beer drenched shoes hopped in the car and headed to Binghamton New York. I have come to realize that when it comes to plans dad cannot stand to keep the same ones for more than several minutes; however, when it comes to hotels he insists on staying in hampton inns and hampton inns only. So as it turns out this particular hampton inn was throwing a party in the lobby. So we made an appearance and then went to find somewhere for dinner. "The Human Compass" insisted that he knew where the restauant district was in Binghamton so we drove aimlessly around in some fairly sketchy areas until i convinced the human compass that we must have passed the restauant district somewhere between the religious district and the rug district. Shame. Anyways we're back at the hotel eating the best damn cookies EVER and we're headed to Lake George tomorrow. Atleast thats the plan. Love from, Emily and the human compass.

Leaving Apex

The night before our expected departure (June 16th) dad began our trip by working himself into a frenzy over having our passports. This was under the assumption that we would drive to Niagra falls. We then decided not to leave until the next morning and to wait until Wednesday. However Tuesday morning dad worked himself into a pre-roadtrip-hissyfit and insisted that we had to leave immediatly. Why you might ask? my guess is as good as yours but it might be assumed that he is in some trouble with the police. Additionally, he has decided that we will stay in the states rather than drive to Niagra. This supports my previous suspicions that the authorities are after him which is why he is avoiding any type of security or identification check. We proceeded north on some big road and stopped for lunch at a rest stop in Virginia. Its not yet a true vacation with dad until he pretends he forgot something really imporant. (Tickets, passports, wallet..etc.) In this case it was my suitcase. It's REALLY espcially hysterical after 18 years of him doing this; luckily i am smarter than him and have learned to pretend to be genuinly concerned. Atleast he got this over with early in the trip. After lunch we continued to drive. Somewhere near West Virgina dad admits that he doesn't know what road we've been on for the past two hours or in what direction we're headed. This trip looks promising already.