This Epic Weekend In Pictures definitely lived up to the hype for me. A football Sunday was one of the tamer parts of this weekend, which was good because the earlier portions were so action packed. Our travels only took us basically around Vernon and Newton / Hampton, but we definitely made our time count. We will start my Epic Weekend In Pictures with Friday night.
Awesome Girlfriend Megan and I met up in Franklin after I got out of work at The Cottage for a beer. They had Troegs Perpetual IPA back on draft for the first time in a few months, and that made me and Meg very happy. It's rather high testing, so we were happy to enjoy that one stiff one and be on our merry way. Troegs is based out of neighboring PA and we strongly recommend Perpetual IPA. We haven't had as much luck with some of their other craft beers we have tried, but Perpetual is all aces for me and Meg.
I was really nursing my beer, and Meg quickly figured out why. Nasal drippage from season allergies has been absolutely crushing me all year. I just haven't had all that much luck with everything I've been trying. Between my prescription nasal spray, Allegra, last week Mucinex, it's just been terrible. By the time I left The Cottage as I was saying goodbye to Meg, I got sick in the woods by their parking lot. To anyone on Route 23, it probably looked like I was someone who had Jameson whiskey all day as opposed to someone who was barely able to drink a single beer.
We then ventured back on to Campus at the Condos in Vernon. We saw bartender Sam for a quick drink and enjoyed our night. We then swung over to see our besties Jasen and Brendan, and started to plan our Epic Saturday night where I was going to carve a pumpkin for my first time ever. Ugh.
Saturday morning Awesome Girlfriend Megan had to work for her Rutgers Foundation job. Basically she had to help with weekend technical upgrades, etc. She even brought her laptop and both screens over to my place. I was very appreciative she put in all that effort to be able to work from home at my place, and not have to go all the way back in Hackettstown 54 minutes away to kill an hour working. While she was at work, I ventured out doing some errands trying to stay out of her way. I got her a small bouquet of flowers to help her home office at my place. Yellow roses are Meg's favorite, and they were in stock. Success.
Saturday morning Meg joined me for errands and made me do something I've been putting off for quite some time. I went to Vernon post office and restarted my mail service. Basically, I always forget to check my mailbox. Every year I get my mail service restarted, check every Monday for a few weeks, then forget to check. They then mark me as relocated and stop delivering my mail to me. I pay all of my bills online now, so it doesn't usually seem to impact my day to day live all that much. There are times where my mail has been forwarded to my parents address up in Boston. No big deal to me. It was great to see my friends at The Vernon Post Office and I thank them for listening! They got a kick out of seeing Awesome Girlfriend Megan in person. They thanked me for my Pet Of The Week efforts.
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Saturday afternoon, time for some retail therapy in Newton. Meg and I did our tour de Route 206. We hit Kohl's and I got new Sketchers walking sneakers. We then ventured over to nearby Marshall's, but nothing totally hit us. I told Meg everything I kinda liked would earn a B grade, but nothing was an A grade that I just had to get. We also were able to get a Walgreen's mucus medicine that has been working for some of my dear friends. Meg laughed when I posted a picture of my new mucus medicine and she asked why I did that. I told her if someone else is battling seasonal allergies and is getting sick, if this helps me I want them to get the same help too. Then we ventured to Angry Erik's Brewing for our first time ever.
I totally get the hype now. They have a great layout there. Beautiful bar scene and they did a fantastic job with their outdoor setup too. Awesome Girlfriend Megan and I each tried one of their beers. The beers were okay, next time we will try a flight sampler to see which one is the right one for us. Over this year we have missed trying out and exploring new to us breweries. We also miss trying flight samplers to see which one is right for us. Without a flight sampler, due to Covid restrictions, you're basically forced into the commitment of buying a full beer you might not even like. We still had a fun time, for sure.
We then ventured back to The Cottage Saturday afternoon for a beer, laughed with some of our wonderful friends. We then ventured back home where Awesome Girlfriend Megan made me her awesome stromboli.
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Saturday night was definitely Epic. Jasen, Brendan, Carrie and Meg were all excited to carve pumpkins. I was dreading it. I HATE pumpkins. I hate pumpkin spices, smells and ESPECIALLY the gross insides of the pumpkin. I haven't helped my parents carve a pumpkin since I was a kid. I've been successfully able to dodge this practice for many years.
Awesome Girlfriend Megan LOVES carving pumpkins. She's an expert. She has kits. She absolutely loves carving pumpkins. Years ago she even carved a Patriots logo into a pumpkin for our besty Sally.
I was basically having a mix of nervous breakdowns and panic attacks while emptying the disgusting insides of the pumpkin. I hate the seeds, smegma, everything. I was in my total misery but trying to be a team player.
Meg called me a baby and jack*** probably 90 times this weekend, give or take.
My family back home said "Steve it's no big deal you helped carve pumpkins when you were a kid." I said that Padre did most of the heavy lifting with the emptying of the pumpkin. It's a game changer!
What probably several minute ordeal felt like hours. I sat alone on the couch after for a few minutes and everyone agreed I looked wiped out. It took a ton out of me, but we got it done! In fact, some think my Batman pumpkin might have been the best one out of the bunch.
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Football Sunday. Time for my farewell beer with Awesome Girlfriend Megan before she has to go back to Hackettstown. We had more great times with our friends. Football Sunday was such a huge range of emotions. I wore my Patriots shirt even though their game has now been postponed. Meg supported her Dallas Cowboys like she always does. We were so happy and emotional seeing Washington Football Team's Alex Smith make his amazing miraculous comeback. Alex Smith almost lost his life, almost lost his leg, all from that gruesome injury a couple of years ago. When asked why he worked so hard on his comeback he said "For my kids. I always tell them to never give up. How can I give up if I'm telling them to never quit?" He's so inspirational.
Then Dallas Cowboys start quarterback Dak Prescott suffered a season ending gruesome injury. We send all of our well wishes to Dak and his family. Between losing his brother and now this, Dak has had such a challenging year. Poor Meg is also miserable with this, losing your start quarterback isn't fun.
I had quite the surprise when I got home. I sat down watching football with my feet up and I see a Bear Cub right beside my deck. I get up to take its picture, only to then look to my right and see a BEAR ON MY DECK. In my nearly 7 years here, I've never had a BEAR on my deck. Many, many by my deck and walking by but never ON it. Some asked if I needed to clean my grill and if that was why they were on it. My grill is actually clean and empty believe it or not. Meg and I work hard to keep it clean for this exact reason. My upstair neighbors have been annoying me with their bird feeders and sunflower seeds have been all over my deck. I went from having to sweep my deck once or twice a year, now it's every other week. So annoying. I'm betting that is the reason why the bears have now been on my deck.
Overall we had a wonderful weekend. I hope you had a great weekend too. Thank you for taking the time to read our Epic Weekend In Pictures. Time to start planning next weekend!