Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

Delicious coffee at Pistacia Vera, German Village, Columbus After 2.5 days in Columbus I wanted to: *Move to Columbus! I miss living near(er) to a big, happening city! *Eat at the North Market everyday; Stuffed cabbage and chicken/cheese balls at Hubert's Polish Kitchen, sandwiches and pickles from the barrel at Katzinger's Little Deli, strawberry buttermilk ice cream at Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams *Have a roommate again--sharing a room with Prairie Dawn for a couple nights was a blast and made me miss the camaraderie of housemates *Spend hours (decades!) at The Book Loft of German Village *Have a croissant and quiche every day at Pistacia Vera in German Village The conference was great, as was the digs (the Columbus downtown Hilton), and it was definitely hard to leave this happening city, but I was excited to head points north and west for a weekend of camping with ChicagoBoy. ChicagoBoy and I met up at the State Park, Chain O' Lakes , in Albion, Indian...

Prairie Dawn and I are just about to leave for the OLC (Ohio Library Council) Expo. Did I mention I'm speaking? Did I mention I'm nervous?! Busy week! We're gone until Friday, then as soon as I get back I change, dump my bag and reload it with camping gear and head out. ChicagoBoy and I are camping in Indiana this weekend at Chain O' Lakes State Park (can we say it's going to be freezing?!) My only hope is that while I was packing for both the conference and camping, at the same time last night, that I put the right clothes in my bag, or I'm going to be looking pretty silly presenting...

Never wrote about our glorious weekend at Turkey Run State Park , a few weeks back! It can be surmised as such: Campfires! Wonderful hiking Glacial erratics 10 mile canoe trip through the most beautiful slice of Indiana I have ever seen! Sun sun and more sun Except the thunder/lightning storm that woke us up Sunday morning at 4a.m.--and if you never slept in a tent through one of those storms, it is pure Heaven. I LOVE storms. LOVE. Would I recommend this park? Absolutely! I was VERY proud of these epic bacon, cheeseburgers that I made. Sugar Creek, a river which flows through the park; we canoed this Sunday Bridgemeister, Turkey Run State Park Suspension Bridge Getting up close and personal with this little guy who wanted to inspect the food I was unpacking Hiking past glacial erratics, through areas where water once ran thousands of years ago!

I'm officially camping, hopefully when this posts I'll still be sleeping. Since I won't be writing today, thought I would share this sweetness. My cat, Hemingway, loves to jump into bed with me right when I've gotten comfortable, propped up on my elbows with a good book. He curls up against me, occasionally putting his paw over the page so I can't read, his sure signal I'm not petting him enough.  Just look at this handsome devil!

This week I had the opportunity to chat with some friends I don't get to talk with as much as we'd like to because, well, life happens; though time passes I feel as close to these folks as I did when we shared jobs, houses, a community. Upon reflecting on my many friendships I decided: There is something so magical about friendships that transcend great distances and years. I have made so many mistakes (and still do) in this life, but my friends cannot be counted among those. Walking out the door to head to Columbus, then Indiana and camping bound. Have a great weekend!

Never finished blogging about my wonderfully relaxing vacation..still can't believe that it's been nearly a week and a half already since I was camping in lovely Maine. I think the pictures I posted of Acadia National Park speak volumes, but still manage to not quit capture the raw, natural beauty and amazing vistas of that place. As B1, B2 and I hiked through the woods, near enough to hear the Atlantic Ocean wooshing in and out from the rock lined shore, I thought to myself, "this place is as near to Heaven as I've been. I just want Heaven to be like this, but the woods would also be lined with bookshelves periodically...and a coffee counter." Yes, dear readers, these are the deep thoughts that go through my head. The time there was great. It rained the first night we were camping, but didn't start until the tents were up, this followed by two gloriously sunny and warm days, perfect for hiking. The hikes ranged from beginners to strenuous (The Beehive) and ...

Atlantic Ocean Along the Ocean Path Ocean Path, Otter Cliff (Otter Pt.?) at the end of the trail. Sand Beach--the water was COLD! B2 Hiking the Beehive, Day 2 We made it to the top of the Beehive! That's me! The Bowl, near the Beehive View of the Beehive from the bottom. View of Sand Beach from Great Head Trail Our weekend in Acadia National Park whipped my sedentary librarian ass into shape super quick, with the 14ish miles of hiking we did. I was super proud of hiking the Beehive (pictured above) because it's a hike where you feel like you're climbing up up up forever--at times you even use metal wrungs in the mountain to climb/pull yourself to the next part of the trail. I highly recommend it! Be warned, it is labeled as a "strenuous hike!" HOORAY for camping!

We ate better camping than I do most nights at my apartment. One of many BEAUTIFUL vistas. B1 looking at the vista from Ocean Path. I love this! Otter Point or Otter Cliff...no matter, gorgeous! I HEART this!

My next clue for next weeks camping destination: Humpback whales swim in the waters not far from where I will be! Photo found here --but no peeking if you are trying to guess! 

I am so excited for this weekend: My friend's coming for the weekend (from Chicago) Bestie Kim's wedding reception (Bro A2 & Dayna, Bestie L & K, Chris & Kate, and old roomie Melissa will all be there celebrating too!) And then next week!! A SHORT WEEK! Then headed off to the Farm and some camping HERE!! Ok, no peeking...can you guess where it is? I will give you a clue: The total area of this park is more than 47,000 acres.

So, we're doing it. TSO and I are camping...kinda..."car camping," as M & N called it this past weekend. I mean is it real camping if you are simultaneously rubbing your cold nose, facebooking and writing a blog? Ok...umm...maybe not 100% real camping; but we are sleeping outside, in a tent that M & N let us borrow, in mummy bags which TSO provided, and we cooked over a fire: a tasty dinner of well done hotdogs and foil wrapped and roasted sweet corn and baked potatoes and slices of cheese. TSO made the comment of, "and we both work in kitchens!" but I was proud of our meal. It was better than the alternative: eating vinegar packets which I made TSO save from our ferry ride earlier this afternoon, "just in case of emergencies!" This morning S took us to see the ocean before we left the lovely little town of Cardigan, PEI. The visit was per my request, as I heard so many good things of the ocean vistas of the island. It was cold and windy and a ...