This place is amazing.  Arthur Avenue is like Little Italy minus all of the tourist stuff.  Here it’s all authentic, and the sandwiches at Mike’s are something worth driving for.   Bring a cooler and buy some sharp locatelli, tasty italian suasage, fresh made ravioli, and baked-to-perfection bread and you’ve got almost all of the ingredients for your next meal back at home.  Add some of Mom’s homemade sauce and you’ve got a meal that has been more than 30,000 kilometers in the making.

Over the weekend we went to work at what was our most profitable venture in the last 10 months before our reshingling project.  Things didn’t turn out quite as well as they did in Riverton, New Zealand but luckily we can go back and try again.  We were so close on a few races that I just know we’ll win big next time.

The job front has sort of been more fruitful, at least from a short term viewpoint.  We spent the past week working for our friend Sarah’s folks up in Thornton, NH.  The Tim and Joanie Recovery and Reinvestment Act (TJRRA) has been putting Tim and Joanie back to work  stripping shingles and insulating and re-shingling a house.  The work is good and seemingly limitless, the scenery is amazing (especially while hanging out of a window 30 feet off the ground), and Gunnar and Heather (Sarah’s folks) have been the best hosts (how many jobs come with room and board?).  Let me rephrase that.  How many jobs come with room and board and don’t also require you to look after hundreds of kids?

We’ve taken a break from the job site to visit my family here in NY, but we’ll be back in Thornton to finish the job and continue our searching.  Until then, the weeks will likely be filled with insane amounts of home cooked meals, trips to All American when we can find some room for more food, late summer swims in the ocean, and some R&R here at home in NY.

]]> http://timandjoanie.org/2009/09/09/tjrra/feed/ 1 43.9735451 -71.6487122 http://timandjoanie.org/2009/08/31/beach-week-and-future-considerations/ http://timandjoanie.org/2009/08/31/beach-week-and-future-considerations/#comments Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:57:44 +0000 tim http://timandjoanie.org/?p=395 During the past ten months we’ve often been asked when we were going to return home to the east coast.  It often felt funny when we told people that we had to be back by August 23rd so that we could go on vacation with all of our friends for a week at Plum Island, MA.  In many ways, the start of Beach Week marked the end of what we’ve called Tim and Joanie’s Vacation–One Year!  We knew that once we left Plum Island the job and housing search would need to begin.  But, there was nothing bittersweet about that transition.  Ever since we got back to the States we’ve been looking forward to seeing our friends, and what better way to do that than cram them all into a house for one week?

What a week!  Two big storms provided the bookends for what was a perfect week of sunny weather.  Hurricane Bill passed by when we first arrived and sent some massive surf towards the coast (see the small person standing in front of that wave?).  While the authorities kept everyone out of the water for the first day or so, the storm provided a great opportunity for the aspiring surfers to catch some waves.   We managed to do a much better job catching waves than we did catching fish.  While we weren’t fishing or surfing we filled our time swimming in the incredibly warm water, eating massive amounts of delicious food, playing games on the beach, napping, sipping the occasional beverage, and just enjoying quality time with good friends.

Alas. the week has come to a close (we didn’t win the $333 million lottery so we had to leave) and we’ve returned to the Hipple household to plot out our next moves.  In true beach lover form, we watched a surfing movie the night we got back from the beach house and then returned to the coast the next day to get back in the water.  From here the job and housing search is ramping up and the vacation is almost over.

Perhaps we’ll get a call from the Amazing Race.  Perhaps someone reading this will want to hire two hardworking people who love to travel, take photographs, write and have fun.  We’ve had a lot of practice.  We’re good at it.  Hire us.

We screeched into Michigan with brake pads nearly gone, headlights barely functioning, and stomachs craving egg sandwiches and broccoli casserole.  The Smith family house was exactly what we needed and Jeff and Jackie kindly welcomed us and all of our dirty laundry with open arms.  By the time we left Michigan our brake pads were replaced, headlights rewired, clothes cleaned, and tummies full of delicious food–thanks Jackie and Jeff!

Of course, it wasn’t all work.  We spent plenty of time “Up North” at Higgins Lake cruising around on the boat, tubing, kneeboarding, and water skiing (which I discovered is the cheapest way to get a high powered enema).  We also managed to squeeze in a few days at Sleeping Bear Dune National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan.

With the end of our trip looming overhead, we also started to think about the inevitable–finding work.  So, in the midst of all the fun and games we managed to apply for a job of sorts.  In the spirit of adventure and up-for-anything attitude that has led us halfway around the world, we tried out for a TV show–The Amazing Race.  Our cousin Alex told us that we would be awesome for this show, and then by a stroke of luck there happened to be an open casting call in Michigan just days later.  It didn’t matter that we had never heard of the show or watched it.  We figured we’d trust our family’s advice and just go for it.  Stay tuned for an update on the job search!

We spent 3 nights and four days in the backcountry.  Two of our campsites were visited by bears–one almost certainly a grizzly.  We also saw elk, pronghorn, bison, pikas, mule deer, eagles, black bears and cubs, more wildflowers than either of us had ever seen and as many butterflies as well.  We crossed cold mountain rivers, twice had to run with our packs for about a mile each time to seek tree cover from lightning, and watched trees blow over all around us from the wind.  We honestly can’t wait to come back here!

This leg of our trip has turned into the Family and Friends Tour and we couldn’t be more thankful.  We had an amazing time with Emily, Dave,  Jamie and the rest of the Random Canyon Growlers who treated us to two shows during our week in Teton country.  Our overnight trip up Table Mountain has to be one of the best hikes we’ve ever done–there’s just no place quite like the Tetons.  We were introuced to a swimming hole complete with rope swing and 30 ft log diving board–except no one was able to make it to the end of the board before falling off.  We don’t have any pictures of that, so you’ll just have to make the trip to Victor to visit Emily and friends to see it for yourself.

After my stumble down Memory Lane we took off for a few days of backpacking in the High Uintas. I did remember how incredible this mountain range (the only east-west range in the US) and it’s high alpine meadows and lakes were.  I did forget how many mosquitoes are around this time of year.  A few days,  a few pints of blood, and one pancake/forest fire incident later we emerged from the mountains excited about our trip to Idaho to visit Emily!

One of the great things about New Zealand is that you’re never really that far from the ocean.  By the time we drove into Nevada we were a full day’s drive from the ocean, and landphobia was setting in.  Dry throat, dry and burning skin, visions of cool refreshing water on the horizon–all signs of landphobia.  How long would it take if we drove straight to Michigan and the refeshing waters of Higgins Lake?  When you start considering driving through the night to get to water in a car whose headlights go out every once in awhile you know that the fear of landphobia has a death grip on your decision making abilities.  We finally made it to Great Basin National Park, and the inevitable sign that says, “Most people see the Great Basin as a desolate landscape, but if you look closely it’s teeming with life.”  Why do places always phrase things like that.  It’s like saying, “You might think this place sucks but give it a chance.”

Great Basin is an incredible place–no apologies needed. And, yes, there are crystal clear streams running down from the snow covered peaks–and birds, butterflies, deer, wildflowers, etc.  We spent a few days there checking out 5,000 year old Bristlecone Pines, hiking the 13,063 ft Wheeler Peak, and enjoying a campfire for the first time in months.