Pecan Pies

Hello, world. Population 6.4 🙂

I promise K and I are not full of lies. We WILL go on some adventures… at some point. Our first mini get-away to PA was harshly rejected by Hurricane Sandy, which left most of New Jersey and much of New York in a black hole. Darkness, gas station crimes, and complete boredom. I spent my days eating, doing puzzles and over eating. While K very actively conserved the batteries on his phone, laptop, ipad, and e-reader: sheesh! 🙂 Both thankful and a little stir crazy from the unexpected week “off” from work, everything seems to be slowly getting back into it’s natural rhythm. (Even the NJTransit… finally.)

Since our outdoor adventures aren’t for a few months, I’ll instead talk about one big indoor adventure that’s coming up: Thanksgiving! I won’t go into too much detail, no one wants to read another turkey recipe – especially not me, so a few highlights/menu items so far!

– Special ordered turkey from Raleigh’s Poultry Farm. I have named this 14-16lb poor sacrifice “Harry” … not sure why.
– Our weekend grocery run took us to: Fairway Market, Target, Trader Joe’s, The Container Store, Hanyang Market, Paris Baguette and our local wine & liquor store. What a Sunday! Lots of cars on the road, even more carts in the aisles, and a tired K trying to account for all the ingredients in all the recipes for all the foods to prepare. I, M, quietly snuck away at every opportunity for free samples.
– We have a big feast ahead of us, including a pre-ordered, delivered by courier service Pecan Pie from Zabars at his request. Something not included: my denied request for Martinelli’s Apple Juice. 🙂
– M is banned from making corn freeters, macaroni and cheese using shells, boxed stuffing, boxed mashed potatoes and pouring ketchup everywhere. This is going to be rough.
– K is banned from buying fancy unnecessaries, ie: thermometers, tongs, potato mashers, etc, also banned from hogging oven time, and raising voice at M.

I am so excited for family fun with sisters and brothers and parents and beer. I’m sure the kitchen will get heated as K is very particular, about method, quality, quantity, temperature, etc etc. and I am more of a… “I think it’s ready.. probably” kind of a lady. But it should be a deliciously memorable day for everyone.

Will follow up soon with pictures.

Puzzle: Sandy, October 2012.

 

The “Niagara” of PA

Counting down the days to our mini excursion to The Appalachian Trail – very exciting for city dwellers like us to get away. Foliage is reason enough to spend entire weekends in the “country” (meaning Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania).

In addition to K’s Pinnacle Loop, I’ve decided to formally request a pit stop at Bushkill Falls for a quick, touristy walk through. Their longest loop is about 2.5 miles and takes you though 8 water falls! This should be a fun, refreshing quickie on our way back home. The two planned walks will be on different days, back to back and will be very different from each other. Looking forward to seeing the changing colors and also some water falls. Niagara is a bit too far, but this will do for now 🙂

As K mentioned before, I purchased a pack and have been putting it to use. Unconventional use. I travel between Philadelphia and New York weekly for work, and instead of packing my usual mini suitcase – I’ve started to load my Aura up, just to get used to the weight on my back.

Pros: It’s great to be able to just get up and go, because your luggage is tied to your body, literally. Like a mule 🙂
Comfort. The bag is sturdy, well padded in the right places, all the straps are where they should be and move great.

Cons: This pack is built to be efficient, so there are pockets and hidden (at least to me) zippers and compartments… took me a full minute to find my socks!
The waist buckle is 75% of the magic with one of these, without it, my shoulders would be very negative plains.

Will keep stomping around with it to become friends, as of now, we are but acquaintances.

This is K looking for books on Yosemite, wearing the Aether 70 for fit. With about 35lbs simulated. He is sad because I denied approval on his choice of camp stove. What a baby! He has started a “Foods” doc with necessary prep work, required tools/utensils/etc, and comments. I am also adding to the comments portion with adamant “NO” and more adamant “DUH” (oatmeal and spam, respectively). A glimpse below, I hope the text is too small for anyone to actually read, that would be slightly embarrassing!

Hope lots of people are getting out there as the weather cools down! I hear we may be in for a bad winter so now’s the time to go!

Happy almost-Friday everyone,
M

Challenge #1: Pinnacle Loop, PA

Hi everybody, K here.  Welcome to my inaugural post!

M and I have a weekend trip to Philly a few weekends from now, and we’re hoping to get a half-day hike squeezed in.  I’m thinking we may try and hike the Pinnacle Loop at Berks Country Park, which is about 80 miles outside of Philly.

This 8 mile loop (in blue) is actually part of the storied Appalachian Trail (in red) and should prove to be a scenic challenge.  The total elevation gain is about 900 feet, so hopefully we will be treated to a nice display of autumn foliage in the Lehigh Valley while trying out some of our new gear.

Speaking of new gear, congratulations to M for her first big purchase – the Osprey Aura 50.  We spent an hour or so at REI, and M’s discriminating eye was drawn to this pack in Eggplant Purple.  It is a good looking pack and the weight distribution is rock solid, as evidenced by M’s lightning-quick laps up and down the aisles of the store, juking and jiving while carrying a simulated 20 pound load.  This is an impressive feat for someone who will mysteriously have trouble carrying groceries up stairs!!!  The pack is loaded with lots of awesome (practical) features, and pockets are very thoughtfully laid out.  Hopefully this pack will see many, many miles of beautiful trail.

Lastly, I wanted to share this incredible video I stumbled upon while I was doing some research.  (Watch it in full screen!!!) It is the trailer to a documentary called “MILE… MILE & A HALF: A Journey Along The John Muir Trail”, and was produced by The Muir Project.  The Muir Project is basically a group of media artists that got together and hiked the JMT over a period of 3.5 weeks.  It is still being worked on and so unreleased, but wow this trailer is great.  The scenery is so beautiful, the camera shots are inspired, and the colors are the definition of eye candy.  It gets me so pumped up for our little trip, it makes me want to quit my job and hike the JMT!  The trail is one of America’s most celebrated trails, and the 211 mile long journey passes through Yosemite’s backcountry.  I hope that M and I are blessed enough to see similar sights during our trip.  Definitely check out their other videos, their blog, and come back to ours for more updates.

Puerto Rico

While K is in charge of planning and executing our San Fran – Yosemite – Las Vegas extravaganza (give or take 10 days), I have assigned myself the task of planning a short get away to Puerto Rico (give or take 4 days) in the early weeks of January 2013 🙂

The flight and hotel situation is pretty much a game of entering dates, re-entering dates and seeing the best pricing option. Followed by unending reviews on hotels/resorts, photo galleries, mapping locations, etc. But still, doable.

What I cannot figure out: Activities. Is it better (less costly) to join one of those tours – which isn’t the ideal option for either of us, or to plan ourselves once we get there? For example: El Yunque Rainforest.

There seems to be various packages you can purchase to travel with a group, which includes rides to the proper locations. The locals/tourguides are also well aware of weather concerns, so that’s a plus as well. But, the hiking/climbing routes can change (depending on the mood/personality/enthusiasm of the guide) and you really may not get the full experience.

Apparently, there is the option of renting a car and driving yourself to said destination.. which is appealing for many reasons. You can go/come back as you please, stop at local places for eats and treats, etc. The downside, as always is: The Unknown.

I understand that any trip should be prepared for with research and more research, but that’s kind of a downer for me – often resulting in “let’s just stay home!” (K is all about the prep work, spreadsheets, cost comparisons, testing our gear/recipes/physical training. 🙂 That contrast should be pretty apparent once his voice appears here on Bunstoppable.)

Anyhoo, this is a small project for me that is always in the back of my mind. I believe “a beach, is a beach.. is a beach” so all the filler experiences are what make it memorable. Hope I find some quality information to help with the planning!

– M

Introductions

Hello, world! Or rather – Hello, blog partner?! 🙂

On the off chance that this blog develops a large cult of followers, I will start with basic introductions of – who we are, what this is all about, and what we hope to chronicle (or.. what I hope to chronicle).

We are, collectively, a couple in our mid (almost late) twenties, of Asian descent, living in New York (City), dreaming desperately of all the adventures we hope to one day embark on. We are also well into our fifth year together as lovebirds, you know?

K – my counter part, is a survival expert (level 3, out of 100) but chained to a desk M-F. Sandwiched between two sisters. Has a great sense of humor, and makes awesome ape noises. Owner of many failed blogs.

M – me, hi! I work with students from other countries (that I have yet to explore) and also lead a boring work life. Mother to a younger brother. Way more hilarious than K, learning to make awesome ape noises. Owner of too many, TMI-type blogs.

We both enjoy adventure, the outdoors, the indoors, good food, great sleep and endlessly talking of what we hope to do/see/taste, etc in the ‘future.’

This particular blog and the idea of it popped out of nowhere after yet another one of our trips to R.E.I. – a place we love to roam around, touching everything and using the bathroom too frequently from excitement. We’ve planned a trip to San Fran – Yosemite – Las Vegas in the Spring with great emphasis on the Yosemite portion. Hoping for great hikes, safe camping and no bears…

K will probably be the one to fill in the details of what/where/how, and I will check in with the ooh’s and ahh’s (all the good stuff) of our experiences. The trip is still months away but it seems that the prep and research will be a large task! So in hopes of gathering our thoughts, seeing our progress and jointly participating in the process – welcome to bunstoppable.wordpress.com!

I, M, will often flashback to our past adventures – as I hope this is not only a chronicle of our physical, eventful adventures, but a reflection of our days, weeks, months and years together. This may turn into a baby blog one day. Hahaha, just kidding! Gross, babies. Yuck. 🙂

Until next time!

– M