appalachian adventures

This past weekend my friend Seth kindly invited me and six other select individuals to his hometown. He invited us to stay at his family's house in Knott County, Kentucky for a weekend of fun with friends, and also to meet his family and explore the place where he grew up. It was a way for his friends to get a feel for the life he has when he isn't here at UK with all of us. It was definitely a good idea because Seth has been a good friend of mine for a while and it's nice to see where he comes from. Plus it was a lot of fun!

All of my roommates went on the trip (except Danielle. Why? One word. Studying) and then so did 3 other guys who live at "The Max". Our "group" as I call it, has been going strong for about 3 years now, and we are all very close. Maybe too much so... No one really holds back anything. Reservations or inhibitions are basically non-existent when we all get together. As a result, time spent with this group is always random and hilarious. This weekend trip wasn't any different. We all made the 3 hour drive to Seth's hometown of Mallie (which is in southeast KY, somewhat close to the border of Virginia). The town was continuously described by the girls as "cute", but I'd like to say it's quaint. It's sort of nestled in among the hills of the surrounding Appalachians. It's a traditional eastern Kentucky town, and it had the vibe of being "away from it all". So, we arrived at the Brashear home and after getting some hugs from his very sweet and welcoming parents we spent a pretty relaxed evening just talking, eating delicious food that the family prepared for us, and sitting around a campfire with knives whittling designs into our hiking sticks. Also some people may or may not have made a late night venture to a baseball field where they partook in a fairly daring endeavour... If that last sentence confuses you, good.

Saturday is when the weekend really kicked into gear. We all walked across the street to the house of "Granny", where we were privileged to eat the delicious southern meal his grandparents made us of cat-head biscuits with a chocolate gravy. Mmm! We were then regaled with hilarious stories from Granny, some of which included embarrassing childhood stories about Seth, followed by an impromptu fight with crab apples.

Next on our agenda? Hiking! We drove to a trail about a half hour away called Bad Branch Trail. The drive there was gorgeous, and it showed views of the state that I don't normally see. So, using our new hiking sticks, the group set out on the trail. It was a pretty short hike but it ended at this amazing waterfall. It was beautiful!! Of course Seth proceeded to take a shower in it. Literally. He had shampoo. Then everyone played around and climbed rocks. Stalbs even fell in some water and thus had soaking wet pants. I of course took many photos of this event. When we returned from the hike we all ate lunch Seth packed for us which was homegrown and locally made food from a nearby population of Mennonites. This food has apparently been in "Southern Living" magazine and has won a few awards. Mmm.
Next up, the campsite. We set up camp at this place that used to be a strip mine but has since been restored thanks to an environmental project. Apparently a really wealthy man bought the acres of property and through time it has returned to it's natural habitat. There is a lot of wildlife, and the place is huge. It was unlike anything I've ever seen before. I'm used to camping in wooded areas, but this was more like a giant field of rolling hills and grass. It reminded me of prairies from out west. It was very isolated too, we didn't see any other campers the whole time. The place is used also as an ATV course, and so off-roading is a frequent activity. Our group had 2 quads/ATVs and a Jeep Wrangler. After we set up our tents the driving around the massive property began. It was intense. There were gigantic mud puddles that we drove through and got sprayed to the point where we couldn't see out the windows of the jeep. Also we had some scary close-calls with spinning out and losing control. But, we made it out safely! When I rode the ATV with Christina there was a point where we were on the two side wheels after speeding through a mud puddle much deeper than we realized. I was a bit scared, clinging to Christina for life, similar to my experiences with ATV's at John's farm. Anyways, we got attacked with mud, but it was fun. During these hours of driving all over the place we looked down into a valley and noticed some hunters. We then heard a gunshot echo through the hills, followed by the sounds of a huge male elk crying out. We basically witnessed it get shot and die, and the next day we found it's entrails in the grass. It was pretty sad, made me realize why I am not a fan of hunting. No offense John, I know you have an affinity for elk burgers!

So, after many exhilarating and somewhat scary moments, we all came back to the campsite and had chili for dinner (again made for us earlier by the Brashears). Everyone was sufficiently muddy, and Stalbs and Julia had to make shoes out of plastic bags since their other ones were too wet. We sat around the campfire for a while and made the traditional smores, and told the usual ghost stories. They actually really did scare me though because being out in the huge open field was a little bit creepy to begin with. The wind made strange noises against our tent that sounded identical to the sound of a person walking in the rocky ground around us, and as a result I had some trouble falling asleep... During the night the floaty I was laying on deflated, and it got crazy cold. I apologize to Kristine for snuggling up very close to her for body heat, haha. Also, the animal noises commenced around 3am. We heard the sounds of elk crying or braying or whatever you call it, and sometimes the noises were very odd. I decided elk sound like a combination of a cow, a cat, and a raptor from Jurassic Park. Around 2:30am, the three girls on the air mattress realized that it had deflated. Hilarious conversations and events followed this, and I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe at one point. I also heard some wolves howling around 5am. It was eerie, but also really awesome to hear. All in all, I didn't get very much sleep. But that is okay. It was worth it.

In the morning we feasted on banana bread and hot chocolate, and then went back out to driving around the property. We got really lucky and were able to get really close to several male elk. We got some good pictures, listened to their bizarre noises (maybe crying over their fallen friend?), and I realized that they are actually really massive when you see them up close. After all of these fun bonding events were over, we packed up camp. We said bye to Seth's family and stopped on the way home for dinner at a delicious Mexican Restaurant called "El Azul Grande", or The Big Blue! (Go Cats!) The finishing touch to a great weekend! I'll end this blog with a now classic quote coined by Christina: (in a crazy high pitched voice) I just looove my friends! I just love life! I'm so passionate about life!" PS "guys, let's deflate this %$#@!"

ode to the grove

Since nothing very exciting happened today I have decided to dedicate this post to my house. The one I live in while in Lexington, Kentucky. It is 108 years old and is occupied by six very intelligent and attractive girls.. not that I am biased by any means. In addition to the fact that several poems have been inspired by our home, it has many other desirable qualities.

Our house boasts a tiny door in the back of the laundry room that leads to a scary room full of asbestos and mattresses and a lone teddy-bear, and it has been dubbed "the murder room". Sometimes when I'm in the shower I think about that room, and how it leads into the shower room, and it scares me. In addition, there is an outdoor access only dirt-floor cellar which contains graffiti, dead cat bones, and a random unhinged door covered in dirt. Sounds exciting right? You have no idea...
Now that you know some of the finer points of living at the "Grove", which we so lovingly named it (the street is called "Grosvenor"), I guess I can share some of the perks. Everyone has a giant room. I have painted glass windows in my room (that wish they were stained glass) and many of us have an old fire place with antique covers over the hearth. The floors creak, so we don't have to worry about getting robbed, and there is an unused door that connects my room to Julia's! Since there is no door knob we can look through the hole and talk to each other! Not that it's creepy or anything. Also we have yet to see any ghosts. That is also a plus.

Our house looks lovely in the winter as you can see, even the gigantic 7 feet tall and 17 feet wide bush in our front yard doesn't look so bad with a light dusting of snow! The giant bush in the front yard is a whole new issue entirely. We e-mailed our land lord about getting it taken out, but we were rejected because it has grown to such epic proportions that a bulldozer would be necessary to kill it. It blocks off our front porch, is a place for predators to hide, houses colonies of stray cats, bugs, fleas etc. and once a pet python that escaped a neighboring home was found living in it. No joke. Due to these lovely qualities, it is not the best part of living at the Grove. Yet we have learned to deal with it because we are strong and resilient people. Obviously.

Some of the Grove ladies attempted to smash it into the ground during the ice storm in Lexington last March, but when the snow melted it bounced back up to its original proportions. Hmm.
Our house also rocks because we can walk to Q'Doba in 4 minutes flat (I once timed this), can be on campus in about 15 minutes by foot, have a wide array of nearby boutiques and cute little shops, and can easily go downtown (bars!! no cab fees!) and to Woodland park. Parking cars on the street (I can't parallel park very well) and rogue trash cans that like to bust up my car door are some of the downfalls of the area. But besides that, it's a perfectly acceptable place to live while in college. Hating the overgrown shrubbery and getting our bikes stolen from our backyard are simple shortcomings when you keep in mind that we get to have roomie dance parties whenever we want, and that there is usually free chocolate laying around somewhere.

I hope you enjoyed my description of the Grove. If you haven't been blessed with the opportunity of seeing it yet I suggest you contact someone stat, because you are really missing out.

I guess I will finish this, my first blog, with a picture of my amazing room. I am obsessed with it, as you have probably guessed: