Spring Trip To CT

    With the crazy weather this Spring we decided not to go to NH for vacation. And it’s a good thing we didn’t seeing as how they just got hit with a second winter which would not have been cohesive to hiking. So although that sucks, we got to go to CT instead and spend Wrestlemania weekend with my family.

    We left after work on Thursday night which ended up being 10:00, making for a very late night drive. Knowing this in advance we planned on sleeping in that morning but unfortunately were not able to because my car stopped working the night before. Turns out it was the alternator so we were back to having one car for the day while it got fixed, something we haven’t done in over a year now. But the ride ended up not being bad at all, I barely even got tired. We spent most of the trip talking after eating our Burger King on the road. With only one bathroom break we made it there in just over five hours and didn’t run into any bad weather until the bottom of Massachusetts but still not too bad. And then it didn’t stop raining our entire vacation, except for when it turned into snow.

    On Friday morning I decided to go hunt down an old friend of mine I hadn’t seen in years. Andy was one of the last of the crew to stick by me when the rest walked away. I didn’t actually expect to find him but he happened to be home that morning so we hung out for awhile, just catching up. He truly is a musical genius and the best guitarist I’ve ever known so it’s good to hear he’s still working on music, we’ve produced hundreds of songs together and it looks like we’ve still got hundreds more to go.

    That evening we went to the Buckland Hills Mall to meet up with my cousin for supper at Outback Steakhouse, we don’t have one up here. We left a little early to do some shopping and begin my hunt for the Sasha Banks figure that just came out, in CT that is, Maine’s a little behind the times. Sasha Banks is a WWE wrestler and this is her first figure if you didn’t know. We didn’t find her at Target but we did find a bunch of discounted Easter candy that we probably shouldn’t have bought but did anyway. No Sasha at Big Lots or Toys R Us either but I did find two other brand new WWE figures, two of my favorites, Sycho Sid and Razor Ramon. So I snatched up both of them and we met up with Beckah for dinner. We hadn’t seen her in a couple years so it was really nice to catch up, she’s awesome and has always been my favorite cousin. I was supposed to eat light so I could grab second dinner at the Cajun Café in the mall food court, something I didn’t remember until we were almost home. I was willing to say screw it and just get my Cajun another time but Jaime, being the amazing wife she is, made me turn around and drive back to get my favorite food in the world. We planned on staying up until my sister got home from work that night so we could watch the NXT Dallas special on the WWE network. But we might have accidentally gotten awfully comfy and fell asleep around 10:30.

   

     On Saturday we all piled in the car and headed out to the malls in MA and RI, something that’s become tradition every time we’re down. The hot dogs at Spike’s Junkyard Dogs were amazing as usual but I didn’t find anything I needed at either Toy Vault. Most of my collections are nearing completion so its getting more difficult to find those few remaining hard to find pieces, not to mention expensive. And still no Sasha Banks figure, sold out everywhere we went. Luckily the hot dogs made everything alright.

     That night my man C-Note came by to kick it and work on some music. We’ve been friends since fifth grade, he was actually supposed to move up here to Maine with us, his bedroom was going to be what is now the studio. We talk online all the time but haven’t seen each other since I moved and he didn’t. It was great to catch up with him but he was a little too intoxicated to really record anything serious. It’s sad to me to see someone drinking when you know they don’t need it. He’s always been one of the coolest, funniest, most down to earth and carefree people I’ve ever known. We’ve done some great music together and will do so again, just not that night. Kind of disappointing.

    On Sunday we planned on going to the outdoor flea market at the Mansfield drive-in and then an indoor one Jaime and I went to last year that had some coin collector displays my dad would enjoy. But after shoveling out two inches of snow in 50 mph winds, we decided to skip the flea market that probably wouldn’t have even been open. So we went to visit my grandmother and uncle with my dad. Grandma loves making meals for people so she served a late Easter dinner consisting of ham, potatoes, kielbasa and sauerkraut and then some cookies and pie for desert. We went to Goodwill afterwards on our way to the Crystal Mall where I found a brand new pair of jeans that will need some hemming before I can wear them and also the upright tracking system for the studio closet I’m getting ready to do. I was looking to spend roughly a hundred dollars just on the tracking pieces alone but I got a bundle of it there for only $10. I could barely believe my eyes, it was exactly what I was looking for, down to the number of pieces I needed. Still nothing at the third and final Toy Vault though and no Sasha Banks anywhere.

    We got home just in time for the Wrestlemania festivities. Mom and Julie picked out the fruit and veggie platters and made some dip for the chips. Everything was delicious and Wrestlemania was actually really good despite a poor buildup to it. We watched most of the two hour pre-show and then the actual event itself lasted nearly five hours so that was a lot of wrestling. But it was awesome to see AJ Styles at his first Wrestlemania, he’s been one of my favorites for over a decade now and I didn’t honestly think we’d ever see him in a WWE ring. Watching Zack Ryder win the ladder match to capture the Intercontinental belt was insane, I certainly didn’t see that one coming. And of course seeing my all time favorite Shawn Michaels make a surprise appearance was great, even better, he was wearing his ring attire, something I didn’t expect to see again after his retirement about five years ago. And even though Sasha Banks didn’t win the women’s belt she still had one of if not the best match of the night, plus a pretty cool entrance with Snoop Dogg performing her theme song. Overall it was a tremendous show and one of the best in years.

     For Monday we originally planned on doing some hiking. Instead we did some shoveling. Six inches of snow. Six inches! Jaime didn’t leave the house all day but after my sister got back from class, the four us went to my parents’ favorite Chinese buffet. It was delicious and worth the slow drive in the snow. Luckily the buffet is only a couple minutes down the road. Monday night was reserved for Monday Night Raw, the night after Wrestlemania Raw is known for being the best and most unpredictable of the year. Although there wasn’t much for surprise returns, it was still one hell of a show and fun to watch, I don’t usually get to watch it live when its happening.

    Before leaving on Tuesday we went to the Buckland Mall again, this time with my parents to eat at TGI Fridays and pick up some Cajun food to go for me. We don’t have a TGI Fridays up here but they always play the commercials so we’ve been wanting it for awhile now. It’s as good as the commercials make it sound. Mom made fun of me for getting a salad but it was so good I didn't care. And then I got two boxes of Cajun to take home with me, plus the one I still had from Friday night. Excessive? Maybe a little but you’ll understand if you ever get the chance to try it.

    We left early in the afternoon which meant daytime driving. It beats the hell out of driving nearly six hours at night. We stopped in Portland on our way home but as usual didn’t buy anything, except for a couple cookie sandwiches from Mrs. Fields. So we didn’t come home with much more than some food. I did bring back my Dino Riders from my parent’s basement as well as my old bar bell and some weights. The only thing that sucked more than the bad weather was not seeing more of my friends and getting to record. I was hoping to see Concept, Gambino, Santo and Larysa to hang out and work on some music but things didn’t exactly go according to plan. I kind of knew that would happen since I put so much time and effort into getting their tracks all ready to record. A part of me misses my old lifestyle, the rest of me doesn’t miss working around other people. I hate being let down and unfortunately, that’s what people do.

    All in all, it was a good trip. It could have been better had the weather cooperated but we had fun. It would have been nice to see a few more people and gotten some music done but oh well, I’m not really a rapper anymore anyway. I hope to someday be able to make it back home more than twice a year, there’s still so much I want to see and do in that area.