Trips, Tragedy, Trauma

I have a vague memory of the other author of this blog promising to write this post. That was two weeks ago. Now we can't let this blog die, can we? Nor can we make much of Arun's promises. Until last week Arun at least contributed photographs to every post. Now after his car was shockingly broken into and his camera cruelly snatched away, Arun has no photos to share and is suffering from severe withdrawal. And he will be so until he burns a gaping hole through his pocket with a bigger, more decadent, hyper advanced camera. Until then he will be spending most of his waking hours researching his new "wife to be".

We've been keeping up our weekend exploits amidst two more hectic weeks. We watched four movies 17 Again, State of Play, The Soloist and Earth. Earth is a must watch! I wish they played it in iMax instead of Monsters vs. Aliens. 

And of course we made the most of the fortuitous streak of good weather. The Sunday before last we went to Cape May in New Jersey and took the Ferry to Cape Henlopen in Delaware. The ferry which is more public transport than tourist fare was full of tourists and locals enjoying an afternoon at sea on the gorgeous bright day. The sun went in and out of the clouds. The two hours were delightfully slow as the boat cut through the gently rolling waters. We then drove back home from Delaware, rounding off a deservedly fun weekend.

Last weekend we went to Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square about 30 miles from Philadelphia. The place had over a 1000 acres of gardens. We walked the Flower Garden Walk bordering gardens and lakes and fountains. There were tulips in full bloom. Red, White, Yellow, Pink, a rainbow of tulips. Arun lay prostrate, twisted himself lay into weird shapes on the ground and stood on tip toe. All to get a few pictures. And great pictures they were. Unfortunately, Arun and I will be the only persons to see them. For after we got our fill of flowers at the garden, we went to the movies at King of Prussia mall. After the show we came to a car with a broken window and glass strewn all around. Both our backpacks were gone. With them went Arun's camera. Little hope remains of its retreival.

We scrapped our Sunday plans and spent most of the day watching movies on TV while guarding Arun's car. We even gave up watching Earth on the weekend it was released. Unprecedented! 

So that's the story so far. More next week...

So what has the duo been up to?

A lazy Sunday greeting to our blogger buddies! We've been rather tardy writing about our recent wanderings, random as they may be. After our sinfully lazy and indulgent weekend a fortnight ago (Alan Smithee: No hyperlink! We are all about pleasing our esteemed readerfolk...), an uninvited storm ravaged our lives. Arun had to work. A lot and hard that too. Unbelievable, I know! One would think he's beyond such lowly exertions. He found a way out though. He promptly fell ill and played the sympathy card. This should shed a more enlightening perspective on his recent blog post about his hospital visit(Alan Smithee: Forgive me, I had to). And of course, he passed the virus to me too. At least I turned out to be a better fighter and escaped being pricked in the ear.

And I realized, not without a startle, that I had to turn in cases and projects and the like if I had any hopes of graduating next month. And it is rather crucial that I graduate. Rosy as it might seem, Wharton is anything but affordable a place to wait and watch as the world goes upside down. Chuckle! Which reminds me, I will be in sunny California all of June. As a good dutiful daughter, I intend to be with my parents who will be visiting me for graduation. The truth is the rich uncles refused to pay my rent. So I will leave the East Coast with a heavy heart and an undying promise to return.

Now that the illnesses and work and studies have blown over, life is back to its normal fun avtar. So I hunkered down and got to blogging.

Last weekend we went to Washington DC on Saturday to be amongst the sea of people who went there for the Cherry Blossom Festival. Soft, white, feathery blossoms. Most lilted merrily on the branches, others flew around wispily in the whimsical breeze. Thousands of blossoms. Thousands of people. Here are a few pictures of the sights...

Cherry Blossoms and Washington Monument in the backkground

Arlington Cemetry

Amphitheater in Arlington Cemetry

The weather on Sunday was gorgeous. We are not ones to pass up on such chance pleasures. So we woke up at noon, dressed and drove to Point Pleasant Beach in New Jersey. We walked on the beach watching a bunch of children having a ball in the wet sand. Fooled by the warmish sand, I went into the water and came running back to be readily mocked by our hero. We threw darts at balloons and won fragile looking monkey soft toys. They are stuck to the back of Arun's car these days and have really taken to the spot. Our day at the beach came to a fitting end as we wheezed and whewed, struggling to finish massive 3-scoop ice creams.

Over the last week we also managed to watch Adventureland and Observe & Report, go to the Bridgewater temple to ensure I'm still in good (albeit, still unemployed) standing with God *snicker*. This weekend has been a little quiet, due to the rain that kept us indoors yesterday and a looming exam that has tied me down today. We did manage to take a stroll down the Schulkyll River waterfront yesterday when the skies cleared up a bit.

So that's a quick replay of the last two weeks. It's back to the books now.