NJ trip

So now to update you on my little summer trip to NJ.  Getting out there in the first place was somewhat of an adventure.  This was in part due to my blood clot fiasco--I wasn't even sure if the Dr. would let me fly and I had to have an ultrasound of my leg the day before I flew.  Fortunately, they decided it would be ok as long as I wore this dreadful thigh-high compression sock and got up every half an hour.  However, that wasn't the only hurdle to jump.  My flight left ridiculously early on Thursday (June 7) so I checked in the night before.  And low and behold, after I got through security, it came to my attention that my flight had been canceled due to weather conditions in Dallas (my layover).  So, I had to go back through security to the front desk, and get a new flight.  This new flight (with a layover in Michigan instead of Dallas) arrived in La Guardia, so my mom had to dither about weather she could drive to La Guardia, but it all ended up fine (though in Michigan they told us we were going to be delayed in take of an indeterminate about of time...but then basically said just kidding and we took off).  Now, this may not sound that bad, but let me just say now that I repeated the problem on the way out.  I checked in the night before...and when I got to the airport my flight had been delayed for two hours.  Apparently it was hurricane season in Dallas.  So  I waited for hours in the airport/airplane (we sat on the tarmac for a while) and eventually I got to Dallas, where I waited for three more hours because, of course, I missed my connection.  I finally got to SLC after nine at night.  I suppose I learned a lesson here...NEVER check in the night before! It depresses me how obnoxious flying has to become.  It used to be these luxurious experience, and now it's becoming more and more like the greyhound bus.  They even made me stuff my pillow in my backpack and my purse in my suitcase because they were extra items.  Hello!  I'm not putting my purse, backpack, or pillow in the overhead bin, so why do you care?!  At least I didn't get molested at security this time.  Also I flew over central park on the way home (and saw Ellis Island from afar) which was nice.

At any rate, once I got there my mom and I grabbed dinner at this NJ place called Muscle Maker Grill, and I went for a walk with my mom then bummed around and watched Cougar Town before crashing.  (I did wake up REALLY early and go to bed way late the night before.)  As a side note, Muscle Maker Grill was awesome! The name sounds terribly unappealing, but it's a healthy eating establishment started by some fitness guy. I wish we had one here.  The black bean soup was amazing.

On Friday I also had a pretty chill day.  It was nice to be a bum for a few days since school just ended and I'd had some craziness with the leg, the hives, and leaving a conference in the middle to do the ultra sound, blah blah.  I went for a run, we had dinner at the house, then we went to the New Jersey State Opera, which was temporarily housed like ten minutes from my parents house.


The opera was really well done; the orchestra and the singers were all very impressive.  I felt very cultured, especially when I realized that this opera is where the famous "Figaro, Figaro, Figaro" line comes from.

On Friday I went running again, of course.  The cross-country team at Cyprus has started doing a mile club.  You can earn either 100, 200, or 300 mile club, and you get a sweet t-shirt with bronze, silver, or gold.  In order to be in a club you have to run that distance within the three months of June, July, and August.  I really want to earn the 300 mile club.  (No one did last summer.  I hardly ran last summer due to the skateboard incident.)  The bronze 100 mile club shirt looks nice, but I think the silver is ugly, therefore, I must go for the gold!

Anyway, also on Saturday, my mom wanted to visit "the swamp park" which is really Richard W. DeKorte Park sponsored by the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission as a conservation effort.  I suppose the Swamp Park is a more fitting name--it's a swamp, not a meadow.  Anyway, it was fun to walk along the boardwalks through the swamp.  We saw a cute crab, and lots of birds.



After we visited the park we dithered about where to go to dinner with a possibility of going to Rut's Hut which is apparently a famous New Jersey place.  They are known for rippers, which are hot dogs that are deep fat fried (which split in the oil, hence, "rippers").  We ended up passing on the dogs, and landed at a hibachi place.  It was pretty tasty (especially the tempura veggies) but also adventuresome because the fire alarm went off and we all had to evacuate.  So we chilled in the parking lot with three fire trucks for a good 15 minutes.  I was also entertained/disturbed  by the giant tanuki in the foyer.  Apparently this "racooon dog" is a famous Japanese thing.  I just think it needed some underpants, if you know what I mean.