george washington's birthplace

driving home from virginia, i was bored and wanted to see some new scenery, so i turned off route 17 and headed north into tidewater country. i saw a sign announcing george washington's birthplace. my legs needed a good stretch, and i stopped and made it for the last tour of the day.

the original house is no longer standing. the outline of the house is clearly marked.

well meaning people built a home on what they thought was the original spot, but it turned out to be an outbuilding's location. so the rebuilt house is now called a memorial house. still the plantation grounds are beautiful and well worth walking around for an hour or so when a break from driving is needed.

i played a 1930s reproduction of an 18th century harpischord in the main hall of the memorial house. it was very different from a piano and threw me off a bit.

a miniature washington monument marks the entrance to pope's creek plantation.

virginia for labor day

i spent labor day weekend in virginia with my cousins jay and sue. it was truly a relaxing weekend and so good to see my virginia family.

the battle of yorktown monument

visiting with sue while waiting for the concert

sweet lobby cupcakes

btw, this is what they look like when turbulence doesn't up end them.

cousins dave & ange

outside the fort at jamestown.

with captain john smith...

not nearly as good looking as the disney version.

inside the fort at jamestown

cousins jay and sue with pocahontas.

the chapel at jamestown

the digs at jamestown are open during the week, but covered up on weekends.

i need to go back during the week sometime.

a map of jamestown.

unmarked gravesites

jamestown was really beautiful. it was a fun visit, but way too hot and humid.

i love this view of jay and sue's backyard. usually the bird feeders are full of birds which provide hours of entertainment. i love siting at this window and watching the birds.

family reunion 2012

the second annual boyer family reunion was held the end of august. we went camping up logan canyon and played at bear lake. it was a fun time.

even the dogs had a family reunion, rusty and topher are brother and sister too.

some of the cousins

grandpa kept grandkids warm when they got cold

and grandma made sure they were okay.

lined up for an egg-carry race

ready... set... GO. the starting line up for a foot race.

me, getting dunked in the river by brother R2.

my newest niece.

cousins being weird and having fun. 

doctor who in nyc

Time for a little catching up from the past few months.

At the end of August, my inner geek came out again only this time in NYC. We scored tickets in late August to a sneak preview of the Doctor Who Season 7 premier and spent the weekend playing in NYC. It was brilliant.

First there was waiting... lots of waiting.

Then there was the Doctor...

...in real life with Amy Pond. 

Matt Smith and Karen Gillan were so much fun.

They really enjoyed talking with us and answering questions. 

They even arrived at the premier in a DeLorean, which is almost as good as a TARDIS.

It was so much fun to watch the season premier with so many fans, and it was so good. 

I've never seen so many sonic screw drivers in one room. 

If you're a true Whovian, you'll totally get why we were a little distressed to find this picture in our hotel room. Whovians don't do stone angels of any sort. Somehow we managed to survive the night.

I wish that we had managed to snap a photo of the empty pedestal labelled "Angel" at The Frick Collection. We were very concerned about an angel on the loose, and rightfully so given the last episode of Doctor Who, Season 7. Truly frightening.

~~~.~~~

And then we explored NYC... It's such a beautiful, gritty city.

Yup, that's the moon up there.

I love how New York makes me look up at every turn.

Classic.

"I was looking up... It was the nearest thing to heaven. You were there."

name that movie...

I really enjoy the details of art deco architecture.

We also visited Ground Zero. The Frick Collection.

And oh the food at Via Quadronno... 

It was the perfect meal to end our NYC adventure.

I cannot wait to go back.

All photos were taken using my Droid Incredible 2 phone and edited using Picasa.

shore leave sci-fi convetion 2012

I'm playing a little catch up here....

Shore Leave is the largest fan-run science fiction on the east coast and it's lots of fun. I went with a couple of friends and spent a Saturday in August enjoying my geekiness.

Kate Mulgrew aka Captain Kathryn Janeway of Star Trek Voyager was the headlining artist. What a gracious and delightful woman. She was so interesting, and very genuine. I felt that she really enjoyed being there and sharing her STV experiences. 

Lavar Burton (LT Geordi LaForge, Chief Engineering Officer of Star Trek Next Generation)

Me (just a fan)

Kate Mulgrew (Captain Kathryn Janeway of Star Trek Voyager)

(I took a photo of my photo to share here, because I don't have my scanner hooked up.)

A convention attendee playing The Doctor with a host of other Doctors.

A 12 year old dressed as the Tenth Doctor.

I loved all the Doctor Who fans.

Someone turned their hybrid vehicle into a Star Trek shuttle craft.

Check out the license plate ENTRPR A... apparently a die hard fan.

Where else in the universe would you run into R2D2 and his trusty Jedi handler?

The Jedi built this R2 unit himself and handcrafted many of the parts himself.

This was such a fun day. I went to several panels, but my favorite was the Downton Abbey panel. Yes, you read that right. It so much fun to geek out with a large room full of DA fans, and the discussion was great. One of the moderators really did his job and kept us all on track.

All in all a very fun time. And yes, I am a geek. _\V/