My parents were up in Vermont visiting UVM for Parents Weekend, and I decided to drive up to see them and my sister (pictured). Problem is, I don’t get out of SNL until 1:30am on Saturday nights, and have to be back at SNL on Tuesdays at noon. So it had to be the shortest road trip ever.

Of the 36 hours this trip lasted, I spent 10 of them driving, 7 of them sleeping, and the remaining 19 actually there. And it was all totally worth it.

The last time I went to Burlington, VT, I flew there. It’s like a 40 minute flight from JFK, but getting to JFK takes like over an hour, then you have to deal with security, and waiting to board, and boarding, and waiting on the tarmac, and waiting to take off, and then landing but waiting to taxi to the gate, and then waiting for your bags, and then waiting to be picked up from the airport.

So I just wanted to drive. 

Plus, I’ve never driven in the northeast before and it’s fall! So I rented a car and did it (because the whole “you have to be 25 to rent a car rule” doesn’t apply to New York for whatever reason).

Hey guys, there’s this place, it’s called Upstate New York. It’s BEAUTIFUL. You should check it out.

Seriously, the drive was amazing. On the way up I went through New Jersey, into upstate New York, and drove all the way up and then crossed over into Vermont. On the way back, I drove down through Vermont, through Massachusets and Connecticut, and then back into New York.

I also drove in Manhattan/Harlem/The Bronx for the first time which was crazy but exciting and not as scary as I thought it would be.

Anyway, the point of the story is that I can never drive in Florida again. I wish I could have taken pictures of the mountains and hills and leaves changing colors, but ya know, I was driving. I do, however, have a few pictures from Vermont which is what’s scattered through this post. Seeing the fam for a few hours was nice too.

So I came here to Vermont because my sister is starting college at UVM next week. The fam has been here since last Tuesday, but my plan was to fly up Thursday from NYC, be there when Kristi moved into her dorm yesterday, and then fly back on today, while my parents were supposed to fly back to SoFla on Sunday.

Hah. Then Hurricane Irene happened.

The storm that was supposed to give some South Florida kids a few days off of school has turned north, gotten stronger, and is now ready to distroy the east coast. My flight today was cancelled, and all flights on Sunday and Monday have also been cancelled.

At first, my parents and I were going to try to get on the last flight out of here and ride the storm out at my apartment in New York, but is it really worth trying to get on a flight that may or may not get cancelled just to fly to a city that may or may not be destroyed by a big storm?

So we’re staying here in Burlington, Vermont until Tuesday, which is also scheduled to get hit with Irene, but will probably just get some heavy rain and wind. I didn’t bring enough clothes (or even my laptop) but it’s probably the safer choice. I mean, the pic above is the view from our hotel, so there are worse places to be stuck.

Here’s to hoping my first floor apartment still exists when I get back.

I had so many strange coincidences happen to me at the airport in New York tonight.

First, I was sitting at my gate, waiting to board my plane to SoFla, when our plane arrives from Long Beach, California. So I’m watching the people unboard the plane, when all of the sudden, a familiar face walks off. It’s Mark, someone that I met on a film shoot a couple months ago. Weird thing is, he goes to UVM, the University of Vermont which is a) not in California b) not in New York and c) the school my sister is going to next year. So he came up to me and talked to me a little bit. Cool guy.

Second, while I was waiting in line to board the very same plane, I notice these two guys in front of me, one of which is holding a red CC Football bag. Of course it was Cooper City. They were two CCHS alums, one from 06 and one from 08 (who strangely I had never met before!). They were both super cool and were telling me about the birthright trip to Israel they just got back from. That is like the thing to do this summer isn’t it?!

Anyway, strange day at JFK…
and now I’m in Florida! For a month!