So I took the Amtrak up to Albany to spend some quality time with the wifey. I apologize in advance for the horrific quality of the photos. These were taken on my Sidekick III. While it is a fantastic phone that lets me talk on AIM, use email, and check Craigslist all day, the camera is absolutely heinous. We went on a hike up Vroman’s Nose, a historic trail in Albany that leaves you on this beautiful mountain, the cliff overlooking a valley of farms below. The cliffs are incredibly steep and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous walking around up there.

We spent a lot of time running around on her father’s farm, which had horses, elk, sheep, bunnies (bunnahs!), and, as pictured here, picking alfafa for my favorite…

Llamas!

Anyone who knows me knows that I believe The Emperor’s New Groove is the best Disney movie ever made. Eff those “classics” like Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty & The Beast… it’s all about Kuzko over here. If you’ve never seen this movie, go purchase the two disc special edition and possibly a lifesize cardboard cut out of Kronk, because seriously, you’re going to love it that much.

A super exciting part of the farm was this guy right here. It reminded me of the Warthog (”It looks more like a puma!“) in the Halo video game series. And although Heather continued to remind me it was called a Rhino, I insisted upon it being a warthog. End of story. It was like living out a childhood fantasy, zipping around on that thing. And yes, I realize Halo came out in 2001, thus making me 19 at the time. Shush.

Here’s Heather driving the Warthog, because um… I had to operate the machine gun turrets! And by “operate machine gun turrets” I mean “I was too scared”. Plus come on guys, who doesn’t want to see their foxy girlfriend driving an all terrain vehicle? *swoon!*

One of the coolest things about the farm was this little carving we found up on Vroman’s Nose. Here in Philadelphia we have graffiti and our famous Toynbee Tiles (if you want some more personal hands on stuff on these, check out Ben’s blog). On Heather’s farm, the graffiti and carvings into stone are a bit different.

It might be hard to make out on this crude cell phone photo (curse you T-Mobile!), but it’s a carving into the side of the cliff up on Vroman’s Nose that says June 6th, 1868. Bits and pieces of the etching were broken off as a result of time and weather, but it still moved me to see something that a couple carved into the face of a rock almost 150 years ago still proclaiming their love.

I want our love to trascend space and time too, damn it.

Next time, I’m bringing a chisel.