A trip to Jersey Part 1 (Part 2 HERE)

by Patrick A. Rafter

Ok, so this is how the story starts. Brookie drives me to aeropuerto before she goes to work and I climb into the aeropuerto with two bags and a heavy box of frozen seawater. Yes, frozen seawater.

I thought this was a hilarious situation--I didn't want to drive to the lab before going to the airport, but my samples had to stay frozen. Check out the frozen green beans...

Point Loma, CA from the aerioplano. I always forget to look, but not this time and with camera no less.

Of course, it took way longer than I remember to fly back east--6 hours or so and it was dark. And cold. I thought they must have turned the Air Conditioning on when I walked through the Jetway, but then I remembered... it's cold everywhere else at this time of year. Totally spoiled in San Diego.

Anyway, I stayed at Chris and Emily's house the first night. They just bought this nice rowhome in Roxborough.

I drove to work in Princeton, NJ the next morning, worked all day, then drove 2 hours down to my home region of Cape May County to surprise my brother at his 30th birthday party.

Lots of heavy drinking.

He's old.

I finally get a half-decent photo of my mom and it's out of focus.

This kid named Christian likes the Eagles and chicken wings.

This pretty little girl named Mia had a lot of sugar and was wound up all night.

I've been a bad brother by not putting a nice photo of my sisters on the website. Here is one of them, but I don't have software to remove red-eye right now. Sorry. Ashley, Lindsay, and Lauren.

Lauren Mayfair.

A Rafter/Mayfair/Ciccarone photo (well some of them). Notice that I look way out of place, don't know why I stood over there, oh yeah, there was no room on the other side and I had to direct Shawn as to using the different cameras.

Shawn and Ashley.

Me and my littlest sister Lauren. She'll probably turn out to be taller than me.

Hey, just wait for more photos from the thrill ride that is my trip to New Jersey!!!!!