Day Out with Thomas in Cumberland!!!

I am just catching my breath -- WHAT AN AMAZING WEEKEND I HAD IN CUMBERLAND MD with Ben and my ENTIRE FAMILY! When my friend, Kelly Moran, invited me to "celebrity host" Day Out with Thomas this past weekend, I knew I would have a fun time. BUT, I had no idea how incredibly generous, hospitable, and enchanting the town of Cumberland would be! I have so much to tell you that I almost don't know where to begin. I think I'll break it all down into multiple blog updates.

I boarded the actual Thomas the Tank Engine #1 promptly at 9am with my family to make the 25 minute round trip. As you pull away from the train station, Thomas' eyes actually move and his familiar "toot toot" puffs out of his engine. On the way back into the train station I was greeted with a "Welcome to Cumberland Kim Martucci" sign held by Kelly and Cumberland town manager, Ed Mullaney -- this guy knows everybody. When you walk down the street with Ed, he greets people by their first name. (You can see Zac hopped down off the train to jump into the picture, too.)

So many Channel 9 viewers stopped by the tent where I was signing autographs to say "hello" and have their pictures taken. It was so good to meet the folks who watch us during, what I imagine, is a rather "personal" part of their day (so many people tell me "Yeah, I watch your weather while I am brushing my teeth!") Families from as far away as southern MD made the trip to the western MD mountains to see Thomas. In the picture to the right, meet Kevin Felton and his family: son Phillip on my right, Kevin in the middle, daughters Kelli and Maya to his left, with Kelli's 5 year old son Kristian Tate proudly holding his Thomas the Tank Certificate. Thanks for saying "hello"!

I had the chance to read a Thomas story to the kids in the Reading Tent. They also had face painting, mini-golf, a petting zoo, live interactive performances, an "Imagination" station, and even a hay maze among other activities for the children. Some students from Frostburg State also came by to interview me. Kemi in the picture to the left hopes to get an internship at Channel 9 next year (good luck Kemi!)

My family, Ben, and I ate on Cumberland's Baltimore Street which is closed to traffic and makes for a wonderful way to get to know the historic downtown. I'll have to save the stories from our adventures downtown for another blog update -- there are too many! Just know that there is a lot more to do there after Thomas leaves -- the restaurants, shopping, history and the amazing railroad among the foliage will keep you busy. I plan on going back to ride the railroad up to Frostburg. Apparently, you can take the railroad up there and either ride it back, or take your bike and ride the bike trail some 14 miles back. Did you know that you can ride your bike from Georgetown to Cumberland along the C&O Tow path (182.5 mile trail)? Even better, now you can ride from Cumberland to Pittsburgh along the Great Allegheny Passage. Cumberland is the half way point where the two trails meet. It wasn't until 2006 when the Great Allegheny Passage became connected completely to Cumberland. So cyclists -- hit the trail!

Ben and I stayed at the Rocky Gap Resort at Rocky Gap State Park our first night. What a gem! There is a beautiful lake right next to the resort with nothing but mountains as the back drop. While I didn't have much time to explore, I did find out that there are several hiking trails around the area (and the lake) and there certainly was golf! From my hotel room I spotted a fire pit, too. Lots of adirondack chairs and lounges made the lake look so inviting. A special thanks to Dianna Howard & Lyn Locke for their hospitality.

Before I go, I'll leave you with a tease for where we stayed Saturday night -- An Alpaca Farm! I cannot WAIT to tell you all about it! You can get a sneak preview at www.barbsalpacas.com. Boodie and Bubbles -- want a new pet? See you tomorrow morning!

HIKING IN SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK




(If you have trouble reading the captions on the pictures, just click on them and they will enlarge!)

What a great day! I actually got to sleep in an entire hour, filling in for Tony Pann this Saturday morning (I got to get up at 4am!! -- Woo Hoo!) After the morning shift, I had plans to go hiking with Ben and members of his church at Shenandoah National Park. We all met at the Church parking lot and piled into a nice, roomy van to make the hour trip to Front Royal.

Front Royal is only a place, up until now, that I have only zipped past on I-81. I need to get off the interstate more -- how cute! We climbed in elevation to Shenandoah's Dickey Ridge Visitor's Center. When we got out of the van, it was soooooooo much cooler & breezier (got to love that dry adiabatic lapse rate!) Little did we know (well, actually I knew) how hot and uncomfortable a hike would be, lower in altitude...

So, off we went, hiking an old farm road past Snead Farm. This place was neat. It even had an old root cellar behind it, long since covered in grape vines. But I climbed in, ducking, to have a look around. As we continued our hike, the first creature of nature that we saw was a long, black rat snake. It had to be between 4 & 5' long. I didn't spot any lumps in its belly, so I guess it was in a hurry to find something to eat. Of course, I wasn't fast enought to get the camera out of Ben's backpack to snap a pic. Little did I know that would be one of two snakes I would see on this hike -- a good thing. How fortunate, as well, that we would have "Larry the biologist" along for the hike with us. My first question to him was "How come the planeria I kept chopping up kept growing back and why can't we?"

Later on in the hike we came across some centipedes. Now, if you are familiar to my blogs, we have a tendency to get some "Broadcast House" Centipedes in the studio (they are fond of the traffic area), but they look far different. For starters, they *don't* have a hundred legs like the one you see in the pic from our hike. These "real" centipedes are much more "worm like" (groan from me) and don't seem to be in a hurry. Perhaps the Broadcast House centipedes have been trained to hustle, like everyone panicking in the studio with "30 seconds 'til the breaks over" constantly reminding us not to be late to the set...

Notice the second centiped pic...this guy knew we were hiking by and immediately curled up into a ball. "Don't worry...we don't see you" I tried to reassure it. Poor thing. At the peak of our hike, we came to an area with a wonderful view of the Shenandoah Valley. This is also an area where hang gliders like to take off. We spotted another snake, but this one was a baby and waaaaay faster than the first snake. As I type, Ben is going through pics on the internet trying to identify it. Once again, it was too fast for me to grab a pic.

We finished our hike with a wonderful picnic lunch and a quick nap under a tree (I think I was the only person to actually sleep -- it isn't difficult for me to do!) On the return trip we hit the State Arboretum of Virginia.

What a nice way to spend a Saturday. Take advantage of a National Park virtually in your back yard! Just watch out for the creatures below your feet...

THE GREAT FREDERICK FAIR!

There is one particular live shot that I look forward to working every year -- the one that has me sleeping in an hour later and rolling out of bed and right into the Great Frederick Fair! This is such a treat as I love animals and enjoy learning about life on the farm. Feeding a baby bullcalf was one of the highlights of my work day, yesterday. You can watch video of that segment here: http://www.wusa9.com/video/player.aspx?aid=49815&bw=

The 145th Annual Great Frederick Fair is happening all week until Saturday. “The whole week from beginning to end is filled with great entertainment,” said Jim Grimes, chairman of the fair's Entertainment Committee. “It's an exceptional lineup for this year's 145th fair celebration. We are very fortunate to still be able to attract some of the biggest and best names in country music.”

Hope you can make it up to Frederick!

WOLF TRAP BALL PICTURES

It started out simply enough Saturday morning: I would zip over to the Francis Scott Key Mall and pick up some flats. It dawned on me that a formal gown is not supposed to be several inches above your feet, so my heels would not be an option in order to wear the "Big Purple Loser" (see last blog post.)

So, I am standing there in Macy's trying to decide which hideous pair of flats I want, and cannot decide between the two in hand. Naturally, I get them both, only to wear NEITHER! Why??? Well, because I saw a sale on gowns -- gowns that seemed much more appealing than the Big Purple Loser. Gowns that were appropriately long enough for me to wear heels and ditch the shoes I just purchased!

I stuck with the color purple, though. Ben and I had a blast. We sat with Mike and Kate in the far away corner. You can tell where you rank on the social pecking order -- Andrea was at the President's table (!!) Way to go Andrea! She looked smokin' in her ensemble. The nice lady in the picture with us is Libby Lawler. She teaches at St. Thomas Aquinas Regional School. Her husband, Joseph (not pictured), is the Regional Director for the National Capital Region National Park Service. We even ran into our buddy, Chuck Caputo, from the Virginal House of Delegates. When I met his wife, Barbara, I recanted the story of how Chuck first met her and wooed her away from another suitor! She must have thought I was nuts! (At the last ball, Chuck was there with his daughter and I ended up asking him how he found a wife from Texas.)

I spoke to Chris Guerre that night and he told me Wolf Trap surpassed their $600 thousand goal. Again, all the money goes towards their non-profit national and international education outreach programs. What a great evening!

BIG PURPLE LOSER

“Discovering Greece” — 2007 Wolf Trap Ball Pays Tribute to
Culture, Heritage and Beauty of Greece in Support of
Wolf Trap’s Local, National and International Education Programs

This Saturday my colleagues Andrea Roane, Mike Waler and I will head to a wonderful event at Wolf Trap. This Ball should raise more than $600 thousand for their non-profit local, national & international education outreach programs.

You can still purchase individual tickets for the 2007 Wolf Trap Ball by calling Wolf Trap Special Events office at (703) 255-4030.

Ben has bought a tux. Yup -- that was fun! He went with the classic 2 button option. He looks so good! Now I am left to figure out what I want to wear. Andrea pointed out to me that the invitation says "formal attire", so no shorter length options for me. Sigh.

In the back of my head I know I have an option hanging right in my closet. However, it kind of has a negative stigma to it in my mind. Let me share with you...

Back in 2000 (or was it 2001?) I was nomiated for a local Emmy Award out of the Boston Chapter that covers New England. I was high on life -- I had just completed a special report on Tornado Chasing and put together a tape that I thought would land me an award in which I could finally start all my station bios as "Emmy Award winning meteorologist Kim Martucci..." I was SO PROUD OF ME that I even FRAMED THE EMMY NOMINATION CERTIFICATE -- who does that??? How cheesy!! But there I was, a nomination in hand and a long purple gown to wear to the awards ceremony.

That evening, among my talented co-workers, some of whom picked up multiple awards, I sat at the table with my boyfriend at the time and anxiously awaited the "Best Weathercaster" segment. I was up against some really cool meteorologists. One guy wins the award almost every year! When the award was given to Mike Wankum (the multiple award winner), I sat there feeling like a goofball. All I could think of was "I feel like a big purple loser!" Mike really did deserve the award; He's the type of meteorologist that goes all the way in every broadcast -- makes weather really interesting. But since that night, I never felt the urge to wear that gown again. I call it the Big Purple Loser. It has survived moves to PA and MD, hanging in my closet. Lonely.

So, now I'm feeling like it is time to erase the negativity. Time to wear the Big Purple Loser and put a positive spin on it. I think the Wolf Trap Ball is the event to do so. If it doesn't fly, at least Ben will be looking good. Hope to see you at the Ball!

FATHER EUGENE


My home town tour continues in this blog...

When I was growing up, I spent many hours at the Carmelite Chapel at the Bergen Mall in Paramus N.J. Since what seems like the beginning of time, my Grandma has been the head volunteer there, overseeing the gift shop. Yes, I said gift shop. It's in a mall, so it only makes sense that if you want to pray (at what I am imagining is one of the only malls in the country) then you should be able to shop, too.

I would often opt to watch "Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island" after Saturday night Mass at St. Anastasia's Church in Teaneck while my mom, sister and Grandma would go to Bloomingdales. This weekend routine at Grandma's house would naturally lend itself well to me tagging along with her to the Chapel gift shop. While there, I would help her out: moving boxes, dusting various saints along the top shelf, pricing rosaries, answering the phone, enrolling people in the "Pious Union" (I'm still not quite sure what that is...file it under the same category where the definition of CCD resides -- was I the only Catholic kid that went to CCD every week and not know what it stood for???), and of course, taking chapel items back to the priests to get them blessed. When it came time to do "community service" while preparing for my Confirmation, I had an easy in at the Chapel. But back to the priests...

Most of the priests I remember from the 80s at the Chapel have since passed away or retired. I hear about the new priests from my mom and Grandma. But one priest I hear about A LOT. Father Eugene.

It turns out he was born the same year as my mom. I get the distinct impression that my mom thinks of Father Eugene as another brother. I met Father Eugene for the first time last weekend during a long overdue visit to my Grandma. I enjoyed listening to him and picking his brain (he's a history buff.) Did you know that Luther had the great idea of putting church hymns to regular beer drinking songs? They were easy to remember and quite a hit -- who knew? Father Eugene knew.

I know my Grandma thinks of him as a son, too. I think I remember learning that my Grandma would be the same age as his mom, if she were still living. It makes me feel good to know that he loves my Grandma like his mom. There is a very special bond there. It's funny how people come into your life as if they were meant to. It's all good.

Speaking of good, so is the Chapel. Should you ever be in Paramus and have the urge to attend mass AND shop, the Chapel has moved to a different section of the mall -- next to Marshalls and facing Route 4. OMG -- There is even a short "documentary" about the Bergen Mall on U-Tube! What a hoot! There is an entire part that shows the Chapel (in its old location in the basement.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdvRy5zb0v0v=GdvRy5zb0v0 Take a good look at those statues -- back in the 80s I kept them nice and dust free!

During their move to the new part of the mall, their internet connection was disabled, but they will have it up and running later this month. So let me take a moment to give a shout out to some of the familiar names I have come to know over the years -- Hello to Mary Artusio, Ann Pagano, Anna Campbell, Gertrude Kress, Marcelle Nelson, Lois Viola, & Father Dan. And to the rest of the volunteers, thank you for all that you do -- you are a special part of my Grandma's family.

HOME SWEET HOME

It has been quite a while since I actually have been to my childhood home. Over the Labor Day weekend I had a chance to check out the house I grew up in Park Ridge, NJ. It's a modest 3 bedroom ranch. I was happy to see the tall pine tree on the corner is still there. The residents that replaced my folks have since cut down some trees (sad face) and added a chain link fence. But overall, most everything looks the same as when I last saw the house as I helped my parents pack up and move.

*That* day changed my view on things. While New Jersey will always be where I grew up, it wasn't until my folks sold the house I grew up in that I felt the house I own was really "home" for me. It's funny because as I unloaded boxes of college books and what-not from the the attic and into my car, a "passing of the batton" was about to happen that (at the time) I didn't realize. Actually, that is a nice way of putting it. What I didn't realize was that I was about to become a depository for all my parent's stuff while they transitioned to their new home in Florida. To this day, I *still* have many of their belongings in my house.

Now, having some of your parent's belongings does have its perks. I now have a small TV that I have "borrowed" in my kitchen. Likewise, when I needed a nail gun to put up some decorative trim, Pop's was right down on my work bench. And come to think of it, painting the foyer couldn't have been done without Pop's ladder, too!

But, that's where the love ends. I also have a BIG filing cabinet in the middle of my walk in closet (thank's mom). My guest room is strewn with moving boxes that for one reason or another cannot be put up in the attic...my folks may need something from them... But I guess it's a small price to pay for all the storage they gave me for 22 years, a free education, and unconditional love.

KAYAKING THE DELAWARE

I have really come to enjoy kayaking. I especially like it when I can hop out of the boat and go for a swim along the way. Bonus points if I don't have to worry about snakeheads... The Delaware River (far north in NY state) is a favorite place because I feel it is far enough upstream above any pollution. September is a great time to go because the water is pretty warm. The river is deep enough to get a good ride, but shallow enough in spots where you can actually walk around the river rocks along the bottom.

Ben came along over the weekend and had a smooth trip, save for the few bumps his kayak took from unsuspecting rocks just below the surface of the water. I actually took one rock directly headlong first when I wasn't paying attention and either singing or talking to Ben while looking at the side. I could see how easily it would be to pop a hole in that thing, so I recommend buying the extra insurance when you rent.

One thing that initially made me feel uncomfortable was when the young lady at the launch site cautioned everyone that it was eel season and to stay away from the "Y" shaped eel traps in the river. "What the???"

Towards the end of the 6 mile trip, there is a cliff with a "no jumping" sign where, naturally ,everyone was leaping from its steep edge. This is a "must do" for me every year. It's not because I like it, rather, it is scary and I feel like I have tackled a fear when I do it. It generally takes about a half an hour for me to make the 12' jump (estimated.) Meanwhile, folks are busy jumping from the higher cliffs which is good because it distracts from me just sitting there like a dork with my blue life vest on and parked firmly on the edge of the "little cliff" below. Some years it is worse than others -- little kids come running up the rock and jump without fear right next to me or they wait for me and the crowd of people canoeing/kayaking/rafting by and hanging out start taunting me: "For crying out loud JUST JUMP! You're holding up the little kids!" I H-A-T-E that! Luckily this year it didn't happen. After 30 minutes or so, and a lot of shaking from fear and being cold, I told myself I would just stand up and go after the next large cliff jumper went. And I did. (On a side note, Ben passed a small boyfriend test in that he did not give up on me after jumping the tall cliff and head for the warmer sun on the other side of the river.) Phew...it was close "Kim either jump or let's go!"

Another year, another jump. Maybe someday I'll graduate to the tall cliff. NOT!