East coast, Flyovers or West coast, where do you live?

@mfladd Horseshit! No, really.

@jaremelz just so you can see what these ponies will do. I love Assateague.

@mfladd That's what she said.

Eta: I love that video.

@mfladd I went camping there once many years ago (summer after graduating high school) and while I never actually saw any of the ponies up close, we did come back one evening from being out in OC and all of our tents and stuff was trampled. So it was either the ponies or disgruntled neighbors!

@tinkertime take a trip again to see them. It isn't far from OC. One of the last times there they were all around the parking lot checking out us humans. During the summer (being local) we never go to the OC beaches much. We always go to Assateague just because there are a lot fewer people - and Ponies. There are two sides also. You can go either to the state park side which has more amenities and costs less. Or you can go to the National Park side which costs a little more, unless you have a parks pass, but usually has even fewer people.

@mfladd thanks for the tip, we will have to visit again, watching the video makes me want to see them! And yes I hate the crowded beaches in OC during the summer, that's why we go in September, it's so much better

@mfladd How have I never heard of this! Off to Google for more info! I'm glad I still have a week of vacation.

@looseneck I should notified you of this. Totally my fault as goat! :)

Where are you located?

@looseneck More info on the Ponies.
http://www.nps.gov/asis/learn/nature/horses.htm

@mfladd Thank you for the link. I' m in Central Jersey. Gives me a good reason to take vacation and go on the cape may loews ferry.

@looseneck Yup...love the ferry. Spent a weekend in Cape May not too long ago

@mfladd Told my husband I want to go there. He actually looked up rentals. He NEVER EVER takes vacations. Thank you Thank you Thank you!

@looseneck That's awesome!!!!!

@mfladd Hey, Assateague is in Virginia!

@jqubed actually, Assateague Island is 2/3 MD, 1/3 Va. The Virgina side is Chincoteague.

"The entirety of Assateague Island is owned and operated by three different agencies: the National Park Service, Maryland State Parks, and United States Fish and Wildlife Service. All of the land on the island north of the Maryland-Virginia state line is the Assateague Island National Seashore, with the exception of the smaller Assateague State Park. The national seashore was established in 1965 to preserve the barrier island and surrounding waters, and provide recreational opportunities. The U.S. Department of the Interior has designated it a National Natural Landmark. All of the island south of the state border in Virginia is the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, with the exception of a small visitor center that the National Park Service administers from its headquarters in Maryland."

@mfladd There really ought to have been a sign telling me when I'd left Virginia, then.

@jqubed but you were correct. Assateague Island is in Virginia - just not most of it. :)

@mfladd Wait, rereading that, I was in the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, so I never left Virginia.

@mfladd Southeast Georgia. Yep, there are horses running wild on Cumberland Island here. I don't live on the island, just nearby.

@PocketBrain What was that building?

@mfladd That was Dungeness Mansion, built by John Carnegie (Andrew Carnegie's brother). It was once very majestic and impressive, and is now a ruin, a majestic and impressive ruin. It burned down in 1959.

@PocketBrain thanks for the link, very cool.

@PocketBrain Thomas Carnegie built it, sorry. Can't edit to correct.

@Sabre99 I lived in Wichita Falls when I was six or seven.

@Sabre99 Shoutout to my Metroplex homies! Lewisville ghetto represent!

@Teripie My dad's side of the family is all from Panama City. My uncle use to be the CEO over at Club La Vela. (Party Shark)

@The_Baron They still advertise themselves as the biggest club in the world. "Come party with thousands!"

@Teripie Last time I was in the strip was Warped tour '97, when I was a teenager.
Now we just go to the beach away from all that mess.

@DaveInSoCal We're in Lakeside. Home of the cowboys, Indians and meth labs....

@lisaviolet I'm in RPQ. Home of... people? Christmas Card Lane. Terrible drivers.

@DaveInSoCal holy shit Dave, that's where I lived for 20 years. I can't believe I never knew you were from RPQ! Many, many fond memories of Christmas Card Lane.

I'm trying to think of other RPQ-specific stuff…I used to work at the Borders in Carmel Mt Ranch Town Center (Plaza? I don't remember…) which was also the site of my favorite ever chinese food place (Emperor's Palace) that later became my favorite sushi place (Yummy Sushi).

Spent plenty of time at the Mira Mesa Edwards theater especially just after it opened, and Poway was my other stomping grounds. Now you got me all nostalgic.

@JonT We saw Interstellar at Mira Mesa on Christmas Day.

@JonT I moved to RPQ from Clairemont in May and we love it here so far. Great neighborhoods, nice parks. It's quiet, and plenty of places to go for food and fun! Wife and I went to Edwards on Sunday to see Minions (cute movie, not as good as DM).

We were house hunting here for a while and finally decided to rent so we could check out the neighborhood. ALMOST bought a house (the one shown in Paranormal Activity) but got outbid.

Thanks for keeping RPQ awesome for us. We'll carry the torch here a while for you. :)

@becca

@DaveInSoCal ♥

@becca Also Boston here, moving away next month to Philadelphia though.
RENT IS SOOO CHEAP DOWN THERE

@becca Originally from the area... I grew up in Arlington and lived in Watertown and Davis Square before moving here to Chicago. Boston is way better than Chicago.

@DaveInSoCal Great Pic!

@mfladd i can't take credit for anything more than finding it on the net. But i totally agree!

@becca We have a coworker from Boston; she left all her trailing and many of her internal 'R's there when she moved... She drives a caah, which she paahks in the paahking lot... stuff like that. Its really rather amusing ;)

@editorkid Most places are better than chicago.

@editorkid @duodec Chicago does have better hot dogs. And infinitely more bars that allow dogs. but I still choose Boston.

@beachbum Me too! Right now I'm living in a small town in Somerset County that nobody has ever heard of. I've moved so often that I'm really not from anywhere, but I do like to say my hometown is where I went to school.

@looseneck Not only do I live where I went to school, I live in the house where I spent my teenage years.

@msklzannie My dad was from Wyoming, Iowa. Parental units sent me back to my aunt and uncle's farm in Olin in the summertime.

@lisaviolet My small town isn't quite as small as those... add their populations together and you're closer to the size of my town.

@kadagan Spent a few years at New Cumberland Army Depot. Went to St. Teresa's Parochial school. Start of the Vietnam war and the assassination of John Kennedy. I remember we all went to chapel, then home.

@kadagan I have to ask if you know what monkey balls are, then

@Lotsofgoats Hmm.. I don't really.. Maybe I'm missing out on something?

@kadagan apparently that's the industry term for these guys

@Lotsofgoats I'll bite. What are those?

@beachbum badly chewed up tennis balls ?

@Lotsofgoats Those look like the black walnuts that cover me entire damn yard.. Lol

@Lotsofgoats Looks like hedgeapples, but geez, those would have to be some big, weird monkeys.

@kadagan @Barney they have a bunch of different names, "monkey balls" allegedly being the Pittsburgh regional one of choice 🐒

@jaremelz Hey neighbor! I'm in Seattle

@metageist Run...for God's sake...Ruuuuun!

@metageist Hiya, neighbor! I'm just a smidge south of you, in Steilacoom.

@mfladd hmm am I running from volcanoes, earthquakes, urban goat farmers? I mean, I'm already prepared for the zombie apocalypse.

@metageist Don't bother running, whatever gets us will be big. And I'm ready for the zombie apocalypse as well! The PNW would rock during the apocalypse.

@metageist shhhh. you are running from your neighbor. She is a natural disaster. (ping @jaremelz :)

@mfladd Bitch, you can run but you can't hide.

@jaremelz you are sooooo slow sometimes.

@mfladd It's late, and the vodka has ahold of me. You'll be first on my list when I start destroying things :)

@mfladd Damn it, I just now saw your other comment that makes it all makes sense. I am slow.

@christinewas When we moved to the states from Germany (where I was born) we lived in Denver.

@christinewas ♪ Rocky Mountain high Colorado...

@basherhockey I lived in Salt Lake City, where I started my school life. You had to be six by september 30. I missed it by 16 days. The rest of my school life (in other states) I was a year older than my compatriots. My mom worked at the Deseret news in the printing department.

@lisaviolet My mother purposefully held me back, as I have a September birthday as well. I was older than my class as well, I actually liked it, now if only I had good grades I could have had my drivers license before anybody in my 10th grade class!

@hallmike Springfield, IL here

@togle Northerner. ;)

@Barney with ma and pa and mary ?

@ceagee How'd you guess?

@tinkertime what's up, neighbor?

@mfladd Yeah, I figured that out when I was reading the beer exchange thread! I will be a little closer to you next week, I'll be in OC for a few days.

@tinkertime Enjoy the boardwalk and Thrashers fries!

@trilliongrams
yeah, Texas. Sometimes too hot. Sometimes too stupid. Usually just big.

@heartny Hicksville is definitely a town name that belongs upstate.

PS r u a seawolf

@Lotsofgoats Why would you say that? NYC is full of some of the most provincial people I've ever met or been around (for admittedly limited periods of time on work trips). Its amazing how little they know (or care) about the rest of the country, or the world. Urban hicks...

@mamawoot I swear to god I am not to blame for this!

@edlada I love Polish names. (Not entirely relevant, but it needed to be said.)

@edlada Mom and Dad are from Poland. I've been 3 times, but since once when I was a baby I only have memories of 2 visits. Most of my family is still there.

@looseneck Cool, what part of Poland are they from? I live near the Odra River, the border with Germany.

@edlada My Mom is from Jaslo. It's southeast of Krakow.

@looseneck A long way from here!

@editorkid How did you take the crown back from Atlanta, and when?

@jqubed Oshkosh, WI's EAA is the world's busiest airport one weekend every year. FWIW. Now you know.

@ceagee Minnesooota, eh?

@Barney No. It's cold there, but not the blizzards or the lake effect white stuff we get here in WNY

@ceagee WNY, is that a radio station? You live in a radio station?

@Barney ssssshhh . I don't want to be found out !

@WINTERMUTE What a combination! Do those smells combine and make one giant fog or do they compete against each other?

@looseneck Mink wins every time! Thankfully the ammoniacal mink stench is usually only smelt in town up by the grocery store and then only on really still night so maybe 15 or 20 nights out of the year.

@WINTERMUTE cabbage farms, too!

@jbrookebarrow Where along the coast? If it's NW I agree, we need to get out of here!

@Teripie Yep. Destin/FWB area (specifically Crestview). Hate it with every fiber of my being.

@jbrookebarrow It's more like Southern Alabama than Florida. We are awash with racist rednecks.

@Teripie @jbrookebarrow Those were my initial impressions and enduring feelings about Texas. Though, I'd guess that things are actually worse around your neck of the woods. I wouldn't be able to handle it.

@christinewas I lived in west Texas for about a year and thought it was great. I would give almost anything to move away from here tomorrow. Everyone seems to want to vacation in this area and it just astounds me.

@jbrookebarrow I visited the Gulf coast once, in Naples. I was thoroughly disappointed by the beach's lack of waves.

@transplant How long does the furlough last? What do you do?

@jqubed - I'm a seasonal government employee for the one department everyone hates. Furlough can last anywhere from 2 weeks to 5 months. I'm at the stage in my life where the house and car are paid for, kids are out of the house, did well at a sales job long enough to have a nice nest egg, so I'm basically working for the small salary and the most important thing, health benefits. Life is good.

@readnj My Dad grew up on a farm in New Jersey... sadly all thats left is the farmhouse and a large yard; everything else was sold and built up with tricky tacky houses... but the pictures and old movies he had of it sure were beautiful.

@readnj Definitely didn't know that existed. Even now, I'm not convinced. Isn't West NJ about two inches away from East NJ? Are you sure your home is real?

@readnj my mother grew up in Vernon, where my grandmother was the local doctor.

@christinewas My general area of NJ

@readnj That picture is too flat to be North West NJ, so I'm going to guess somewhere in South West, Salem county? I'm from Ocean City, originally, now living in Atlantic County.

In related news, is this your image? I assume it was taken from a hot air balloon. I know someone who operates one, the Sir Prize tuxedo balloon out of Howell. Really good guy and worth the trip just for the views.

@Sportsfan82 No Hunterdon County. Yes it was from a hot air balloon. Not sure who took this one ,but I am a student pilot and regularcrew member and know Ken and Janet. 😛 Small world.

@sammydog01 Which capitol?

@jqubed Good question- Richmond. I am a northerner by birth, so the only Civil War history I learned growing up was that we won.

@sammydog01 It's a fascinating history; it's worth learning about one of the worst chapters in American history. It still has an impact on American life today. A good way to get into it is reading the books by Jeff Shaara and his father. They read like novels but are fairly accurate in their depiction of what happened.

@jqubed Thanks for the recommendation- I just put a hold on his civil war trilogy at the library. I have picked up some history just by living here, you can't help it. Unfortunately it's extremely controversial these days, with people calling for removal of every statue and Confederate name in the state. The medals my kids just won at a swim meet have the J.E.B. Stuart monument on them.

@sammydog01 I'm of a mixed opinion on that. On the one hand, I don't think it's right to be celebrating and honoring people who fought a bloody war in defense of one of this country's most shameful practices. On the other hand, removing things altogether feels like hiding this history, and it's something that must not be forgotten.

@jqubed It's interesting- Southerners think of the war as a defense of state's rights, and Northerners think it was all about slavery.

@marvelljones

@marvelljones negstar. Go Blue.

@jqubed Wow, a North Carolina license plate. This was already decided between our two states. We legally and rightly claim the "Birthplace of Aviation" because the Wright Brothers developed and built their design in Dayton, OH. North Carolina legally and rightly claims "First in Flight" because the Wright Brothers travelled there for the favorable conditions for testing that design.

@matthew

@jqubed I prefer your side.

@gio happy to see i have my own territory... if only i knew where i put it..

@gio I lived in New Mexico for a couple years. When I visited back east people would ask me how I got along so well living there and not speaking Spanish. I was, and still am, amazed at how many people don't know New Mexico is a state.

@Teripie One of my favorite movies and favorite books is the Milagro Beanfield War. I've read it countless times and I've watched the movie just as many times as I've read the book. I even have it on one of my little Woot! BOC Sansas.

My sister-in-law lives in New Mexico. Fifty feet from the Animas River.

@marklog When you locate it you're welcome to it. We don't regret trying it on for size; it's always good to get a different perspective and we met a lot of nice people.

@Teripie Yep... One of Our 50 is Missing!

@lisaviolet There was a lot of excitement when The Milagro Beanfield Wars was filmed near where a friend of ours lives, but I never paid it much mind until I heard John Nichols give a talk at a university function. He was so entertaining I had to read the book and watch the movie.

How does your SIL feel about the mine spill? I can't believe the river water was approved for municipal and farm use so soon after the river flowed orange, especially with a layer of toxic sediment on the bottom and people being told to wash their hands and clothes after contact with river water.

@gio We haven't talked to her lately, I'll have to ask her.

@gio I like this because I didn't have to answer the thread. Thanks @gio :)

@sohmageek which reminds me... Today was Focal Topper against Heady. according to @abrakke, my wife and me, Heady won! Still, both great.

@sohmageek Bernie Sanders?

@sohmageek technically it was Heady vs Focal vs Ghost in the Machine vs Surly OverRated vs Tapistry Heart Full of Napalm vs New Holland Mad Hatter (2015). Heady won, then (for me) Focal, then Tapistry then Ghost, then Mad Hatter, then OverRated. I'm sure OverRated is great, I don't really like West Coast style IPAs.