Saturday is a big day for TBID and me - the bliss is going on the road. We've taken a few day trips, but never something as monumental as this Saturday. There are a few reasons for this: 1) We're really caught up in our personal weekend routines and get cranky if we don't follow them and then spin in a circle three times before reuniting, 2) No, really cranky, and 3) TBID is one of the city lovers.

There was an episode of Sex and the City, and believe me, I hate admitting I remember this, in which Miranda's great date sours when the guy mentions he hates leaving the city. She curtly mentions that she loves the city and the country before going home to "feed the cat" she doesn't have.

That's how I feel. I love not having a car, snuggling next to strangers on my way to work, and paying an exorbitant amount of rent in a neighborhood in which every fifth guy calls me "princess" or "mami." But sometimes I just want clean air, decent customer service, and to be called "darlin'" by a redneck.

TBID's default destination for any given outing is that area around Chelsea and the Village. The one where he lives and works and all that. He doesn't hate the country; he just prefers being somewhere where Zagat ratings apply and are taken very seriously. (I'm not sure he's ready to have his world shaken up the way it will be if he ever visits my hometown).

The berry-picking excursion went so well, and I've complained so much about wanting to get out of Manhattan, that we've got a car rented and everything. We'll be hiking and apple picking in New Paltz, which is a grand one-and-a-half to two hours away. I'm giddy just thinking about it. Part of me hopes we encounter a bear or something. I'd let TBID bring it up strategically whenever I propose something he doesn't want to do. "Last time we did that, an angry ursine creature was involved," he might say. "There's no way we can rent Terms of Endearment tonight."

We cut our teeth on a trip to Brooklyn's Sunset Park last weekend. No bears were involved, but one squirrel was really exuberant. I played around with my daunting camera and no, the sky hadn't totally succumbed to smog. It was cloudy and chilly that day, just like I'm hoping it won't be when we're on mountains. Actual mountains.

Here's Sunset Park. Time to walk up a bunch of steps. It's worth it.

The shaded benches are nice for checking out skateboarders and the dudes on the basketball courts. In the summer, you can get shaved ice. But what's that in the background?

All those buildings so close together...

That lady looks awfully familiar...

Oh wait, I know this place! That's where I live, and that other part is Staten Island. It's not so bad, really. Kinda lovely.

Despite the million dollar view, the rest of the neighborhood is quite humble.

TBID and I towered over the locals, who are mostly short Hispanics. I felt like Goliath with a camera.

There are rows upon rows of homey brownstones. The streets are really quiet, too. No one's going to disturb the pumpkins some of the residents have already set out on the stoops.

What a sweet ride - Sunset Park is accessible by train. It's the closest to feeling distant I've come in awhile. Onward and upstate-ward!