Hiking in January

While Mike's been exploring Japan I've been enjoying my time in the northeast, which, of course, involves hiking! Since Mike's been gone I've done three hikes in the New England area. First, JuJu, JoJo, D and I hiked Monadnock in New Hampshire. It was a beautiful day with blue-bird skies, perfect temps, icy terrain and strong wind gusts at the summit. Matter of fact, the winds were so strong that they blew little D over! It was a wonderful hike and a great time!

Later that week my JuJu and I decided to explore Mt. Alander out in Mt. Washington, MA. Yes, you heard me right, there is a Mt. Washington Massachusetts! We lucked out again with blue-bird skies and perfect temps! After our hike we visited Bash Bish Falls, also in Mt. Washington, MA. I had never been and my Mom had never been in the winter. It was a beautiful sight to be seen, cascading waters, running through a half-frozen falls into pristine, turquoise-colored water! The pictures really didn't do it justice as the sun was beginning to set. We finished off our lovely day with some yummy food at the Gypsy Joynt in Great Barrington, MA!

Yesterday, JuJu, the brosif and I headed up to Mt. Kearsage in the Sunapee region of NH! It was probably the most beautiful and interesting hike I've been on in a while. It had rained the day before and the temperatures had dropped below freezing that night, so all of the trees, bushes, benches, roads, and trails had been coated in ice. Everything around us was glistening in the sunshine! It was like being in some sort of fairytale! It was a short hike, but it took us twice as long to get to the summit on a count of me stopping every minute to take another picture! Needless to say, my hard drive is filling up fast with pictures of these beautiful hikes this past month!!

In other news, I recently received word that I'm leaving on March 1st for Japan!! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am!! We have been assigned a townhouse in Sagamihara, in the Kanagawa prefecture. It is part of Camp Zama, but is about 3 kilometers, which is just under 2 miles, away from the Camp Zama. Mike is moving in there on the 1st of February. The building were built back in the 50's, so they are somewhat "dated", if you will. ;-) Mike said that there is a new housing development going up in Sagamihara that is supposed to be done by the fall of this year and we were told that we'd be moving into the new housing once it's completed. :-) I'll be relieved when that happens as I'm not sure that the building codes in the 50's are up to par with the those today when it comes to withstanding earthquakes, and seeing as Mike has already experienced two (very small) earthquakes, I'd feel much safer in a newer establishment! :-)

That's all for now, keep checking back for more updates from New England and beyond... :-)

Mike's Japanese Adventures!

As most of you know, Mike left for Japan on the 2nd of January. The kitties and I weren't able to join him on a count of the base not having any housing available for us all. Mike is currently residing in the Officer's Quarters at Camp Zama. Since Mike has left we've kept in touch via texting, emailing and my beloved FaceTime! Technology certainly makes having loved ones far, FAR away a lot easier than I expected it to be. The purpose of this blog post is to share with you all some of the things that Mike has come across in his travels.

Mike's first experience with a bidet was at the Narita Airport. He made sure to whip out his iPhone and snap a picture of the experience... NO!.. Not like that! I'm particularly fond of the english translations below!
After the 2.5 hour-long bus ride back to Camp Zama he settled into his hotel room for the evening. He awoke to a beautiful view, which included mountains! YAY for mountains!! Mike, being the brave individual he is, ventured out to the streets of Japan. Barely knowing how to use the transit system, he hopped on the train and headed... somewhere... He ended up at a park (I'm sure it's much nicer looking in the Spring and Summer months)... ... and grabbed a bit to eat...

... yes... those are noodles in his bun! Ha ha ha! Poor Mike. Later that week he checked out of the hotel and into his Officer's Quarters and he was kind enough to give us a tour...

He spent the next week in classes which introduced him to Japan's curious language and rich culture. During that week, he and his class went on a field trip to Odawara Castle...

... where he met some angry monkeys (luckily they were caged)...

Before heading back to base, he ordered his first meal in Japanese "Sumimasen, mountain vegetable with soba noodles o onegaishimasu.", the waitress applauded his efforts and handed him his meal.

As the days passed Mike became even more comfortable in his surroundings and decided to explore a nearby mountain that a new friend had told him about. Once again, he hopped on the train and headed to Mt. Oyama. He rode the train for a few stops and then stepped off to catch a bus... ... apparently he wasn't the only hiker heading to Oyama that day! He arrived at the base of Oyama and snapped some shots of the majestic Shinto Shrines. After walking up about 600 feet of stairs, he decided to take a break and snap another shot... Finally, he arrived at the top and snapped a quick shot of the view... His stomach growled so he sought out a bite to eat... Unable to read Japanese he opted for the only thing he knew how to purchase... ... and to tell you the truth, I haven't the slightest clue what this was that he ended up with, but I'm sure the soups that he was eyeballing would have made for a much better meal... Too bad we haven't developed the technology that would allow us to place a chip in our brain that would result in us being fluent in any language on the planet. Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?!?

A few days later Mike's sponsor, David, and his wife took Mike out to eat at a Japanese "pub-style" restaurant in Ebina. He snapped this shot as they walked from the train to the restaurant. He really enjoyed his meal and a neat grocery store that David and his wife had shown him. Matter of fact, he enjoyed it so much that he decided to return to that grocery store a few days later to further explore it's offerings. He was looking for a restroom when he came across an older, extreme friendly, gentleman. Despite Mike not understanding a single word out of this man's mouth, the fellow, growing more excited with each passing minute, continued to show Mike around the grocery store. They stopped at a meat counter where the man pointed out a beef patty to Mike and proceeded to purchase one for him. He and Mike then went out to a bench where Mike ate the beef patty and the man smiled as Mike enjoyed each bite.After spending about 15 minutes with Mike the man said goodbye and disappeared down the busy street. Mike enjoyed this beef patty so much so that he went back in for seconds. After consuming two beef patty's Mike decided he needed some quality kitten time and stopped into a pet shop where he came across this little darling... ... I'll never understand how he didn't bring that little beauty home!.. Oh WAIT! I know why!! Because he has these two little cuties who are just dying to see him again!!

I hope you've enjoyed Mike's Japanese Adventure! Keep checking back, as there's MUCH more to come!!

こんにちは

こんにちは
We're heading to Japan!

I seriously can't even begin to tell you how excited I am that we're heading to Japan for three years!! Every opportunity I get I'm searching the web for any information I can find on the country! I'm amazed at what I've found so far and I know I've only scratched the surface! For instance, did you ever wonder exactly how much snow Japan gets? Check this out...

That is the snow corridor in Murodo. CRAZY, right?!? Then I thought, "Hmmm... I wonder what there is for hiking (other than the infamous Mt. Fuji)... WAIT! What's this?!? The Chuo Alps!! Siiiiiick...

Here are the peaks in the winter!

Judging by that image I think it's pretty safe to say that the skiing and riding will be pretty SWEET!! Oh — and ehhh, did I mention that there are AMAZING hot springs EVERYWHERE!!

... and maybe if we're lucky enough, we'll get to share a hot spring with one of these guys...

So yeah, needless to say, I'm pretty stoked about this little adventure! Living in Alabama for a 1+ years is definitely paying off!! And now that I'll be living somewhere that's actually exciting, I'll be updating this blog a lot more, so keep checking back for updates! グッドナイト

Engaged and Married in less than a month!

EXCITING news folks!!! We've set a new world record for the speed at which we went from "engaged" to "married"!! OK, that may be a lie... Either way, in less than a month's time we went from being fiancés to being husband and wife! The Army certainly makes you think about these kinds of life-changing events a little differently than normal "civilian" life would have you think of them. Let me digress though... July 1st Phil, Sarah, Mike and I packed up the cars and headed north for our annual Sand Rock 4th of July Camping Weekend Extravaganza! We stopped at the ONLY Whole Foods in Alabama, picked up some succulent steaks and yummy treats! Mike and I the took the plunge and purchased a new rope and we were good to go! We arrived at Sand Rock sometime in the mid-afternoon and set up camp. After we were finished putting the last stake in the ground, Mike asked if I wanted to get a climb in before dinner, to which I (of course) answered, "Yes!". Sarah and Phil hung out at the campsite and Mike and I headed off to one of our favorite trad routes. Mike lead the route and told me that he'd belay me from the top (nothing out of the ordinary). Right before I tied in he yelled down and asked if I had a camera. I packed my iPhone (camera) and headed up the climb. When I reached the top I turned around to a beautiful view of the surround towns. This is the one place in Alabama where I actually feel like I'm not in Alabama, it's lovely! Mike was sitting at the top of this rock formation we had just scaled and I took a seat in front of him. I snapped a couple of pictures of the landscape and the two of us and then Mike asked if he could use the camera to take some pictures of "the gear and the landscape". I wasn't sure what he was going for, but handed him the camera. He had me look out to the view and behind my back, he whipped out of his chalk bag a box with a ring (a very special ring) in it and took a quick picture of it. He then proceeded to show me the picture (on my iPhone) and ask, "Hey, what's that?", pointing to the ring in the photo. It took me a moment to realize that that wasn't a piece of gear, he was about to ask me a big question!! I turned around so quick that I'm pretty sure I gave myself whiplash and asked, "Really?!?!? REALLY?!?!" I'm pretty sure I said "really" a half a million times and I also vaguely remember thanking him, but I can't be sure because after that moment my mind pretty much turned into mush and the next few minutes were like some sort of blurry fantasy-love-land. Ha ha ha! ;-) After I came to (I'm pretty sure I said "Yes" somewhere in those blurry few minutes), we were actually able to obtain some sort of cellular service and we called our parents and such. After we safely returned to the ground (not metaphorically speaking, physically speaking), we walked back to our campsite where Phil and Sarah greeted us with big smiles, a couple hugs, and drinks! Mike then proceeded to fire off Phil's mini cannon to get the party started! Soon after Phil and Sarah began cooking up an absolutely delicious steak dinner!! The steaks and potatoes were cooked directly on the hot coals and they were AMAZING! Dinner was followed by more drinks and a dessert that was to die for!! Sarah had stirred up a caramel concoction that we dipped green apples and angle food cake in! I'm pretty sure that was one of the best nights of my life (thus far)!

Engaged for two weeks, married by three! That's how we roll (in the Army)!! OK, so it was more like two and a half weeks that we were engaged for, but who's counting? July 20th was a hot, Wednesday morning and after a quick phone call to the Coffee County Courthouse (to make sure the person who needed to be there was actually there), we found ourselves dawning some presentable clothes, a little hair and makeup (for me), and we were off to say "I do"! Phil and Sarah were kind enough to join us for our little ceremony. Phil agreed to man the digital camera and Sarah, the video camera. They both watched (and took photos and movies) as Mike and I went in, signed some papers, attended a ceremony (that was under three minutes) and in a total of about 20 minutes, we went from Mr. and Miss to Mr. and Mrs.! Even though it was rather comical, I must admit, it was pretty exciting and I'm VERY happy to now call Mike my husband! We are certainly looking forward to having a celebration with our family and friends back in MA when time allows! :-) We've now been married for a little over two weeks and I can't say anything (other than my last name and being "husband" and "wife") has changed! At the core of everything, we're best friends and that's what we'll always be! :-D

Yeah, it's summer and I'm talkin' about Christmas...

OK, so it's pretty obvious how AWESOME I am at keeping my blog up-to-date, right? Yeah... Here it is, August 6th and I'm about to bring you back, waaaayyyy back (OK, maybe not that far back...) to Christmas break, 2010. It was the first time in my life that I ever had to travel to get back home for the holidays... Let me just say this, that is not fun. It's totally worth it to spend time with your family and such, but that still doesn't make it fun. Anyway, Mike and I had a solid two weeks to spend back in MA with our families and boy did we enjoy ourselves. One of the highlights of the trip was an overnight hike with Mark. The three of us hiked Mt. Lafayette in New Hampshire and MAN was I not ready for that!! OK... first off, I live in a state where stinky chicken coops far out number mountain peaks... a state who's highest elevation stands at a whooping 2,307 feet and who's average temperature in the winter months stands somewhere in the mid-50's... Let's compare shall we? Mt. Cheaha, 2,307... Mt. Lafayette, 5,260... Enterprise in the winter, 55˚F... The summit of Lafayette in the winter, -15˚F (with the wind chill)... Let's just say I was a little unprepared... Ha ha ha! You know what though, I still had FUN and I'd do it all over again and again and again! I'm not sure that Mark or Mike would want to do it all over again and again and again with me, though... I'm quite certain that Mark was freezing his jingle bells off hiking up at my sloth-pace (sorry Mark). ;-) Mike was my saving grace on that hike! He put on my snowshoes in blistering cold temperatures so that I didn't have to take my hands out of my gloves (he's the best guy ever!!). It was an amazing trip and I hope we can do something similar this Christmas! I'll just have to plan some training a few months beforehand! Ha ha ha! ;-)

Christmas Eve at the Fiat's was AWESOME, per usual! Mike was able to stop in for a little bit and take part in some of the craziness. Every year I look forward to that evening with my family, drinking, eating and laughing my ass off! I really don't think it gets much better than that!

A few days after Christmas my Mom and I drove up to my Aunt and Uncle's in Nashua, spent the night and the four of us got some skiing/snowboarding in at Mt. Sunapee! I love, LOVE, LOOOVEEE snowboarding/skiing and I was STOKED that I was able to fit that into my schedule! Not only was it great to spend some extra time with my Mom, AuntieJo, and Uncle Jim, but it was a great day to hit the slopes!

Amazingly enough, I was able to fit some work into my busy schedule and I was therefore able to visit all the people at work who I miss dearly! I was also able to see some great friends too! :-) And on top of all that, we got hammered with snow (my Christmas wish came true!!)! All and all it was an excellent trip and definitely worth the frustration of traveling that time of the year!!

Things in October

October in the south is when folks start emerging from their air-conditioned homes, cars and stores to explore the great outdoors. With arms wide open I welcomed the cooler air and a friend from the north! Danielle came down late September into early October to say, "Hi" and see what Bama had to offer. Well, Bama doesn't offer much, so we drove to Florida and explored some caverns, met a crazy tour-guide named Frank who likes talking about wet and glossy things, almost ran out of gas near a prison (because I'm AWESOME) and got a picture of Danielle in a VW Thing! The next day we drove east to Georgia where D and I ventured into a ghetto-fab Piggly Wiggly and explored the "Little Grand Canyon" (aka: Providence Canyon). We hiked around, DIDN'T abide by posted signage, discovered a hidden graveyard, and took lots of pictures! It was a great few days and D, you're welcome back any time!

October 9th, Brian, Chrissy and their two dogs, Radar and Sassy joined us for some climbing and camping up at Sand Rock. The weather was beautiful and, of course, with beautiful weather comes a bountiful supply of people! Sand Rock was the most crowded we've seen it since May! The weekend had a few "firsts"... It was Chrissy's first time climbing, she did great! Despite her fear of heights she gave it the good ol' "college try"! Brian hadn't climbed in years and managed to climb all the way to the top of Misty, a classic 5.10 route that is pretty sustained! Way to go Brian!! We all went to Little River to check out the scenery and cool off in the river. It was AWESOME! Not only were the crowds gone, but the water was super refreshing and there was some foliage surrounding the swimming hole! It was beautiful! Mike was the first to jump in, which is surprising because he's usually the one standing in the background, making funny noises as he slowly and painfully eases into the cold water. Ha ha ha! Brian was next and there I stood, at the edge of the rock, knowing I HAD to jump in so as to prevent Mike from having bragging rights... I hemmed and hawed and then, finally, about 10 minutes later I made the plunge! Brrrrr!! That water was much cooler than it was during our last visit! I'd say by about 10 degrees! It was the kind of cold that instantly takes your breath away. Now it was Chrissy's turn... She, like me, had to think long and hard about it. Was it worth it? After some nagging from her husband (ha ha ha) and some lighthearted convincing from me, the two of us jumped in together on the count of three. All and all it was a great weekend with good friends and excellent weather!

This past weekend Mike and I packed up the bikes and headed for the Gulf coast! Once again, the weather couldn't have been more perfect! I had on jeans, a t-shirt and my mesh jacket and was totally comfortable! It wasn't too hot or too cold, the sun was out, shining bright, it was just perfect! After filling up the tanks in Dothan we rode south for over 100 miles without stopping until we reached the coast! Now, life isn't always perfect and here's where the trip may have gone a little south (no pun intended)... We were planning on pulling up to one of the many coastal state parks and getting a camping site for the evening. My friend Sarah LOVES to plan ahead, she had asked if we had made a reservation the night before, we replied with a confident "No". We figured what would be the chances of these places being booked solid in the off-season. Well... We should have listened to Sarah! Every coastal state park, BOOKED! I couldn't believe it! Now what?!? I guess we'll have to check out the nearest hotel (sigh). A few minutes down the road we found ourselves alone, in a dirt parking lot, staring in wonderment at the Dixie Belle Motel... I'm sure your imagination is coming up with something similar to what we were standing in front of. The women behind the counter was very nice, she got us a room for a small sum of money (at least compared to what others in the area were charging (we're cheap)). We unlocked the door to our room, greeting us was a pungent smell of bad perfume. I wondered if/what other ghastly odor they were trying to mask with this equally disgusting perfume. All and all, I've seen and smelled worse. You really couldn't beat the price! We treated ourselves to a nice meal at a local eatery. A mescaline salad topped with vinaigrette, fresh mozzarella and tomatoes paired with oven-fresh bread followed by a brick oven pizza. Of course, I left room for dessert and chose a Belgian chocolate mousse! YUM! The next morning, I was happy to have awaken without feeling itchy, as I feared a possible bedbug invasion. We were on the road by 9, on our way to St. Joesph Bay Peninsula State Park. We rode to park's boundary and then found a beach to explore. The water was crystal clear and calm as can be. There were little crabs all scattered about the shoreline. Mike was wading out in the shallows and accidentally scared off a large Stingray. We found out later from some locals that you're supposed to drag your feet as you wade around so as to scare the Stingrays off, unless you enjoy getting speared... There were tons of butterflies and some flying fish! It was a beautiful display of nature at it's finest! By noon we were on the road again, heading for some lunch at a little Mexican joint. After stuffing our stomachs we hopped on the bikes and headed home. We made a quick pit-stop on the way home to touch some raw cotton! Sounds weird doesn't it?!? Ha ha ha! We've seen these cotton fields all over Alabama and Florida and wondered what raw cotton felt like. Well, it turns out it feels pretty much the same. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I'm glad I now know. Ha ha ha! Later that evening we arrived home in one piece, well, four pieces if you're counting both Mike and I and our bikes. It was great to finally get out on the bikes for a long ride in great weather!

Seeing as my last post prior to this was in the beginning of July, I feel the need to give you a summary of the goings on between then and now, excluding the aforementioned.

At the end of July I found myself on a flight out to Las Vegas for work. I was going out there to attend Cosmoprof. A large, annual event for the beauty industry. It was a great time! I experienced a lot of new things in a whirlwind of a week! I had only one late afternoon where I was able to lay by the pool, in the mere 110 degree heat, waited on by servers who came around with everything from margaritas to a little spoon fulls of cool aloe-vera. It was lovely!

Upon returning from Vegas I had to quickly do my laundry and pack it up again for a white water rafting/camping trip up in Tennessee. Wait!! Did you say WHITE WATER RAFTING?!?!? Noooooo!!!! White water rafting is the ONE thing in life that completely freaks me out!! It's the one thing I told myself I would be fine with never doing! Well, there I was... shivering in my life jacket, about to face some Class III and IV rapids... HELP! Mike, Phil, Sarah, John, Laura and I with our guide Crazy James (that's what they called him, for real... god help me) headed off down the Ocoee River in Tennessee. At the end of the first Class III rapid we paddled through our boat abruptly dumped most of us out! I was included in that group! I was so traumatized that I barely recall the series of events. All I remember is coming out of the water, seeing only Phil in front of me, remembering that I have to hold on to my paddle and put my feet forward. Put my feet forward?!?! YEAH RIGHT!!! My head was barely staying above water!! I was trying to tread as much water as I could, mean while, Phil, bless his soul, swam up next to me trying to calm my panic-stricken self down, while simultaneous searching the river for his wife! I am FREAKING out at this point, my life is flashing before my eyes! I'm looking around in a state of panic, trying to find a rock to get up on or something, when I noticed Sarah, Phil's wife, calmly floating a little ways behind me! Oh yeah... I forgot to mention, we're probably floating down Class I rapids at this point, but it still scared the crap out of me! Our floating bodies finally caught up the the rafts in front of us and I grabbed and held on to the rope around that raft with every muscle in my body! There was no WAY I was letting go of that rope! Crazy James finally made his way down the river and plucked us up, one by one out of the river and plopped us back in the raft. PHEW! But wait, we still have over five miles of river to go!! Oh! And did I mention that one of the Class IV sections is where the 1996 Olympic were held, which can only mean one thing... It ain't easy!! I had a new mantra, "stay in the raft... stay in the raft". The rest of the ride I had my feet anchored so hard into the raft that I had blisters by the time I got out, but... I stayed in that raft for the rest of the trip! PHEW! I learned a new lesson, don't ever, EVER go white water rafting again!

A few weeks after that traumatic event Mike, Phil, Sarah and I packed up our backpacks, or as Sarah likes to call them, book-bags, and did an overnight in Providence Canyon located in Lumpkin, Georgia. LUMPKIN, Georgia! Ha ha ha! I just love that name! Anyway, lesson number two, don't ever, EVER go backpacking in 90+ degree weather again! I've never sweat so much in my entire life. My pants looked like I had peed myself and I never stopped sweating, even through the night! I'm pretty sure that the temperature never dropped below 90 degrees! YUCK! It was a pretty place and despite the insane heat, we still had a great time!

Our next trip involves a battleship, submarine, an old cemetery, awesome architecture and some mouth-watering Emeril Lagasse cuisine. You guessed it, Mobile, AL and New Orleans, LA! Labor Day weekend Mike and I set off to explore south-western Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Our first stop was in Mobile where we toured the USS Alabama (battleship) and the USS Drum (submarine). That evening we ate dinner and watched the sun set from Dauphin Island. The next day we drove west through Mississippi and into Louisiana where we drove around the Lower 9th Ward. It's amazing to see that the aftermath of Katrina is still evident even after five years. After walking around a bit and snapping a few photos, we headed into the city. We grabbed some eats and discovered that sipping an alcoholic beverage while walking down the street is totally legit in New Orleans... sweeeeeet! Ummmm... I'll take a Margarita to go please! :-) My one and only mission was to tour one of the cemeteries in the city, specifically, the St. Louis cemetery #1 where Marie Laveau is buried. We power-walked — Boston style, to the cemetery to find a couple outside of the closed gates, speaking to a man within the gates. We came to find out that the cemetery was closed (it was Sunday and EVERYTHING is closed on Sunday down here) and it just so happens that we got there at the perfect time to join this unofficial cemetery tour. Dave, our unofficial tour-guide, had us jump the stone wall on the other side of the cemetery and commenced with our quick, unofficial tour. Dave seemed very informed, he guided us around to all of the popular tombs and filled our heads with all kinds of information. I was half listening and half taking as many pictures as I could squeeze into our short window of time. Dave even removed a few bricks from one of the tombs and let me put my camera in there to snap a photo. I got a nice shot of an old femur bone... sweeeet! Before I knew it, our tour was over, we grabbed a couple bills from our pockets handed them to Dave and thanked him for a job well done. Dave helped us scoot over the cast iron fence, grabbed his bagged 40 and followed suit. We all parted ways and continued with our day. I'm pretty sure that Dave gave us a much better tour than any legit guide would have. We walked into the French Quarter where we notice a lot of men wearing very little clothing. I, being the curious creature I am, wanted to know where all these minimally clothed men were heading, so I grabbed Mike and followed them into to the largest Gay Pride parade I've even seen! It was awesome, but I'm not sure Mike agreed with me! Cladly dressed men, dancing around the street, singing and having fun, what's wrong with that?!? Anyway, after Mike had regrouped from our gay pride experience, we decided to dine at one of Emeril Lagasse's restaurants, Nola. It was quite the experience. I've never been to a restaurant with such excellent customer service. For god's sake, they'd fold your napkin when you got up to use the bathroom, it was amazing! The food was also quite delicious! It was an excellent weekend and I can't wait to go back to New Orleans to explore some more!

Our optimistic approach to living in Alabama is continuing to pay off. We're exploring new places, meeting great people and having a wonderful time while we're here! I'll continue, hopefully in a more timely manner, to update you on the places we see and the things we do! Until next time...

Change is inevitable...

Change is inevitable and I choose to embrace it! My life has changed a bit since my last entry. As most of you already know I’ve moved down to Alabama, a state where Chiggers out number people 10:1! OK, I may have made that up, but it’s a good guess! Mike and I packed up our belongings, plus some, and began our drive south on the 17th of May. We made it all the way to Maryland before we had to stop, which to me, is quite the feat considering we were driving in separate vehicles, one of which could barely handle 50mph. Oooohhh that U-Haul, how I DON’T miss thee. Our first night we spent in a Walmart parking lot. It was reminiscent of our trip across country almost two years ago. We, or better yet, I, got about 5 hours of sleep that night. You see, when Mike’s head hits the pillow instant snoring occurs (not the annoying kind of snoring, just the kind that says, “I’m happily sleeping while you’re still awake”), whilst I lay awake, in insane jealousy, for at least 30 minutes before finally drifting off to dreamland... So where was... Ahh yes, we awoke around 5am and continued our drive south. OH! I almost forgot to mention the nearly $100 we spent on tolls ALONE passing through New York, New Jersey and Delaware!! SERIOUSLY people?!?!? Breathing... I’m breathing... OK, I’ve calmed down, let’s continue... The next day we drove, oohhh I want to say about 15 hours or so... YIKES! We made it all the way down to Georgia and stayed the night in a hotel (I HAD to shower before meeting up with the realtor, that would just be rude not to). The next morning we leisurely awoke around 8 and we were meeting with the realtor to sign some papers and get our keys by 2pm, or should I say 1400 hours? Military time... I have to get used to it if I want to stick around. We were able to unload the truck and put almost everything in it’s appropriate room by the end of the night! Amazing, considering we had spent the last two days driving! I’m pretty sure I did fall asleep when my head hit the pillow that night!

We’ve now been moved in for almost two months and I’ve already been back home twice! I was back home at the very end of May due to my father’s illness and then again for Mike’s best friend’s wedding, just two weeks ago. I’m also traveling to Vegas at the end of next week for work. I’ve flown more in the beginning half of this year than I did in all my years leading up to 2010. It’s craziness I tell ya!

Since we’ve been here we’ve done some exploring. We’ve driven five hours north (we’re in the southeastern corner of the state) three times now for climbing. It’s the closest decent climbing to us. It’s a beautiful little area called Sand Rock and there are many sport routes set up there, along with a few trad routes. I was absolutely thrilled when I first laid eyes upon this place! Climbing... in Alabama, who would have thought?!?!? The first time we had gone up, we met some folks from GA who were nice enough to show us another climbing area near by. It was in a place called Little River Gorge. WAIT! I’m sorry, did you just say gorge?!?? WOW! Alabama has gorges too?!?! Hmmm... maybe this state isn’t as bad as a thought! ;-) The second time we headed up there we met up with one of the guys who was in the first group we met, but with other friends of his. They were nice enough to let us tag along with them on a short hike down Little River. What an amazing place!! There’s all kinds of swimming holes and places to jump off of, and a beautiful waterfall to stand under! I wish it was a little closer!!

Hills, rocks and rivers aside, we’ve also done some exploring south of us. About a month ago we drove down the Panama City Beach. Despite it being fairly crowded down there, it’s a beautiful place. We spent most of the day in St. Andrews State Park. I saw my first Alligator in the wild!! OoooooOoooo... scary!! I also had my first swim in the Gulf, sans oil! I must admit though, I do miss the frigid temperatures of the northeast ocean! I could barely tell the difference in temperature between the parts of my body that were in the water and those parts that were out. It was not very refreshing. Nonetheless, I enjoyed our trip to the Gulf Coast and will most likely return at some point.

Boom!... BOOM!!... Happy Fourth of July everyone!!! What did you do for the 4th? Oh me, well Phil, Sarah, Mike and I drove five hours north, to our favorite place... Sand Rock!! We had the perfect site atop the “mountain” (it’s only 1600’, not sure if I consider that a mountain), who’s rocky terrain leads to a wide open vista of the towns below. We left on Friday morning around 6:30, stopped at one of the few Whole Foods in Bama and stocked up. We stopped again at Mountain High Outfitters where Mike purchased a new pair of climbing shoes! We arrived at our site around noon time, had some lunch and got a few climbs in! That night we had the BEST steak dinner EVER (OK, so it wasn’t Ruth’s Chris, but it was pretty damn close, especially for camping)!! Thanks Phil for awesome grill-skills! The next two days we’d spend some time in the morning climbing and then chill out, river-side, for the afternoon/evening hours! OH! And of course, what kind of Fourth of July would it be without our own mini cannon?!?!?!?!? Yes folks, that’s right! Phil brought along his totally radical mini cannon, which we proudly fired off into the night sky and smiled as it loudly echoed across the valley below! Oohhhh I just love explosions! We were also able to perch ourselves up on the rocks that over looked the fireworks of three or so towns! All in all, I’ve a some good times down here so far. Thing are a little different than I’m used to, but as I mentioned before, I embrace change! I hope you all are well! :-)

Washington... the state, not DC... Geeezz!

Mike and I departed Boston Saturday (Sept 12) at 3:15pm and arrived in Seattle at 8:10pm. It was only about a 4 hour flight across the country (no head wind). We met up with Gina, Nate and Paresh for some yummy pizza and a couple of drinks. I spent Saturday night at Gina and Nate's lovely apartment. Sunday, Gina and I took the ferry over to Whidbey Island and walked around Fort Casey, had lunch at a little Thai restaurant, then drove up to Deception Pass to take in the beautiful views. That evening Gina, Nate, Paresh, Sibyl, Mike and I went out to eat in West Seattle and I moved my belongings over to Paresh and Sibyl's place where I spent the rest of the vacation. Mike and I packed quickly for our backpacking trip up Mt. Daniel and went to bed. We woke up relatively early on Monday and headed out to the Cascades. We experienced some traffic, difficulties locating film for the video camera and extreme dirt roads, which landed us on trail at about 3:30pm, another late start yet again... We're getting good at this! The trek to camp was a bit slow due to the fact that I had blisters from a hike we had done the previous weekend. They began to hurt only an hour into our hike and never stopped hurting from that point on. "Use moleskin!", you say. I did, matter of fact, I got blisters under the moleskin. Yeah... I'm THAT good! We finally arrived at camp around 6pm and set up shop just as the sun set. The timing actually worked out pretty well. Tuesday morning we were on the trail leading to the summit of Daniel at about 8:30am. We watched as some other hikers headed up ahead of us and took note of the trail they chose. We chose a route that was a little longer because of a conversation we had with another hiker the night before. It was a more round-about way, traversing the inner edge of the bowl through lots of scree fields. It was a long trek and my blisters were not very happy with me. When we reached the summit I breathed a sigh of relief... until we realized that we weren't at the actual summit... oh no... this was just the East Summit... So after some hemming and hawing on my part, onward we trekked to the actual summit of Mt. Daniel and it was amazing!! It was a fairly small spire that only one person at a time could stand on top of. After writing in the summit log, we chatted with another couple and then headed back to camp. We took a much shorter way down (the way we had taken note of that morning), which my blisters were very thankful for. We watched as the couple we had chatted with on the summit scrambled down this strange trail that was far off the beaten path. It was entertaining and we were imagining how pissed the chic probably was at her boyfriend for dragging her down this "not so friendly" looking path. We made it back to camp with daylight to spare and had dinner by the lake, a nice way to end the day. Wednesday morning we awoke leisurely, packed up and headed out. We made it to the car by about 12:30 and headed back to Seattle. On the way we stopped for a nice Italian lunch and then to catch a glimpse of Snoqualmie Falls. That evening, Paresh, Mike and I went to Feathered Friends to see Zoe Hart's (a super awesome chic climber) slideshow. It was AWESOME! Thursday, Mike and I bummed around Seattle with Gina, that evening Gina, Paresh, Sibyl, Mike and I had an excellent meal at a Mexican restaurant in West Seattle. After dinner, Mike, Gina and I went bowling. Gina kicked out BUTTS!!! She bowled 6 strikes in a row!! It was amazing!! It was like the more she drank, the better she bowled! Ha ha ha! ;-) Friday, Mike and Paresh went climbing at Index and I took my blisters and the Beetle to Mt. Rainer. I almost got a speeding ticket in the park! Pshhh!! These park ranger's ain't seen nothing!! They should see me drive around MA! Speeding... HA! ;-) Rainer was just as beautiful as it was during my last visit and Mike and Paresh had an excellent time at Index. We all had a splendid day! Saturday morning was a washout. Paresh, Sibyl, Mike and I had a filling breakfast at a lovely little restaurant in West Seattle and then did some shopping at Second Assent, that evening Mike and I went to Safeco field to watch a Mariner's game. The Mariner's were playing the Yankee's and unfortunately the Yankee's won... Boooooo! It was still a fun game, though! :-) Sunday, Paresh, Mike and I headed out to Leavenworth for some climbing. We had a delicious breakfast and then headed up to our climb! It was a beautiful day, we all got a lead in and had grand ol' time! What a way to end our trip!! That night I stopped by Gina's to say goodbye and she, being the SUPER nice person that she is, brought me back a slice of a Snicker's cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory and put a little candle in it for my birthday!! Awww!! Gine, you're the BEST!! Monday... Happy Birthday to me, I wish I could have flown for free (that was a terrible attempt at rhyming)!.. We arrived at the airport around 7am and finally arrived in Boston around 6:30pm... the entire day was spent flying... yay me! Ha ha ha! All in all it was an amazing trip, filled with good times, lots of laughs and beautiful views!! I LOVE Washington!!

Long time no see!

I think I might have forgotten that I had a blog for a little while here... My apologies. I believe a recap would be appropriate. Stay with me now, this might take a little bit... {deep breath} and here we go...

June 20th, Meghan's Bachelorette party, Boston MA. There were quite a few of us wrecking havoc on the little city of Boston. It was an excellent evening filled with raised eyebrows, a dancing street walker and a crazy woman that goes by the name of Higgs, strippers, a lot of hairspray, half naked men, the largest alcoholic beverage we've ever feasted our eyes on, dancing, a street violinist and a lot of laughs!! OK... some of that may not be true, but that's for me to know and you to... well, never find out! ;-) Good times were DEF had by all, right Meg!?! Pictures can be viewed here.

June 27th, Meghan and John tie the knot, Walpole MA. Well my best friend is married and that can only mean one thing for me... hold off for as long as I possibly can!!! Ha ha ha! Kidding! Meghan and John were married at Blessed Sacrament Church and the reception was held at the Walpole Country Club. It was a beautiful day, despite the downpour that occurred right as everyone was scheduled to arrive at the church. :-) We all got through it and the day couldn't have turned out more perfectly! Pictures can be viewed here.

July 3rd and 4th, El Quatro de Julio, Humarock/Boston MA. July 3rd Mark, Mike, Janice, Rich and I headed to the annual party held by the Dorrer's at their beautiful house on the beach, in Humarock. It was a lovely evening filled with fireworks, bonfires, good food, yummy drinks and great people! The evening of the 4th of July Mark, Mike Rich and I headed into Boston to fight the crowds and get glimpse of the incredibly awesome fireworks display that Boston puts on! We sat our keesters down on Storrow Drive and watched in amazement! I've been into Boston a few times and I'll tell ya what, it NEVER gets old!! Pictures can be viewed here.

July 10th and 11th, Exploring NH. July 10th Mike and I headed north with climbing in mind. I was really stoked to lead something again! We got to our trusty campground near Waterville around 11pm and were surprised at what we saw... No camp sites available!! Never in the two years we've sought out a site at this particular campground has it been full! We weren't sure what we should do, so we headed further down the road with the intention on checking out the sister campground to this last place. Well, SOMEONE told SOMEONE to take a right turn when it was supposed to be a left and we found ourselves driving down this seemingly never ending road. We drove by some cars parked on the side of the street and figured there were free spots along the road, so we found one, set up shop and went to bed. We awoke in the morning to the sound of a truck door slamming shut. I looked out of the screen and there was a ranger putting a ticket on our car. APPARENTLY people pay $20 for these sites that are on the side of a road without a toilet in site! Insanity I tell ya! We were jipped! Anywho, we paid the robbers and continued on our way up to North Conway. As we were driving I was reading through the climbing books trying to decided what I wanted to do. I read a blurb that said that this particular climb required two ropes... "ROPES!!" I said, "I never packed my rope!!!" I looked over at Mike, the disappointment in his face said it all... "Bummer man! What do we do now?", I said. After trying to come up with some sort of solution that would put us back on the rock we decided to just explore the Kangamangus and all it had to offer. We stopped at Rocky Gorge, which we've always driven by and said we would stop there someday, today was that day. We drove further up the road and explored different parts of the Swift River. Then we drove to Cathedral to see if we could bum a rope off of Mike's friend who was supposed to be climbing up in that area that day. We couldn't find her so we decided to pick Strawberries. As we were waiting in line to pick Strawberries we started chatting with a guy that worked there. He asked if we had just come off a climb and we told him our story of how I forgot the rope. He felt bad for us and said, "Here, take my rope, I'm not using it!", we were SOOO grateful and took off to Cathedral to get some climbs in before the sun went down. Well, I pulled out my bag to unload my gear, I unzipped it and my mouth dropped... There, all coiled up in it's bag, my ROPE!!! OH MAN!! I was pissed!! I forgot that I put it in my bag so that I wouldn't forget it. I really wonder about myself sometimes. Well we got a few climbs in, returned the rope, and headed off to a remote camp site we took note of during our last trip up north. It was a beautiful site, right on the river! We were all ready to cook our dinner on the open fire and BAM rain starts falling down in buckets!! We quickly retreated to the tent where we cooked some couscous in the vestibule and fell asleep. A failed weekend? Not quite, but definitely filled with a fair share of adventure. Pictures can be viewed here.

July 18th and 19th, Bike Ride to Truro MA. Early Saturday afternoon Mike, Seth and I fired up the engines and began our ride down to Truro, MA. It was an excellent day for a ride. We only ran into some traffic closer to Truro and we may or may not have hopped into the breakdown lane for a bit... Bad! We arrived in Truro and met up with Kate and her family who had rented condos right on the beach. After visiting the local paahhhkie we jumped into our swimming trunks and played like children in the large waves!! It was a BLAST!! We had seaweed fights and we were taking turns riding the waves in on an alligator float!! Awesomeness! That night Seth, Mike and I went into good ol' p-town and had ourselves some tasty pizza and some alcoholic beverages! That night Mike and I rolled out the tent on the beach and instead of getting in it, we got on top of it and nestled into our sleeping bags and spent the night under the stars. It was amazing! :-) The next morning Seth, Mike and I hopped on our bikes and headed off to the farthest point on the arm and then explored the National Seashore. We arrived back at the condo and spent some time laying on the beach, then we set off for our long journey home. An excellent weekend for sure! Pictures can be viewed here.

August 1st -3rd Papoose Pond, Waterford ME. August first, we waited, and waited... and waited some more for Bryan to get his butt over Mike's house!! I don't know what time our convoy ended up leaving, probably sometime around 2PM. We got up to Waterford around 5pm, I think, and did some shopping at a local Walmart (gotta love Walmart!!) and set up the cabin, I mean, the tent right as night fell. You'll have to excuse me, I often forgot that we were in a tent because the "tent" was closer in resemblance to a cabin than an actual tent. One might be wondering, "What does she mean it resembled a cabin?", let me explain. After we set up the monstrosity of a thing I notice Bryan walking back from his car with a small folding table, I asked what it was for, his replay, "The AC"!!! I'm sorry, WHAT??!?! I didn't quite catch that, did you just say you were setting up an AC in the tent!?!?! Yes, they were and that wasn't the end of it. A oscillating fan accompanied the AC so we all froze our butts off at night. There were 3, count 'em THREE, air mattresses, a little fake lawn carpet to greet you at the door which was surrounded by some plastic edging to keep the little streams created by the rain at bay. I think it may have been the most luxurious tent I've ever seen constructed! Ha ha ha! Other than having to put that thing together, I also got in a couple games of beach volleyball, some excellent food, a few glasses of good bourbon and tasty tequila and a few laughs! I topped off this lovely long weekend with a climb at Cathedral with Mike! An excellent way to end an excellent weekend! Pictures can be viewed here.

August 8th, Tripyramids, Waterville NH. Five AM, Saturday morning, I'm ready to go! Guess who isn't?! Marrkkkkkk! Yes, Mark, the same guy who gave me hell the night before saying people are always waiting on me... Yeah... I rest my case. Anywho, Mark and I got up to the trail head pretty early, I want to say maybe 8:30—9. It was a beautiful day for a hike! It's about 3 miles of flat terrain and then the trail starts climbing, before you know it you find yourself on the north slide, scrambling up big ol' slabs of rock with excellent views! The summits don't offer much in the way of views, but the north and south slides offer some beautiful vistas! We ended the hike with a dip in some frigid river water, brrrrrr, and sunned ourselves on the rocks for a little bit. It was a wonderful day! Pictures can be viewed here.

August 23rd, Mark's Race, Attitash Mountain NH. Saturday afternoon I met Rich, Janice, Mark and Mike up at the slope side condo they had rented. That evening we all went out to dinner at The Moat in North Conway, it was DELICIOUS!! After dinner we watched Batman Begins and retired to bed. Sunday morning was Mark's race, we all cheered Mark on as he flew by, coming in 3rd in his division!! We stuck around for the award ceremony and then headed off to see if we could squeeze a game of mini golf in before the rain came. No such luck in North Conway, it was raining cats and dogs. We crossed over the Kanc and had some pizza in Lincoln. It seemed to be a consistent spitting of rain there so we figured we'd chance it and get that mini golf game in and oh boy did we get a game in, it was epic! I am the three holes in one champion while Mike took 1st, Mark took 2nd and Rich and I tied for 3rd (my short game is terrible)!! Ha ha ha! It was a great weekend!

Insane in the membrane, INSANE IN THE BRAIN!

WOW! That word pretty much sums up my weekend! What a way to end the winter climbing season! Mark, Mike and I began our hike up one of the gullies on Mt. Webster fairly early on Saturday morning. We had the most perfect weather you can imagine. We all actually got a little bit of a sunburn on our faces. Most of our time was spent hiking some 1500 ft on a snow-covered gully, which turned into some ice at the top, then we had to bushwhack through some very dense trees for a 100 ft. or so until we finally reached the top where we spent the night on the ridge. We found a cozy spot amidst some trees where we dug out a tent site and set up shop. It was a lovely night (not too cold) and we awoke to yet another beautiful sunny day today. A mere 3.4 mile hike through some portions of knee-deep snow and the occasional opportunity to glissade got us to the road where we had to walk another mile or so to the lot where we had parked to the car. My feet were really excited to see the car! Ha! :-) It was definitely one of the best weekends I've had this winter!

Moving on... the weekend leading up to this past weekend, Danielle and I headed up to Loon where I finally, FINALLY, got to use my skis! It was so AWESOME to be back on skis! It was a beautiful day and the snow was just right. Danielle and I experienced some great "spring skiing"!

Going backwards even still... the weekend before that, Mike and I headed north to get some more ice climbing in. Despite the crowds, we managed to get a couple climbs in at Kinsman. We spent the night in North Conway and got up early to attempt Black Pudding Gully. We hiked all the way up to the base of the climb, Mike started up the climb and with the first swing of the ice axe into the vertical section, out rang a loud hollow sound (not good when ice climbing). Mike did some investigating and discover that he could do the Irish Jig in the large, 10 foot tall section that was between the ice and the rock. In my opinion, Mike did the smart thing and backed off the climb. We decided to venture further up the road to a place we hadn't been yet, Texaco. We were able to get a couple climbs in there and then headed home. So, with Spring just around the bend... I guess you could say I've had one, totally rad winter!! The picture of Mark, Mike and I above was taken from atop Mt. Webster. For pics of Mt. Webster, click here.
For pics of Kinsman, Black Pudding and Texaco, click here.

OK... so I'm not awesome at keeping up-to-date with this blog stuff... Hmmm alright, let's see... what's happened since my last entry?... I typically can't remember what I did yesterday so you'll forgive me if I forget something, right? Here it goes... Sometime in January Gina, Danielle and I went snowboarding at Pat's Peak. It was Gina's first time on a snowboard and Danielle and I did our best to keep her off her butt! :-) She did really well and I hope she keeps up with it! I still have yet to use my skis that I bought last season!! It's starting to drive me a little insane... I don't know what my problem is but everytime I go to the mountain I end up snowboarding... maybe it's what my inner-self truly desires... Ha! :-) At some other point in January Mike and I went ice climbing at Frankenstein Cliff in New Hampshire, it was totally rad! We had a beautiful sunny, 0˚F (with the windchill) day! The weekend following that Sean and I went up to Mt. Snow in VT. I've never been, it's a pretty sweet mountain! Sean totally showed off in the park! Ha! (Sean - if you read this, I'm kidding, I'm just envious of your mad skillz!) Which brings us to this past weekend... Mike and I drove up on Sat. to the Crawford Notch area and did two short climbs, stayed the night in Twin Mountain and returned to Mt. Willard to do a longer gully climb on Sun. Now for all you MA people, while you were enjoying the beautiful, sunny 40-something degree day, Mike and I were freezing our butts off in a snowstorm in the White Mountains! Ha! It's amazing how different the weather can be from one place to the next. Now keep calm... don't get your panties all up in a knot, I'll have pictures posted soon!

Like... WHOA!

Like... whoa! Don't get me wrong, I love the holidays, but MAN I'm glad this craziness is over! So let's see... Christmas Eve was awesome! The fam all came over and it was good times as always (Auntie Jan & Uncle Jim, we missed you both!) The weekend following Christmas my mom, Joanne, Jim, Scott, Steve, Michelle, the Canadians and Lou took to the slopes of Sunday River... slopeside! Granted the weather was a bit strange we still got a full day in on Saturday and I rode a half day Sunday, it was AWESOME!! Oh and did I mention we also enjoyed the heated outdoor pool and jacuzzi!! Yeahhhh... like I said before, AWESOME!

New Year's Eve Nick and I went to Nate's house in Essex. Nate lives in a cool house connected to a saw mill where he works. I enjoyed some live music provided by Nick, Nate, Tim, a couple guitars and a bongo. We counted down to 2009 with the folks in Time Square and then froze our butts off watching a firework show in the driveway. At about 3AM I partook in some drunken guitar lessons thanks to Tim. I met a lot of really awesome people and had a grand ol' time! Now it's time to catch up on some much need sleep!

Click here for pics from the aforementioned Sweater Party and Sunday River

I've got a need... a need for speed!

Ice climbing, rock climbing, driving across country... yeah, they're all good but I need more in my life... I need to fly! Ha! Kidding! It being close to Christmas and all, I've once again got lazy about updating my blog... shame on me! Anywho, let's see... two weekends ago Mike took me flying in the morning, it was awesome! I flew the plane all by myself (pictured above)! Ha ha ha! That night Mark, Mike and I were off to an ugly sweater party... good times, indeed!! Sunday afternoon Mike and I went back into Boston to watch a game of racquets. It's similar to squash but far more dangerous. It's played in a granite room with an acrylic ball wrapped in twine and tape that can reach speeds up to 180mph... don't believe me? Google it! Fast forward to this past weekend which was FILLED with snow!!! YAY!!! The fam and I went to our annual xmas party with friend's of the fam, also good times!! And ahhhh well, I shoveled... a lot! I'm looking forward to this coming weekend when I'll be hitting the slopes up at Sunday River! That about does it for now. For the folks who actually read this, Happy Holidays to you all!

Click here for Plane Ride pics!

Does it get any better?!

I'm in love... This past weekend was my first time Ice Climbing and I must say, I can't WAIT to go again!! I love it!! Mike and I hiked up to Tuckerman's Ravine and did some mixed climbing. It was amazing! As I stood there on the top of Tuckerman's, the wind nearly knocking me down, snow flying by my face I thought to myself, "Does it get any better than this!?" I looked out at the snow covered mountains and realized all in one moment that this year has been absolutely incredible, I've done many things I thought I'd only dream about doing and I'm so grateful. Above is a picture of Mike on the first pitch of our climb.

10 mile hike in knee deep snow without snowshoes... AWESOME!

I ended this nice long weekend with another snowy hike!! Mark, Mike and I hiked Galehead Mtn. on Sunday via the Gale River Trail to Garfield Ridge Trail to Frost Trail. It started off with a little dusting of snow on the ground which then turned into ankle deep, then knee deep and then nearly hip deep! Judging by the little snow we encountered at the trailhead we figured we'd be fine without snowshoes... boy were we wrong! Luckily for us a couple people had gone up ahead of us with snowshoes and blazed a nice little trail. We took turns with another party ahead of us, who were also lacking in the snowshoe department, breaking trail beyond what those folks in the snowshoes had accomplished. It's never a bad day hiking in the snow, even if ya have to do a little extra work breaking trail! Above is a picture of Mark from the lookout just below Galehead's summit.

Isolation

This past weekend was a chilly one! Mike and I headed north early Saturday morning, we drove into some snow showers up near Cannon... I can't even begin to tell you how stoked I was to see snow!!! We started our hike into Isolation Shelter around 2:30 and found ourselves searching through the dark, snow-covered woods for a campsite after discovering that a bunch of dudes had overtaken the shelter. We set up shop quick and enjoyed our dinner while listening to some Christmas tunes as the snow fell around Mike's little tent. It was like Christmas except we hadn't even made it through Thanksgiving!! :o) The wind was howling that night. We guessed the gusts had to have been up in the 60mph range. Mike's watch read a whopping 16ºF inside the tent... I can't imagine how cold it was outside the tent, especially with the wind chill and all! It was a wonderful, chilly night!! I love winter!!! Above is a short clip of our drive up 93 (you need to have the sound on to fully appreciate this clip). Click here for pictures!! :o)

Brian Regan & good beer

Tonight was filled with lots of laughs, good friends and frothy beer.
Mark (seen in the photo above), Mike, Luke, Seth, Katie, Bryan,
Danielle and I saw Brian Regan at the Orpheum Theatre and then had
some munchies and drinks at Cheers! It was a damn good time! Mike and
I are hoping to get a hike in a some point this weekend if the rain
will ever let up... we'll see! ;-)

Exploring Crawford

Ok... so I've been a little lazy this week. I'm just now getting around to posting a blog for last weekend, sue me. Nonetheless, last weekend Mike and I did a little bit of exploring. We revisited Mt. Crawford in hopes of discovering a new climbing route on the summit. It was a bit colder than it was the previous weekend, as you can see in the picture above, we're bundled up pretty good. We repelled off the summit only to find a 20 some-odd foot cliff with nothing on it worth cleaning out and setting up an anchor for. Oh well, it was still a great time and... hey, we tried! :o) Just a side note... I can't WAIT for ice climbing season!! YAY! Click here for pictures!

Stoopdafied @ Slightly Stoopid

Mike and I got stoopdafied at Slightly Stoopid last night!! Well, not really but it was one kick ass show!! We witnessed a fight between someone in the crowd and one of the two lead singers... It was sweeeeeet! Now I'm packin' up for some more backpacking and a possible
route discovery! Weehooo!

Climbing and backpacking all in the same day... I must be dreaming!

This weekend was splendid! Mike and I drove up to Franconia Notch Friday night and spent the night in the truck so that we could wake up early to begin our climb on Cannon. Sure enough we were the first ones in the parking lot Saturday morning. We climbed Wiesner's Dike and about halfway up the climb it became extremely windy and cloudy, by the time we reached the top of what once was Old Man's head we were experiencing 50mph winds! It was freakin' awesome!! We met Mark (who hiked up) at the top and headed down together. We were soon on our way to Davis Path which we hiked up to Resolution Shelter where we spent the night. Sunday we hiked through the very wet trails which lead to the summit of Mt. Crawford. At first the summit was very cloudy and we couldn't see a thing but after spending a few minutes there the clouds started to clear and behind them were some pretty sweet views! The picture above was taken at the summit of Mt. Crawford and you can find more pictures by clicking here!