Unlike last year, this summer was cool, a bit rainy, and chock full of activities. This year, we managed to find this amazing fish at an antique shack on the Cape See Botticelli’s Venus Collect more shells that I might know what to do with Countless trips on the ferry to and from work Winning tons of tickets at the local arcade Kayaking a bunch of times throughout the state Hiking even more mountains and surviving 😉 Getting one of…
This past weekend was National Trails Day here in the US and without knowing it, we happened to be hiking in New Hampshire! We have long attempted to climb all the 4,000 footers in the White Mountains of NH. There are 48 mountains that are above 4,000 feet throughout the area (some just above by 3 feet or so!) and by completing them, you can get a patch and the satisfaction of completing a significant milestone. Some people are crazy…
We were recently lucky enough to hike in the Grand Canyon, specifically Bright Angel Trail to Indian Garden. Now, while we did not go all the way down to Phantom Ranch, we did learn a few things about the trail that we will remember for our next trip. 1. START EARLY! Man is it hot in Arizona in May! When we landed in Phoenix, it was predicted to be a high of 104 degrees Fahrenheit. For two New Englanders, this…
In an effort to get in shape for our upcoming hike to the Grand Canyon (want to help us raise money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society? Donate here!), we have been trying to hike more. Unfortunately, though there has been little snow or ice in the Boston area, it has been a slightly different story in New Hampshire. While in Albany, NH for a stay at the Darby Field Inn (review coming soon!) we decided that we wanted to go…
A few people have been posting about the new travel challenge to #Take12Trips in 2016. As I am currently down with a wicked cold or mild flu, this is the perfect time to distract myself with our future plans for the year 🙂 Unfortunately, we aren’t able to take a trip each month due to the fact that our work schedules are so hard to sync. I work Sunday through Thursday, Eric has a “regular” work schedule something I haven’t…
One of the most fun and unique things that we are doing this year will be hiking the Grand Canyon with the Team in Training group for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. This will be my second trip to the Grand Canyon. I had the great luck of being required to go there for work training (really sad, I know! haha). Eric will be experiencing it the first time, which will be a treat to see. Since we are going with…
The other day at work, a person asked me if the water coming out of the water fountain was filtered. I was taken aback for a moment before I remembered that so many places in the world do not have good tasting water even with filtration. Boston, however, is incredibly lucky that our favorite beverage (no it isn’t beer! haha) comes from a special place called the Quabbin. In recent taste and quality tests, Boston’s water has scored either in…
We were lucky enough the other day to be able to get one last mountain hike in before 2015 came to a close at Kearsarge North in North Conway. Peaking out at 3,268 feet, it isn’t high enough to be a 4,000 footer but has a really steep climb in the middle. One of the newest experiences that we had on this hike was a large amount of ice along the route! Oddly enough, most of the ice was shaped…
Remember how one of our plans for 2016 was to do more hiking? It was partially inspired by wanting to feel and get healthier, but also because of an idea that I had years ago when my dad was first diagnosed with leukemia. Unable to bike ride for very long (and lacking a bike) and not really interested in doing a marathon, I found a different type of charity activity: hiking! First called “Hike for Discovery” and then a few…
Like many other people, we usually have an extra little Traveling Companion when we go out, especially hiking. Meet Larry the Pirate! We found Larry on The Cape in 2004. Since then, Larry has become a vital part of our hiking routine, accompanying us up several of the Presidentials, Mt. Flume, Mt. Lincoln, Mt. Lafayette, Little Haystack, and several other mountains in the northeast. Traveling companions like Larry should have a few particular characteristics. First, they should be cute in…
