Through Hike on the AT

I know this is a little late but I still wanted to write up a little bit about when I had the opportunity to hike a portion of the Appalachian Trail (AT) while on vacation in Massachusetts. Not too far from our resort was Mount Greylock the highest peak in the state. I started my hike on the Jones Nose trail, which is a four mile hike to summit and meets up with a three mile portion of the AT.  My favorite part of the hike was the trailhead that is somewhere between a half-mile to mile long. You start by going up a beautiful field of wildflowers on the side of the mountain and then are transported into the lush greenery of the mountain. The hike itself was quite grueling and I have mad respect for anyone who can hike the entire AT. On top of the mountain is a war memorial to the dead veterans of Massachusetts and you can climb to the top of this and see a 360 degree view of the valley down below.

Lory State Park

Earlier this week, Jon and I went for our first hike in Colorado. After doing a little bit of research on the internet we traveled up to Lory State Park to hike the park's flagship trail, Arthur's Rock. The scenery out here is absolutely beautiful. It's a mixture of desert and prairie, interspersed with bits of greenery of the temperate forrest I'm used to back in North Carolina. The terrain is much more rocky, the trail a mixture of gravel and sand over flagstone, marble, and granite jutting up from the earth.

The hike was described as moderate to difficult, which for us east coaster's not used to the high altitude and the steeper slopes here. The trail started out low in the mountains and slowly winds its way up. As you move up the mountain you encounter a fair number of switchbacks that left me out of breath and wishing I was in better shape. As you get higher up the mountain there are more trees and the trail is much more shaded, which was nice after hiking a mile up the mountain in the hot sun. 

At the top of Arthur's Rock, you have to scale up path of boulders to see the view from the top. That was really cool but also really nerve racking. However, the view from the top is totally worth it. On one side you can see the town of Fort Collins below and behind on the other side of the mountain is a view out into Lory State Park and the Rockies. Climbing and hiking back down is a lot easier than going up and a fairly quick trip down. 

Notes From the Road

 

Hello everyone from Fort Collins, Colorado!

We left one week ago from Raleigh, NC and drove for three days till we reached our destination. Other than stops for food and to occasionally stop to adjust the luggage rack on top of my car or Lucy's litter box strapped to the trunk of Jon's Miata the drive went more smoothly than either of us could have hoped for.We left one week ago from Raleigh, NC and drove for three days till we reached our destination. Other than stops for food and to occasionally stop to adjust the luggage rack on top of my car or Lucy's litter box strapped to the trunk of Jon's Miata the drive went more smoothly than either of us could have hoped for.

I was amazed at the beauty of West Virginia, which was miles and miles of a windy mountain road. Now this is my personal opinion and I'm sure others will disagree with what I say next but I liked driving through these mountains better than the Blue Ridge Parkway. Whenever I've driven on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I have always been scared out of my wits that I am going to fling my vehicle off the side of the mountain. However, in WV it was more like a slow meandering while you got to take in the beautify of the mountains and trees working together.



We didn't get to see much of KY as we drove through the majority of the state in darkness. The second day took us through Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. I have to say this day was the most boring in terms of scenery. Through all three states it was mainly rocky hills that looked like chiseled pancakes stacked on top of each other topped with long grass. The major cities we drove through looked interesting and tempt me into wanting to visit, especially Louisville and St. Louis. Passing the Arch was really cool but also distracting as we went by it in 12 o'clock traffic. The traffic and choosing the right exits was stressful and nerve racking. We ended the second day in Lawrence, KS and stayed with a friend for the night.

From Kansas to Colorado was a lot of rolling prairie land, which was pretty but got old after five or six hours. Towards the end of KS we decided to start cutting north so we could avoid Denver's traffic. This detour took us up through Nebraska which was also stunningly and surprisingly beautiful. High, rolling roads that left you feeling like you were on a roller coaster. Sunflowers dotted the sides of the road. However, our trip through NB was short and soon we were in the prairie lands of Colorado. About two or three hours into the state we could see the line of the Rocky Mountains and we knew we were close.  Finally around seven or eight we rolled in to good old Fo'Co and got a hotel room for the night.

In what seems to be like odd coincidence, Jon and I once again had trouble when it came to renting our apartment. We found the next morning the previous tenant had not yet even begun to move out and were told to wait till noon that day to move in. All in all, we are in our new place and settling in fairly well.

More to come on Fo'Co' and our adventures soon!


xxxo.

Butternut Squash in Chapel Hill

Things are about to really change here. I worked my last shift at the Olive Garden yesterday and we are packing up the las of our belongings and moving to Fort Collins, CO on Monday. I cannot wait for this new beginning to start!

Unfortunately, new beginnings also means saying goodbye to some old friends... at least for now. Yesterday afternoon, in between packing and work I met up with one of my oldest friends to have lunch. She suggested we go to "Butternut Squash" in Chapel Hill which serves vegetarian and vegan cuisine.

The atmosphere was nice, a mixture of modern and eclectic design in a smaller setting with an even smaller staff. Our server, Masie, who also doubled as our host and cashier, was an absolute delight! She was friendly, helpful and one of the better servers I've had in a long time.

Now the important part, the food. The food itself is not overly pricy with sandwiches starting around $9.50 and entrees from $10-14. I ordered the black bean burger pictured below and Rachel had an oversized loaded baked potato. Both our meals came with a fresh field green salad and was delicious. I tried her tofu bacon and i have to say, you'd never know it wasnt meat For the price and portions you really can't do much better for a specialty restaurant.

Mass MoCA

 I'm starting to feel very cultured this vacation, as I have now ventured to three different art museums this week alone. I will say this much for the Massachusetts/New England area you will not want for a lack of art or artistic expression.  Yesterday, I went to the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in the small town of North Adams about a 30 minute drive from our resort.

The museum itself is located in an old 19th century Mill building lending to its overall character, size and scale. I do have to say that because of this the museum was a bit of a maze and I found I was frequently asking for directions. The featured/special exhibition was titled "Oh, Canada" and displayed the works of several different Canadian artists. I'm not going to lie, some of it I loved, some of it I hated, and the common complaint most of us have about modern and contemporary art, a lot of it went over my head. I loved artists who did more fiber art and stayed away from the ones that did visual/videos. To the left is another one of my favorites. It is this cool looking spaceship made out of old children's toys and trinkets. I cannot even begin to describe all the little intricate things in and around this piece.

Within the museum's permanent collection is the work Sol LeWitt, who I am assuming is from this area or once lived here because I saw another one of his installations today at the Williams College Museum of Art. LeWitt's work is composed of several large "wall" drawings and paintings which quite literally take up the entire wall. The museum breaks up his career by floor going from early work to later as you travel up the staircases. In my humble and not so critical opinion, his early work was the most impressive. In several of the installations on this floor, LeWitt left the work unfinished so you could read and see his artitstic process when executing a design. It is unbelievable of formulaic and intricate some of his designs are when the finish product looks quite simple. Some of his instructions seemed more like problems a geometry teacher would assign for homework rather than a large scale art installation.




Also, as a side note for if or when you visit. I was brave and tried lunch at the cafe located within the museum. It was surprisingly phenomenal. One of the better meals I have tried while we have been in the area. It was a simple black bean burrito with corn chips but all together delicious and full of flavor. Def. grab something to eat while your there enjoying the museum.

The Norman Rockwell Museum

Various works by Howard Pyle, Norman Rockwell Museum

Hello again lovelies,

I think I mentioned this in my last post but once again, the nanny is getting ready to move to Colorado which is now TWO weeks away. I cannot believe time as flown by so fast! I feel like the last month and a half has just disappeared. Well before I move away from North Carolina, the state that has been my home the last fourteen years, my parents invited my to spend their summer vacation with them in the greater New England area. I have to say that I have been pleasantly surprised about how enjoyable this vacation is going so far. Saturday we drove from our resort in Hancock, Massachusetts to Boston and spent the day walking the Freedom Trail.
(I will write about this in another post.)

Various works by Norman Rockwell, Norman Rockwell Museum

Since yesterday was a little rainy we set out for the Norman Rockwell Museum located in the sleepy New England village of Stockbridge, Mass. First off, let me say that this part of the country is absolutely beautiful. Gentle rolling hills back dropped by mountains in the distant horizon and all surrounded by lush greenery. Nestled in the idealic New England countryside the Norman Rockwell Museum is one of the most delightful museums I have visited in a long time. It is not a huge museum about the size of a small family home the museum masterfully displays a large collection of Rockwell's paintings as well as having three smaller galleries in which they can have special exhibits. For their special exhibition the museum was displaying the works of Howard Pyle, who according the the museum, greatly influenced Rockwell's work. It does a great job a displaying a variety of Rockwell's art and conveying themes that appear throughout Rockwell's career. The museum is a must go-to if you are in the area. 

Happy 4th of July!!!

Happy Independence to day to everyone out there! Sorry to have been gone for so long but there has been a lot going on the past month. Just to  quickly update everyone in the past month I have to say good bye to my kiddies, the boy and I have started packing up the apartment and we are preparing to move out to Colorado. Grad school is less than a month away, the move is even closer and we are really starting to get excited.

More to come soon! Hope everyone is having a great day enjoying barbques, sunshine and fireworks :)