• Appalachian Trail 2010

    Trail Tales 15: Vermont

    Relevant posts: The Green Mountains Mrrr Rain. Stinky Rain. Today is Free Slurpee Day, and Misti’s Birthday Wildflowers and Such Random Shots from Vermont Hello Vermont! This was a state I was most looking forward and thought it would go on my list of favorites, but while it was beautiful it did not make a favorite list. Mostly because I think I thought there would be more views, but it was just so green! Ok, that’s not bad, but I wanted some views! Plus, while we’d been told Mass was a mosquito and fly heaven, it turned out that Vermont was really the horse fly haven. Vermont also goes by…

  • Thoughts

    “I’m on Fire”

    Sunday night I sat down to catch up on the latest Grey’s Anatomy on my computer (oh, tv on the internet…pretty sweet!) and once the episode was done I wan’t ready to take my headphones off. I started flipping through YouTube looking for songs to listen to. I started with Tori Amos and then saw she had a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s I’m on Fire and then I looked and saw Sara Bareilles had a cover. I’m not a big fan of her but I absolutely love her cover. Check it out: I’ve been playing it over and over again. Then I look around for something else to listen to…

  • Family

    An Afternoon with Zoe

    The last day we were home for our break, Thursday, my dad took off work to spend the day with us. Zoe got her schedule rearranged and ended up staying with Mimi for the day instead of going to her other grandparents like she normally does on Thursdays. For lunch we headed to Southlake to eat at Kincaid’s Hamburgers and then to the Southlake Town Center for Zoe to play around at the Christmas gazebo and the pond. Here are some shots from there.

  • Thoughts

    Quiet

    Sometimes when I get a bit overwhelmed I just stop writing. Things get so cluttered in my head that I have to put it all down and step back. I think in my head but just lose the urge to write when I get home. I’ve been a bit more stressed than usual because two weeks ago my truck crapped out on me for what appears to be for good. I went to get an oil change and then to the grocery store and when I came back out it acted like it had two previous weeks before that. We had some towing issues, the tow guy didn’t come when…

  • Thoughts

    Me, on 3/9/08

    Self portrait taken 3/9/08 at John Lloyd State Park, Ft. Lauderdale, FL The person in this photo didn’t have two nieces. The person in this photo hasn’t hiked the Appalachian Trail. It was but a mere bucket list item in a tiny little journal, a dream that was probably not possible. The real thought hadn’t even crossed her mind. The person in this photo was not sure what she wanted to pursue creatively. The person in this photo had not gone to Bolivia yet. Only 9 more days until she landed at one of the highest airports in the world and waited to see if Marc and Eliana were waiting…

  • Thoughts

    Sunday Evening Scribblings

    I am eating pecan pie, thanks to our field secretary. Pecan pie at Thanksgiving, oh yeah! My favorite is my grandmother’s pecan pie, which I think my mom follows now. I am also fond of Cracker Pie but I’m not sure this is the exact recipe, I don’t remember the vanilla part. It doesn’t matter, it’s delicious. Unfortunately I did not get any of that on Thanksgiving day but instead had to work. We had hoped that we would get rained out but the rain didn’t get here until after 3pm and we were done at lunch that day for the holiday. Seriously, so pointless. We took a quick nap…

  • Appalachian Trail 2010

    Trail Tales 14: Massachusetts

    Relevant posts: Group Hiking Make Time’s Thru-Hike Completion Inch by Inch, Rock by Rock I have to say that Massachusetts surprised me. It turned out to be a lovely state and also a plant community and ecosystem change. Once into Mass we descend into Sages Ravine, a *bleeping* cold water source. I prefer my water Gulf of Mexico warm but the rest of the crew braved the water for a bath. Chris and Merf After getting cooled off we headed for Race Mountain where we stopped to pick blueberries for long periods of time. It’s impossible to resist a clump of sweet and delicious berries! We sat for a long…

  • Thoughts

    Ghosts of Thanksgivings Past

    Since I am having a very uneventful Thanksgiving I thought I’d post a few links to previous Thanksgivings. Well, at least the four that I still have up on this blog. 2009: Last year we walked 70 miles from Lake Okeechobee to the Atlantic Ocean in preparation for the AT. It was our first major multi-day hike like this and well, it was rougher terrain than I expected. Florida is flat, I’ll give you that, but walking through saw palmettos and climbing over their long trunks can be tiring, and then stepping in pig ruts for long stretches also wears you thin. But, overall it was an awesome experience and…