adventuring in the clouds

Ahhh. New beginnings.  Tim and I are (mostly) settled in our new apartment that faces the Rocky Mountains.  But before I start posting about new adventures, here are some photos from my first time in the whites!  My friend Betsy got me psyched on mountains back in September when we hiked up Mt. Jefferson and Adams.  I actually lived in Gorham when I was very little - too little to climb a mountain... 

Adventure route: The first day we took a Lowe's Path up to Gray Knob, a little cabin in the woods.  Day two was an 8 hour, 7 mile Jefferson/ Adams loop!  Maybe more of a figure 8.   We started up the Gray Knob trail, crossed Israel Ridge to Randolph path to I think the Jefferson Loop.  We were so socked in we couldn't figure out if we were at the top!  Then we took the Gulfside Trail across the ridge and were blown around by 50mph gusts!!!  The wind was steady at around 37mph. (Betsy had a fancy measuring device).  We continued on Gulfside, past Adams and down to the Madison hut.  From there we took the Star Lake Trail up to Adams, which was beautiful and really steep!  The Star Lake was all foggy and the wind was blowing ripples around on the water.  After reaching the summit, we then went over Adams 4/Abagail, and down Lowe's back to Gray Knob.  Holy smokes! The last day, the clouds lifted.  Before hiking down, we spent a little time at the Quay -- and I was able to see the majestic views for the first time!!!  It's a different world up there.

mini moon

Tim & I just celebrated our 2nd anniversary.  I like to think of myself as a romantic, but a bottle of Maker's Mark just didn't seem special enough.  So, I made him a "love bug" book with photos from our honeymoon.  Those photos will come later, but here are some from our "mini moon".  I was teaching Spanish at the time and couldn't take our actual honeymoon until holiday break, so we drove to western CT with a camera & some expired film.  We spent a few days at Bella Alpacas Farm, explored Kent Falls, and tooted around Alex Grey's CoSM, Chapel of Sacred Mirrors.  

An alpaca sneezed on Tim's face.

((Kent Falls))

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((CoSM Chapel of Sacred Mirrors))

"A sanctuary for seeing ourselves and the world as reflections of the Divine"

niagara falls

The beginning of the waterfall adventure was Niagara Falls.  We went on the Hornblower tour, journeyed Behind the Falls, drank Canadian wine, and watched fireworks from our bedroom window.  The moon was getting full and the falls were illuminated and changed colors at night.   Around the hotel were a bunch of amusements, so we also went through a mirror maze.  For $8, we could run into walls, talk to each other's reflections without knowing the difference, aaaand listen to with Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" (which made me very happy).