our third day in iceland also happened to be derek’s birthday. how did we celebrate? we woke up bright and early (a recurring theme) to catch a bus that would take us into the highlands for a hike in landmannalaugar, aka: a breathtaking spot that is featured in our apple tv screen saver. in order […]
tales of vacations and travels
iceland. day two.silfra fissure, oxarafoss, bruarfoss, gullfoss.
while we would have liked to have slept in on our first morning in the campervan, a snorkeling appointment was on the books, so instead we were up bright and early and ready for another day of adventures. but first. coffee. getting geared up for snorkeling was quite an ordeal. turns out, when you’re planning […]
iceland. day one. reykjadalur thermal hot springs.
whelp. i’ve procrastinated it long enough. in august, derek and i embarked upon a 10 day trip to iceland, sans children, to celebrate our 20th anniversary. and i’m about to post a barrage of blog entries, with vague details from the epic but whirlwind excursion. so, i’m actually going to begin on day zero. we […]
the remainder of july
before i begin this post, can we just take a minute to acknowledge that i am about to complete that task of getting this blog entirely caught up, 20 posts covering the past two months, just in time for derek and i to depart for an epic adventure (which will necessitate a plethora of new […]
mount lafayette of the white mountains
for our last hurrah in the white mountains and our 2023 summer road trip, anna and i embarked upon the mount lafayette and franconia ridge loop, an 8.6 mile “challenging” trail with 3800+ feet of elevation gain, and three different summits. with several new england hikes under my belt at this point, i knew that […]
mount willard of the white mountains.
there’s a zillion hikes in the white mountain wilderness. but a lot of them are no joke. long. steep. brutal. but, derek researched and discovered mount willard, a popular hike that gives a great bang for your buck. it’s only about three miles out and back, with 900′ elevation gain. and, i sound like a […]
flume gorge and the basinfranconia notch state park
our first order of business in the white mountains of new hampshire was the flume gorge in franconia notch state park. it was sort of similar to the ausable chasm hike we had gone on in the adirondacks, both in expense ($$$$) and length and strenuousness. and since that hike was a raging success amongst […]
from the adk to the whites.
for the last week of our great northeastern summer adventure, we had a week booked in lincoln, new hampshire at a time share resort gifted to us by the grandlidboms for christmas. but i’m getting ahead of myself. first, we had to get there, with some stops along the way. we woke up bright and […]
hurricane mountainADK adventure #5
when we woke up to fantastic weather on our last day in the mountains of the adirondacks, i knew we had no other choice but to attempt the hike that we had originally planned for the first day. my pal, andrea, who i had hiked with a few days earlier, told me about hurricane mountain, […]
the wild center.ADK adventure #4.
after a couple of absolutely beautiful days, the scattered rains started back up again, so on our fourth day in the adirondacks, we opted for an indoor-ish activity. but first. before any folks in either of our respective families were even awake, this road life mom friend and i snuck out for a coffee, and […]