Backpacking on the Appalachian Trail

So back in August Lou and I took a weekend backpaking trip with a couple from our ward - Scott and Cortnie Johnson. We hiked a section of the Appalachian Trail called the Delaware Gap (it was actually located in New Jersey, but it runs along the Delaware River). Lou and I hadn't done this kind of camping in about eight years, so we were really looking forward to it. We lucked out - we had perfect weather, great company, and a good hike. I know these pictures are a bit late in coming, since this trip was a month ago, but hey - better late than never, right?


This is Lou and I trying to get water out of this old water pump. After a good bit of effort and teamwork, we got the water flowing really well and got ready to fill up some extra water bottles. Imagine our great disappointment when the water that came out was a brownish yellow with bits of rust floating in it...

This is Scott drinking the nasty water (and me laughing in the background). If you look really closely, you can see the yellowish color. Scott, you are a brave one...

Here we are right before we started our hike. It was getting dark quickly, so we had to hurry to get to the spot where we were going to set up camp.

We got to the camp area just in time, and feasted on Haufmanns hot dogs and couscous. We are holding our dogs like this because my goofy self forgot to pack buns...

The next day we set off for Sunfish Pond. We found these trees that had hooks to hang your food bags on to get them out of bears' reach, and the trees were wrapping in metal to keep the bears from climing them. It was kind of freaky because there were big gouges and scrapes left from bear claws trying to get up the trees. This is Lou pretending to be a bear attacking me. Oh, he is SO immature ;)

Day 2 of our trip

Day two is when we got to see lots of pretty scenery - Sunfish pond, Raccoon Ridge (an incredibly beautiful view), etc.


Here we are at Sunfish Pond. No swimming because of the high acidity of the water - bummer, because we were REALLY hot!

A huge section of the trail was VERY rocky, resulting in very sore ankles for us. This is me navigating the lovely rockiness...

This is on top of Raccoon Ridge. It's sad that pictures can never quite capture the beauty of a great view, but this gives you a bit of an idea. This is my favorite part about hiking mountains - reaching the peak - it just gives you such a sense of accomplishment!

Here are Lou and I on Raccoon Ridge. It was so fun to do this together!

Here is another picture of me modeling the rough trail. Seriously, are you SEEING all those rocks?!

Aaaaand we're done!

We did it! Over 16 miles in two days - and besides my sore ankles and achilles tendon, I loved it! This is honestly something I would love to do every year...

Having said that, it felt great to finish!


I went to hug Lou, and he was soaking wet with sweat - ewwwww!

Okay, I'll kiss you anyways, you handsome devil, you! Man, I look so ghostly white next to that guy...

This was a really cool old bridge we drove by on the way home. The picture doesn't really do it justice, but I still think it looks neat.

After 2 days of living off trail mix, dried fruit and venison jerky, we were all ready for some "real food", so we stopped at a Dairy Queen for some fried goodness, and of course, ice cream too.

What a great trip! Thanks to the Johnsons for inviting us - we probably never would have planned such a trip on our own. We hope to do it again sometime!

School Days

Well, today was Maria's first day of school - yep, my little girl is a Kindergartener! It's hard to believe - I can remember bringing her home from the hospital and thinking how weird it was that I was actually a "Mom". Today I felt like one more than ever...

Here she is - in her brand-new-first-day-of-school-outfit!

Here we are in front of Meachum school. Check out Maria's hot new Hello Kitty lunch box!

And there she goes...

I felt my eyes tear up a couple of times during the whole ordeal, but I held it together - I didn't want to traumatize Maria! It wasn't until the walk home that I totally started crying! I don't know why it felt like such an emotional thing - it just did. And I have to say, I missed her during the day - I really, really did. Josephine seemed pretty unphased by the whole thing, luckily. Anyhow, the first day is over, and I think that is probably the hardest part...

One last trip to the beach...

Okay, here's my plug about swinging - IT'S GREAT!! Seriously - it is a very underrated cheap thrill for adults. For years I have just pushed my kids on the swings - it never occurred to me to take a turn! Well, this summer I decided that it was high time that I revisit the old childhood favorite, and boy, what a rush! And I don't mean the whole sitting-on-the-swing-and-lazily-swinging-six-inches-back-and-forth-thing...I mean swinging, really high! If haven't swung since you were a kid, I highly recommend that you go and do it sometime soon. It's only September - you've still got time!!

I mean, look how happy I look - aren't you jealous...

So, how good are your eyes - can you find Josephine in the background here?

Aaaaa, one last day at the beach, and boy did we revel in it. We hated to leave...

Is it me, or does Josephine look like Godzilla trying to terrorize a small city in this picture?

What a cool tree - started out as one, and grew into four separate trunks. Look at Maria - she looks so carefree...enjoy it sucker, you start school in three days!

Oh summer, we will miss you!

Just the three of us...

I am painfully aware that I have only one week left before my baby goes off to Kindergarten, and I must say - I am dreading it. I just know that I'm going to be that Mother who cries the whole way home after dropping her child off for her first day. I just feel like I'm not ready to give Maria up for the whole day, everyday - I'm going to miss her too much! And, is it me, or is she a little too young to go all day every day without her Mommy?! She's only five, for crying out loud!!

On that note, I've been trying to squeeze in all these end of the summer special things with the girls. I just don't want to feel like I wasted my last week of the three of us being together all day. In that spirit, I took the girls to Willow Bay (a part of Onondaga Lake Park) for the afternoon yesterday. It was a gorgeous sunny day, the perfect chance for us to get out and enjoy the last days of summer freedom...

Vroom Vroom - We are READY to go! Maria on her bike and Josephine taking her baby for a walk in the stroller.

I don't know why, but this picture reminds me of the ones that you see taken by the paparazzi in those gossip magazines (not that I would EVER look at one of those things). Of course, it's my totally unbiased opinion that she's cuter than any of those celebrity babies!

This was my attempt at taking some pictures to possibly use in our Christmas card. Too bad I can never get them both to look at me AND smile at the same time!

We biked, pushed strollers, and walked all over the place. We just took our time and explored until the girls got tired. We found a cute little creek that fascinated them for a good long time (don't you love how excited kids get about the little things?).

The girls were pretty tuckered out by the end of the day, but of course there is always energy for the playground! We played there for a good bit (yes, WE - I played on the playground, too - my kids don't ever let me get away with just watching them play, which is good - it keeps me young!) and then headed back home. I decided that the perfect end would be a trip to Gannon's Isle for some ice cream, and the girls agreed! A fun day, indeed...

Off to the fair!

The New York State Fair is regarded in this area as the unofficial end of summer, so the feeling is always a little bittersweet when we go - I'm not ready for summer to end yet!


There was a really cute little petting zoo there - no Fort Rickey, of course, but fun for the girls nonetheless.

Gotta love the cute little donkeys - always makes me think of the Christmas Story (the real one, not the TV movie with the big pink nightmare)

"Mooooo!" I was kind of wondering what this guy was doing here - these horns could disembowel someone!

And onto the rides..

Doesn't she look so tiny on this big huge blow-up slide?

Ah, what a lovely day for a ride in our cart (or is it a chariot -hmmmm...).