Warm up for the big trip

Warm up for the big trip

The countdown is on to our trip. We are 35 days away and seeing as we are going to be hiking every day out west, we have to think about getting in shape so that we are ready for the physical toll it will take. Ok , I have to get in shape . Cassie is ready to go now and runs circles around me.  We walked 6 miles around the neighborhood on Sunday but we need to test ourselves with some uphill climbing. So we are going to do a few warm up trips. In a couple weekends we will celebrate our anniversary hiking Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor Maine. But first, we do our favorite hike, Mount Mondanock in Jaffrey NH. It will be a good way to get the legs and lungs ready for the bigger hikes next month. It also reminds us of numerous family trips with our girls up the mountain in years past. Here is one from our first climb of Monadnock in July 1995.

The hike today was great. Though in the high 30's  and windy at the summitt , the rest of the trail was warmer and sunny. To the summit and back was 3.9 miles and we did it in 3 hours with plenty of photography stops.Here are a couple 

And a video of the hikers in action.

A beautiful day spent with my BAE.

Our Adventure

Welcome to my blog. Here I will record my road trip Cassie as we venture across the United States. It's a 2 week trip, a year in the making. We are so excited to get started. 

Cassie and I have always loved road trips. Being alone in the car, talking, singing, seeing how many state license plates we can spot. Just the thrill of going somewhere we haven't been to. When we were first married we did a lot of road trips. Crazy spur of the moment excursions to see the Red Sox play in Cleveland or a trip Purcelleville,Virgina  just to see what was there ( It turns out they have a train depot, American Legion Post, a pharmacy and a Dunkin Donuts. And they call Maine "Vacationland ") . Last summer I got the itch to hit the road. To do something bold. I have always wanted to see the Grand Canyon and when I mentioned to Cassie that we could do a lot of hiking, a road trip was born.    

Our destination is the American Southwest and its great National Parks. We will be visiting Grand Canyon Nat. Park and Petrified Forest Nat Park in Arizona. Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands and Arches Nat. Parks in Utah. Then we will conclude at Rocky Mountain Nat Park in Colorado. It is the 100th anniversary of our National Park System and will be hiking some of its best trails with the most beautiful scenery to be found in the United States. I plan on recording it all here. Each day I will post pictures and stories of our adventure. I hope will you enjoy it. I know we will.  . 

We can't wait to go but there is a lot of preparing to do....