Lazy Weekend

Welcome to day 2 of my cloudy, quiet weekend. I feel like I have been running around doing so much each weekend for the past who-knows-how-long. So I've really enjoyed staying home, relaxing, enjoying the rain, and slowly working my way through some To Do list tasks.

Jason's still out on the trail hiking in Vermont. He stopped at a small inn/hostel near the edge of the trail at Killington on Thursday and Friday to take a break, but as far as I know he is back out there. I'll post again when I hear where he is. He seems to be traveling with another nice group of folks, so no need to worry. The tentative plan right now is for me to drive up next weekend to meet him. I may pick up my friend Erin along the way as this week she's moving to Canterbury, NH. I'm hoping she'll come camping with us so she and Jason can finally meet.

Friday night I met up with a grad school friend for happy hour after work. Then yesterday I enjoyed the light rain that fell all day long. What a wonderful, "busy" day:

• watched The Changeling,
  
• baked two batches of zucchini brownies to use up all the zucchini gifts from the neighbors (hopefully they'll go over well at work, or I'll be eating a LOT of brownies in the coming week),
• used some garden basil and all the tomatoes that are ripening at the same time to make a fresh, no cook pasta sauce for dinner,
• did laundry
• watched a marathon of cheesy ABC Family TV shows that Jason won't watch with me,
• and read more of Wizard's First Rule (Jason's getting me hooked on Terry Goodkind.

So far today is going just as well. It's still overcast, which I love on lazy-at-home weekends. And this morning when I turned the compost heap I found that we have some fantastic soil on the bottom of the pile. It's making me excited to start planning for next year's garden.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Until next time...

Jason's on The Long Trail

He's passed mile marker 100!!! He'll be back on the trail either tomorrow or Sunday near Killington, VT.

Manchester, Vermont & Stratton Mountain

Friday afternoon I drove up to Manchester, Vermont to meet up with Jason. We stayed at a cool guesthouse in town that night, and I got to meet some of the people he had been hiking with recently.

Saturday we drove to the base of Stratton Mountain, and hiked a loop that was about ten miles. We went up the mountain and took some great pictures on the fire tower at the top. Then we walked down the other side to Stratton pond, and back to the car along the (relatively boring) pond trail.

We had intended to camp that night, but instead we decided to just drive home. We stopped in Bennington, Vermont for Mexican food and ice cream at dinner time, and managed to arrive back in Natick around midnight. So far we've just spent today relaxing, cleaning, and organizing. Later on I'll be doing some baking for work tomorrow.

Once a month my group celebrates the month's birthdays by having baked goods during our team meeting. I took over baking duties just last month, so I'm excited to try a new recipe. I'm using this as motivation to explore the baking section of my cookbooks more, since I tend to make the same recipes over and over. On tap for tomorrow are vegan blueberry brownies, and molasses-spice cookies. Enjoy the pictures!

A Camping We Will Go!

We spent this weekend camping at Mt. Greylock in Western MA... the tallest point in MA. It was a fun trip in spite of the fact that I have yet to find a pair of hiking boots that I am completely happy with. I am trying to replace my 5 year old Vasques that have finally lost their waterproofing, but it is proving difficult. I have tried on so many pairs, and so far bought two. One pair that was supposed to be waterproof left me with soaking feet after a single rainstorm so they will obviously be returned. The other pair I am still unsure about. My feet hurt this weekend, but I'm not sure if it's due to the boots or my feet just getting used to the new hiking conditions here (i.e. all rocks).

We forgot the camera so there will be no shots of waterfalls, amazing mountain vistas, or bright moons and stars. There will also be no shots of the first week of Jason's hiking trip on The Long Trail in VT. The purpose of taking the camera was so that he could document his trip after I dropped him off this afternoon. Sadly, the first week will have to be captured only in written stories, but I will be sure to pack the camera when I meet Jason wherever he is in Vermont on Friday evening. I'm going to hike and camp with him for the weekend, and replenish his food and clean clothes. In the meantime, the cats and I are on our own for the week... the possibilities are endless! Have a great week yourself! :-)