16.May

Paul took the day off and we decided to drive an hour north to Sculptured Rocks Natural Area in Groton.  It had been years since we had been up there.  The weather was perfect.  Surprisingly, Neko was in the water as much as he could be.  We only ran into two other people, both who were taken aback to see a large white "wolf" walking through trees.   Paul overheard one of the guys say with relief once he saw that Neko was leashed, "Dude, It's only a dog."

23.November

This year we did not take a thanksgiving hike but Paul and I made up for it the next day.  After tagging our christmas tree at Rossview Farm we decided to hike the West End Farm Trail.  The mostly flat and very soggy-in-places trail crosses through three farm properties.  We had the pleasure of seeing and chatting with our friends the Dupre's on the trail.  We hiked about 7.5 miles round trip.  

 

 

 

Weekend Recap

Friday

• Friday afternoon we said good-bye to Paul.  He drove to Burlington, VT to see The Machine play at Higher Ground.   
• I dropped Alix off a friend's 13th Bday party.  She ate pizza and danced the night away until I picked her up at 10:00.  
• Chance and I grabbed sandwiches and watched The Clash of the Titans.  Well I did, he fell asleep right before Medusa lost her head.

Saturday  

• Saturday morning I left Alix sleeping and Chance working on a Concrete Poem to take a walk with Neko.  We made it just to the other side of the park when my phone rang.  It was Paul wondering where we were so he could meet us.  He was already home!  We met in the park and found some of Neko's friends there playing.  We let him run around for quite awhile.  I love to watch him run.
• Gave Neko a bath.
• Saturday afternoon Paul and I dropped Chance and a friend at the skate park while we ran a few errands.  After picking them up we took them to lunch at The Works.  
• Saturday night Paul made his always delicious dumplings and steamed fish for dinner.  Then we watched the last Harry Potter. 

Sunday

• I called an Unplugged Sunday for today.  It had been several weeks since we had a screen free Sunday. 
• Paul made waffles for breakfast
• After a lunch of last night's leftovers we drove to Hillsborough to hike in Fox Forest.  We hadn't been here since last winter.  I was surprised we didn't run into anyone else.  My goofy kids had a blast jumping over a little stream.  Back and forth they went trying to see who could jump the highest and the furthest.  The whole while shouting "Watch this!  Watch me!"  We also found a family cemetery from the 1800's and a old foundation.
• We wrapped the weekend with homemade pizza and a second showing of Class of Titans for Paul, Alix and Chance.

When I said in yesterday's post that we would positively go back to Oak Hill to explore the other trails I didn't realize we would be back the next day.  When Chance heard about the fire tower we had to go back today and bring along his friend Kadin.

This time we parked at the Shaker Road entrance and followed the Tower Trail.  Again this was any easy hike with a mixture of flat and uphill.  The trail is four miles round trip.  The one thing I was disappointed and surprised about is hunting is allowed.  We were not prepared with our safety orange clothing.  We kept the boys close and Neko was leashed.  We did encounter one hunter on the trail. At the top the boys were rewarded with the last of the ginger spiced cookies before they climbed the tower. I think it was much higher than they were expecting.  

With the rest of the afternoon Paul and I did some shopping for a few things he needed for his trip to Philadelphia on Monday and Tuesday.  Paul made Fish and Chips for dinner.  (Pan fried panko crusted tilapia and roasted potato slices drizzled with olive oil.)  Alix arrived home from her weekend away just in time for dinner.  We wrapped up the night watching Modern Family.

It was a fabulous weekend.  I am so glad we were able to take advantage of the wonderful late fall weather.

Oak Hill Fire Tower

With a dump run completed and amazing blue skies overhead Paul and I were antsy to get out and enjoy the day.  We decided to check out the Oak Hill trails right here in town.  (Which I am embarrassed to say we have never done in the eleven years we have lived here.)  We parked on Oak Hill Road just over the Loudon town line and followed the service road up to the fire tower. 

When we reached the top Paul climbed the fire tower while Neko and I kept our feet firmly on the ground.  I was tickled to see a knitted prayer flag attached to the fire tower.  Paul snapped some photos of the view with my Droid. 

The trail was a short 2.5 miles round trip.  We will positively come back again to explore the other seven miles of trails.

Back to Pulpit Rock

When will they trust us.  For all the whining and the feet dragging at the start, it was them who didn't want to leave.