Well, here it is...the last long weekend of summer vacation. I've been mulling over the whole "back to school" thing without either of my daughters going back to our local school district and how weird this feeling is! Our youngest is in her first year at UNH and the report back from her first two weeks there is that she is busy but loving it. Our oldest gal, a 2 yr Gordon College graduate now, begins her full time job at the Association on the Aging on Tuesday when all of us NYS teachers go back! Dave will also go back to work Tuesday after having an extended weekend. I'm excited to meet my new students but I really could use an extra couple of days!
For now.....I am participating in Susanne's weekly gratitude meme called the FFF and sharing five of my fave blessings from this full week of vacation.
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| the gondola up to Cloud Trail Gore Mountain North Creek, NY Central ADKS 26 August |
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| from close to the summit of Gore overlooking the High Peaks region |
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| labyrinth on Gore just after the drop off from gondola ride my friend's daughter walked it as did the rest of us! I stopped to pray and thank God for His beautiful creation! |
- GONDOLA RIDE/HIKE! So one of the fire towers in the Adk challenge I finished a couple years ago, is on top of the ski center on Gore Mountain. Since my friend didn't want to do the main trail up to the tower (it's a round trip hike of 9 miles), we decided to just go for fun and take the gondola ride up the first mile and then hike the rest of the way on the access road called Cloud Trail. It was gorgeous and a fun way to get to a summit that honestly I probably wouldn't have done if not for the gondola ride. There were 3 of us and one friend brought her 11 yr old daughter. We all loved it and had lunch at the top at one of the warming huts where there were picnic tables. After hiking and taking the gondola back down, we went into the village there and browsed around and had ice cream. It made for a fun day! I'm thankful for my hiking friends and for God creating these beautiful Adirondack mountains! (these are just a few of the pics....I took many!)
- FAMILY TIME! Last weekend our oldest daughter asked to spend some time with me out by the firepit so of course I said yes. Dave helped us get a good fire going which was great because we still have quite a bit of brush to burn from a project last spring! Because the beginning of the summer was either too rainy or too humid for bonfires, this project didn't get done. We plan on another bonfire tomorrow evening and next weekend as well to start burning this brush! We made s'mores, had fun chatting out various things, and then moved inside to play a new board game Dave received for his July birthday which we hadn't even opened yet. It was a pleasant evening for sure and I'm thankful our oldest gal had a free evening to spend with us.
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| image courtesy of Target website |
- FAMILY GAME NIGHT! Dave, Courtney, and I all played this last weekend after our fire died down and what a blast! It is based on the real Medieval village of Carasonne in France. Basically you build roads, abbeys, villages and the roads need to connect....there is a whole point system thing...and I ended up being the winner which was totally surprising because I rarely win a game against those two! It was a super fun evening. I'm thankful for these family times because I know they are getting more rare.
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| Cascade Mountain as seen from parking area |
- HIGH PEAK HIKE! My 9 year old niece Mady wanted me to take her hiking "up a big mountain, Aunt Faith". She is the youngest daughter of my youngest sister Jill and her husband Mike. So we planned that I would take her early Monday morning to what is considered the easiest high peak in the Adirondack High Peaks region. It is called Cascade Mountain and stands at 4,098 feet making it the 36th highest peak in NYS. Also, we hiked part of the trail up the 2nd easiest mountain, right next to Cascade called Porter. Unfortunately we didn't really make it to Porter summit (#38 out of the highest 100) because the trail became treacherous with wet, slick rocks and thick mud. Mady still doesn't own hiking boots so we turned back as I really didn't want her injuring herself in her sneakers. In summary, it was one of the best views I have seen all summer and it was my first high peak in many years! Mady was very happy to do this mountain and I told her she can now say she has climbed a High Peak! Total milage for the day was 4.8 for Cascade (round trip) and .8 for Porter (round trip). Here are a few of my fave scenes from that day.
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| Mady braves the rocky trail! |
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| almost to the summit of Cascade! |
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| Mady and I on the summit of Cascade (the lower summit) Whiteface Mt (5th highest in the state) is behind us on the right. |
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| The High Peaks as seen from Cascade summit |
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| Heading back down the mountain |
- GIRLS DAY AWAY! My sister Hope and I decided to meet at the Visitors Center in the southern region of the Adirondacks and have lunch in the little village where we grew up each summer at our family camp. Of course the camp is long gone as our cousin and her husband bought the property from my dad but it was fun to go back and explore the road, eat lunch in the village and do some shopping at one of the artsy stores that feature local products. We then visited the town beach on the Great Sacandaga Lake where my mom used to bring us as children to swim and then we popped in to visit our childhood pastor and his wife as they are now 88 years old. They retired not far from the village where we spent our summers. It was a wonderful day and I was back home in plenty of time to have dinner with my family. I'm thankful for this time spent with my sister. Here is photo of the town beach.
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| Northville Beach on the Great Sacandaga Lake southern ADKS 30 August |
That wraps up my week. I'm hiking a very big mountain tomorrow so am hoping I make it to the summit. It is considered a trail for very experienced hikers so.....not sure I can do it at this ripe ole age of 57 but a friend of mine and I are sure gonna try! The rest of the weekend forecast (Sunday and Monday) look rainy so I'm thinking board games with Dave and baking time!
Whatever you have planned for the 3 day weekend, relax and enjoy!
HAPPY WEEKEND!
6 comments:
Glad you got a couple of good hikes in before school starts! And your family time sounds lovely. I've not heard of that game but it looks like one my guys would like. Hope your new class is a great and and you have a wonderful school year!
Your hiking adventures amaze me. My little walks are nothing compared to yours. (Just wait until fall when it's not so hot here--no shade to walk under!)
Enjoy this last hurrah of hiking--hope all goes/went well for you and your friend.
May you enjoy many more s'mores and fire pit chats!
That was a nice week ! Love the picture with you and Madi on the summit of the Cascade.
You sure put a lot of miles on those hiking boots this week! It looks beautiful out there.
It does feel different when there are no students in the house in September.
Enjoy your weekend!
Hurray, my computer is letting me comment now!
Game time is something my daughter and I are getting back into. I am going to see about buying the Carcassone game for my family. Some years ago we visited there and I still have vivid memories.
The Cloud Trail sure had some outstanding treats like the gondola ride and the labyrinth. I've only been to two labyrinths (at a church in SF). And it was a wonderfully meditative time.
What wonderful memories you made with your niece hiking a high peak! And how fun that you were able to photo document this experience. She was quite a trooper.
Family time around a back yard fire is a pleasant, relaxing way to spend an evening.And it is affirming when our adult kiddos seek out our company.
Enjoy your last days of vacation, I think it went by too quickly.
Good to hear Claire is doing well at her university. Nice that the rest of you could have this last weekend before everyone heads back to work together. The game sounds fun and sitting at an evening fire sounds wonderful. Unfortunately, our city has been under a fire ban for weeks. Everything is tinder dry. In fact most of Alberta is under fire ban. Campers aren't too happy but you just can't take any chances. Enjoy your first day back to work.
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