Live Free or Die: Let’s go Climb Some Ice

The end of the trip is a little late compared to all the rest of the posts! A term was coming to a close, and midterms happened and then spring break!

My brother and I left Lebanon, NH around 5:30 in the morning to head to North Conway for the ice climbing adventure. It was about a 2 hour drive up to the White Mountains.

The sunrise was gorgeous! North Conway is a little mountain resort town that is small and quaint. We got to International Mountain Equipment and got all suited up for the day. Ice axes, crampons, climbing rope and helmets were issued mostly to me since my brother had everything. Before we even left, an accident occurred. My brother slipped on some ice and kicked a hole in his car. Whoops! He wasn’t happy, but it was still funny! It was about a 5 minute drive to Cathedral Ledge, which in the summer is a huge rock face, but now is covered in ice, blue ice to be exact which means the ice is fresh and not old.

Ice climbing is hard and tiring, but it was so much fun. The legs do all the work, almost like doing squats the whole time you are climbing up the pitch. We started on a 4, which is not the easiest, so I felt a little better after it took me a million years to get up it. I also fell about 4 times, but not far since it was a top rope climb. Lead climbing would be a different story.

We also did some repelling, which was so much fun!

We finished the day and headed back to Lebanon and ate at a little diner. We then both went to bed. It was a very eventful night!

So with all this being said I crossed another item off my 101 in 1001 list,

38. Go ice climbing!

Live Free or Die – Cardigan Mountain

It was surprising warm this past weekend in Lebanon. My brother got off work around 9am, earlier than expected. We debated on what we were going to do that day since the next day we decided to go ice climbing. We got some breakfast at the local diner. They had some great bacon!

We then went over to Eastern Mountain Sports so I could rent some snow shoes. EMS is like REI, but so much better in my opinion. They have kayaks and bikes and climbing gear plus clothes. There is also a LL Bean next door to this EMS, so we looked around in there as well. After we got changed and got all the gear in Jake’s car we headed out to Cardigan Mountain State Park in Orange, NH. It spans over 5,700 acres. It is absolutely gorgeous. During the summer there is an access rode that takes you to the parking lot, but since it is winter. the access rode was covered in snow. This is where the snow shoes comes in!

It is hard work! There were a lot of people out that day since it was so nice. Even the dogs had little shoes on their feet. We stopped some a few times to rest and to also take pictures. A nice group of college kids took our picture for us.

I also had to take a goofy one.

We finished our hike and returned the gear to EMS. We got some take out from a great little Indian place near my brothers place and card loaded as he called it before the big adventure in ice climbing the next day. It was an early night for both of us. We were in bed by 8pm.

With the snow showing activity, I was able to cross number 35 off my 101 in 1001 list and that is go hiking. My brother said snow shoeing counts as hiking. He is the expert after all. I also completed number 86 too, go to the mountains.

Next up, the White Mountains.

101 in 1001 Update

Not a lot has been crossed off since I last posted, but there are some. I guess I am using this excuse for a post because I really have nothing else to write about tonight. Work was long and my joints ache. So here we go.

21. Two weeks of no Facebook – Jan 2014
Well it has been more than two weeks because it has been deleted for almost one month!

27.  Give up soft drinks – Jan 2014
Woohoo!!!

53. Only drink water for two weeks – Jan 2014
Easyyyy.
68. Stop using/buying plastic water bottles, and use reusable ones – Jan. 2014

Hello camel back bottles!

88. Drink moonshine – December 2013
When in Kentucky…

94. Leave an inspirational post-it in a random place (Jan 2014)
Won’t say where, but it was sure random!

40. 50 New Books
32. Andrew Jackson, Southerner

Well that is it.

Until next time.

New Year, New Beginnings

I am a little late on the whole new year, new you deal. So, a happy belated New Years to my short list of readers. It has been a busy past couple of months with work and school, and honestly not really wanting to write any blog posts because I was down in the dumps. Thanksgiving came and went, and then December arrived and it hit me that I was supposed to be leaving to head to Fiji. Actually, I would be there at this very moment. Yes, I am still a little bitter about the vents that occurred, even though you can’t control mother nature.

Honestly, it was a blessing in disguise. As most of you know I have rheumatoid arthritis. It is not something I talk a lot about on the web because I do not like to complain about it. It is a pain though, and for a while I was in remission, but as of August not anymore. I have gone through three rounds of infusions and finally after this last one it is helping. I have my next one in a few weeks and have started to notice the pain coming back. Cold weather also makes it worse. See, complaining.

I have also come to the realization that Nashville doesn’t  feel like home anymore. It feels like a stepping stone to wherever I end up next. Who knows where that will be, currently I am thinking out west. That could change next month, and it probably will. Because of the weird emotions I have been having I up and decided to delete Facebook this past Sunday, along with Tinder and OK Cupid. New year, new beginnings as I said.

There were some great times though. My family spent Thanksgiving and Christmas together for the first time in two years. My brother could not be here this year since he is doing the grown up internship year of his residency program. Family is amazing. Friends are amazing and when the blues hit you, they are what keeps you going, well for me at least.

I rang in the New Year with my best friend, Amber at the Old Crow Medicine Show Concert. Duh.

We have also enjoyed going to Predators games and planning our spring break! Hooray for being a student!

Speaking of hockey games, I also got to see one of my great friends who no longer lives here, the one and only Josh.

The spring semester started today and I am taking a full load of classes and working. I am still working on my 101 in 1001 list as well, along with wanting to travel and get outside more.

Things might be changing around the blog, but please do not leave me. I feel that I am discovering the person I want to be. Things could get interesting.

Unti next time.

1001 in 101: More Items Completed

Creative juices are not flowing, so that means another update to my 1001 in 101 list!

 3. Go on an adventure, big or small, every month (Completed September 2013)
I was going to try to make this all the time, but decided to change it. I had some great adventures before moving back to Nashville, and I am sure they will continue. I just honestly cannot keep track.

11. Start rock climbing again
Completed October 2013. Having rheumatoid arthritis in the hands does not make climbing very easy. At least I gave it a shot!

26. Go kayaking at least once a month, weather permitting (July 2013)
I am ending this one as well. Kayaking is just not as easy in the cold weather back in Nashville!

33. Go to state I have never been to (September 2013 – Kansas)
This was on part of my Adventure Across America Series

Kansas is flatter than a pancake

45. Write down my thoughts more (November 2013)
Hey, I like it.

That’s it for now!

Surfs Up

Today I crossed number  51 off the 101 in 1001 list, and that happens to be learning how to surf. I should not really say I learned, I attempted. Two hours of drinking the Pacific Ocean is really want occurred. They had me learn on a massive surfboard that I could not even sit on without falling over. I have short legs and it is hard for me to do that, in the instructors words. Well, he said something different, but I will not repeat that. The water as cold. The wetsuit was too big and other surfers did not like the idiot beginner. I did however stand once and apparently I caught a gnarly wave. It felt like it was 10 feet tall, but it was a baby. I think I walked through bigger ones to get out of the surf zone with diving.

In other news of the day, I went on a date last night with a nice guy. Why do you ask if I am moving on Thursday? He likes sushi and he also made me try salmon eggs. Disgusting.

After my surf lesson, I took Abbie to the pet store to get a new tag made for the place in Nashville, There happened to be a a bunch of bunnies waited to be adopted when we walked in. The hunting instincts kicked in, nose to the ground. After getting everything we needed, Abbie kept pulling me over there. If you know my dog, you know that she is strong. So she sniffed, fine.

Then all craziness happened. She jerked and knocked over that little fence. Five bunnies went hooping and as I started yelling she yanked and went flying. She caught up with one little bunny and well, she made a meal of it. Yes, my dog ended the life of a bunny at the pet store. She was a very happy dog. The staff at the store, well we are banned from ever coming back. Good thing I am moving.

101 in 1001 Update

I have crossed a few more things off my 101 on 1001 list since the last time I posted about this joinery.

40. Read 50 new books.
27. Saltwater Buddha 28. The Things They Carried29. Mason & Dixon30. Death by Living 31. Reflections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee 

66. Eat fruit everyday for one month
Completed during the month of August,

70. Picnic in the park
8/27/13. My dog and I had lunch in the park

87. Leave a note in a random book
8/27/13. On the last day of my internship, I left a note thanking the person who checked the book out, and for also sharing a love of history with me.

95. Learn how to braid my hair
July 2013.

Until next time.

It’s the Best Week Ever!

That’s right! It is SHARK WEEK!

That one time I dove with sharks…

I am back in Nashville for my vacation I guess you could say. I would not call going to the dentist a vacation, but oh well!

Since there is not much to update on, how about a little update on my 101 in 1001! I know y’all really want to know what is going on with that, so here we go!

40. Read 50 new books
23. Pirate Latitudes 

24. Getting Stoned with Savages 25. Sunk without a Trace26. Islands in the Stream 

63. Don’t use a flat iron on my hair for one month – DONE! Thanks no humidity.

71. Become a Master Scuba Diver – 23 July 2013
For PADI, this means having 50 dives and 5 speciality certifications. I decided to go with these wonderful 5 – wreck, deep, night, enriched air, and peak performance buoyancy.

75. Go to a MLB game (June 2013)
Padres Game, and they won!

92. Go to a professional soccer match (July 5, 2013)
USA  v. Guatemala , USA won!

That is it for the moment! Here’s to a great vacation with the family!

Nothing New

Tonight not much has happened besides my dive master class getting underway. While I was thinking about something to blog about, I saw Surrounded by Imbeciles post about the categories that are listed on the side of the blog page. Since the creative juices are not flowing tonight, I am going to follow this and see what the first thing I can come up with might happen to be.

101 in 1001 – I really need to update this more often.

Adventure – I am flying back to Nashville on Thursday. Airports are always interesting.

Adventure Across America – Part II will begin at the end of October.

Beach – I have not been in two weeks. Pathetic.

Books – Currently reading some more Hemingway

Concerts – Old Crow Medicine Show on Saturday!

Dogs – Abbie is snoring

Dreams – Had another dream about clowns last night

Family – Seeing them at the end of this week!

Fashion – Pretty pumped about my new shoes, Blu Kicks.

Fiji – Soon close!

Fishing – Hemingway’s books also talks about fly fishing

Food – Can’t wait until sushi

History – Talked about maritime history in dive master class tonight

Kayaking – Need to go

Movies –  Haven’t been since Top Gun 3D

Museums – Tattoo exhibit possibility

Music – Daft Punk

Nashville – Thursday

Pictures – Sent the shark one to my grandpa

Quotes –  The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.

San Diego – Amazing

Savannah – Not so much

SCAD – No more school

Scuba – Master Diver!

Sea Life – Shark Week is soon

Shopping – This will be happening in Nashville

Spiritual – I am

Sports – Fall means football in the South

Technology – I am loving my new computer

The South – I miss it

Travel – Everyone should do it

Uncategorized – This post

 

1001 in 101 Update

I am horrible at this, but I have lots, well I think at least, updates. So here we go.

3. Go on an adventure, big or small, every month (12/22)
I would say the move back to Nashville and then out to California was one. There have been others, like the Jimmy concerts and who knows what else.

6. Walk 5K – 2.23.13
The Race for Preservation in Savannah, GA

14. Join a yoga class – January 2013
I did this for a month before my arthritis started crawling back out of the woodwork. I stopped, and now have found Pure Barre. The best thing ever.

22. Stay up to date with class work – DONE!
I no longer have to worry about this because I am done with school!

25. Go one whole month without buying things I do not need. (Feb – March 2013)
Easier than I thought.

34. No sweet tea for one month – December 2012
Easy. I can now drink unsweet tea which is a good thing because I have only found once place with it in San Diego and it is nasty.

40. Read 50 new books (/50)
13. Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing
14. Dive from Clausen’s Pier
15. Deep, Dark and Dangerous: On the Bottom with Northwest Salvage Divers 
16. Atocha: Treasure, Adventure, the Sweat of the Sun and Tear of the Moon
17. The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy and King: The 5 Star Admirals who Won the War at Sea
18. Deep Descent: Death on the Andrea Doria
19. Nazi Officers Wife
20. Hemingway on Fly Fishing
21. Treasure: Search for the Atocha
22. Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea 

41. Dog park everyday for one week – Last week of May 2013
This has really become an everyday affair

47. Music Festival – March 22, 2013
Savannah Music Festival to see Old Crow Medicine Show

55. Move to another state – May 2013
California!

64. Help preserve history – Summer/Winter 2013)
Currently doing that at my internship

Diving Helmet

 81. Buy a random person coffee 3.5.13
Drive-thru at Starbucks. I was in a good mood

90. Donate change at the end of one month – April 2013
When packing, one always finds lost of coins

I am aiming for the next item to be learning how to surf.

Who knows, maybe I will go skinny dipping in the ocean.