New England

We are driving down to Maryland today and we had to laugh because we had 6 weeks to spend in the New England area and we weren't able to find time for Nyc.  If we really wanted to I am sure we would've made it a priority but cities just get too expensive and we had a blast visiting and meeting people in other random places off the beaten path.


We've had a busy last 10 days or so up here running around.  We stayed with Timmy and his friend Debbie, who may join us traveling out west for awhile.  They came down to the Mountain Bike World Cup festivities in the catskill mountains. We met up with racer Rick and Ray.   There was this block party with street acts, people on unicycles, and a guy showing off some bike tricks.   We even got into some karaoke that night at the brewery.  The next day Rick got to do his downhill bike race.  Then the pro cross-country guys & girls raced.  There were people from all over the world.  The racers were badass too, riding hard for over an hour on some tough trails up and down the mountainside.  The downhill racers were sick too.  They have guts.  The trails that they go down are insanely gnarley. They get there bikes carried up on the ski lift but there is no way I'd go down those  trails.  Give me a hill to climb over that craziness. I love going  down mountain bike trails just not ones called "graveyard"

We stayed Sunday with my Jeff in Northampton, Mass.  It's a funky artistic town that has a similar feel to Asheville NC or Burlington Vt.  A couple of our favorite places.  Jeff and his buddy Paul were great hosts. They took us hiking and swimming in puffer pond.  Then we went and he treated us to this awesome Indian dinner. That town has some great street music.  Plus Paul and Jeff were friends with them so we hung out for awhile.  Then the church choir started singing across the street which seemed random late on Sunday night.  Why not though I guess.  The next morning we went for breakfast and Jeff thought he lost his key from the time he parked to putting money in the meter. We searched for 20 minutes or so before giving up and going to eat. We came back and it was in the car door. Haha

Judy burnt the hot dogs

Andrew & Clayton getting the boat ready

We left the hills and went down to the ocean. We had perfect weather in Stonington Borough, CT and we spent a few days with one of moms best friends from high-school, Judy.  We've never met her or her family but she has 2 kids our age and we had a blast with them.  We met Andrew and his cousin Clayton and they had margarita supplies ready for a boat ride.  We got along great with them and Nicole. We had adventure filled days exploring islands, riding on the boat, body surfing, jumping off docks, kayaking, searching for clams, while enjoying some drinks and yummy treats.  Oh and we had a taste of heaven.  Lobster rolls are probably the best meal ever.   We also had some clams, mussels, and scallops.  They spoiled us a bit.  It was so nice spending a few days at the same place. We could've easily stayed a whole month.

Jumping off the Dock in CT.

Sailing with Ryan in Rhode Island

We left another amazing place to go to another great place. People ask us where our favorite place and it truly always seems like where we are at the time is it.  We feel like our uncle Bob and everyday is the "best day ever."  I think it's a pretty good way to live life.

 In Rhode Island we met up with James, Ryan and Mike.  Ryan and James are just finishing up their cross country trip and Ryans dad has a sailboat. They took us out for a few hours and then we went to one of his friends birthday party.  That was a fun day with some good people.  The next day we went for a ride on the guys bikes to get lunch.  We had hot dogs the day before and wieners that day.  Apparently the wieners with the meat topping are only legal in RI, and there is a difference between weiners and hot dogs.  I just took his word on that. They both tasted good to me.  That and the frozen lemonade was another Rhode Island speciality.

View of Thimble Islands from Mr. Claypool's house. 

From RI we went back through Conn. and stayed with Dan Claypool, a business friend of Dads.  He just moved into a house on top of the rocks overlooking the ocean.  It was beautiful. I slept outside on the hammock the first night, well most of the night. The mosquitoes finally got the best of me around 4am. It was beautiful with the bright full moon shining over the boats in the harbor.  We rode our bikes and went for a boat ride around Tumble Islands. Which are multiple islands with houses on them only accessible by boat.  We grilled out with Mr. Claypool and his dog Jack and had a nice relaxing evening on the ocean.