A couple of things from the Met

Mt. Madison

So it turns out that all of us went into this trip not knowing what we were getting ourselves into. After more than 14 hours of fighting with the mountain terrain, I was able to get a couple of shots here and there. 

My Father's Father // The Civil Wars

My first hike

This weekend,  I will be going hiking =] 
This is where we will be hiking:


Thanks to Henry we have a route/itinerary:
A) Pinkham Notch Trail Head - Car A will be parked here.  First night spent in this parking lot.

A') Low's Bald Spot - Alternative 1st night camping spot.  Beautiful open rock area w/an unhindered gorgeous view of the presidential mountain range when we wake up in the morning.

B) Mt. Madison (5366') - Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) Hut is nearby w/purified water fountain, some food, & shabby toilets.

C) Mt. Adams (5799')

D) Mt. Jefferson (5716') - We can camp out somewhere near here for Saturday night before summitting Mt. Washington @ Sunrise.  Camping will be a little sketchy since we'll most likely be sleeping on heavily wooded areas w/uneven grounds.

E) Mt. Washington (6288') - Highest point in New England!  Plenty of food, water, & clean toilets.  Gift shop!

X) Alternative descent - For those who choose to descend early may return to Car A by this route.  This will significantly shorten the hike from 38.8 miles to 14.7 miles.

F) Mt. Monroe (5372')

G) Mt. Eisenhower (4760')

H) Mt. Pierce (4312) - Near AMC Mizpah hut.

I) Zealand Mtn (4260') - Before this point there will be another AMC hut (Zealand Falls Hut).

J) Mt. Guyot (4590')

K) South Twin Mtn (4902') - Near AMC Galehead Hut

L) Mt. Garfield (4500')

M) Mt. Lafayette (5260')


I'm ready to hike these mountains! with style!



Like this girl on the UO ad, except I will be fashioning real hiking boots and I will be carrying a lot more suff. 

Living in the Deep

Pictures from Mymodernmet

So, this is what it must be like to live inside one of those aquarium toys. 

On Grandmothers

Today I went to visit two grandmothers. The first was my friend,  Bethany's grandmother, who always cooks her famous lo mei fan [sticky rice] for me.  Nothing in the world stops her from cooking and loving her grandchildren, not even her inabilities to see and hear clearly. So today I went to return her tupperware and gave her some oranges to say thanks. She insisted that I try her home made apple juice. She said it would be refreshing in this humid day. How could I resist. She opened her fridge and handed me a honey container filled with her homemade apple juice. 

Afterwards,  I went to visit my own grandmother (my dad's side).  We've been trying to figure out whether she has early onset of Alzheimer's Disease but its days like these where I'm not so sure. I asked if I could take a picture of her. I showed her her picture and she smiled and said, 'oh my your grandmother is fat!' I said, 'No Grandma, you're beautiful and you have very smooth skin!' She laughed and said, 'do you miss me?' I said, 'of course I do.' She said, 'I miss you and think about you some days'. She reached over to grab a small bundle from beneath her coupon flyers. She opened it to show me, a small stack of fruit stickers. I asked her what they were for. She asked me if I wanted them. I asked, 'you saved these for me?' She replied, 'Sure, or your sister she collected them before?' I think we did, I did at least--my freshman year in college, I ate a lot of bananas for some reason, and collected probably 50 stickers..but I don't think my grandma ever knew about this. When I told my sister about this, she said that grandma gave her a stack of them too to give me because she thought I wanted them. 

Grandmothers rule! 

When I grow up, I'd like to be as cool as this grandmother.

On Train Tracks