That Time I Climbed a Mountain + More Anniversary Love

Well, gang, this past weekend marked my 6th anniversary with my boyfriend. SIX years! We graduated to dating onto two hands! And ya know what? I still love him every bit as much as I did when were were just on one-handed anniversaries. Mush mush. Sap sap. Wait, there’s more! 

To celebrate six years of datin’ and lovin’, we drove up to New Hampshire for a little getaway and to climb Mount Monadnock. Let me tell you all, I have a new found respect for serious hikers. This hike was NO JOKE. Let me take you through our journey with some pictures. 

Look, we’re hiking! Yey! 

Boyfriend: There are a lot of people on this trail, let’s take the Red Dot trail instead.
Me: Is the Red Dot trail harder?
Boyfriend: Nah, the terrain looks the same on the map, see?
Me: (pretending to understand the map) Oh, yea. Looks the same. Cool, let’s do it. (In hindsight, I realize my boyfriend was also obviously pretending to understand the terrain on the map because the Red Dot trail was MOST DEFINITELY harder than the White Dot trail we were on. Note to self: If the majority of people are going a certain way, it mostly likely means that is the easiest, most common way, and you should stay with the herd. Herd=good. Red Dot=bad. <— this is also obvious in hindsight). 

Red Dot trail starting to get steep: 

Oh look, we’re at the top! What a pretty view. 

Oh, experienced hiker. Hello. What? This isn’t the top? Then where is the top? 
Experienced Hiker: See all that mist?
Us: Yea.
Experienced Hiker: Look as far as you can through that mist. Then you go down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up again. And about half an hour later you’ll be at the summit. Oh, and it gets cold, so hope you brought layers! 
Us: $*(&@S

Here’s the mist (I may or may not have made reference to feeling like I was in Lord of the Rings and was about to enter into battle against the evil dark wizard <— is there an evil dark wizard in Lord of the Rings? Well, if there is, this is where he lives):

So down and up and down and up and down and up and down and up again we went (insert long dramatic Lord of the Rings type song that the Hobbits sing <— I know that’s a thing!). Half an hour later it was 15 degrees colder and we had made to the summit! No evil wizards. God Bless ‘Murica! 

Mr. Experience Hiker was right. It was FREEZING up there. And windy, but we were stoked that we made it up the not-so-easy trail. We quickly snagged some pictures before our fingers froze, found the easier, most common way to go down, and raced the on-coming rain to the bottom. 

We made it, you guys! The plan original plan was to hike one trail on Saturday and one on Sunday, but uhhh Red Dot trail kinda kicked our a$$es. So on Sunday our sore leggies went apple picking and wine tasting! 

It was actually perfect. We got in a nice active day on Saturday (my legs are still sore!) and had a more relaxing day on Sunday. Plus, apple picking and wine tasting are two of my favorite Fall activities, soooo win! 

We found Alyson’s Orchard and it was stunning. We took a little tractor ride out to pick some McIntosh and Ginger Gold Apples before returning to the main area to pick out some decorative pumpkins and listen to some live music.

The picture on the left is what I believe to be a poison apple. Silly Evil Queen. Doesn’t she know that if an evil wizard can’t get me down on the Red Dot Trail of Doom, a silly poison apple isn’t going to fool me. The picture on the right is a quince that is still growing. I’ve never had a quince, so I took a picture of it. Anyone know what a quince is? Looks like a pear to me.

Anyway, this is how our apples rode all the way home to Brooklyn. Safety first!

Then we headed out to Walpole Mountain View Winery. Appropriately named if I do say.  

We each got six tastings. Which means we really each got to try 12 different wines. Sharing is caring! 

I really enjoyed this wine! So much so that we purchased a bottle to bring home.

There were a few other adventures though out the weekend, including a trip to Ye Ole Goodie Shop (yum), a maple latte (double yum!), and a visit to Pier 1 that helped my wallet lose some weight. Overall, it was a wonderful weekend spent with the best person I know. Here’s to another great year!

Oh, and don’t forget about the LO Fruit Beverage Giveaway! Today is the LAST DAY to enter. Head on over here for details and/or enter below!

Are you a hiker? How do you read a terrain map?
Every tried quince? What is it? 

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