Mt. Greylock

It might be best to read Dave's post below first.....

Everything about Mt. Greylock is beautiful (except for the bulldozers repairing the road). It's one of those places that truly is remarkable for me, not only because of its beauty, but because it brings out the best in Dave.

When we visit Mt. Greylock, I get to hear stories from his childhood hikes with his grandparents; I hear his rather impressive knowledge of birds and their calls (which he learned from his grandparents) and I get to see Dave in his element - hiking, camping, obsessively poking and arranging a campfire.

I didn't grow up doing a lot of hiking and camping. I went camping a few times with church groups, and I went to the Boundary Waters once for a week-long camping and canoeing trip, but that's about it. "Roughing it" meant different things to me and Dave when we met. But I do love camping (I'm really in it for the smores)

Dave has opened my eyes more to hiking, camping, and yes, even backpacking. Our trip to Yellowstone in 2005 is a great example. I managed a 10-mile hike that included a very steep downhill trail into a ravine and then, of course, back up in what could be one of the most beautiful places in the world ---something I never thought I'd do.

The best thing about all of this is that no matter how much I complain about the never-ending uphill hikes, the frickin' bugs, the cold nights on a hard ground, I end up having a great time because of Dave.

A little mushy? Perhaps, but it's all true.

So, yes, we saw a snake this weekend. I don't like them. Need I say more?

Also, the campground doesn't allow alcohol, but we packed in a bottle of wine. The ranger dude saw in our campsite and asked that we don't start howling at the moon.

Up on Massachusetts' Rooftop

The weight on my back measured about 35 pounds, according to the scale back at home at journey's end. I lugged that much gear two miles down a trail that descended about 1,400 feet, and Liz about the same. Heavier still on the way up, when we had two gallons of water and assorted fruit and snacks.

An ordeal to be sure, but we conquered Mount Greylock, the tallest point in Massachusetts, on a Memorial Day weekend spent camping (one night only) at Sperry Campground on the west side of the mountain. Greylock is 3,491 feet high. The campground is about a thousand feet lower, but we hiked the next morning, on Monday, up to the top where in the clear air the vast panorama of the Berkshires, the Catskills, the Hudson Valley and the mountains of Vermont was a sight we shared with no one.

The road up Mount Greylock was closed last year and still closed this year for construction, which makes backpacking the only option for camping up the hill. It also makes for a peaceful environment free of the typical holiday visitors. A few others had backpacked and hiked up the route that we had followed, but we were the first to the top Monday.

I'll let Liz write about the details -- like the snake we saw on the trail and getting busted with a bottle of wine by the campground caretaker and the stops for ice cream before and after. Good times.

I Can't Think Of A Title

It's been some time since our last post. No big excuse. Just work.

My parents were out from Wisconsin to visit. They arrived on Friday and left today. The visit included a trip to Brooklyn, Conn., to see a museum about Gen. Israel Putnam, perhaps the most famous of us Putnams to date, a train ride to NYC to see the Broadway musical, "Sunday In The Park With George," and a tour of Yale. My grandfather attended Yale for one year before joining the Merchant Marines. My great-grandfather graduated from Yale during the beginning of the 20th Century.

So, if you'd like to see some photos, check them out here: http://picasaweb.google.com/eputnam97/MomDadVisitNewHaven

Two-Wheelin'

When the gas money runs out and Liz needs transportation to her gig as The Professor (see last post), now she'll have two-wheel power, thanks to new front end purchased by yours truly.

The guy at the bicycle shop on College Avenue, a half block from the New Haven Green, asked me if the old wheel was stolen. I guess that happens a lot around here. I had to explain that, no, it just dropped off the bike while we were driving one day. Doh!

The guy gave me one of those silent "yikes" expressions, then went to work on a spiffy new wheel, tire and tube.

Now, I bought the bike for Liz at a yard sale about a year ago for $25 dollars, and only that much because I wasn't able to talk the dude down to $20. So, at $58, the new wheel cost more than twice as much as the bike. But that's cheaper than a new bike, and it'll be worth it for all the good times ahead biking around Connecticut.

Primaries and SCSU

The Indiana primary Tuesday proved to be a long one, especially for Dave. He got home around 4 a.m., taking the last commuter train out of the city. North Carolina was called very early in the evening, while a county in Indiana held up the slim-margin win for Clinton.

For me, I was able to leave work and post the outcome on Courant.com from home sometime after 1 a.m. We are usually up then anyways.

In other news, I will be teaching a course about online journalism at Southern Connecticut State University, which is a four-year university here in New Haven. The journalism department at SCSU is offering the course for the first time, and I will be designing the curriculum. The course won't begin until next January, so I have plenty of time to get things together.

The head of SCSU's j-school is a columnist for the Hartford Courant. He asked my boss if she or one of her staffers would be interested in teaching. The deputy online editor is already teaching at UConn and my boss has a full plate, so they asked me mainly because I live in New Haven and have a perfect work schedule where I could easily teach a morning class and still make it to work on time.

It's going to be a challenge but one that I'm looking forward to.

Our friends from Wausau, Keith and Kris, made a stop in New Haven this weekend during their week-long trip to New York. (Keith was a groomsman in our wedding.)

They were our first visitors to our apartment besides Dave's mom who helped us move in. It's nice have the space for visitors.

We took a stoll to the New Haven Green and ate dinner at a Korean and Japanese restaurant. Dave and Keith went for a run this morning, and then it was time for corned beef hash and eggs at our favorite diner.

Our next visitors are coming in about two weeks. My parents are making the long drive out east to visit Dave and I and then drive down to D.C. to visit Nathan and Kyle.

I finally took some photos of our apartment to share. I have interior shots that I will put at http://picasaweb.google.com/eputnam97