Category Archives: People

Standing On Top of Vermont (Part III)

(Continuation of Standing on Top of Vermont – Part I, Part II)

152…The trail. Rocks. Boulders. I sat on my butt and slid down one. I got the “I’m petrified of heights” shakes when having to climb over gaps in the rocks. I lost a water bottle along the way.

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View from the top… where we were headed to get down…

Low and behold – we made it to the Gondola.

191194Can you hear the angels rejoicing?! I had a way down! I was exhausted (and hungry).

196We walk in to where the seats were spinning and told to we needed a ticket from the gift shop. I’m not even kidding. $19 each for a one way ticket down.

“#$%&@*%%&*#%*” went thru my mind. I’m exhausted, hungry and feeling very, very old.

“Are you serious? No, thank you.” Came out of my mouth.

Side Note: Dear Stowe Resort. This is a photo of a random wire on your property thrown into the woods. Please clean this before winter falls upon us. It’s environmentally irresponsible. (Near Switchback – easy access to Long Trail nearby.) Thank you.

063 (2)Green Mountain Man and I began our walk down the ski slopes. Down a black diamond trail. This was seriously the funniest part of our hike. The man not only runs up the mountain but he also runs down. Then falls. Multiple times. Everytime I buckle down laughing and trying not to pee. Karma, I end up falling and continually laughing. Oy vey. It’s the point in the day when you realize you’ve had enough.

200At one point, we see a road and my brother says “We’re getting farther from the truck. We gotta cut thru the woods. It’s shorter.” Exhausted because I don’t think I have a choice, I follow suit. Branches, tree trunks, brooks, rocks, I twist my ankle, a twig stabs the same ankle. I feel old, like 90 years old. My thighs hurts, both knees, my toes are squished in the tips of my shoes, I somehow manage to laugh thru most of it but at one point I distinctively remember looking at him with the “evil glare” thinking why are you doing this to me again?! I guess he wasn’t worried about it because he later said that his wife would’ve been a whole lot more pissed than I ever was on this trip. He wasn’t worried. Here we are walking thru the woods, trying to find the trail, once again. All of a sudden we hear a rustle to our left. A dog. It might as well been a moose by the way we both jumped. Calamity Jane! Needless to say, we found the trail, found the start of the trail (which was not where we started) and got back to the truck.

156We did it! We hiked Vermont’s highest peak. Although it was a real pain, struggle and terrifying at times but the view from the top was beyond anything I can put into words. This is my home.

Next time, we need a lunch packed but since we hit “the big one” it should all be easy from here on out, right? Plus we have unforgettable sibling memories. That’s pretty special.

158 Did I mention that there was a toll road to the top of the mountain? I veto’d that idea because I thought that would’ve been “cheating”. Needless to say, the toll road creator – was one smart person.

Sibling Bonding

When I go home to visit, my brother and I usually spend some quality bonding time together. Don’t tell him, but I really enjoy it. He is after all of my favorite people in this world. It doesn’t really matter what we end up doing, the outcome is still the same – he is usually blowing me out of the water in some way, shape of form. For example, in our family, it’s always been a big deal for him and I (and our grandparents) to play cards together, and I’ve been known to have my fair share of winnings. Well, things have changed – he now wins and I’m just going to say it’s because I now have the cutest niece in the world that comes in to distract me. Well played – well played.

Sometimes we hike, sometimes we go canoeing and fishing and sometimes we shoot guns.

We start with shooting skeet (or I attempt to shoot skeet). I did finally hit one, then I threw in the towel.

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Here he is showing us all how to get it done… and making it look super easy!

We later turned to a friendly target shooting competition. It all starts with the little brother teaching the big sister. Oh how times have changed. I’ll just let you guess who won that battle!

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Do you and your siblings do anything like this? Odd or not so odd? I’d love to hear them!

BlogHer ’13 – The People, The Parties

BlogHer brings about many opportunities to network. Get out there and meet other bloggers who you’ve become friends with online, bloggers who you are meeting for the first time at the event and, as always, the sponsors. Parties are a huge deal. Not only the parties hosted by event sponsors but the private, invite only parties.

I only knew one other blogger that was attending the event, and I was rooming with her. I walked away with so much more. I met her friends, I made new friends and most of all, I made some travel blogging friends!

271Liz from Yes/No Films and I at the CheeseburgHer party in the Presidential Suite at the Sheraton Hotel.

Parties.

Cracker Barrel Cheese – Not only did we receive a demonstration on how to pair and present food, we also met Top Chef 2012’s Runner-up, Sarah Grueneberg and had a Food Network Challenge of our own! We each received a box and had to make it work. (I had Valentine’s Day)PicMonkey CollageYappem – hosted a party at the Navy Pier. Talk about a place for an event! Two people won $12,000.00 each… just saying.

PicMonkey Collage1Lazy Boy – We had our nails painted, make-up done and chair massages not to mention meet Kelly Edwards (host and co-host of HGTV’s Design on a Dime). Can’t complain about any of that!

241South Fort Walton Beach – If I had to pick a favorite, this would be it. Why? It has to do with travel of course and that’s my favorite! This is also where I met my first travel blogger of the event and I tried out their local beer, shrimp and grits and had some live music from the most popular local, South Ft. Walton Beach band! Like I said, right up my alley!

PicMonkey Collage2These are just a few of the events I was able to attend. Each were unique and a lot of fun!