Lake Winnipesaukee

Kate and I just got back recently from our 10 day vacation to Lake Winnipesaukee in NH. We had a great time with our friends and family. I got a ton of pictures, but I thought I only add a few on here. The picture above is from the top of Rattlesnake Island. To keep active on our vacation Kate, Bear and myself hiked the 2 mile trail around Rattlesnake every morning.

This is a picture from the falls at Castle in the Clouds. It was a nice spot to hike and sight see, but the Castle was a bit of a let down. We had a nice lunch on a terrace over looking the lake, but never made it to the actual castle after finding out that they wanted to milk another $7 per person just to take a trolley a few 100 yards up to the castle.. Forget it! Been there, ate there, got the t-shirt... later!

This is me at the top of Mount Major overlooking the lake. This was about 1,700 FT climb. Kate and I really enjoy hiking. It is great excercise and I like it much more then running all the time... I think Kate and I will be doing quite a bit more hiking in our future around PA. My goal for next summer is to attempt Mt. Washington (6,288 FT). Our friends just climbed it and had a great time. I saw a few of their pictures and I need to do it myself. Can't wait for our return trip next year....

4th of July

Kate and I spent our 4th of July in Plymouth, Massachusetts as you can see in the pictures above of Plymouth Rock and the replica Mayflower. I don't think I have been to Plymouth since 4th grade when we went on a field trip to Plymouth Plantation. It turned out to be a nice day and we had a great lunch on the water. I was able to feed my New England appetite for seafood with a clam roll. Haven't had one of those in awhile and it was well worth the wait. Overall we had a great 4th spending time with my in-laws and seeing friends who we don't get to see as often since we moved to Pennsylvania. We'd love to be back one day and plan on making it happen sometime.

A little over 3 weeks until our summer vacation and I can't wait. Kate and I need a vacation in the worst way...

Bear vs. Nerf - Bear wins...

Summer Jobs

I’ve been doing quite a bit around the house lately since my last post. One of the major additions was removing the old door that led into the back patio with a slider. The old door swung open and hit the kitchen table, not to mention there was a storm door on the other side. Opening 2 doors was a pain in the butt to get outside. It wasn't very convenient at all. The new slider is perfect. It is much larger which lets in more light and you can leave it open without fear of the wind whacking the door into your table. Installation was not as hard as I thought... Now I need to do a few windows...

The other major project was fencing in my back patio. There was a decorative fence around the patio (as you can see by the weathered grey cedar) that had 3 openings. It looked nice, but we like to let the dog out on the patio and not worry about him running off. I had placed chicken wire at the side attached to posts and narrowed the middle opening to accept a baby gate. Again, not very convenient… With much appreciated help from my father-in-law and 2 days of nice weather over Memorial Day, we were able to install the missing fence sections around the patio complete with a latching gate. It was an adventure digging post holes around the roots of a cherry tree and through Pennsylvania clay (concrete)...