Woods Wind Wander

East Pond After yesterday's long haul (12 miles that were unintended) we decided to do some more research upon returning home and try to find something a little more reasonable in terms of mileage.  I consulted my handy dandy little Waterville Valley Hiking Trails map back at the house and came up with the East Pond Loop.  It is a loop that connects 2  ,count 'em, 2 ponds.  I'm not making the Greeley Pond s  mistake again!  The trail is rated as easy and is only 4.5 miles. It was a beautiful walk on a chilly, but sunny autumn day.   R is getting good at the turn and look hiking pose 😂😍 Arriving at the East Pond takes your breath away.  It was still early and quiet.  Cold.  Steam was rising from the surface of the water.   The water reflected the surrounding mountains perfectly.  Upon closer inspection the water is incredibly clear.  It is the type of place to sit at and contemplate life, thinking nothing and e...

Today was the first full day of our second trip to the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  I have been dreaming of returning since the moment we left this summer.  I knew my husband had a week off of work in October and I thought it would be a wonderful time to go back.  Once we decided to make reservations, I started buying and stashing non-perishable grocery items, preparing and freezing meals, heck, I even had the boys' and my suitcase packed a week in advance. Our trip north went well, although we took an hour longer (11 hours as opposed to 10 this summer) and it was raining the entire drive.  Luck would have it that when we drove in to Waterville Valley, the rain stopped, the sun came out and we were welcomed back with a beautiful rainbow.  I took it as a good omen. Once we arrived, we unpacked the car and went for a 5 mile walk along the Mad River, ate dinner, and went to bed dreaming of more adventures to come.  The following morning we all woke up ea...

The Wild Ponies With our summer winding down quickly, the next week full of meetings for my husband and meet and greets for the kids' schools, we decided to have one last "field trip."  I wanted another adventure and I had recently stumbled upon a beautiful copy of Misty of Chincoteague that my mother had given the boys, and that sparked an idea:  why not go to Chincoteague?  I had never been to Chincoteague before, only to neighboring Assateague with my mother and grandmother over a decade ago.  Since Chincoteague is a National Wildlife Refuge I figured my sons (and I) would be in heaven.  It is a 3 1/2 hour drive, making it 7 hours of driving in one day, nothing to sneeze at, but with all of the wildlife we could potentially see, I reasoned it would be worth it. Both Chincoteague and Assateague have wonderful websites.  Chincoteague has all of its brochures available online (specific ones on birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians), so I started to hy...