Nica Please

It's finally time... I am going to Nicaragua. Only 10 hours until I am on a flight to Washington DC and 26 hours until I am on my way to Managua! It seems sureal that it is finally here and I don't believe it will settle in until about a month after I am in Nicaragua. I hope to keep in touch with you all and feel free to send letters and e-mails.

For those of you who are geographically... troubled here is a map of where I will be. It is located in Central America just above Costa Rica. Don't worry it is safer than most countries and Latino culture is known for it's hospitality and warmth. I will be living just south of the capital (Managua) for the next three months with a home stay and it will basically be studying abroad. Each day I will have language class followed by classes to become an environmental educator. I won't have a computer or cell phone, but I am sure I can go to a ciber once a week or more to check e-mails.

Thank you all who were able to come to my send-off party. It was great to see you all and it meant so much to me to have you there offering your support.

Pretending to Rough It

With only 3 weeks until my departure for the Peace Corps, I drove up from CT to meet up with Stella for another weekend adventure. We were heading up to Plymouth, NH and later Mt. Washington for an "outdoor" weekend.

I knew the weekend was going to be great when Stella mentioned that we could go to the coast and see the seals in Plymouth. I guess it is an Ohio thing, but they are not used to there being several towns with the same names; Plymouth, NH is much different than Plymouth, MA and about 150 miles from the coast. Besides that small little issue there really wasn't too much to do in Plymouth. In fact the only reason we even stopped there was to break up the 3 hour drive to Mt. Washington and start our vacation an evening early. Plymouth was a nice enough town, but I guess like all on NH just small and pretty desolate. We had a mediocre meal at some random restaurant and we got a cheap room at the Red Roof Inn. It was exactly what you would expect for $86 and it even had a good breakfast in the morning.

The real adventure started Saturday morning. We checked out of the Red Roof at about 7:30 and started our hour drive up into the state parks. I remember the area from my Reach the Beach race in September and it was every bit as beautiful. We were welcomed to the area with signs every few miles warning us about moose and the large White Mountains and the Presidential Range.

I planned like I was my dad and had a map with highlighted roads, a written out agenda, and a time table. I am proud to say we got to the parking lot only 30 minutes behind schedule and were on the trail by 9am. We started on the Ammonoosoc Ravine Trail, which is rated as difficult but passes through the Lake of the Clouds Hut and is about 4.5miles long. I came prepared unlike Stella who only brought a rain jacket. I had three bottles of water, a backpack, winter gear (hat and gloves), rain gear (jacket and pants), food, two knives, dry sacks, and rope. I know I went a little overkill but I had all the gear and was eager to use it all. The one downside I quickly realized is that all your gear must be packed tightly. I made the mistake of just strapping down my nalgene with a caribener and the swaying bottle quickly tired me out.

The trail itself was beautiful. I did my research and if you have any desire to climb Mt. Washington I would recommend the Ammonoosoc Ravine Trail. It starts right on the Base Rd and follows one of the rivers up the mountain. It has many great spots where you can stop and over look the ravine and many waterfalls. Also, you feel like you are doing serious hiking, the trail is well cared for, but at times you are climbing near vertical rock walls or scaling mile long segments bouncing from rock to rock. I agree that this was a harder trail, but it was so rewarding to finally get to the the Lake of the Clouds Hut. I was impressed how much work the AMC does and the hut is no little building, it holds about 80 beds and lets you come in for free to warm up. At this point too, we were above the alpine zone and the temperature had dropped nearly 30 degrees from the warm 70 at the base. Stella was glad I brought extra gear and I gave her my hat and gloves. The alpine zone was like walking on a different planet. The trees immediately stop and you are met with a completely rocky environment. Also, those lakes, more like ponds, very tiny but cool to see them about a mile up the mountain.

The most crazy part about our hike was that at the Lake of the Clouds we ran into a group portaging a canoe to the summit. It was about a 16ft aluminum canoe and I remember portaging from my last outdoor trip, it sucks, never mind climbing a mountain. The last half mile of the hike was through the alpine zone and it was all rock, even though we could see the summit it took us about another hour to reach the observatory. We really lucked out on our trip and had a clear 360 degree view of the area. However, as nice as the view was it was kind of disappointing to see people just pulling up in their cars. I guess the best part of the climb was in fact the climb and the sense of accomplishment of doing the climb.

It took us 4 hours to climb Mt. Washington. We were ahead of my pacing and I decided we were going to take Jewell Trail down. This trail was supposed to be easier and a little longer. I thought it would be better because descending is difficult and we would get to see another part of the mountain. The trail followed the train path for a little then broke off to another ravine. Unlike the trail up it hugged the evergreen trees and the trail was much narrower with vegetation all around. I am glad we didn't ascend on this path because there aren't many viewing spots and most of the time you are hidden under the trees. Yet, I did find a few opportunities to run close to some cliff edges despite Stella's disapproval.

That night we stayed at the AMC Highland Center Lodge. It was recommended to us by Stella's supervisor and was amazing. I felt like we were staying in luxury. As we arrive they are having an appetizer hour with wine and beer. Our room was a 4-person bunk that we had to ourselves overlooking a nearby lake and train station. That night for dinner we met a group of 4 men from CT and had dinner family style. The food was outstanding and it was great to share our experiences with complete strangers. I also got to hear about the Foreign Service from a man that just retired from it and it may be another possibility after the Peace Corps.

The next day we headed to Arethusa Falls, the tallest waterfall in NH. We figured since it was Sunday and early we might as well get in a short day hike before heading back to Boston. It was supposed to be a challenging hike 1hr each way. It felt eerily familiar and was a nice hike after our odyssey the day before. By this point Stella and I could take any hike and we were passing people left and right to the falls. After the falls we planned on heading back and stopping at Flume Gorge, but got sidetracked and decided to hike Frankenstein Cliffs on the same path. This was a 3 mile loop that took us up to the top of 2500ft cliffs. Again the trail was rough with many steep sections and lots of rocks. Of course Stella and I didn't have a map and we just kept assuming we were heading in the right direction. It is amazing when you are hiking how easy it is to lose your orientation about distance 0.2 miles seems like an eon on the trail. Well we finally made it to the cliffs and it was worth the spontaneous decision. Stella and I sat right on the edge of the cliff with our feet dangling over the ground over 1000ft below. We both agreed that the view was much more rewarding than Mt. Washington. Although much lower, we could see the waterfall off in the distance where we were hours ago and see my car even further. Also, we had a view of the entire canyon.

This really was the perfect trip and many things happened to fall in our favor. Each day we were hiking we were enthusiastic, but got rightfully tired. It just so happened each day that when we hit the "wall" the point where we were ready to be done, the end was no more than 30 minutes away. Also, I am very adamant about eating at local restaurants and avoiding chains. As we were driving home I wanted a family restaurant and we stopped at the first place we saw. What was on the menu, but a whole story explaining how the restaurant is family owned and how they want to make it the most "warm" restaurant possible.

Over this weekend I grew to appreciate nature and hiking. I had an amazing time and will not forget how awe inspiring those views were. I realized I don't need big fancy games or toys, just a good pair of shoes and company. In addition, I learned to love the time I am in. I just took it all in stride with no clear expectations. I am used to being so frugal with my decisions, but with Stella I just want to make her happy. Who cares if i is a few extra bucks for a root beer float, it makes the meal more fun. It was the perfect weekend of being outdoors, but we were still comforted with the luxury of a warm dry bed at night. I think I need a few more trips like this until I am ready to through hike anywhere.

Jaunting Along the RI Coast

It's coming faster than I expected, I am really leaving for the Peace Corps at the end of the month. A year ago I sent in my electronic application and I naively thought I would know my placement by Christmas. Silly me, a year later I am finally leaving and now it seems like just yesterday I was applying.

Due to the proximity of my departure and my limited days with family and Stella I am determined to make the most of each moment. I kicked it off right by staying in Boston for a week and traveling with Stella around New England for the weekend. This weekend I met up with Melina and Alex at her new apartment for dinner. It was a great dinner, she invited Frank since Andrew was on vacation in NH and we had a nice "family dinner". Melina is really a great hostess and she made all the fixings: eggplant parmesan, breaded meat, salad, and chocolate covered strawberries. Also, everyone seemed excited to see Stella again and we all just picked right back up in terms of relationship when we were in Colombia. I loved having dinner with them all because I see them as some of my closer friends and a group I really want to be a part of. I know Stella felt the same way because she was complaining why we didn't do this earlier and vowed to stay in touch with Melina even after I leave.

That night we stayed at Amparo's and were woken up to a filling breakfast. Amparo made arepas and Stella even made one. We were headed out that morning nice and early (9am) for Misquamicut Beach. It was the first nice beach day of the summer, rumors of 90 degrees and we didn't want to miss the chance. Our 1.5hr drive quickly turned to a 2.5hr drive due to all the traffic; it appeared that the whole world had a similar idea about the beach. Also, Misquamicut was packed, imagine the old pictures of Coney Island, we only had enough space for our towels and that was pushing it. Even with the disaster of traffic and finding space in the sand it was amazing to get out and just enjoy the sun, good company, and cold water. I went out with Stella in the waves which were about 6ft and we even went for a 3mile walk.

That night we went to Mystic, CT and a KOA campground. True, it is not real camping, we just show up in a car, pull out a tent, and sleep, but it was better than nothing. I knew it was camping because I have the bug bites to prove it. But, we didn't even have a campfire, instead we went into Mystic to get dinner and walk around. We were both surprised how touristy it was, even at 8:30 at night we could not get a table at any restaurants and we ended up with an okay meal at some cajun restaurant.

Already we were having a pretty jam packed weekend. We drove from Boston to Melina's for dinner, we forded 3hrs of traffic on the Masspike, went to Misquamicut, and camped. We debated just staying at the campsite until late morning playing horseshoes, miniature golf, or going for a walk, but I wanted more. I figured we did so much, we might as well go for it all. That morning we got up and raced towards Point Judith to catch a ferry to Block Island. I already had one bike on my car since I was moving home and we figured we could just rent another for Stella on the island. The ferry was relaxing and it was great to just have some time to relax.Once on the island, which is absolutely beautiful we made a beeline for the nearest bike shop. It was already getting pretty late, about 1pm, and we wanted to cover a lot of ground and some how get back to Boston that night.
We asked some locals for advice and found that we could cover the botton half of the island in a few hours. Only a 5-10mile ride, but we wanted to stop a lot to look around and enjoy the route. Along the way we found a huge organic garden that attracted Stella's eye. The garden had every type of vegetable and it gave me some great tips and guidance for my own garden or project in Nicaragua. We then trekked on to a lighthouse and were too cheap to climb to the top. Figures that they are trying to build a wind farm off the coast that will power the whole island and it is no surprise that it will be one of the first in America, while Europe as a couple hundred. From there we kept on biking in the slightly overcast weather until we saw two cute little boys selling lemonade. We figured why not and starting talking to their dad who was reading "The Tipping Point". We started off mentioning how we both read that book and a few others he listed off. He then told us of a good beach down the road that is usually void of tourists and a nice spot to check out. Stella loves just walking and we figured it would be a good spot to ditch the bikes for a little and just walk along the coast. The beach was in fact hidden and here is a picture of the crazy trail to get down there. I didn't realize we were going to have to bounce down a ravine and jump over some rivers to get there.
All in all well worth the reward at the end of the path. I was able to go hunting for some crabs by the rocks and Stella was able to do some yoga. Also, we got a good view from the shore.What a weekend it was, we did it all and were able to get back to Boston by 8pm and we missed all the horrible rain everyone was talking about. Not a bad start to my farewell tour and I have CT to look forward to for the next week and then it is off to Mt. Washington the next weekend .