Located in Whitefield, New Hampshire is Mountain View Grant Resort a historic hotel nestle among the White Mountains. This resort offers an array of activities in a beautiful location and we were excited to spend a weekend here.

Every Christmas my husband and I each give the other a list of things we want/need. There are usually several outdoor items on these lists. After almost 19 years together it is getting more difficult to come up with gear we want or need. This Christmas we probably got the least amount of gear. My husband got a few things for ice fishing and hunting, but not much for our family outdoor adventures. The things we did get I am pretty happy with.

Did you know that the suspected oldest man made structure in the United States is located right here in New Hampshire? America’s Stonehenge in Salem, NH is a “maze of man-made chambers, walls and ceremonial meeting places, at over 4,000 years old.” from American’s Stonehenge Website.

My husband visited America’s Stonehenge over 25 years ago as a field trip for school. When I was studying Sociology in college I had to come here for research for a paper. We figured it was time to bring our 12 year old for a history lesson.

Niagara Falls has been on my bucket list for sometime. For our summer vacation we chose to visit Up State New York and Niagara Falls. With the help of North Bay Getaways we planned our New York summer vacation. We broke our trip up into a couple different stops.

As restrictions were lifting with COVID, my family and I were itching to get out of New England. We went back and forth on a few places, but finally agreed that our daughter has had a challenging year and would love a trip to Disney. We booked the trip 4 weeks before we left. Our last trip, two years ago we had such great success with Rachel from Travels with Family Magic that we decided to use her again.
Due to some ticket restrictions we were not able to get tickets to Magic Kingdom, there were no fast passes, no meal plans and limited reservations for dinner. Despite some changes we still had some fun things planned. Below is an outline of our trip.

Last summer we visited Waterville Valley for the first time and fell in love with the small resort town. When thinking about where we wanted to spend a couple nights over February Vacation it was an easy decision to go back to Waterville Valley.

Recently I have been seeing a lot of blog posts out there about the importance of close knit girlfriend groups. These are the same group of women who do everything together. They have their girls weekends, celebrations for all occasions and are there for the good and bad in each other’s lives. They are friends for life. As I have read several of these posts, I find I do not fit into these “groups.” Does that mean I am doing something wrong in my friendships?

Living in New Hampshire we usually have a good three to four months of snow and colder weather. For those winter lovers a fresh snow means endless outdoor possibilities.

I have many outdoor winter sports that I love, but there is something about snowshoeing through a fresh powder that is not only a good workout, but relaxing.

In 2020 I was looking for a different outdoor challenge for my daughter and I. I came across the 1000 Hours Outside and thought it was perfect for us. I knew we spent a lot of time outside, but I was curious to see how much.

Every year I like to take on a new outdoor challenge. When thinking about what I want to do for 2021 I was having difficulty coming up with something different to do. So I decided to create my own challenge. If there is one thing that 2020 has taught my family and I is that we live in a great state that has many wonderful places to visit and explore. We have been able to visit some pretty amazing places in New Hampshire this year. My thought was to create a challenge that helps people explore and get to know The Granite State.

Every year I like to do an outdoor challenge this helps me stay accountable for the year and also helps me find new places to explore. The last two years I had done the 365 Mile Challenge and both times finished on or right before New Years Eve. This year i was looking for something different. I had started on the 1000 Outside Hours and Views and Brews Challenge. I felt this was enough and something different for me to do.

“Wow you don’t look over 30,” said a cashier who recently carded me. “You need to take skin care advice from your mom, she has great skin.” Said my dermatologist to my daughter. I take pride in these compliments about my skin.

On our summer vacation we did not have a lot planned. We camped for a couple days, but nothing else was planned. My daughter really wanted to go to Whales Tale Waterpark which is one of our favorite waterparks. My husband wanted to spend one more night away so we started looking for hotels in the Lincoln area. We searched and searched and had difficulty finding one that we could agree on. After numerous Google searches I stubbled across Waterville Valley. I have only been there once many years ago to hike the Cascade Waterfall Trail. Since we have not spent much time in that area I decided that was where we would spend the night.

The Katahdin Region nestle in the middle of Maine will always be near and dear to my heart as it is where I grew up and learned how to love the great outdoors. When I was not exploring the woods around the Allagash Wilderness Waterway I was exploring the woods around the Katahdin Region with my parents or friends. I was fortunate that many friends were willing to explore with me. When people think of this area they usually think of Mt. Katahdin. I am going to share my favorite places to visit that are not hiking the mountain. While the mountain is beautiful I hike, I have some other favorites in the area. Below are my top five

I am always curious what people carry in their packs during the different seasons we have in New England. This past winter I wrote a blog post, What’s in My Pack: Winter Addition. I thought I would follow it up with a summer addition.

It’s school vacation week in New Hampshire and we like to take a couple days to explore somewhere around New England. Growing up I spent every summer visiting friends in the Lakes Region, but since our friend’s moved away we do not visit as much. When we were researching places to go we decided to head to the Lakes Region in hopes of spending time at Gunstock, cross country skiing, tubing and riding mountain coaster.

We love to spend Saturday afternoons exploring new areas around New England. After a morning of basketball and more basketball tomorrow I was not feeling like doing a lot of driving. We were going back and forth on what to do. We decided to explore around Peterborough.

I have debated on writing this post. After thinking about it I feel it is important to get out there the importance of good trail etiquette based on my own experiences. There are the common trail etiquette guidelines to follow such as if you are descending step off the trail and let those coming up come by. If you need to use the bathroom step way off into the woods. Do not mess with cairns. Be friendly to other hikers and keep your cell phone on silent. While hiking this past summer we encountered some behaviors on the trail that did not set well with me.

I am always curious about what people carry in their packs. I love looking for new ideas of outdoor necessities or what hikers carry for fun. Over the years I have worked hard at researching and finding the right gear. Ok, maybe I should be honest. I tell my husband what I want and he does all the research to make sure I am getting a good product. That is what makes us a good team. We are by no means survival experts, but enjoy looking for gear that works well and supports us if needed. Living in New Hampshire we have a variety of weather, being prepared in the winter months is very important. Below are the items that you will find in my pack during the winter months.

My husband gets frustrated with me around holidays where gift giving involved. He really likes to get me material objects where I prefer experiences. Every time one of these holidays come around there is always an argument around what I want and me saying nothing, then him feeling that I am setting him up for trouble when the days arrives. As i am writing this my husband is sitting next me to shaking his head in agreement.

This Christmas was a little different. We had some big purchases made and decided to only purchase a few things for reach other. We did not really mention what we wanted, just hoped after almost 17 years together we are able to buy gifts each one of us enjoys.