Roaming About

A Life Less Ordinary

Tag: hiking (page 5 of 6)

Hiking to Tannery Falls

August 15, 2016 / / 15 Comments
Sign at the park entrance, a few miles off Route 2 (Mohawk Trail)

Sign at the park entrance, a few miles off Route 2 (Mohawk Trail)

A few months ago, I did some research about interesting sites in our current area of the Berkshire Mountains in Western Massachusetts. Tannery Falls in Savoy Mountain State Forest seemed like a great afternoon excursion. Especially after driving by the State Forest sign on Route 2 – also called the Mohawk Trail – frequently when running errands in North Adams, I moved the trip higher on my list of “Things I want to do before we leave Heath”.

Hail to the Sunrise
Mohawk park at the edge of Charlemont, the closest “town” to Heath
Our low-to-the-ground Prius in the Charlemont area

Mark and I decided to make the trip to Tannery Falls the day after we attended the annual reggae festival in Charlemont. Continue reading

Climbing Mount Greylock… the Easy Way

July 4, 2016 / / 22 Comments

Ever since we arrived in Heath, MA to do this five month house sit, Mark has been interested in climbing the biggest mountain of the state, which is located an hour drive away. Usually I’m the first one to partake in any exciting hike or adventure, but ascending a 3500ft (1067 m) mountain is not in the cards anymore for me. Many times in the past, when scaling smaller hills and mountains, my “Sure, let’s do it! I’ll just walk at my own pace.” turned into tough, steep climbs with loads of sweat, many breaks and a guaranteed headache. Turning 40 is no joke!

Entering the mountain park

Entering the mountain park

Continue reading

A Weekend of Camping and Hiking in Vermont; and a Visit Beyond

June 20, 2016 / / 14 Comments

I can’t quite remember the last time Mark and I went camping for pleasure, as in when we really wanted to go camping. My recollections go back ten years ago or so, when our dogs, the Grand Canyon and loads of insect bites were part of the experience. I mention the “for pleasure” part, because the previous time we seriously camped was for two months in 2007, when a tent and a car were all we owned, so camping was our lifestyle. It wasn’t necessarily our preferred way to live, but the cheapest option in between other adventures. We had just moved out of our truck camper and were in the process of searching and eventually buying our sailboat.

Trying to set up the tent at home - check. All parts are present.

Trying to set up the tent at home – check. All parts are present.

The tent we had for ages was finally traded for some local handicrafts in the San Blas Islands, Panama, a few years ago and a new tent recently became ours through a promotion online. It was time to test it out in earnest. Continue reading

Visit to Northampton, MA

June 13, 2016 / / 18 Comments

One of the big advantages of a house and pet sitting lifestyle is that you have the chance to live in different places with every assignment. While we primarily prefer longer term sits for our own comfort, sense of settling in and being able to concentrate on work projects without having to move constantly, we also enjoy being immersed in a new area and having plenty of opportunity and time to explore its surroundings during the weekends.

Recently, our temporary dog Jenny needed new food from a pet food store quite a drive from here.  Dave’s Soda and Pet City (interesting name for a pet food store) has a location in the city of Northampton, where other chores could be accomplished, and where neither of us had been before. We decided to combine the necessary with the pleasant and explored the college town around noon on a Saturday.

Continue reading

A Change of Scenery

May 9, 2016 / / 13 Comments

It has been nine days already since the Blogging from A to Z Challenge finished and I am finally catching my breath again in regards to blogging and other things in life. The month of April was focused around getting some traction for my Roaming About blog, writing daily and about a certain theme, and incorporating a few other events.

Severe snowstorm in Newburyport, in April!

The most important change in Mark and my life, was our move into another house, with a new dog. Continue reading

G is for Getting Around

April 8, 2016 / / 23 Comments
Day 7 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge – Thoughts on Being a Nomad

Nomads can get around in as many different ways as there are kinds of transportation. You can travel as fast as a plane or as slow as your own walking pace. My favorite way of getting around depends on the situation and the location, and I usually end up picking the most practical (and affordable) choice available.

Arriving in Tahiti by plane from New Zealand

Arriving in Tahiti by plane from New Zealand

Continue reading

Few Words Thursday…

March 31, 2016 / / 0 Comments

… because I missed Wordless Wednesday yesterday

… because this photo deserves a blog post

… because it sums up the good times we had, hiking the dogs we pet sat for three months (we will miss them)

… because tomorrow the “Blogging from A to Z Challenge” starts, and that means a bunch of words every day! 🙂

Resting on the top of a hill with Henry and Mickey

A Walk in Housatonic Meadows State Park

March 28, 2016 / / 6 Comments

It was a cold Saturday in March. Since it was the weekend, Mark and I wanted to take the dogs we are pet sitting for a decent walk in nature, as usual. An area we had not checked out yet since being here for almost three months, was Lake Waramaug.

Only a 15 minute drive away, we found what some call the prettiest lake in Connecticut. Continue reading

A Walk in Lover’s Leap State Park, CT

March 14, 2016 / / 6 Comments

A little while ago, last year’s sitters of our current house and pet sitting assignment in Kent sent me a list of their favorite parks and hikes in the area. One destination Mark and I had not checked out yet was Lover’s Leap State Park.

Map of Lover's Leap SP

On Saturday, the weather was right (a sunny 50°F) and Henry and Mickey were in the mood to join us (when are they not?) for another walk. We followed the GPS directions to Lover’s Leap in New Milford. Of course, I had forgotten to write the address down from my research on the computer, so we blindly trusted the computer voice in our car. My laid-back mentality about things like this will get me in trouble one day, but not yet. Continue reading

Walking and Seeing the Real Berkshires in Connecticut

February 29, 2016 / / 10 Comments
The Berkshire Mountains in Connecticut

The Berkshire Mountains in Connecticut

Mark and I had been living in the “foothills of the Berkshires” for almost two months, barely noticing those geography defining Berkshire Mountains. Sure, each time we drive from our house sit to the town of Kent to run errands, our ears pop and we don’t need any fuel to reach the bottom of the road, but the cold weather, sometimes gray, sometimes snowy had not allowed us to walk up to any viewpoints during our weekend outings with the dogs. When the sun set, I could often spot what I thought to be a purple hued hill top in the distance, through the barren trees around the house. I wanted to stand on top of one of those hills… Continue reading

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