From New York, we traveled back to one of our many homes: New Hampshire.
We lived in NH from 2007-2011. And really, it's the last place we "lived." My definition of "home" has certainly changed over the past few years, but NH was certainly the last place we lived for any length of time. Plus, we paid actual rent to an actual landlord and both had 40-hr-per-week jobs in NH. Seems very abnormal to me now!
While in NH, we visited and presented.
We first visited with our kindred spirits, Paul & Kristen, in Lebanon.
The 4 of us celebrated our reunion by climbing the 4,802-foot Mt. Moosilauke. Justin & I climbed this mountain while we thru hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2011, but it now has a greater significance to us. Our friend Chad died in 2014 while running on the AT up and down Moosilauke. While I trudged along on our 11.5-mile trail, I thought about one of Chad's favorite quotes: "Gotta have fun while working out, or else, why do it?" He was, and still is, an amazing inspiration to us.
From Paul & Kristen's, we made our way to Hopkinton. When we lived in NH, J was the director of parks & recreation of Hopkinton.
Justin loved his P&R job and the community, so it was wonderful to return after all these years. We presented at the Hopkinton Town Library and of the 40-something people in attendance, there were only 10 we didn't know! Now, many of our the people in the audience had no interest in backpacking or New Zealand, and were just there to see us, so it was fun to hear their comments afterwards. Particularly, our non-hiking friend Sam had some gems: "I don't understand what a 20-degree sleeping bag is. Is it really 20 degrees inside the sleeping bag and how???" When referencing the lack of "amenities" (i.e., toilet) in our Superfeet Sprinter Van, he renamed the van the "Barbie Dream House Gone Broke."
J's Recreation Committee reunites! Minus Vern, who died in 2016 ... we sure miss you, Vern!
Overall, it's always so nice to return to a place we've lived, and feel as if we're coming home!
Labels: Outdoor Recreation, Road Trips
