Talcott Mountain Mini-Hike

May 18th, 2013

Earlier this summer went hiking and explored some of Connecticut's natural beauty. Reese heard of a place called Talcott Mountain from a friend from work and it was surprisingly close to where we lived, (in Bloomfield, CT). Since it was only about 10 minutes away we decided to make a day trip to the mountain and check it out. 

It ended up being a very beautiful mountain and it wasn't a very difficult hike. We saw a few other people, one was a mother and daughter who were about 10 minutes ahead of us. The daughter was about 3 years old and strapped to the back of the mom in one of those child backpack things..she ended up letting the child walk from about half way up. It was a steep, but short hike, it took about 15 minutes to reach the top.

The view was really pretty but the edges of the mountain were a bit dangerous, you had to be really careful not to get too close to the edge.. I was shocked to see that they were not fenced off since it was probably about 100 or so ft to the bottom.. a deadly drop off.. and the gravel was also quite loose. So unsafe.

We explored the top of the mountain for an hour, choosing different trails and searching for animals. We ended up seeing a bird that was singing a really interesting song, a few squirrels, and a very large woodpecker. 

On our drive back to the apartment, we passed our favourite local market. It was full of fruits, veggies and other homemade treats like jams and baked goods. We had visited the market the previous week and bought a jar of delicious homemade strawberry rhubarb jam and a couple fresh honey sticks that came from a nearby bee farm. Both were amazing and I’m looking forward to going back someday! 

enjoying our honey sticks

Taking a Step Back in Time: Washington, DC Trip

Reese had his 15 year reunion in Washington DC back in May on a Saturday, and on the Friday of that weekend he had another shoot in NYC, so we decided to make it a weekend trip and go visit his family in nearby Maryland as well. The drive from Connecticut was about 6 hours in total but since we were in New York most of Friday, it ended up breaking up the trip into 2 hours (to NYC) and 4 hours (down to Maryland). 

THE US CAPITOL BUILDING

In Maryland, we spent a lot of time with his parents and sister. I like his sister a lot, we are the same age, both love to play soccer and we have a similar personality, reserved and quiet natured. His parents are incredibly nice people, very welcoming and friendly. I enjoyed every minute of the time I spent with his family, including the trip I made with his mother and sister to a little thrift shop type place to pick up a table.. apparently his mother shops there a lot because the people knew her by name. I actually think she is their best costumer.. It seemed that she either bought, or planned to buy, everything there (not quite, but almost!). His sister and I had a pretty good time laughing the whole time in the store about how much she loved to shop and get a good deal.

After the boat trip through Washington, D.C

The reunion took place on a boat in Washington, D.C. since Reese went to a private school there when his was in high school. I got to see (well...drive by) the White House and the Capitol building on our way to the harbor where we were getting on a boat. 


It was neat to meet all his old friends, but it was even more interesting to sit and talk with all the wives and girlfriends. It seemed like the majority of them were from another country, which made me feel comfortable being a Canadian.. I was exotic too! Ha! I met a few really nice girls and had some great conversations. 



Overall, the trip was a success and we ended up visiting, or at least driving through, 7 States at some point during the weekend...Washington (D.C.), Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Delaware, and Pennsylvania (and Connecticut but I didn't count it because we live there).