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October 14, 2007

Take A Hike

So in the beginning of September, Brent and I were becoming so athletic! We went for 4 mile jogs three times a week and went hiking whenever we had spare time. I don't know what happened to us, but don't worry, we got over it and we're back to our junk food and TV on DVD marathons like usual. Anyway, one day Brent told me to put on my sneakers and help him pack his lunch pail (the super-cool skull and crossbones one I got him a couple years ago) because we were going for a surprise picnic at an undisclosed location. I obviously took my camera along which was a good thing since we ended up hiking to Heublein Tower which is on top of Talcott Mountain.

When we first arrived, we saw a snake's tail sticking out of the ground. I poked at it to see what it would do and managed not to get bitten:

Then we found a toad which was nowhere near as friendly as the hop-toads I used to catch in my grandma's backyard:

Hiking up Talcott Mountain:

Bench:

A star!

What a view:

This was the spot Brent had picked for our picnic, so we set up right on the edge of a huge cliff which was terrifying, but definitely the coolest place I've ever had lunch:

It was so cool looking out at the hills and valleys surrounding us at all the different little towns:

Then the hawks arrived and scared us away:

It was really strange watching some of them fly below us. I wish I had gotten a picture of the first one that came; he swooped up from below our cliff and came really close to us.

As we packed up what was left in our lunch pail, I saw this enormous centipede:

Maybe I just grew up too close to New York City, but that was the biggest centipede I have ever seen.

Another cliff:

Don't jump!

There were a lot of really cool trees growing directly out of the cliff:

Hold on!

I think he did this just to torture me. Next time we go hiking, I'm putting Brent on a leash:

Gross-looking swamp off in the distance:

That's why I like camera zooms and telephoto lenses. From a high enough height, that could have looked like a nice tennis court.

Don't take this path too far, it leads right over the edge!

Sometimes I take long series of pictures of Brent doing random stuff, I don't know why. This is Brent sitting and then standing on a cliff:

Enough of that.

Here's the path we were following:

I thought it looked creepy in black and white:

Actually no, not really. I'll leave it though.

As we were walking, we found a little tiny path marked only by small stones on either side of it. It zig zagged up a hill toward what looked like a wooden shack of some sort. This seemed like a good start for a horror movie, but that didn't stop us:

Things we passed on the way:

At the top of the hill:

It turned out we had just accidentally made our way up to Heublein Tower:

Obviously we went in:

And for anyone who has too much time on their hands and/or the desire to learn something:

This is actually pretty cool, it's the old menu for the restaurant that they used to have at The Heublein Hotel (click the picture then click "all sizes" to see a larger version):

Check out the prices, are those in cents?

As we climbed up the tower, there were all sorts of things to see.

The sleeping porch:

A bedroom:

And finally the observation deck:

From the observation deck you can see hundreds of miles in each direction. From one single room, Brent and I were able to see Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts.

I zoomed in on Hartford off in the distance:

We actually found our school's chapel too!

That's the reservoir where we would go for our 4 mile jogs:

I love this:

After leaving the observation deck, we checked out the last couple of rooms:

The Eisenhower Chair:

This is the chair Eisenhower was sitting in when he was asked to run for president of the United States:

What a view:

Leaving the tower:

What is it with boys and climbing big rocks?

I thought these had creepy black and white picture potential too, but maybe not:

Another giant centipede:

After finishing our hike, Brent and I stopped at The Pickin' Patch, a little roadside farm stand:

We bought some cider, baked goods, freshly picked lettuce for the bunnies, and a couple gourds to decorate our rooms with:

Wow, were we the old-time, all-American kids that day or what? Hiking, a picnic, learning a little American history, stopping at a farm stand to get cider....

Well, I should leave it off there, but one last thing. I thought this bumper sticker was really funny. I want to get one to put on my SUV:

Posted by lauren at October 14, 2007 11:19 PM

Comments

Posted by: brent at October 15, 2007 12:26 AM

Posted by: Alexis at October 15, 2007 02:12 AM

Posted by: Lauren at October 15, 2007 02:27 AM

Posted by: G at October 15, 2007 10:06 AM

Posted by: Jocelyn at October 15, 2007 01:51 PM

Posted by: Lauren at October 15, 2007 05:16 PM