Long Lost Friends and Mt. Washington in the Rain

Last night, we had dinner at my college roommate's house. This doesn't sound like much, as many people are still friends with people they met in college. However, Jess disappeared off the face of the earth right after graduation, and none of us heard from her again... until about 4 weeks ago. Right after our 1st ultrasound, we passed a bunch of people getting off the elevator as we were headed out. Jess was among them, and recognized us. She went on the Bowdoin alumni site, and tracked down my email... and a conversation was born. Turns out she, her husband Reid and their four kids live 1 mile away from us. Crazy! So, after a few emails back and forth, they invited us over for dinner.



We had a blast! It was great to catch up, and to meet her family. The kids were a riot, and we really enjoyed our time with them all. We had so much to talk about that we didn't get into bed until 11:30! Yikes. Way past my bedtime!!!! And even then, we didn't get right to sleep, as Ronnie knocked over the vase of Irises that Reid had kindly cut for me from their backyard after noticing how much I admired them.

We woke up early this morning to the pitter patter of rain outside. The plan was to meet up with Jeff and Mindy at 8:00am at the Gray Park 'n Ride for a group recon of the Mt. Washington Auto Road in preparation for next Saturday's Mt. Washington Road Race. We arrived a few minutes late, as just as we were headed out the door, I noticed a big pile of kitty barf, complete with a few huge chunks of Iris fronds. Silly (and sick) kitty! Ugh. No more cut flowers in the house for us. Ronnie can't seem to stay away from them!

I expected the weather to improve as we drove along, but the rain never let up. As we drove up the auto road, the visibility got less and less and less... Luckily, Snowman knows the road well, and he handled the drive much better than I did! With the low clouds and gray skies, the lushness of the greenery along the roadside seemed even more vibrant. We also saw some nice alpine flowers in bloom, including diapensia, labrador tea, Lapland Rosebay and Alpine Azalea. Very nice! And to top off the adventure, as we got closer to the base on the way down, we saw the mother black bear and her two cubs off the side of the road. One of the cubs was climbing up and down a tree - I tried to get a photo, but he was too fast. I did, however, manage to get one of the mother.



We completed our tour of the Road with a run on the Great Glen trail system.... in the rain... But the woods were beautiful! Lots of pink and white ladyslippers, blue bead lilies and bunchberries; with lupine blooming in the fields. Gorgeous! Snowman took us on the carriage roads and some singletrack up to Great Angel Station at 2 miles into the run, where I veered off to run back to the lodge on my own. It was great to run with Jeff and Mindy, but I felt like I was working just a bit too hard, and didn't want to keep them for doing a bit more exploring of what is a great place to run. Also, I was very content to enjoy the trail and the lush woods in the rain on my own too, and I was happy to get in a good 3 mile trail run. All in all, a great run! Thanks guys :-)

Of course, we had to stop at Moat Mountain Smokehouse for a late lunch before heading home. Yum, sweet potato fries!