Vacation Week

It ended up being quite an eventful and busy vacation week, even though we didn't go anywhere. 

After a relaxing Monday morning, we headed out for a walk at Wolfe's Neck after lunch. It was bright and sunny with a hint of warmth in the air, and we were hoping for some snow and ice free walking! We parked by the bridge and walked up into the campground, checking out the beach and then following the trail that connects the two main campground roads. There was still a bit of ice and snow to contend with in the shade, but it ended up being a nice loop, and had the added bonus of being able to stop in to say hi to the animals in the barn. (2.2 miles walked)

Always love this Wolfe's Neck view!

Love this little calf's crazy eyes! 

Then it was time for swim practice at 4:30, and I decided I might as well walk for part of the time, because, well, why not? Better than sitting on the hard metal benches in the warm pool area for 1 hour+. Sam did a great job getting in all her laps for their aquathon fundraiser. 150 laps in 1 hour! (2.2 miles walked)

Tuesday morning, I headed into work for the day and Ryan brought his car in for service. Well, turns out the Prius needed like $4,000 worth of work and we decided it probably wasn't worth putting that kind of money into a 10 year old car... which ended up meaning he spent the afternoon to do some car shopping. Sigh. Not quite what we had in mind... So, while he was doing that fun stuff, Sam hung out with Mom and Dad, and then I got in a run from their house before the two of us headed home. It felt a bit raw out and my legs felt a bit heavy, but on the plus side, the sidewalks around town were almost entirely clear. (6.0 miles)

Swinging bridge view

Got up and out on Wednesday morning for a run through Highland Green. Dragging a bit and way overdressed. Felt like spring - breezy and warm. It was already in the low 40s at 6:30 in the morning! (6.0 miles)

Then it was off to work for me, while Ryan continued with the car shopping. I think Sam won out for the day with a trip down to Potts Point with Mom and Dad plus Big Top and gelato for lunch on a beautiful faux spring day. Temps ended up climbing into the high 50s which is just crazy!

And then ta da, a new car, or well, a used but new to us car 😄 

I'm sort of sad that for the first time in many years, we don't have a hybrid vehicle in the family but I think the Subaru is going to be a good car for us, and certainly will allow us more room when packing for a camping trip!!

I had taken Thursday off from work and our original plan was to head to NH to stay at the Glen House on Thursday night and get in some xc skiing. However, the forecast was calling for a snowstorm on Friday, with snow falling through the day, so we ended up moving our NH trip to March, as we know what the drive from NH home is like in bad weather and we really didn't want to end up stuck in the car for like 4 hours on Friday! A bummer for sure, but there should still be good snow when we head over in a few weeks. 

Woke up to the thermometer reading 15 degrees, over 40 degrees colder than temps on Thursday afternoon. Wow, talk about a weather rollercoaster! I wasn't feeling super enthused to head out early for a run, so instead, I got the grocery shopping completed and a bit of work done before taking Sam over to Anne's house at lunch time to hang out for a few hours. Then, once I got home, Ryan and I suited up and headed out for a run together. Even though temps had risen into the 20s and the sun was shining, the wind was fairly stiff and quite chilly. Brrr. We headed out into Highland Green, and despite some tiptoeing across the remaining ice on the back dirt road, managed to get in a full loop. Ryan turned off for home right as my watch beeped 5 miles and I circled around again, coming back on the powerlines in the final stretch. The high route was clear of ice and snow, although quite soft underfoot. It was nice to share some miles with Ryan, and glad to have gotten the run in! (8.0 miles)

The snow started to fall on Friday soon after I came downstairs at 5:30. I was more than happy to have a true day off from running/walking and it was nice to not have anything on the calendar and just have a quiet inside day, relaxing and getting some household chores done, and of course doing some cookie baking (and eating 😋😉)!

A yummy treat on a snowy day

The snow was light and fluffy, and probably ended up amounting to about 4-5". Looked very pretty as I headed out for my run on Saturday morning, with the trees all snow-covered against the bright blue sky. It was chilly but calm, and screwshoes were the perfect choice, as the majority of the roads had a thin layer of hard packed snow atop the pavement. I decided I would make a play at redlining (a hiking term for hiking all the trails on a map/in an area/etc) Highland Green, which Ryan and I have talked about for a while. It took a fair amount of concentration to ensure I didn't miss any of the side streets, some of which are pretty much just literally driveways, and made the run a bit more interesting. And it turned out to be pretty much exactly the distance I was hoping for the day! (12.0 miles)

 

Turkey prints

Wing print in the snow!

Then it was off to the Y to get Sam to her swim meet. She had a solid day and has made so much progress this season! We are proud of her effort to push and improve and so glad she's found a sport she loves. After the meet, Mom and Dad joined us for dinner, and then it was off to bed early as it is going to be a rough transition back to a regular school week. Aie!

The original plan for Sunday was that I'd be doing a course check of the snowshoe course with Emily in the morning before the snowshoe race. Unfortunately, the race had to be cancelled, as even though we got some new snow, there was most definitely not enough for a safe snowshoe race. So instead, Emily and I made plans to meet up over in Brunswick for a road run, and then as Sam was headed back over to Anne's with Abby for some mini donut making, we also decided we'd meet up with Ryan after the run for some xc skiing over at Mere Creek. 

It was bright and sunny but the wind was pretty strong as we headed out from Pennelville to loop around down to Simpson's Point. It was great to catch up as we ran along - it had been a while since we've seen each other! We stopped to enjoy the nice view down at Simpson's Point and I was surprised to see that all the ice was gone from the bay with totally clear water. Very pretty, and very breezy! Of course, we got back to the car and my watch was not yet at a nice even number, so we did a a bit looping around before we stopped 😂(8.0 miles)

After a quick change, we headed over to the golf course to meet up with Ryan for a ski. Most definitely dust on crust and things were rather bony on the more "backcountry" trail through the woods that we took as part of our route, but it was a beautiful morning to be out. I did, however, take one lovely fall right into the scrubby little pine I was trying to avoid when my ski caught on some sort of obstacle - oh so graceful! 😂 Thankfully it was a slo-mo fall and more funny than anything. Just very typically me. Ha! 😉 We had fun skiing out onto the grasses out along the tidal river and along the ocean's edge, but by the end of the loop, Emily and I were most definitely tired. Still, she did a great job as a relatively new skier, and it was fun to share some ski miles with her and Ryan! A fun way to wrap up the weekend for sure 😊 (4.2 miles xc skiied)