From Florida to Boston to Texas and Back (the last month and a half in recap)

Somehow all of November and half of December seemed to pass us by without making a blog post!  Many things have been happening in our lives and we've been pretty busy, so we will try to bring everyone up to date.  Caroline started her new job in the beginning of October and with an hour and 20 minute commute one way, she's been working (and driving) long days.  But the job is getting into full swing now and she is really enjoying it.  We are hoping to move at the beginning of next year to help ease the length of the commute (more on this later).

As for Mike, he ended his first cyclo-cross racing season with a good record but was definitely ready to take some time off of the bike.  Also, the night after Mike's last bike race, we had to drive to the hospital and found out that Caroline had a kidney infection.  Needless to say, we were both pretty exhausted.  So, what better way to recover from a long year of bike racing and recover from being sick than to spend some time in the sunshine and on the beach?!  Over Thanksgiving weekend we headed down to Florida to spend the holiday with Caroline's parents.  The weather was great and we were able to go to the beach every day to swim in the ocean and go boogie boarding!  A great time was had by all and it wasn't easy leaving the warm weather behind.  But, a little begrudgingly, we headed back to Massachusetts.

After a yummy Thanksgiving meal, Mike and Caroline offered to take all of the furry friends for a walk... two Shih Tzus and one toy poodle makes for quite an adventure!  Mike had to handle two pups at once while Caroline had the unfortunate duty of poo patrol...

When we got back to Massachusetts, it was really time for us to start looking for a new place to live.  We drove to a few towns to check out the areas and see our options.  We are hoping that students moving to Amherst for the semester will be able to take over our lease so we can move out.  Things are looking good and we are very optimistic that everything will work out!

The following weekend (last Sunday) we decided to spend the day in Boston since we hadn't done that together before.  We got into town around noon and ventured out to follow the Freedom Trail.  The trail is two and a half mile walking trail that tells the story of the American Revolution.  There are 16 nationally significant historical sites including museums, churches, meeting houses, burying grounds, parks, and a ship.  Even though it was cold outside, it was still a very fun day.  We also went out to dinner at a great little Italian restaurant and of course topped it off with peppermint stick gelato :-)

On the ferry on our way into Boston - what a view!

The old State House, one of the many landmarks on the Freedom Trail.

Statue of Paul Revere with the Old North Church in the background.

The USS Constitution, our last stop along the Freedom Trail, had a surprise visitor!

Bundled up after eating a delicious meal in Boston's North End (Little Italy).

The following day Caroline hopped on a plane to head to Texas for a business trip for the week, while Mike made his way back to our house to spend a week in bachelordom.  By this weekend, we were both ready to just relax, drink hot tea and cocoa, and listen to Christmas music.

Mount Toby

Last Sunday we hiked up and around Mt. Toby (about a 5 min. drive from our house).  We hiked along the Robert Frost Trail until we reached the summit and were able to see an amazingly beautiful panoramic view of fall foliage spanning a 50-mile radius.  On the hike down we followed a different trail and even went "off-trailing" to explore a series of waterfalls!  As always, pictures will speak far more loudly than words, so please enjoy :-)

Peek-a-boo!  Heading out for the hike!

Survivor Man.

"I took the path less traveled by..."

"...And that has made all the difference."

Views from the top of Mt. Toby.

Hanging from trees.

Upside down!

We found mini waterfalls!

A quick stop at Cranberry Pond at the end of the hike.

Notice the reflections in the water.

Cyclocross Weekends

Bikes, bikes, bikes!  We have been very busy the past few weekends with lots of bike races!  Last weekend, Mike raced in the Mansfield Hollow Cyclocross Race on Saturday, followed by the Stratton Brook Park Cyclocross Race on Sunday.  The Mansfield Hollow race was a very exciting location because it was just minutes away from where Mike lived during his summers while interning in Connecticut.  Also exciting was a chance meeting with Mike's good friend and college roommate, Pete.  Pete spotted Mike warming up for the race and Caroline was able to snag a picture of the two before the race.

Mike and Pete before the race!

In the end, Mike and Pete finished within seconds of each other, in 5th and 4th place, respectively.  It was a great race, but the weekend had just begun!  The following day we headed to Stratton Brook Park in Simsbury, CT (a little northwest of Hartford).  Mike got the win at this race, placing first in the Category 3/4 race!  It was a pretty long course, including a very sandy beach and a pinwheel at the start!

Coming around the first turn to start the race!

The pinwheel - it's very confusing!

Mike trekking across the sandy zone of the race.

After great placements over last weekend, Mike was having so much with racing that he decided this weekend he would do two races on the same day.  So on Saturday we headed back to Connecticut to the Smith Farm Cyclocross race.  The race course meandered its way around an apple orchard and was so much fun for racers and spectators alike!  And after two hours of intense and fast-paced riding (with only a 15 minute break in between), Mike placed 4th in his first race and 2nd in his second race!  All in all it was a great event and we enjoyed apples and homemade bread from the farm after the race.

Mike zooming, jumping, and zooming some more through the first race!

The race looped throughout an apple orchard.

The colors are starting to pop!

Racers at the start line!  Mike lining up for his second race of the day!

Mike is photo ready at the finish line :-)

Caroline needed a picture too!

Yesterday we went hiking up Mt. Toby and got a TON of amazing pictures so stay tuned for our next post with the much anticipated New England fall foliage!!!

The first half of October

Wow, time flies.  Can you believe October is half way over?  We apologize for keeping everyone in suspense for the past few weeks, but we have been extremely busy!  The first weekend in October we went to Shelburne Falls for a relaxing afternoon before Caroline started her new job.  The following weekend we went to a corn maze.  And this weekend we have two cyclocross races (to be discussed in a later post).

Shelburne Fall is located on the scenic and historic Mohawk Trail in the Berkshire foothills.  The major attractions we visited were various local artists' shops, the Bridge of Flowers, and glacial potholes.  Originally a trolley bridge in 1908, the Bridge of Flowers came to be in 1929.  Today, it has over 500 varieties of flowers, vines and shrubs.  We thought we might have missed peak color times for the bridge, but realized we were mistaken when we saw how many beautiful flowers were still in bloom in early October.

Bridge of Flowers  Shelburne Falls, MA

View walking along the bridge.

Coiling tree trunk.

The glacial potholes were another beautiful site.  They were ground out of granite during high water when the last glaciers melted.  These waters flooded the Connecticut River Valley, creating a huge lake which fed extra water to the Deerfield River.  These rushing waters contained several stones, sand, and mud which eroded the hard rock beneath it.  Potholes formed when stones trapped in cracks in the riverbed were twirled and vibrated in the fast-moving current, drilling their way into the river bottom.  This process continues to happen today.  The potholes range from 6 inches to 39 feet in diameter (the world's largest pothole).

Various views of the glacial potholes.

Last weekend we donned our flannel shirts and made our way through our first ever corn maze!  It was tons of fun and a much more involved experience than we expected.  Mike's Maze at Warner Farm opens every September-October with a new theme.  Past themes have included the Mona Lisa, John Kerry and George Bush, Julia Child, and Charles Darwin.  This year's theme was art-inspired with Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup (see the aerial view below).

2010 Mike's Maze at Warner Farm: Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup.

As you can see, it was a pretty detailed and their was a lot of ground to cover.  As we made our way through the maze we had to answer several multiple choice art-inspired questions as well as stop at "printing presses" to get stamps of different artworks.  We even got to stop at Spudzooka, a potato gun, and take a few turns at shooting.  After two and a half hours of wandering through the maze, we finished our trip to Mike's Maze with hot cider, corn dogs, and corn chowder.

The maze looks much different at ground level...

View of corn maze and Mt. Sugarloaf in the background.

Corn.

Making our way through the maze!

 Sorry again for the delay between posts- we will be much faster from now on!  Expect our next post within the next few days, including details of this weekend's bike race events!

Our First Cyclocross Race

On Saturday we headed down to Elm Ridge Park in Rocky Hill, CT to race in the Crossin' 4 Canines Cyclocross Race.  It was a very exciting event for both of us, as Mike got to race around a cross course 5 times within 45 minutes while Caroline got to cheer on Mike at several points throughout the race.  It's very difficult to describe cyclocross racing in words, so instead, we will just show you pictures!

Racers waiting to begin the race (Mike is in the back right corner).

And the race begins!  Mike pushed his way to the front of the pack before they made the first turn.

Jumping obstacles...  Racers have to jump off their bikes, carry them over barriers placed throughout the course...

...And then hop back on their bikes to continue riding.

Around lap three, it starts to get pretty tiring for Mike...

...And for Caroline who is running back and forth around the course to get all of these shots!

Jumping over more obstacles.

Pushing to the very end.

Hooray!  Mike zooms by the finish line, earning him 4th place for his first ever cyclocross race!