48 Hours in New Hampshire

I have a tendency to look at flights when I’m bored or maybe just feeling extra wanderlust-y. Just making up fake trips that I know I can’t actually go on but it technically could be possible makes me feel less stuck. Well, I was looking up flights to Boston to visit Annie again and I realized I had enough travel credits for a free round trip flight. Hello mini vacation!

The first weekend in May I flew out to meet up with my cousin in Boston and then drive up to New Hampshire to explore White Mountain National Forest and stay in a perfect A Frame airbnb. We didn’t have a lot of time - I got in at 12am on Friday morning and left at 7am Sunday morning - but we made the most of every minute.

Here’s our basic itinerary and you can follow along with the photo gallery below!

Friday:

• Breakfast

• Drive to NH

• Stop in Conway

• Check out the outlet stores because VACATION and LLBEAN and also it was raining

• Veggie burgers

• Check into the airbnb

• Find a tiny hike up the Foss Mountain Trail

• Get freaked out by “BEWARE OF TICK” signs everywhere

• Get caught in the rain

• Enjoy dusk on basically a private beach

• Practice headstands and relax in the cabin

Saturday:

• Find breakfast and coffee

• Hike up Moat Mountain

• Struggle

• Take in the most gorgeous panoramic views and take too many photos

• Find lunch and more coffee

• Took a scenic drive on the Kancamagus Highway

• Stopped at Lower Falls scenic walk a small trail and view the river and falls

• Drive back to Boston

Sunday:

• Uber to airport and fly home

So much packed into barely 48 hours.

New Hampshire isn’t a state I ever thought of visiting before this year, but I am definitely going to go back when I have more time. I’m quickly falling in love with all the East coast has to offer!

A Weekend With Strong Women

In January, Melissa, Paige and I took a weekend trip to Eastern Tennessee to stay at Pickett CCC Memorial State Park’s rustic cabins, get off the grid, have some bonding time, and hike out some stress.

These cabins are nearly a hundred years old and were built during the great depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps. They aren’t bare bones by any means, but there is no cell signal and no wifi and it was perfect. Sometimes you just need to get away from regular life and spend quality time with people you love.

I’m not going to go into detail about every aspect of this trip, I’ll let the photos speak for themselves, but, we got to eat pancakes, dance by a fire, get absolutely frustrated during a game of UNO that wouldn't end, walk on frozen lakes, lick massive icicles, explore a giant cave filled with sand, hike up rock formations, pet cute dogs, drink all the coffee, and best of all, had plenty of wonderful conversation with two incredibly strong women. It's honestly hard for me to make friends with ladies. Many of them annoy me (okay, actually that's just most people in general), some  just have personalities that stress me out, and a lot of them actually intimidate me. So for me, it's truly special when I can connect deeply with some ladies that share my same morals, interests, and some of the same goals. Because of that, I'm able to truly be myself and feel at ease just spending time talking, listening, laughing, and growing.

Make time to get away and enjoy the company of your friends, those memories are the ones you’ll hang onto the longest.

Rock Island and Greeter Falls, TN

My friend from Arkansas contacted me a few months ago about coming to the Nashville area and doing some hiking. Right away I started making a plan to rival the one Carolyn had made for me when I visited earlier this year. I created a loop that took us from breakfast in Nashville, to Rock Island State Park, and then down to Greeter Falls in Savage Gulf State Natural Area, and then back to Nashville again. A perfect day trip that had us leaving Barista Parlor by 9am and arriving back in the city at about 6:30pm.

Any time people come to visit, I make sure they experience the glory that is a Barista Parlor biscuit. It’s the perfect way to start out a day of driving and hiking and then driving and hiking some more. My friends were definitely not disappointed, but honestly who in their right mind has ever been disappointed by that miraculous biscuit??

Our first stop was twin falls at Rock Island. This is one of the best middle Tennessee falls you can see for the least amount of work. Trail time is about five minutes before you can hop off and start rock scrambling out to the side of the river. You’ll be able to get pretty close to the falls so prepare yourself to get a little wet from the spray. We hung out at the falls for a bit before driving to a restaurant in McMinnville for lunch. Collins River BBQ and Cafe
gets a 10/10 from us if you need a bite before heading to a new location.

We drove about an hour down to Savage Gulf to hike Greeter and Boardtree Falls. It’s about a mile and a half hike to see both falls. There is definitely some elevation changes in the trail but nothing overly strenuous - hiking poles or a walking stick is always helpful no matter the terrain.

Greeter, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful locations in TN. White falls cascading into a pool of perfect blue water. Even though it was warm that day, the water was so cold that the bottom of the falls was a bit icy. It created such a beautiful shine at the base.

We had the falls to ourselves for a bit and then worked our way back up the trail - and the slippery spiral staircase - to find the suspension bridge and the top of Boardtree Falls. This falls isn’t anything spectacular, but it’s unique in that you can easily walk out on the top of the falls since the water is always pretty calm. There’s usually a dry rock right at the top where you can sit and take in the view.

This is a great day trip if you want to get the most out of your time. Roundtrip it’s about a 4 hour drive, but with all the views and hiking, it feels like much less. However, if there is extra time in your day, there are multiple other state parks and natural areas to and from both locations. Middle Tennessee has unlimited possibilities!

"How intense is the hike?" "Not too bad, just uphill to the view"

     That was the answer I gave when Courtlyn asked me about the hike I had planned for the weekend. I also might have told her that the hike was only about 3 miles long. Both of these pieces of information may have been a bit understated.

     Oops.

    Something you all should know about me, is that I am a planner by nature. I like a schedule, a list, and an itinerary for almost any outing. The older I get the more stressed out I get when things don't go according to plan. So this explains the overkill in the below text message. 

    It went on even further, but I'll spare you the rest. This was honestly pretty tame, it's only a day hike anyway. You should have seen the five page google doc that I put together for a North Carolina trip earlier in the year (I might do a blog post on that trip because it was a doozy. In the good sense and the bad.). My travel partner, Makenzie, discovered I was an actual insane person when she saw my bullet pointed list of every item we would be packing, every location we would be going (complete with corresponding printed maps, and even geological coordinates for some locations), and links for extra time fillers in case something fell through. 

     None of this is too important for today's entry, but I think it gives you some necessary background about my personality for anyone who plans on sticking around for the long haul. Now back to the excursion at hand. 

     Originally, I planned to pick Courtlyn and George (the precious, good boy, Aussie Cattle Dog) promptly at 8am and hit the road for the two and a half hour drive to Berea, KY. However, I was an excruciatingly twenty minutes late due to: 1) all my belongings being stacked in a great pile in my parent's living room, and 2) checking my temperamental Subaru Forester's coolant levels, which ended up with me splashing coolant around and simultaneously covering my entire right arm in engine grease. 

     Regardless, we hit the road, and made it to our lunch destination with no hiccups. (Hallelujah). Berea, KY is a quaint little town known for its quirky local artistry and the college that bears its name. I've only been to Berea once before and on that occasion I wasn't able to do much but hike due to it being extremely early in the morning and no shops had opened their doors yet. 

     This time, everything was open and the streets were bustling as it appeared there was a wedding taking place later in the day. We snagged an outdoor table at a local coffee joint so that George could hang out with us while we ate our sandwiches and drank our beverages. I chose a latte that was supposed to be iced but ended up hot (still delicious, no complaints!) and Courtlyn got a mango smoothie which I was definitely a bit envious of. We finished up, scouted an ice cream shop for later, and made our way to the trail. 

     The Pinnacles are a trail system taken care of by the local college. It's conveniently located and well maintained. It leads up to an East Pinnacle and West pinnacle, each sporting gorgeous views of Kentucky's rolling hills and picturesque farm land. I quite like the fact that there are an East and West point because you could easily spend the entire day up there and see the sun rise and set and have some town exploring in between. 

     Starting out, you make a steady ascent up a wide trail until you arrive at an intersection leading to either East or West. At this point you are standing in most beautiful clearing filled with wildflowers and butterflies. It left us wondering when the elves would be popping out to say hello. 

     We decided decided to tackle the East Pinnacle first. Once we reached it, we took a much needed snack and water break. We especially made sure George kept drinking though we wasn't too keen on having water forced at him every few minutes (sorry we kept harassing you George, it was for your own good).      

     Snacks finished, water drank, bugs descending....
When an Assassin bug the size of my palm is intruding (i'm aware that in reality, we were the ones invading his area, but this my narrative!) your scenic view, it's definitely time to go.  

Upon further research, this ugly specimen is not an Assassin bug, but a nearby cousin called 'Leptoglossus Clypealis'. Unlike the Assassin bug, the Lepto doesn't tend to bite, instead he creates a bad smelling liquid when threatened. Basically a MASSIVE stink bug. Still scary when its as big as the palm of your hand....

     Just around the corner from our first stop was an even better view point with perfect trees for hammocking. We set up our portable seat and took some photos. While relaxing, a nice guy and his Bernese Mountain dog, Boyd, joined us and I took some complimentary photos for them (which reminds me, I need to email them to him. Oops).
     Boyd made it a bit difficult to take glamour shots since all he wanted to do was hide under a shady rock shelf. Poor guy must have been on fire underneath all that fur. I happen to have extrememly thick and heavy hair too, so I "slightly" feel his pain. 

     After about twenty minutes we took off back down the trail to the magic meadow and hiked towards the West pinnacle. This time the ascent was basically straight up for a mile and half. Courtlyn and George were absolute gems about it. No complaints, and they didn't even ask for a break! They made what could have been a really un-fun hike, a joyful and rewarding experience. 

     Once we conquered the ascent, it was pretty late in the day.  We didn't stay very long at the end, and honestly I don't think we even made it to the true West pinnacle. All three of us were pretty pooped and ready for dinner. It was a unanimous decision that the next time we came, we would find the end of the West Pinnacle trail and explore when we weren't so hungry.

     The two and a half or maybe three miles back to car was all downhill (sorry knees) and it went by rather quickly. We arrived at the car, sweaty, slightly sunburned and ready for a seat. I don' think there is anything more satisfying than making it back to your vehicle after a four hour summer hike and blasting AC as your reward.

     Well......maybe burgers, pizza, and ice cream are equally as satisfying.  It's a tough call, but we ended up doing both to safe.  

     So, maybe that hike ended up being five miles instead of three. And maybe the hike was a bit more intense than I let on, but still, It wasn't too bad. Just uphill to the view.