Happy 4th!

Our 4th of July started off with a "strenuous" hike.  We climbed a whole mountain - Mount Equinox, to be specific - and boy did we feel every bit of it!  The trail didn't consist of switchbacks... it went right up the face of the mountain.  It was steep and exhausting.  It started raining when we were about half-way up and didn't really stop the whole time. 

After 20 minutes of trudging in the rain, Jeremy stopped, took a breath and said, "I hate hiking.  I hate the rain.  Why are we doing this?" I offered to go back down, but he refused.  I was really enjoying myself and the scenery, grateful that it wasn't 90 degrees outside and thinking about how I needed to find a complete guide to hiking in Vermont.  

Jeremy and I obviously have different views towards hiking.  He is more of a nature walk kind of guy, while I like to breathe hard and work up a sweat.  While we continued up the mountain, we struck a deal: I will do "crazy" hikes by myself on Wednesdays (my day off) and we will do regular hikes together on Saturdays. Win-win!

We did end up making it to the top and I carried my American flag the whole way.  Something about the 4th of July makes me want to get out there and experience the beauty of it.  When we got to the top, we were quite literally in the middle of the clouds, so the views were non-existent.  I told Jeremy we would just have to hike it again to get the full experience and he decided he would just drive (there is a toll road) to the top to meet me instead. 

On the way down we spotted 21 orange newts!  1 was dead, but the rest were alive.  Cool little guys!

After our lovely hike, we took naps and then spent the evening at our friend's house, eating delicious food and chatting until the stars came out.  We loved it.  What a great day!