Sunrise and Thoughts

(Hey bikers ... see anything wrong with this picture? Heehee!)

Sunrise over Rockport Harbor

Just a few new pictures to share. We couldn't go to sleep Saturday night, so we got out of bed super early and watched the sun rise over the Rockport Harbor (which was once home to Andre the seal!). It was beautiful and peaceful.

The reason we couldn't go to sleep was because Zach had a mountain bike race on Sunday (the first since he raced in high school!). I went along for support ... let me just say that he did really well and looked great out there! He finished first in his age group and fourth overall in the sport division!

So today finds us in the library looking up ski hills out west. Gotta jump on something soon if we want to go somewhere good! I think the plan is to head that way end of October/early November. It's adventures like these that really make me wish for a housebus/housetruck. Someday!

That's all for now!

Kelly & Zach

Zach's Ski Chairs

Zach's been hard at work in his workshop ... making a SKI CHAIR! This thing is even better in person. It's made entirely out of old skis, and the foot rest to match! (And he'll make you one if you ask him nicely!)

The Maine rain (sorry, couldn't help myself!) finally let up a little today, but the weather is supposed to jump right back in to being overcast and rainy for the next week. It's a bummer if you need to cut your grass, but it's not stopping us! Zach is out mountain biking right now ... getting ready for a race this weekend. (And he's now riding for Team Bikesenjava!) I'm really proud of him and I can't wait to watch this Saturday!

By the way, our boy Zach had his 23rd birthday last week. We pulled out all the stops, even eating our cake and ice cream before dinner! Haha, but really. We did. We're bad like that.

Kelly

Adventures in Vacationland

Let me first just say ... MAINE IS WICKED COOL! The weather is nice and cool, there's a lot to see and do, and local culture shines! I love the fact that everyone here supports local farmers and businesses over corporate vomit. New Englanders sure are proud of where they came from!

I don't have any pictures to share this time, but I DO have some great adventures I'd like to tell y'all about!

-In Camden Harbor last week, Zach rowed us around the bay in a "pea pod" (a really old lobster fishing boat). I saw my first loon! (I've been dying to see one since I was a kid!). Went out to a sailboat and jumped off into the deeep water ... then went to Curtis Island and saw a working lighthouse!
-Hiked up Spruce Mtn. and ate wild blueberries right off the bush while admiring some AMAZING views of the ocean, lakes, and other mountains.
-Went to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park ... tourists were everywhere, but what a cool trip anyway! Acadia is beautiful!
-Drank some of Zach's favorite beer at Gritty McDuff's and shopped at the L.L.Bean store in Freeport. Damn good beer and a new navigation system made Zach the happiest guy on the planet.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, but oh well. Come visit!

'Til next time!

Kelly

Shots from the Road: NC, PA, & ME

The first pictures in this post are from Max Patch, NC. It was really sunny when we first got up there, but a big storm started moving in and we got off the mountain just in time to meet my best friend Amy for lunch in Hot Springs and watch folks on the sidewalk get rained on.

Middle pictures are in PA and somewhere on the road. The campsite pictures are in western Maine near Sunday River Ski Resort, and the last pictures are of the New England Forest Rally. I'd never been to a rally before, and it was actually quite fun. Got sprayed with rocks and dirt, as you can see!

We're safe and sound in Maine ... got some pictures from our stop at the Ocoee coming ...

More to come!

Kelly & Zach

Georgia to Maine

Welcome to our blog! Zach and I started this so that our family and close friends could see pictures of the amazing adventures we're having as we start out on a journey of epic proportions!
I guess a little introduction is in order for those of you who don't know our story or our plans.

Zach and I met this past spring at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in Western North Carolina. I've worked with the company for several years and had gravitated late last year to working in the Outfitter's Store at the company's main campus on the Nantahala River. Zach came to work in the Store in early April, and we instantly knew we had found something special: each other.

In mid-June, we decided to leave North Carolina for personal reasons and head to Zach's hometown on the coast of Maine! We're going to make an adventure out of it, stopping at the Ocoee and French Broad Rivers before leaving the South and camping at various state/national parks and forests along the way.

So we leave Griffin tomorrow morning and will be at my home river, the Ocoee, tomorrow night. We're meeting my dad, sister Sara, Bridgette, and her daughter Kate at the put-in on Monday for a carnage run down some Tennessee class III-IV whitewater! Then it's off to the French Broad, where we'll see my best friend Amy and hike up to Max Patch. Then we're on the road, heading Northeast!

We live our lives on the road and in the woods, and invite you to share in our adventures. I'll be posting pictures and updates when I find internet access along the way.

All forward!

Kelly