Bradbury Mountain

We Cleavers are creatures of habit, and this is never more true that when fall begins. As soon as the leaves begin to change color, you can bet there's a good chance we'll be hitting the fairgrounds, picking apples, baking pies, and hiking Bradbury Mountain.

Since Mr. Cleaver and I had our first date there back in 2005, we've made a point of returning each fall we've lived in Maine, and so this year, LMC got to take her second trip, having been carried up last year. And truth be told, I carried her about 90% of the way this time too, without the benefit of a carrier this go around. But this year my budding geoloist was enamored with all the rock and ledge, but perhaps even more enamored with all the dogs on the trail!

And LMC was quite the trooper, as she got carsick on the way up (fortunately primarily on a waterproof jacket). We were spectacularly ill prepared, having no extra clothes and having forgot her sippy cup (and Steinbeck's doggy bags). But despite that early mishap, we had beautiful weather and a lovely hike. And LMC did look awfully cute in her new winter cap.

Roadtrip: The Cleavers Go Camping

Camping is in my blood. My brother and dad both reached the rank Eagle Scout and as a kid we when car camping all the time in all the state and national parks up and down California. I've always lover camping, but since I started college I've been camping a total of once. So this summer the mister and I decided that we would go camping for our big vacation.

Problem being that aside from the sleeping bag my mother mailed me, we had zero camping equipment.  So in the past few months Mr .Cleaver and I have stockpiling camping equipment thanks to a number of gift cards we had received for LL Bean.

While we've made a reservation for a site for a number of days in August, we wanted to take our new gear for a test run first. So this weekend we took a one-night jaunt to the campground at Bradbury Mountain State Park.  I brought along the camera to document our test run:

(Didn't think I'd skip my Tour de Fleece responsibilities did you?)

I won't say the box was completely full when we started on the fire, but it was pretty close - but in my defense the wood was kinda damp

I earned this s'more!

Sweet dreams - and then we realized that sleeping pads would be a good idea :)

Anniversaries

2008

2009

As part of our anniversary celebrations, Mr. Cleaver and I once again went to Mt. Bradbury, the site of our first date. We're creatures of habit, what can I say?

Other than my having more hair, I'd say we look about the same.

And early October is a great time to go the mountain, because the color is peaking and the view are lovely. As you'll see below, we weren't the only ones with the idea.

And speaking of anniversaries - it's my 2-year blogaversary! I want to say a big thank you to all of my readers - thanks for hanging in there with me!

Anniversary Trip

As you know, last week was Mr. Cleaver and I's one-year anniversary. As part of our celebration we returned to the site of our "first" date: Bradbury Mountain. We call it our first date now, but I use quotation marks because at the time I didn't realize it was a date. This was not the first time I went on a date and didn't know it either. That probably tells you a lot about me right there. But I'm more than happy to call it a first date in retrospect. 

It was a beautiful day. The color was in it's early stages (it's peaking gloriously right now), but it was beautiful nonetheless.

Oh and stay tuned this week for a new sewing project reveal and a surprise!