NUTC & A Walk in the Woods

Drive #4

Bloomfield, NJ to Amherst, MA

Distance ~ 180 miles

Our drive times have not decreased proportionally with the distance traveled mostly due to slower speed limits and traffic.  Those long drives on open roads out to west Texas driving 80 mph seem pretty good right about now.  

The plan in Amherst was to: 1. track down all of Brett's, Colleen's, and Bonesaw's recommendations, 2. for Cara to coach at NUTC, and 3. for Hud and me to go for a hiking adventure in Vermont.  Huge thanks to Jeff Babbitt for housing Hud and me in his apartment while he and Cara coached!

NUTC was held on the Amherst College campus.  There are 5 colleges in this small town.  It was a few days before I realized that Amherst College was not UMASS, the school Brett attends.  Hud and I later took a walking tour of the UMASS campus.  This beautiful campus is where Cara spent 6 days coaching high school ultimate players.  From her telling it was a professionally run camp that provided great opportunities for these kids to learn and play ultimate, something that everyone there was extremely passionate about.

Hud looking out from the Amherst College campus towards the Holyoke Mountains.

Trying out Hud's newish doggy pack on the Robert Frost Trail in the Holyoke Mountains. (Colleen/Bonesaw's reccomendation: Check!)  This was our test run before we went deeper into the woods for our Vermont backcountry adventure.  After this ten mile hike I found five ticks on Hud.  Thankfully they were all easily removed because of his new tick collar.  Thanks Katelyn for the tick warning before we left!  You were clearly not exaggerating on how big of a problem it is in the northeast.

Hud and I had a day of reading, swimming, and relaxing at Puffer's Pond. (Brett's recommendation: Check!)  Hud and I were ready for our Vermont adventure.  Green Mountains here we come!

Hud and I hiked a stretch of the Appalachian/Long Trail in Green Mountain National Forest to our campsite next to Griffith Lake.  It was a great experience hiking on the AT and meeting a few of the thru-hikers along the way.  For most of the hike you feel boxed in because the forest is so dense and because the mountains have been weathered for many moons (most are around 3,000 feet), so you are never above the tree line for those big horizon amazing views.  After setting up camp we continued our hike to Baker Peak in the hopes of finding the big view we had been missing.

Baker Peak did not disappoint!  Our efforts were rewarded with a beautiful view of the surrounding valley.  Enough walking, time to enjoy the lake.

I love taking pictures of mountain streams.  This is one that we passed along the trail that eventually lead into Griffith Lake.

Another view from Baker Peak.

Griffith Lake!  There were only two others campers at this site so we had plenty of time to swim, think, nap, and swat horseflies.  The smack of Hudson's mouth trying to catch the flies buzzing around his head was the loudest noise by far.

Hudson tuckered out after his big day of hiking.  Ten miles with his doggy pack put a toll on him.  The next morning we hiked out back to our car to drive Highway 100 north a scenic byway to Lake Champlain.

Scenic Byway 100

Hud enjoyed smelling and watching the cows while I enjoyed the ice cream they helped make at Flayvors, another recommendation from Brett.

Next stop, Maine!  

New Jersey and NYC

Drive #3 

Outer Banks, NC to Bloomfield, NJ 

Distance ~ 430 miles 

In 2004 I moved to Atlanta, GA to play ultimate with their women's team, Ozone. At the time, I only knew 2 people there, Katherine Wooten and Eileen Murray. I played Savage 7, one of my all time favorite tournaments (for no good reason) with them that January, and decided to take a leap of frisbee faith and live there for a season. Eileen found out shortly after "playing" with us at Savage (I say "playing" because she mostly spent the entire tournament hacking a lung out on the side of the field) that she had lymphoma. So I struck a deal to live with her and Chris (then her boyfriend), their 4 dogs, and her tarantula for free rent in exchange for doing her bidding. I grocery shopped, vacuumed, worked a few odd jobs (fabrication/construction and temping mostly), vacuumed, went to practice, entertained them with my gullibility, worked out, and vacuumed some more. It was awesome, except for the whole cancer part. They have since bounced around while Eileen finished 2 masters and a PhD in education, and landed in Bloomfield, NJ where Eileen is a professor and Hatton works in graphic design (he's a talented artist). 

Hatton the dog whisperer working his magic on Hudson. When I lived with them in Atlanta they had 4 large dogs: BJ, Wanda, Keisha, and Cody. Only Wanda is left of those dogs, but they've since acquired a hound/great dane mix named Hurley Grace. 

We hung out, worked out with Eileen, hung out with their adorable kids Max and Joseph, and talked about coaching (Eileen was the assistant coach to the New York professional MLU team the New York Rumble and now she and Chris are co-coaching the local men's club team, Garden State Ultimate). It was the perfect stop to catch up and also get in the coaching mindset for spending a week coaching high schoolers at the National Ultimate Training Camp, or NUTC, in Amherst, MA (my next stop). 

Bloomfield is only a 30 minute bus ride to New York, NY. So on Friday we convinced Eileen to venture out with us into THE BIG CITY! I'd been wanting to check out the High Line park, an inventive use of an out of commission raised rail line that they converted to a walking green space. It was a beautiful respite from the bustling city, and incredible how a little greenery 20 feet off the ground can neutralize so many of the sounds and smells of the city. It was like being in a completely different world. 

Eileen and I on the High Line. 

We also stopped at the Chelsea Market, a hipster foodie paradise of artisan cheese, seafood, meat, and donut shops. It was a cool space in the former Nabisco factory, and I would highly recommend grabbing some grub there for anyone who loves food. Unfortunately, due to Lil' Bit (the newest name), I couldn't imbibe the local craft beer that the Eileen and Mike were enjoying. 

Great view from the top floor of the Whitney

The Whitney Museum of American Art had just reopened after moving to new digs, so I took the opportunity to soak up some culture. Meanwhile, Mike and Eileen went to drink beer at a local pub. It was a beautiful building, and arranged in an appealing way based on chronological periods of American history, from the top floor down. I thought they did a good job connecting the artistic style with the social and historical context of the time. 

Some of my favs: 

Loved this one. It spoke to me of the hero worship that I believe is an integral part of American culture, mostly to a negative degree (imo).  

A funny sculpture with Jasper Johns' famous American flag piece in the background. Jasper Johns' use of bold color, symbols, and maps appeals to pretty much all of my artistic leanings. 

Mike and I, once again, on the High Line. 

We tried, in an unmatched bout of optimism and naivety (even for Mike!), to take Hudson to watch the fireworks for 4th of July at their local park. It was packed, and the minute the fireworks started going off, Hudson absolutely lost his shit. To be fair, it was  frighteningly loud and right over our heads. I'm sure he is suffering from PTSD because every time he hears a remotely loud noise, he ducks for cover. 

Thanks to Eileen, Hatton, and the kids for hosting us. I did a lot of growing up when I lived with them in Atlanta in 2004, and they will always hold a very special place in my heart as incredible people and friends. 

Outer Banks, NC

Drive #2

Pocahontas, AR to Outer Banks, NC

Distance ~ 1,050 miles

We had grand plans to take our time on the next leg, but a series of unfortunate events in Austin before we left meant a delayed start and that we had to book it to our next locale: the Outer Banks of North Carolina. So we put in some hard miles, and 16 hours later we pulled into a campsite at 11:00 at night at Goose Creek State Park. The plan was to take the Swanquarter Ferry at 7:00 a.m. to Ocracoke Island, a very quaint historically preserved island on the south side of the barrier island. That plan hit the rocks when we woke up at 6:00 a.m. only to realize my phone had never changed to Eastern time. So we took the scenic drive around. 

Roanoke Island is the first stop on the southernmost bridge to the Outer Banks. Roanoke was long inhabited by the Algonquian people before being colonized by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1585. During the Civil War the island was taken over by Union troops, which resulted in an influx of slaves from the south coming to the island for unofficial freedom. In 1863 a Freedman's colony was eventually established by the army, and land (without title) was given to the freedmen to cultivate. Right after the Civil War however, the Union forts closed down and land went back to the previous Confederate title holders prompting a majority of the black residents to leave the island. 

Hudson's first glance of the Atlantic! In the Swanquarter Nature Reserve. When we were driving through this swamp reserve, we saw two black bears running across the road! We had no idea what they were at first because it was hard to believe there were black bears in a soggy swamp with no trees, but the man at the visitor's center confirmed that that area had the largest concentration of black bears in NC! 

The impetus behind going to the Outer Banks in the first place was due to Will Shoaf's amazingly persuasive powers. Shoaf and I have worked together at Kealing since the beginning of my teaching career and, in addition to being an amazing compatriot of spreading knowledge about the world to kids, is also a dear friend. The house we stayed in with him and his wife Katie (who I also worked with at Kealing the first year I worked there; they met there you see) was built by Shoaf's grandfather in the 1970's. Shoaf grew up going to this house every summer of his life. It's a special thing when someone connects so deeply to a place, and the Outer Banks are in Will's blood. His dad now owns the house, and there are wall to wall pictures of Shoaf and family documenting all the awkward and adorable stages of his life, mostly involving baseball and fishing. I even saved a few for work blackmail purposes. 

The first night we were there he prepared fried soft shell crabs for us, an Outer Banks delicacy! They were delicious, once you wrapped your head around the fact that you were eating the whole thing, claws, shell, and all. Fresh mahi mahi and tuna, caught by his family members just days before, were the other tasty local fare we enjoyed. 

Katie, Hudson, and I chillin' on the beach. Pea Island Reserve is a protected seashore along the eastern side of the OB. People drive their cars right onto the beach (protected?) and set up camp. We had a huge stretch of beach to ourselves for the entire afternoon. 

The "protected" aspect comes from little plastic tape marking off areas of endangered bird nesting on the beach. We came across one such bird, the Piping Plover, outside the nesting area. I'm proud to say that Hudson did not eat it! 

Our sweet beach set up. Though there had been 6 recent bull shark attacks on the nearby coast (the nearest one being just days before about 5 miles south of where we were), we came away unscathed. Mike's dips in the ocean were measurably shorter than usual however. 

We had a few hours to burn the first day we got there, so we decided to go to Jockey's Ridge State Park, a sand dune right next to Shoaf's house. Hang gliding was a popular activity there, and we joked around that we were going to have to find healthy extracurricular activities for Hudson to replace cat chasing. 

Turns out Hudson hates sand dunes almost as much as I do! 

Thanks to all the Shoaf's (Sr, Jr, and Ms.) for the food, fun, and stellar start to our vacation!!