Stop I: Fort Langley

My coworker was visiting his childhood home while we were on our trip, so we stopped over to say hello.  He gave us a short tour of the little town, and in the process of walking down to the river we discovered an abandoned house.  There's always a simultaneous draw and fear about actually going into an abandoned house, right? But this one, with the sun out, and my friends nearby I walked straight in.  Peeling walls and broken glass, and a bit of graffiti, my favorite being, 'like what you've done with the place' all creating a pretty mysterious and shifty atmosphere.  And then when we were done exploring we walked down to the water and ate strawberries on the fence.  After a strange night in Vancouver the cozy town and familiar coworker/friend's face made me feel quite at ease again and set just the right pace for the rest of the journey.

bingham falls.

Now that school has started there's not as much time to go out of my way to discover new swimming holes, so Bingham Falls has become an old standby that never loses its magic.  The little pools of water  encased with the tallest cliffs and the various waterfalls interspersed, make it way more fun than any manmade playground I've ever been to.  Every visit means getting a bit more daring and innovative with jumping spots and finding the most secluded water coves to rest in.   

nesting.

...in ways like taking morning bike rides to pick wildflowers for my table and spending a bit too much time sitting around hanging out with Rowan - (who immediately eats the wildflowers upon my setting them on the table).

swimming holes.

...balancing on the train tracks to get to the little wooded paths that lead to the hidden swimming holes is my actual favorite part about vermont so far.

pancake morning.

Friday morning I hosted my first breakfast - and it wasn't just me and my kitten! I woke up early, put on some James Taylor/The B-52's and made strawberry & coconut pancakes for a new friend and an old friend.  The new friend even brought Vermont maple syrup like a local should. We sat on pillows in front of my window and laughed at my kitten (who's name is officially Rowan) for most of the breakfast.  It was the perfect apartment- warming gathering and I can now really say this place is starting to feel like home.

all moved in.

Okay, I've been pretty bad at posting, but moving and goodbyes and unpacking is tiring man.  However, at least now I can say I've successfully moved into my new place in Vermont.  It's really pretty cozy - I live right above a bookstore and a diner!  My school is also only a block away too. I am fortunate to have talked to the right person at the right time to have snagged this little place.  It's going to take some acclimating though.  Vermont is another planet compared to Rhode Island, there's nothing very urban over here and self-sufficiency is really the way of life, and there's not nearly as many people around my age nearby.  But, I'll do the best I can and soon I'll be able to accept the beginning of this new chapter.  In the meantime I'm going to appreciate all the unreal mountain scenes everywhere - it's so beautiful up here!

family weekend.

This weekend my dad came to visit.  Parents coming means so much being taken out to dinner and breakfast (no complaints).  My dad is a pretty silly person, so seeing him is always a funny time and now that I'm finally able to drink we had our first night of drinking fancy drinks and laughing over all the ridiculous things he's done (some of them are so ridiculous).  We also took a trip over to Connecticut to take my grandfather to the beach!

camping.

I'm back in Providence now, but what I miss most about the trip is all the camping that happened.  Waking up with the sun and hearing all the birds chirping from a few feet away is so nice.  It seems to make the rest of the day so much sweeter.   And camping in the mountains means being able to wash your face in a stream in the morning.

sometimes...

it's just really nice to sleep in.