A very cool 36 hours in Woodbury CT. Not sure where I saw information about Hogpen Hill Farm, but it got my attention so we made a plan. The Farm is only open 2 months a year and only Fr-Sa-Su. Our plan, a Thursday night stay in the 1754 Inn and Restaurant, and tickets for Friday admission.
We drove up via the Sawmill Pkwy, always pretty and especially as the leaves are changing color. Lunch at New Market in Woodbury, some antiquing (unbeknownst to us we were on the the CT Antique Trail). Note here: if we are new to hiking and adventuring, we are definitely neophytes to antiquing! Hence we ended up with 2 crystal and very pretty beer glasses, a Thanksgiving turkey salt/pepper shaker set, a pork pie hat, and a rusted bath towel hook for the bathroom. Nothing gets by we two brilliant shoppers.
Dinner at the Inn, low light very innish, good dinner.
Woke up early, ate at West Egg, drove on to Hogpen and figured we’d wait for the gates to open. They let us in early which was super cool. We had the farm to ourselves for a bit. Both of us blown away by the structures, the engineering, the creativity, the artistry.
And per the artist, Edwards Tufte, “Old words deform new seeing, so go and see as only you can.”
Just a few of the amazing structures on this 235 acre farm.
Drive home included lunch at a GREAT British pub in Mt Cisco, NY. The Ambleside, highly recommend.
Apgar Village – very serene at 5:32AM, prime location for sunsets not the sunrise we planned for…oops, on we go
First hike, first friend!! West Glacier
From the Trail of the Cedars to Avalanche Lake – for hiking newbies, heck for most anyone this was pretty darn pretty!!
Worth noting and contemplating
One of them there oldie goldies… oh I mean the fallen tree trunks
A really wonderful first morning in Glacier National Park…
A little drive time up and over the old Continental Divide!
I scoffed at bear guidance and bear spray rental.. who are these rubes to buy into this scare tactic?? In just a day or so I would be proved very wrong..
More friends along Logan Pass Trail and yes that is snow still apparent in July. Also note, hike shortened due to increased bear presence. Okay okay maybe these park rangers know better than me!!
Up since 4:30Am, time to sample the many many huckleberry offerings, attempt to dry out the hiking boots, cool off the feet! And check into tonight’s “inn”: Swift Current Motor Inn and Cabins. A note here, staying in the park is not for weak of pocketbook, similarly eating in the park is kind of like Disney World, made for the masses. It’s a good thing there are not a lot of Sysco food trucks hauling things up and down the beautiful Going to The Sun Highway. That said, don’t have an expectation of eating duck l’orange. We probably should have grabbed a jar of pb and some bread, but we didn’t know. And if that is our worst problem for a few days… yeehaw. On the flip side, there are water stations everywhere and everyone is carrying some variation of a canteen. Plastic is not the go to.
I did not take any pictures of Swift Motor Inn but it was pretty classic long single floor, diner / shop / check in – cabins in the back. We had a perfectly functional cabin, shower worked, towel was clean, bed was fine. Time to call it a day. Enough said.
Ahhhh so this is where you find the sunrise… Up and out early, we drove over Many Glacier Hotel before starting our day It was pretty darn spectacular watching the sunlight cross the “many glaciers”.
Today’s hike (Monday 7/20/26) was an unplanned divide and conquer. And I’m still unclear which trails we took even after looking at the maps (don’t count on me if we get lost!). We started out on a trail right behind Swiftcurrent Motor Inn, climbed quickly, blue sky, beautiful wildflowers, walked past a waterfall and then it got a bit dicey. The mister does not do ledges, not so much fear of heights but any sort of ledges. I wanted to see Iceberg Lake… and that included trails that were on the “ledgey” side. Knowing we would not be alone and find fellow hikers along the way, we divided to conquer.
For me the hike towards Iceberg Lake was stunning and the lake itself, otherworldly. Not sure what I expected but was blown away upon arrival. One minute I was amidst wildflowers and marmot, and the next…
Needless to say it was pretty darn trippy.
And the way back equally story worthy though no camera confirmation. Along the trail, no more than 50 feet ahead of me a mother bear and a young playful cub. There were 6 of us stopped in our tracks. The wild card for me, hah, beyond seeing them, was the playful cub. He kept running back and forth across the trail, I wanted him to listen to his mother and get into the brush!! Anyway, not often I see icebergs and bears in one day! Thank you glorious Glacier National Park.
Great day, we finished with more huckleberry things and checked into Many Glacier Hotel. Are we in the Alps??? Hotel has a very cool history, worth a read up if you are so inclined. Dinner and drinks at the hotel and a real savor of the things we saw in this beautiful park.
One last walk around the easy trail at Many Glacier Hotel before leaving the park. We were sad to go.
On to Whitefish, Montana – cutie pie town. We showered shaved slapped on our aqua velva. Had a fun walk through town, great dinner, cannot remember the name (bad blogger, bad!). And the next morning one last hike before switching gears to wedding mode.
The mister showing his bravery and true love of heights!
And the Overlook loving him back!
Time to savor these amazing memories…and give our shoes a chance to dry!
(Note – posted this on time in July… it took me until October to associate the pictures, see the post from 10/5/26 – such a lame blogger, good thing I have an audience of 1!)
We left Kalispell in our rear view mirror around 4;45 AM. On to the main event: Glacier National Park (oops sorry Charlie and Alyssa your wedding is indeed the main event, Glacier is the warm up band!)
We know nothing, we are not hikers: backpacks, sticks, gear, yabba dabba dooooo goes over our pay grade, but the opportunity to hike in such a crown jewel is not lost on us. So our goals are commensurate, see as much as we can without being airlifted out from the back country.
First up, a grand plan to see the sunrise from Apgar Village. Alas this is a brilliant spot for sunset sightings – don’t laugh – roooookies! But we were up early so away we went. (Insert Picture) First stop Avalanche Lake Trail.
Quick note – I’m struggling to upload pictures but I promise a swath of them once I solve the hiccup. In the meantime I’m adding Insert Picture so my brain does not forget.
Avalanche Lake Trail has some elevation through the forest and then you end up at a lake. Close to 5 miles round trip. It was a great first start. Early bird gets the worm, less hikers on the way up, more on the way back. Did they lolly gag and have coffee? Pfiffff!!
On this maiden voyage, we learned lots of things. bears and the need for bear spray is real, water is your friend drink a lot of it, over prepare – lots of things happen on the trail. Runner/Walkers do better hiking than paddle players, some paddle players are afraid of heights (another topic for my someday stand up career). Lastly, look up, look around, pause. Unless you’re training for a trail run (we criss crossed with a few), this is why you’re here to soak in this majesty. (INSERT PICTURES)
Feeling full of ourselves, we did an additional 1M loop through the Trail of the Cedars. Very curated, boardwalk even, but signage indicated that many of the trees we were walking under could be as much as a 1000 years old. We were just Philadelphia giddy over a 250th birthday… 1000 years, put that in your pipe and smoke it. Super interesting to read about the ecosystem – big shady trees help the valley floor and the small animals that feed off the floor. Anyway, time to find food and drive along Going to the Sun Road. (INSERT PICTURES)
Insert another bookmark for my stand up career. Let me set the stage (haha bad pun), I’m the driver, the mister is on the “ledge side” heading west to east in the park. Clear to only one of us, we were an inch from plunging to our death for many miles into the park. And needless to say only one of us got out of the car at the Continental Divide (INSERT PICTURE)
Surviving near certain death, we made it to Logan Pass and hiked up the pass. Only so far however due to “frequent bear activity” and that was good news for both of us as we were walking on fumes at that point. Really time to find our hotel and food.
Hotel.. no, motel, yes. But no numbers this time. The park system for mere mortal has a few hotels/motels. Many many many people obviously camp. SwiftCurrent Motel was our spot for the night. Dumb me did not take any pictures, think tiny houses or old school motel rooms, we were in a motel room type. Had a huckleberry seltzer thing, we are in the land of the huckleberry, and a pedestrian chicken sandwich. Spoiler alert this would be a meal on repeat for a few meals.
Giving some perspective, GNP is only open from late May to September and that is snow dependent. The season is limited, the devotion to keeping the park pristine is paramount, the ability / access to update or bring in is limited to a two lane road as noted above..very narrow and probably not befitting an 18 wheeler truck hauling supplies. We leaned into the perspective and reminded ourselves for this trip the goal is to see / appreciate / wonder / wander. We’ll have downy sheets and escargot another time.
After a late lunch we walked over to the lake and sunk our feet in… for a while. Felt great. We also hatched a plan for a cocktail as our hotel for tomorrow night is a lodge.. they must have a bar. And just down the road. Let’s go blend in at the lodge… (INSERT Picture). Finished the day with grilled cheese sandwiches. Lights our baby, hikers need their sleep!
We made it, long travel day, PHL to GEG via PHX, take a guess what GEG is.. Spokane WA, weird code right? I’ll dwell on that for a bit, but best alternative for our game plan. Glacier National Park and then on to Charlie’s wedding in Big Fork, MT.
Anyway, from Spokane we drove to Kalispell, 4+ hr drive but a short gateway to Glacier. I could do a stand up about our night’s lodging but no need, aren’t we so lucky to be on vacation for a week in the beautiful state of Montana. Here is the most I will say about our travel day, I’m sorry. I’m sorry Tony and Cheryl when I teased you about having a checked bag for shoes. We checked a bag and it was glorious.
Can I even say it’s been a minute when the last time we chatted was 6+ months ago? So much to catch up on, but full disclosure I’m back to my pen and ink journals, don’t be mad WordPress blog we’re still besties.
Original intent of this blog was Adventure.. Travel being just one of life’s adventures. Quite frankly understanding a good skin regimen and sticking with it is an adventure itself right?!!
So we’re going back to our roots – travel and stuff. For recent ‘stuff’, I am one month into putting corporate America in the rear view mirror. While some would characterize this as being retired.. blech don’t care for the word. Makes me feel too wrinkly and grey, which I am, but like the skin regiment, let’s try to find some smooth refinement of the real. I’m calling my current state, the next adventure.
Our next travel adventure? Montana on the immediate radar. Family wedding and a few days at Glacier National Park where me and the mister will pretend we are hikers. PS – Packing for a two fold trip, one part grubby sweaty hiking, one part festive party wedding = no bueno. May have to check a bag for the first time in forever! Details to follow soon.
I promised myself I’d write this a week or so ago. If you know me, haha reader of one, me, I procrastinated. The visceral reaction is a little less 2 weeks aged. Visceral reaction to what you say… simply, Reggie.
Reggie was a cutie pie dog who came into our life for a brief maybe 3 months. The Mister was helping a dear friend who suffered an immeasureable loss. Her partner of 25+ years went from I don’t feel fabulous, to staring down the end of his way too short, beautiful, and spirited life. When Mister said, what can I do to help, his friend said, “this is a big one and I fully appreciate no can do as a response, but could you take Reggie for a bit until we figure things out.”
We have an aging, okay nice euphemism for probably somewhere nearing end of life canine king. 22lbs of boss mahoss who rules the house. But this favor for this beautiful family meant the king would have to “deal with it”.
Mister picked up 10lb, 12lb, (who knows) Reggie one night after work. A Bichon, he came with crate, food, toys and a trainer wrap. Trainer wrap? What is this you say? A little belly wrap to help with bathroom oops. And there we were off to the races, hoping upon hope that helping Reggie meant helping Brian. Maybe it did help a bit as his Beloved said it gave him some peace knowing his canine cohorts in crime were safe.
I grew up with big, bounding, just open the back door dogs, the Mister grew up with none. The fact that we have a dog is testament to the Mister giving “the dog thing” a try one year for my birthday. A blog for another day. So two dogs, and a small dog with very distinct Bichon tendencies was new to both of us.
He imprinted on me, kind of surprising to both of us, but I am home much more, and as we learned, Bichon like the caregiver to be home. They can do alone but someone at home is much preferred.
Also quickly established, Reggie is an AM guy like me so the two of us started prowling the neighborhood while the world still slumbered. Prowled does not do justice to the marathon training this dog was interested in. He sniffed out the right turn into our driveway very quickly, but had no need to go home if more walking and exploring was an option.
And I fell in love.
Even canine king recognized something was not fully right in the castle. Periodically he would attempt a hip check of Reggie to show him who was the king and who owned the female human, and Reggie gave it right back. I was conflicted as my canine king has been with me for 12 years, but Reggie needed some real TLC and we were on a mission to provide it.
Life happened, and immensely sad, a death happened. And in the most inconsequential detail, I was told I have to be back in the office 4 days a week. An office that is 70 minutes away. So what were we going to do, and what was Reggie’s real family going to do.
Many details and surely another blog for another day, the logistical decision was made to find Reggie a home with “Bichon people”. I knew it was the right thing but all too soon moving day was upon us. I gathered up all of my pal’s things and readied him for pick up. He was so damn aware, and giving me the look, effectively saying…..this…this is how our short but deep love connection will end??
Mister’s dear friend arrived on a Monday morning to transport Reggie to his new home. She thanked us for our friendship and really it was us to thank her. Reggie looked at all the activity and his final opinion as he drove away was to give me the silent treatment, a pointed look away, not towards me.
They drove away, my heart broke, and the tears erupted. I sobbed a full Hallmark cry, head in my hands unable to look up or speak. I felt like I had let him down and after he suffered loss, he was on the move again. His disappointment was real.
Two weeks + removed I can tell you he ended up with Brian’s Beloved, not with “Bichon people”. Not how the story was supposed to go, but exactly as it should. She has so so much on her plate but she told us that Reggie and her dog Buddy are the good parts of her day. I take solace in this resolution.
We dug deep, we wanted to help and for a short period I think we did. We all have reserves right? I know this from running, almost always there are a few miles more in the tank. But this was the heart, happy to report I still have one. It is fragile, caring, weak, strong, breakable, and able to mend. Lucky me.
You too have reserves. And when you need to use them I …..
Went to a conference a few months ago, awesome speaker with a name I cannot remember (I am so sorry and will find it!) spoke about daily “delights”. What’s a delight? You decide and it can be anything. The key, be open to it, embrace it. And she recommended quietly calling it out to yourself. “Delight” said out loud, or is it aloud. Either.. say it
Today I started with a quiet morning with my precious canine king, the newspaper, and a small but gorgeous view. Delight.
Delight
Good though slow and sweaty run later, practiced my bad throw technique. And now listening to my Phillies on the radio.
Good living.
Back to work tomorrow, enjoyed the long weekend.
Enjoy these summer days, hope to see you along the way..
This week the fitness goal for swimming, biking, or running is an hour. Whatever pace, but an hour per session. Sunday – Saturday. Also want to push for mobility exercises and continue the strength journey.
It’s Monday, we’re having a heat wave, and you know what.. I’m doing it. Sunday – 1 hr / swim / 2300 yards of manatee freestyle Monday – I hr / super sweaty slow kind of run, kind of walk at 10AM
Or so the saying goes. 2024, not my favorite and I rarely say such a thing, but just not. Looking forward with optimism even in spite of the change in presidential leadership on 1/20.
My aspirations are about the same, better health, challenge my curious nature i.e., see more, do more, be out there doing.
Toes/surgery 10/15/24 set me back but honestly it could have been anything. So I start 2025 in Bridget Jones mode, too many pounds, too many cocktails, too many excuses, but I’ll get there!
