Thursday, October 25, 2012

Clouds!


I'm heading up to the sky and I wanted to share these awesome cloud photos with you all! Apparently, Rudiger Nehmzow, a German photographer, took these cloud photographs from a plane flying at 33,000 feet with the doors wide open! Good thing he was strapped into the plane and wearing an oxygen mask! Here are a few photos from his "Cloud Collection" photo series. Super impressive!




Wednesday, October 24, 2012

See you soon!


So I'm heading west tomorrow evening and I wanted to let you all know! I'll be back before you know it and I'm sure I'll have lots to blog about after my travels! I'm heading to the west coast and I'm looking forward to every minute of it. Can't wait to share my adventures with you! Have a wonderful week and weekend. Much love to you all! :-) xoxo

The Pinnacle

 Hello! Hope you're enjoying your week! So, about three Fridays ago, I texted my brother to see if he wanted to go hiking. My parents were on the west coast celebrating my nephew's birthday and my brother and I were on the east coast itching to get out into the beautiful fall weather. My brother immediately responded to my text with an emphatic "Yes! Hiking sounds awesome." And thus, an all-day outdoor adventure was planned for the following day. My brother picked me up at 8am that Saturday and we set out on our way to hike part of the Appalachian Trial. We drove the hour and a half to the base of the hiking trail in Pennsylvania. We even stopped for some Starbucks along the way! I had to enjoy one last city-slicker treat before our outdoor adventure! We arrived at the trailhead and strapped on our backpacks loaded with water and snacks and embarked on our 9 mile round-trip journey.




The trail was so rocky! Apparently, the Pennsylvania portion of the Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine, is the rockiest section of the entire trail. I believe it! We were on our hands and knees for a good mile of our trek! 
The trail was super steep at the very beginning and my sense was that the majority of our gain in altitude was achieved in the first one to two miles of our trip! We hit Pulpit Rock and the views were beautiful! Unfortunately, as I was climbing down from the top of Pulpit Rock, my water bottle, which was in the side pocket of my backpack, slipped out and UNDER Pulpit Rock. I could see it ten feet down, but I absolutely could not reach it. I was so disappointed because it had been a graduation gift from my sister when I had graduated from UPenn and I have kept up with it for so long! Oh well, I saw it as my offering to Pulpit Rock. It was upsetting, and I had to do the remaining 7 miles with zero water, but I survived! There are worse things than losing a water bottle under a giant rock. 

The view from Pulpit Rock! 

Atop Pulpit Rock!

The rocky climb to the top.



What is a kitty doing on the Appalachian Trail?!





Almost there...

Getting closer...

We're here!!! 

Such pretty views from the top of the Pinnacle! 


I could stay here all day...
Funny story about reaching to top and realizing you have to make the 4.5 mile trek DOWN the hill. There was a group of young boys hiking and just as my brother and I were arriving at the top of the Pinnacle, these boys were heading back down. One boy remarked "Why can't we just teleport back down to the trailhead?" My sentiments exactly. Props to the hiker who figures that trick out. All in all the hike was awesome. It's so fun to hike back down because one has the feeling of having seen a part of the world that is only accessible to a few individuals. Whenever I go hiking, I always think "Not everyone gets to climb to the top of huge hills and see these beautiful views." I always thank God when I make it to the top. He's given me the legs, lungs, clean air, and wonderful spirit to be able to climb to the top. After making the rocky descent down the hill and meeting some friends along the way, my brother and I made it back to our car. I drove the hour and a half home and the two of us chatted the entire way home about how badly we wanted to do another hike this fall and how we want to make the Pinnacle hike an annual tradition. I'm happy to report that one of my brother's friends took our suggestion and hiked the Pinnacle this past weekend! I love that we can share our enthusiasm with those around us and encourage our friends to explore new trails. Until next time...happy fall! Enjoy the outdoors! :-) xoxo


Monday, October 22, 2012

Storm King Recap


Hello and Happy Tuesday! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and that you're having a great beginning of your week! And tomorrow's hump day! Woohoo! I just wanted to check-in and share my Storm King experience with you all! As expected, Storm King was absolutely incredible! It was the perfect weather with temperatures in the mid-sixties and an almost cloud-free sky. It's located in Mountainville, NY, which is about an hour from NYC, so it's a very quick and easy trip to Storm King. Here are some pics from my trip!

Well, hello, Storm King! 

The leaves were already starting to change colors! So pretty! 

I love Calder's signature!

I'd have to say that my most favorite sculptor of all time is Alexander Calder. I remember going to museums with my family from a very young age and there were always two things on my list of things to see at any museum. I had to find "the Marys," meaning Mary Cassatt paintings, and I had to find "the Calders," meaning Alexander Calder sculptures. This assignment always kept me engaged and focused at museums as a child and it's something that I definitely want to continue in the future with my own children. I would walk into a museum and immediately look up at the ceiling to see if I could spot a Calder mobile. We'd then continue into the galleries and I'd see if I could spot a "Mary." It was a wonderful way to engage a young child and it definitely has made me an avid art lover from a very young age.

We arrived around 1pm and made our way from our car to the 500 acre land that is Storm King. We felt so small in comparison to the huge expanse of land that the art center occupies. There was definitely a lot to see, but we never felt overwhelmed by all of the sculptures, which was how I was expecting to feel. We stayed until Storm King closed at 5:30pm and we saw almost all of the sculptures. They had an incredible "Light and Landscape" exhibit and it was incredible to see how all of these works were tied together. I wasn't expecting there to be an indoor exhibit - I thought only outdoor sculptures were on display at Storm King, but that was not the case. They had several pieces on display in an old house that existed on the land before Storm King Art Center came into existence. The house was beautiful and it showcased pieces by Louise Bourgeois, Donald Judd, Katie Holten, Anthony McCall, and others.We had a wonderful time exploring the sculpture grounds and we're so excited to go back soon! It was an absolutely wonderful trip.





This was awesome...you stand on the month and your shadow tells you what time it is! We tried this out by standing on "OCT" and our shadow was a quarter before 3 and we checked our phones and indeed, it was 2:45. It was spot on!







William Lamson's house was incredible! There were so many people just lounging by it and enjoying the beautiful fall day. It was quite popular!












  


Maya Lin's awesome land art installation.  
These solar panels soak up light during the day so this sculpture glows all night long...just like the moon!  














So long, Storm King. Until next time...

xoxo