AnneLyze

“Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.”  -- Richard M. Nixon I hiked in the White Mountains in my home state of New Hampshire on Saturday with my sister.  It could not have been a more perfect day.  Nancy was excited to share this particular hike with me and now I can't wait to pay it forward myself.  It was a special mountain with amazing views and it was way more than just a simple hike. Nancy and I hiked a total of 8 hours and 8.9 miles. Both Lincoln and Lafayette were 5000 foot peaks.  We went up the Falling Waters Trail hiking next to a series of beautiful waterfalls, across the majestic Franconia Ridge, with it's spectacular views and rocky trail and came down the challenging Old Bridle path passing the AMC hut (still haven't peed in the woods, thanks to that hut). After finishing, we sat on a curb in the parking lot drinking fluids, floating in a tired endorphin h...

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I'll be honest, I don't get the thrill of summer camp.  I went to 4H camp when I was a kid and hated it. Being forced to eat yucky, lumpy oatmeal or worse, eggs for breakfast, swimming in a cold, murky lake with leeches and constant bug bites were not for me.  Arts and crafts were boring, camp uniforms ugly, and singing songs around a camp fire was queer. So when my friend Neal started to talk about his Refugees To Camp Program and how much he had loved going to summer camp when he was a kid,  I thought back to that summer and didn't quite understand his enthusiasm.  What was the big deal about going away to camp? Three weekends in a row (I'm working this weekend or it would have been four) I helped transport kids to camp and took lots of pictures.  And on the long car rides back and forth to a variety of summer camps and listening to Neal talk more about it, meeting camp directors and counselors, and seeing the excitement on the kids faces, I am starti...