Friday, July 20, 2012

Harper's Ferry

My brother-in-law and his wife have been visiting us from California this week.  It has been fun to have them around and we have enjoyed doing some touristy DC things (MLK monument, Smithsonians, drinks, etc.).  I especially liked Ai Weiwei's Zodiac Heads outside of the Hirshhorn Museum.  Here we are with our respective "heads."

Bugleboy - Year of the Pig

Yours truly - Year of the Goat

Brother-in-law - Year of the Rabbit

We share a love for the outdoors, so on Monday we packed some snacks and lots of water and headed to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia.  What better way to strengthen a sprained ankle than by doing some hiking!


My husband (henceforth known as Bugleboy) and I had been to Harper's Ferry once before and had done a smaller hike with some friends, but we've had our eye on the Maryland Heights trail for about a year now.  We figured this was a good time to give it a go.  We first hiked to the Overlook Cliff, where we had a great view of lower town Harper's Ferry at the intersection of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers.  Then we made our way up and around the rest of the Maryland Heights trail, stopping at several historical civil war sites along the way, including artillery batteries and a stone fort.


Bugleboy and I with Harper's Ferry in the background, the Potomac to the left, and the Shenandoah river to the right

Brothers and sherpas (They graciously carried our snacks and water up the trail)

After several hours of hiking in the July heat and humidity, we headed to Dogfish Head Alehouse for lunch and drinks.  It was a sweet reward!

Cheers!
Later that day our dog, Dizzy, got a mini hike of his own at our local park.  Happy weekend everyone!

Dizzy, curious but cautious about the creek

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

No Bueno



Injury is no fun at all!  I celebrated the last day of school by going on a beautiful trail run the next morning.  However, I rolled my left ankle a few times, eventually resulting in a not so beautiful fall that left me with a deep gash in my right knee, bruising on my hip, and a sprained ankle.  A trip to the emergency room, followed by a visit to an orthopedist, and I have spent the last four weeks doing physical therapy, but no running.  It wasn't the way I'd imagined the start of my summer vacation, but it has been an eye-opening experience.  I had never done any type of physical therapy before, and I have learned a lot of new exercises that I will incorporate into my weekly strength building routine.

Yesterday I was able to go on my first run since spraining my ankle.  I ran two miles on the track and was so glad to be back at it.  Things are looking up!