Andy and I have found a fond place in our hearts for a local mountain in Alton Bay, NH. It is called Mt. Major and it seems to be one of the only hikes we make sure to take part in year after year. Andy used to hike this mountain with his family as he was growing up, so it is even more sentimental to him.
He tries to take a personal hike on his own each year during his April vacation, with only water and a journal in his pack (and maybe a snack or two), because he often feels close to his mother at the top of this mountain. He takes the afternoon to hike up and will write in his journal while looking out over the majestic view.
When he shared this story with me for the first time, it made my heart warm to know that he could express his feelings and continued to share special moments in his life with his mom, even after her passing. Last year, he even invited me along on his special hike with him! You can only imagine how much that one simple gesture said to me about what a part of his life I had become and what our relationship truly meant to him.
Well, this year we weren't able to take the hike in April and Andy hadn't had a chance to go on his own either. For the last few weeks, we tried to work a hike into our schedule, but we just couldn't manage it until this past weekend. And I have to say, I do believe it was a little sign from the heavens above that we waited until the PERFECT afternoon to hike! It just felt "meant to be" once we reached the top and found our regular rock that we like to sit upon.
We shared our can of beer, me with one sip, in honor of Jon (a tradition we started last year even though neither of us really like beer), snapped a few pictures and even made a few new friends.
Leave it to Andy to find a Duke fan on the top of the mountain to have some fun banter with as we chat about the views.
It was such a wonderful day of making memories! One last picture with the beautiful view in the background and we began our decent back down the trail.
And finally, to top the night off, we headed downtown to take part in our first Dover Dines (a promotion for downtown restaurants with special meal deals). We'd decided on Blue Latitudes earlier in the week and had worked up quite an appetite from our hike!
We had a fantastic waitress and even though she let us know the portions were just a bit smaller than normal to accommodate room in our bellies for a three course meal, we STILL went home with doggie bags for lunch the next day...and I'm sorry to say neither of us could manage to polish off our brownie sundaes at the dessert portion of our meal. We look forward to our next visit there later in the summer; perhaps a table on the outdoor patio next time!
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