On the Island of Long

It is currently day 6 in my month long excursion to the North Fork of Long Island.

Here is a synopsis of my trip so far:

Day 1: Clams & SUP-pups on the Sound

After 8 hours on the road, I made it safely to Long Island! In honor of my cousin's recent engagement, we held a little luau at her sister's shack on the Long Island Sound. Fresh clams caught in the bay that morning, scallops wrapped in bacon, fresh bread & corn on the cob, home brew beer, and every mosquito in New York came for the party. But the sunset was gorgeous, and only made more wonderful by the sight of my cousins husband paddle boarding with his furry best friend Max. I wish I had a picture, but take my word for it; it was pretty darn cute.

Day 2: Hops & wheels

 My cousin asked me to come help her and her husband pick hops in the morning at the greenhouses: so I did! Got a little lesson about hops-growing and beer-brewing, and then I was officially a Farm to Pint hops picker for the morning! Farm to Pint is the movement/company my cousin and her husband have started. They promote buying and growing local hops to support the local economy, and their dream is to own a farming brewery, where they grow all the ingredients from the ground up! We only were able to get a few ounces of hops (though it looked like a lot more!) I got a few pictures:

Northern Brewer hops! Most of them were ready for picking, but we had to hurry, the Japanese beetles were attacking!

3 ounces of hops, drying on the rack!

Baby Northern Brewer hop! Too little for picking just yet.

In the afternoon, I went for a long bike ride! I rode all the way to Orient (way out on the eastern tip of the North Fork) and then back in to Mattituck (west), and back to Southold (about halfway between the two). All in all, it came to about 40 some odd miles, so I was tuckered out, but I got some fun pictures of that too!

 Farm to Pint!

Peconic Bay! Sandy tires :)

Day 3: First day as an intern! 

Did lots of physical therapy things! Went to a bar called The Main in Greenport later that evening to see a family friend's band called Points East (http://www.reverbnation.com/pointseast) play a live show. Drank great local beer and listened to fun music! 

Day 4: More physical therapy things! Played bikes after!

Day 5: Mema and Poppop's 61st Anniversary!

The whole family showed up around 6:30 with boxes of pizza, beer, and blackberry brandy to spare! We took funny pictures, sang "Happy Anniversary to you!" and......waited for the ice cream truck? 

 Yep, we sure did. We missed him though. Boo.

Highlight of the night: 

"If George Bush Sr. can wear crazy socks, so can I" - Bob VanB

I'm having a great time getting in touch with my VanBourgondien roots, but I'm missing those Blue Ridge mountains something terrible. If anyone is going on any wild mountain-ey adventures, or just adventures in general, please share them with me! I need help curbing my withdrawal symptoms! 

Miss you all loads, keep in touch!

Introduction

Hello Friends!

I quit Facebook a few months back, so it's tough to get in touch with me these days.

Solution: Share my life with you lovely people publicly.

True, it's a little out of form for me to post my life on the internet.
But I loved sharing my adventures with my friends and family when I was on Facebook, and this seems like a good replacement for the only thing I actually liked about Facebook!

It also seems appropriate since I now live so far away from many of you.
I miss you all dearly, and this is a nice way for me to share my life with you from afar.

My summer in Harrisonburg has been outstanding to say the least!
So far, I have:
   - been to Blue Hole at least 20 times
   - gone camping for the first time since I was a Girl Scout
   - been outdoor rock climbing for the first time ever
   - gone on my first backpacking trip (to Spruce Knob in WV!)
   - hiked Old Rag mountain overnight during the Supermoon, and stayed until the sun came up
   - driven most of Skyline Drive
   - hiked White Oak Canyon in a rainstorm
   - gone cliff jumping at the Blue Hole in Bergton, (and also into a swimming hole on the Cedar Run hike!)
   - passed a Physics class! Woo!
   - gone to my first brewery (Blue Mountain what what!)
   - encountered my first black bear (from a relatively safe distance, not to worry)
   - read the book Life of Pi, and Eat Pray Love (currently working on Thoreau's "Walden")
   - transitioned out of my vegan diet (kept the dairy-free though)
   - visiting Great Meadows lodge on Skyline Drive to learn about the CCC creating the Appalachian Trail
   - seen Bill Cosby live at Wolf Trap (shoutout to Charlotte and the Kimmels!)
   - biked 50 miles to the top of Reddish Knob
   - gone to a few outdoor bluegrass concerts
   - hiked Jones Run, and then hitch-hiked on Skyline Drive (shoutout to Luke Pilcher)
...and much more, but those are the most interesting ones at least!

Tomorrow is July 4th, and there is a 10k in the morning, a festival all day downtown, and then I am driving up to a hike on Skyline Drive called Bearfence with friends, where we will watch fireworks shows all over the Shenandoah Valley from the gorgeous 360-view peak on Lewis Mountain!

I leave for Long Island on Friday morning.
I am going to miss the Valley so much, but I promise to come back in August raring to go on more crazy adventures, all fall long.
In the mean time, I will try to keep this thing up to date on all my new cool beachy adventures out on the North Fork!
(Not to mention a short but epic hiatus to Cape Cod with that wonderful hell-raiser I call my best friend, Grace Cobbins!)

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from this summer's adventures so far!

 Supermoon!

 Sunrise on top of Old Rag Mountain

 Bergton Blue Hole rope swing!

 Marlins Girls visit for Blue Hole fun!

 Difficult Run hiking with Westfield gals!

 Mays and Barbees bushwack/hike/climb Swallow Falls!

Swimming in the waterfalls at Cedar Run!

Foggy over the falls at White Oak Canyon!