Carowack: 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!