Hiking!!

Hiking is the word of the day! Dan and I went to the Palisades Interstate Park and did the "Peanut Leap Cascade" hike. This guided tour was a first for us and definitely won't be a last. It was great! We had such a wonderful time. The weather could not have cooperated with us anymore than it did. It was sunny all through our hike. Once we finished, the day became cloudy.

This hike we took was a first in a few years. With how much I love hiking, I can't believe I let it go this long. Anyway, not only was it the first in a long time, but it was the hardest hike we've ever done. We've usually gone to Lake Tiorati Beach, which is located in Harriman State Park (right next to Bear Mountain). For the Hispanic/Latino readers, this place is better known as el parque de los siete lagos. Translation: the park of the seven lakes. There's plenty of hiking in this park, but the hikes that we've taken have been relatively easy. I've never had to worry about falling off the cliff or anything in that nature.

Not this hike!! In the description of the hike in the calendar of events, it states that there are several steep sections. When I read that, I took it pretty serious. Well, they weren't wrong about the steepness. Not only was it steep, but the sections that were steep were also right at the edge of the cliff. Let me clear things up. We hiked on the cliffs of the Hudson River. The purpose of the hike was to descend the cliff to the shoreline, which I believe is about 550 feet. So pretty much the entire time, we at the edge of the cliff. One wrong step and bye-bye.



By the time we reached the third steep section, my legs were burning so much that I worried about my legs giving in. Luckily it didn't because there were several elderly people (some in there 80s) hiking and I would have been incredibly embarrassed. When we reached the shoreline we hung out for a little bit and listened to our guide tell us the history of where we were. It was so much fun!





On our way back through the trail, we did have to go up the last steep section because we didn't have much of a choice. Now, I always prefer to go up the mountain. It's easier than going down. Let me tell you something, my heart was pounding. My legs were sore to begin with and now I had to climb. I was huffing and puffing. At one point I turned around to looked at Dan and his face was bright red. The group was pretty much quiet, except for the breathing. What a workout!

Once we got to leveled ground, we followed a different trail back to the top. We eneded up on the old 9W (that's a road that leads you through the Hudson River Valley) and walked the rest of the mile to the end of our hike. I recommend to anyone that is interested in hiking to try this out. The guided tours are great and you learn plenty of the local history. The only drawback of the tour is that you kind of have to keep up with group. So if you're interested in taking pictures, you should either do it alone or return on your own time. Missing what our guide was saying wasn't an option for us. He was great.



Check out the hiking shoes I got for my birthday:

Birthday Celebration

On Saturday, I got together with friends and coworkers to celebrate my birthday. We had a great time hanging out and enjoying some cocktails. I have to give it up to Dan's coworkers. Most of them showed up to help me celebrate! Thank you so much guys! Here is the damaging evidence:











As you could see, we had a blast. We stayed out late, which is a first for me in awhile. I'm not use to that anymore. I can't hang like I use to. I actually managed not to get anywhere near drunk or buzzed for that matter. I know, it's difficult to understand, but I didn't want to be hungover the next day. The last time I went out, I was so hungover that it ruined the next day for me. This time around I sipped on some wine (did one shot that Dan got me) and relaxed the rest of the evening. It went exactly how I wanted it to. The next morning--no hangover. I had a great time. Thanks to all those that showed up!

Since You're Wondering...

The GRE went alright. For one thing it wasn't as bad as I had envisioned, but it was still pretty difficult. I did horrible in the math section. I didn't have time to complete it. Math has always been an arduous subject for me. Oh well, it's over with. Now, I have to finish applying to school. Hopefully, once January rolls around, I'll be enrolled in school.

I can't wait for that to happen. I'm a huge nerd and love being in school. I guess I feel that way because I am accomplishing something. When I'm out of school, I don't feel as if much is going on. If I had the money, I'd be getting degrees for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

Once I'm back in school, I plan to go fast and furious, which means I'll be taking a lot of courses at once. I want to get my Master's degree as quickly as possible. Having a Master's is my ticket out of my current profession. Isn't it sad that nowadays having a Bachelor's is like having a high school diploma? I remember when I was a kid having a Bachelor's was a huge deal. Forget about having a Master's! You were some smart cookie. Now, I know people who have Master's and are still waiting tables because they make more money this way than if they were working in their profession. Hopefully, that won't be the case with me.

Little Hiking but....

Man did we have a great time! We didn't hike, but we actually did some mountaineering. It was such a gorgeous day yesterday. The day was crisp and cool, but warm enough that a jacket wasn't always needed. I love being in nature. We went to Bear Mountain State Park, which is a place I hold dear to my heart. My parents would always take my sister and I there when we were kids. We always had so much fun. The park, as you could imagine, is breathtaking and enormous. There is so much to do there.

We ended up on Perkins Drive, which is a long winding road that leads you to a tower. Once you're up by the tower, you see a whole range of mountains. The view is spectacular. I absolutely loved it. All the worries in the world just vanish from your mind when you see how perfect this world really is.



If I could live near a mountain, I would be extremely happy. My ultimate dream would be to buy a home in an area like that. The fresh, crisp mountain air calms me in such a way that is hard for me to explain. I would be able to hike in my own backyard! Someday, it will happen. Until it does, I'll keep going back and take tons of pictures.



Here's me being silly:

Guess What Today Is?

MY BIRTHDAY!! My profile shows the updated age. So, you all could look because I'm not admitting how old I am. After I take my four hour GRE, I'm meeting Dan for some cocktails. Today, I won't be making the drinks, they'll be making it for me. I'm sure I'm not the only one that does this, but I celebrate my birthday for about a week. Sometimes, the celebrations last longer. It depends on the birthday and my mood.

This time around, I started celebrating last night. I got a little pizza party and a yummy Cold Stone Creamery Coffehouse Crunch ice cream cake with my favorite next door neighbors. Tomorrow, I'm suppose to go hiking with Dan (it all depends if he could take off). Saturday, is the real celebration. I'm going out for drinks with my friends. Sunday will be a recovery day. I'm not sure how I'll be when I wake up. Hopefully, I won't be so hungover that I'm out for the day. Anyway, got to go!

Vitamins

When the directions on the vitamin bottle say take with food, make sure you eat before you take the vitamin. Wow! I took my vitamin and immediately began eating my breakfast. I would say about ten minutes later, I was overlwhelmed by nausea. The nausea was so strong that I got up and ran to the bathroom. I had barely made it in when I started vomiting. I didn't even have time to lift up the seat. Thankfully, the cover was already open, which is a good thing because I wouldn't have been able to open it. Needless to say, I had a lot of cleaning up to do. This sucks!

Now, should I take my vitamin again? I'm not sure. Technically, I have nothing in my stomach, not even coffee. I think I'll steer clear from it today. I don't want to get sick again. Yuck.

September

I love September. It's my favorite month of the year. I become completely engrossed in the cooler temperatures that comes along with this wonderful month. I love the scent of autumn in the air, which has such a calming effect on me. This is the time of year that I tend to start working out, planning for the holidays, waiting for my birthday (I love my birthday), and become very savings conscious. I don't know what it is, but that is what September does for me.

September also makes me very sad. I hate it. I hate that now I also have to remember what happened five years ago. September was such a beautiful month for me, but on this day I curse how gorgeous this month could be with the bright blue skies and cooler crisp air. It is so perfect outside today like it was on that dreadful day and it makes me so sad. I can't wait for this day to end.

Desertrae

I was going to do it earlier, but I was busy writing my entrance essay for one of the schools I'm applying to. Desertrae blossomed! Here you are anonymous!



Isn't her flower beautiful? When her other buds blossom, I'll make sure to post more pictures.

Sunday was Great!

The Sun made its presence to the North East (at least NY/NJ area). Although Dan and I got a late start to our day (we were out late the night before), we made the most of this gorgeous day. For starters, I need to show you what I was looking at through my window.



Very different view from the other day? As you all know, I love autumn. Yesterday was a perfect autumn day. We headed out to Jersey, got some gas (this time we spent $36 instead of $45), and went to the Palisades Interstate Park. This park brings memories to me from when my sister and I were little kids. My parents would take us to "el parque abajo del George Washington Bridge." The park was known to us as the park under the GWB.

I guess I was too little to realize how big this park actually is. It goes all the way into New York. Not only is it huge, but it has 30 miles worth of hiking trails! I'm such a dork. I grew up around the area and never knew any of this. What a loser! Now that we've know all of this information, we're going to frequent this place very often.

Since I asked Dan for hiking boots/sneakers for my birthday, I'll be set to hike all the trails in the area. In fact, we made a date to return Oct. 1st because there is a guided hiking tour. You don't understand, I love hiking! I haven't done it in such a long time. We did walk a trail that was about a mile long that stretched along the river. We had such a great time. I regret not bringing the camera along. There would have been a lot of nice pictures.

I was checking out their calendar of events and there are hiking tours pretty much every weekend. There's even a Halloween tour! If you're interested, check this place out. There's plenty to do.

Things of Interest this Morning

I woke up, yet again, to a crummy day. The clouds are so thick and plenty that you see them rapidly moving across the sky. It seems that today we're suppose to get the worst of this weather with remnants of Ernesto. We're expecting torrential downpours. I expect many people are changing their plans for this holiday weekend.

Here's a snapshot of the sky:



Do you see those dark mean clouds? Ughhhh.

On a better note, Desertrae is about to blossom! Unfortunately, there hasn't been any sunlight for her, but it doesn't seem to stop her!



Doesn't she look wonderful?