Berkshire Bound

Hey, everyone!

As I sort of hinted, I'm about to hit the road again, so I thought a new post was in order!

Here's the summer plan: I just packed up and moved out of my place in Minneapolis, and I'm going to be spending the next three months in western Massachusetts! There will be much hiking and camping, swimming and reading and nature-lovin', and generally having fun in the sun with this girl:

This is Ari. I met her while I was out visiting Mike and Dita in February, and then went back in March so we could see Eisley (her favorite band, and one of my new obsessions) play in Boston!

When she's not in school, she lives in a small town in the Berkshires, RIGHT ON the Appalachian Trail, which I've been wanting to see since I read Bill Bryson's A Walk In The Woods about eight years ago. Now I'm finally gonna go check it out! I'm bringing all my camping and hiking gear, and in between my work hours and on the weekends I plan to explore as much as I can. I'll be renting a small room in a big old Victorian house from June 3rd until the middle of August (though I'll be back for Dita's wedding in the end of July!), and I'm pretty excited about that as well.

Not to mention the road trip to get there! I'll be leaving on May 31st and I'll be on the road for three days, making my way through Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York before I finally reach Massachusetts. It's a lot of driving by myself, but I'm stocked up on music and audio books, and I'm ready for the trail again. Hopefully by the time I get back for school in the fall, my wanderlust will be sated for a while.

Hope you're all doing well!