Things We Learned in New England

-  you can hike to the top of a mountain and still be in the trees - you will have to climb a fire tower to get any sort of view


- on hiking trails there are no such things as switchbacks; you go up and up and up then down and down and down


- you can hike and hike and swear you were seeing the same green tree over and over again

- there are more colors to "fall colors" than just yellow


- you can drive for 6 hours south and go through 6 states (Lisa loved every minute of her trips to visit family in New Jersey)


- the state speed limit of 55 in NY is just a suggestion...and Lisa never wants to drive around Manhattan and over the George Washington Bridge at 11:30 at night alone again!

- we learned we could actually grow veggies in a garden; we'll see how that goes out West


- there are 5 seasons in the year...winter, spring, MUD season, summer and fall

- PYO means "pick your own" ... strawberries, blueberries, apples and pumpkins and is a fabulous concept

- to ski out here you need ice skate blades on the bottom of your skis and be ready for the bone chilling cold...yes we'll take skiing in the West any day, sorry VT


- cheddar cheese should be white, not orange


- what real maple syrup is, and we'll never go back!

- Lisa can become part of the Guinness Book of World Records (briefly- the record was broken the next year) for the most Superheroes in one place

- Ryan can run a half marathon without complaining (too much)


- Lisa can learn how to cook


- the word "Wicked" can be used in just about any sentence

- there can be blue skies at the top of Mount Washington (famous for dangerously erratic weather)

- we discovered Yaktrax and they are very handy when the sidewalks are covered in ice after one of the infamous ice storms


- you can still travel and have fun while being an internal medicine resident

- driving 1 1/2 hours to the airport and 2 airline connecions just to get to Montana is way too far... so WE ARE COMING HOME!