Hiking on Home Turf

We decided to do something novel - stay in town for the holiday weekend. With all the travel we've been doing lately and rushing around here and there, having a low key weekend at home seemed like the perfect plan. The weather was forecasted to be iffy for Saturday, but we decided outdoor fun had to happen anyway. So, we called up our good hiking buddies, Tamara and Ross, and begged them to bring their new dog, Trucker, to go explore the Blue Hills just south of town with us.

Now, they're no white mountains, but they still give you a great hike with a rewarding view. Here's a view from the top - can you see downtown Boston and the bay?

The view from above was taken from the top of this old tower. Here's the gang (sans me) taking a snack break at the base.

Me with my new pal Trucker and his proud mom, Tamara.

Cool big rocks

Here's the scoop on Trucker. Ross's sister races (mushes? not sure of the correct terminology) dogs in Alaska. She also seems to acquire strays quite a bit and has far more dogs than she needs for her team. She knew Ross and Tamara wanted a dog and Trucker wasn't needed for her team, so she personally delivered him a couple of weeks ago. Cool, huh?

Speaking of Truckers birth land, here's a picture from the Mike and Kara archives. This picture was taken of us right after we had raced some pups, much like Trucker, atop a glacier. The helicopter behind us swooped us away on a tour of the glaciers...seeing those things from the air is one of the absolute coolest experiences we've ever had! (No comments from the peanut gallery on the extra weight I'm carrying in this pic. )

Back to Labor Day weekend. After our hike, we had a cookout at our place. The weather ended up cooperating very nicely and we had a great day outdoors with friends.