Really Big Outdoors

If you haven't been to Sunapee in the summer , you should definitely go!  They have a lot of fun activities available including mini-golf, rock climbing, zipline, ropes course, disc golf, mountain biking, and hiking.  In the summer, you can hike on one of the trails or on any of the ski hills.  We took the ski lift to the top of the mountain, then followed the solitude trail about a mile to the view of Lake Solitude then took the ski lift back down.  The trail is definitely doable, but expect a real mountain trail with lots of ups and downs.  It's a fun and challenging hike, especially the steep gravel hill down from the summit to the trailhead.  We found the ski lift pretty scary but also kind of awesome.  The view coming back down is especially gorgeous but a person could continue the hike we did and follow the Pillsbury trail down to the rim trail, which leads back around to the parking area. 

About a year ago, I was diagnosed with diabetes.  Turns out that not taking care of yourself or going to a doctor for 4 or 5 years means that you can go from not having diabetes to needing insulin in one appointment. So, I have spent a year learning a lot about diabetes and about my body and how it responds to food, exercise, medication.  It's been challenging but also kind of fascinating. One of the biggest concerns I had was how this diagnosis might interfere with my new resolve to get outside more.  I had thousands of questions and I have spent the last year researching, trying, and figuring out how to be OK outside with diabetes. Here are some of the questions I had and what I have figured out.  Please leave your ideas in the comments! 1. Can you still do outdoor activities? Yes!  The first thing my doctor told me was that exercise is my new best friend.  And while I DO go to the gym (when I can convince myself), I much prefer to be outdoors fo...

This trip was awesome!  If you live anywhere within driving distance, you should definitely do this.  Full disclosure: this trip was HARD for me.  But the rest of the family was appropriately challenged and with some rest stops I was totally able to do it and we will definitely go back and do it again. The details: Great Glen Trails is a really fantastic outdoor center located at the base of Mt. Washington (across the street from the toll booth for the Mt. Washington Auto Road).  They have a ton of summer and winter activities. We rented bikes and biked on the carriage trails.  I'm not sure why, but I thought these trails would be flat.  I was wrong.  But it was really fun.  The hills on the "easy" trails were not so steep that we couldn't get up - sometimes we walked up, but it's not a competition, so who cares?!  And not so steep that I was worried the kids would die as they bombed back down them.  They LOVED it.  We c...