Once again, geocaching played a role in this trip. I had been watching a cache called "100 Steps" for some time due to the panoramic views of Connecticut from the cache location. We drove up a long winding road in the People's State Forest to the parking location and hiked the rest of the way to the cache. The name "100 Steps" comes from the natural or man made (you can't really tell) stone steps leading up the hill to the panoramic views of the valley. Once we got to the top, we realized that the hike was well worth it.
We had packed a lunch and had plans to make a day of it, so we went and found the cache which was nestled under a rock outcropping about a hundred yards away. We pulled out our lunch that we picked up at Trader Joe's (it tasted kind of gross - I don't know how people eat organic all the time), and sat at the lookout taking in all the changing leaves, and the untouched horizon in front of us. We even saw a bald eagle fly through the valley below us.
After we had lunch and snapped A LOT of photos, we ran into a few other hikers. Surprisingly the people from this area were really outgoing and friendly. We met a couple of guys who mentioned that there was another outlook about half a mile up the trail. Later on another couple came up the mountain and we chatted with them for a while. We decided to head over to the other lookout which gave a more Northerly view towards the Massachusetts border. Below are a few pictures from that lookout.
After taking in the views at the second lookout, we headed back to the car. The walk through the woods was great. The leaves in the area were just starting to peak, but we got a couple trees that were showing their colors. The one below had some really bright red leaves carpeting the ground, so we stopped for a photo opportunity (yes, we were like Japanese tourists on this hike, getting plenty of use out of the camera).
That about wrapped up the walk through woods, and we realized we had spent almost five hours on top this mountain. We drove back down the mountain, and realized there was a cache at the park across the street which is also part of the People's State Forest. There was an amazing grove of trees with a quasi road cut through it, which made for an excellent photo. I turned one into a black and white photo. The ground was completely covered in an orange carpet of pine needles. In the black and white version it almost looks like snow covering the ground.
We finally headed back after finding the cache to have dinner with my Mom, Bro, Aunt Amy and Uncle Dave. We went to a really jazzy place called Trumbull Kitchen - or TK for short. Rather on the expensive side, but they had a tasty menu. The Opa Opa beer that I tried was really good, and I finished dinner off with a Dalwhinnie single malt Scotch.
We all headed back to our respective hotels. The Hilton Hartford was a deceiving yet trendy hotel that must have been newly remodeled. The outside looked slightly run down, but the inside was anything but. A good place to stay right in downtown Hartford.
The next day my brother Matthew soloed with the New Britain Symphony Orchestra with Jesse Levine as the conductor. The show that day was called "3 at 3pm". There were three soloists, one of them my brother. He played a piece called "Konzertstück for Snare Drum and Orchestra" by Askell Masson. This video on YouTube gives you a flavor of the very different taste of music this piece was. It was a great concert, and it was also Matthew's debut as a professional musician. Way to go Bone!
After the concert everyone went their seperate ways for the start of the new week. Overall the trip was great, the music, the fall season, the family, and time spent with each other. Don't forget to check out all the pictures that we took at my Picasa Web Albums.
After taking in the views at the second lookout, we headed back to the car. The walk through the woods was great. The leaves in the area were just starting to peak, but we got a couple trees that were showing their colors. The one below had some really bright red leaves carpeting the ground, so we stopped for a photo opportunity (yes, we were like Japanese tourists on this hike, getting plenty of use out of the camera).
That about wrapped up the walk through woods, and we realized we had spent almost five hours on top this mountain. We drove back down the mountain, and realized there was a cache at the park across the street which is also part of the People's State Forest. There was an amazing grove of trees with a quasi road cut through it, which made for an excellent photo. I turned one into a black and white photo. The ground was completely covered in an orange carpet of pine needles. In the black and white version it almost looks like snow covering the ground.
We finally headed back after finding the cache to have dinner with my Mom, Bro, Aunt Amy and Uncle Dave. We went to a really jazzy place called Trumbull Kitchen - or TK for short. Rather on the expensive side, but they had a tasty menu. The Opa Opa beer that I tried was really good, and I finished dinner off with a Dalwhinnie single malt Scotch.
We all headed back to our respective hotels. The Hilton Hartford was a deceiving yet trendy hotel that must have been newly remodeled. The outside looked slightly run down, but the inside was anything but. A good place to stay right in downtown Hartford.
The next day my brother Matthew soloed with the New Britain Symphony Orchestra with Jesse Levine as the conductor. The show that day was called "3 at 3pm". There were three soloists, one of them my brother. He played a piece called "Konzertstück for Snare Drum and Orchestra" by Askell Masson. This video on YouTube gives you a flavor of the very different taste of music this piece was. It was a great concert, and it was also Matthew's debut as a professional musician. Way to go Bone!
After the concert everyone went their seperate ways for the start of the new week. Overall the trip was great, the music, the fall season, the family, and time spent with each other. Don't forget to check out all the pictures that we took at my Picasa Web Albums.
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