with great power...

Some of you may have heard that we had a doozy of a storm last night. I've never seen anything like it. I've been in some epic thunderstorms (I remember getting caught on a trail in Utah with Grammy and Grandpa during a particularly exciting one), but I've never seen wind like this, and I've never seen something move in so quickly and violently. It was pretty intense. The last report I heard had at least 15 people dead and 3 million people without power. Which brings us to the groan-inducing title of my post.

Ross and I have never lost power to this apartment. Not during Hurricane Irene, not during any of our (relatively mild, since we weren't here for the snowpocalypse) snowstorms, and not now. We are literally the only people we know in the neighborhood who currently have power. Our grocery store doesn't have power, and we do. So we feel like we have something of a responsibility to help out, which we decided to do by opening our home, yes, but mostly our fridge.

This is, without a doubt, the fullest our fridge has ever been. Here's hoping the power goes on before we eat everybody's food, and that all the people affected by the storm are able to stay cool and safe.

return to harper's ferry

Last weekend Ross and I took a Memorial Day hike to Maryland Heights, a short-ish (but demanding) hike that climbs to some cliffs overlooking the über historical town of Harper's Ferry. 

This was not our first trip to Harper's Ferry. Last year we went camping nearby over the Fourth of July weekend and completely fell in love with the town. Not only does it satisfy my nerdiest impulses, but it also happens to be in a breathtakingly beautiful location and not too far (about an hour) from our house. Maryland/West Virginia for the win! 

Before we visited the town, though, we hiked to the top of the cliffs, where we took in the view and made tiny, tiny little rock pylons. Here's mine:

And here's Ross'. His is taller, but mine is better lit.

Ross and Haylie and history:

To get from where we parked across the river to the town we walked for a while along the Appalachian Trail. I'm one of those people who's always secretly wanted to do the whole six month trip, so just walking on the trail for a few minutes was thrilling.

Although Harper's Ferry was much quieter than the last time we were there, we still got to see some reenactors. Love.

As is de rigeur for a trip to Harper's Ferry, I learned something! This time I learned (as will you, if you read the below sign) that Meriwether Lewis stopped in Harper's Ferry to gather supplies for his trip. It was cool to feel like there was a direct relationship between Portland and our new part of the world.

The hike Ross and I took is partially constructed based on old civil war roads. We thought a lot about the people (both Union and Confederate soldiers... Harper's Ferry changed hands a million times) who had taken these roads, and did some old fashioned pretending. I was Captain Pritchett, and Ross was Lieutenant Douglas. We were Union soldiers, for the record, although I have lots of Confederate heritage.

Until next time, Harper's Ferry.