Sunday, November 15, 2009

escape from the city

Today I went hiking. In Boston. Yes it is possible! Here, for any Bostonians who may be craving fresh air.

So I woke up this morning stokedy stoked about plans for a hike with the boy. And then heard “pitter patter pitter patter” outside. Nooooooooooo! After consulting weather.com, decided to chance it.

So perhaps the beginning of the hike was a tad *damp* (yes, that is a STREAM running down our TRAIL).

trailcreek    

And perhaps the directions were a *wee bit* unclear (yes, that is a “no trespassing” sign, one of many we accidentally encountered).

oops

But it sure was gorgeous…

reservoir closeup

We stopped for lunch at some point… that’s an avocado and hummus sandwich that was so good it was ridiculous (admittedly I had worked up an appetite so I could’ve eaten the rock we were sitting on and it probably would’ve tasted good), apple (shared with boy) and raw revolution sample mini bar, the last one. I’m really sad, they are frickin’ delicious.

lunch

We got into a good natured debate over bars. He had a Powerbar (gag) and I was pointing out it was maybe not the most natural thing he could be eating. And then he tried a bite of my bar and was like “Um…. prefer mine” hahahaha.

Not shown in this picture is that we were sharing our improvised table-rock with a little slug, who was dining on his own lovely lunch… of a piece of poo.

The hike was really beautiful; the scenery changed a lot.

cool pines

At this point it reminded me of all the pine forests in WA where I grew up, and I got hella homesick! (I grew up in Spokane, Washington).

And then we narrowly missed our bus, so we cuddled and watched a gorgey sunset:

sunset

Life is pretty damn good.

I got home and was ready to chew my arm off. Instead, I had a fabulous twist on Kath's pumpkin parmesan pasta.

DSCF2788  

I boiled up 2 ounces of whole wheat penne, then wilted ~2 cups of fresh kale in the hot pan (just cooking spray-ed) with a bunch of crushed red pepper flakes and nutmeg. Then I added the pasta, 1/3 cup pumpkin, 1/3 cup milk, and a laughing cow wedge.

SO GOOD. Pumpkin is such a filling food! Although I’m planning to eat more, since other than a bowl of cereal and bananas, you’ve seen everything I’ve eaten today, and that is NOT ENOUGH for someone who hiked for four and a half hours!

13 comments:

Food Makes Fun Fuel said...

The pumpkin pasta sounds Perfect(enough P's for ya? haha). And when I took the biology course at BU we did some field work at the forest behind the Newton mall. Not very big but nice sites

The Purple Carrot said...

Looks like a beautiful hike! (wet or not ; )

It was pitter pattering here today too but I didn't go on a sweet sounding hike like you did.

fittingbackin said...

Great pictures!! That pasta looks really good!

Anonymous said...

What a fabulous day! I love how you passed "No trespassing" signs. Oops :) And I'm a Kennewick girl.. does it feel like a small world yet? Currently in Seattle. How did you adjust to the eastcoast?

Art and Appetite said...

Now that is the place I want to be at. It looks sooo relaxing.

Btw, the pasta looks so good. It looks so creamylicious!

Chelsea (Chelsea's Chew and Run Fun) said...

Wow! Kudos on the hike- for both completing it and finding it. (Who knew that was near Boston?)

Also, I love Washington!!! My family owns/manages an apartment building in Port Angeles. Some of my fondest childhood memories are traipsing around the beautiful WA rain forests with my family on vacation.

Anonymous said...

Looks like a lovely place to hike.

Taylor

Anonymous said...

Yummy pasta. Looks easy too! I might copy you. BTW that's what's great about the east coast: big city but the great outdoors is close by! JEALOUSS.

Anonymous said...

What great pics! Where did you guys hike? I'm always looking for places that the bf and I can hike without trekking 2.5 hours to the white mountains!

Gotta try that pasta. Mmmmmm.

Betty said...

Beautiful photos!

Kris | iheartwellness.com said...

What a beautiful hike you went on!!! I looks just wonderful.

How have you been??

Those raw bars you took with you are great!

I hope you are having a fab day!
XXOO

lisa is cooking said...

Looks like a gorgeous hike, and your pasta dinner sounds delicious!

Elizabeth Jarrard said...

I adore middlesex fells!! such an amazing place to go hiking and so accesible!
while i do adore all things raw-i am not a fan of the raw revolution bars. that's funny that your boy was having a powerbar-because that's exactly what the raw revolution bars' consistency reminds me of!!!! you've had lara bars, right? 892343789x better!!!

thanks for visiting my blog! I'd love to hear more about you-i really like your food philosophy! what year are you at bu? I really think a BU blogger meetup needs to happen, stat!
have an excellent thanksgiving break!