I've always romanticized the idea of packing up a van and hitting the road. I could picture myself in the passenger seat, windows rolled down, head and arms out the window, watching endless desert roll by. 

I still love hearing stories of young adults in the 60's and 70's packing themselves into a beat up car and taking their first big road trip. Their rite of passage, shall we say, into adulthood.

Acknowledging that it is indeed the summer after my senior year, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Now, times have changed and I didn't quite have the resources to road trip across the US, so I found my own alternative. I would go to the Adirondacks (Pt 1 & Pt 2), NYC, and Maine. I didn't plan all three trips at one time, but instead, they all seemed to fall into place in their own time.

Every summer I've had the pleasure of returning to this amazing place in Upstate New York called the Adirondack Mountains. Since this was my last summer up before I head off to college, this trip was bittersweet.

Being the technology hooked teenager I am, it was hard (as usual) to unplug and get some fresh air. Luckily, we had a bit of a glitch in the wifi this year and I decided to haul my butt off the couch and onto a mountain one lovely day.