Though Matt has lived in many different places throughout his lifetime, there were a lot of things he hadn’t done. Just after Labor Day in 2010, we packed up for a few days at the beach. I’ve grown up spending a week in southern New Jersey nearly every summer, so we headed there.
The funny thing is, when we got to our hotel room and dropped our luggage, we wanted to take a walk to the beach for his first view of the ocean. However, we quickly learned we were stuck together. The door was locked from the outside and we had no way to leave the room! After calling the front desk, we were able to remedy the situation by getting an upgraded room. Bonus!
It wasn’t long until we took a second trip back to the same beach area to spend some great time with friends at a huge beach house.
Next on the adventures was a hike at Rickett’s Glen, near my alma mater – Bloomsburg University. Seeing the look on Matt’s face watching the water falls was pretty spectacular. This time around, the trails were marked and I was much more eager to grab his hand. I don’t do well with tight spaces that happen to be covered in water.
We left the hike and spent the next day visiting friends in Bloomsburg. Matt even hopped on a horse while there.
We also went hiking at Cowans Gap that fall for the first time. While there, I told Matt that the hill for the water retaining wall reminded me of the scene in the Princess Bride where Buttercup pushes Westly down the mountain to realize it is her true love. I resisted the urge to see what would happen if I sent Matt rolling down as well.
It was a very busy summer and autumn. Matt learned from the start that I like to be on the go, love the outdoors, and am usually near a camera. It was such fun to also see Matt experiencing many new things for the first time and to share my childhood memories of many places with him. The later autumn months were quieter than the the adventures from the beginning, but a few big surprises were just ahead.