Things I am Thankful for

Me, thankful my bike ride was over
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Every year at Thanksgiving I do a post of things I am thankful for that are outdoors related. Honestly, I love doing this post. It is a way to look back relive fun memories. I get to think about the past ten months and be thankful of things I might have taken for granted. So without further ado...

1. I am thankful of the best carp month I have ever seen. During a week in May, I heard of over twenty carp over twenty pounds caught by seven or eight guys. I got quite a few myself including a personal best 28 pounder.

2. I am thankful for the relaxing weekend Laurie and I spent in western MA. We hit four museums in Springfield, the Norman Rockwell Museum and Golden Corral.

3. The single most fun day of the year was going to the Baseball Hall of Fame with DJ in March. We had a terrific day.

4. I am thankful for ridge hikes above timberline. There is nothing like walking two miles and being on top of the world. There is no place in the world I am happier.

5. I am thankful my friend Eric took me on his boat. We had a fun time. He asked me to go many times more, but our schedule never quite seemed to match up again. None the less, it was awesome.

6. I am probably most thankful that for most of the summer I was in shape enough to enjoy my hikes. Hiking is so much more fun when you are not sucking wind. My hikes were awesome. I completely fell in love with hiking for the first time in years.


7. I am thankful I found outdoor hobbies for the winter. Between ice fishing and striper fishing, I still get to be at the water. Throw in hiking in "pocket wildernesses" near home, and a couple museums I want to visit winters fly by.

8. I am thankful for my fishing buddy Dave. I can't stress enough how
 much he has taught me and how much fun I have fishing with him.

9. Albies, plain and simple, the greatest fish I have ever caught.

10. New Hampshire, all of it above Concord.

11. Speaking of Concord, I am thankful to visit the site the Revolutionary War's first battle.  There are so many things to do in Concord. My favorite town in Massachusetts

12. I am always thankful and never take for granted I live in the greatest country in the world. A country that I not only have the freedom to do what I want, but also public access to some truly great places for all of us to discover.