I spent a week in the Adirondacks with my family and learned that I love to climb mountains.

For a lot of activities, enjoying the doing is overshadowed by the labor of the preparation, or the dread of the clean-up.

I went up each of these places knowing I’d have to get back down.

Up and down, top and bottom: I loved it all.

One of the places we went was Jay Falls, a section of the Ausable River, near the covered bridge in Jay, so near that “at” is a pretty good description, and we went swimming. I scoured the river bed for labradorite and came up empty handed. But the way the water flowed against the rocks, there were times when I needed to engage my whole body on the boulders to move against the current. I loved it. Mountains were just the sky version of that. And anyone who I’ve dragged to the top of Buffalo City Hall can attest – I love a great view. I want to share it with you.

Even sitting in the passenger seat of the family car while my husband drove was enjoyable. Look at that hill. Look at that mountain. Here’s another scenic creek. Days full of beauty soaking into my eyes and memories. It was so good for me.

If you get the chance to break your routines and spend days somewhere beautiful, take it.