So I’ve never been much of an outdoors kind of girl (despite the fact that I played an outdoor sport basically my entire life up to this point).  I hate bugs and I hate being sweaty and gross and not feeling comfortable AND I REALLY HATE BUGS.  The Maverick loves being outside and doing outside things so I find myself outside a lot more of the time than I would normally choose to be outside.  This probably sounds cheesy and cliché and blablabla, but being outside is large amounts better when I’m doing it with him, so I typically don’t mind that this is the case.  On our most recent adventure we took a trip to Hacklebarney State Park, which Wikipedia tells me is located between Long Valley and Chester in the Morris County area of New Jersey.  On our way, however, we got a bit turned around and ended up at some sort of outdoor education center called Bamboo Brook.  We walked around for a bit and saw a snake (UGH) but I was able to get some cool pictures of the Maverick looking like an adventurer-explorer-guy.

Eventually we found our way to Hacklebarney and immediately the Maverick began sharing all these memories with me because he’s been going to this park since he was little.  There are lovely hiking trails and beautiful waterfalls, one of which we decided to set up our camp near after completing our hike.  The Maverick got this really cool portable hammock as a graduation gift and I was super excited to use it.  We started out reading but eventually fell asleep to the sound of the waterfall (rough life, right?).  After we woke up, we decided to head back home.  I made it out alive with only a few scrapes (I fell while hiking ugh) and minimal bug bites!  Overall, a huge success for me.

How could I say no to hiking to that smile?!