Yellowstone, Part 2 | Bear Tracks and Nature’s Hot Tub

By Sarah Martin HoodAugust 24, 2015November 4, 2018 adventure travel #hoodsunplugged2015, backpacking, hiking, jeff, life list, wildland trekking, yellowstone 3 Comments

This post is part of a series, click here for the full story. {day 3} Overnight rain meant a cold and damp morning, but we were up early in anticipation of a long day of…

Yellowstone, Part 1 | Heart Lake and Hiking in the “Heat”

By Sarah Martin HoodAugust 19, 2015November 4, 2018 adventure travel #hoodsunplugged2015, backpacking, hiking, jeff, life list, wildland trekking, yellowstone 2 Comments

[typography font=”Copse” size=”24″ size_format=”px” color=”#8c0510″]Yellowstone, of all the National Parks, is the wildest and most universal in its appeal. Daily new, always strange, ever full of change, it is Nature’s wonder park. It is the…

What I learned from my “Wear Color” phase

By Sarah Martin HoodFebruary 25, 2015September 17, 2016 personal reflections life list 5 Comments

I wear a lot of black. Like, a lot. My sister once mocked me by customizing a black t-shirt for me bearing the phrase: I’m only wearing black until they make something darker. That was…

Glacier, Part 3 | Graupel in July & Going to the Sun

By Sarah Martin HoodAugust 8, 2014September 11, 2018 adventure travel #hoodsunplugged2014, 1LT Tom Martin Memorial Foundation, backpacking, glacier guides, glacier national park, going to the sun road, graupel, hiking, jeff, Keeping TIME, life list, montana, who pooped in the park? 3 Comments

This post is part of a series, click here for the full story. | day 5 | There seems to be a single day during each trip that stands out for its level of challenge….

Glacier, Part 2 | This Moose be the Place

By Sarah Martin HoodAugust 3, 2014December 12, 2021 adventure travel #hoodsunplugged2014, backpacking, glacier guides, glacier national park, hiking, jeff, life list, montana, moose, waterfall 5 Comments

This post is part of a series, click here for the full story. | day 3 | There are two little words that are music to the ears of backpackers everywhere. Two little words that…

Glacier, Part 1 | Bridges, bears, & backcountry

By Sarah Martin HoodAugust 1, 2014September 11, 2018 adventure travel #hoodsunplugged2014, backpacking, glacier guides, glacier national park, hiking, jeff, kalispell, life list, montana, west glacier 9 Comments

Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity… ― John Muir One good look around the airport in Kalispell was…

Juror #8

By Sarah Martin HoodNovember 11, 2013September 17, 2016 personal reflections jury duty, life list, washington county 2 Comments

There probably aren’t many people who get a piece of mail from the county courthouse and think, “yes!” And if I’m being honest, I didn’t either. At first. Back in September, an official-looking yellow envelope…

Cleveland Rocks

By Sarah Martin HoodAugust 12, 2013September 17, 2016 personal reflections Bertman Mustard, buckeyes, cleveland, jim cartwright, life list, malley's, NECCO, ohio 2 Comments

Sometimes — once in a lifetime even — something comes along that makes you want to shout from the rooftops, sing in the rain, and hug strangers. That thing – for me – is Malley’s…

Scenery and Solitude in the BWCA | Part 5

By Sarah Martin HoodAugust 9, 2013September 18, 2016 adventure travel, canoeing & kayaking boundary waters, bwca, canoe, ely, jeff, life list, minnesota, north country canoe outfitters, quetico 1 Comment

This post is part of a series, click here for the full story. [typography font=”Copse” size=”24″ size_format=”px” color=”#8c0510″]Day 4[/typography] Breaking camp the last day of a trip is always bittersweet. We are always relieved to…

Scenery and Solitude in the BWCA | Part 4

By Sarah Martin HoodAugust 8, 2013September 18, 2016 adventure travel, canoeing & kayaking boundary waters, bwca, canoe, ely, jeff, life list, minnesota, north country canoe outfitters, quetico 3 Comments

This post is part of a series, click here for the full story. [typography font=”Copse” size=”24″ size_format=”px” color=”#8c0510″]Day 3[/typography] We woke up to weather so beautiful the nastiness the day before felt like just a…

Scenery and Solitude in the BWCA | Part 3

By Sarah Martin HoodAugust 7, 2013September 18, 2016 adventure travel, canoeing & kayaking boundary waters, bwca, canoe, ely, jeff, life list, minnesota, north country canoe outfitters, quetico Leave a comment

This post is part of a series, click here for the full story. [typography font=”Copse” size=”24″ size_format=”px” color=”#8c0510″]Day 2[/typography] Coulda been the overnight storm, coulda been just crazy, unpredictable Quetico weather. Whatever the reason, we…

Scenery and Solitude in the BWCA | Part 2

By Sarah Martin HoodAugust 6, 2013September 18, 2016 adventure travel, canoeing & kayaking boundary waters, bwca, canoe, ely, jeff, life list, minnesota, north country canoe outfitters, quetico Leave a comment

This post is part of a series, click here for the full story. [typography font=”Copse” size=”24″ size_format=”px” color=”#8c0510″]Day 1[/typography] Up and at ’em! Final sorting of gear, a bite to eat, and one last hot…

Scenery and Solitude in the BWCA | Part 1

By Sarah Martin HoodAugust 5, 2013September 18, 2016 adventure travel, canoeing & kayaking boundary waters, bwca, canoe, colt, ely, god love grandparents, jeff, life list, minnesota, north country canoe outfitters, quetico Leave a comment

This post is part of a series, click here for the full story. In the grand scheme of things, we have it really, really good. Not only do we both enjoy adventure travel — and…

Ghosts of Adventures Past

By Sarah Martin HoodJuly 19, 2013September 18, 2016 adventure travel, canoeing & kayaking, hiking backpacking, hiking, life list Leave a comment

Well, it’s that time again. Time for Jeff and me to leave our social media and our indoor plumbing and our DVR behind for a few days for our annual trek into the wilderness. It’ll…

North Carolina: a Ferris wheel, relentless rain, and the best nap of my life

By Sarah Martin HoodJuly 11, 2013September 18, 2016 motherhood, travel with kids 4th of July, colt, ferris wheel, jeff, life list, mountaintop golf & lake club, north carolina 4 Comments

It’s happened two years in a row and I’m ready to call it a tradition: Fayetteville Hoods joining the Atlanta Hoods for the 4th of July. Last year, my lucky lottery entry into the Peachtree…

Progress Report

By Sarah Martin HoodJuly 1, 2013September 17, 2016 personal reflections life list, making plans, resolutions Leave a comment

This year, I was serious about my resolutions. Goals. Whatever. I thought about each one long and hard before I went and captured them in black and white for all the internet to see. I…

South Carolina: Island Time

By Sarah Martin HoodJune 27, 2013September 4, 2016 travel, work life balance baby shark song, boondoggle, catamaran, daufuskie island, deep sea fishing, gullah gal, harbour town lighthouse, hilton head, island tour, Keeping TIME, life list, marshside mama's, pau hana, saatchi & saatchi X, shark fishing, sonesta hotel, south carolina 1 Comment

While work is not a big topic around here, it isn’t because I don’t have a fun, fulfilling job with smart, quirky, supportive people. Because I do! And perhaps my favorite thing about my job…

When am I healed?

By Sarah Martin HoodMarch 25, 2013September 17, 2016 personal reflections crazy aunt laura, life list 4 Comments

Ya know how clothing stores often design one shirt then offer it in multiple colors? Black, white, some sort of neutral brown, then a range of colors — red, pink, blue, maybe purple or green?…

Grand Re-Opening | Spotlight: Life List

By Sarah Martin HoodMarch 14, 2013September 4, 2016 Uncategorized blogiversary, life list 2 Comments

Sometimes I fantasize of a world in which living out my life list is my job. In my daydream, someone somewhere is willing to pay me to tackle one adventure after the next — and…

Here’s to the Losers

By Sarah Martin HoodFebruary 26, 2013September 17, 2016 personal reflections academy awards, here's to the losers, life list, oscars, studio boss 1 Comment

It’s as if Seth and Kristen were singing just for me. {If you didn’t stay awake long enough to watch the Sinatra-spoof, closing number at The Oscars check it out here: http://starcrush.com/2013-oscars-closing-heres-to-the-losers/} I used to…