I flew into San Francisco, drove along the Pacific Coast Highway to Portland and Seattle, looped back to Yosemite National Park and Big Sur and then spent two days on the beaches of Santa Cruz before returning to my starting point.

I put my feet in the Pacific Ocean, drove through the Redwood Forest, camped in Yosemite, watched the waves crash over the rocks in Big Sur, walked across the Golden Gate Bridge, saw golfers living out their dreams on Pebble Beach, fell in love with Oregon and drove through Sonoma Valley. I travelled 2,362.5 beautiful miles and, if I could, I would start at the beginning and drive them all again.

Here are some photos from the journey.

-Kelly March

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An excerpt from West Street Garden Coordinator, Kathy Rouleau’s email blast:

It should be a great weekend for gardening. Transplanting should always be done on a cool, calm, cloudy day — failing that, in the evening. 

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1. Seeds? Check
2. 6-inch early sprouts? Check
3. Compost? Already raked
4. Straw? All laid out (Take that, Weeds!)
5. Fence? Built!

Check out Joe’s fence this year. He’s decided to change his design slightly annually in order to flex the right side of his brain a bit. Here’s what he came up with:

Here is a picture of last year’s fence to compare:

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All week I’ve been nervous about planting. The up and down temperatures confused my little sprouts sitting outside. While I’ve been trying to be an attentive garden mother and shelter them when needed — sometimes I just haven’t been able to keep up with every random downpour or windstorm!

But I’ve made up my mind about this weekend.

Everything is ready. There’s nothing left to prepare. The forecast for the weekend is sunny, bright and in the 70’s.

Here’s what I’ll be planting:

• Lettuce
• Cucumbers
• Pole beans (green and purple)
• Carrots
• Beets
• Edamame
• Tomatoes
• Pumpkins
• Climbing Squash
• Herbs (Basil, Chives, Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme)
• Spinach

Happy Spring!

— Susan

NOTE: For interested gardeners: check out Kathy’s blog at http://verfoodie.blogspot.com/

This was what we affectionately refer to as Boyz Weekend. We add the Z because we all grew up in the 80s and 90s, when most pop bands that had the word Boy in their name — and there were many — spelled it with a Z. So it makes us feel younger. We also shortened the name of Boyz Weekend to B-Dubya, then that gets shortened to B-Dubs, because that’s what boyz do. It makes for quicker texting when chatting up the trip in the weeks leading up to it, which is arguably the best part of B-Dubs.

It was this year anyway, because two runs into our trip, we had a disastrous injury. It was a textbook “skiing in groups” injury.

We had two gung-ho steep skiers in our group. Then we had one Eastern skier making his Western steep skiing debut, trying to keep up. And we had one experienced Western skier being tugged between going hard with the expert crew and leading the inexperienced guy down the trickiest stuff he’s ever sniffed on skis.

Things tore apart quickly, and it didn’t help that we were on frozen snow with low visibility. Two skiers were in a steep chute and one was skirting the sides trying to find a line and overcome fear when he heard a pop in his knee, and the rest of us heard a loud explitive. The initial diagnosis of torn ligaments was compounded by an even more distressing diagnosis back home of torn ligaments and torn leg muscles.

This has all confirmed my understanding that while you don’t want to ski alone, you also don’t want to ski with people of wide ranging of abilities.

B-Dubs will live. But in the future, we are going with a varsity and junior varsity trip.

— Jason Starr

A shot of last year’s early plot

The West Street Community Gardens have been tilled and staked off. To all those eager gardeners out there, sowing can begin!

With this year’s garden design in mind, I plan on visiting my plot — J-5 — this weekend to rake compost, build a fence and instill good vibes.

Last year, my salad garden was a success; I had plenty of lettuce and cucumbers and a good amount of tomatoes. My herbs were fantastic. My peppers were perfect and there were mountains of green beans (enough to give away by the Ziploc-gallon-bag-full).

But don’t get me wrong: there were some serious flops. My beets, carrots, pickling cucumbers and pumpkins failed miserably. C’est la vie. But since I’m still a relatively new gardener with stars in her eyes, I vow to make these vegetables grow this year.

Since I learn by doing, here a few new techniques that I will employ this year:

Start seeds early

Last year, I ended up buying a lot of established plants at local stores and farmers markets because I didn’t start my seeds early enough. I’m going to give it a shot this year. I’ve started a few peppers and herbs, and lots and lots of marigolds and zinnias.

Use compost frequently

I’m going to use all the money I save by starting my insect-friendly flowers early, on more compost. I’ve been composting my leftover food all fall and winter, which will give my soil a great start. Another round of natural mushroom compost (which I found up the street at Lowe’s) and my plants should thrive.

In addition to the initial offering, I will spread compost again here and there to keep my soil and plants healthy — something I didn’t do last year.

Spread straw right away

While I fully enjoy spending a day in my garden, I do not enjoy spending that time pulling weeds. I bought straw and covered my plot with the stuff last year, only I was about 1 ½ months too late in doing so. My weeds were already almost full-grown; all I did was cover them mildly, giving them a bit of shade.

As soon as I sow, the straw is going down. I will win the weed war this time!

Seed tape

Carrot seeds are basically microscopic and I find them incredibly hard to keep track of when sowing. So I bought carrot seed tape — the ingenious idea of some gardener tired of uneven rows and varying seed depths. This time around, I think my carrots will have a fighting chance. So will my beets, thanks to my Beet Tape. I went a little wild and bought Lettuce Tape, too. Could there be such thing as Pumpkin Tape??

Enjoy the weekend and happy planting!

Susan

I grew up in the heart of the city. I emphasize the “bay” in bagel. I’ve walked down Boylston Street hundreds of times, whether to pick up groceries at Trader Joe’s or to ring in the New Year. I’m a runner. I knew runners in the race and throngs of people cheering on the sidelines. Most of my family lives in Boston. And my family is full of first responders.

When I heard about the explosions on Monday afternoon, I immediately started calling home to make sure everyone was safe. None of my family members had been at the race, but some of them – nurses, police officers and firefighters – were called to work after the bombings. Their stories from the streets and hospitals – stories of gruesome injuries and the kindness of strangers in the face of terror – are both devastating and beautiful.

At the end of the day, I am just thankful for all the ways the explosions didn’t hit close to home. And my heart aches for those who can’t say the same.

I have been dedicating my daily runs to them.

Ryan Polly, a Williston resident who ran in the Boston Marathon on Monday, is planning to do the same on Saturday and has invited any and all to join him in honor of those who were impacted by the events. Runners will congregate in front of ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center on the Burlington waterfront at 4 p.m.

“It doesn’t matter how well you run,” Polly noted. “Come run/walk/move in support. Run a mile. Run 10 … Just be there to run in memory of those who were impacted.”

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/events/328991053871121/.

-Kelly March

Come chill out and help out on Sunday morning at Bayside Park.

For the third consecutive year, The Essex Reporter and The Colchester Sun will send a team into the water in a fundraising effort for the Epilepsy Foundation of Vermont. Registration for the 6th Annual Big Chill: Be a Hero for Epilepsy will begin at 10:30 a.m.

It will be my second year taking the plunge. This year I’m excited to add co-workers from The Milton Independent and The Addison Independent to our team, along with our intern Cara and hopefully a crew of her fellow St. Mike’s supporters.

Anyone still interested in joining Sunday’s fun is encouraged to come as a spectator or a dipper. For more information on how to sign up in advance contact epilepsy@sover.net. To learn more about epilepsy and what the Epilepsy Foundation of Vermont does visit www.epilepsyvt.org.

Freelance photographer Oliver Parini will be taking pics for the paper, so check out next Thursday’s Colchester Sun to see how we did!

— Elsie

Even though he lives in Texas, he still roots for the good guys in Boston

Tomorrow morning, while the rest of Essex sleeps, TSA at Burlington Airport will be frisking me before my 5 a.m. flight to San Antonio, TX.

Why San Antonio, you ask? It won’t be just to escape this crazy weather (seriously, is it spring or isn’t it, Vermont?) and it’s not to visit the Alamo (Never Forget!).

No, something more important spurred my spontaneous jet setting: my brand new nephew.

My older sister, Melissa, lives in San Antonio with her husband, James. Last month — on February 4 — she gave birth to her first child and named him Dominic James Garza.

I know Melissa as my sister and I’ve seen her play many other roles:

• daughter
• co-worker
• student
• soldier
• wife
• friend
• even foster mom to a litter of dogs

But I’ve never seen her play the role of Mom — not yet.

As for Dominic — the newest part of my life — I can’t wait to meet him!

In this week’s issue of The Essex Reporter, there’s a buzz over new babies. Check out our New Baby special section. And make sure to send us all your birth announcements and pictures of your wee ones.

— Auntie Susan

Email Kelly (kelly@essexreporter.com) to reserve your space in our Spring Home Improvement issue today!

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The last 7 years of my life I have been living in apartments.  I have made compromises to save money and settled for apartments due to timing. Which has helped me learn a few things:

• Maximize your storage space

and

• You can’t always get what you want.

This is why I had to replace the bathroom vanity. Forget the ugliness of that honey color and the crazy dysfunctional trifold medicine cabinet.  I couldn’t fit all my bathroom stuff into the bathroom. Half of it was in the hallway closet!

After looking around for a vanity I quickly learned that they are expensive and the top drawers are always fake.

With my budget I simply couldn’t afford to spend $500 on a vanity! I was torn between settling for a generic white vanity and splurging on a beautiful over-budget one.

Nearly there!

Then it happened.

At Home Depot, I stumbled upon this amazing, 3-drawer, previously-returned, diamond-in-the- rough. To my surprise all 3 of the drawers worked and it was super affordable. There was no question. I had found my new vanity. I immediately brought it to the register and claimed my prize.

Next up: I had to maximize my storage space.

To have the most storage possible in my little bathroom, I also had to find a medicine cabinet. Hanging a matching mirror just wasn’t going to be enough.  Since I had saved money with my vanity purchase, there was some wiggle room on the price. But who wants to spend when they can save?

I checked out the local reuse centers and the dump only to come up empty handed. With time running out, I decided to have another look at the discount sections where I had found the vanity. Just my luck, I found a medicine cabinet reduced down to $30. No dings, dents or broken pieces, either!

After a fresh coat of paint, a bit of cleaning and nearly two weeks of brushing my teeth in the kitchen, I finally was able to install a new vanity and medicine cabinet.

What’s left? Some ceiling paint and minor tile repair. My new bathroom is almost a reality!

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BEFORE

There may be blankets of snow from the recent blizzard, but we are near the end of March. Which means spring is coming! At the Essex Reporter, the Advertising Department has been abuzz with our latest Home Improvement special publishing April 18^th. Naturally, it’s made me antsy: it’s time for my own home improvements.

This year, I decided my first-floor bathroom was in need of a remodel, so I put together a budget, made a list of to-dos and went to the hardware store to purchase supplies.  This has been my first hands-on experience with remodeling and every day I have learned something new.

Demolition Day

I put on my safety gear: gloves, eye protection, and mask – grabbed a hammer and started.

Down came the schoolhouse looking recessed ceiling!

Off came the tile — or should I say sheets of fake tile — on the walls!

(This project actually took some time because it was backed with cement.)

I’d never seen such a thick cement tile board. Why was it there?

Halfway there!

I asked this question to Mr. Fix-It at Lowe’s in Essex Junction and he informed me that back in the 1970’s when the house was built, it was believed that this magical cement tile board was a better conductor for heat. This would explain the lack of heating ducts. No wonder it’s felt so cold on the second floor!

But there were more issues…

Behind the tile and bathroom vanity, I found some mold — the enemy of a nice, hot shower.

After a quick clean up, I reevaluated my plans and headed back to Lowe’s.

Mr. Fix-It was happy to see me again and was willing to share his knowledge of mold. This guy knew everything. Hours later, I was able to find cost effective solutions to rid our bathroom of mold. Armed with ideas to not only address the mold, Mr. Fix-It gave me solutions to fix the ducts, as well.

Come back next week to see how the rest of my project went!

We had a lot of submissions this year for our 2nd annual limerick contest. The staff had a tough time choosing just 5 poems to print; this community is definitely in the St. Patrick’s Day spirit already!

Check out this year’s winners:

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All 5 winners will receive an

Essex Reporter t-shirt,

printed by Humble Screen

Printing in Colchester!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 

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And, of course, this contest was a great excuse for the staff here to pen their own poetry for the occasion. Take a look at some staff-written stanzas: