Back in 2023, I was training for the Paris-Brest-Paris, a grueling 1,200 km bike ride across France. Unfortunately, I got injured during my final qualifier. But since our flights were already booked, we pivoted and turned the trip into a French vacation instead.

On the first weekend of February, the Merlo family descended upon Norway for a weekend in the woods. The beautiful house had incredible views of the mountains, and lots of great sleding and tubing from all the fresh snow. We also ventured out to a skating rink. Taxidermied water fowl were looked at and discussed, and the hot tub and outdoor fire was enjoyed by all.

For 4th of July weekend, we rented a house on a small island in Crystal Lake in Gray, Maine with some friends. It was a great place to relax, enjoy a fire, play some board games, and relax on the water. The first couple days were filled with ear-piercing toller screams from Sandy, wanting so desparately to go into the water but didn’t have the courage to do it. Finally, on the last day, she went all in, and once she did, she wouldn’t stop! Unless it was a different side of the dock.…

A few weeks ago, Sandy and Midge got to try out dock diving for the first time during a private session at Dock Diving Anonymous in Barnstead, NH. There were two professionals who helped ease the dogs into the pool, first by going into the water easily via the ramp, then slowly building up confidence to jumping in, and finally with a running start.

This past July, Sandy, Haley, and I ventured down to Nickerson State Park to camp and enjoy the fantastic water of Cliff Pond. Haley broke out her new stand-up paddleboard and taught Sandy how to load up, take a spin, and jump off. Sandy could not get enough of the water and was sad we only were there for a couple days.

Last August we spent the week down with the Merlos in Eastham on Cape Cod. It was an awesome vacation full of beaches, rockets, and sunrises/sunsets. The week kicked off with playing fetch in a local field with Tucker Giglio. It was a bit chilly from the clouds and wind but still had lots of fun running and splashing in the surf at First Encounter beach. Made a day out of Marconi Beach, which being 🐕 friendly meant Sandy could join us. Another 🐕 friendly area was my personal favorite swimming…

Back in January of this year, some of the old Ski Team went up to Jackson for the weekend. Unfortunately it was too damn cold and windy to go skiing, but otherwise it was beautiful outside. We all bundled up and gave it a go at sledding on the old toboggan on the hill next to Black Mountain. It was a ton of fun, and you can go way too fast if you’re not careful! Sandy was very concerned with us, and made sure to run in front and almost get run over several times.

Haley took Sandy out for her first taste of skijoring on the baseball field across from our house. It was a roaring success. Sandy had lots of fun pulling Haley around, and Haley remained upright the entire time.

On the first weekend of February, the Merlo family descended upon Waterbury for a weekend in the woods. The beautiful house was set on top of the perfect sledding hill, and came with miles of trails for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. Being only 25 minutes away from Stowe, I just had to hit up the slopes for a few runs in the morning. We also ventured out to a skating rink. Many games of pool were played (Jack won most of ’em), and the hot tub and outdoor fire was enjoyed by all.

This past May the Merlo clan camped at the Mohawk State Forest. Much fun was had hiking and playing and being with family. I snuck in an ambitious bike ride (was hoping to get all the way into Vermont but the Berkshire climbs are no joke), and Sandy did really well on her first nights camping.