Everybody knows it’s cooler in the mountains, so get out and explore them already. You don't need climbing gear or a Sherpa to scale tall peaks—just a thirst for adventure and, perhaps, a beer or two. Here are a few of my picks for an elevated summer.

digitizedchaos / CC BY-SA 2.0

Oh lordy, I finally snuck away for a few sweet moments of quiet. I do not exaggerate when I say my sister has given birth to a litter of hyenas. They run wild literally SCREECHING at us, at each other, at the sky, at the water, at their cereal. They get their sticky fingers stuck in my hair. All of my clothes are ruined from red and blue smears of candy spit and I could KILL. I've been hiding in some dark corner of the beach house trying to read my book, or keeping one eye out so the hellions don't dump a cold bucket of seawater on my back while I'm laying out hoping to goddamn relax. My dad is lucky—he can escape to the old bum bar down the beach. (My mom said he met his first wife there. NASTY.) I hope summer school hasn’t murdered you yet because I think I actually am dying to see you ... If your mom is reading this, tell her I say hi.

You may not be aware of this, but 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the Weekly Alibi newspaper. You know what else is 20 years old this year? Castle Wolfenstein 3D! Over the years, Alibi employees have wasted a lot of man-hours playing video games at work: Rogue Squadron, Quake, Unreal Tournament. But Castle Wolfenstein was the game that first sucked us in. To celebrate the release of this groundbreaking first-person shooter, Bethesda Softworks has placed the entire original game of Castle Wolfenstein online for free! What are you waiting for? Go kill Hitler!