Birthday, year in review, first post :)

I've been trying to start this blog for nearly 3 years now. This is my first time out of work since the last attempt, and I feel like it's a good a time as ever.

Everyone keeps asking me if I'm doing something fun for my birthday. I can't come up with anything especially exciting in the typical sense (read: consumerism), but I am one thing: happy. This is due, I'm sure, largely to the massive shifts that have occurred in my life over the past 4 years: meeting & falling for Peter, finding myself in the wilderness, falling in love with Haile & Reyne, growing together as a family.

This blog was originally thought of as a place to talk about our 'adventures' and I'm sure that will make up the majority of the content, but I'm also giving myself the freedom to talk about other important stuff (read: my family).

I think a good place to start, as this is an adventure blog, is a review of our adventures. There have been a TON since we started on this journey together, so I've decided to do a year in review (only overnighters are included). The first year of my 30s.

And, so it begins: Grand Canyon, my birthday trip (a last minute surprise thanks to Peter). We caught a plane on February 6th, 2015. Landing in Las Vegas, we drove out and slept near one of the main areas of the park, car camping. We awoke very early for a sunrise peek at the canyon before heading down to what would be a pretty epic backpack (2 nights).  We started at grandview trail and found our way down to Hance Creek, Horseshoe Mesa, Pine Fir Canyon, Cottonwood Canyon. We found gigantic aloe plants, lots of cacti and much needed solitude and sunshine. We spent one night at Red Rock Canyon and drove back to catch a plane just 3 days later.

Peter & I on the grandview trail just before sunset.

Just a couple weeks later (February 28th) we found ourselves at a new place: Deschutes River State Park, just outside the Dalles. It was a very cold and rainy winter in Portland, so the sunshine was appreciated. It was just one night and only 8 miles of backpacking, but well worth the drive.

Deschutes river viewed from the north.

Our first outing in the full sun happened on April 4th. This was just a day hike, but warrants mentioning due to the embarrassingly intense sunburns we suffered from, after less than 30 minutes in the sun. We headed up the PCT and stopped for a mid-day nap in the sun at an outcropping just beneath Benson Plateau.

PCT, on the way up to Benson Plateau.

In May we went on our first international trip - to Peter's hometown: Prague. We were there for 3 weeks, but it felt like only a few days. I will probably do a full post on this trip (we have over 200 photos) at some later date, when I'm feeling reminiscent. We spent most of our time lazing around with lots of naps, walks to the Castle, eating tasty cheap food, drinking the best beer I've ever had. We also spend about a week driving (in a Skoda, 60-80 MPG WHAT!) down to Italy and camping, euro-style.

Visiting the Dolomites, our first mountain-adventure after about 2 weeks of city living.

A couple summers ago I went on a long solo backpack up through the Columbia Gorge, meeting Peter at Mt. Hood at the end of my ~50 mile trek. During this time I had visited Wahtum Lake and wanted to take Peter back to this beautiful section of trail. On June 14th, We ended up spending two nights and Hanna picked us up from the same spot that Peter met me when I finished my trip.

The beargrass was prolific. Tall, bushy, beautiful white.

One of the first places Peter ever mentioned as a favorite of his was Yocum Ridge. After 3 years of adventuring together, we finally made it out. We went out over 4th of July weekend and spent 3 nights at the same campground. We had initially planned to do many miles of backpacking, but we found the perfect place and instead went on some incredible day hikes (not to mention the heat was so intense that long walks were much easier sans packs). On our last night, a lot of people came up the mountain, but luckily we didn't see many folks otherwise (just the way I like it).

Near our campsite on a day hike through the fields of lupine which smelled incredible.

In Late July we went for a several day backpack into the North Cascades near Glacier Peak. It was HOT and there were a lot of mosquitoes. We were thinking of doing a full week but ended up coming home a day early due to the heat and exhaustion and lack of flowing water. Mid way through the trip we found a secret lake atop an incredible valley filled with flowers and streams and wildlife. We swam at least 3 times that day, cooling off as much as we could. Swimming never felt so good.

Washing my face in one of the few streams - a half day's hike from the nearest water.

Peter's brother Mark brought his kids up in August to visit. We spent a good deal of time out at the property; digging the swimming hole, chopping wood, generally getting in a lot of family time. We even made a trip up to the alpine slide and Trillium Lake.

Family time at the swimming hole.

Haile officially entered teenage territory in August. We had a makeover/photoshoot to celebrate with her closest friends. I can't believe she's 13. And a half.

The goods. 8 girls. 8 makeovers.

The following week we took the kids to the east coast to visit some of Peter's family (and one of my friends!). Lots of driving (too much), not enough sleep (+ red eye flight). We visited DC, NYC, Connecticut, various monuments, museums and the Atlantic. We spent two nights at Assateague with the wild horses - my favorite part of the trip. After an insanely packed week, we were all happy to be home.

Trying out the fish-eye lens on my phone in Central Park.

In September, with both of us working full time, we took on our most time and energy intensive project yet: building our cabin in the woods. It took about a month and a half (which would have been much more difficult without the help of our friends and family) and was well worth the effort. We had a couple day hikes but most of our time between October and December was spent building and catching up on sleep + weekend trips to the cabin to bask in the heat of the wood stove.

I laugh every time I look at this. Peter is 6'7".

In late-December we had what has become our annual winter holiday with the extended family. We went to Terrebonne and rented a cute house on a farm for 3 nights. Everyone did a bit of sledding and we visited Smith Rock. On the final day we stopped at Kah Nee Ta and had the place to ourselves for several hours.

I even shot a gun. Don't worry, it's just a pellet gun.

On December 29th we went for a snowshoeing/camping outing to Ramona Falls. We were utterly unprepared for the cold (it was around 5-9 degrees at night) and had a rough time (I didn't really sleep because I couldn't stop shivering). It was beautiful, but the first thing we did upon returning home was buy some insulated boots.

We never did get any sunshine before leaving at 11 am.

Our final trip of the past year was a return to the Deschutes River State Park. We drove out on January 30th and spent one night. On the drive we stopped by Elowah Falls (a hike we often overlook due to the extremely short length + long drive) and arrived at the park around 3pm. After a very beautiful, sunny walk we headed into town to eat some dinner (we planned to fast and didn't bring any food but the campground was really loud and obnoxious so we nearly went home). We returned around 8 pm and slept for over 12 hours. We spent the next day on a very long walk in the sun, but it was extremely windy and required more layers than expected. It's a beautiful spot and we plan to visit again.

Heading back to camp at sunset.

And so here we are, February 3rd, 2016. Next week we leave for another birthday trip to the southwest. This time, Death Valley. I hope this post wasn't too long (assuming anyone even reads it). But since we're here already, I'll say a couple more things.

I am very grateful for how my life has turned out. Meeting Peter and growing, as a family, with Haile & Reyne has been the single most enjoyable part of my life. I love this family so much and I look forward to a lifetime with them. Them being a part of my life is the best present I could ask for. Happy Birthday, to me.