The Northwest Coast

As I alluded in my previous post, I just got back from a simply phenomenal vacation in Washington. Allow me to spam you with my 42 best pictures and limited commentary. 

The Salt Lake City airport isn't home to my fondest memories, seeing as all my flight delays have been there and the last time I traveled through I happened to be in the throes of influenza, but this time was my first time of actually seeing the lake. Wow...

Mom's house served as home base. And home to this gorgeous rhododendron.  

The morning after I arrived Katie and I set off for worlds unknown, Olympic National Park. 

On the way we realized we were driving right next to the ocean. This called for a quick detour, some splashing in the FRIGID water, and a little shell collecting. 

Eventually we arrived in Hoh National Rainforest. I have wanted to see the rainforest since I first learned of its existence when I was 12. I was not disappointed. 

I have never seen anything like it. Truly amazing and beyond words. 

We got to the campground early enough to set up our tent and go on an evening hike. The evening sunlight shafting through the trees proved to be the best lighting for the forest. 

Seriously though, if you ever get a chance you need to go see this place. 

It is truly a magical place all to its own. 

Everything in the forest is growing. This is an up-close picture of a fallen cedar. None of the growth here is over 2" tall, a sort of mini forest in the forest. 

I was also fascinated by the 'nurselogs' or fallen trees that then became fertile ground for young trees. 

After a night in the rainforest, we set out for the coast again in search of tidepools. On the way we stopped in Forks, where the infamous Twilight books and movies are set. While we were a little underwhelmed by Forks' main claim to fame (not being fans), we were pleased to discover they had wonderful coffee... 

Fifteen minutes from the small town of Forks we discovered a new kind of paradise. The forest provided an enchanted campsite. 

And 5 minutes away we discovered this. The untamed Northwest Coast. The pounding surf, piles of driftwood and rocky shoreline seemed like yet another planet. 

After scoping out the territory for tidepooling, we went back to camp where Katie played girlscout with the fire and I had fun warming our dinner up in cans... 

We got up early in the morning to go tidepooling. They said not to jump from rock to rock... Wonder why... 

I don't know if these were good tidepools or bad tidepools, but for this Nebraska girl they were amazing. 

Here I wished for Josh's waterproof phone case so I could capture the intense green color. 

I wanted so badly to find one stranded on the beach and do my good deed and throw it back in the ocean. But all the seastars in Washington were too smart to need rescue it seemed. 

Completely covered in mollusks. We didn't jump on this one either... 

We hiked through the 'hole in the wall' and then took the overland route back to the regular beach. Eventually the tide came back in and we went back on the road. 

On the north side of the park we ran across Lake Crescent. We promptly added it to the "we are coming back here" list... 

Our northern route took us through Port Angeles, where I caught my first glimpse of Canada. You have to really look hard, but there are some Canadian mountains in the background there... 

After our outdoors adventures, we returned to Seattle where I settled into playing tourist. I love Seattle deeply, partly because some people I love live there and partly because it is my favorite place ever to play tourist. As always, I had spectacular tour guides. One of the first things they did was satisfy my deep longing for seafood. Salmon chowder and crab sandwich anyone? 

Seattle is such a good place to tourist. You can see things like rock bookends... (Wishlist, in case anyone was wondering). 

It is also the only place I have ever seen shrunken heads... 

Your dinner could look like someone's seashell collection. 

You might get to watch someone make this... 

With spray paint. 

Or see the world's most creative kaleidoscopes. 

Or be engulfed in spring. I mean flowers. 

Or stumble upon a beautiful woman who also happens to be amazing and a really good friend. 

Or ride a ferry to an island. 

Or finally get a giant pretzel. 

 Or eat an artichoke for the first time ever. 

 On our last evening we took a little hike to the Puget Sound. It is only about 10 minutes from Mom and Richard's and the evening was gorgeous.  

 We had far more than our fair share of fun chasing poor innocent crabs.  

 I finally came to Seattle when the weather was perfect and I could enjoy the sound. I have never seen it so beautiful. 

 Sadly, all amazing things come to an end and I had to say goodbye to this wonderful lady and head back home. Fortunately, I was rather pining after my amazing man and my little house so the trip home was happy. 

 Until next time, Seattle!! 

Good Times

 After my last post, I have been continually reminded of how incredibly blessed I am. In fact, over the last week or two, Josh and I both keep finding ourselves saying, "We are so blessed! We must be the luckiest people in the world..." So, here are a few things that lately have evoked smiles on our faces and gratefulness in our hearts. 

When we bought our first motorcycle together, we joked that for a few years maybe we would have bikes instead of kids. Well, we happily welcomed our third to the family last weekend... 

I am so blessed by being an Auntie 12 times over. I love my nieces and nephew so much!! Not to mention, they are all enormously adorable.

Our house came with this magnificent tree. At first I was afraid it was dead, but this last week it banished all doubt by bursting forth with leaves. Those of you who know me well know I have a soft spot in my heart for trees (I have been known to hug a few...) and I am beyond delighted to look out my window and see this beauty every day. 

There was some really nasty weather here over the weekend. I woke up from a Sunday afternoon nap and saw this spectacle in the sky. Once again God watched over us. Our house fared beautifully in the wind and we happened to be spending time with family so my car was not where it usually is when one of the neighbor's branches fell right onto my parking spot. 

One of the things we both love about our house is the yard. Someone before us put a great deal of effort into making it beautiful and we are reaping the rewards. A lovely spring evening calls for dinner outside every time...

Another new addition, and one that will be loved for years to come, is the fire ring. The entire experience was fun, researching shapes, buying the bricks, and building it together. Of course, sitting around the fire grilling and talking was pretty fun as well. 

Last week I put in my final hours as a grad assistant for this school year and got my final grades on my first year of grad school. One year ago I had no idea I would even go back to school and now I am nearing the halfway mark! God has been so gracious. I am super excited to return to my assistantship in the fall, and if all goes well, graduate one year from now! 

You should all be proud. I resisted planting anything until Saturday. And even then, I spend half the day in two garden centers and only came out with these... Most of that restraint has to do with a vacation I am about to take, but still, restraint nonetheless! Ps, more on that vacation later. I am heading off to see my partner in crime in Washington and hope to return with many pictures and memories to share with you all. 

When we first started dating, Josh told me he loved anything with two wheels... The feeling seems to be mutual. 

Yesterday we celebrated our first year of marriage. I count myself extremely blessed to be married to a man I not only love more deeply after a year, but also like more after a year! :) It hasn't always been roses, but with my best friend and hero by my side and God watching over us it has been a phenomenal year. Here's to the next 50, babe! 

Bad Times

Life is not all roses, sometimes bad things happen. This past weekend a bad thing happened to us. Someone stole our almost brand new (and very expensive) computer. It was perfect for school, picture collecting (which we do a lot of) and basically a wonderful thing. Just one careless forgetting to lock the car and bam, it was gone. I am not going to lie, I was pretty upset. We were still in the 90 days service contract, I mean, it would have been one thing if it was an old computer or one I didn't use like every day, or not the one I had been dreaming about getting for like 5 years, or not the one we had saved for like 6 months to buy. But no, it was all of those things and gone, just like that. 

 At the same time though, it gave me a chance to reflect a little on our life in general. There is a song I love right now that says, "Bad times make the good times better..." This was a perfect example of that simple truth. Yes, we lost something highly valuable to us, but at the same time, we are healthy, employed, madly in love, and so very blessed. So, I wanted to blog a little of the 'good times', which may seem ordinary yet are made better by the 'bad times' life sometimes throws at us. 

This guy never ceases to amaze me. Last night I mentioned that I was in the mood for ice cream and now that I am done with my cleanse I could actually have some. Stopping by the store wasn't enough for him, he took me to Coldstone for the best ice cream in town... 

 When I was 12, I wanted to learn to ride a motorcycle more than I wanted to get a drivers license. It is a little overdue, but I am working on it! I am still jittery behind the handlebars, but loving the journey of mastering the road. 

This guy on the other hand has several seasons under his belt and is always happy to take me 'motorbike riding' (as Keith Urban would say...)

That gorgeous green carpet? That is my backyard. That chicken on the smoker? That was dinner for company which just so happened to be my big brother who is still one of my best friends and his amazing wife. That super handsome dude cooking? I wake up next to him every morning...

Sometimes bad things happen. Sometimes we know why and sometimes we don't. But there are always things to be thankful for and those 'bad times' do make the good times sweeter. What are a few 'good things' you are thankful for today? 

Utah!!

As many of you know, we took a quick trip to Utah last week. It was a year overdue promise to John and Stephen, one which Anna and I managed to cash in on as well. 

We made full use of our 5 days (including travel time) and packed every moment. Here is a quick snippet of a few of the awesome pictures. 

The boys had never been west of Nebraska. This was their first glimpse of the mountains...

$3 I will never regret spending. The 3D suduko book... 

Our first night outside of Arches National Park. This was our little tent city. 

As soon as we had the tents set up, we set off to see the delicate arch. After 13 hours in the car, the boys couldn't help bounding up and over every rock in sight. 

I am so, so, so happy this girl could come with. It was such a blast to have another girl on the trip and her enthusiasm for life is contagious. Plus, she took care of me when I got rather sick in a canyon on day 3. Love you, Anna dear!!

The last time we were here was on our way home from Arizona just a few weeks before we got engaged. Felt kind of like old stomping grounds...

Day 2 we explored Arches. In many, many ways. We climbed rocks, hiked to several arches and off roaded in the Jimmy. Like I said, we packed every minute. 

This does not look impressive. What the Jimmy did was impressive. So impressive we all got out of the truck and prayed it would make it up a few of the hills. May I just say, my man is a natural off-road driver and God listens when you realize you can't go back where you came from and just have to get up this next hill...

One of the coolest arches in the park. It was worth all the crazy back roading we had to do to get there. 

Wouldn't you know it, the truck didn't mind the crazy rocks and sand one little bit. But a few mile stretch of washboards (which cars were driving on) did it in. We were able to get a diagnosis and a sawzall and mostly got it corrected before the sun went down. We also found a great roadside to make dinner next to the Colorado River. 

Day 3, what we have all been waiting for. The canyons. Who would have thought this would take just a few miles to become...

This...

And eventually this!! So incredible. My first time in an actual slot canyon narrows. Good thing all of us like small spaces...

It eventually brought us to 'the actual end', which is only the end if you don't bring rappelling gear. We were prepared to rappel in the second canyon, but not this one. 

Canyons really are photogenic. 

Canyon 2 was a cause for much discussion. We had planned to hike to the top and rappel in, but now we were running out of light, I was cold, and there was more water than we had planned. Eventually we decided to just hike up and back like we did in canyon 1. This turned out to be a good call because not only was there lots of water, but I got rather sick during this hike as well. Once again, Anna to the rescue, who hiked slowly with me while the boys went on ahead. 

They had all manner of fun times while we followed slowly. We caught up just in time for the water. 

One more step and he started swimming... Three brave souls went across (and one equally brave stayed with me and helped me feel better). I have just wonderful videos of them screaming while they swam through 32.1 degree canyon water.

Quite pleased with themselves. True canyon swimmers now. 

We camped in Capitol Reef National Park. After two canyons in one day, all we really wanted to do was eat warm ramen and go to sleep. 

Finally, a picture of the glowing tent. We try on every trip...

The morning of day 4 dawned rainy and cold with a storm blowing in. We were warned the interstate might close and should make tracks for home. However, being a fan of trees, I convinced our fearless leader to take us to Dixie National Forest really quick first. 

After days of sand and rocks, this felt like some enchanted land. It was snowing little pellet snow, but that couldn't keep up from taking off for the highest 'peak' we could see. 

Working on our mountain goat skills. Mine involve using brother-in-laws to steady me on slippery logs...

It wasn't an actual summit, but it was the tallest thing we could see. 

It was also windy beyond all reason and snowing like crazy. I honestly thought one of us might blow off the top and need to be collected on the way back down. 

God continued to watch over us. Apparently the truck did sustain a little damage from the off roading, and decided to announce this by delaminating a tire at 65 mph in the mountains. As it was, we had just finished the curvy, windy stretch with drop-offs and were in a perfect place to pull over. Another reminder to take no amount of perfect timing for granted. 

We went south towards Colorado Springs to miss the snow storm, but it followed us. This was all beautiful grass when we crawled into our tents. Oh well. At least it was only a few inches instead of the 7-14 they were getting up in Denver. 

I will gladly wake up in a cold tent every morning if I also get to wake up to this face, just a few inches from mine, all excited because it snowed on us. 

Final view from the tent. I love what snow does to evergreen trees....

Sadly, all the tourist attractions of Cripple Creek were shut down due to the snow, except for the $.49 breakfast plates the the Old Home Cafe! We ate until we couldn't eat anymore and headed for home. After driving through a snowstorm, a thunderstorm and a dust storm all in one day, we rolled into our own little driveway, happy to be home and full of wonderful memories.