It’s been a busy month, wow. I’ve worked a ton of hours, at least a little every day of April, and I’m ready for the weekend. My busy season is mostly behind me, with only follow-ups ahead in terms of work. I have a list of projects to tackle, but I can organize and prioritize them much more easily now that reporting season is over. Anyway, enough about work.
Things getting me through these past few weeks:
My new bike (because my last one was stolen because I’m an idiot)
Sleeping in (7:30-8:00 is AMAZING)
Working from home flexibility when I’m not swamped
Daily walks with my dog and my boo
Coffee - ground daily!
Kayaking
Sunshine
Cooler weather
Thunderstorms
Drag Race - Yeah bitches, I’m caught up!
My home office white xmas tree
The patio garden
SALADS - yes, I said it
Weekly happy hours with friends
I’ve had some hard times these past few weeks. I reached points of pure relief but also had moments when EVERYTHING anyone did irritated the fuck out of me. You could have said something so nice and I’d have thought you were just being the worst. I can’t explain those times, but I think it signals overload and loss of control for me. Either way, it’s all part of the spectrum of life.
I got an alert on my iPad in Week 6 when I was “supposed” to check in for my flight to Vancouver. I’d been working pretty hard and I was doing a good job of ignoring the fact that I wasn’t going anywhere. Some people I follow on the socials were posting pretty photos of blossoms up there and we’d likely have missed them or saw the tail end of them, so maybe next year we’ll plan for a smidge earlier in travels. We are re-booking this trip for 2021, and it will be our goddamn year.
Had a nice chat with the BFF squad on one of the Saturdays. We talked, and laughed, and made grand plans for our reunion and annual get together. I truly can’t wait to see them!
I’ve been thinking a lot about the places I haven’t been that are larger than life. Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Tetons, Glacier, Great Smokey Mountains, Blue Ridge Parkway, Everglades, and more. I’ve been thinking that it’s time to finally prioritize them next year - even if it’s a good preview and not a week at each. There are so many, very interesting and lovely, small scale places that I want to see that these larger than life places end up on the back burner. Everyone speaks so highly of them and “everyone” has visited them, so I feel like I’ve been living through their words and photos already. I love trip planning, so I ordered a guidebook a friend wrote and I’m going to start with Yellowstone. We’ll see what comes out of this next year, how travel will change by then, and what other great places will be on my horizon. The first chance I get, I’m going to drive through the night up to Great Sand Dunes and spend a long weekend there, maybe work from the car one day if I have to. I want to hike from the park/preserve through the mountain pass.
Things to remember… it’s okay to LOVE or HATE this quarantine life. Some people are thriving and that’s their business. I’m mixed - I want to keep doing the things I did before, which didn’t involve many people or interaction much with anyone. I just want to be able to road trip and hike again without judgment or catchin’ that COVID.
For a distraction, here are some photos from various hikes over the past few years!
Santa Fe National Forest (2018) - SFNF is one of my favorite places and it really caused me to fall in love with New Mexico. Since visiting this part of NM in 2017, I’ve been obsessed. I can’t get enough of the variety throughout the state. I am so excited to work for a company that has a field office there so I can visit even more!
Border Route Trail - 2019. This is along the Canadian border in Minnesota and it was a real treat. The bugs weren’t bad, the weather was comfortable, and we even got to put up hammocks and have a trail beer. This trail wasn’t highly used so it was bushy and vibrant green.
Lost Man Creek - Redwoods National and State Parks, 2016. I could live in the Redwoods and be FINE. This was an easy hike, before I was really “hiking” too much for the record and it was a gorgeous day/trip. We were in California in June, enjoying the gorgeous greenery.
Chugach National Forest - Alaska - 2017. Alaska is where my other half’s family lives and I’m truly lucky to get to visit them and the great surrounding areas. This was a family RV trip around to various places including down to Kenai Fjords NP. What a trip this was. This particular hike was a bit wet, but as you can see vibrant and alive with freshness.
Herman Vogler Conservation Area, Rogers City, MI - Winter 2017. This hike is just down the street from my grandma’s house and now my mom’s too. It was a place my grandma took us frequently as throughout life and it is very special to me in terms of places to go. Winter hikes are fun!
The Hike to Mt. Storm King, Olympic National Park - 2018. This will forever be a favorite hike - my first hike with REAL elevation change. I loved every difficult minute of it. I’d love to go back and do it again now.
