Joshua Tree National Park: Black Rock Hikes

Our final day in Joshua Tree National Park we hiked more than I think I've ever hiked in one day -- 12+ miles, logging more than 34,500 steps! After our previous day exploring the central areas of the park, which are definitely the busiest areas of the park, it was wonderful escaping to the much …

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Joshua Tree National Park: Hidden Valley Hikes

After spending our initial day in Joshua Tree National Park exploring the easternmost side of the park -- primarily by car -- we were ready to enjoy the sunshine and stretch our legs on a series of hikes throughout the central areas of the park on our second day. Day 2 Itinerary: Ryan and Hidden …

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Joshin’ Around in Joshua Tree

While we continue to mask, socially distance from others, wash our hands, work from home, and go months on end without gathering with friends or family, I cannot entirely live in a sterile hole. Working for a health care organization and helping to communicate all things COVID-19 to our doctors, nursing staff, pharmacists, admin teams, …

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2020 Travel Recap

I've seen lots of COVID-19-inspired reflection posts about 2020 - challenges we faced, things we learned, how we persevered, what we'll carry with us moving forward, etc. This is not that kind of post. This is a post I write every single year looking back on our adventures. It's a simple and happy post. It's …

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Doin’ Some Shoein’: Comet Falls

We started 2020 snowshoeing outside Vancouver, B.C., and are bringing it to a close with snowshoeing in Mt. Rainier National Park! We arrived at Longmire around 10 a.m. to snow, clouds, and relatively few people. We tend to start our hikes much earlier in the morning, but we were at the mercy of the Longmire …

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Literary Travels: Grits

A couple years ago I drew the name of my brother-in-law's girlfriend for the family gift exchange. She had a number of books on her Christmas list and being the good bibliophile I am, I bought her all of them. One of the books was Grits: A Cultural and Culinary Journey Through the South by …

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Washington Hikes: Columbia River Trail

During our recent overnight on the eastern side of the Cascade Mountains, we spent an afternoon exploring the history of the area's petrified forest and a morning hiking from the Columbia Gorge cliffs down to the Columbia River. We awoke to gorgeous views of the sunrise lighting up the cliffs of the Columbia Gorge. It …

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