Being BIG

When I think back on what I thought my life would be like "when I grew up" I did not envision this.
I didn't picture myself as a single mom, living back at home, starting over. Don't get me wrong, my life isn't terrible by any means. I have wonderful family and friends that love and support me, its just not how I pictured things.

In a way my "reboot" was the best thing that could happen to me, I would consider this me, Kristi 2.0. A year ago I found myself ending a long relationship and coming to terms with another relationship I had long thought would pan out, it was my rock bottom. My rebuild wasn't without its drama, there was messiness and sadness and anger but during this time I rediscovered me.
Somewhere along the line I let "life" get in the way, I forgot to set goals for myself and decided being content was the same as being happy.

I've learned its ok to be broken. Sometimes we stay in our pajamas all day and eat ice cream for dinner. Sometimes we cry and fight over homework till bedtime. Sometimes I let Noah watch too much TV because I'm exhausted and feel like I can't function. But sometimes I try to climb mountains, I hike trails that I never thought I'd be able to finish, I get in sketchy canoes on beautiful lakes (even though I'm terrified), I drive thousands of miles and see beautiful places, stand on rickety bridges, and spray paint my name on old buses.

I've found my inner "BIG" after years of making myself small, even when I fail (which is often) I still feel BIG. I may not be exactly where I thought I would be, but that's ok. I'm learning to find joy in the journey, and learning its ok to just be me. I decided 2016 was going to be a good year and I haven't been disappointed.

Arizona Road Trip Pt 2

Our next stop, Lower Antelope Canyon!
This was one of the coolest places I have ever been, well worth the 20$ tour ticket (and the 8$ fee to get on the reservation). We booked through Ken's Tours, the guide was amazing, she shared the history of the area and canyon  as well as some Navajo folklore.

After our 3 hours of walking through this amazing canyon we got back in the car and drove to Flagstaff, AZ to Locket Meadow Campground. Lockett Meadow is beautiful, primitive camp sites nestled between aspen trees with breathtaking views of the San Francisco peaks, it was a perfect place to relax in the hammock and enjoy a quiet evening.

                                   

We (I) had our sights set on tackling Humphey's Peak, so we (I) packed up the tent and headed to the Arizona Snow Bowl where the trail starts.


                                           These smiles didn't last long.

                                                 

        Forced smiles and delirium

                                       
He was pretty much done at this point, but we had 3 more false summits to go!

After HOURS of blood, sweat, and tears we made to the top! 12, 633ft, the highest point in Arizona!

We only stayed at the top for about 5 mins, there was a gigantic thunderstorm coming right for us so we hurried of the mountain as fast as we could. As we were hiking down Noah made it very clear "this was never his dream and not on his bucket list". My hope is always that even with all the craziness he will look back at these adventures, smile, and know that I loved him the most.

Good times.
Good company.
Good adventure.

Arizona Road Trip Pt 1

Adventure:
Arizona Road Trip - Grand Canyon / Horseshoe Bend

Our little Arizona road trip had been on the horizon for quite some time, we (I) had come up with a pretty grueling schedule taking us from Phoenix to Page, then into Utah and pretty much everywhere in between, the one thing that I had hadn't taken into consideration was the heat.
Much to my dismay (and Noah's delight) most of the hiking got cut out of our itinerary due to the extreme temperatures.

New plan in hand we boarded our plane to PHX. As soon as we stepped outside the terminal we felt it. It. Was. Hot. Too hot. We picked up our truck and some snacks for the road and we were off to the Grand Canyon!

Noah was not very excited about the Grand Canyon (he was eager to get to Page) so we only spend about an hour exploring. As usual I got too close to the edge and he scolded me.

We got back on the road and made our way toward Page, AZ. This is a beautiful but LONG drive.

                                                    Somewhere near Tuba City, AZ

 We rolled into Page around sunset, set up our tent near the lovely Lake Powell and tried to get some sleep. It was so hot that neither one of us really slept much. After tossing and turning for a couple hours we got up around 0430 and took showers (YAY for campsites with showers!) and headed out for Horseshoe Bend.
                                                         I love a good warning sign.

 We arrived at Horseshoe Bend at about 0600 and there were already quite a few people there.
This is a short 1.4 mile out and back hike, its very popular/touristy but so worth it. I mean, look at it!

                         

                           

As we were on a schedule we spent about 30 mins basking in the amazingness that is Horseshoe Bend and then made our way to our next stop...

Good times.
Good company.
Good adventure.

That NW Bus / Palouse Falls

Adventure:
That NW Bus / Palouse Falls

What do I do on Wednesday? I pile 2 of my good friends and my son into Subie and head for Eastern Washington. Why?

                                                                       This. Bus.

 From Vancouver, Wa its a 4.5 hr drive (one way =/) to get to this beauty, buts its totally worth it.
Its just a random bus parked in the middle of a field, in the middle of nowhere, but look at it!

                                                    We came. We saw. We tagged.

After we'd had our fill of exploring, tagging, climbing, and pretending to drive the bus we piled back into Subie and headed ten (ish) miles up the road to Palouse Falls.

The plan (ok, my plan) was to hike around Palouse Falls however, it was a pretty hot day (90's) and not wanting to hear Wylie and Noah bicker the ENTIRE time I decided to pull the plug on the hiking and just enjoy the falls from a far.
We didn't stick around as long as we probably should have considering the amount of it took to get there but we were tired and still had 4.5 hrs to drive to get back home, so it was back into Subie for us and home we went.
                                               A rare moment of silence on this 9 hr drive.

Good times.
Good company.
Good cdventure.

Vance Creek Bridge

Adventure :
Vance Creek Bridge

I had been wanting to venture out to this bridge for a while but that had always managed to talk myself out of it. Too far away. No one to go with. Its trespassing and I don't want to get a ticket.

Randomly one day I was talking to Ray at work and BOOM. Wednesday at 0500, we were going.

I had done a bit of research on how to get there and figured I could find my way once we were in the area, so we set "Vance Creek Viaduct" into Google maps and we were on our way.
136 miles later were on NF-23 and found ourselves parked at this gate

 We quickly decided not to park there and continued down the road for about a mile and until we found a clearing with a more convenient and inconspicuous place to park.

I had read online that we should expect obstacles that the logging company had put on the trail to try and discourage adventures from going to the bridge. I was thinking American gladiator (maybe we should stretch before hand as not to injure ourselves) but was met with a very lack luster effort to thwart us. Most of these "obstacles" were laughable, extremely small trees you could literally step over without any effort at all.

After a brave 1.25 mile hike we found ourselves at That NW Bridge!

This bridge is amazing and terrifying and sketchy.

You can see 347 feet straight down!

"Anything I've ever done that ultimately was worthwhile... initially scared me to death."              -Betty Bender

• This is a must see for any PNW adventurer, that being said, we knew the risks and possible consequences for going on this adventure and were willing to take the risk.

Good times.

Good company.

Good adventure.