a former gymnast with a neverending case of wanderlust
After a drizzly and wine-filled first day in Santa Barbara, my sister and I woke to clouds hanging low over the mountains – mountains we never actually saw the top of during this trip. But at least it had finally stopped raining. Our train back to LA didn’t depart until 6:30pm, so we had almost… Continue reading Spring break in Santa Barbara, part II
My sister moved to Los Angeles in 2016 and, until March 2023, I’d never visited her there. It’s not for any dramatic reason. It’s just that she shares a small apartment with a roommate and they both work from home, the roommate often on evenings and weekends, so having overnight guests isn’t super feasible. And… Continue reading Spring break in Santa Barbara, part I
Sometimes I think I should have been a pilot. I’m not actually sure the realities of that job would be the best fit for me – and I love my actual job – but I know for sure that I’d never get sick of gazing down at our beautiful planet from the air. I’m forever… Continue reading Snapshots from the sky: Denver to Los Angeles
A couple years back, my mom – an avid blog reader since day one – wrote her first ever guest post. She really enjoyed the process and offered to write more posts in the future should the opportunity arise. This one had actually been in progress for a while and, since my California trip still… Continue reading Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park, Montana
After returning from our road trip, we still had one full day before my flight back to Denver. Never ones to waste a day of sunshine, my mom and I decided to squeeze in one more hike. So we headed down Gallatin Canyon to climb Storm Castle, a 7165 foot (2184 m) summit. This is… Continue reading Montana Summits: Storm Castle Peak
After my mom retires in two years, she’s planning to move to Colorado. And while it will be nice to have her so much closer, I’m also sad I’ll no longer have much of a reason to visit Montana on a regular basis. Last summer, I flew home for a week and we road tripped… Continue reading Montana road trip 2022, part I: Philipsburg, Anaconda, and the Pintler Scenic Highway
While we were camped at Vedauwoo (if you missed last week’s post, you can read all about Vedauwoo here), we took a few hours out of our day to visit nearby Laramie, Wyoming. Laramie is the third largest city in Wyoming and home to some interesting museums and quite a lot of frontier history. We… Continue reading Eight Hours in Laramie, Wyoming
Vedauwoo [vee-dah-voo]: anglicized version of the Arapaho word bi-ito’o’wu, meaning ‘earth born’ Vedauwoo Recreation Area encompasses a large collection of 1.4 billion-year-old granite outcrops in the foothills of the Laramie Mountains in southern Wyoming. Evidence of human habitation of the area dates back at least 8000 years; it is the native land of the Arapaho,… Continue reading Among the Rocks – Vedauwoo Recreation Area, Wyoming
The final destination for our three-day weekend in Cheyenne, Wyoming was nearby Curt Gowdy State Park. Curt Gowdy State Park is located in the foothills of the Laramie Mountains, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Cheyenne. This is the native land of the Comanche, Pawnee, Crow, and Shoshone, but they were displaced in the… Continue reading A hidden waterfall and obnoxious geese – Curt Gowdy State Park, Wyoming
Ask anyone who has ever gone on a road trip with me, and they’ll tell you that I planned far more things than we could possibly fit into the time we had. They wouldn’t be lying. I’m not exactly what you’d call a relaxed vacationer. But every once in a while – usually accidentally –… Continue reading Pioneers on the Plains – Fort Laramie National Historic Site, Wyoming
Handstands Around the World 