Here are some recent Instagram snaps from @thepursuitof_life! If you aren’t following along and would like to see more of our day-to-day wanderings, head on over to Instagram to follow!
Category: Personal (page 2 of 5)
Well we have officially been on the road for 100 days! Well a couple more than that by now. Our 100th day fell on the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, and we spent the day sea kayaking around San Juan Island in very windy seas but beautiful sunny weather, searching the horizon for signs of Orcas or other whales or dolphins. We didn’t see any whales unfortunately, but spotted a number of Bald Eagles, including some mating activity, and had a lovely time exploring the western coast of San Juan Island, and getting a workout in to boot.
So, as we celebrate this milestone of 100 days into this grand adventure, here are some random thoughts from me.
TinyHouses are all the rage these days, and so we jumped on the bandwagon! And LOVED IT! You guys sure loved the Instagram photo of the TinyHouse we rented in Portland, Oregon, too. It is my most loved, most appreciated photo so far. And by popular demand, in fact, very demanding demand, here’s a post about our experience staying in the TinyHouse in Portland.
Life was meant for good friends and great adventures. It is especially sweet when good friends join you for those great adventures. For Memorial Day this year, a couple of our favorites joined us on the road for the long weekend. We met them at Shasta National Forest, in the very northern part of California, and began our weekend of revelry. We hiked from Castle Lake to Heart Lake, catching up on life and enjoying the beautiful views of Mt. Shasta.
When an individual is raped in this country, more than 90 percent of the time the rapist gets away with the crime. With the current discussion about sexual assault, punishment (or lack thereof), privilege and college campuses, especially in light of the recent appallingly weak sentencing of the Stanford swimmer who raped an unconscious woman on campus, this is a book that should be at the very top of everyone’s reading list. I hadn’t heard of Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town when it was published in 2015, but in following the Stanford rapist case I read a quote by Jon Krakauer, one of my favorite authors, and wondered why they would be interviewing him for this story. And then I discovered his book and thought I’ve got to read this, it’s so relevant right now and he’s a great investigative author.
Missoula is a non-fiction book that discusses sexual assaults that occurred between 2010 and 2012 at the University of Montana, a huge, public, football-obsessed university (not unlike the University of Florida, where I went to school) located in the small town of Missoula, Montana. Krakauer investigates these sexual assaults and the responses to them by the police department, the university, the county attorney’s office and the public. And he paints a disturbing picture that is unfortunately probably not an outlier in the way that sexual assaults are handled in college towns, and one can only imagine in other facets of society as well.
Canyoneering – what an exhilarating, slightly terrifying way to experience the canyons that make up so much of Utah’s beauty! When we are given a raving review of a place or activity, we usually take it. This is what happened when we decided to go canyoneering near Zion National Park in southern Utah. We’d met a guy on our hike on Hermit Trail at the Grand Canyon (see here for a recap!) and got to chatting with him, and he could not speak more highly of his experience canyoneering in Water Canyon in southern Utah. So we put it on the list and we are so glad that we did.
We have affectionately named her Magellan, or Gelly for short!
So how did we end up choosing this camper over all the other options – tents, RVs, fifth wheels? Camping and roadtripping continues to grow in popularity, so there are lots of options to choose from, but when we focused on our budget, our must have features, where we would be traveling and what kind of experience we were looking for, the Treeline Teardrop Camper was the perfect option for us. Here’s why and how we came to the decision.
Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon, both just outside of Page, Arizona in the very northern part of the state on the border with Utah, are “must see” spots – touted on top 10 lists and with beautiful photos included in the guide books. So of course we thought – we have to go see these stunning places! And stunning they are … gilded but not gold because of the crowds that taint the experience of gazing on such beautiful places.
If you have ever met us, you know how obsessed we are with our pup. Our furbaby. Our darling princess queen bee nugget Coconut. So when we decided to take a long road trip around the Western U.S, we thought well of course we will take Coconut with us! Well, that’s what I thought. Ryan was a little more practical and said – maybe we should think about this a little more. And of course I won out and we took her with us! But there are some serious things to consider when deciding whether you should bring your dog along with you on your roadtrip.
Coconut was with us for 5 weeks on the road and we absolutely loved having her along for the adventure. After all, you wouldn’t leave your kids at home for such a grand adventure, so why would we leave our fur-kid at home?!
I am not a baker per se. I don’t have the fancy scales, cake pans and pie tins that are hallmarks of a serious baker. I dabble in baking and usually it turns out pretty tasty … although I have never quite figured out how to make my flourless cake not crumble the instant I try to serve it on a plate. Regardless, I’d like to think that I’m a decent baker because I am a rule follower. To the T. So I can follow a recipe like it’s nobody’s business. When we finalized our plans for this trip, I decided that I wanted to learn how to make bread so that I can make some bread for us from time to time on the road.
