Mt. Rainier

Last Saturday Alex, Char, William, Max, my Mom and I hiked up Mt. Rainier to Camp Muir, the base camp for summiting the mountain. We started at Paradise, about 5,000 feet, and hiked on SNOW the entire way up to Muir at 10,180 feet!

We left Seattle at 5am in order to start hiking around 9. It was a strenuous hike up to Muir, it took about 4 hours to reach the base camp, and then about 3 hours down. Luckily we had a gorgeous day, sun shining, not a cloud int he sky. It was SO beautiful- you could see mountains all around you. It was especially nice to show William, and Irishman, the mountains and the snow since they don't have much in the way of elevation over there.



After our hike we camped out in the park nearby Paradise. We were all pretty tired, but also pumped that we had made it off the mountain. We built a fire, had some foil dinners and smores (Williams first!) and then slept like babies in our tents.

Even though it was a bit challenging at times, I would totally do it again. If you get a chance to hike to Muir- take it!

Land of Enchantment!

Maholla peeps-


Sorry its been so long since my last post-I have been one busy bee. Alex and I spent 5 days down in Eagle Nest, New Mexico at his families cabin. His entire immediate family was there, as well as a couple cousins and their families, so the house was packed! I lucked out and got his 4 year old niece Sienna as my roommate.

Eagle Nest has an annual 4th of July parade, BBQ, and fireworks show, so on the 4th we did it all! Here is a picture of us at the BBQ. The whole community gathered for the fest (a lot of Texans escaping the heat of their home towns). The BBQ meat was provided, but everyone brought a side to share, so the spread was enormous! The best dish was this white beef dish . . . . didn't look like beef, but it tasted amazing!

The parade went through the town, and everyone lined the streets in their red, white and blue garb. I have attended many a parade in my life, but what set the Eagle Nest 4th of July parade apart was the HUGE amount of candy that was thrown out. All the kids lined the side of the street with plastic bags waiting to scoop up the mass amounts of chocolate thrown at them from the floats. EVERYONE in the parade, even the float drivers, threw out candy! Unbelievable. Sienna had a Halloween sized bounty by the time it ended.

July 5th we awoke at 6am and drove 15 min away to Angel Fire for the annual Hot Air Balloon festival. There we saw many a balloon unpacked, inflated, and air born. It was an early start to the day, but it was definitely worth it. I have never been so close to a balloon, and it made me want to take a ride so bad!

We spent the next day in Taos, which I love, and then took off for Sante Fe before heading home. It was a great trip, busy busy, but great. I was able to eat a few sopapillas (my favorite) which was atop my list of things to do. It was nice to fly down to the cabin this time, as apposed to driving down like we did last year, because we were able to spend more time at the cabin hanging out and taking day trips.

What a great vacation- hopefully we can make it an annual trip!

Happy 4th of July!

I am heading down to New Mexico today to spend the 4th of July with Alex and his family. They have a wonderful cabin in Eagle Nest, NM- about 30 min from Taos. Last summer we drove all the way from Seattle to the cabin, which was fun, but this time we are flying so I am excited for that!! 3 days in the car is a bit much =)


Happy 4th of July!