Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest I feel most alive surrounded by trees and breathing in the fresh mountain air.
When I am not working you will most likely find me spending time outdoors, volunteering with my church and exploring this beautiful planet with my family.
This is my place to share my passion for life and to encourage you to take time to find the extraordinary in your life.
All tagged adventure
While visiting San Juan Island we went on a kayak trip with San Juan Outfitters. What started out as a beautiful day for a paddle ended in the most memorable kayak trip of our lives. We headed out of Roche Harbor and made our way to Henry Island. A couple hours in we stopped and enjoyed a shoreline brown bag lunch and then continued on. Before long we spotted a small clustering of boats and we knew it must be one thing- whales. For the next half hour we watched in awe as the whales swam a mere hundred yards away from our kayaks.
In my opinion, one of the prettiest areas in all of Washington state is the North Cascades. It is breathtakingly beautiful at every turn, more hiking trails than you'll ever have time for, and feels remote, yet is easy enough to get to. Our first encounter with the Freestone Inn was a couple days after our son, Asher passed away. Unaware of our circumstance, we were greeted with a warm welcome, a friendly smile and a cozy room complete with a large soaking tub, stone fireplace and lovely views of the property. Since then, we have made it an annual tradition to return to this special place year after year. The Freestone Inn is located on Wilson Ranch on a gorgeous piece of property. We have been fortunate enough to visit the property during the Summer, Fall and Winter and there are different things we enjoy about each season in the North Cascades.
This Summer, we have tried our best to take advantage of what has seemed like endless glorious weather. A couple weekends back we spent the entire day hiking the 11.5 miles to Pratt Lake. Aside from the air being hazy from all the fires in the North Cascades, it was a wonderful day spent together as a family up in the mountains. I have to give my husband major kudos because he not only hiked, but carried Jasper on his back almost the entire way. Since Pratt Lake is such a long hike it deters a lot of people. As a result, we found ourselves alone most of the time on the trail. It was a scenic hike where we passed through several different types of landscapes and encountered endless types of terrain. It was a beautiful hike, albeit long and one I am eager to do again as an overnight adventure.
While we were in Glacier National Park we did a fantastic and easy hike called Avalanche Lake. The trail starts at the Trail of the Cedars and is located 6 miles east of the Lake McDonald Lodge. The trail is only 4.5 miles long with a mere 730 feet elevation gain. On the day of our hike the weather was a bit cool and the clouds were hung low. This moody weather not only made for beautiful photographs, but made us feel right at home.
