Big Sky, Montana

A year ago I made a trip to Montana. A glorious road trip starting in West Yellowstone and ending in Great Falls. Not a long trip as the crow flies but it was a circle trip that had me flying into Idaho Falls, ID, driving to West Yellowstone, Big Sky, Bozeman, Butte, Fort Benton, and finally Great Falls, MT. It was a fun trip of exploration and sightseeing. On the day I left West Yellowstone, I drove an hour north to Big Sky. This small town is a beautiful place to visit and, during the height of summer tourism or winter skiing season, it must be a busy place. The day I visited, however, was quiet with very few people. I will admit that was a little surprised though.  It was a gorgeous afternoon, albeit a little chilly, but still beautiful weather to wander around and explore.

When I first arrived to Big Sky, I parked my car behind a little complex thinking there would be several stores to explore and that I couple spend the next couple hours exploring the town center. I was correct about being able to visit some stores and explore the town center, but it only took me about 45 minutes tops. Don’t get me wrong. The city center is beautiful. Huge mountains surrounded the town, brilliant blue skies boasted white puffy clouds. I was entranced with the gorgeous buildings all designed to look as though they were made of wood. I wandered through several stores and debated doing a wine tasting. I drifted in and out of a couple of art galleries and took in the beauty of the art. I even visited the small local grocery store to snag some road trip snacks and ended up with a new tube of delicious smelling huckleberry hand lotion.

Not ready to hunt up my next hotel and too early to get dinner yet, I decided to explore the area a bit more and took my car up the mountain, on a winding twisty road. Gorgeous views greeted me at each bend in the road. Breathtaking vistas and hikes called to me. Had I been better prepared, had it been earlier in the day, I might have answered the call to take a hike. Eventually I hit the end of the road and at the end was a massive ski lodge. I could only imagine when the ground is coated in white that it would be a very busy place. But at that moment, with the sun beginning to set, green mountains around me, and trees just beginning to show their colors I virtually had the place to myself. It was a beautiful moment and a lovely place to be. 

After a bit I climbed back into my car and headed back down the twisty roads to Big Sky town center and parked again. I decided on a small pizzeria and was lucky to snag a table by the window. I enjoyed a fabulous margarita pizza while watching the sun lower in the sky and the clouds drift across the sky. It was a quiet, relaxing, and perfect afternoon. One day, I hope to return to Big Sky. This time though, I’ll be better prepared. Those hikes are still calling my name.

Nashville, Indiana

As we move farther into fall I can't help but think back a few years to when I went on a trip to Indiana to visit a family friend. It was a wonderful trip and the experiences I had were just so much fun. When we arrived in Indiana it was early in the season so the trees were still in the midst of changing and provided a lovely tapestry of colors. Brilliant greens still held onto many trees while some had given way to autumn. There were lovely shades of orange, red, and yellow on those threes. A veritable feast for the eyes!

One day on our trip we drove down to visit Nashville, Indiana, a small picturesque town about an hour south of Indianapolis. For me, visiting this small town was much like stepping onto the set of Gilmore Girls (a favorite show of mine.) I stood on the gazebo and watched people moving about with their cameras, busily capturing memories. I remember hearing the church bells chime the hour in a singsong melody. Vivid flower pots teeming with flowers were scattered around the town square amongst the hay bales and fall decorations. Garlands of fall leaves were wrapped around light poles and graced the poles and rales of the gazebo.

I stood with my mom, who is also a fan of Gilmore Girls, and laughed with her on how we almost expected certain characters to come bustling across the center of town. Perhaps, Lorelai would go racing toward the diner for yet another cup of coffee. Maybe Rory and Lane would walk up onto the Gazebo and sit for a chat. I joked with mom that I almost expected Taylor Doose to come running up when we hovered over a plaque commemorating the first public water pump for the town.

We paused to take a picture on the gazebo, mom and I, to commemorate that moment in time. Mother and daughter, much like the show we enjoyed, relaxing, having fun in this small town that was just bursting with charm. It was such an enjoyable and memorable day. Certainly, a place that's marked on my list for another visit. Perhaps I'll go when it's off-season, find a small B&B. Who knows? Maybe I'll run into a few unique people all belonging to Nashville, Indiana.

A Snowy Flagstaff Vacation

It was getting late on New Year's Eve of 2012 and I was feeling under the weather. However, there were three things that were for certain. First, I wasn't going to bed until midnight, I was not about to miss the ball drop on television. As it was, I wasn't able to go downtown to the Pinecone drop in Flagstaff. Having a cold meant I needed to keep out of the cold. Plus I was comfy-cozy in my favorite jammies and snuggled in on the couch of my hotel room. Second, despite my cold, I wasn't about to miss out on a short mini-vacation to Flagstaff. I'd been planning this trip for a while and had been looking forward to it. I wasn't going to cancel now. Third, the temperature was dropping and despite my desire to stay warm and out of the cold, I also knew that the temp was due to drop below zero anytime now and I wanted to know what that type of cold felt like. 

At this time in my life, I'd lived in the Phoenix area my whole life. I knew what hot was like but had no idea what a negative temperature felt like. Plus my exposure to snow at that time was fairly limited so it was exciting for me to be in Flagstaff, on New Year's Eve, and getting some snow! The day had been an interesting one, I'd decided not to just lay low in my room as I'd been feeling pretty good that day. So I headed out to Sunset Crater, a spot where a dormant volcano had long ago erupted but the evidence was still quite visible. As I drove toward the visitor center I soaked up the views of snow on the mountains around Flagstaff, snapping pictures along the way.

When I pulled off the road to get to Sunset Crater I was happy to see there were no other cars on the road at the time. Normally I might have been a bit apprehensive going alone on a road like this but the road was a little icy. As I had always lived in the valley, icy roads were not something I was familiar with navigating in my car. I white-knuckled my way down the road as the tires skidded a little on the ice. Slowing to a crawl I prayed I wouldn't do any damage to the car or slide off the road. Parts of the road that had had some sun exposure were dry and easy to navigate but the parts flanked by trees, icy, snowy, and slick. And for me, a little frightening. As I reached a pull off I gladly parked my car and took a break to get some pictures and to relieve the tension in my shoulders. After a while, I began to get cold so I traded in shivering for some more tense moments along the icy road. 

I finally made it to the visitor and was absolutely enchanted by the contract of black ash from the volcanic cinder against the white snow. I walked the paved pathway around Sunset Crater and took so many pictures trying to capture the juxtaposition of white and black thrown together to create an otherworldly feel. There were a handful of people braving the cold as I was and taking in the beauty of the site. After a bit of walking around, I noticed that the clouds had completely moved in. Snow was threatening again and the wind was picking up. Temperatures were noticeably dropping and I began to shiver. It was time to head back to the hotel. I was ready for a cup of hot tea, a yummy dinner, and a hot bath.

That evening I relaxed in my hotel room, and finally cuddled into my jammies after having soaked in a hot bath and had removed any trace of tension from my drive to and from Sunset Crater. I was warm all the way to my fingertips and utterly content curled up in a blanket watching a movie on tv. I remember checking the time, it was getting late but I was so close to midnight I wasn't giving up just yet. I also noticed the temperature, it was getting really cold outside, also zero degrees. I decided that when the temperature hit -1 I would step outside quickly just to feel what minus one was like. Time continued on and I watched the time and the temperatures. Midnight came and went, I watched the ball drop on tv and the temperature finally hit the negatives. So I bundled up, put on my shoes and out the door I went. I was stunned, not by the cold but by the beauty that met me. Snow had begun to fall during the night and the blanket of white was unexpected and exciting for me. I ran back inside and grabbed my camera. Thoughts of just a quick jaunt in negative degrees were scattered by the excitement of experiencing snow as it fell. I spent the next half hour walking around, happily taking pictures of the falling snow and how it blanketed everything in view.

The next morning I woke to see a happy winter wonderland. Cars hadn't begun leaving the hotel yet so the parking lot was still pristine white. The nasty effects of an old snowfall hadn't settled in yet. No grey snow, no iciness on the pavement had occurred yet that morning. It was crisp and cold, and everything was clean and fresh. This trip to Flagstaff was wonderful and one I don't think I'll ever be able to have again, but it was an amazing trip. Definately one of a lot of firsts for me.

A Ride on the Big Foot Rapids

I have been thinking a lot lately about trips I've taken with friends and couldn't help but think about one particular trip. A first trip that was independent of our parents and independent of our church. That year my friends Jennifer, Katie, Karen, and I plotted, planned and finally pulled our parents for a meeting.  We were close in age, only about 17 or 18 and all of us still answering to our parents.

I remember the day we decided to sit our parents down to have a meeting. We had the trip planned, we had asked friends of our who were older, our parents age but with one important distinction, they weren't our parents. They were cool. Jennifer and Katie had much more work cut out for them because they had to convince Katie's parents to let her stay behind since they were just about to move out of state. Somehow, we did it. We planned the trip, we got the okay to go to California where we would hit the beach and visit Knott's Berry Farm.

This was the best time, we were all so excited to visit the park. We hit rides, ate yummy food, and generally had a great time. One particular ride,  however, saw us many many times that day. That was the Big Foot Rapids. This ride was a round float where several people rode face to the center of the float. It was a ride designed to get everyone on each raft drenched in water. If the rapids didn't get you, then surely one of the waterfalls the raft was sure to go under would. It held true for all of us, except one, Jennifer.

We went on that ride several times throughout the day with a goal of getting Jennifer wet and each time someone would come out drenched in water but just not Jennifer. The ride attempts mounted quickly, 5, 6, 7 and still Jennifer maybe a drop or two of water. The 8th, 9th, and 10th tries were met with a little more determination. We climbed off the ride and immediately rounded back to the line to wait to go through again. By the 10th try, we were near the end of the day and the line had grown considerably shorter.

We began to hop off to get back in line after the 10th time and the employee knew we'd be right back and said to just stay put. He had caught on to the fact that our friend was still dry. The 11th time through, still nothing. I was soaked. Twelfth time, she got a little wet. Then the magic round, the 13th try. We thought it wasn't going to happen, we'd made it through the rapids with no water on Jennifer, then we hit the waterfall and like magic, the raft spun at the last second shooting Jennifer right under the heart of the water flow. Drenched, soaked from head to foot. Not one dry spot on her. We cheered, it was finally done. Climbing out of the raft like heroes we plodded away from the ride, shoes full of water, shivering from cold, clothes and hair dripping. It really was a great day and one for the memory.

Five Years Ago

Five years ago today I went on an ultimate trip, my first time to Ireland. There was so much to this trip that it is hard to sum it all up into one blog post but I had to walk through the memories of that journey once again. I remember landing in Dublin and feeling so excited. I immediately was at home. I remember walking through the airport once we were through customs and making my first purchase using Euro. I don't know what made me do it, but I bought a newspaper to mark the first day I had been to Ireland.

I remember sitting behind the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car and then slowly navigating on unfamiliar roads also on the wrong side of the road. I remember the brilliance of the colors, like a cool spring day with deep blue skies, and brilliant greens. I also remember thinking how Dublin was a lot like other cities; busy, fast-paced, and full of people and cars all racing off to one place or another.

I remember driving through small towns with roads so narrow that cars parked on the sidewalk. I remember loving the way signs throughout Ireland were written in English and in Gaelic. I remember the delicate beauty of Waterford Crystal and the bold grace of Giant's Causeway. I remember the dizzying height of standing atop a cliff while overlooking the ocean and how small I felt floating on the water at the base of another cliff.

I remember the overwhelming stink of cow manure that wafted through a part of a small town but also remember the wonderful aroma of Lamb Stew so expertly prepared. I loved the restaurants and learning that a sandwich with salad didn't mean two dishes served together but rather a sandwich with lettuce and tomato. I remember having dinner at a Chinese food restaurant and seeing a daily special being served with fries. I remember fries (chips) were served with just about everything and remember being sick of fries by the time we left. I remember the continuous struggle to order a soda and having to explain by naming brands of soda before the server would understand what I was asking for.

I remember visiting an old church ruin and the guide telling me to pray for a husband. I remember getting soaked on the cart ride back from the church and laughing because I'd prayed for rain instead. I remember spending three weeks looking for sunglasses for mom because she'd left hers back home thinking it would be cloudy all the time.

I remember the community and friendliness of the various owners of the B&B's as well as the easy camaraderie among strangers in a bar watching the Hurling finals between county Cork and county Clair. I loved seeing the good-natured barbs that were tossed between the fans of both teams.

I remember the sadness as we neared the end of our journey and the ache that filled me as we headed to the airport to go back home. I remember how long the flight was and remember how odd it was to drive on the left again. Today, five years later, I remember so many details of this journey, like it just happened. I will have a moment, or the air will feel just so, and I'll think how it is just like it was when I visited Ireland.

A Hollywood Hike

About fifteen years ago, my friend Jennifer and I set off for California with a destination in mind. My bucket list item of hiking to the Hollywood sign. I had done a little research and thought we were prepared for the hike. It didn't look to be too long and knew the hike would take us to a spot just above the sign so we would be looking down at it. Before heading to L.A., we decided to make a full weekend of our trip since we were driving the distance and headed to Dana Point. We spent the first full day exploring Dana Point and catching a whale/dolphin excursion on Captain Dave's Dolphin Safari. We also spent some time exploring San Diego that day. It was a fun day and despite the low-lying fog to start the morning, it turned out to be a beautifully sunny day. The weather was perfect, and I was positive that when we got to L.A. the next morning for our hike the weather would be just right for the hike to the Hollywood sign. I was so ready, and so excited for this hike.

Sunday morning we rose early and were soon on our way to L.A. to complete the short hike. We snagged a quick breakfast and made a point to stop for some sunblock since I had suffered a pretty bad facial sunburn from the previous day's excursions on the water. With a printed map in hand, we thought we were set with the directions to get to the trailhead and start off on our hike. We zipped up the freeway from Dana Point to Los Angeles and I knew, without a doubt, that we would be at the trail in no time. I could not have been more wrong. As we neared L.A. traffic began to slow. We crept down the freeway along with hundreds of other cars. We started to spy signs for the exit we needed which, of course, was across three lanes of traffic, all at a slow creep or a dead stop. Knowing we needed to get over, Jennifer put on her I-got-this attitude and began the terrifying process of changing lanes. She put on the turn signal and waited. The second an individual in the lane next to ours showed even a moment of hesitation, she acted, zipping the car into the space in the next lane. I clenched my hands around the handle of the door and tried to breathe, terrified with each lane change that we would either slam into the car in front of us or be rammed by the car we pulled in front of. Amazingly though, we made it across all three lanes of traffic, and not even on person honked at us as we managed to cut them off at each step. We finally approached the exit of the freeway and left, unscathed. I was never more happy than I was at that moment to be away from the freeways of L.A.

We made our way up into the Hollywood hills and toward the sign. We followed the directions we'd printed from Mapquest, we only had another ten-minute drive until we should be at the trailhead. Little did we know....it wasn't a ten-minute drive. The map directions took us to a dead end, so we began to explore. We could see the sign from where we were, it was just a matter of finding the trail. So we drove up one street and down another looking for roads that would lead us up the hill. An hour later we finally found it. The parking lot and trailhead for the hike to the Hollywood sign. We were there! Excited I grabbed my bottle of water, which was now half empty, and my camera and popped out of the car. That's when it hit me, it was HOT! I'd spent the last couple hours in a nicely cooled car and had just left a place where the weather was absolutely perfect. This was not the hiking weather I had envisioned at all. Jen asked if I still wanted to do the hike. By this point, my enthusiasm had waned a little. I smiled and said I did, trying to appear much more sure about this hike than I felt. We read the informational sign at the start of the trail and that's when I realized we were about to start on a 2-mile hike. The reality of this hike began to sink in and I knew that I wouldn't be crossing off my bucket list item that day. With temperatures in the 90s, half a bottle of water, and now past lunch, hiking wasn't looking to be the best idea. Plus we had a six-hour drive just to get back to Phoenix to do after.

I finally gave in and admitted that maybe the full hike wasn't the best idea that day, but maybe we could walk up enough just to see the sign and then go grab some lunch. Jen agreed that this might be the best plan and we would just have to put the bucket list item back on the list. So we set off up the dirt trail that I realize now was probably more a service road than a trail. The first leg was a bit of a steep climb but we kept pushing up the hill. I wasn't in shape at all and hadn't hiked in a couple years. I immediately knew that we wouldn't be pushing too far up the hill before hitting a stopping point.

When we reached a good spot I looked out over the view down below. A good part of the drive to the trail involved a lot of going uphill so the view we had from just the short amount of hiking we completed was already pretty amazing. I snapped a few photos and another hiker seeing me taking pics offered to take a picture of me and Jennifer with the sign in the background. We happily accepted and I handed him my camera. He snapped several pictures of us before handing the camera back to me. I stopped for a moment and just took in my surroundings. While I knew I wouldn't actually make it all the way up to the top, I also knew that this was a pretty amazing moment. I was closer to the sign than I'd ever been and, in all, the experience driving around the neighborhood of the Hollywood sign was pretty cool. There was a mixture of high-end fancy homes and lower cost homes as we drove around the streets of the Hollywood hill. This was an experience I wouldn't trade for anything. We may not have hit the goal of reaching the Hollywood sign but it was a great day. As I write this today, I can note I haven't been back to try the hike again but I am more active now than I was then, perhaps it's time I start thinking about planning another attempt at this hike. This time, I'll be more prepared and ready to do the hike up the Hollywood hill. This time, I'll be ready to cross this item off my list.

An Hour in the Discovery Green

Here I was in Houston, Texas. I had spent the morning in a conference and was taking a break to catch my breath and eat some lunch. My mind was whirling from information I had taken in from the sessions I had attended already that morning. I hated that I was missing another session, but I could no longer ignore my grumbling tummy. So off I went to get something to eat.

I stepped out of the hotel lobby and into the wall of hot, humid air. Being from Northern Arizona, this was certainly a shift in climate for me, especially since it was only April. Back where I lived I'd still be living in jeans, with a light sweater in the early morning or at night. Here, however, the air was thick, heavy, and warm. I debated briefly which direction I should go to find a bite to eat and remembered seeing a park around the back of the hotel. Knowing there were places to eat in that direction, I decided it might be a good idea to take a walk around the park as well, just to stretch my legs. 

The Discovery Green was a lovely little park, a small area of fun and relaxation in the heart of bustling activity that was the Houston metropolis. I made my way past the first of many sights that would grab my attention. A piece of art perched atop a couple of concrete steps. It was a large rectangle comprised of many squares all differing in colors. It almost reminded me of pixilation you might see in a video. It was huge and I stared at it for a bit, wondering about its purpose and who had created this piece. I made my way further into the park under the cover of massive trees that provided welcome shade from the hot sun. As I walked I happily found a couple of fountains, a lake where many kayaks were paddled by happy people, and lots of green grassy areas where people relaxed, children played, and some even picniced. 

I spied a small glass building that boasted hot dogs and hamburgers that sat alongside the small pond where the kayaks were offered. Knowing that my view for lunch would be a nice one I decided that a hot dog would be in order for my lunch that day. I snagged an outdoor table, despite the humidity of the outdoors, I knew I wanted to take in the views the pond and those having fun in the water would afford. 

After my lunch was over I walked some more before heading back for the afternoon sessions at the conference. I spied a water pad area where fountains of water sprayed over a large flat surface. Several children dashed into the pad and out again laughing as they were sprayed. I laughed as a young boy braved the sprays over and over, shyly reaching the water then dancing away just before he was hit. As he grew bolder he stayed near the water longer, and before long he was racing through the sprays as they went along with other children.

My time in the park was over and I needed to head back inside to the convention, but this was an hour of fun to witness. I really enjoyed seeing the views the Discovery Green had to offer. I hope one day I can go back to explore a little further. Maybe I even get to rent a kayak and paddle around on the water too!