Road Trip/Concert of the Year

For my 27 list, even though we've already gone to a few concerts this year, I held off crossing off item #2 in honor of our road trip to the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado.

We road tripped nearly 3000 miles (approximately 50 driving hours round trip) to see Shpongle at Red Rocks, a truly indescribable event. The show was completely sold out, meaning nearly ten thousand people were crowded around a magnificent geological structure to witness a band that plays together no more than three times a year, never tours, and rarely steps foot in the United States.

Road trip commence!

I was very thankful to have baked these chewy bars. The perfect road trip treat!

Oh no!

Too windy in Pendleton, Oregon to leave the car.

After driving through the night, we drove through...Wyoming. Never drive through Wyoming. 

Wyoming pit stop

After 25 hours we made it to Denver, with only three hours before the concert.
We stopped here for an incredible vegan dinner. 

Downtown Denver architecture  

Kevin liked the trees

Perfect footwear for an outdoor concert, right?!

Blurry, but we'd asked a passerby at Red Rocks to take the picture.

Everyone waiting for the show to start!

We're ready to get SHPONGLED... 

The next morning we woke up to snow!

We drove back to Red Rocks to see what it looked like in the daylight.

The amphitheater during a snow storm 

Remember how we had the perfect footwear for an outdoor concert?
Yeah, it was the ONLY footwear we'd brought with us.  

After getting stuck in a snow storm and being rerouted to Boulder for an extra night, 

we finally made it out of Colorado a day behind schedule. Sorry, employers!

The border of Colorado and Utah at sunset

After stopping at the border, we drove through the night again,
making it to Idaho around 6am the next morning.

Almost home!
 We were beginning to miss the green. 

Hood River, Oregon

Stopped for lunch with a friend

The smoothie that saves lives.

Hood River...another adventure for the near future.

After over 50 hours in the car, two cold nights napping at rest stops and in Walmart parking lots, a snow storm, an epic concert, terrifying Denver drivers, a lot of chewy bars, long stretches of endless highway, a pretty bad Chinese restaurant and days of gas station coffees, we decided we couldn't be more thankful to call the Pacific Northwest our home.


1. Go to Lovesick Expo (January 26th 2014)  2. Go to a concert 3. Try a 30 Day Challenge 4. Face a fear 5. Take a class 6. Stress less 7. Learn a new skill 8. Buy less, sew more 9. Plant a garden 10. Eat less junk 11. Exercise more 12. Marry my best friend (July 26th, 2014) 13. Honeymoon in a yurt 14. Volunteer 15. Be more social 16. Watch less TV 17. Join a protest 18. Go camping 19. Run a 5K 20. Make plans for Halloween 21. Move to a new place 22. Find a new job 23. Recognize all there is to be thankful for 24. Take more days off 25. Nurture my creativity 26. Write more letters 27. Call my grandparents more often

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for not having internet.

When we moved out into the woods, we had no idea that we would simply not be able to get internet in our home. The two companies in the Olympia area cannot support our neighborhood; one can't because they don't have a cable system laid out that far and the other can't because they have exceeded their bandwidth.We get a teensy bit of (spotty) 3G through our phones, but not enough to do any serious surfing. So no photo uploading, no video watching, no loading heavy GIF sites. So long, Buzzfeed.

Of course, there are some other options (Satellite, 3G booster, etc.) but those are pretty expensive. So we've decided to simply embrace this new lack of technology.

What I am thankful for is the extra time I have found.

I have baked cookies and chewy bars in the same evening.
I have been reading more.
I have found time to work on wedding projects.
I have played in the woods.
I have poked a newt with a blade of grass.
I have napped guilt-free with my cat.
I have relaxed in the rocking chair in our yard with a mug of coffee.
I have played with the neighbors' dog.

I am excited to discover what else I find time for!

Little House in the Big Woods

When I originally wrote my 27 List, #21: Move to a New Place was intended to mean away from Olympia. We wanted to escape this city (despite how wonderful it always seems to be when we least expect it) in search of something new, even if that was a temporary experiment. However, the universe seemed to have something different in mind for us this year.

Moving away from Olympia didn't happen, but moving outside of Olympia did. Even though our address still says "Olympia" we are technically in "Unincorporated Thurston County." We now live in the most adorable tiny house surrounded by Capital Forest,  a fifteen minute drive away from the city.
That's one thing I really love about the Pacific Northwest: you don't have to drive very far to get back to nature. In fact, here is our backyard!

1. Go to Lovesick Expo (January 26th 2014)  2. Go to a concert 3. Try a 30 Day Challenge 4. Face a fear 5. Take a class 6. Stress less 7. Learn a new skill 8. Buy less, sew more 9. Plant a garden 10. Eat less junk 11. Exercise more 12. Marry my best friend (July 26th, 2014) 13. Honeymoon in a yurt 14. Volunteer 15. Be more social 16. Watch less TV 17. Join a protest 18. Go camping 19. Run a 5K 20. Make plans for Halloween 21. Move to a new place 22. Find a new job 23. Recognize all there is to be thankful for 24. Take more days off 25. Nurture my creativity 26. Write more letters 27. Call my grandparents more often

Return to Mima Mounds

I love how close the Mima Mounds are to our new home! Just a short ten minute drive away! I went here the other day to check out the mid-spring prairie landscape. Tons of tiny little flowers across the hills, mostly camas, violets, buttercups. There were a few flowers the guide claimed would be there, but I couldn't find them. Also happy to see the bees are thriving here! 

Camas flowers

Violets

Buttercups!  

I think these were the broad-leaved shooting stars