So we were a little behind schedule. Terri and Garrett needed to get stuff to be able to hike Delta Lake, and while I’d hoped to drive straight there from Oxbow Bend, instead we were waiting for them to finish packing at our campsite. I quietly stewed for the 15 minutes it required them to …
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24th Birthday Weekend Recap
November 17, 2020 was my 23rd birthday. It came at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, before widespread vaccine availability. To put it in the simplest terms, it sucked. November 17, 2021 was my 24th birthday. Although covid is still a concern to this day, Elizabeth and I are not only vaccinated, we are boosted …
National Parks Trip: Oxbow Bend
My alarm jolted me awake. Grey dawn light filtered through our un-rain-flapped tent. I lay on a mostly-inflated air mattress, trying to reconcile myself to life. After a few moments, I remembered where I was, why I was up so early, and the fact that I probably had 4 other people to wake up. Or… …
National Parks Trip: Colter Bay Campground, Night One
I was newly engaged, surrounded by family, and had a full week ahead to explore two of the world’s most famous national parks. What more could a person want from life? The answer, of course, is food. My family and I had coordinated it so that they would pick up much of the necessary items …
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Great Sand Dunes National Park: Day Three
At some point overnight, the wind died down. The wind, that pervasive uninvited guest in our first day in Great Sand Dunes, which had shifted the tent all around when I laid down to sleep. It wasn’t gone, but it was quiet. I felt the lack of it when I awoke in the quiet dawn. …
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National Parks Trip: The Engagement
“I had to wear this vest all day”. The moment had arrived. My heart was ready to leap out of my throat. Both of our families gathered around us at Inspiration Point, and believe me, I felt more heat from everyone’s gaze than the brutal sun beating down on me. Ridiculously, the example I had …
Great Sand Dunes National Park: Day 2
My night of bleh at the worst hotel in existence was finally over. Punctuated by any number of trains going “WOO WOO” right outside our room, Scipio and I had drifted in and out of sleep while Elizabeth slept like a blissful rock alongside us. The dog finally decided he was done resting and insisted …
National Parks Trip: Jenny Lake
Without much warning, we had entered Grand Teton. Ahead of us, the Tetons rose from the horizon in bluish-grey splotches. Was the view majestic? Opinions differed. Elizabeth was categorically labelling our view a “dub”, even with no the mountains having no definition. I was significantly less impressed. It took little imagination for me to be …
Great Sand Dunes National Park: Day One
The big national park trip that I’ve already been writing about for the past few months was a huge, planned ordeal. We worked things out for months to make that trip happen. There were reservations, flights, cancellations, and all sorts of bureaucratic maneuvering we had to accomplish to get to where we wanted to. It …
Storm “Stay At Home” Log: October 27, 2021 Norman Tornado
This is not a storm chase log. October 26, 2021 was my 5-year anniversary with Elizabeth. I am a good fiance. I did not storm chase. However, I did still see a tornado by the end of the night. This will be a quick look into how I called my shot early and lived to …
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