Yup. I went to Alaska with my sister Maile, my other sister(in-law) Amy, my aunt and my mom.
It was pretty much the most beautiful trip I've ever been on. Hands down.
But I will blog about that next week.
Today I'm blogging about something equally gorgeous, but a little closer to home.
On Tuesday, I got to go on a hike with my Julia and a bunch of other 12 and 13 year old girls.
They were all getting certified for girls' camp. One of the requirements is a 5 mile hike.
We went with this awesome lady who has climbed Mt. Rainier 3 times!! So she knows her stuff.
Just that should have been a clue as to what we were in for. What's easy to someone who has climbed a mountain, is not the same as easy to the rest of us.
And the fact that I was still recovering from my trip added a little to it. But over all, it was sooo amazing. And the girls really should have been proud of their accomplishment.
I exaggerate not when I say that the first three miles was mostly at a lovely, glute strengthening incline. And the 3 miles back down was equally as wonderful for calf sculpting.
It wasn't until we were done that Alyson let us know we had really hiked 6 miles instead of 5.
And yes! That extra mile does make a difference.
On the way up we stopped at an overlook to see one of God's most beautiful creations.
I was talking about Julia. But Mt. Rainier is nice too:)
Part of what increased the length of our hike was an on purpose detour that let the girls and leaders take a gander at this:
I don't remember what these falls are called.
I was in a de-oxygenated state, okay?
And I only had my cell phone to take pictures with. Cuz as much as it would have been nice to have my good camera, lugging that thing around seemed, well, stupid.
When we got to the top, we sat to eat our lunch. And we found ourselves to be surrounded by Canadian Jays.
No, unfortunately that is not a really good looking Canadian hockey team. They are birds. And they are not afraid of people.
So all the girls sat with their hands out, with a little food perched on top. And the birds would land quickly and then take off with their plunder.
They did actually land on Julia's hand, but my phone is not quick enough, aaannnddd to be honest, I got a little bored waiting for one to come back. So did Julia. We're too easily distracted. By what you ask?
Oh I don't know. Maybe by the view from our lunch spot.
I give you Mt. Rainier. But you can't keep it.
Yup. This is what I saw as I sat and ate my turkey sandwich on gluten free bread.
I could have sat there forever if my seat had not been Engagement Rock. My bum started to hurt. But it was so beautiful and I tried to imagine what it would be like to sit and listen to the mountain without the surround sound of 15 girls.
Oh side note. I gave the rock I was sitting on the name of Engagement Rock. Because as we walked to the lunch spot, there was a couple sitting there that had just got, gotten?, engaged! And I'm sure they were glad to share it with 20 teenage girls and women. *ahem*
Actually, it added to the memorable experience I'm sure. Nothing like the love of your life saying yes to your hand in marriage, only to then be descended upon by a large group of people.
Hence, Engagement Rock.
It was fun, beautiful and totally worth the copious amounts of sweat that we all produced. Except for me of course. I'm in such top shape that I............I can't even finish such a lie.
Lets just say that it took me an hour to fully dry out.
Next week I'll show you the pictures from Alaska. Sadly, the pictures are sad because I decided to forgo the good camera because I thought it would be too bulky, and only take Julia's little point and shoot. Oh how I rue that decision!!!!!
Til next week.
I missed you!! Such beautiful scenery!!
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