4th of July - Bryce Canyon Adventure

Yep! Cats outta the bag. I have a boyfriend. We've been dating for 5 months. His name is Josh. He's amazing and he's the reason why I've been so happy lately : )

Anyways, this is what we did over the long 4th of July weekend:

I've lived in Utah since 2003 and I've NEVER been to Bryce Canyon. Josh, on the other hand, has lived in Utah for a year and has been there three times. I need to get out more.

So we decided to go.

After a beautiful drive up the mountain, we arrived at our destination. Of course, Josh's camera ran out of batteries so I gave him mine (I'm not a big picture taker) so he could be the "camera guy" and I could be "the navigator".

[My studley man rockin' the farmers tan]

We started off at Sunrise Point.

Then, hiked over to Sunset Point.

At this point I noticed that there are two ways to experience Bryce: (1) Drive along the ridge, stop at the designated look-out points, get out of your car, walk 10 feet, enjoy the view, take pictures OR (2) hike down into the amphitheater and experience nature.

Obviously the first way is the easiest, but we like adventure, so we decided to drop down into the amphitheater on the Navajo Trail.

After hiking down the gnarly switch backs, through the slot canyon, and into the amphitheater we came across this sign:

3 miles? Easy, right?!

We couldn't be more wrong. The hike was beautiful but burley! And running out of water a mile into it and getting altitude sickness didn't make things any better.

[Tired and out of water]

[Half way there and holding strong]

[Almost done!]

After a long hike we finally made it back to the bottom of the Navajo Trail. And this is what we had to climb back up in order to get some water:

Of course we made it out just fine (I kept saying "baby steps, baby steps")

Next, we headed over to the general store and got some much needed water and hot dogs.

I still wanted to see some of the legendary look out points so we decided to drive to the different look out points and check out the views.

[Rainbow Point]

[Natural Bridge]

[Inspiration Point]

Overall it was a great day! I can't believe that this gorgeous place is in my very own backyard! Josh and I decided that we would come back again and do some more hikes but that time we would be more prepared : )

Mediterranean Cruise: Part VIII

Wednesday, June 1, 2011 {Olympia, Greece}

The Final Port

- We finally arrived at Olympia: the birth place of the Olympics!

- Also home to one of the Ancient Wonders of the World: The Statue of Zeus. Sadly, all that's left is a single pillar from the temple.

- This is the place where the torch is lit for the summer and winter Olympics before the flames' epic trip around the world.

- Our last stop in the ancient city was the original Olympic field.

With the power of the ancient Olympians behind us, we ran all the way across the field (I have a hilarious video of this but blogger is taking FOREVER to upload it so I'll have to put it in a later post).

[Me running in the field]

- And this ends my legendary journey! Overall it was an amazing trip and I'm so glad I could share this experience with one of my best friends!

So where to next? New Zealand? Peru? Spain? Africa? Texas?!

I'll let you know once I figure it out...

Mediterranean Cruise: Part VII

Tuesday, May 31, 2011 {Santorini, Greece}

- There are three ways to get to the top of the island: take the gondola lift, walk, or ride a donkey. Which one do you think we did?!

- I'm pretty sure my donkey was drunk because he kept running into walls and other donkeys. As a result I got a lot of bruises and scrapes all over my legs! Heidi enjoyed the experience (she had a well behaved donkey), I did not.

- We decided not to do an organized tour but instead did some intense shopping and explored the gorgeous city.

- We made our way to the top of the city and found the famous blue church that we were searching for.

- Then we headed back into the city to do some more shopping and exploring.

- I had to buy a bag because I bought so many souvenirs!

- As the ship was leaving the caldera, we stood up on deck and took pictures of the amazing scenery.