This year kicked my ass in all the best and worst ways. While 2018 brought extreme highs and lows, I want to always remember my most cherished and favorite memories of this year. With that, here are all of the silver linings and best adventures that came of 2018!
JANUARY – CATALINA ISLAND, CA
We kicked off the year by sailing to the tiny town of Avalon on Catalina Island for our friend’s birthdays! My friend Natcha, also one of the birthday girls, works for the Catalina Island Company and was able to hook us up with some of the fun adventure tours they offer on the island! She loves what she does and her excitement of the island shone through all the fun things she shared with us! A trip to the island in winter cannot be beat – the weather was perfect, the sunsets were incredible, and we practically had the whole island to ourselves!
FEBRUARY – BROOKLYN, NY
I traveled to NYC for the first time in 2016 with one of my best friends, Terra – fast forward a few years and she now calls NYC and the Brooklyn neighborhood her home! This was my first time visiting her since the move and we almost exclusively spent all of our time exploring Brooklyn’s parks, art, shops, alleyways, and food. We experienced fresh snowfall under the Brooklyn Bridge, spent lazy afternoons in Bushwhick breweries, and had our fair share of cozy nights in. This trip was good for the soul.
MARCH – LOS ANGELES AND YUCCA VALLEY, CA
I was lucky enough to have two magical adventures this month! The first was a day trip up to LA with one of my other best friends, Emily. We explored the La Brea Tar Pits, fun sites around LACMA, grabbed some Cuban sandwiches as a throwback to our 2017 Cuba trip, checked out the Death Museum, and grabbed dinner and ice cream! What I loved most about this day was how easily we clicked back into our groove despite our busy schedules and time apart. A full catch up day made my heart full and grateful for friendships like hers.
The second memory I cherish was a trip to Yucca Valley where my sister and I surprised our mom with a horseback ride through the high desert! It was important to our mom that we learned how to ride when we were young and we’ve had very few opportunities for all three of us to ride together. On our ride, we saw coyotes and watched a thunderstorm roll in over the mountains – then we finished the night off at one of our favorite Joshua Tree haunts.
APRIL – SANTA CRUZ, CA
Our brother is currently going to school at UC Santa Cruz and my sister and I made a trip up to help celebrate his 21st birthday! We had a solid few days packed with rainy beach adventures, hikes through Julia Pfeiffer State Park, and drives along the Big Sur coastline. Rex gave us tours of his University, which included hikes through some gnarly old growth redwoods, hunting for banana slugs, and stumbling across a violin player in an open field that overlooked the ocean. I can’t wait to go back in a few months now for his graduation!
MAY – SEATTLE, WA
Noah returned from deployment and we immediately made a trip up north to visit family. We were in the midst of training for Mt. Whitney – so we got in plenty of new hikes this trip! We also conquered a mountain that had beat us one time before, Storm King. The mountain is nestled in the Olympics and notorious for sudden storms coming in from the strait; but we were fortunately able to summit before the weather beat us out this time! Hell. Yeah.
JUNE – NORTH AND SOUTH DAKOTA
My sister and I have started a tradition in an attempt to visit all 50 states before we turn 50, and every year we try to knock out at least one new state. This year, we knocked out both Dakotas in one trip. We were in awe of how much wild life there was and the beauty of the Black Hills is nearly impossible to put into words. We had so much fun exploring both of these places and are excited to come back again one day!
JULY – MT. WHITNEY, CA
This truly was the hike of a lifetime. We climbed, we summited, we nearly died. (No joke!!) After months of training, my sister, our boyfriends, and our cousins took on the highest mountain in the lower 48. In 22 miles, with nearly 7K ft. elevation gain, we experienced lightning, thunder, flash floods, hail, blistering sun, and forest fires. After a few months, I’m almost crazy enough to where I’m considering hiking it again. *Someone knock some sense into me now, plz.*
AUGUST – BIG BEAR, CA
August is my birthday month, so while it was really hard to narrow down one memory in particular, Noah’s and my adventure to Big Bear topped everything else! It was a slow and cozy weekend in which we listened to records, BBQ’d on the front porch, and spent a rainy afternoon reading and relaxing. My memories of this weekend are set to a perfect soundtrack of Fleetwood Mac on vinyl and I can hardly wait until we have the chance to escape up here again.
SEPTEMBER – BANFF, ALBERTA, CAN
This trip had long been on my bucket list and OH MAN DID IT EVER EXCEED MY EXPECTATIONS. My breath still catches in my throat when I think back on the glistening icy, blue lakes, stunning golden larch pines, abandoned mining towns, and wicked shadows of the Canadian Rockies. Never before has a place made me feel so small and so alive. Canada captured a piece of my heart this trip and I think I’ll always find a way to make it back.
OCTOBER – APPLE PICKING, JULIAN, CA
October was when I finally had a chance to catch my breath after the fast-paced summer. Noah had left for D.C. and I spent most of the month getting back into my normal routines and planning what was to come next. Angie and I managed to make it up to Julian juuust before the close of apple picking season! Angie is one of the most hilarious people I know and she had me doubling over and crying between apple rows with laugher. Friendships like hers are honestly some of the best and I thank my lucky stars daily for treasures like her.
NOVEMBER – GOAT YOGA, SAN MARCOS, CA
Goat yoga has always piqued my interest and I had been dying to check it out myself! I invited Emily since she’s YTT certified and I knew she’d have a blast out of this as much as I would! The goats chewed on our hair, munched on our zippers, pooped on our mats, and climbed on our backs. It was great and something that I feel everyone needs to try at least once.
DECEMBER – SUN VALLEY, ID
My Mom spent her college days in Sun Valley, Idaho and it’s a place that she’s always held near and dear to her heart. Instead of exchanging gifts this year, we headed to Sun Valley between Christmas and New Years. She shared all her old favorite haunts, ski spots, and introduced us to her best friends who still call Sun Valley home! We were lucky enough to have a fresh snowfall, meet the nicest people, ski/board an incredible mountain, and soak in magical, snowy hot springs. I’ll be forever grateful we had this trip together.
Thanks for stopping by, and cheers to your 2019!!! I hope it’s filled with spontaneous rambles, your best friends, and (GOOD) unexpected surprises around every corner!! Happy rambling, xoxo.