Road Trip – Adventure Time!

Jeff and I head out for a 17 day Road Trip tomorrow morning. I am so excited! This will be the longest trip we’ve ever taken. The weirdest part is it’s just the two of us! No kids, no pup (Lucy is staying with Nana and Grandpa). Is that even allowed? For us to go on a long road trip just the two of us? 

I won’t be blogging while I’m away so this will be my last post until the first week of June. I will be posting on IG if you’d like to follow along here is my IG profile https://www.instagram.com/shellyfryphotography/ We will be spending time in Boise, Yellowstone, The Grand Tetons, Jackson Wyoming. Then we will camp and rock climb in Idaho for 3 days and finally wrap things up with my Nephew’s wedding in Dayton WA. 

Packing – how do you pack for a 17 day Road Trip?

It is a real struggle for me to pack “light”. For this trip it’s impossible! We will be hiking, biking, rock climbing and camping as well as attending a wedding! You just can’t use your hiking boots to rock climb, bike or attend a wedding! We are also camping for 3 nights so we need sleeping bags, tent, air mattress, cooler and pillows. Then of course there are books, camera gear, clothes, coats, backpacks, bikes, climbing gear,  etc, etc!! It’s a fun problem to have…

Normally my attention span doesn’t allow me to listen to books. This trip seems like a good time to sign up for a 30 day free trial of Audible. I figure this will be the best time to give it a try!

Tonight we take sweet Lucy to Nana and Grandpa’s house. I’m gonna miss that fur butt! Every single thing I’ve read says National Parks are not dog friendly so we decided to leave her home. Besides I would be too stressed out that she’d become a bear snack! We will miss her but are super thankful she has such a great place to stay while we are away.

Clean the house

I have always felt compelled to completely clean my house before leaving on any trip. Even if it’s just a weekend. It just makes coming home so much nicer. It also increases your appreciation for a vacation because you’re completely exhausted by the time you finally drive away!

Coldwater Lake – Mt St Helens

I love the ALLTrails app! One of my life’s missions is to find, new to me, trails to explore. Using this app has really helped me discover new trails in our area. I have never been up to the Johnston Ridge Observatory area because they don’t allow dogs. As a result I had never explored the surrounding area either.  I didn’t know there were other dog friendly trails in that area. Jeff, Lucy and I really enjoyed this trail. The trail just follows the edge of the lake. The scenery is gorgeous and I’m sure even more so when the skies are clear and the mountain is out. 

The trail isn’t very steep it just rolls up and down as it follows the shore line. There are several waterfalls to cross over one is pretty large and waterproof boots came in handy there. We hiked just over 4 miles before turning around. It isn’t a loop but there are additional trails you can jump onto and a lot more miles you can cover if you choose. 

We hiked to the “end” of the lake and saw a beaver dam. Almost as soon as we noticed it we saw a beaver swim by as if on cue. A “herd” of goslings with their parents also swam by. It was so quiet and peaceful we had the place all to ourselves (except the critters). There are lots of places to just hang out and enjoy the scenery along the way. Next time we do this hike I will choose a clear day, pack a lunch and plan to hang out more. But we got a late start so we kept moving. Lucy especially appreciated that there is lots of lake access for quick dips along the way.

Overall we logged 8.37 miles on this hike. A good training hike for our upcoming hikes in Yellowstone and the Tetons.

Happy Mother’s Day

Unexpectedly I had all my kids home for Mother’s Day! It was short but very sweet! And we finally met our sweet Grand-pup Scout! She is a 5 month old lab and packed full of energy. It’s amazing how good it feels to be surrounded by those you love. These moments are precious! Josh and Jocelyn will be moving to CA soon. It will be hard to have them even further away!

Palmsteria Dinner Party

Many years ago my brother and husband built me a beautiful trellis in the middle of our backyard. 4 wisteria vines were planted on each post and I patiently waited as slowly year after year the wisteria grew up and over covering the entire trellis and creating a magical place that I loved to hang out under.

It was one of the reasons I didn’t want to move…

2 years before our move it occurred to me that I should have a Wisteria dinner party with a few friends. And so the Wisteria Dinner Party was born.  This week we had our 4th “Wisteria” now “Palmsteria” dinner party.  When we moved just over 2 years ago I had a decision to make. Give up on this tradition because I no longer had huge lovely Wisteria to dine under or push on. To my horror our new home has a Palm tree. I think this is ridiculous! Palm trees are lovely in the tropics but don’t belong in my backyard. 

So I chose to embrace the dumb thing and now we have a Palmsteria dinner party! It’s the friends not the foliage that count! Becky supplied a branch of her Wisteria that was draped around the umbrella and the Palm tree dutifully held up the lights. We dined outside and when the sun went down we lit the fire table and stayed cozy as we chatted. It was so good to just sit back and enjoy some beautiful friends. I absolutely need more of this in my life! 

Vacation Time!

I have been working like a crazy woman to wrap up all my lose ends before we head out. I also need to be prepared to hit the ground running when I return. All my galleries have been backed up and delivered. Contracts have been sent out. Reminders have been sent as well as graduation order forms have been delivered.  Posting this blog is my last business to-do item. Check!

I will of course be checking my email and social media while I’m away but it feels amazing to be all caught up!

Road Trip time!

Shelly