2016 Wrap-Up: Do What You Love

It's that time again, the time of year where I reflect on each of my travels, compile a list of stats such as how much I drove, how long I travelled, the number of miles I hiked, and so on. I've been a lot of places this year, and done a lot, but the definite highlight of my entire year is getting engaged to my best friend at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Read on below to see what else I've been up to.

At the beginning of January I spent a week in the high deserts of southern Utah and northern Arizona. Starting in Canyonlands National Park and winding my way through four of the big five national parks in southern Utah (Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon and Zion - I only missed Arches) plus several smaller parks in Arizona, I got my first real taste of winter camping in below freezing temperatures, blizzards, bad roads, and ice. Even with getting pretty sick during the first few days of the trip it was still an awesome taste of a new season in a familiar location, and something that I would love to do again. 

A short and sweet visit to some friends in Stillwater, Oklahoma at the beginning of February reminded me that the southern states get cold, but not cold enough to ice the lakes during winter months. We spent the weekend chatting, drinking wine, and exploring the area in and around Stillwater, a new town to add to my list of places visted!

I took off on Valentine's Day to explore my own little slice of East Texas, starting at Martin Creek Lake State Park, passing through a couple national forests and ending with Mission Tejas State Park. I made it clear to the Louisiana border and halfway south to Houston before completing my loop and heading home. 

The last weekend of February found me in and around Hill Country of central Texas. I visited several state parks, including Guadalupe River State Park, before meeting my little brother at the River Walk in San Antonio. Austin was stationed in San Antonio at the time and had the weekend off, so I made the drive to the area over a weekend and got to know the hills. I loved them so much I went back later!

At the beginning of March my sister came to visit me, and we took off to the gulf coast at Sea Rim State Park. I was kicking myself for not getting to the coast before! The ocean is amazing, and when we can camp right on the beach, falling asleep to the sound of waves and wind, it is heaven. Plus the sunrises are long and lingering, and perfect. Also, beach weather in March is something I can get on board with! Lisha and I made a stop at NASA too, taking one of their tours of the facility and making the nice weather in Houston last a little while longer before heading home. 

The weekend after St. Patrick's Day I headed north and east to Hot Springs National Park, the most urbanized national park I've ever visited. While I wasn't prepared for the buildings and crowds, even on the "nature" trails, I managed to find some solitude on the more remote paths. I also visited Ouichita National Forest on a whim, discovering several little recreation sites that I made a mental note to visit again during the summer.

I finally went backpacking in April! I received my backpack for Christmas last year but didn't have a chance to use it until April, when I ran away to Palo Duro Canyon State Park in west Texas. I took my favorite little adventure dog with me, and we spend two days exploring the second biggest canyon in the states, hiking 16+ miles and weathering a couple of thunderstorms while out in the backcountry. At least my first night was memorable!

At the end of April my dad and sister came down to Texas for a long weekend, and they, Jared and myself took off to San Antonio for our time together. We had originally meant to go to Houston, the coast and NASA, but Houston was under water at the time and we had to go with Plan B. Cue long days and nights full of drinking on the River Walk! We stopped at Longhorn Cavern State Park on the way, taking a tour of the cave I had visited on my February Hill Country adventure. It was the third year in a row that I had taken a trip with my dad, and I can't wait for next year's adventure!

Jared and I flew in to Orlando in May, visited The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and got engaged!!! He really did everything right, planned it all out, and just in general made our short stay in Florida amazing. Best trip of the year right here!

A short visit to Nebraska over Memorial Day weekend included lots of family time, a visit to a winery and a chocolate factory, and meals with friends. Long weekends seemed to be the main form of my travels this year, and there is nothing wrong with that. Short visits but plenty of them make the months in between seem not so long. 

The first weekend of June found me and Callie back in west Texas at Caprock Canyons State Park where we backpacked out onto a loop trail, hiked up and down bluffs and canyons, found a fern oasis and a bison herd, and located the sloppiest puddle of red mud for Callie to roll in. I turned my white dog orange.  

I went back to Sea Rim State Park over a weekend in June, spending two nights and two spectacular sunrises on the beach, with a full day of sunbathing and shell-searching in between. I finally saw a pack of feral hogs at a nearby national wildlife refuge (a Texan animal I hadn't seen yet) and tried to canoe out into the salt marshes with limited success. But really, there is nothing like those cotton candy sunrises. 

Also in June myself and two of my best friends managed to find a weekend that we all had off and met in Stillwater, OK again, this time to take a much-needed girls' weekend. We talked, drank wine, made s'mores and kayaked for the first time (at least, my first time)! I discovered a boat that I actually liked, and can see myself owning a kayak just as soon as I get a vehicle that can transport it. 

My sister and I decided on a whim to go backpacking in Great Sand Dunes National Park, and went for it over the weekend of the 4th of July. She hadn't backpacked before and I'd never backpacked in the park, so it was a learning experience for both of us. Our first night we actually stayed in a local campground and endured hail, lightning, thunder and torrential rain, making me very thankful we weren't on the dunes at the time. The next night, however, the rain cleared off and we headed out. It was amazing. I also took Lisha to Zapata Falls, introducing her to the so-cold-it-burns waters of the creek and the little canyon the falls cut for themselves out of the cliff. 

The last week of July wasn't a happy one; I lost my little love, Meeka, and ran away with Callie and a friend for a day just to get away from my own head. I find peace when I'm on the road and in destinations that are beautiful, so we headed to central Arkansas and Ouichita National Forest to do some exploring on the forest service roads. We spent all day in the Ouichita Mountains, revisiting the recreation sites I had found during my March visit, and finding a few new ones along the way. I also found the peace I was looking for, so that definitely helped. 

Julia came to visit me the first weekend of August and we spent a few hours one day canoeing around Caddo Lake State Park and the surrounding waterways. Hot summer days, green forests, good friends, and my dog make everything better, and were just what I needed.

My next big adventure of the year was the week I spent in Colorado with Torrey. We went all over the place, but focused our time on hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park (we touched a glacier!), backpacking a couple nights in Great Sand Dunes National Park, and being in Manitou Springs for the Pike's Peak Ascent and Marathon, as we have the past two years. 

I took nearly six weeks off of travelling to try to get myself pulled back together, but finally got back on the road at the beginning of October. I took my dog to Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas where we spent two days hiking all over the small park, most notably to Cedar Falls, where Callie became the star of the day by diving into the plunge pool and entertaining the hoards of people lined up around the edge.

On one of the last days of October I took Callie out again, this time to Brazos Bend State Park and Galveston Island State Park along the gulf coast of Texas. We looked for and found alligators at Brazos Bend, and Callie saw the ocean for the first time at Galveston Island. It's safe to say she's a water dog!

I made a surprise trip back home to Nebraska mid-November, much to my mother's delight. It really was a three day visit where I mostly hung out with my family and took pictures of their cats. Ya know, as you do. 

Ten days before the anniversary of my personal-record-breaking hike I was at it again at Big Thicket National Preserve, hiking 20.42 miles in 7 hours, 8 minutes and breaking my personal best distance record yet again. This time, however, I had my little white dog to keep me motivated and entertained for the duration of the hike. This little terrier led me almost the whole way, and if she wasn't leading me she was right in step with me. She's the perfect hiking companion!

Weekend before last I met up with Julia again, this time at a cabin on the Blue River in southern Oklahoma. We talked, explored the river and woods, scouted out the nearby Tishamingo National Wildlife Refuge, and otherwise enjoyed the time we had together. 

My last trip of the year is the one I just got back from. I headed back up to Nebraska to see my family and friends for Christmas, and spent the week getting a taste of the winter I don't miss. I spent lots of time with family, had a little time to spend with friends, and started to wedding plan with my sister. I also took way too many pictures of my parent's cats. Yay for family!

I have obviously been busy this year, though I have to admit that my heart was into it more before I lost Meeka. Not only did I mourn for a long time, sucking a lot of my energy from me, but I also lost interest in planning any of my travels. I'm sure that has something to do with the lack of energy I've felt lately. I've also been sucking at writing, both on this blog and in my travel journals, but I've promised myself to get back into it during the new year. I have picked my travels back up in the past couple months, and I'm already planning several longer adventures for 2017, but I don't know about the smaller ones. I guess we'll see.

Below I've listed out my usual stats for the year. I have definitely increased my travels over last year, and I'm excited for what 2017 will hold!

Number of Adventures: 23
Time Spent Travelling: 1,504 hours, 46 minutes
Number of Nights Camping: 19
Number of Nights in Someone's House: 22
Number of Nights in a Hotel: 10
Number of Nights Driving: 2
Total Cost: $5.152.38
Number of States Visited: 10
Distance Driven: 23,387 miles
Distance Hiked: 148.39 miles
Number of National Parks/Monuments/Rec Areas/Wildlife Refuges:16
Number of State Parks: 11
Number of Human Companions: 44
Number of Furry Companions: 18

A huge shout out to every single person who accompanied me on my travels, and I hope you all know how much you mean to me. I wouldn't have traveled with you if I didn't enjoy your company!

Bring it, 2017!

The Proposal

In love. The first thing I saw in front of Diagon Alley was the violent purple triple-decker Knight Bus, with a conductor and all, just up the street. Jared and I were finally on our trip to Univeral Studios in Orlando, Florida, with the sole purpose of going to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We'd been planning this trip for a year, and only within the last few month had things fallen together enough to allow us to go. We had arrived in Orlando the day before, and our first and only goal of the day was to get as much of the Harry Potter experience as humanly possible. I practically ran up the street to have my picture taken with the conductor and the talking head hanging in the window of the bus. Once done with the photo opportunity we turned to find Diagon Alley, which was actually made it at an angle right next to the Leaky Cauldron, and once you got inside a little bit the bricks looked like they had just melted away, and the whole alley opened up in front of us. I seriously almost cried when I first saw it; I was so overwhelmed. Everything looked absolutely amazing, colorful, and so detailed! Nothing was forgotten or left out. Just WOW! You looked up the alley and the building at the end was Gringotts Bank, complete with a dragon perched on top. 

Our first view of Diagon Alley

The first thing we both wanted was to buy our wands, so we meandered up the Alley, then turned to the side and entered Ollivander’s Wand Shop. We and a small group of people entered The Wand Experience, where we were taken through the shop by an assistant and met Ollivander himself. The shop was full floor to ceiling of wand boxes and other wizardry stuff, just like it’s described in the book and movie. We crowded into Ollivander’s study and the actor started telling us about wands and how the wand chooses the wizard. Then he picked a girl from the front of the room and had her come stand by him, and he started handing her wands to try. The first thing he had her do was water some plants, and there was a flash and they wilted, so he said no, let’s try another. He had her try to move some wands and they fell, so he said no, then he pulled out a third wand, kept repeating “I wonder…I wonder…” then gave it to her and the music swelled, the lights shined on her and it was obviously her wand. He pointed her to his assistant, and told her they would explain the rest of the wandlore to her, then thanked us all for shopping at his store and out we went. We followed the assistant straight into the actual shop, and there we were met with tons of wand options to choose from. After reading all about them, I decided to get a Reed wand, and Jared got a Birch wand for ourselves. We also picked out two character wands; I got Sirius Black’s wand (my favorite character), and Jared got Voldemort’s (of course). We also wanted interactive wands, which you can use at certain spots throughout the Alley and Hogsmeade, where if you do the wand motion correctly whatever you’re pointing it at will move/make noise/light up or whatever it’s supposed to do. 

It breathed fire!

Once we both picked out our wands Jared took mine from me and told me he’d get them and to go ahead and wait outside. I said no, I’d get my own because they’re expensive and I didn’t want him buying it for me. He was insistent and told me to go take pictures and wait for him outside. That’s when I knew: He was going to propose with my wand!!!!! So I went outside and tried to distract myself, taking tons of pictures up and down the alley, wandering around and inspecting the storefront windows and discovering the entrance to Knockturn Alley. I didn’t go too far, mostly because I was keeping an eye on the front of Ollivander’s for Jared to come out. I was outside long enough that the dragon on top of Gringotts started roaring, and all of a sudden it let out a great ball of fire from its mouth! I could feel the heat from it, and got several pictures. Then the dragon went quiet and everyone went back to their business. I overheard one guest ask a store employee how often the dragon does that, and the employee replied that the dragon (she) was very inconsiderate of the business dealings on the alley and would roar and spit fire at random.

It happened!!

The whole alley was very well laid out: you definitely felt like you were really in the wizarding alley, actually shopping for all sorts of magical supplies. There was Ollivander’s, The Leaky Cauldron, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions, Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour and Quality Quidditch Supplies, all of which you could actually go in and buy stuff, but then there were storefronts for Gringotts, Florish and Blotts, and lots more. That was just up the initial alley, not including the other branches of the alley and Knockturn Alley! But I was impatient, and after what seemed like forever Jared finally came out and waved me over. He told me they had a second show for Ollivander’s and that we were going to go back through. I knew this was it! I asked Jared if we could video the show this time around, since we hadn’t the first time, and he agreed and pulled out the camera and started recording. I wanted the proposal on film, damn it! So we went and right after we entered I saw the attendant make eye contact with Jared, and the door closed behind us and they took us and a very small group back to the same room we were in the first time through. A different actor was there, and I saw him look over all of the group and identify Jared and I, and sure enough he picked me to come to the front of the room and give the wands a try. The first time I waved it to water the plants they wilted, and he fixed them with another wave of his wand, then he had me ring a bell, but I made all the other bells in the room ring too which he silenced with his own wand. Finally he did the whole “I wonder” thing and pulled out a third wand and started explaining the attributes of a Reed wand, which is my wand. He handed it to me and the lights shined on me and the music swelled and obviously I found my wand (and also Jared had obviously told them I’d picked out a Reed wand) so I went over to the assistant by the door and we went out. 

I'd prefer this box to a traditional ring box any day

The assistant pulled me to the side of the door and started talking about my wand as Jared came out of the door still recording the whole thing, and once he’d come out the assistant opened the wand box and I looked down at it and my ring was on the wand!! I turned to Jared, eyes wide, and pretty much immediately started to cry. He handed to camera off to another assistant and took the wand box from the first assistant. He looked right at me and told me “You are my magic.” Then he got down on one knee in front of me and asked “Will you marry me?” I was crying so hard I could hardly get “yes!” out of my throat, then I saw Jared was crying too and that made me cry even more. He stood up and hugged me and kissed me, then took the ring off the wand and handed it to me for me to look at. It is gorgeous!! A cushion cut sapphire held by four prongs raised high over a white gold band with two forked branches set with diamonds reaching up toward the sapphire but not connecting to it. The diamonds go halfway down the band leaving the underside of the ring closest to my palm smooth. After I’d looked at it (difficult, because I was still crying and had to blink the tears away) Jared handed the wand/box to the assistant and took my ring from me so he could put it on my finger. Then I threw my arms around him and kissed him again and we both cried some more. I was (and still am!!) so incredibly happy! The assistants, everyone who had helped Jared pull it off, were all clapping and congratulating us, and several of the other guests in our group had hung back and were clapping too. The store manager disappeared briefly and came back with pins that said “I’m Celebrating!” and she wrote “just engaged” on them. She gave them to us, then led us out front so she could take our first picture as an engaged couple in front of Ollivander’s shop. We thanked them all, several times, and left the store. Neither of us could stop grinning! 

I think this pictures says it all for me

We did many more activites that day, but I spent a good majority of my time alternating between staring at my ring and looking at my new fiancé. Even though I'd had the suspicion that Jared would propose at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for several weeks it didn't detract from being in the moment and actually having it happen. No, I wasn't surprised, but I was still overwhelmed with emotion and bawled like a baby. Also, his words "you are my magic"...be still my heart! I have no idea if those words were planned or if he was just winging it, but it couldn't have been more perfect than it already was. Rest assured, this is definitely one for my Happy Jar! Now I'm looking forward to planning our wedding day, and can't wait to spend the rest of our nerdy, goofy lives together. 

Butterbeer for the win!