2019 Wrap Up: It Was A Quiet Year

Muted. As far as travelling is concerned, it's been a quite year for me. I've been just exhausted this year, which has led me to choosing to stay home more often than not, spending my weekends, long weekends, and even longer breaks around holidays lounging around my house and yard. I have been able to get out and run, though, so I'm still spending plenty of time outdoors - on both streets and trails- so I'm not lacking in the sunshine department at least. I did manage to get a few trips in this year, so read on below for a recap:

I kicked off 2019 by taking a week-long vacation to the deserts of Arizona with my cat. Hoodoo and I volunteered at an ultra race along the borders of Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, then we took off on our own to explore the deserts for a few days before heading home. We saw quite a bit of Arizona on our trip, and are already looking forward to going back again in the new year.

We adopted a new dog, and I "had" to travel to pick him up from my friend/his foster mom in Oklahoma. Bullet is a gentle, incredibly affectionate shepherd and fits in with our family like he's always belonged. And yeah, seeing Julia and her family while picking him up was the icing on the cake.

Callie, Hoodoo, and I took a weekend in late March to run away and look for alligators, and to spend a night on the gulf coast. We found plenty of gators, and while Hoodoo didn't appreciate the wind off the gulf we still got in a gorgeous sunrise stroll along the coast.

Hoodoo's and my trip to White Sands National Monument (now National Park!!) was . . . not great. It began with a hot day and a spectacular sunset followed by a lovely and quiet sunrise, then devolved into chaos and whipping sand and a flying tent with its occupants (us) still in it. One terrified cat, shredded tent, and broken wrist later, I don't think I'll be visiting White Sands again for a while. It took me six weeks to physically heal, and probably way longer than that to get over the disappointment of that disaster of a trip.

Despite still being in a wrist brace I took off by myself for ten days of driving and travelling around the east coast on what might be my most epic driving adventure to date. I visited 24 states plus Washington D.C. in that amount of time, saw the borders of Canada and the Atlantic Ocean, hit a ton of state and national parks, and tent camped most of those nights. It was a much needed retreat from normal life, and one of my top adventures of the year.

For the second year in a row LeakyCon was hosted in Dallas, and for the second year in a row I got tickets! Eleven year old me would never have forgiven myself if I had the chance to see Tom Felton (who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films) in person, and I am thrilled that I went.

For the sixth year in a row Torrey and I headed to Colorado in August, where we spent a week hiking 14,000 foot mountains, camping, sight-seeing, soaking in hot springs, and attempting but failing to backpack in sand dunes (no more sand dunes for me for a while, dammit!) We also went to Pikes Peak for the Ascent and Marathon for the sixth time, with me once again acting as cheerleader. We've got 49 more 14'ers to hike, and I can't wait for the years and adventures to come.

In September Jared and I actually travelled together and spent a weekend on the Texas Gulf Coast celebrating a friend's beautiful wedding. Not only did I get Jared to travel, but I even got him to go swimming in the Gulf with me! Talk about miracles!

Another wedding, this time for my cousin, led me back to Nebraska in October, where I hung out with family and celebrated a couple's love by partying the night away. It was a super short trip for me, with really only a single day and night with my family before turning around and heading home, but it was all the sweeter for it.

A day trip in November when Torrey came down to my neck of the woods for a visit found us in gator country along the Texas coast, where we saw quite a few of these reptiles and also made a trip to see the gulf before heading home at sunset. A long day with many hours in the car, but good company makes the miles and hours fly by.

On a random Saturday in mid-November I was heading north to meet my dad somewhere in Oklahoma to exchange a precious package: the little kitten pictured above, now named Nova, had been hit by a car the week prior while on my way in to work. I found her, began her recovery, and proceeded to bombard my family with pictures and videos of the little kitten with a bobbed tail who just wouldn't give up. My sister decided she wanted her, so my dad and I met up halfway between our homes for lunch and to get Nova to her new family. It might be the craziest adventure I've ever had: driving 12 hours for a one-hour lunch and to exchange a cat, but who cares. Nova is happy and healthy and now I get to see her any time I visit! It's a win for everyone.

Again, it's actually been a pretty quiet year this year. I travelled the least amount this year since I started tracking back in 2014, and while it seemed like it was okay while it was happening I now wish I'd made a little more effort throughout the year. Of course, some things that prevented my travels were beyond my control, but there's always next year to be more enthusiastic. Anyway, the usual stats are below:

Adventures: 11
Hours: 986.86
Miles Driven: 18,298
Total Cost: $3,078.92
States Visited: 29 plus Washington D.C.
Hiked: 59.6 miles
State Parks Visited: 6
National Parks Visited: 9
National Monument Visited: 3
National Forests Visited: 3
Wilderness Areas Visited: 1
National Seashore: 1
Navajo Tribal Park: 1
Number of Nights Tent Camping: 12
Number of Nights Sleeping IN the Car: 8
Number of Nights Backpacking: 2
Number of Nights in a Hotel: 4
Number of Nights in a House: 10
Number of Nights in an RV: 2
Animal Companions: 31
Human Companions: 33 plus various wedding guests

2020 is a new year, a fresh start, and I may or may not already have all of my vacation time planned out for the whole year. I've got several week-long trips booked already, with the first one beginning in February in the deserts. I just know this year is going to be a good one, so goodbye to the adventures of 2019 and hello to the new ones of 2020!

A Snapshot and The Scoop: Kaleidoscope, An East Coast Epic Story

Other than monarchs, I have never seen butterflies congregate in groups like the one pictured above until I visited Great Smoky Mountains National Park this last summer. Some kind of swallowtail, the beautiful black and blue wings of this butterfly caught my eye as they fluttered slowly while resting in the grass near several pull-outs in the park. I can hardly be blamed for thinking of fairy circles and little dances, though this photo was taken mid-morning instead of at midnight. I took far too many pictures of these groups of butterflies (called a kaleidoscope!) during the short time I spent at the park, but I am definitely not sorry.

A Snapshot and The Scoop: Fire Scars, An East Coast Epic Story

Just over three years ago now Great Smoky Mountains National Park made national headlines as the country watched it burn. A fire started by a couple of idiot kids high on a mountain top burned thousands of acres, hundreds of buildings, leveled part of the park's eastern gateway town, and killed 14 people. My visit this past summer revealed a forest in the midst of healing. Some of the trails affected by the fire are still closed, and some of the charred skeletons of trees still stand, but the forest is regrowing, the burned areas fully green with smaller shrubs and grasses flourishing in the fire scars. I didn't have the time to get out and hike the area, but from afar the forest looked like it was making a comeback in the way only a forest can. Next time I'll get out among the trees and see how far the earth has healed.

A Snapshot and The Scoop: Bear-Jam, An East Coast Epic Story

Countless cars stopped right on the road, people hanging out of their windows, some even out of their vehicles; if you've ever been in a national park, you know this sight very well, and you know exactly what it means: Animal Sighting. Now, don't get me wrong, I love a good animal sighting just as much as the next person. I may not get super excited about deer or elk anymore but I acknowledge there are people who've never seen one in person and I don't begrudge them their enthusiasm. I know there's nothing to do in these situations than to just sit back and be patient, turn the music up, and wait for the line to move. Yes, people really should use the pull-outs designed to keep traffic flowing around stopped vehicles, but those pull-outs are designed for only a handful of cars, not the multitude that travel park roads daily, and an animal sighting is going to cause a back-up regardless. The picture above was a traffic jam caused by a bear sighting off to the left in a grassy field. Unfortunately I arrived too late to see it, but I had to deal with the after effects as visitors returned to their cars. I would like it to be known, though, that no matter how excited you may be for a wildlife sighting it is never a good idea to leave your vehicle, especially if said wildlife is something that could seriously injure you (like a bear!). I managed to spot five bears during my short visit to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but didn't get a single clear photo of any one of them. Next time, perhaps!

A Snapshot and The Scoop: Layered Water, an East Coast Epic Story

While exploring a barrier island along the Atlantic coast I found myself deep within a loblolly pine forest, wandering around in search of wild horses. I couldn't help but wonder how animals (and some plants) survive on the island considering the salt water that surrounds it, surely flooding the island during storms, and the relatively high water table that can't make life easy. Further research reminded me of a very important fact, one that I'd forgotten: salt water is more dense than fresh water. In the little forest pools like those pictured above, salt water from the water table and floods rests at the bottom of the pond, while fresh water from rain floats on top. This layered effect provides the drinking water necessary to support large and small fauna like horses, deer, rabbits, and more, while also providing a water source for those plants that aren't as salt-tolerant as loblolly pines. It was a neat little reminder that nature really does provide, and that life will find a way.