Beyond a page...: Beaches, Mountains, Summer

A lot has happened in my life since my last blog post: a family cruise, summer in Colorado, heading to Vancouver for Lise's visa interview, driving to and from Canada to move my fiance to Colorado, getting married, and now the brief off season before the start of winter. I haven't had my usual diligence in posting as things happen (or shortly after) so I'll try and do a few short updates the next couple of weeks to both share recent photos and update anyone who cares on what has been going on in my life lately.

I don't really have a lot of dialogue to go along with the photos below. Lise and I joined my family on a 7-night cruise to Turks and Caicos, San Juan, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas. We over-ate, lounged around in the sun, and spent good quality time with my family. It was nice to spend time with them after our recent engagement and gave Lise another opportunity to get to know them all better. I'm not much of a cruise person, as you might imagine with my backpacking experiences, but it is still nice to wake up, relax, and not really have to worry about what you're going to eat or how to get somewhere for the day.

View from our balcony at the W Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale

Lise behind the Jellyfish aquarium at the hotel

See-through pool at the hotel

View of the ship

St. Thomas

My mom looking out at San Juan from the fort

My sister and her boyfriend walking around the fort

Living in Colorado has been such a great decision. I love visiting friends and family in Texas and also traveling around the world seeing different places and experiencing different cultures, however, Colorado allows me to stay active and live in a place that I'm not constantly itching to get away from. The following pictures are of a few hikes and other things I did this summer.... and yes, I'm stealing some of my wife's instagram photos.

Hike and overnight camping trip to Booth Falls

Lake Charles hike with Lise

Glenwood Caverns

Red Cliff Bridge

Campsite in the Flat Top Wilderness (3 day/2 night, 50 miles)

The last several photos are from my hike with Zac and Shane up Ellingwood Ridge to reach the summit of La Plata Peak. The route is 5,900 vertical feet of up and down Class 3-4 scrambling. One of the most difficult climbs I've done.