Alpine Loop Camping

We went camping this weekend and it was phenomenal!! We were all just dying to go before the season ended. There's something about fall camping. I just love it:)

We went somewhere off the Alpine Loop. Katie basically made me swear in blood that I would keep it secret, keep it safe, sooo, it was just somewhere in that area;)

Gorgeous!!!

It was super hard getting a flash group selfie at night. Like, ridiculous :)

The next morning

It was seriously such a blast to be up there. One thing I was thinking about while we were up there is that camping is one of those things that grows richer every time you experience it. Some things get boring, but camping just gets richer! You learn every time you go. You know better how to prepare. You know what to pack and what to leave behind. You know which foods are AMAZING camping foods and which are not. You learn how to stay safe from things that cause harm or annoyance. And you sleep more comfortably, you enjoy the views more. You get out of the car and smell that familiar mountain smell and you just feel happiness bubbling up inside you.
I want to fill my life more with the type of experiences that increase in richness, rather than diminish.

Carlos is the most amazing fire builder ever.

We arrived later than we had anticipated, about 9 at night, and we were all RAVENOUS when we arrived! We ate a whole pack of hot dogs:) And many, many s'mores. Delish.

Found this amazing little teepee someone had set up

Welcome to my home

The view was amzaing

Camping!

We went up to Hope campground up Provo Canyon and it was amazing!!! I love this spot because it's seriously so close. You do have to pay a small fee, but it's a great campground. It gets pretty crowded, so you'll want to reserve during the on season. They also have firewood up there, which is a plus! Vault toilets, and (sometimes) running water. Just call ahead to ask about the water situation:)

52 New Things: Jackson Wyoming, Stephanie's Ranch, Mechanical Bull, Bubba's and White Water Rafting! (25 to go)

Okay, I'm counting this trip as five new things, but writing about it in one post.  Mostly because it's August and I'm only halfway through my 52 new things.  At least that I'm writing about.....:)

At Stephanie's ranch in Idaho and Jackson Hole Wyoming square with arches made every year of elk antlers!

This trip was sooooo rejuvenating!  We stayed at my friend stephanie's ranch in Idaho.  It's in this little hidden valley with nothing around for miles. It was incredibly peaceful.  Her family was so kind to host us for the night.  We grilled hot dogs and rode the famous mechanical bull.  We slept so well with country air drifting through the open windows.  It was amazing to just get away from it all.  

The next day we drove to Jackson, Wy. It was such a cute town!  We ate at Bubba's BBQ.  I got a delicious pulled pork BBQ sandwich.  We walked around town exploring taxidermy, western wear, and other exciting things:)  We got some yummy fresh sorbet, then headed to the river!

White water rafting on the Snake River

We got in a raft with another family that was really cool.  We navigated through the rapids and they weren't nearly as bad as I was afraid they would be.:)  It was a great experience and...

We all survived!

Mount Timpanogos

So, we hiked Mount Timpanogos.  I had assured everyone it was just a long stroll, nothing to worry about:)  Yeah.  It was harder than I remembered.  We were taking our sweet time and ended up being up there for about 10 hours.  The last hour down we were all quite tired and sore.  Don't even worry, because we definitely hit up two wedding receptions later that night!  #yousleepwhenyou'redead

Us on top of Mount Timp!  Exhilarating.  Looking over into a valley on both sides of us was breathtaking.

On the trail.  I love the variety of nature.  I looove pine trees.

Going through a meadow.

Tree hugging.

Such beautiful vistas the whole way!

There were so many beautiful wildflowers in bloom. 

52 New Things: Yuba Lake (32 to go)

For Memorial Day we decided to go to Yuba Lake and camp:)  It was really fun, suuper chill, just what we needed.  Although there were a lot of bugs and I kept getting scared by them, soo basically I felt like a diva.  

Ted and I trying to figure out how to get the umbrella to stay up.  We ended up just propping it against the ground:)

Exploring:)

Skipping rocks.  Tim and Ted are both ridiculous at skipping rocks.  My best is three skips.

Breezy beach

52 New Things: Camped at Lake Mead (40 to go)

The lake was so beautiful! Blue, purple and grey.

We even got up for the sunrise

Lake Mead sunrise, so pretty!

Good Morning!

We went camping at Lake Mead in Nevada.  I had never been there before.  It was kind of cool to fill out the paper work, set up our site, make dinner and just do it all.:)  I love camping.  And the weather was perfect.  It was also my first time camping with palm trees.  I usually go to the canyons.