BUT HOW DID YOU GET HERE
A STORY ABOUT 2, 807 MILES OF TRAVEL, ACROSS 11 STATES…
In summer of 2019 I had the opportunity to go live in Colorado for 2 months. Previous to that, I was completely consumed by coastal living. I mean, it was all I knew. My parents tell me i knew to swim before I could walk upright. I always tapped into a different energy when swimming and succumbing to being beneath the waves. Always being in the water, or thinking about the water. The ocean will always be my first love, the first thing to energetically and delightfully touch my heart.
I had heard stories of what the west held and I wanted to go see it for myself. Chasing my 2 month long job opportunity with Cru, I moved to Fort Collins where I lived in a community with 70 other college students. It. Was. A. Blast.
Around the same time I started climbing right before. I had watched Dawn Wall with my friends (a documentary based on the pro climber Tommy Caldwell) and my eyes were open to a realm of exploration I never knew existed. I dont’s know why there was an immediate gravation to trying rock climbing, but once I began I never stopped. Once going to Colorado,I found myself with access to the outdoors within 5 months of starting climbing. It was truly a unique time of new found passion and genuine resource. I received a gym membership with my job opportunity, and this gym had a climbing gym within it! Nearly everyday, I would bike the fastest I could from my job to the gym to get in a few hours of climbing before dinner at 6pm. Eventually, I made some local friends that were willing and stoked to bring me outside bouldering with them. Now, nearly 4 years later I have pleasantly learned this welcoming and encouraging attitude is a common thread of climbing communities.
Once my 2 month job was done, I knew I had to live out west again. I knew I had to chase that adventure into the unknown while in my youth, or I would forever regret it. I always was resistant to the American Dream of “sell your soul for tiresome work for 50 years to then earn your time to really experience the world in your retirement..”. Never really sat well with me. Does not sound like a dream of mine. Time moves in one direction, waiting on no one. I didn’t see why I could not be ambitious but also soaking up all I could in worldly experience along the way.
Over the years following, I traveled whenever I could get away. Planning outdoor climbing and hiking trips in the south east to keep exploring corners of nature I had not yet seen. And when I say “whenever I could '' I mean through COVID with no in class university courses holding us down. I mean through finals weeks with my circle of friends setting up shop at a McDonald's in some no-one-knows town in Alabama to take out fall final exams.
Over the years following, I traveled whenever I could get away. Planning outdoor climbing and hiking trips in the south east to keep exploring corners of nature I had not yet seen. And when I say “whenever I could '' I mean through COVID with no in class university courses holding us down. I mean through finals weeks with my circle of friends setting up shop at a McDonald's in some no-one-knows town in Alabama to take out fall final exams.
Photos from my first backpacking trip ever. Of course I had no clue what I was doing, of course we went during bear season. Nearly froze to death in that hammock. But gosh darn it I was feelin alive.
Fast forward to 2021, I had been dating a guy named Hunter while trying to find work in St. Pete FL. Having graduated with my Bachelors Marine Biology and a minor in Spanish, I was really trying to honor my countless hours of studying and stressing through my degree. Yet nothing really fit into place. The puzzle was just not coming together.
Hunter was also a climber and planned to go to SUU in the fall of 2022. This got us to the crossroads of “hey, I’m moving..do you want to come?”.
After many hours of deliberation, T- charts of pros and cons, lists of logistics I found more purpose to going out west than just for Hunter in terms of profession. Moreover, this really was the open door to honor my yearning to be out west again.
‘Whenever I could’ travel years
…this really was the open door to honor my yearning to be out west again.
From January to June, Hunter and I went about making a 4wheel truck camper our future home. We spent many days making plans for storage and running to Home Depot for supplies. We argued over the best method of hinge placement and fought with our track system in order to have functional sliding doors under our sink. After some time, it started to come together and the eagerness set in to get moving.
June 2022, after my best friend's birthday we hit the road. We hit the pavement in his GMC truck with the 4wheel camper snug on the flatbed pictured below. This, this was home for the next 2 months. Even with all the hope, passion and thirst for adventure- the physical leaving home, pulling out of the driveway rocked me.
I found myself in tears sobbing over the uprooting that was happening as we turned off my home street and away from the only home I really had ever known. Driving away from my best friends that knew me better than anyone. I was wrecked. So eager hope and sadness coexisted.
I suppose it’s good to have sadness that is born from leaving so many good things. So many good people. My church community, my old job, Lifeguarding, my family, my roommate of five years and best friend, the sand and the sea. But who is to say more good isn’t right around the corner I have yet to take?
Our travels took us first to South Carolina where we visited Hunter's family. I love his family, sweet sweet people. But I ate so much grits, I nearly became one. From there we traveled up to West Virginia for the 4th of July with friends. It did not disappoint. We climbed at the New River Gorge and deep water soloed cliffs lining the most pristine lake. The water was a green blue that just drew you in. To make things even more spectacular, there were wild raspberry bushes EVERYWHERE! Nothing serves the soul like nature born nourishment and pancakes for breakfast. We spent the days climbing and swimming and laughing around the fire with friends.
From there, we traveled to Boulder, Colorado. We visited more friends and did some multi-pitch climbing. We stayed as long as we could, but the summer heat really ran us out of town quite literally.
We chased cooler temps west venturing into Wyoming, a state both Hunter and I had never been to in the summer months. Wyoming stunned us to the point that it completely derailed our plans of going to Idaho and Oregon. Instead we spent the next 3 weeks in Wyoming seeing and climbing all we could.
I spy with my lil eye a Hunter - Us on the way out after a successful mulit-pitch day in CO.
My favorite was Ten Sleep having giant looming limestone walls. I’ve loved just being able to climb up and away, letting everything just sink away from me. However, Hunter's favorite was Wild Iris with its shorter climbs and quality pocket moves. Wyoming could be a whole blog by itself but I’ll give you the major dets:
Scream Shake is the spot in Lander for phenomenal and inexpensive ice cream (cash only)
Yes it is impressively vast and quiet, and you don’t tire from it
River showers are a whole new level of refreshing and clean
The sheer gravity of nature around you is breathtaking
You must go
End of August, we found our plans shifting. We had originally planned to live out of the 4wheel camper at an RV park, get my dog out there, and both begin full-time jobs while Hunter goes to school. Yeah..that was exhausting just to type. Everything it great in theory. What we had come to learn over the summer, is as deep as our care was for each other, we needed more space. Especially with the added complexities of school, jobs and a dog we were coming to the conclusion more space would ensure out sanity. So when I flew home to Florida to get my dog and drive my car out to Utah, Hunter headed down to Arizona to purchase our second home: Flying Cloud Airstream
With the upgrade, we sold our first home to a new couple to keep being used for adventuring. It was hard, and much of our heart wanted to keep the 4wheel camera out of sentiment. But she is better used than sitting and we didn't let it get the best of us! That white shell served us to well. It kept us safe, warm, and able to really go after adventure through the mountains, forest and plains of the United States as we traveled west.
