After law school graduation in May we visited Kristin and Nate in Colorado. We could have hiked for miles it was so heavenly in the mountains and parks.
Garrett's summer was more of an academic adventure as he studied for the bar...for ten weeks. Kale and I had other plans...
In June Kale and I went to Utah for my Smedley family reunion and my 10 year class reunion. It was good to be a both reunions. It was nice to be in some cooler weather and with my family. This was the trip where we played lots of badminton in the backyard, hung out a lot with Claire who just got out of school and when Kale got the new nick name Kaleburt from Aaron. Instead of flying straight back to Phoenix we met Garrett and his parents in Naples , CA. We stayed in a little beach house on and island in and island. It's in Long Beach, you'll have to look it up. It is a neat place to swim and kaiak. Another time we stayed there we swam with small tubes around the canal. I recommend kaiaking if you are going to go all the way around.
That took us right into July. Kale and I flew up to Colorado again and met Garrett's parents, Kris and Nate for some motor home camping. Our first camp site was right off I-70, at an exit called "No Name". It was this great place right by the Colorado River. We rafted down the river, biked on the path next to the river and finally swam in the river. Riding bikes down in that canyon made me want to ride the whole canyon (unfortunately I don't think it is allowed. There are paths through part of it, but the rest of the canyon, though b.e.a.utiful, is narrow and dangerous to bikers.) Kale loves riding in his seat on the bike. It attaches to the front and he rides like a king.
We also went on some beautiful hikes. One near our campsite, Hanging Lakes, had a better than expected destination. I recommend this hike to anyone traveling the I-70. It's just off the highway and only a 2.4 miles round trip hike. We took a day trip into Aspen and hiked to some glacial lakes. Maroon Bells is one of Kristen's favorite hikes.
Our next campsite was Leadville Colorado. The highest city in the continental US. I had heard of it from reading Born to Run. It is seriously one of the smallest towns I have ever been in. We walked the entire main street in about 7 minutes and we were not walking fast. And when we first pulled into our campsite there were a lot of mosquitoes. Small town, mosquitos, not a great first impression. But it made up for it later. Talk a about a beautiful, pristine place. Turquoise lake captured my heart and the wilderness with no people was also refreshing. Where we had been before there were more campers, tourists, people. But not as many people venture up to 10,152 feet. I would not want to run in the Leadville 100 mile race. But if I could take my time on the trail for 100 miles it would be worth it. It was that lovely, and so much cooler! (I can't imagine it in the winter though! Yikes.)
In August it was back to Utah! We drove and stayed in Provo with my family for a week. Thankfully Kale is so good in the car. This trip we drove a lot (2162 miles) and Kale maybe cried a total of 10 minuets. Maybe. Not even that much. He is an angel child. Garrett had to go home for a job interview and we drove in the big white kelevan with my family to Tahoe! Tahoe is as perfect as I remember. We went to the beach daily. Kale went all the way out to the buoy. Aaron floated him out on a tube. Kale liked the sand, not the water. From Tahoe we drove to Oakland for my cousins wedding. It was three days of festivities. Her weddings was one of the most well planned, beautiful, and fun weddings I have been to. We were in Moraga where my dad grew up and it was fun to take a trip down memory lane, literally. On the way out we spent Sunday in Sonoma with my mom's sister. My cousin Luke was excited to pass the Sacrament for the first time, he wanted Aaron to be there with him. He did a great job.
Northern California is beautiful. I need more adjectives, it seems I describe everywhere I go as beautiful. It was green and lush. I would live there...except for the traffic. We drove through the night to get back to Utah. My siblings missed the first week of school to go to Tahoe and the wedding, so they needed to get back. Kale and I stayed an extra week in Utah to go to a former mission companions wedding. It was fun to spend time with Josephine, who just got back from her mission. She is so fun to be with. She laughs easily and hard. I am grateful for those weeks with her.
We made our last summer hoorah last weekend. We surprised Garrett's parents in California. It was during the week so his mom had to work, but Gary took us to the beach. It was a perfectly relaxing beach day. We rode bikes along the beach and got soft serve ice cream. Gary and Kale sat in the sand in the shade while Garrett and I attempted to swim. The waves were crashing and HUGE. You had to time it just right in order to get out to the water, the waves were right up on the beach. We got wiped out twice. My legs were scraped badly and I had more sand in my scalp than I've ever had. I had sand everywhere. We were caught and slammed by ocean and shore. It was a blast. Garrett and I were both laughing and running to get out. I felt like a kid.
Summer 2014 will be missed. Many memories were made.
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