While I feel like 21 has come and gone so quickly, stepping back I realize that I have done so much in my 21st (technically 22nd) year. Looking through pictures, I'm reminded of places I've been, things I've seen, and all that I've experienced.
For my own sake, I thought I'd document the places I've been in the past year with a super-mega-picture post. Hurrah!
Much of the early part of my 21st year was spent in in Adam's bedroom, playing with our new kitten Kalisti and killing zombies in Left 4 Dead 2.
Or in Kathleen's basement watching Life.
Adam and I bought a new camera in spring, heading outdoors and taking lots of pictures everywhere we went.
In May, I packed everything I owned into a storage shed in the north suburbs, effectively moving out of the fire-hazardous 2210 in mpls and preparing for a month and a half on the road.
Starting in South Dakota, we crossed the Badlands on a windy day. Buffalo, prairie dogs, and wildflowers ran rampant in the prairies. On the bare rocky cliffs, I almost fell to my death when my foot slid on lose rocks while hugging rock walls.
In Colorado, we climbed up into the Rocky Mountains by car, stopping occasionally to take scenic pictures around mountain lakes. This was the first times I got a chance to take the grandeur of the Rockies in.
The western side of the Rockies led us to stunning desert wildflowers and the National Parks of Utah - stepping foot for the first time in Arches, Bryce Canyon, and Zion (where the above pictures were taken). While all three parks are located near each other in southern Utah, they are all fantastically different. Admittedly, I was surprised that Utah could be so breathtaking.
The red rock deserts of Nevada were strangely enchanting. At the end of May, the blistering heat had not yet reached the Valley of Fire. As the sun began to set and the moon began to rise, I found myself surrounded by petroglyphs from thousands of years past. While nightfall found us around a campfire cooking dinner surrounded by desert stars.
After a somewhat drunken evening in Vegas, we camped in the Santa Ana Mtns. Admittedly, I dreamed of serial killers attacking us in our secluded forest camping spot, but Adam played guitar and chased all those bad thoughts away. By the next morning it was home-sweet-home: the ocean.
Returning to Oceanside, California we soaked up the waves and all the delicious food from the farmers market. Our stay by the water was brief; as we had an urge to see new things we headed inland towards the tall, tall trees.
Looking up at General Sherman, the largest tree in the world!
In Sequoia Nat'l Park, we climbed up to Moro Rock - Sequoia's equivalent of Yosemite's Half Dome. By the time we reached the top, out of breath and shaking from our fear of heights, the sun was just setting on the San Juaquin Valley behind us and the Sierra Nevada's ahead. So incredible. (Do you see the road behind our backs - the zigzaggy path behind us?!)
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