7/4/2023 Hey everyone, it has been a while! A LOT has happened in our lives since the last post on this blog... we'll have to spend some time recapping various adventures. Well for now we've moved on from the Bay area to the Front Range of Colorado - this means we get to explore the Rockies!
The Eastern Sierra Nevada is perhaps the most beautiful and inspiring mountain range in the whole world. The views from US-395 anywhere between Lone Pine and Mammoth Lakes are second to none. When deciding where to go for a week-long adventure in September, this was an easy choice.
In the light of the moon, we strapped on our crampons and stepped onto the snow. Despite the fact that it was 2:30 AM, we were wide awake. Our path up the mountain was glowing in the night - a steep gully cutting steeply up the black, rocky slopes of the volcano.
The last time we were in Zion, we managed to avoid seeing anyone else for hours while navigating through Mystery canyon , even though it was the busiest day of the year. Although our initial plan of exploring slot canyons had to change due to rain, Zion is probably the best backup plan anyone can hope for.
After failing to see the Grand Canyon on several trips down I-10, we finally made it happen. We drove through a pretty intense dust storm followed by rain, and finally pulled into the forested camping area outside of the park in the dark. The towers of Monument valley looked like ghosts through the dust.
Having arrived to the campsite at night, the rising sun brought our first sight of the magical landscape. A giant sandstone finger pointing to the heavens glowed red with first light, and we watched it shrink into the horizon as we scraped frost from our windshield and headed into the park.
We were thinking about our van life during our European summer, so we tricked out our CR-V with a bed and headed East to find the sandstone in southern Utah and Northern Arizona. The first stop on our road tip was Arches National park.
Coming back to the mainland US after being abroad for so long was definitely an adjustment! Fortunately, our friends David and Rachel softened the blow by letting us land at their home while we figured things out. We took interviews as we contemplated how and where we wanted to contribute,...
We found an incredibly good deal on flights to Hawaii from Japan, so we decided we had to stop there on our way home. We basked in the warmth for a week, relaxing in Waikiki and exploring Maui. Waikiki was the perfect place to defrost after winter in Japan.
We returned to Japan in late December just in time for Christmas to spend the holidays with Alan's family. Although we had not expected to return so soon, and although the circumstances for doing so were not ideal, spending New Years as a family was wonderful. A mosquito took me down.
