Backyard Camping With My Nephew

I had a deal with my sister that when my nephew turned 3, I would take him on his very first camping trip! We would start with backyard camping in their backyard – the same as I did with my other nephew. I figured if we did everything the same, he would love it as much as his cousin right?

Swatara Rail Trail

I wanted to check out the Swatara Rail Trail for quite some time – it is a mixture of rail trails and abandoned roads near Jonestown, PA. I saw the trail while driving home from another near by trail, the Stone Valley Rail Trail. Part of my research in checking out new trails is going on Google Maps to see where the trail starts, ends and what else is around it. I noticed at one end of the Swatara Rail Trail there was a KOA campsite and you could cycle (or walk) right from camp to the trail which really intrigued me. So I picked a weekend in August, packed up my camping gear, Kevin, JoJo and my nephew and we headed out for a weekend of adventure!

Lackawanna River Heritage Trail

Kevin was invited to be in a wedding which was going to take place near Scranton, PA. When you are in a wedding, you typically have things that you do all day with the bridal party – and I didn’t know anyone else that would be attending this wedding. So I started looking for things that I could do close to the hotel that would take up some time until the wedding would take place. I thought about taking a tour of Scranton to see all the places The Office was filmed, except there are none. Then I noticed a bike trail really close to the hotel we were staying at – The Lackawanna River Heritage Trail. BINGO.

Bikepacking the Pine Creek Rail Trail

The Pine Creek Rail Trail or PA Grand Canyon is supposed to be one of the most beautiful spots in all of Pennsylvania. My friend Tracy and I had been trying to plan a bike camping trip there for at LEAST 2 years, but if you have been following this blog you know that 9 times out of 10 when I’m trying to plan an outdoor adventure it rains a lot and I have to cancel. We actually had the campsite booked 3 times last year and due to heavy rains we didn’t go. I was nervous to check the weather as the weekend of our trip approached – honestly a big part of me didn’t think we would actually be going because we had to cancel so many times before. The weather was supposed to be perfect so I dug out all my camping things the night before and stuffed them into my panniers. In the morning, I was making breakfast and a glass jar fell out of the top shelf right onto my glass stove top – completely shattering it. I texted Tracy I would be a little late as I picked the glass shards out of one foot and put a bandaid on the cut on the other. I assured Tracy I wouldn’t need stitches, but just needed to clean up the glass that was now all over my kitchen and then I would be over – there was NOTHING that was going to stop our trip.

Mount Mitchell – North Carolina

Dad and I snagged Mount Mitchell on one of our road trips before, but it was so close to where we were that we decided to go again. The drive there was….interesting. Dad asked Siri to take us there and we followed her directions. “Turn right and you will arrive at your destination.” She told us after awhile of driving. Dad and I both looked at each other as we steered the car in the direction Siri told us to go. “This doesn’t look at familiar at ALL!” I exclaimed. Dad agreed, but we were going up so we kept going. “You have arrived!” Siri proudly told us as we pulled into….a housing development. What. ON. EARTH.

Sassafras Mountain – South Carolina – UPDATED 2019

One of the main reasons Dad and I chose to head down south again for our road trip was to see the new tower they built on the top of Sassafras Mountain, the highest point in South Carolina. It was recently reopened a few months ago so we decided to head down and check it out.

SKYBRIDGE, Gatlinburg TN

While planning our recent roadtrip, my dad sent me a link to an article he found about a new bridge in Gatlinburg that would be opening right before we headed down there – the SKYBRIDGE.

The SkyBridge is the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the US. I texted my dad back and said “We will watch some ppl test it first….also I better not drop my camera off that” (If you read my blog, you know one road trip I broke 2 cameras and a gimbal in 24 hrs.)

Cherry Blossom 10 Miler 2019

I was so excited when I got accepted for the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in DC again this year. To be able to run in this event, you need to put your name into a lottery. Then names are randomly selected out of the thousands and thousands of people who apply. I applied the last 3 years and was accepted the last 2. Last year I ended up dropping down to the 5K due to not feeling well and my sweet cat Willow passed away a few days before….I can NOT believe it’s been a year without my snuggle buddy.

Anyway, I was excited to be chosen again for this run – and the course did NOT disappoint. I believe the peak bloom day was a few days before the run, so when I arrived a few blossoms were falling, but the trees were still all in bloom and it was breathtaking! After heading to the expo, getting my packet, and bringing it back to the hotel I headed out to see the sights – along with like a million-bazillion other people. We were all headed to one place – the tidal basin. Although I have been to DC a few times, I am not completely sure where everything else is – turns out following the sea of people led me right to where I wanted to be.

Fairy Tale Challenge – Princess 1/2 Marathon

It was HOT for the 10K – it was even HOTTER for the half marathon. RudDisney still had a heat warning and was telling everyone to take it slow and stay hydrated. My character was going to be Rapunzel for this run so I put on my purple sparkle skirt, the Rapunzel themed shirt I got off Etsy, and pinned a little Pascal (that I also got off Etsy) to my shoulder. Kevin once again dropped me off at Epcot and I made my way to the start. This day was gonna be tough…

Fairy Tale Challenge – 10K

The morning of the 10K I strapped on the tentacles I made after Kevin dropped me off at Epcot – transforming me into Ursula. I hoped they would not annoy me while I was running, which is why I wore them for the shorter of the 2 races. You really should take your costumes out for a test run, but I just wing it…