This past Christmas, I attended Kennywood’s Holiday Lights for the first time. Back in September, my work company provided two tickets to use at Kennywood at any point during the remainder of the season. Kevin and I finally had a chance to use the tickets close to the last day of the year. We had no idea what to expect at Holiday Lights. I was a little disappointed in the lack of efficiency with the parking and admission line situation….
Tepache is a fermented, sparking pineapple brew native to southern Mexico. Tepache is made using peels from pineapple and sweetened by honey, ginger, and cinnamon. Tepache’s roots lie in Mexico whereas my friend Alexis and I share roots in North Huntingdon. Our friendship is sparkly and sweet, like Tepache, and very unique as it started before birth. Our parents met at a prenatal exercise class and we still remain close friends for over 30 years! Since I now live north…
Over Labor Day weekend, I took a trip to Denver to see my friends, Carolyn and Tyler. While Carolyn and Tyler had a busy day working, I took a joy ride to Boulder for a late morning hike. My mission was to hike to an arch that Carolyn told me would be a challenge. Over 1,000ft of elevation gain in less than 2 miles of the initial hike. She said it would be equivalent to miles of being on a…
I wish I could take tacos backpacking with me, but it is just not possible. Tortillas are easily transportable and I could probably get dehydrated taco filling, but I do not know how I would take fresh cilantro, onions, salsa, lettuce, cheese, and crema outside of the refrigerator for five days! So I had to wait until after our backcountry backpacking trip in Glacier National Park before consuming tacos. Kevin, Nate, Chris, and I backpacked 5 days, 4 nights over…
Twice! So far, I have made it twice to Azul Bar Y Cantina this summer. The first time was by car and the second time was by bicycle. Kevin and I live only about 6.5 miles from the restaurant so we knew it was bikeable, but decided to drive the first time to scope out the route. Riding my road bike to the restaurant made me realize that I need to tune my bike asap as my brakes were not…
Flashback to October 2021. Caitlyn and I were on a bike packing trip from Buffalo to New York City on the Empire State Trail. There was a moment, on the side of a highway, where Caitlyn just realized we had 80 plus miles of cycling ahead of us that day after already having 80 plus mile days the previous two days. I heard Caitlyn state after a long silence, “I think I need a break from these trips.” Well, here…
For a few hot seconds, we made our way into Arizona. We wanted our road trip to include both Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend. After seeing both natural beauties, we celebrated with lunch at Fiesta Mexicana in Page, AZ. On the front of the menu, I saw that Fiesta Mexicana had a location in Sedona, AZ, and thought for a second that I may have been to this restaurant after backpacking to Havasu Falls exactly 4 years ago. Thankfully, my…
Kevin and I kicked off our first vacation of the year together in Utah. The 13 day adventure included hiking, camping, exploring riverbeds, UTV riding, stargazing, and seeing national parks. On the first day, we flew into Salt Lake City and drove four hours south to Moab. It was exciting that the first two nights were completely unplanned and we were banking on first-come, first-served BLM camping. Night one was a success after finding a sweet camp spot by Bowtie…
After watching an epic sunrise in Cholla Cactus Garden and completing a 7 mile hike on the Lost Palms Oasis Trail, we left Joshua Tree National Park for the afternoon. I was sad to know this was our last day at Joshua Tree National Park. I was surprised how much I enjoyed Joshua Tree National Park from sunrise to sunset, along with the incredible stargazing. I think tied with the natural beauty, was the adventure that came within the park….
About a month ago, I took on my first out of three planned out west trips for 2022. I went with my middle school friend, Deepali, to Joshua Tree and Death Valley National Parks. We flew into San Diego and out of Las Vegas. I was so excited for our fun-filled itinerary with room for spontaneity. Deepali has never been to San Diego, so that is why we chose to fly into San Diego over Los Angeles. I also prefer…