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…
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…
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…
In the beginning of July, I made my way back to the West Coast to explore 4 National Parks, 1 National Forest, and spend (not enough) time in San Francisco, California and Bend, Oregon. Over the course of two weeks, I hiked 76 miles, kayaked 5 miles, white water rafted 3 miles, and mountain biked over 20 miles. Even though I was a walking zombie by the end of the two week period, I would take an action-packed trip like…
The last tacos I had in Oregon were back in 2018. Click here to see the Portland, Oregon taco post. Just like my 2018 visit, I started my trip in California and worked my way up to Oregon. My Pittsburgh friend, Kevin, was working in Klamath Falls, OR. He met Alexis and I for kayaking on Shasta Lake, dining in Redding, and hiking the beautiful waterfalls of Shasta-Trinity National Forest. After a wonderful week and a half with Alexis, we…
My coworker, Keri, recently informed me about a restaurant that has been slaying tacos on Tuesdays at $2 a pop. Over the past summer, Keri did me a solid favor and supplied me with tacos from El Burro when I was doing my Rachel Carson Trail Challenge (see post here). When I need tacos, I know I can rely on her. Anyways, Keri told me to let her know a time when I would like to join her and Matt…
As some of you may know, I am a Halloween baby. Every year I share my birthday with Halloween. There is usually a lot crammed into the day with birthday celebrating, Trick-or-Treating, and Halloween parties. The current pandemic did not stop me from having a day full of the above festivities. For my birthday lunch, my friend Dan took me to Lucha Street Tacos in Bridgeville. This place has been on my taco radar ever since I saw it on…