Flying

 

Last Sunday, Zach and I were up in the air again. Masked and loaded up with backpacks, we shuffled onto the plane and settled into our seats for our flight from St. Louis to Portland, Oregon. After so many years of piecing together shorter flights and long layovers, I always feel like I'm teleporting when, a mere four hours after takeoff, we land in the alternate reality that is the Pacific Northwest. (This reality was obviously from a different timeline than usual, though: how else could you explain the 111ºF temperatures?)

Iowa

We are staying for a little bit in Portland, then road-tripping back to St. Louis with Zach's dad Gary. In the meantime, we've been visiting family members, going camping, hiking in alpine areas, camping in old-growth forests, watching Tour de France highlights, and eating way more cheesecake than is necessary.

Nebraska

Zach is on another leave of absence from work; he won't be back until September, and we have a lot of adventures planned between then and now. This ebb and flow— home and away, Missouri and Northwest, work and leave— has become our rhythm of life, one that feels so normal that I have to stop and remind myself how privileged we are. I try to be grateful for each day, each new sight, each hiking trail and wildflower. 

Idaho

I'm honestly not sure how much I'll be blogging on this trip, but I decided to share these photos today, and I'm planning to at least post some pictures of the three-day camping trip we did in the Gifford-Pinchot National Forest. Hope you're all doing well!

Mount Hood. Check out that lava flow!

Cheers,

Lisa

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