5 Mountain Days

So, the JRP was... somewhat successful. I don't think I truly resolved my disdain for the month of January, but I did have a few 5 Mountain days, so I'm going to go ahead and consider that a win.

Many of you know that one of the great loves of my life is nature. If you didn't, then let me elucidate. I get giddy butterflies in my stomach whenever I see a glimpse of mountain, come across a remarkably large, moss covered tree, smell a freshly bloomed magnolia tree or lilac bush, or see creeping ivy covering a rock face. Pure, wide-eyed, gooey-centered love. On clear days my commute to work alone is often enough to make my day, as I get great views of the Olympics and Mt. Rainier. Because of this weird, child-like obsession with beautiful earth things, I've adopted a new rating system into my life.

Here's how it goes:

Lora's Mountain-based Rating Scale, or LMRS (lemurs) for short

0 Mountain Day- a.k.a. NOMO Day. NOMO days are the GD worst. It's the kind of day where there's too much fog and clouds and rain in life to see any mountains. These days are worth noting, because they make any positive numeric mountain days seem like a gem in comparison.  Take a look back at "What a Bad Week Looks Like"  for more on NOMO days.

1 Mountain Day- A day kind of day where maybe a part of the mountain is visible, if only a little bit. Usually a day where one event was particularly good, and acted as a silver lining for the rest of this crap-ful day.

2 Mountain Day- aka "Small Victories Day" - Like a 1 mountain day, there is a silver lining, but there's also some active appreciation and love for lesser moments or more subtle victories.

Ex:"Today, I am wearing matching socks shoes." BAM. 2 mountain day, right there. Maybe it will even become a...

3 Mountain Day-  This is a solid day. 3MO days are actually my most typical days. Enough happiness and joy that life just seems good, despite the everyday stressors.

4 Mountain Day- Wee! Now we're having fun. On a day like today, maybe I got some good news. Maybe I indulged myself with something awesome because I'm awesome. Either way, I feel pretty damn good.

5 Mountain Day- This is pretty much the best day. 5 mountain days are more common (and better) with friends. Also, I've found that they are nearly impossible on work days, so maybe that's a sign of something I should pay attention to. Anyway you cut this day, I am on top of the world.

BONUS: The most rare, elusive and wonderful kind of day:
6 Mountain Day- Is this real life? The universe is saying "You're going to break the game your so good!" I don't know how it happens, but a 6MO day feels like seeing Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helen's, Mt. Rainier, the Cascades, the Olympics, and Mount Baker all at once. Probably while the sun is rising, or setting. And you maybe have a lake in the foreground, and are sitting against an old growth tree on a patch of comfy moss. Yes, this is real life.

So you know, if you are a crazy ass nature freak like I am, feel free to use LMRS as well. I'm sure it'll pop back up in this blog regularly from now on.

I have a ton of pictures to post, dating back Christmastime, but unfortunately I have misplaced my phone, without doing a ton of backup (womp womp, lesson I NEVER learn). I'm also feeling a little nostalgic and sort of want to go through my pictures from 2014 and do a Favorites of 2014 list. So, that's what I'm going to do. Deal with it.

Favorite Adventures of 2014, in no particular order:

Capilano Suspension Bridge
Mom came to visit early in 2014 to help keep my head above water. When she was here, we decided we'd go to Vancouver, BC. It was a short trip, but the suspension bridge was a huge highlight of my year. Mom and I did a suspension bridge together in Ireland in 2012, so it seemed fitting to do another together. The Capilano is a big one in a beautiful forested area. Here's my first and second favorite picture from that day, since I can.

The Palouse
This was just a great weekend in general. I went out to Spokane to visit my two favorite Eastern Washingtonians, Katie and Matt. We spent some time down at the riverfront, and I got very eager for some Manchester, NH times- all the brick, old mills and the river just felt so familiar. It's beautiful out there. Then we took a mini road trip to South Central Washington to go to Palouse falls. I'm sure I've mentioned (read: BRAGGED) that Washington state is one of the most geographically diverse places in the US packed into one reasonably sized state (that's right California, you may be diverse but you are also very large). Being mostly over in the forested, mountain-and-lake, salt water areas of Washington, it was really interesting to see the geography and experience the climate of the Palouse area. I totally got a sunburn in May which is not something my fair New England born and raised skin is used to. Here's my favorite picture of that day.

Palouse Falls

North Cascades
The first weekend in August, with my new car Dove (RIP Ladyhawke), I went out for a wicked long day trip. No, really. I drove for 12 hours. I went up to Deception Pass, walked the length of the bridge twice, then decided I wanted to drive the North Cascades Highway. This brings you through a ton of tiny towns, like Concrete, WA, and has some incredible sites. Lake Diablo and the surrounding mountains are breathtaking. It was beautiful until I got to the eastern part of the highway, where smoke from the forest fires chased me back home.

The Bridge at Deception Pass

North Cascades Highway

Glacier National Park
So I realized I never blogged about this (or my birthday road trip to the Redwoods) so I'm going to do it now in short form. I have wanted to go to Glacier since I found out about it in my teenage years. I'm guessing most people feel the same way, and that's a pretty solid way to feel. I only had a three day weekend to spare, so Zach and I made the most of if by powering through all the sites in about 40 hours. We were incredibly lucky- about 2 weeks before they had been hit with a snow storm, but by the time we got there it had all disappeared. Unfortunately, snow and the coming of winter means less wildlife, so we were not so lucky in our pursuits of mammalian viewing, large and small. It really didn't matter. Montana is beautiful country and it might be one of the most special weekends of my life for so many reasons. We stayed at Lake McDonald, only a few hundred feet from the water. The next day we drove the Going to the Sun Road out to East Glacier and Two medicine. Two things: The pictures I have HARDLY capture the beauty of this place. Honestly I was so in awe of the natural beauty that I kept forgetting to even take pictures. If you go here, I guarantee you that most of those pictures are pretty spot-on accurate to how it looks in real life. So, here are the few snapshots a managed to collect over those 3 days.

Lake McDonald, the night we arrived.

Grainy as hell, but a waterfall cascading down by a bridge on the Going to the Sun Road

By far and away my favorite viewpoint, St. Mary Lake. Yes, I took this. With my smart phone.

Crystal clear waters with vibrant colored rocks

The California Redwoods and San Francisco Bday Roadtrip EXTRAVAGANZA
I have been waiting for a trip like this my entire life. Since I can remember. I saw something about the giant Redwoods and Sequoia's of California when I was probably about 7, and since then have had this complete fascination with seeing these giants. What better time then when I'm already on the West Coast? Not to mention, my golden birthday! You know, the one where you turn the same age as your birthdate? I was 28 on September 28, 2014. So, in just about a week, Justin and I drove from Seattle, down the coast of Washington and Oregon, and into the Redwoods. We also continued down for a brief stop in San Francisco, just for the hell  beer  fun of it. Here's a selection of pictures from that trip!

We weren't really sure about this chair hoisted up on a post on the side of the highway. Art? Garbage? Blair Witch?

Bear Festival?!?? I WANT TO GO!

This. So disappoint.

Glassy Beach on Oregon Coast 

Just follow Justin, he know's the way

Happy that the sun is slowly coming out!

Ah, there it is!!!

I'm not even sure which one of us took this?

!!!

Caribou! Elk! I don't care! They were so cute!

YES MY FIRST REDWOOD!

I want to live here forevers.

I totally drove through this tree.

My new studio Apartment.

Nature! Wondrous!

Failed attempt at a panorama while sitting in Redwood I climbed up into

Not super sure why I'm so psyched about this stump. Other than it's HUGE!

Shout out to my siblings, Paul and Babe style!

Man, that's my JAM!

Hmmm...

What is with these business signs?

Russian River! Love me some Pliny :)

"Let's try ALL the beers!"

Cheers my friend!

  

Another great beer stop.

My first ever In-N-Out Burger! It was decent. I still like Dick's better.

Aaand beer in the hotel! 

There she is!

Really cool old city ruins at Land's End

 

Because houses.

Golden Gate Park Flower palace place!

<3

Sleep and Sauce?!?! WHY DIDN'T WE STAY HERE??

Yes, we went there. Mostly just to say we did. It wasn't really a highlight.

Wine country sunset.

Holy picture dump, Batman!  Hopefully you get the gist by now- 2014 was a killer year. I spent the first half in a bit of a depressive stupor, but I will still love every bit of this year when I look back on it in the future.


A few other Incredible experiences of 2014!
Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, Jumping off the Ramps to Nowhere, Hiking to Big 4 Ice Caves, going to Mt. Rainier... so many awesome times.


It's easy to lose sight of how great life can be when there are days, weeks or months of stress or sadness. One of my goals this year is to experience changes as adventures and failures as challenges (that I will overcome, obvs). Thank you for reading and laughing and living along with me through it. So much love to you.