"Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt." - John Muir Aloha friends! Two weeks ago, my husband and I jetted off to Hawaii for a getaway. Having only been to Oahu before, I had been wanting to explore a more remote island in Hawaii for awhile now. After doing some research, Kauai seemed like a perfect paradise to visit for an adventurous and relaxing trip. Naturally, we planned on spending our days outdoors doing active things. Surfing was on the top of his list, and hiking was on the top of mine. I'm going to share my favorite parts of the trip overall in another post soon, but today I want to recap one of the hikes that we had a chance to do in Kauai. We stayed on the eastern side of the island in Kapaa, and rented a car so that we could ... [Read More]
hiking
My 7 Favorite Hikes in San Diego County
Since I moved to California 7 1/2 years ago (cannot believe it's been that long!), I've become an avid hiker. Hitting the trails offers a workout, stress relief, time in nature, and exercise for my dog all at once. I've realized that hiking is also a spiritual experience for me. It leaves me feeling centered, grateful, and connected to the earth. I believe in the interconnectedness of everything in life, and hiking seems to always remind me of that. It's also a lovely chance to practice mindfulness. I can only describe it as losing myself for a few hours to really find myself. Hiking just with my trail buddy, my pup, also gives me time and space to clear my head. There's always so much going on - lots of noise, distractions, and busyness - but on the trails, everything sort ... [Read More]
Weekend Escape to Big Bear Lake
"Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny space you occupy in the world." - Gustave Flaubert With my hubby and I both home last weekend with nothing on the agenda, we decided to take a road trip to a place we'd never visited before: Big Bear Lake. Located in the San Bernardino Mountains about 2 1/2 hours away from our house in San Diego's North County, Big Bear Lake is a popular destination known for its winter ski slopes as well as summertime water sports. My hubby had brought up the idea of camping in the area mid-last week. However, all of the campsites at the lakeside campground I wanted to stay at were already reserved. Plus fires aren't currently allowed there because of the extremely dry conditions and high fire danger, and that's kind of my favorite part of camping, ... [Read More]
Clevenger Canyon North Hike [Weekend Recap]
Clevenger Canyon North is a trail located in the SoCal countryside in the town of Ramona. I first heard about this hike when checking out a hiking book that covers trails within 60 miles of San Diego. Not surprisingly, I've already done most of the hikes that are moderate to difficult, but I jotted down a few that I hadn't done before, and Clevenger Canyon was one of them. ... [Read More]
Hiking to Potato Chip Rock [2015 Edition]
Hi friends! Hope that you had a great weekend. I've been back to the work grind on this Monday and have been busy, busy, busy! But I'm popping in to recap the highlight of my weekend with you guys: hiking to Potato Chip Rock! My cousin Michelle and I have been talking about getting together for a hike excursion for awhile, and set a date for last Saturday. She drove down from where she lives in Long Beach to stay the night at my place on Friday, and Saturday morning we set out to the Lake Poway Recreational Reserve. I hiked to Potato Chip Rock once before with my hubby 2+ years ago (recap here <-- throwback post!), so I was able to reference my blog post beforehand to jog my memory about the hike and see how long it took me the first time, as well as how I described the ... [Read More]
Cedar Creek Falls Hike Recap {San Diego Area}
"Climb mountains not so that the world can see you, but so you can see the world." Happy Friday! Any fun Super Bowl or weekend plans? Speaking of the weekend, today I'm hopping back a few weekends to talk about where I spent part of my MLK Jr. holiday: When I found out that both my hubby and I had no plans for the Monday holiday I had off, I decided that it'd be a great day to try a new hiking trail in the area. Since Southern Cali has gotten a good amount of rain recently (well, for here at least!), I thought it'd be cool to check out a waterfall hike. We decided to head out to the Cedar Creek Falls Trail - a hiking spot located in a town called Ramona about an hour from my house. ... [Read More]