Semi-Local Adventures

Yesterday I told you that I had caught the travel bug. I mentioned that I had visited England last summer and had the most wonderful time and couldn't get enough. I also told you about my recent quest to leave my small town and set out on my own. While that is still under way, I do have a few other recent developments.

Two weekends ago I set out on a small adventure to Arizona. I went with group of about 50 people down to Havasupai.

Gesundheit.

I had never heard of Havasupai, but was still excited to go. Basically everyone I talked to had one of two reactions:

"Wow, really?? That's fantastic! You're going to love it there! I'm so jealous!!"

Or

"...What's that?"

Well, to spare you the effort of Googling it, Havasupai is a part of the Grand Canyon on an Indian reservation. It's an eight mile hike to the reserve and then another two miles to the camp site. 10 miles total.

Too much. But I made it.

We drove around 10 hours from my small town, stopping in Vegas and a random petting zoo along the way, and arrived at the trail head at about 3 am. We slept--well, tried to sleep--until we started our hike at 4 am.

I was deliriously tired.

My friend and I spent the first hour quoting Finding Nemo, from start to we ran out of brain power. We still had about 4 hours until camp.

Walking into Havasupai was an amazing experience. The red rock, the blue water.

No, really. The water was BLUE. Straight up blue.

The river bed was white and the water looked like God had let a kindergartener color the scene with crayons. The colors were all so intense!

This picture doesn't even begin to capture the beauty of Havasupai, but you start to get the idea.

The hike out was torturous. Another 10 hours. We started at 4 the very next morning after hiking in, and we were wiped.

On the drive back, ADD hit us again and we stopped at some random exotic animal sanctuary and saw tigers, panthers, cougars, and wolves. 

We stopped again at Hover Dam (yes, very ADD).

We didn't get back home until 1 am. I was so shot it took all I had to walk up the stairs to my apartment.

The next day someone asked me if I had just run a marathon. I could barely walk.

But it was totally worth it.

Looking Forward

I do this way to much--forget about my blog. So much has happened since I last shared! I've had lots of good times, and lots of bad times. I won't bore you with the details, but I will tell you about my recent and applicable developments.

Currently I am applying for internships--yes this is to make me seem smart to all of you who come across my rather boring blog. I've applied to internships in the Boston area as well as in the San Jose Valley in California. Right now I'm looking into corporate options in the pharmaceutical development industry.

On a more exciting note, I have caught the bug. The travel bug. I know everyone must experience this, so it's not really a rare or novel thing, but it is starting to consume my life. I have the need to leave my small town and start up somewhere else (hence the internships), to visit far off places, and have adventures.

It all started this last summer. My family visited England for our family vacation and it was amazing. London, one of the most international cities in the world. Lacock, a small village off the beaten path and across the English countryside. Portsmouth, a still bustling port with history and tradition. All of it so real and new and different.

I have to leave Provo.

I have to get out of my small town life, even if it's just for a little while and even if it is in my own country. But I have to leave. I want to go, live, and be free.

And I'm going to.

I'm going out of state to work for the summer, and I'm going on vacations as well. My friend has graciously volunteered for the role of travel buddy.

Destination: Adventure.