Despite the hardships this year, I am feeling very lucky right now. Truth be told, I feel lucky because I have the privilege of being distracted from my problems.
Zach made a true effort to make my birthday enjoyable this year. I knew he had a couple surprises with Lexi, but I didn't expect for us to spend a weekend away.
It really was a lovely and simple present. He gave me some gifts including a book I had asked for and a surprise massage right before we left to go to Palm Springs. I'd been mentioning that I wanted to go back to Palm Springs and that we should ride the aerial tram with Lexi since we missed the opportunity when we had been staying there last time.
That's exactly what we did!
After exploring the San Jacinto State Park, we got lucky and finally had dinner at Rooster and the Pig. (We tried going there a year before, but they were full.) Then we spent some time swimming on the rooftop pool before heading to bed.
The next morning, we explored the Palm Springs Art Museum before heading home.
A few days later, the three of us and our friend, Tony ventured north to Yosemite National Park! We had planned this trip for a long time and it was finally here. I love Yosemite and I was so excited to show Lexi where Zach and I got engaged.
We got to the park around 3pm on Thursday and walked around the Mirror Lake trail. It was a lot drier than I expected though, so we cut the trek short and headed back to camp.
On Friday, we hiked the Mist Trail to Vernal and Nevada Falls. The trail was a lot harder than I remembered and in total, we hiked about 8 miles. Lexi did amazing despite the constant elevation gain! Toward the end she finally started to get tired so Zach carried her back to camp. What a feat for her! I am so proud of her and I hope she remembers the bragging rights for the rest of her life.
After the long hike, we were all pretty exhausted so we decided to relax more the next day and rent bikes instead of hiking again. We biked all day long! At first we stayed around Curry Village and biking around a loop, but eventually we ventured out to Yosemite Valley and Yosemite Falls. Lexi loved biking around. What a wonderful day!
We saw lots of wildlife throughout our time in the park - we encountered a horse stable, Lexi lost count after seeing about 100 squirrels, we saw a bear in a tree eating apples, and a deer as we were walking to dinner.
It was the perfect family trip. I hope we can replicate it someday.
Now Zach and I are preparing to fly to South Carolina this weekend for a new chapter. Hopefully the end of August starts to bring more happiness to this year. I am excited and nervous for the next few weeks to come.
Thankfully we have a couple more distraction trips in the works. Until next time....