Sunday, July 25

Backyard Backcountry

This weekend we did something pretty amazing and a first for me...we hiked a total of 22 miles in the San Bernardino mountains to the summit of San Gorgonio, which is the tallest mountain in Southern California, 11,500 feet! We got the invite from our friends Landon and Lindsay and couldn't refuse the offer to take the challenge. It was an AMAZING experience- definitely stretched me physically-but at the end it felt so great to have said we did it. Couldn't have done it with two better people...the L's are awesome! Here's the "before" photo
Ready to tackle the Friday hike...7 miles into Dollar Lake to camp for the night.


This sign was our first pit stop. It was great hiking up in the mountains because it's so cool temperature wise up there. It was about 95 degrees in Loma Linda when we left and by the time we started our ascent it was about 80 degrees. We had perfect hiking weather the whole time!

On the trail...


Lindsay and I taking a breather as the sun was setting. I was so proud of the two of us and I had so much fun sharing this experience with her! We've agreed we somehow got split up at birth because we're so alike. :)

It was our first time using our new REI tent. We've been excited to use it and we were happy to finally break it in this weekend.

Jared taking his "bath" in Dollar Lake on Saturday morning. It was a small, mountian lake, and very pretty to wake up to!

Getting to the summit...it was an incredible view! I didn't ever think I'd get to see Southern California from this angle! We took off from camp Saturday morning around 9:30 for the 4 mile trek to the top.

Group photo at the top

The Adams at the top!

On the way down we got involved in a rescue mission with the park rangers...a man and his two dogs needed assistance down the mountain (the dog Landon is carrying had paws so torn up that he was unable to walk) and we joined with some other hikers and helped get the dogs down. It was a neat experience and I was really impressed with all the guys that pitched in and carried the dog all those miles down the mountain!




The "after" photo. Tired, but energized by what we had just done...sore, but feeling strong...dirty, but not dirty enough to head straight to Eureka burger for the biggest, juiciest, fattiest burgers on the menu to reward ourselves for a job well done. :)

Loved this adventure...loved the challenge...loved doing it with Lan and Linds and loved the feeling of knowing we had just done this together!

Sunday, July 18

Birthday Fun and Beach Sun!

This weekend has been full of fun and sun! It kicked off Friday with a birthday party for three of our friends, Landon, Justin and Ben and then Saturday a bunch of us went to Trestles Beach so the guys could surf. It's been a great weekend and I'm already excited for what we have planned next weekend!

All of us at Trestles yesterday...left to right it's...April and Jeff, Clark and Melissa, Justin, Jared and I, Landon and Lindsay, and Ben and Meg. Kevin and Sarah had left to go snag a spot at Pizza Port for dinner, but they were there too. We all have so much fun together...I swear the jokes, laughing and silliness never stops. I think with all these guys being dental students (Jeff is a Med student), by the time the weekend comes, they are ready to kick back and just have fun. And that's exactly what we do!
Lindsay planned the bike-themed birthday pool party for the boys. I played the role of "assistant" and had a lot of fun helping her get things ready on Friday. It didn't help that it was about 108 degrees that day, but the two of us had a blast putting everything together and running all over Redlands and Loma Linda. She had planned games with prizes, bought water bottles for everyone...everything was biked themed and the guys loved it!

Ben and Chris did the grillin'...

Landon and Lindsay

Everyone keeping cool in the pool...the guys all did a crazy uphill 20 mile bike ride before the party in the crazy heat, so they were really happy to get back and just jump in the pool.

Ben and Meg

Saturday, July 10

Happy 6th Anniversary

Today, July 10th, marks our 6th wedding anniversary! It's hard to believe we've been together 13 years now all together and let me just say...it just keeps getting better! :) Jared and I love "doing life together" and I would definitely say we are each other's bestest friends. We celebrated last night down in Dos Lagos and went to a place called TAPS for dinner. It's a fish and seafood house and they also have their own brewery. It was a great dinner...good food, a view of the two lakes, live music playing outside, and then a nice walk around the lakes and promenade shopping area.
Cheers to 6 years and here's to many more!!!
A view from our walk of TAPS.

Love this guy!