October 2016 in Photos
This was another not so typical van life month. At the beginning of October we were still in Hawai’i. Our total stay was just under a month long. We continued to surf almost everyday and I managed to go from hopeless kook to less hopeless kook. We will really miss the surfing in Hawai’i, and look forward to next time.
Ed on is Paddle Board out from Pearl Harbor
Mak had her birthday this past month and to celebrate we left Hawai’i. That’s right, she got to fly for 6 hours and land in Seattle at 10:30PM and then wake up at 5:00AM the next morning. Jealous? I thought so. Before all of that craziness we did get in an early morning surf session and had an awesome acai bowl for breakfast.
As previously stated, we woke up at 5:00AM the day after Mak’s birthday. We did this so that we could drive to Descend on Bend. This is a van centric event put on my two great guys, Ryan and Dave. Descend on Bend is only in it’s third year, but it is growing ridiculously fast. This year over 300 vans registered to be there! It was an amazing time despite some cold, wet weather. Tons of friends we have met while being on the road were there and it was kind of like a family reunion in a way. We also met a bunch of new friends as well! We really can’t say enough about what a great experience it was. It was worth leaving Hawai’i for.
After Descend, we "Extended on Bend" with Matt & Allie, and the Camp Trend Crew - Mark, Nives, & Carl. We all made our way out to Smith Rock State Park for some rock climbing. Smith Rock is an incredibly scenic park. It has a large rock face surrounded by a river and is easily one of the best state parks we have been to. The climbing is also great. We spent a few days climbing, hiking, and making friends with the other travelers staying at Smith Rock.
The rest of our October was spent slowly making our way towards Utah. From Smith Rock we headed east where we stopped in at the Painted Hills. It is a small park but the hills are no joke. The colors are incredible. It looks like candy corn hills. The next stop was Boise where we spent a week getting work done. We have been pretty slammed this month. It was nice to get into a schedule in Boise and we really got a lot done. Also worth noting, Boise is a really cool city. We had no idea what to expect but we had a great time there. From Boise we made our way to Craters of the Moon National Monument where we got to crawl around in some lava tubes and learn a lot about Idaho’s volcanic history.
Owen in Indian Cave, Craters of the Moon National Monument
We are now in Utah. Our first stop in Utah was Antelope Island State Park, which is the largest island in Great Salt Lake. We did a 6.5 miles hike up to the tallest peak for panoramic views of the whole island. We decided to camp on the island, and experienced some of the most intense wind to date. For work, we headed into Ogden, Utah. We decided to take a yoga class and climb at The Front Climbing Club, where we we met Joey, quiet possibly one of the most hospitable people we have met yet. He opened up the gym to us as a place to work, climb, and shower for the duration of our time here in Ogden, and we couldn't be more appreciative. If you are ever in the area, The Front is worth a visit!
This month we have some familiar shout outs. We once again owe a huge thank you to Ed and Joanne Kertis for giving us a place to stay in Hawai’i. We also owe Tim and Jennifer a big thanks after they picked us up from the Seattle airport so late at night and gave us a place to stay that night. Thank you to everyone at The Front Climbing gym for giving us a home away from home and making us feel welcome during our stay in Ogden.
Here are some of our favorite photos from October! See you next month.
