Tour du Mont Blanc

G.Hammer and I were married August 10, 2013, and spent our honeymoon backpacking through Montana’s Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, then climbing Montana’s highest mountain, Granite Peak. We agreed then we should be in the backcountry for all our anniversaries, too. In 2014 we were backpacking in Glacier National Park and Greg surprised me by packing in his […]

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Laugavegur Trail, Iceland

I don’t know when I first heard about Iceland’s most popular hiking trail, but it had been on my travel wish list for some time. It’s just under 51 miles long, and the FI (Ferðafélag Íslands, or the Iceland Touring Foundation) maintains five huts conveniently located within 7-9 miles of each other along the way. There […]

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Czech Republic

It’s time for the latest installment of: We’ve Got a Week Off Where Should We Go? We debated between hiking in Colorado, volcanoes in Hawaii, and whatever-city-in-Europe-has-the-most-business-class-seats-available. Hello, Czech Republic! Well, hello Amsterdam, then hello Prague. It’s been a big dream of mine to visit Auschwitz but once we got to Amsterdam the KLM flights […]

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Iceland on a Budget!

  Hahaha just kidding. Iceland is not a budget destination, so just put that out of your head now. But… there are ways around the high price tag if you’re flexible and have a sense of adventure! It’s ironic, you can fly on WOW air from the States for $99 each way, but you’ll pay $150/night […]

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Cincinnati, Chicago Cubs, and Cheap Travel

  People tell us all the time “I wish I could just travel” or “You guys are living the dream”. #1 We’ve made it our priority, and #2 That’s true. While it isn’t always dolphin rides and face painting, we are living our dream. I can’t help but feel that a lot of people out […]

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Chicago: A Tale of Two Munchkins, part three

  Be sure to check out parts one and two first! The kids provided us a great day, but the weather was questionable for our third day in the city so we gave them the choice of the Museum of Science and Industry, the Field Museum of Natural History, or the Shedd Aquarium. They chose […]

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Chicago: A Tale of Two Munchkins, part two

In case you missed it, here’s part one. We turned (some) control over the kids and let them decide what we would do our second day, and gave them options to choose from. Mason claimed (falsely) he’d never been to a zoo before so we opted to take the bus to Lincoln Park Zoo, which […]

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Chicago: A Tale of Two Munchkins, part one

If you’re lucky enough to have nieces and nephews, you’re lucky enough. You might say Greg and I are some of the most fortunate people on the planet as we have a whopping twenty, with two more on the way. Our siblings have produced tomboys and girly girls, athletes and gamers, sweet angels and little […]

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Lizard Head Loop: Valentine Lake to Big Sandy Trailhead

Be sure to check out Parts One and Two first!   Day 5: Valentine Lake to Hooker Valley, 6.0 miles We seemed to have hit the jackpot with weather in the Winds. We met several groups of hikers who told us this was the best time to be there, just after school started and before […]

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Lizard Head Loop: Cirque of the Towers to Valentine Lake

Be sure to check out Part One first! Day 3: Day hike to Texas Pass and around Lonesome Lake, 5.72 miles We awoke our third day to brilliant blue skies. Seriously, we could not have paid for better weather. We made pancakes and bacon and drank our coffee and Earl Grey in the sun. We […]

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