#55....check!

55. Go camping

I just got back from an awesome weekend camping up in the Show Low area. I grew up camping quite a bit in Minnesota and some in Florida but I think the last time I was camping was back in college in Ensenada, Mexico. So I put this goal on my 101 in 1001 list because I really enjoy getting away and soaking in nature.

Some of my close friends--Erik & Marisa Spletter--who have 3 kids just got some camping equipment and are planning to do a lot of family vacationing camping-style. And they invited me along! I was excited because not only was I going camping and spending some time with friends, but I also got the chance to cheer Erik on as he did an Olympic triathlon (quarter of the length of an Iron Man). But I'll get to that in a minute.

The top photo is the view from our campsite. Can you believe how beautiful it was!? Erik & Marisa just brought along their five-year-old, Karina, and left the other kids with grandpa and grandma.


Karina is quite the rock climber for her age!


Marisa enjoying the view:


Erik and Karina checking out the sunset:


This is what it looked like from where they were standing:


On Saturday, Erik did his triathlon and it was super-fun cheering him on and documenting the race. He completed the 1500 meter swim, 20-some mile bike and 8-some mile run in under 3 hours! I can't even imagine trying this but he's done it a number of times!

I love this shot of the race starting:


And this was total luck, but I caught Erik giving us a thumbs up as he swam past!


Here he is heading out on the bike:


And starting the run:


And finally crossing the finish line:


A congratulatory hug from Marisa afterwards:


Way to go Erik! You're amazing!!

The only bummer about the three nights we spent out there was that there was a fire restriction in effect and we were only able to have a campfire one night :(. So I felt a little jipped about that. But we kept ourselves busy with some fun games most of the time:


And I turned my camera over to Erik for one fun shot of me and Marisa:


Thanks so much for the fun time guys!! I can't wait to do it again sometime!

In other news, my email is back up and I have a bunch of emails waiting for me in my inbox from when I was gone. I'm not sure if I'm missing any so if you don't hear back from me in the next day or two, try resending. Thanks for your patience!!