back again and all settled in (well, sort of)

Well folks, we're back.  But now I'm writing to you from our new home in Maryland instead of Pittsburgh, lots of things have changed around here.  It's crazy how the last two months seemed to have flown by.

I'm not even sure where to begin.

Well, we took a road trip across the United States that was absolutely amazing.  We hiked for18 days (somewhere around 230 miles, total) on the John Muir Trail in the Sierra Nevadas.  We visited 17 national parks.  And 2 state parks.  Numerous national monuments.  Camped on the beach of the Pacific Ocean and at the top of Mount Whitney (highest point in the lower 48 states, standing at 14, 500 ft).  We saw animals that I never thought I'd actually see in the wild.  I hiked things I was scared to death of then extremely proud once I reached the top.  Crossed swift creeks that rose above my knees.  Ate lots of fast food, because when you're on the open road you can't be too picky.  Grilled bison burgers on a campfire (that was totally John).  Put up a tent in under 5 minutes (the two of us).  Then I successfully pitched the tent a couple of times by myself.  Saw gorgeous mountains, peaceful prairies, old glaciers, a large ocean, huge rivers and many, many lakes.  Words can't even describe the beauty we were able to witness.  Met a lot of really cool people, and some annoying ones too but mostly cool.  Experienced a lot of incredible things and I don't think I'll be the same again.  I'm not saying I've "found my true self" or some other funny self-actualized term but I did learn a lot and I'm glad I won't be the same.  Our country is absolutely incredible and John and I are blessed to have been able to experience so much of it.  I hope I don't forget this trip for as long as I live. 

Which brings me to the next bit of information, I wrote in a journal for every day that we were on the trip and John took nearly 5,000 pictures so I'll be sharing that with you.  All 5,000.  Just kidding, but I will be posting some of his breathtaking pictures that correspond with each day so that you can picture what we were seeing.  I look forward to sharing this experience with y'all!  Thanks for sticking around during my absence :)