If it seems like the lights are on but no one is home, you must have missed the memo! My new blog can be found over at helloadventureco.com where I am exploring Europe.
We are spending a month in Paris, with stops in Portugal in January.
Heading over to Prague for February, where we will take a road trip to Hallstatt and explore around Germany. Then it’s off to Greece!
Looking forward to all the adventures that will be had! See you over there! xx
Some boys take a beautiful girl
And hide her away from the rest of the world
I want to be the one to walk in the sun
Oh girls they wanna have fun.
Goat Lake | 10.4 Miles Roundtrip
This hike was a perfect ‘collect your friends and go spend a day outdoors’ kind of day. With the first 4 miles being a relatively flat trail, we were able to laugh and joke our way up to this lake, celebrating with Birthday Cake Oreos, Honey Whiskey, Champagne… Hard Seltzer… Beer…
You get the idea.
The trail splits into Upper and Lower Elliot. We took the lower route back down where Annie met a mud puddle: (there were a lot of them on this route)
But hey – nothing a little Mexican food can’t cure!
Look at that poised face!
So happy to be able to have these bad-ass ladies in my life. Can you believe I met them all through Instagram? I am already planning an girls-overnight/sleepover in the mountains for my birthday in August.
Really content with how this summer has already shown me so much happiness.
DA BABEZ:
Karli aka “six ft. queeeeeeeeeen” @karlilindor
Annie aka “birthday girl meets mud puddle” @annniegirl
Marie aka “I can’t stop laughing” @xmiss_marie
Erin aka “swift kick in the sweet pants” @erin.noelle1
Maria aka “I literally can NOT EVEN” @maria.ftee
You guys inspire me to be amazing.
Okay, actually it started to.
I came down with the blues on Friday, missing my man (😏 whoops did I just say that out loud?) and feeling like I was going to have the worst Memorial Day Staycation while all my friends were out and about. What cured these sad thoughts? BEING OUTSIDE. and realizing how grateful I am to be living exactly how I am currently.
Saturday Morning we got to boat on Andrews Bay and try to doughnot get sunburnt. Lots of White Claw + Sandwiches later we we’re feeling pretty silly. Sidenote: I am obsessed with Lyons Grocery for deli style subs. Do yourself a favor and check them out. Kayla made some of her famous Sangria and we all made some new friends. (see yacht in background!)
If you’re lucky enough to get to spend time on the water in the Seattle/Bellevue area, Andrews Bay and Meydenbauer Bay are my two favorite places to lounge out! Be sure to bring an air pump for your floaties, unless you want to be sore from using a hand pump four days later (😐 I guess I wasn’t as in shape for the summer as originally thought…)
Sunday was another jam-packed day, woke up and went to Folklife Festival at Seattle Center with Kira and Stella. It was great to see families show up early to beat the heat and catch some of the earlier music acts. We grabbed a salmon Caesar salad and joined! We spent our time shopping at the local vendors, including Pieces to Peaces who now sells my favorite hiking accessory! There headbands and beanies are handmade in Olympia, and the fabric and patterns are amaaaaaazing. Thanks to Kira for encouraging all the shopping. (And for some incredible outtakes!)
I had to rush away to get into the mountains with my go to backpacking-buddy Jordan and new friend Joe! So I walked out of Seattle Center a little more broke and a lot more sprightly! We booked it to the South Cascades to hit up Packwood Lake for our first backpacking trip of the summer. It was a great overnight, with little elevation gain to get my body used to carrying a 60-L again.
And the view… Wow!
Got to love exploring new places!
We made it in time for sunset!
The view from our campsite were next level. I have to call out ALMIGHTY JOE for saving my phone from falling off the trail down a cliffside. And for making us a fire. And trying to catch a fish. And for the ice cream. You rock.
After falling asleep to the most relaxing fire + serenade by Bon Iver (the extra weight for the bluetooth speaker was worth it) we woke up to everyone packing out to this beautiful sight and managed to miss all Memorial Day traffic. South Cascades for the win! Ended it with all you can eat sushi, and another boat day on Monday. As I’m writing this I think I am still riding the high of gratitude I have for being able to pack in all this adventure.
It’s safe to say I really turned around this weekend.
And I am ready.
Ready for summer. Ready to learn more about myself and the new and exciting people coming into my life. Ready for California (again!) and to continue new creative projects, while enjoying this sunshine that we’ve been graced with in the Pacific Northwest!
Also– I have started compiling some old and new spots that I want to backpack this summer. Welcome any suggestions or friends interested in joining 🙂
Wow. wow. wow.
Seeing that it’s been twelve months since I’ve felt an urge to blog about my life seriously makes me question what the efff I’ve been doing. So here’s me playing catchup:
Left Apple after four years, Working as a full-time Graphic Designer!
This flipping beautiful girl chopped all my hair off ❤
Made friends. Lots of them! Saw them got married!
Made some life-long best friends, AKA these two beautiful girls above.
Moved around, A LOT. (Lake Stevens – Ballard – Greenlake – Fremont – Queen Anne to be exact)
Summer transitioned into Autumn, where I freeFALLed into 2017.
And hey, look at that! I’m in Thailand. Going to be sharing the next chapter here soon. Stay tuned.
XX
I’ve been hearing a lot about how SLU – or South Lake Union as some know it better, is the next up and coming area in Seattle. While its currently developing as an Urban Center with over 10 new buildings over 20+ stories tall, I’ve stuck to visiting my favorite spots in this area– Art Marble, MOHAI & South Lake Union Park.
If it weren’t for this development, my newly-found-mountain-friend Kayla might have never moved here with her man who is working right in the middle of it all. Last week we took a day off real life to go try out Moss Bay Kayaking with her Dachshund Mya.
I parked my car for our adventure up the road in a parking garage next to our lunch spot, Lunchbox Laboratory. They have a yelp deal for happy hour priced cocktails. I was brave and tried cow tongue sopas, while Kayla opted in for classic mac and greens.
I wasn’t able to find any free parking near Moss Bay, and they will apparently tow your car if you don’t pay. It makes sense to plan for 2-3 hours even if you’re only renting for an hour… you never know how long your expedition will take!
We made it to Gas Works Park and back in under an hour!
The water was surprisingly pleasant. We brought along a GoPro to be able to fully capture the adventure. They do supply water safe bags that you can store your stuff in, but I know how clumsy I am, so I opted in to leave my camera at home. Glad there were a few photos snapped from this day, it was definitely a fun day! ❤
This weekend was pretty uneventful. I defaulted to looking at photos and playing computer games while staying in. In the midst of tidying up my Photos Library I realized I didn’t share our first camping trip of the season with our friends Kayla and Matt. I want NOTHING more than to be back in this sunshine and be dirty and scraped up from tripping over rocks, watching the sun set over Lake Wenatchee. The campground was at the state park, and although I usually prefer solitude of backpacking camping I was pleasantly surprised with how empty it was. I have my eye on a campsite at Glacier View next time were up that way. Check out the end of this post for some more camping tips 🙂
I can’t even recall the details of how it became decided to go to Lake Wenatchee, but we got the car packed up and headed east Friday after work. Got camp set up and busted out a board game. Mya joined us for a bit before she passed out in Kayla’s arms.
lol at Mya contemplating life by the fire
We had talked my dad into coming over to Leavenworth to visit, so after some oatmeal in my Jetboil we drove around a bit and then went into town. This is where we stopped at the campsite on the other end of the lake, Glacier View Campground. Apparently this end sits in a little cove with little to no wind and attracts LOTS of mosquitos, we were in love with the views that a lot of the campsites had. We will be back to stay for sure after June when the bugs aren’t so bad.
My dad rode over on his Indian and got his usual KOA campsite so we went to go hammock for a bit after our lunch at Fresh Burger Cafe– Not your typical german food but these guys know how to put together an amazing burger.
We decided to check out Hidden Lake, a small hike near Lake Wenatchee. We had a great time stumbling through the woods. It really ended our trip with a bang.
Some of my other favorite shots from this weekend were when we got back from our hike and went for a walk.
What a nice weekend. Can’t wait to be back outdoors next weekend. If anyone is a late planner and wants to join us for Memorial Day Weekend get in touch 🙂
I’m excited to start compiling my favorite campsites this summer, and i’ll be sure to share them all here and link to posts in the future!
(Don’t forget bugspray!)
Photo to come! 😉
You know when you meet a bunch of new people you instantly like and want to immediately become friends with? I met a lot of those kind of humans last weekend for some birthday celebrations,
for more debauchery, follow along on snapchat: @ellofrankenbery
Josh got his own geofilter for snapchat, how freaking cool is that? We celebrated at Saint Helens Cafe in University District and had unlimited mimosas (See snapchat above for proof), the most amazing tasting hamburger ever, and took to the photo booth that was set up, courtesy of The Snap Bar. Here are some of my favorites that I had to save from our boozy brunch.
If you haven’t been to a recent wedding or party with a Photo Booth, make your own! Check out my post on our homemade photobooth here.
This was one of those trips that I booked on a whim, forgot about until the week it was happening, and then proceeded to have the most amazing vacation with my best friends. In December when The 1975 Tour got announced I was looking at the dates for Seattle, but my eyes did the emoji face when I saw that the next show was at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado. It was hands down the easiest decision to buy tickets to both shows. Many people compare the venue to The Gorge in Washington – but I have to say although they are both beautiful outdoor venues, they are gloriously different in their own way.
Now I’m sure many of you saw my snapchat (@ellofrankenbery hollaa), but there is no. way. to do it justice without experiencing this place. Internationally known, this venue sits between two towering red sandstone rocks.
I highly recommend anyone who has a love for music and outdoors to look out for this venue on any band tour. Tickets to Denver from Seattle are as low as $140 and the experience is priceless.
1. Springtime has VERY weird weather. I didn’t know this when I booked our trip. I didn’t really grasp this when people were telling me this season is very unpredictable. We got snow, 34 degree freezing rain, incredible blue skies and awesome sunsets… but be prepared for everything and anything!
2. Remember friends, you cannot buy alcohol at grocery stores yet. Liquor stores close as early as 5pm so remember to prepare if you’re planning a weekend. I forgot how lucky we are in Washington to be able to walk into a Safeway and get a bottle of wine!
3. Frontier Airlines is based out of Denver... but I can’t recall having a good experience with them. Southwest all the way baby!
4. There are a lot of awesome Air BNB’s for ridiculously good deals, but pay attention to the season. This city loves their Broncos and their Rockies… so book early unless you’re traveling in their off-seasons.
5. Red Rocks Amphitheater doesn’t allow selfie sticks. Sorry Jordan.
Stella, Jordan and I collectively took over 500 photos in 4 days of the beautiful rockies, Boulder Flat Irons, and landmarks… in all kinds of weather. I’ll save you some of the tirades that happened in our hotel rooms, and show you the primes.
When we got to the airport, Jordan darted into one of those expensive knickknack stores and said she was buying something that she saw last time she was flying somewhere. That “knickknack” turned out to be a beautiful print by Frida Clements that was bigger than Jordan herself. Stella and I were doubtful it would make the entire weekend of crazyX3 so we snapped a photo of her with it and admired more of her artwork.
We got out of the freezing rain and into our Air BNB late Saturday afternoon and settled into our king sized bed that we decided we’d all share.
Our View from our Air BNB Rooftop! Look at those beautiful mountains ❤
Saturday Night we took a chance without a reservation at this restaurant in the Highland neighborhood called Linger–if you ever venture this way GO TO THIS RESTAURANT. Find a table in the upstairs lounge and order one of everything. They have beautiful cocktails and lovely waitresses and amazing global small plates. Not to mention complimentary valet parking… Have I said how much I love Denver yet?? They gave us free fish tacos and a small dessert mousse for Stellas 23rd celebration, as well as bars to check out after. I never felt intimidated by anyone we got served by in our weekend here. The went to Viewhouse for a few cheap drinks and dancing and the Gin Mill, both were full of people out celebrating. Click the photos below for their info!
The next morning we got on the waitlist for Snooze, another must visit for any brunch enthusiast. The wait is worth it, especially downtown where you have Union Station. Our bartender suggested a tattoo art gallery– because by this point, we wanted to leave a piece of Denver on us forever. (Jordan said she was never leaving!)
After an amazing colorful meal at snooze, we were off to Ritual Tattoo Art Gallery for a walk in appointment to each get three foxes… for fox sake.
lovely phallic doodles on the water closet door
They turned out so amazing! Many thanks to Jake Diamond!
Monday we headed out of the city and went to Chautauqua Park in Boulder, CO. We went shopping in the outdoor Pearl St Mall and ate at the Organic Sandwich Shop.
After some shopping we made the drive to Golden, CO to check into our hotel, The Table Mountain Inn. At this point we learned that it was necessary to buy alcohol early, and got to getting ready. Had ‘the best happy hour in Golden’ downstairs at our hotel and then ran around and took photos.
lolololol
I told a lot of friends and family that I went to Denver for Red Rocks + The 1975, but I think you can tell we did much more than that. They did put on an incredible show, including an acoustic song, Nana, that I didn’t get to hear in Seattle because Matty was ‘feeling blue’. I think he was stunned by the glorious venue he was in and felt connected to the new music they put out.
If you haven’t given this band the chance please go watch these beautiful music videos. Probably some of the more beautiful short films i’ve ever seen: Robbers, The Sound, and A Change of Heart being my newest favorite.
Trying to squeeze one last adventure before we left on Tuesday, we drove up to Lookout Mountain and got to see Golden on a beautiful clear day. Wrapped up our trip with some southern style ‘Po Boys, Mac and Cheese, and a Bloody Mary Sampler at Sassafrass and snatched the window seat home.
Granted we found a lot of reasons to fall in love this weekend. Four days wasn’t enough time to try everything and we will definitely be back. If you’re looking for cool restaurants to eat, fun bars to dance, or places to explore around Denver – feel free to comment below or reach out! I’m going to go ice my fingers from writing this huge blog post and head down to Greenlake Bar and Grill just in time for happy hour.
How often do you use the mapper in Instagram?
I highly recommend you find some of your favorite ‘grammers and look at there maps. I promise it will encourage you to start building your own! With a trip plan in the works in June… I am excited to add more to mine. My USA map is pretty pathetic… but I just can’t rationalize spending $500+ to go to the east coast when that money can get me to another country.
It’s save to say I have the travel bug right now.
Now the important question… Costa Rica or Hawaii?
Photos:
@missholldoll – Currently in Thailand! This amazing lady has photos from all over the PNW and beyond, and writes about it adventures at mymountaintherapy.com
@youngadventuress – I got to meet the one and old Liz in New Zealand last year! Her travels never stop on her blog missadventuress.com
Weekends well spent range from choosing a neighborhood in Seattle to meet up with friends, lounging around making dinner together, or finding a Groupon to try. I like to consider myself pretty adventurous when it comes to thinking of new things to try–IE, the whole premise of this blog
Even though we got a late start last Saturday morning we drove up North to take a ferry ride over to Friday Harbor. He has this saved note in his phone of date ideas hidden up his sleeve and this one was perfect for the great weather we had in the midst of all this rain and wind. Sorry to those who are without power tonight! After a ice-cream + french fry stop we drove through downtown Anacortes where we stopped at Boxes and Bears Puzzles and Games where we found none other than…
Look who we found – John from The Lonely Forest!
Who is this lovely human in between us?
Please improve your life by taking three minutes to watch this video:
Now the lucky owner of the cool Puzzle and Games store we found, he is living a ‘rual lifestyle’ in Anacortes with his family. (Source) We each got a hug before heading out towards the ferry line, where we tried curing a hangover with more alcohol. (I’ll let you decide if you agree with these studies…)
Pro Tip: Bring fun activities. I don’t think we prepared for the 2 hour ferry ride, but at least we had a pretty nice nap. and napping is the key in a successful relationship.
Some things I would share is if you go to an oceanfront town of any sorts, don’t expect it to be as thriving as it is in the summertime. We luckily had practice in this when we got stuck in the i-5 mudslide on our road trip last December when we stayed in Seaside, OR… and I think it can make for some out of the ordinary memories. We got to drink a beer on the benches right in the middle of town, have a bookstore all to ourselves, and experience some usual service at Blue Water Bar and Grill. (save yourself the $80 check and make your own meatballs from home.)
Now to my favorite part of the evening,
I don’t have any images of this part so you’ll have to use your imagination.
We were smart enough to stop at Kings Market, and grabbed a sketch book and some easter eggs. We filled it up with my 4lbs tub of Jelly Bellies (thanks mom) and hid eggs for each other on opposite sides of the ferry. We wrapped it up with some doodling.
Not Your Average Adventures 