Sarah’s Summer
A brief explanation of my summer goings ons!
For the past 4 years I’ve spent most of my summers in Colorado working with No Barriers, an organization aimed at helping folks affected by disabilities realize that what’s within them is stronger than what’s in their way. I’ve worked closely with the caregiver community, folks who have children, parents, spouses, friends and loved ones who require full time care. Last year I helped build our first ever Youth with Disabilities and their families program that involved a trip for the entire family impacted by disabilities. We work with adults with disabilities, veterans and more.
It was a lot easier to go away for weeks at a time before I had Sulie. Last year I was gone for three trips, flying back and forth to be with her. She took her first steps when I was on one of the trips. She got sick right before I was flying out another. At one point I looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize myself, I was so exhausted traveling back and forth, going home to a 9 month old—not to mention the impact it had on my poor husband.
So, this year I’ve decided to change how I do things and with the help of her grandpa, she’s coming with me!
We’ll be flying into CO July 11th. We’ll go camping and hiking until I work on the 15th which is when she’ll be spoiled by grandpa. I finish work on the 19th and then we’ll fly to Seattle for a visit with a dear friend and more hiking.
It’s a little overwhelming traveling with a toddler and still fitting work in but last summer was so miserable without her. I have a feeling I’ve bitten off more than I can chew traveling for this length of time but if we don’t try, how will we learn?
Dick’s Creek Falls
In other summertime news, we visited Dick’s Creek Falls this week and I can’t recommend it enough! It’s too hot for serious hiking in the southeast so get thee to water! Our weekday visit was perfect! We got to the falls by 11:15AM (1.5 hr drive from our new digs in Marietta) and that still left us time to rescue a stray dog and get it back to it’s owner. RIP Harper, I didn’t get the sense that they had any interest in altering their dog owning ways after we left.
If you live in the Atlanta area, this is a great waterfall swimming hole! No hike to get to it, the road is accessible in all vehicles and you can stop in Dahlonega after for wine! I think it gets busy so get there early!
We’ve been climbing in doors lots, a great way to stay in shape and work hard without overheating.
And finally, we went caving!!! A favorite pastime of Juli’s and a first time experience for me.
We visited Sitton’s Cave in Cloudland Canyon State Park on one of their guided tours. This is an excellent first timer cave and here’s why:
Almost all tight squeezes were optional
There wasn’t a ton of crawling/climbing
You were standing 95% of the time
It was less than 3 hours (so no fear of trench foot)
I think I prefer climbing to caving but caving hit a similar spot for me. It felt like the purest, childlike version of exploring— like we were in the Goonies! Don’t let the fear of the unknown keep you from trying this captivating sport! Be prepared to get wet and muddy and practice your best sexy crawl.
The Geeks will be leading a backpacking trip in the Rocky’s in August and then back at our regularly scheduled classes and hikes in September but until then, stay cool!
Check out the cute Reel Juli made of the adventure below!
