Friends and Family

Tomorrow, Tuesday, will be one year to the day that Mark and I took the first steps of our thru-hike of the PCT - a journey that would take us 4.5 more months to complete. It's incredible to me that it has already been a year since we started that adventure. It doesn't seem that long ago that we were hiking. I took off of work this past weekend so that Mark and I could go to the PCT Kickoff Weekend, which marks the official beginning of the PCT thru-hiking season. It's essentially a big party, with vendors, current hikers, past hikers, seminars, food, and all things for long-distance backpacking. We didn't get to go last year because of timing, so we thought we'd go this year to reconnect with people we hiked with last summer.

Needless to say, it didn't work out (again), but I still had this long weekend off and a free flight to use. It wasn't long until I figured out that friends from college were going to be visiting some other friends in the Quad Cities, so I jumped on the chance to go. Mark decided to stay behind to be available for job interviews, so a few days ago, I headed out alone to see friends and family.

I got to stay with Mark's parents while in the QC's. It was fun to get to see them and catch up on life in person! They were also very generous in letting me borrow a car to visit friends, etc. The funny part about this picture is that we decided to take the picture at night instead of in the morning before I left, so I have pj bottoms on, but changed into a sweater to make it look better for the picture!

Julie was visiting from Michigan, along with Steve B (not pictured). It was super fun, but I think we tired amber out since she's got a new little baby who keeps her up at odd hours of the morning :).

Amber and Lincoln. I just love how she keeps track of his pacifier!

Aimee is just one of four friends that had babies in the past 6 months. Elijah is 5 months old!

Kate is due with her second...and she just so happened to have her shower the weekend I was here! It was really fun to get to connect with so many great friends!

Babies galore! Elijah, Lincoln, and Oliver.

Virginia and Oliver...he's tiny because he was born 6 wks early!

Libby...she didn't have a baby (one of the few), but we got to catch up over coffee.

I wasn't so great with pictures, so I didn't get pictures of Stephanie and her son Will, Steve B, or Liz. There are always more people to see than there is time for, but I had a great time squeezing in time where I could. It was just so nice to get to reconnect with so many people that I miss and love, but I am looking forward to seeing mark again tomorrow! Off again to battle the airlines...