Omega Diggings Overlook Trail

Tahoe National Forest

July 2020

4 States in 1 Day

Like so many things, COVID-19 has delayed the release of our book. I've been wanting to build some excitement leading up to the October release, but wasn't sure what to post. I started thinking about how the book went in alphabetical order instead of sequential order. It seemed like there might be stories to be shared that didn't make it to print if I just changed how I looked at our adventures. While looking at a map of the trails included in the book, I realized our record for most states pushiked in a day was 4.

 

Kellisa and I were way behind schedule and needed to do some crazy trips with everything working out perfect or at least very close to perfect. We were in danger of leaving some of the New England states without finishing a trail due to rain in Connecticut and two rocky trails in New York. We needed to successfully pushike in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island on our last day in the region before returning home to California with less than 3 weeks before the completed manuscript was due.

If everything went as planned, I would give us excellent chances to finish the task. But, there was a powerful nor'easter just off the coast with winds between 50 and 60MPH pounding the mainland. At least one of our planned trails was along the coastline. In addition, I didn't have an alternative trail selected for Connecticut and didn't have a solid plan for Massachusetts or Rhode Island. 

After a long day, actually after a week of long days, we woke up early in a beautiful seaside motel. We had already pushiked in Oklahoma, Texas, Washington DC, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire on this whirlwind trip. We only had four states to go east of the Mississippi and a very early flight home to catch in less than 24 hours.

Our first trail started out along the rocky Maine coast before going through a deep forest in full autumn display of vivid colors. The trail popped out of the trees for a short loop near the water again before returning on the same path back to our rental SUV. The wind and waves reminded me of bringing the girls to the beach to experience tropical storms passing by the Jacksonville, Florida coast.

I had an idea along the Massachusetts coast for a trail, but then I saw a sign for Walden Pond, "THE" Walden Pond. I took a chance and pulled off the highway knowing we couldn't afford to waste even a minute of time. We were relieved to find a suitable trail around one of the most famous ponds in the world. 

25 Trips

Kellisa was well on her way to visiting and hiking in all 50 United States when Laurel joined our family in October 2010. Laurel started joining her sister on some of our trips while both girls also enjoyed their own trips. We weren't really going out of our way to visit new states since the goal was to complete all 50 for Kellisa by May 2017. It always seemed like we had time. 

The plan was to get Kellisa to the finish line and then work on Laurel's list since she didn't turn 18 until June 2027. Everything changed when Laurel started feeling left out and Kellisa was only ahead by a dozen or so states. We made the decision to have both girls finish the goal at the same time. This required Kellisa to visit about a dozen states for at least a second time. 

It took us exactly 6 years (November 2010 - November 2016) and 25 trips for both girls to visit and hike in each state together. There were many other trips during this time frame, but we are only counting the trips were they traveled together and shared a trail for the first time in a state. Since we make up the rules, some of Laurel's early states were completed on my back or in a stroller. By the end, Laurel has hiked in all 50 states and has pushed Kellisa in most (sadly, we didn't keep track of this statistic). 

We drove to many of the states and flew to the rest. Our journey started while we lived in Jacksonville, FL and we completed the promise after we moved to Roseville, CA. Below are the flights we took just for the purpose of visiting and hiking each state with both girls at the same time.

One regret, Laurel hasn't hiked in Washington DC. We planned to hike in DC when the girls visited VA, WV, MD, DE, NY, and PA, but our short window was filled with thunderstorms. Laurel was in a rental SUV that drove through DC, but hasn't hiked a trail. Since DC isn't a state, Laurel still completed all 50 states, but it would have been nice to check this box since Kellisa has hiked in our nation's capitol three times. 

Jax - Las Vegas (RT) 

Jax - El Paso (RT)

Jax - Chicago

Cleveland - Jax

Jax - Detroit (RT)

Jax - Minneapolis (RT)

Jax - St. Louis (RT)

Orlando - Jackson, MS

Jax - Nashville (RT)

Jax - Houston (RT)

Jax - Hartford (RT)

Jax - Denver (RT)

Jax - Oakland (RT)

Jax - Portland, ME

Manchester - Jax

Jax - Baltimore (RT)

Jax - Minneapolis

Denver - Jax

Jax - Seattle (RT)

Sacramento -Albany

Manchester - Chicago

Chicago - Sacramento

San Jose - Honolulu

Honolulu - Anchorage

Anchorage - Sacramento

14 Trips

Kellisa and I completed the trails for Rugged Access for All in just over one year. It took 14 trips to visit all 50 United States again. A few were driving trips: California, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington. We flew to the rest.

Sacramento - Kansas City
Little Rock - Sacramento
Oakland - Indianapolis (RT)
Sacramento - New Orleans
Nashville - Sacramento
Sacramento - Billings
Denver - Sacramento
Sacramento - Anchorage (RT)
Sacramento - Chicago (RT)
Sacramento - Oklahoma City
Dallas - Baltimore
Providence - Sacramento
Oakland - Kahului (RT)
Sacramento - Boise (RT)
Sacramento - Phoenix
Albuquerque - Sacramento

Coming Soon - October 2020

Grouse Falls Overlook Trail

Tahoe National Forest

Placer County, CA

Day 75 of the COVID-19 lock downs. As the country starts to open up, we are still mostly hunkered down out of an abundance of safety for the girls, especially Kellisa since she's considered high risk. I took a few days off of work and decided I needed to take a hike. Since this was my first trail since last October, I selected a short, but challenging trail near our home to explore. Based on pictures and trip reports, I selected Grouse Falls Overlook Trail for my hike and it didn't disappoint. 

Full Circle Champagne

Kellisa's first sip of alcohol on her 21st birthday came from a bottle of champagne we bought on December 31, 1998. We made the purchase with the intention to toast the new year with sips of the bubbly, but Lisa wanted to make sure she wasn't pregnant before partaking. The story is told in greater detail here. Long story short, that's the night we found out Lisa was pregnant (with Kirsten and Kellisa), so we never opened the bottle of champagne. 

The bottle of champagne has moved with us from Bolingbrook, IL to Edgewater, FL to Jacksonville, FL to Jacksonville, FL to Jacksonville, FL and finally, Roseville, CA. The years passed and we never had a need or plan for the bottle when Lisa got the idea to save it for Kellisa's 21st birthday first drink. We kept the bottle safe and chilled it a few hours before we would share it with Kellisa.

Lisa tried to take a video of me opening the bottle, but it wouldn't open. It might be me and my lack of experience or more likely, it was the old bottle making it difficult. After several attempts, I was able to pry the top off with little fanfare. There was no 'POP' with bubbling champagne spilling out as the kids had hoped. The bottle just opened.

Shark Cake with Dripping Blood

1. Kellisa loves creepy and scary creatures from spiders to lizards to snakes to sharks. 

2. Laurel has been doing quite a bit of cooking and a little baking during the COVID-19 lock down.

3. Lisa purchased the ingredients and Laurel did all the baking and decorating herself.

4. The end result - Kellisa was blown away with her birthday cake's appearance.

5. And the shark cake tasted amazing! 

#1 - The Most Popular Blog Post of All-Time

Kellisa's Path Blog has been around  for almost 9 years with 528 posts and exactly 1 guest writer. Lisa made her blog debut on Kellisa's 18th birthday (May 23, 2017) when I was struggling to write a post. Lisa stepped up and created (by far) the most popular post of all time. So far, this is Lisa's only post.

Here's the link to our most popular post from May 23, 2017: Kellisa Reaches 18

#2 Our Expanding Universe - 2011

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2nd Most Popular Blog Post (as of April 15, 2020)

A lot happened in 2011, including three surgeries, trips to visit family, narrowly avoiding a serious train accident, backpacking on an island, getting a pet eel, one of my very few regrets with Kellisa, and Oh Yeah....we legally adopted Laurel!

Here's the link to the original post from May 15, 2017: Our Expanding Universe - 2011  

#1 Kellisa Reaches 18

#3 May is a very big deal!!!

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3rd Most Popular Blog Post (as of April 15, 2020)

I knew we had something big planned for Kellisa's 18th birthday and wanted to set the foundation by explaining why.

Here's the link to the original post from May 1, 2017: May 2017 is a VERY BIG DEAL!!!

#2 Our Expanding Universe - 2011

#4 Driving into a Horror Movie Scene

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4th Most Popular Blog Post (as of April 15, 2020)

I get spooked all the time deep in the wilderness, but I rarely get seriously scared. Kellisa and I had just finished a beautiful hike in Northern Idaho when we had an encounter with a man and his chainsaw.

Here's the link to the original post from July 13, 2018: Driving into a Horror Movie Scene.

#3 May 2017 is a VERY BIG DEAL!!!

#5 Hotel Safety (Part II)

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5th Most Popular Blog Post (as of April 15, 2020)

5 years ago to the day, I didn't follow my own safety rules and we found ourselves on the 3rd floor of a burning hotel.

Here's the link to the original post from May 22, 2015: Hotel Safety (Part II).

#4 Driving into a Horror Movie Scene

#6 84 Cents

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6th Most Popular Blog Post (as of April 15, 2020)

This is an interesting post to make our top 10 most popular list. It's my recap of 2000 and 2001. A lot of things happened in those years when Kellisa was a very medically fragile baby. In a lot of ways, looking back, it was a simpler and easier time even though we had zero idea while we were living it. In other regards, it was some of the most difficult days. 

I named the post, "84 Cents" because Lisa and I had to pay out of pocket for one of Kellisa's emergency brain surgeries because the insurance company didn't agree with the neurosurgeon that Kellisa's life was on the line. We decided to trust the doctor and it took literally everything we had and more than can be imagined. We had no money, gas, or food, but Kellisa was alive and fighting and we owed it to her to give her every chance. 

Roughly two decades have passed and I don't think we'd change a single thing from these years. It would be easy to say, we wish insurance would have paid for the brain surgery (and resulting hospital stay and follow-up appointments), but then I'm not sure we would have ended up in Jacksonville where we spent 16 years. It's where Kellisa grew up and set the foundation for who she is today. We met many amazing people during our time in Jax. Lastly, if we didn't end up in Duval, it's highly unlikely we would have ended up with Laurel. 

So...yeah...it all happened for a reason!

Here's the link to the original blog post from May 2, 2017: 84 Cents (2000 & 2001)

#5 Hotel Safety (Part II)

#7 Freedom Push Chair

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Staph Infection

A few things are certain in life, Kellisa catching a break isn't one. We had the chance to take a ride out to Lisa's work on Saturday, May 2, 2020. This would be only the second time Kellisa left the house in 49 days since the CORVID-19 lockdown started. The first was a nice little stroll through our neighborhood. As I was helping change Kellisa's shirt to get her ready, I noticed a large sore on her back. I recognized it as a staph infection because Kellisa has had it a few times in the last nine months and I've had it twice myself. 

The sore looked worse than her previous outbreaks and I would have taken her to a walk-in clinic since it was a Saturday afternoon, but I didn't feel comfortable going during the middle of a pandemic. I decided to treat it with warm compresses and triple antibiotic ointment until she could be seen by her awesome pediatrician.

I called Dr. Singh's office on Monday and described the sore and my diagnosis. Kellisa has always been well taken care of and this would be another example of perfect care. Dr. Singh offered to see Kellisa at 7am the following morning. The appointment would start before the office opened to limit Kellisa's exposure to other people. We didn't hesitate and agreed to this time and felt extremely grateful for the special consideration to keep Kellisa safe.

Even though it was early, we were greeted at the office building by a lady in scrubs wearing a mask. She asked us a series of questions, took our temperatures, and handed us masks. We proceeded to check-in from a healthy distance and went to the pediatric waiting area where we were the only people. Chairs and sofas were marked telling you where you could and couldn't sit to allow for proper social distancing. I barely sat down when we were called back.

Kellisa was so excited to see Dr. Singh, she keeled over with enthusiasm for a minute while giggling before sitting back up and blowing countless kisses through her mask. Kellisa is not used to being trapped at home and I realized Dr. Singh was the first person Kellisa saw up close besides mom, dad, and her sister in 49 days and it was a person she loved. 

After taking a culture to confirm it was in fact a staph infection, Dr. Singh was patient and asked how Laurel was doing and how we were holding up as a family. Dr. Singh shared what she knew about the virus and offered tips on how to protect ourselves. We also received valuable suggestions to help keep our sanity as this pandemic creeps along with no real end in sight.

Kellisa wanted to stay and I even offered to pick her up at the end of the day, but it wouldn't have been safe to leave her. I had to wheel her away against her will. Kellisa kept her mask on the entire time without a fuss, but started ripping it from her face the second her front wheels crossed the threshold to the exterior of the medical building. I think Kellisa made Dr. Singh's day and she never fails to make me proud and crack me up.

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