Did someone say glamping?

As soon as D and I settled in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, I pretty immediately knew that my lack of camping experience was going to be something needing a remedy. There are just so many beautiful places to camp, backpack, and otherwise explore all year long. I know that a camper is somewhere in our future, and I look forward to exploring all of the PNW via our own little private home on wheels, but until that time, I wasn't really feeling the love regarding sleeping on the ground and really roughing it. So, what's a girl to do --- go glamping!

1. glamping. noun. a form of camping in which participants enjoy physical comforts associated with more luxurious types of holiday. C21: blend of glamorous + camping.

As I'm sure is the case with many of you out there, glamping options have been popping up on social media for a while now. You can really go all out, spending more on a glamping getaway then a luxurious beach vacation, but there are also some options that fall somewhere between traditional tent camping and your own tent butler (not that I'm opposed to the latter). I'd been keeping my eye out, and when a new resort popped up near Bear Lake in Utah (another destination on our list), my glamping future was set. 

Conestoga Ranch is a new resort destination near the shores of Bear Lake that offers both deluxe couples tents (basically a really nice bed in a tent with our own seating and campfire) and grand tents (that include a bathroom, shower, electricity and even a/c). They also have some cool wagons, which seem like they would be really fun for families or large events. After checking it all out, I decided we needed to at least camp a little bit, so I went for the deluxe tent and booked us for my birthday weekend. Glamping must be really popular, because a couple of days after I booked, they were sold out for the summer. Hmmmm, must be on to something.

Bear Lake deserves its own blog entirely, because it is the most beautiful lake I’ve ever seen. Dubbed the “Caribbean of the Rockies,” you absolutely feel that you are on the shores of a calm ocean when you are visiting. Unfortunately for us, August is a bad month for wildfires, and we dealt with a lot of smoke and haze. But, even with that, the views were absolutely stunning. Garden City, UT is the home of Conestoga Ranch, and after our 5 ½ hour drive, we were immediately rewarded with the charm of the area. Zipz was our first stop in town for some snacks and rest, and it set the tone for the “beach-ish” vibe of most of the towns surrounding beautiful Bear Lake.

Once we made our way to the ranch itself, we were impressed with the quality of their canvas tents, bedding (hello high thread count sheets and luxurious down comforters), as well as their “bath house,” which provided really, really nice bathroom and shower facilities. Their grounds included an outdoor Campfire Grill, a gameroom, the aforementioned bathhouse, as well as individual firepits and picnic tables at each campsite. They also had on-site bicycle and water toy rentals. This was definitely some upscale camping! We ended up having a couple of breakfasts and a dinner at the Campfire Grill, and their presentation, food and live music was very, very impressive. 

                     

We were able to get firewood each night (props to boyscout Dave who does the best job ever at building campfires), and they provided LED lanterns for use in the tent and outside if you needed to walk around after dark. They had an awesome little General Store on site for snacks and basic provisions. The town of Garden City also provided some stunning public beaches and a lovely Mexican food dinner. (This was my bday weekend after all, and yes, D, you can get good Mexican food in Utah.)

                     

Now that we have a lay of the land, we are anxious to return next year (before fire season) and bring a few more camping essentials to make the stay even more fun. Glamping is officially on my radar, and there are a few places in Montana that are next on the list too. In the meantime, there’s always an RV show to get us looking forward to the future!

3 Things I've Learned in my 40s

Well here we are. The big 4-2 ... coming right up. I remember the anxious countdown to the big 4-0. It is such a very grown up milestone after all. I had just moved to Idaho and made some major quality of life changes, and I got to celebrate the big day on the beach. 40 was looking awesome, and then time seemed to pick up speed, and I have started waking up a little more sore each day. And, boom, I'm full on embracing this decade now. But, as many have said before me, with the physical challenges has come some true mental rewards and lessons learned. So, my topic today is the top 3 things I've learned so far in my 40s.

1. Health should be your top priority
I didn't focus on my health until my mid-30s, and I wish almost every day that I could go back in time and learn that lesson sooner. There is nothing more critical that learning to nourish your body and be active in a way that will bring you stress reduction, disease prevention and overall happiness. There is nothing that tastes as good as being healthy feels, and there is nothing on my to do list that is more important than moving and feeling my stress melt away and my happiness vibes going up. I may have learned the lesson late, but I did finally learn it. I appreciate every opportunity I have to move and thank my 42-year old body for allowing me to do these things and take care of myself. It's been a long journey, but I'm happy to keep working at it every day. And, oh yeah, thank you 40s, because I do have to work at it every day.

I want to feel like this all the time.

2. Stop apologizing
Many of us fall into the category of people pleaser. That one REALLY describes me. Something so positive can turn so negative when you focus all your energy on pleasing, to the detriment of yourself most of all, but also important folks in your life that should be a priority. As we mature, I think all of us learn the lesson of quality, not quantity, but I see many friends still struggle with apologizing if we cannot be all things to all people. We need to stop that behavior! Do what you can, be honest and earnest, and the rest is just what it is. No apologizing. This creeps up in so many parts of life, but it ultimately lessens you and your efforts, so I say, no more. (And I'm not sorry for that.) I could write a whole blog on the other side of this coin, apologizing too much in the business world, but I'll save that for another time. Let's just say, the same rules apply.

3. Wear sunscreen but lay off the regrets
My fair skin has been asking for this one for a long time, and I finally have gotten the message over the last 10 years or so, which is WEAR SUNSCREEN. Just Google some images of skin cancer if you aren't convinced. But seriously, I so wish I would have done this religiously for so much longer than I have. If I had, I wouldn't be checking out my girl Heather's lovely Periscope recordings all the time for great makeup tricks! Better late than never, but the lesson within the lesson on this one is also about regrets. I've always had a huge problem with re-visiting the past for any reason (large or small) to think about what I could have done differently. That behavior is so exhausting and really hijacks your present moments. So, as with the sunscreen, do your best, and if you screw up, leave it in the past and do better next time.

Now I'm going to prepare for tomorrow. It's going to involve eating some cake, going for a run, and not being sorry about a nice, living in the moment day for the big 4-2.