We flew home to Ohio for a long weekend to celebrate Ben’s cousin Michael’s bachelor party, and his soon-to-be-cousin Mel’s bachelorette party. They combined it into 1 event in Apple Valley, so we had a weekend full of sunshine and boating. It was great to catch up with family, but the time just flew by! We were back in the van before we knew it and a little bummed the trip was over.

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It wasn’t long until we saw another familiar face though! Later that week, we spent a couple days with Ben’s cousin Olivia. She met us in Baker Squalmine National Forest and we camped out for a night. She brought her dog Ava which was a treat! I love having a dog around - it’s too bad the van is already full haha.

Olivia just got back from Alaska, and she graciously brought rockfish for us to make tacos with! It was delicious. She made guac and salsa too.

The next morning we had a big breakfast and headed out for a day hike. It was 7 miles - 3.5 miles to a mountain peak and then 3.5 miles back. We left the car around noon, so we expected to be back around 4pm - psyche! This was one of the hardest hikes I’ve been on. We were scrambling around on our hands and knees to climb these rocks. The views were definitely worth the struggle though.