A Man Who Hates the Morning But Loves the Sunrise

Sunrise at Tempe Beach Park

I recently realized something interesting has been happening to my Facebook photos over the last few years. The drinking, partying, crazy "fun" photos of my early and late 20s have been replaced by pictures of beautiful scenery, or at least scenery I consider beautiful. To be fair, there had been quite a few couples pics at a time, but I guess I was a little early with my last two posts. While the rest of my high school and college friends post pictures of their children and families, nature has become my go-to 'show the world you're maturing' signal. If you're one of my Facebook friends, check for yourself. You won't find a single beer can, bottle, or glass in any picture I've posted in the last 3 years and probably even further back (I haven't actually fact checked this, so if you find one I'll buy you one thing under $10 from the website store).

One thing I've noticed is that the main subject of these 'mature me' pictures is the sunrise. Before I entered this stage in my life it is not an understatement that I could probably count the number of sunrises I had seen on my fingers (for sure my fingers and toes). As a non-farm boy in North Dakota catching the sunrise is actually kind of difficult. During many months of the year we were already in school by the time the sun rose. So that doesn't explain the lack of sunrises viewed during the summer. To put it simply I have never been a morning person, so my typical wake up time during summers was around 10 AM and into my high school years it actually went past noon pretty frequently. My summer jobs when I had them were usually evening jobs so that didn't get me up either. College was all about trying to get as much sleep as humanly possible when not studying or enjoying the social aspects of college life.

It's Not too Late to Get a Costume for the Weekend!

When I moved to Arizona, the sunrise got even tougher to catch considering it rises as early as 5:18 AM during the summer. For my first few years here, I did see the sunrise more often than I did in North Dakota, but it was usually because I was on my way home from a night out. The sunrise loses a little of it's beauty when all you want to do is going home to sleep after a wild night.

This all changed over the past few years. I don't recall the exact time frame when the change occurred, but I have really become a sunrise person. A major reason for this is because I'm NOT a morning person. A few years ago, I asked to push my work schedule back a little bit later. I thought this would be great for me because I could sleep for an extra hour. Instead the exact opposite happened. I began training for a half marathon in the early morning summer months somewhere along the way. This had me getting up bright and early every day to try to beat the Phoenix summer heat. I began to notice that when I walked into work I felt much better and more ready to face the day. Even though the training ended, I continued to wake up early to go walking or hiking. Basically, I realized that best way to deal with not being a morning person was to wake up earlier. This gave me the time to ease my way into the day without having the other stresses of the world enter before I was prepared.

The fortunate side effect of this new life strategy was the sunrise. I began to see it nearly every day. To this day, I still do on almost every single work day. The days that I don't get to see the first glimpses of the sun feel slightly off. It may be terrible to say, but on some days that early morning view may be the only time I am truly grateful for something that day. There are days when it is somewhat plain and boring and days where it seems like it was painted by the most masterful artist to ever exist. However, no matter how tough things get or how many other issues I have going on in my life, the grateful feeling is consistent every time I view a sunrise.

There are three sunrises that stand out in my life. Two occurred within the last year or so, and one in my very early childhood years. One was about a year ago today, viewed from Piestewa Peak in Phoenix

The second was around the same time at Pecos Park in Phoenix. It was the first one that ever stopped me mid-run just to savor the moment:

The third was one that exists only in my mind. It was probably not my first, but it was the first I can remember. The specifics are fuzzy, but that's how memories work and it doesn't make them any less real to us. I believe was a around 5 or 6 years old and my parents were driving to one of my brother's sporting events somewhere in North Dakota, we'll say it was a track meet in Valley City. This is the really strange part about memory. I couldn't even tell you now if my brother was ever in track, but that's how I remember it. 

We had to wake up early to drive there on a Saturday. I remember seeing the sun come up over the distant, flat North Dakota landscape and thinking how amazing of a sight it was. I remember remarking something about thinking this was the first time I had ever seen the sunrise. Dad teased me about it and Mom laughed. I remember sitting in the car with them laughing and joking and thinking what a great family moment it was. I remember the feeling much more vividly than the details. I was grateful that morning. Maybe that's the reason I'm still grateful for every sunrise a quarter century later. 

Submitting Your Own Story Just Got Easier

This site was founded with a goal to get people outside to experience the world. I love telling my stories but that's not what the site is all about. I want to hear from others who have amazing stories to tell. On my road trip this summer, I remember the ranger who does the presentation at Mount Rushmore talking about how our Nation's parks have been an inspiration to so many artists. I want this to be an open forum for the artistic expression of the written word. If you'd like to submit a story just submit it to the form below. It will also be permanently housed in the "Submit a Story" section of the site. I can't wait to hear your stories!

A Guy Walks into a Bar and Two Months Later Finds Himself on the Apache Trail

Burnt Corral Campground - Apache Trail, Tonto National Forest

A little over a month ago on a Saturday night, I sat on a bar stool at my local spot. I was there reflecting on what had been going on in my life over the past few weeks, when an older man sat down next to me. We struck up a conversation and I told him about the great camping trip I had been on the week prior. I told him it was the one that I thought proved that everything would be fine in my post-break up life. I claimed it was when I realized that my adventures would be just as good without Jenn. I had talked about all the great trips we had and gone through all the sites we had seen on our massive 13 day road trip. 

The man took it all in. I think he was just humoring me because he could see how excited I was to talk about my travels. Eventually, the conversation turned to his travels. It turned out he was a construction foreman, who had worked on projects all over the world. He talked about his trips overseas and his most recent stint in Alaska. He was working in Tucson now and talked about his trips to Mount Lemmon and Kartchner Caverns. He told me about see so many amazing sites around the world and what a great life it had been working on the road. As finished telling the stories, his tone changed a little. He looked at me and said his only regret was that while he was seeing all of this his wife was at home. He said his only regret was that she hadn't been there with him to see it all with him. 

This got me thinking about the trip I had been telling him about. My weekend in Oak Creek Canyon, Sedona, and Flagstaff. I thought about what a great time I thought it was, but for the first time I seriously asked myself how much better it could have been with Jenn. How much more amazing could an amazing trip have been if I had someone to laugh with, look at the stars with, or sleep next to on those rainy nights. It was a great trip but it could have been better.

This brings me to the trip this weekend. I've been back with Jenn for a while now but this was the first time we got back into wandering. Our weekends have been full of the boys basketball games, searching for dogs at the local animal shelters, and sitting on the couch catching up on Netflix. The travel bug has been intensifying for the past few weeks. Originally we had planned to head out camping last weekend, but remembered that her boys had playoff games that we didn't want to miss. When Sunday rolled around the games were over, but our time was limited. We decided to take the one of the best day-drives available in the Phoenix area, the Apache Trail. 

An old stagecoach trail, that still looks like a stagecoach trail, this drive is not for the faint of heart. The roads are gravel, winding, steep, and narrow. I had been on the Trail a few years back, but honestly forgot who unnerving it can be at points. It is a throwback to another time. For Jenn it reminded her of driving on the Navajo Reservation for me it reminded me of North Dakota back roads, with a lot more hills of course. These are the kinds of trips I've fallen in love with. One of the great things about our long road trip was how little time we spent on freeways. So much of that trip was smaller highways, farm roads, and town streets.

The highlight of this trip was finding the next campground we hope to spend some time at soon, Burnt Corral Campground. Pictured above, we've set a goal of going on a weekday so we can get one of the sites like the one we took pictures from, right next to the lake. It was probably a good thing we took her car instead of mine because we didn't have a tent. If we did I'm not sure it would have been possible to resist the urge to set up camp and have to scramble our way back to the real world in the morning.

Apache Trail is not the average Sunday drive, it's beautiful, exciting, and sometimes terrifying. This stretch of AZ Highway 88 (yes, it's actually a highway) offers a little bit of everything: beautiful lake settings on Saguaro Lake and Apache Lake, mountains, desert, forests, man-made structures like Roosevelt Dam, and some great secluded campsites to get away from it all. 

Trips like the drive down Apache Trail are the great part of living in a state that I truly think is the most scenic in the U.S. There are places and trips like this all around us. This was something I found true in the solo camping trip I took. I could have done this drive solo too. I'm sure I would have enjoyed the trip just fine, but in the back of my mind, I would have known it could have been better. I probably wouldn't have stopped off to scout campgrounds. I wouldn't have had someone to laugh with and tell stories with. And I definitely wouldn't have had that moment when I looked down by the lake and saw the woman I love making the trip more memorable as she posed her puppy next to the lake and laughed that amazing laugh at how cute he looked. That is what takes a good trip and makes it so much better.

October Book of the Month: Quiet

Some people see it clear as day. Others don't believe it for a second when I tell them I'm an introvert. Might I add and I'm damn proud of it! Introverts are often stigmatized in Western culture because being loud, boisterous, and often flamboyant is prized and encouraged from the time we are young. But we, introverts are the ones who critically analyze the unfiltered ideas that the extroverts proudly convey. 

Quiet by Susan Cain came as a recommendation from the marketing VP who gave me the talk that eventually led to this website. This book helped me understand the value that I can bring to any role in my life by harnessing the power of my introvertedness (not a word). It showed me that just because I'm not the type who will command the floor in every meeting, doesn't mean that my career path has to stop at anything short of the top seat. 

If you take the time to read articles online, I'm assuming there is already a chance that you might be a little bit introverted. This is a great book to help you learn how to use this to your advantage in life. If you're an extrovert, somewhere in your personal or professional life there are introverts. Understanding how to communicate with them will be a huge benefit to any aspect of your life.

My Life Has Become a Reverse Country Song

Rogue

I got my woman back and I got a dog, nothing about a pickup truck though. Of course these are the cliche phrases of country music, but as someone who loves a little Garth Brooks or Tim McGraw, I know there is more to the genre than that. Wow! I can't believe it has been more than a month since I've posted anything. I wish I could say it's because I've been going on amazing trips and seeing more sites than ever before. However, it's pretty much the opposite. So here's a quick (at least as quick as I can make it recap of the last month or so).

Jenn and I are back together. Even though I wrote an article about how I didn't think we needed each other to continue the adventuring lifestyle, the truth is that I want her in my life to continue it. I traveled and had a good time without her, but when I look at things objectively the times with her were much better. That's all I'm going to say about it. We're moving on with our lives together.

The majority of my wandering for the last few weeks centered around finding my new best buddy (pictured above). We went to so many animal shelters for two weeks. It started as a hunt for a dog for Jenn. She wanted one to hike with. She found one that she absolutely fell in love with, but she was a on hold at the shelter to be checked out medically. In a strange twist a friend offered her a pomeranian. Without knowing much about how big poms get she agreed to take a look. In the end she couldn't turn down bringing it home. Later that afternoon she got a call about the dog she had wanted from the shelter. She considered going from zero dogs to two dogs in the span of 24 hours, but in the end I think she thought better of it. Instead of a big hiking/protection dog, she now has a diva pom.

After looking at all the animals with her, I decided I needed a pup of my own. I had one in mind from the Humane society that would have been perfect because I wasn't looking for anything too big. Sadly, little Tank got adopted before I could come back to do it myself. After at least 7 trips to different shelters and animal control, Gideon had exactly the temperament I was looking for, so I knew I needed to get him. He is much bigger than I ever expected a dog I would get would be. He's a Staffordshire mix (a form of pitbull), which is another thing I said I didn't want. But in the end I just couldn't look into those gray eyes of his and not take a chance on adopting him.

So that's it! That's what I've been doing for a month. Trying to wander my way through relationship issues and becoming Rogue's (yeah, I changed his name) human. Sure it may not seem as exciting as spontaneously packing up and taking off for whichever way the wind blows, but it follows the same concept as everything else in my life.

I wandered my way into it and I'm happy I did.