Happy birthday, Dan!

Dan’s birthday is one week after mine, and we almost always travel as our gift to one another. This year is a little different of course, but we managed a socially-distant trip to Grand Lake, Colorado and spent his birthday paddling Monarch Lake in our packrafts.

Perhaps you can tell from the photos that we had ever-changing skies, but it was always beautiful. 73 degrees, a mix of sunny and overcast, windy enough to keep things interesting but not so gusty that I was paddling for my life.

I am incredibly grateful for birthday boy. Especially in these bizarre days when he’s nearly the only person I spend time with, I feel lucky that we enjoy each other’s company so much.

P.S. Our packrafts deflate, like this:

…and pack down to the size below. (In the ads they are described as rolling up to “the size of a roll of paper towels,” which is possible with more effort, but we prefer using these duffel bags which also carry our life vests, paddles, seat cushions, etc.)