Always an adventure with these two 💕 some favorites from our Malibu hike @cafloristicprovince @1un3f1ll3 #hikingadventures #hiking #biology #geology #plantbiology #adventureisoutthere🎈 #flowers #wildflowers #wildflowersofinstagram #waterfalls #monterreymodeloformation #Malibu #lifeasageologist (at Sycamore Canyon Hike) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp0c8r6PhS_/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Always an adventure with these two 💕 some favorites from our Malibu hike @cafloristicprovince @1un3f1ll3 #hikingadventures #hiking #biology #geology #plantbiology #adventureisoutthere🎈 #flowers #wildflowers #wildflowersofinstagram #waterfalls #monterreymodeloformation #Malibu #lifeasageologist (at Sycamore Canyon Hike) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp0c8r6PhS_/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Happiest in my element ✨️ #storminspections #lifeasageologist #californiastorms💨🌨️ #Malibu #adventuring (at Malibu, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpqW1JiPPuY/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Happiest in my element ✨️ #storminspections #lifeasageologist #californiastorms💨🌨️ #Malibu #adventuring (at Malibu, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpqW1JiPPuY/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

🦋 #downtownventura #muralart #mural #ventura #girlsnightout💃 #venturalife #adventureisoutthere (at Ventura, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoRR6npOeRN/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Life in Ventura 🐞🪻 @cafloristicprovince #ventura #downtownventura #venturabotanicalgardens #oceanviews #lifeinventura #lifeisbeautiful❤️ (at Ventura Botanical Gardens) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn-jH4KPYkg/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

The recent storms brought about beautiful green gasses and yellow flowers 🏵 these babies were everywhere! 🐞 #nature #ladybugs🐞 #flowers #Malibu #swpppinspections #stormwater #stormevents #geologyadventures #adventureisoutthere #beautyisoutthere❤️ #lifeasageologist (at Malibu, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnXFRTvJtzn/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Really aching for this moment right here. Definitely a highlight of 2022. Cheers to new adventures in 2023! #grandcanyonnationalpark #glencanyondam #grandcanyon #coloradoriver #breakfast #breakfastontheriver #wildernessriveradventures #lifeasageologist #geology #geologyrocks #foodporn #food (at Grand Canyon National Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmulLnlPZ_t/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Day 7: Sept 12, 2022 Woke up emotional today. It was a weird mixture of sadness, excitement, and wanting to cry. Today we are leaving the canyon. We won't be traveling in the river again and I am very sad to leave. Even though there's a hot shower and food waiting for me up at Bar 10, leaving the guides and new friends I've made had me torn. I'm going to miss these guides! They taught me a lot and it was so fun spending time with them, helping them in the kitchen and listening to their river stories. This won't be the last time I see them as I am planning on going back! Took the last helicopter out of the canyon around 9:30am. It was a 7 minute ride up through geologic time to the top of the canyon where we landed at Bar 10 Ranch. That first shower was beautiful. Something we take for granted in every day life is running clean water. I got to have lunch with Sephra and some of the others before they had to depart for their flights back to Las Vegas. I was the only one flying back to Marble Canyon so it was bittersweet saying good bye to her, not knowing when I'll see her again. I made the promise to visit her in Colorado soon and I'll keep it for sure! The charter back to Marble Canyon was exciting as we followed the Grand Canyon back up the way we traveled by raft. What we saw on the Colorado River for 7 days, I was seeing from the sky in less than an hour. We flew over the Vermillion Cliffs of purples and reds and I knew we were close. Now to spend the next week exploring Arizona! Thanking God for this life of mine today! Until my next adventure! #grandcanyon #grandcanyonnationalpark #adventureisoutthere #helicopter #charterflights #marblecanyon #vermillioncliffs #coloradoriver #glencanyon #glencanyondam #pagearizona (at Grand Canyon National Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmZeennvu3g/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

🎶it's a wonderful time of the year 🎶 #downtownventura #mainstreet #christmastime🎄 #girlsnightout💃 #drinksdrinksdrinks (at Downtown Ventura) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmQvGbUuF4y/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Day 6: Sunday Sept 11, 2022 Today felt like the longest yet shortest day of the entire trip. There would be no side stops or hikes today as we had a long 50 mile stretch of river cruising and white water rapids before we landed on our last stop of the whole trip. I felt pretty emotional, as I did not want to return to the normal world. If I could remain on this river for the rest of my life I would die a happy woman. I spent the day absorbing the last moments with the crew as I knew I wouldn't be back at this spot for a long time. I focused on the river, the geology and the sun trying to make a core memory that would last a lifetime. I took more photos of rocks this entire trip than I did of the people I was adventuring with. Phil would catch my attention to show me the faults and formations we would pass and I just soaked in everything he said about the geology. I was choked up this whole day, filled with appreciation for my favorite guide for giving me an intimate geology tour of the Grand Canyon which is exactly what I wanted and more from this expedition. Tonight at camp, we had a lightning shoe at dinner with thunder that rolled on over us. It was amazing and I would miss this so much coming back to CA. This would be the last time I'd sit here, looking at the white cracked night sky like this. Only thing I was looking forward to in the real world was a shower. I am overwhelmed with gratitude to God for my health and for surviving my life up to this point to enjoy a trip like this. Last year, I didn't think I'd make it to this year let alone to experience a trip like this. Until next time! #grandcanyon #grandcanyonnationalpark #coloradoriver #coloradoriverrafting #riverrafting #whitewaterrafting #camping #backcountry #monsoon #lifeasageologist (at Grand Canyon National Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmM6xTmSmyF/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Day 4 on the Colorado River trip. Sept 9. 2022. Been lagging on posting my trip but finally got a little break from field work to continue! Day 4 was the introduction to the Grand Canyon. We made it to the heart of the Grand Canyon not only marked by the incredible basement rock of the Vishnu Schist, a mostly black jagged and heavily fractured schist intruded all around by the pink veins of granitic rock, but by the miles of back to back white water rapids. As the canyon narrowed due to the slower rates of erosion, the rapids grew longer and more turbulent the further we traveled on the river. We ended up stopping for a hike that lead to a beautiful waterfall in which we all played under. Monsoon season really brings the most violent flash floods which was evident by the debris found along the river but also by these waterfalls up by these canyon hikes. "It's been overcast for the most part, threatening rain. But the clouds held fast and the weather was hot. Camp was wide open today and I slept on the beach overlooking the river. The lapping sound of water on sand was a peaceful way to fall asleep to." #coloradoriver #riverrafting🚣 #coloradoplateau #grandcanyonnationalpark #grandcanyon #coloradorivergorge #vishnu #vischnuschist #waterfall #hikingtrails #hikinggrandcanyon #adventure #adventureisoutthere #rivercamping (at Grand Canyon National Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/ClhM-R1yBmD/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Fall has come to Oxnard 🍁🍂 #autumn #venturacounty #oxnardcalifornia #foliage #fallfoliage🍂 https://www.instagram.com/p/ClAH49evwbE/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Happy Halloween 🎃 and massive happy birthdays to my favorite October babies @tealthetank and @mitch_ochondria 🎉🎉🎉 tonight was a night to remember ❤️ #downtownventura #fluidstate #thesix #paddys #costumeparty #friends #dance #halloween #halloween2022🎃👻🕷️🦇 (at Main St. Downtown,Ventura) https://www.instagram.com/p/CkWJvVjvb3d/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Day 3 on the Colorado Thurs Sept 8, 2022. Went through the Bright Angel formation which I deemed my favorite layer on this trip. Gorgeous colors of green and burgundy. Went over more rapids and passed by ancient puebloan dwellings. Then we went down our own rapids on the Little Colorado Tributary before finally reaching the Grand Canyon National Park. Exerpt from field journal: "Camp was fun today. Sephra brought a black light which Phil used to lead a small hunt for scorpions. He was surprised that we hadn't found any up to this point as I suppose they're very common. We ended up finding three in the cracks of the rock walls. They glowed purple in the black light for mere seconds before they scurried away... there was something special about being at the bottom of the Grand Canyon on a cot at night. I felt the most alive I have ever felt in my entire life. When I die, my spirit will come back to this very spot where I thanked God for having me survive so I could live at this moment." #grandcanyon #grandcanyonnationalpark #coloradorapids #coloradoriver #coloradoriverrafting #riverrafting #hiking #hikingadventures #adventureisoutthere #lifeasageologist #arizonaadventures #arizona (at Colorado River) https://www.instagram.com/p/CkJldJdSC8z/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Day 1 of rafting down the Colorado River involved meeting our amazing River guides, going down my first rapids ever, lunch along a beautiful scene of green water against red and orange canyon walls, a 10 minute thunderstorm in our cots under a tarp followed by a bright moonlit night in the sweltering heat. The day was Tuesday, Sept 6th, 2022. I knew I picked the right boat when our guides Phil and Chris gave a detailed history of the geology we encountered for the first 20 miles of our journey. Being in the middle of Glen Canyon, we wouldn't reach the Grand Canyon for another two days. Exerpts from my field journal: "I couldn't even begin to explain my excitement and thrill of being here. Going over my first rapid was exhilarating!.... We traveled through the Kaibab Formation at 210 mya and stopped at camp where it was approx 300mya. Chris knows the geology and I am here as a student... Lightening illuminated the sky above the Canyon walls bringing thunder that reverberated all around us. Not even 60 seconds go by before wind and rain came. I threw the tarp over me on the cot, folding it around me and beneath my feet to keep it from flying away. I was like that for a good 8-10 minutes, hoping nothing important would fly away. It was peaceful, being under the tarp listening to the rain hit the top and the wind ripple through. Nobody at camp made a sound. It was just the rain and the wind and the rumble of thunder. And just like that, the storm passed and the only sounds left was the river and the chirping of the bats for the rest of the night." #coloradoriver #riverrafting #wildernessriveradventures #geology #lifeasageologist #teva #arizona (at Lee's Ferry) https://www.instagram.com/p/CjOgU5XPtzO/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Small break from vacation photos to post some work photos! Got to kayak and wade into waist deep river water today... and I get paid to do this! Work adventures are always welcomed and I'm lucky to have the job that I do. Jumping off a river raft and onto a kayak at an estuary is the life 🤙 #venturacalifornia #kayaking #tmdl #aquaticbioassay #adventure #adventureisoutthere #lifeasageologist #geologist #geology #waders #wadersaresexy #watersampling (at Ventura, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ciy6shouHdH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=