Mini Life

My journey as told by photographs. All iphone at the moment.

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Venice 

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I’m back

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Antelope Canyon, Arizona

August 2016

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Horshoe Bend

2016 August

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Plane ticket destination: Arizona

Jobless and broke, I decided to buy a roundtrip ticket to Arizona. It wasn’t the best decision at that time, but the trip was definitely worth every penny I have in my bank account.

I invited my sister to go with me, and to my surprise, she bought a ticket a week later. Two weeks before the trip, we found out that my high school friend, Shairah--who lives in New York now--bought a ticket to Arizona as well on the same date that my sister and I were going. Vida, my best friend who lives in Arizona, was very excited that a reunion of friends was happening that she planned the whole trip for us. 

Day of arrival:

All of us had different arrival times. I arrived at 7:45am. Shairah arrived at around 9am, and my sister arrived at 12:30pm. We mostly just chilled and explored Phoenix on our first day. We ate dinner at Hooters then went back home to chill and hang out.

2nd day: Fossil Creek and the Grand Canyon (next post)

Vida reserved a parking spot at Fossil Creek for us to go swimming. We went there early so that we don’t have to deal with other people. It was a short hike going to the waterfall, however, we stopped in the middle of our hike to take a dip in the water. After 30 minutes of swimming, we continued on the trail and arrived at the beautiful creek. There was a rope for people to jump in the water, which my sister and Shairah enjoyed. I, personally, loved going behind the waterfall.

After all the swimming, we packed our bags and headed to the Grand Canyon!

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Back in August we took a last minute trip to Mount Rainier before all the hectic university life consumes our time. We decided to take a different angle this time around and go to the Mount Fremont Lookout Trail, which is near the Sunrise visitor center on the northeast side of the mountain.

Just like every other time we have been to Washington’s tallest mountain, we were not disappointed in the slightest. The scenery contrasted the southern end of the peak in that it was much more wide and open with far less greenery; but did not lack in the slightest when it came to the sheer magnitude of the views we were able to take in.

The winds were ferocious and almost lifted us off our feet as we scaled along the trail, making our way to the lookout destination. This added to the almost fantasy esque vibe of our journey; as it felt like we were actually battling to get there. The trail was treacherous at times, littered with loose rocks, but we held our footing.

Upon our arrival, we could do nothing but stare in awe at the view of nature’s gift before us. Mount Rainier is epic.

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He taps his fingers on the steering wheel as he follows the beat of the music playing in the car. I sing along because that’s really all I could contribute musically at the moment. I’m not like him. He’s gifted when it comes to listening and theories. I simply just sing along and even dance to entertain myself. He doesn’t mind it. In fact, every time I dance in the car, he gives me an impressed look and smiles at me. Then he utters the words that just makes my heart melt every time I hear it, “I love you, babe.”

I live for afternoons like this one. It’s nothing extravagant, but in its simplicity comes all of the love that none could ever compete.

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Blanca Lake part 2

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Blanca Lake part 1

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Sister modeling for me

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How refreshing it is to swim in the cold waters in Washington when the sun has been shining for days. Don’t get us wrong, Austin and I love the sun–especially when we live in Washington where the weather is always gloomy. It is just nice to dip ourselves into the fresh blue water and sunbathe afterwards. 

Devil’s Punchbowl, Washington

31 Jul 2016

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The trail to Bearhead Mountain was difficult. We had to stop and catch our breaths most of the time, and as beginner hikers like ourselves, we couldn’t quite handle the length and the level of difficulty of this hike. The scenery, however, motivated us to keep on going–because we wanted more of it.

We got the place to ourselves. We found a spot where we could just enjoy the view of the majestic Mount Rainier, and ate our scumdiddlyumptious snacks.

Every step of the hike was worth it.

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Taking risks

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that pnw bridge

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Bearhead Mountain 1.1 from Ella Amanda Ares on Vimeo.

This our hike going to Bearhead Mountain.

music by: Jack Johnson, Do You Remember