Wilderness Explorers: Kwaay Paay

To start 2016 off on the right foot (literally), I wanted to make sure we got off the couch and started the 5-Peak Challenge. I had only heard of the 5-Peak Challenge thru DiscoverSD and I didn't do any additional research regarding the different hikes so I had no idea how difficult the hikes were and the altitudes you would reach. Since I am so out of shape, I decided to go with Kwaay Paay which was the shortest hike at 1.20 miles. Little did I know, the hike was actually rated difficult! We also didn't know that Father Junipero Serra Trail loops back around to Mission Gorge Road so we ended up walking from where we parked (see map below) to the start of the hike which was 1.5 miles. We basically traveled the red line between the purple and orange line. It was a nice warm up and cool down but definitely not necessary if you just want to do the hike. If you just want to do the hike, I would probably enter the back end of Father Juniper Serra Trail by Kumeyaay Lake Campground. From the map below, it looks like there are three different parking lots in that area although depending on the time you get there, finding parking may be difficult (there were several people parked on the side waiting for people to leave). Parking was free which is a plus. As soon as you reach the start of the hike, you'll see a brown sign that tells you the difficulty of the hike as well as the altitude you'll reach and the distance you'll travel during the hike.

• Kwaay Paay
  • Distance: 1.20 miles
  • Altitude: 1,194 feet
  • Rating: Difficult

Overall, I enjoyed this hike and definitely enjoyed the view at the top. I would definitely do it again. I do think it would be helpful to have hiking poles and shoes with better traction because coming down from the peak was basically just me sliding down the trail at certain points. But don't let that stop you from doing the hike! I'm a scaredy cat to the max so if I can do the hike, most people can! Seeing the sign say difficult did kind of scare me and I can see how some parts of the hike can be a bit intimidating BUT ultimately, you will feel so accomplished when you are finished and to me, that's worth the pain :P.

We're always looking for new places to hike so please leave any recommendations in the comments section! I hope you enjoyed this post and that it'll inspire you to get out there! Thanks for reading!

Why We Decided to Stink Up the Web

While reading through a few articles that were posted on Facebook, I came across The Wondernuts blog. It really inspired me to not only travel more but also to make this blog. I want to document all the little milestones in our lives but also showcase things we can all do whether it be traveling or just being more active. Hopefully this blog will inspire someone else to get out there and make things happen in 2016!

I work in health care and Tony works as a project manager. We moved out to Little Italy a year ago and we love being able to walk everywhere. We still haven't explored all the restaurants and places Downtown yet so this year exploring San Diego is one of my goals. In addition to exploring San Diego, we also want to be more active. Moving from LA, you definitely get the impression that San Diego is one of the fittest cities in America. When I lived in LA, my group of friends and I would hike at least once a month just as a way of catching up. Since moving to San Diego, I've adopted a more sedentary lifestyle because I don't have any friends to be active with (sad face lol). Tony's friend started this hiking club to complete the 5-Peak Challenge and we'll be joining in. It's a pretty cool challenge that I just discovered when I was looking up hikes in San Diego. You also get a small pin for completing the challenge (and you know how much I love pins! lol). Some people have completed all 5 hikes in 1 day so for those just visiting in San  Diego, it's not impossible to get yourself a pin (a free souvenir)!

Every year we talk about how cooking more and eating out less, so again, that will be one of our goals this year as well. It's been especially hard since we live in Little Italy and good food is pretty much all around us. Like the years  before, I'm trying to build up my arsenal of quick and easy meals that I can cook under a time crunch. I seriously admire working moms everywhere because after I come home from work, I want to do absolutely nothing. So super kudos to working moms everywhere for having like 3 full time jobs (regular job, mom, and wife lol). I saw an article on Bon Appetite about the Food Lover's Cleanse. Some of the recipes aren't things I would actually eat and the recipes themselves are a little too complicated for me but maybe for some of you avid cooks, it'll be a good place to start.

I think that's enough of me yammering about. Now let's start the stinking new year!

New Year, New Stink

Happy New Year!

For 2016, I wanted to document me and Tony's journey of getting stinkier together.

We'll be making and eating lots of stinky food.

We'll be traveling, Stinky Buttheads style.

We'll be planning our stinky wedding. 

We'll be reflecting on the places we've been, stinky or not.

We'll be exploring in some new and stinkalicious neighborhoods.

We'll be active and make sure we get extra stinky while we're at it.

There's a lot more stink coming your way! Stay tuned!