Hey there readers! 2017 didn’t involve as much traveling as we would have liked, although we did get to do a lot of cool stuff! So, let’s take a look at some of things that we did.

In March, Sam started his first internship, which would then turn into a big boy job. In May, I graduated from Scott Community College. To celebrate we decided to take a trip to St. Pete Beach, Florida. If you’ve never been, it’s right on the gulf, and the beach is breathtaking. Where we stay at is nice and quiet, but you don’t have to go far to find Tiki bars, Sand Volleyball, night clubs, and many more activities. It gives you the best of both worlds.

While we where in Florida, we decided that we wanted to go hiking. Why we decided that I’m not sure. So we went to Caladesi Island, you were supposed to be able to go on this great hike and also see the beach. Well, we started with the hike, and let me tell you, if you’re from Iowa, you’re used to beautiful trees, and nature. This was like walking through a desert, with little tiny fire ants biting our feet. Oh, and all of the greenery was dead! So, we were trying to find anyway out of there, because it was extremely hot, and well I wasn’t having the fire ants, or the fact that I kept hearing rattle snakes! We kept coming to signs that said “one mile to the beach” and “half a mile to the beach”. Finally after downing our ONE water bottle we found our way to the beach!

So, the hiking wasn’t great, but the beach was amazing. It’s an Island so we just walked up and down and enjoyed how beautiful the water was. We would highly recommend going for the beach, just not for the hiking, unless you like fire ants and rattle snakes. I suppose we should have known the hiking would be different. You take a ferry back and forth, that was a great experience to be out on the boat in the gulf, and we got to see dolphins!

Over the summer, we remained in the Quad Cities. But, we still had some great times. We spend a lot of our time on the Mississippi River. If you haven’t been boating on the river, I highly suggest you try it some time, it’s the most relaxing and peaceful experience. We go out, have drinks, enjoy some food, and some times we find a beach. Sam went wake boarding, I have promised that I will try, but forewarning I’m not the most coordinated person. In fact I think I run into something every single day.

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In August, I started at St. Ambrose.

December was a big month, Sam graduated from St. Ambrose *happy dance*, he is officially done with school, FOREVER! To celebrate that we went with my family, and met up with my sister in Winter Park, Colorado. Sam had already been to the mountains before, but I had never been. However, neither one of us had ever been snowboarding in the mountains. It was an experience of a life time. Going up on the ski lifts and looking around was probably one of the best parts of the trip. All of the mountains and the snow, it looked like a photograph that didn’t need any Photoshop. It was stunning.

The actual snowboarding was beyond anything that I had ever experienced before. Going down those mountains and taking in the scenery all around is something that we will never forget. Now, I think that Sam won’t ever forget how many times I fell, too. I would go and sometimes I would fall, and then when I tried to go anywhere my board literally wouldn’t move, and trust me I tried to get it too. But, it didn’t stop me from trying and we would both gladly do it again. We actually snowboard every year, and I swear it’s because my boots are too big, so I have to over lean and then I fall! That just means new boots *Yay*.

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To end our Colorado trip, we wanted to do a little date so the two of us could spend some time together. Sam surprised me and took us to Sulfur Springs. They’re in the mountains, and they have a ton of different pools. However, only one was actually man made. The other ones looked like little hot tubs. But, it was all natural and you got to sit in the mountains and relax. That’s exactly what it was too, relaxing. We got to talk about life and what we want to do for the next year (Which we are so excited to take you guys along for). Oh, by the way, if you ever go to the Sulfur Springs, make sure that you rinse off after!! You will smell like sulfur. Then we ended with a bite to eat at a BBQ restaurant (right up our alley), we love bar food.

Our trip was pretty amazing, as was our year. We love seeing new places together, and having new experiences. We’re just happy to take you guys along with us, now! That was our 2017! We look forward to sharing what we have in store for this year.

-Victoria and Sam

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