Chris has grown up loving hiking, back packing, and hunting, all sports really. I grew up not athletic but my family loved to go and do things. Four wheeler or rail rides. Going out shooting. Going to the Lake. Going to the mountains. Just going. When I lived in Duncan I loved it! All my memories are outside exploring the desert. Chris and I both had a love for the outdoors and just doing a lot. After we got married we needed hobbies to do together. Chris introduced me to back packing and hiking. I love, LOVE going out and seeing things that you normally might not see. Chris has taken me to Havasupai Falls, its in the Grand Canyon and a really fun hike. He also has taken me to the Sierra Nevada’s hiking. We have also done smaller hikes with our kids at South Mountain near our home in Chandler, AZ. We also enjoyed hiking near Payson, and Prescott (both in Arizona). Our kids have started really liking hiking and camping as well. So when we moved we knew we wanted some place where we could be outdoors.
Arizona really has a lot to offer. And it also has a really big season of doing out door things so when we move we didn’t want to lose that. But Arizona gets hot. Growing up here it never really bothered me, but this past summer was miserable for me. I think it has to do with being trapped inside all day with two rowdy kids. I also hated going anywhere in the car and melting, or making sure the kids didn’t touch anything when we were outside (or in the car for that matter.) So we knew we didn’t want hot summers.
Since Chris is a software engineer he also wanted to go to a big tech hub. Arizona does have several great companies to work for in the tech industry, but Chris wanted more. When he was applying places he wanted to keep in mind all of those things.
When we were first married we liked the idea of possibly moving to Texas, but when it came down to actually leaving we decided if we were going to move, we wanted something even more different than Arizona. (Although one of his top three choices was in San Antonio.) Our main choices were between Colorado and Washington/Oregon. He applied to those places, but most of the interviews ended up being in the Seattle area or The Bay Area in California. The Bay Area was probably our top choice of weather and location of outdoor activities, but the cost of living was a lot more. We decided that although it was appealing we didn’t think it was a right fit for us at the time. Chris also had an interview in Chicago. It was his first onsite interview and a good experience, but we were both glad that didn’t work out. Not sure if freezing cold weather is what I’m looking for.
We always thought Seattle would be cool and it just turns out that most of the opportunities were going to be in Seattle. So Seattle, here we come!
Hiking a section of the John Muir Trail
A camping/hiking trip in Prescott Arizona
Backpacking at Havasupai Falls in Arizona
