JD is settling in and she is discovering a love of hiking in Arizona. She is trading corn stalks for cactus and getting out to explore the new setting. Expanding her comfort zone, JD started hiking through the Sonoran trails. She was excited to share her newfound love of hiking through Arizona.

Alas, during my time in Phoenix last week, I heard the horses down by the Salt River, but as I hiked down the rocky incline,  I could hear the hooves as they scattered.  I spent an hour at the bend in the river, watching the early morning light change and dissipate my cold breath in the air.

Take an LA day trip to Solvang If you are looking to really feel like you are escaping Los Angeles. The picturesque Danish village is right of out a fairy tale storybook and the beautiful scenic drive through mountains will transport you into another land.

Along one of the turns, we saw a crashed van pulling a boat on the side of the road where yellow caution tape was up. We all had our theories about what possibly could have happened. Did the van get too close to the edge? Did foul play happen because it looked like gunshots in the windows? We’ll never know. We pulled over by the lake for a picnic lunch and enjoyed the serene views. When we got to the dam, we stopped and marveled at the history of all that this land holds and tried to imagine riding this trail via stagecoach. It was an adventure even by car.

"My life was being raised in a small town on a farm, and I...