Making memories

Alexandria doctor checks off places on her travel bucket list

By Celeste Edenloff

Amanda Walz doesn’t really consider herself a traveler because she feels she missed out on so many years of traveling when she spent 11 years in her 20s pursuing her career in medicine.

After that, the focus for both her and her husband, John, turned to raising their two daughters – Ella, 13 and Abbey, 15.

Walz, a family medicine doctor at Alexandria Clinic, a service of Alomere Health, has had the opportunity to do some traveling for work when attending conferences out of state and out of the country. And luckily, during some of those trips, her family has been able to join her.

“Honestly, most of my trips I’ve taken have been work trips,” she said. “I attend the conference in the morning and then in the afternoon,we get to go and have fun hiking and exploring.”

It has been in the past year or so, she said, that she has been able to do some fun, non-work-related travels.

In 2020, her family was supposed to go on an Alaskan cruise with her in-laws for their 50th wedding anniversary. The COVID pandemic hit and those plans were canceled. But they received travel vouchers to be used at a later date.

The vouchers were about to expire at about the same time she turned 40, which was in February 2022, so she and her husband decided to take a trip with just the two of them to Sanibel Island. But of course while she was there, she attended a work conference, she said.

Shortly after, in March, her brother, Dan Woodle, passed away from brain cancer.

“That was rough and a real eye-opener for me,” said Walz, explaining that she and her husband have been putting money away for their retirement, don’t live extravagantly and that she probably drives the oldest car in the physician’s parking lot.

After her brother’s death, she and her husband decided that instead of saving all their money for retirement, it was time to start making memories with their daughters.

She also decided she needed to take time and start on her travel bucket list.

“We live our lives differently now,” she said. “We’re pouring our energy into the people who love and support us and who we have real relationships with.”

GIRLS’ TRIP

Because of some other plans being canceled, Walz found herself with a twoweek window off from work and needed to figure out what she was going to do with the time.

She came up with a great plan – a 4,500 mile, eight state, six-national park road trip with her two daughters. She started researching and planning and by the time the trip rolled around, she had everything organized. She said she is a Type A organizer, so every detail was planned, but with input from her girls. She wanted them to be involved in the planning so they would be excited about the trip.

They drove through South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Arizona, to name a few. And they hiked between eight and 10 miles a day when they stopped by the national parks. They would get up early to beat the heat and beat the crowds, she said.

On some of the hikes, depending on the conditions, she would do part of them by herself and let her daughters rest.

During the trip, they camped some days. They stayed in hotels some days, but not expensive ones, she said. They even stayed in a tiny cabin that was just the right size for the three of them. They had a cooler of food with them and made most of their meal, some of them being the “camping meals” that you just add water to, she said.

Walz said the trip, except for maybe the gas, wasn’t that expensive. Because they were visiting so many national parks, she purchased an “America the Beautiful” pass that gets people into all the parks. This was less expensive than paying for a permit separately at all the parks.

“It was amazing and such a bonding experience with my girls,” she said. “They’re at a good age and could do the hikes. Even though we were up at like five in the morning, they had a good time.”

And then partway through the trip, they picked up her husband so they could finish the two-week vacation as a family. They ended the trip just in time to make it to Detroit Lakes so her daughter, Ella, could participate in her soccer tournament.

RIM TO RIM 27-MILE HIKE

This past October, Walz decided she wanted to hike the Grand Canyon from rim to rim, which was a 27-mile hike.

She asked several of her friends if they wanted to do the trek with her and her best friend, Katrina Brault, said yes. They wanted to do it for Walz’ brother, Dan, and also Brault’s father, who had also recently passed away.

For five months, the two trained –walking miles upon miles on the Central Lakes Trail, at Lake Brophy County Park and at Glacial Lakes State Park. Walz started biking to work one day a week, which was 25 miles round trip. They both started lifting weights. They worked on their nutritional and hydration plans.

They learned what worked and didn’t work for shoes and socks.

By the time the trip came, she said they felt ready.

And they were. They did the 27-mile hike in one day, starting at 3:30 a.m. and ending at 5:30 p.m.

“We did the whole thing in 14 hours,” she said. “You should do it. It’s amazing and it will change your life. It’s a whole new world down in the canyon.”

When asked why she wanted to do the rim to rim Grand Canyon hike, Walz simply said, “Because it just looked amazing. I knew it would push me but yet it was doable. Plus, I always wanted to do an ultra marathon and this filled that bucket list item.”

Walz has more things to check off her bucket list, like hiking the Half Dome at Yosemite National Park.

Whether it is hiking, traveling or just life in general, Walz offered up some advice: “You’re not guaranteed tomorrow. If it’s possible or feasible, don’t wait. Do it.”