Labor Day Weekend

The joke of the weekend was I flew from California to Nevada so I could drive back to California.

It was a wonderful weekend.  I was already scheduled for a four day weekend and was able to squeeze a fifth day out of my supervisor and it was grand.

I flew from San Jose to Las Vegas on Friday.  Gil picked me up from the airport and we hurried to campus.  He went to class and I went to the library.  The University of Nevada Las Vegas library doesn't quite have the feel or the smell of my no-longer standing Merrill Library from my USU days, but it served as a quiet place to take a quick nap and read until Gil got out of class.

We left early Saturday morning, headed for Newport Beach.  We made good time and arrived around 10 am.  We wandered the beach, looking at tide pools and watching the waves.  Gil is an expert at catching the little crabs that were hanging out in the tide pools.  I did put my feet in the surf but my goodness, that water is COLD!  The Pacific is definitely colder than the Gulf of Mexico. 

 The section of beach we were on was a CA state park called Crystal Cove and a favorite of Gil's.  There was a quaint visitor center, and lots of cute little rental cabins along one section of the beach.  There was also a shake shack where we got lunch and shared a malted chocolate milk shake.

 We changed into our swimsuits and picked a spot on the beach and set up the umbrella and put down our towels.  Gil went and frolicked in the water and I stayed in the shade.  That water is cold.  Gil had brought a kite and we enjoyed that for a bit.  I stayed under the umbrella and read my book while he put on his wetsuit and did some snorkeling.  It was a beautiful, clear, warm but not too hot, sunny day. 

We stayed the night in Redlands with Gil's cousin and her family and went to church with them the next morning.  The Redlands Temple shares a parking lot with their church building.  We also drove by the Newport Beach Temple on Saturday.

Monday we headed up into the Spring Mountains on the west side of Las Vegas to explore the bristlecone grove up there and to see if we could find the Rain Tree.  I know I've said it many times, but I love bristlecones!

A very sappy cone.  The sunlight made the sap really sparkly.  Lovely!

 We made it to the Rain Tree.  It was huge for a bristlecone.

 Out there somewhere, just barely out of sight, is Las Vegas.

I flew back to San Jose on Tuesday.  It was a lovely weekend and a great semi-last big adventure before school, classes, homework, reading, projects, and papers start in earnest for Gil.