May Adventures

It is hard to believe I've been back in Yosemite a month now.  It's gone so fast.  My apartment was quite dirty when I moved in and I spent my first few weekends unpacking, settling in, and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.  I finally got out to adventure when a friend from Las Vegas came last weekend.  

We started our adventure in the Valley.  The waterfalls are going crazy.  Every time I drive by the Merced River or see a fall I can't help being amazed at how much water there is compared to my last two summers out here.  Even delicate Bridalveil got us slightly damp with its mist.

 We stopped at the Visitor Center in the valley in time to see the mounted patrol pass their final inspection.  That was pretty cool.  Notice Yosemite Falls in the background.

 Gil consulting John Muir on his Junior Ranger.

 We took advantage of the valley shuttle and were dropped off at the Mirror Lake trail head.  We hiked to the lake for lunch.  Such a difference this year compared to my first when it was more a stagnant pond than a lake.

 Then we drove up to Glacier Point.  It was a perfect day and the views from there are always stunning.  There were still patches of snow at that elevation too.

 Glacier Point with Half Dome in the background.  We hiked up to the top of Sentinel Dome and enjoyed more views of the beautiful Yosemite Valley.

Our second day of adventuring took us to the northwest part of the park to Hetch Hetchy.  I haven't been out there since my first season.  It is a pretty part of the park.  I was surprised by how many people were out there hiking too.

 The wildflowers were still out in full force (and the poison oak) at this elevation and the colors were absolutely beautiful.  

With all the water, the waterfalls were falling full force.  There were two that we passed.  The second had a number of foot bridges.  I saw the mist and simply presumed we'd get misted on, a little damp, and that was that.  NOPE!  It was like standing on the bridge at the Tidalwave at AstroWorld!  It wasn't just a little misting, it was waves of water crashing over the bridge!

This is my nervous face.

Photos after safely navigating the wettest part of the pass.  I was thankful I had my raincoat in my pack.  I also learned my new hiking boots are completely waterproof.  

 We didn't quite make it to our goal, but we found a nice place for lunch.  It was a lovely day and a wonderful weekend.

The Best!

I have said this before and I will say it again: I have been blessed with wonderful friends in my life.  I have been blessed to be able to keep in contact with these friends over many years as well.  My only hope is that I may be as good a friend in return.  Not going to lie, sometimes this thought of me not being a good friend weighs heavily in my mind.

Last Friday, I left Houston and headed north and west.  Just outside Amarillo, TX, I entered a fantastic storm.  The wind was rocking my little car all over the road, the sky was dark and flashing, it was beautiful and scary all at the same time.

Saturday evening I found myself in Moab, Utah where I was able to meet up with friends I met at Scotty's Castle.  It was wonderful seeing them again and getting caught up on their adventures.  Good friends!  (You'll notice my camera didn't make it out of my bag this whole trip...what was I thinking?!)

After Moab, I headed up to Provo where I spent not enough time with my brother.  Sister is a title I am proud of and a role I don't take lightly.  My brother is amazing and our time together was much too short.  (Notice he is starting to grow a beard.  I don't think I like it.)

Then I headed south to Glen Canyon to see a friend I met at Great Basin.  It had been a long time since we'd seen each other but picked up right where we left off.  Good friend!

From there I headed west to Zion to see a friend I met in Death Valley.  It had been forever since I'd been in Zion and had forgotten how absolutely beautiful that park is.  My friend was a wonderful hostess and we stayed up much too late talking and laughing and simply enjoying each other's company.  Good friend!

Early Tuesday morning I headed to Lake Mead to see a friend also from my Great Basin days.  It had been a while since I'd seen her and her family.  What a wonderful woman she is.  I admire her a lot.  I met her newest addition (adorable little boy) and sipped lemonade and chatted under the shade of a tree in her backyard with the desert and the lake as our backdrop.  Good friends!

That afternoon I met with a friend from Las Vegas and we hiked a bit around Lake Mead.  It was an enjoyable afternoon with beautiful views and, and, and (!!!) my first bighorn sheep sighting!!  Good friend!

Then I pressed on to Death Valley.  When I arrived it was 104 degrees.  I was able to see a lot of familiar faces and meet some new ones and share stories and adventures and enjoy the beauty of that park.  Good friends! 

In a few hours I'll be moving into housing in preparation for my third summer season in Yosemite National Park.  I'm excited to be back in a place I love.  To all my many and wonderful friends everywhere, know you are welcome whenever, wherever I am!

"Are you ready?"

On Thursday, March 31st, Casey passed away.

My grandmother was an angel.  Truly.  She was only able to give birth to one child, my dad.  A few years later my grandfather passed away.  My grandmother, a single woman in the 1950s, somehow was able to adopt two more children.  When she remarried, she and my grandpa began to foster special needs children, the children no one else wanted.  Angel.

My grandma and grandpa with two of their foster children, Robert (standing) and Casey (wheel chair).  She eventually adopted both of these children.  Though technically Casey is my uncle, he's always simply been Casey.

 Me and Casey in 1984.  In his prime, he was fast.  He would give any eight-month old crawler a run for his money.  He only had full use of one arm and boy did he use it to get himself around.

 In the mid-nineties, my grandmother and Casey moved to Houston.  

My grandma was told when she took Casey that he would be lucky to last a year.  Then twelve years.  He made it to 43.

  Though his vocabulary was extremely limited, he knew what was going on around him and he would let you know what he wanted.  He loved to eat and he loved to play and he loved to laugh.  Once, a member of the family (not me) hadn't positioned Casey properly in his chair and the whole thing tipped backwards and he landed on his head.  This family member was horrified and rushed over to see if he was ok.  Casey's face was turning red because he was laughing so hard.  He thought it was hilarious.

One of my most favorite Casey memories is from Thanksgiving 2007.  I had invited a friend from grad school to spend the holiday with us.  She got in the spirit of things when we had our traditional poetry hour.  She choose The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes.  She was standing up, really getting into the reading.  

RC: ...Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard,
And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred;
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there...

Casey: Me

We laughed for a solid ten minutes, but none laughed more heartily than Casey.

To the most cheerful person I have ever known, "goo' luck"!

How Decadent

Check it off the bucket list!

 

Both my mother and I had been interested in taking a cruise for a while.  We finally sat down one night and started looking at cruise lines, dates, ports of call, end ended up booking that same night.

 

The last weekend in February my dad dropped us off at the pier in Galveston, TX (very handy) and we boarded the Carnival Triumph.  It was an interesting experience in both good and not so good ways.

 We had a room on the first/lowest level of the ship that still had windows.  It was perfect.

 Sunset over the Gulf of Mexico.

Exploring the ship.  It was a little windy and a little cold.

 My mother and I indulged and got pedicures.  It was a first for both of us.  The view from the salon was awesome and we both loved our Jamaican pedicurists.  They were a hoot.

 Showing off our first ever pedicures.  Mom got a pale, almost clear, pink and I was bold and got a bright yellow.  A week later, really liking the yellow.

Our first port of call was Progresso on the north side of the Yucatan peninsula.  It was weird to think we were in Mexico, a different country. 

We signed up for a shore excursion and visited the ruins of Chichen Itza.  It was very special.

 

 Iguana!

 I took a picture with some Lamanites.  I don't usually go for these things but these guys looked good and they let me hold one of their scimitars.

 Our second port of call was the island of Cozumel.  My mom and I took a boat to a "private" island, Isla Pasion.  Blue water, white sand, sun, light breeze... this was what I was looking for.  It was amazing.

 Goofing off.

We of course fell in love with the towel animals and went to the towel animal folding class and then even splurged and bought the towel animal folding instructions book.  Our elephants, one wearing my mom's glasses.

 We attended the evening shows and even made it to an ice carving demonstration.  Amazing.  Took the guy less than 20 minutes to to this.  I think, however, I was more entertained by the fact that staff had to tell people to put down the discarded ice chips because they are treated with a special chemical that can make a person sick.

 Lupe from Corpus Christi.  He wore this hat the entire time and I found it highly amusing and finally got a picture with him our last night on board.

Will I cruise again?  I don't know.  I think my favorite part of the whole things was simply being able to spend time with my mom. 

North Carolina Trip

The first week of gym class my freshman year of high school I noticed another girl in my class who was rather quiet, shy, but looked friendly enough.  So I became her friend.  Nineteen years later, we are still friends.  I hadn't seen Nancy since another mutual friend's wedding almost six years ago and I thought it high time to visit.  With a bit more flexible schedule at the moment, I headed out to Durham, North Carolina where she is completeing a cardiology fellowship at Duke.  Nancy was the perfect hostess and it was wonderful talking and getting caught up. In the last six years she has gotten married and had a baby so there was a lot to catch up on and I was able to meet the two new men in her life.  (And thanks to Nancy for most of the pictures in this post!)

I was also able to see Terry and Bess while I was in North Carolina!  I worked with them my two summers at Great Basin.  They are dear friends and it was wonderful to see them on Saturday and catch up.

Saturday night we drove to Chapel Hill and wandered a bit around the University of North Carolina campus.  We took a picture at a place called Old Well.  There was no interpretive sign so I can't tell you anything more about it other than I did not think it safe to drink the water. 

Sunday morning was spent strolling around the beautiful gardens on the Duke campus.  I was impressed with how big the gardens were and the variety of plants.  Even in winter it was still a lovely place.  The weather was perfect.

 Felix and I became friends during my visit.  He is a very good, very happy nine-month old.  Adorable!

Sunday afternoon Nancy treated me to tea at the Duke University Inn.  It was very fancy.  This is my snooty face.

The spread was amazing.  Tea, finger sandwiches, fruity things, cheese, pastries, and scones.  Best of all, catching up with my friend!

Here's to good friends everywhere!

Wonder Women

"People wonder what we do for our women.  I will tell you what we do.  We get out of their way and look with wonder at what they are accomplishing."

Gordon B. Hinckley

 My dear friend Rachel, my always lovely mother, and me.  Wonder Women!