Life In Yosemite» Fall Foliage in VT | Life In Yosemite

Fall Foliage in VT

Administrator — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 04:28:17 +0000

Flowers by a barn at Trapps Family Lodge

After 14 years together, Tom and I finally went to visit Tom’s parents in VT for a week during fall foliage season. Foliage season in VT is a little like the Holiday season in other towns – the hotels fill up and are charging peak rates, there’re a million people running around with cameras, snapping shots of pumpkins and other squashes, sheaves of wheat, and of course the colorful leaves.

When I asked Tom what he remembered of foliage season in VT, he said that he mostly remembered October as being rainy and grey. Sure enough, it rained every single day that we were there. Fortunately, the clouds broke enough on a couple of days that I was able to get out and see what the wash of color looked like in the sun. It was amazing.

The Sierra gets color too. I’d say that we are near peak now – several weeks after the VT foliage passed its prime. The gullies fill with gold, and here and there a bright yellow big leaf maple, or a rosy dogwood, flashes in the sunshine. Le Conte gully, in particular, is full of these small bushes that turn a brilliant shade of yellow in the fall. Stavast has a painting called Golden Armada, and I’m convinced that these are Golden Armada bushes, whatever those are. One of my rescuers recently told me that when they airlifted me out of Le Conte Gully three years ago, the rotor from the helicopter picked up a tornado of golden leaves, rising up into the air around me. Would have been cool to see.

More foliage at Trapps

But VT really fills with color – so much so that sometimes it seemed like my eyes were attracted to the small contrasting bit of green among all the reds, oranges, and yellows. There are more deciduous trees and fewer conifers than here, and more mountainous terrain than my home state of MN, all of which combines to create a scene really worth traveling for. We took a hike down near Waterbury Reservoir, taking in the scenery and being impressed with the people who once made a living in that steep and rocky soil. The Ricker family cemetery was particularly impressive, with three generations of Rickers, marked with headstones like the one for Phoebe Ricker who lived to be over a hundred. They must have been a hearty crew, although the nearby headstones for an infant and two other young children speaks to how tough living there really was.

Stowe Church

Of course, the other reason to travel to VT, in any season, is the chance to visit with Tom’s family. Tom’s parents were wonderful and welcoming hosts. Denis rescued us in the middle of the night when our delayed flight meant that we arrived after the car rental desk had closed for the evening. We had a dinner with him, his family, and Steve C. one evening while we were there. Tracy, Ron and Julia drove up just to have some lunch with us. Julia’s list of 101 things to do before she graduates from high school, inspired me to try to come up with a bucket list too. I’m still working on it. Dinner with Steve and Mary is always a pleasure, and we’re hoping to see more of them on this coast now that Andrew is out here.

As always, vacation is just a bit too short. The day our departure flight was scheduled was to be the first sunny day that week, and we missed out on getting to sail in a race with Denis aboard his J-24. It’s not that I don’t love Yosemite, and being in the Sierra, but vacation is always good.

Anniversary Vacation – Mt Tyndall

Theresa — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:36:55 +0000

Celebrating our Anniversary atop Mt Tyndall

I promised myself that this is the very week that I would (finally) put something on this blog about the vacation that Tom and I took the week of Aug. 10th for our 11th wedding anniversary. We’d tossed around some other ideas, and we may have even gone to Hawaii if we’d planned ahead a little further (for people that know us, the beach vacation is a radical departure from our typical vacation mindset). It turned out that a shorter vacation to the East Side of the Sierra was absolutely perfect. Our trip had three parts. We had time to finish up some projects ahead of time so that they weren’t hanging over hour heads for the vacation, and then hiked to the top of Mt. Tyndall, wandered slowly through the Bristlecone Pine Forrest, and climbed in Clark Canyon.

Mt. Tyndall tops out at 14,018, making it just barefly one of the 15 mountains in California over 14,000 feet. Having never been to the top of one, I was nervous about my level of fitness. True, it’s a hiker’s summit, meaning that no technical climbing is involved, but in terms of measuring my recovery, it’s nice to hit some concrete fitness milestones, and a 14er certainly counts there. It’s also a beautiful hike. We were lucky enough to have the advice of a friend who, in spite of a somewhat harrowing experience personally on the top of his particular mountain, recommended it to us.

Theresa with Mt. Tyndall in the background

We got a bit of a late start, leaving the parking lot at 12:30pm in the considerable heat of the day. Fortunately, the trail sticks relatively close to Symmes Creek to start out (crossing it 4 times) and broke up the hot and dusty trail with a bit of cool shade and greenery before we hit the 50+ switchbacks that leads up to Anvil Camp. (We heard 56, but looking around the internet, there seem to be a lot of different numbers out there.) Switchbacks are awesome – we climbed slowly but steadily up into the mountains, over terrain that would have been much too steep if we’d tackled it straight on. But my legs still aren’t as strong as I think that they ought to be, and as the day wore on, I started worrying about how tired they were, and whether I’d be too sore and/or too slow to make it to the summit the following day. I’m not a graceful worrier, especially when you mix worry in with disappointment and frustration, but Tom, with more than 11 years of experience, weathered the storm bravely. We cooked up a bit of dinner at Anvil Camp around 6:30, and then almost immediately, just before Pothole, came across a nice flat camping area and decided to spend the night.

The next morning, we left our overnight gear in place, and Tom wordlessly stuffed most of what we would need for the day into his pack, leaving me with a blessedly light pack. The steep grade to Shepherd’s Pass seems intimidating, but even at my relatively slow pace, we managed to get to Shepherd’s Pass about an hour after leaving camp. Tom would have been there much faster, but we cleverly arranged for him to carry the camera so that he could entertain himself by stopping to take pictures, and so match my pace.

Pika! My first true sighting.

Mt. Tyndall is too blocky to fire the imagination of a rock climber, but for me, working on my nervousness about boulder fields, it held its own challenge. From Shepherd’s Pass, the North Rib looks much steeper than the NW Ridge, but I’d read online somewhere that it was more solid. On the ascent, we crossed over onto steep slabs on the left side of the Rib, which although steep were wonderfully solid. On the descent, we found a well-worn trail to the right of the rib, that seemed less steep, and was also quite stable.

We made it to the summit at around 11:30, and had it to ourselves. The views from the tippy top of mountains is exquisite. We lounged there for a while under clear blue skies, read and signed the summit register, had a bit to eat, took our summit photos, and a short nap. More food and napping was in order when we returned to the lake close to the Pass, and we still made it down in time to relax for a while (more napping) before dinner.

At first glance, the high mountains seem like a harsh and barren place, all rock and no life, so I was surprised at the number of wildflowers that we saw up above Shepherd’s Pass. As we descended from Mt. Tyndall, Tom stopped several times to take pictures of the Alpine Gold, and we remarked on several plants that seem to have been dug up for food. As we hiked down from our campsite on the third day, we chatted briefly with a guy who had been up at Shepherd’s Pass doing a mammal survey. They’d seen pikas, 2 kinds of squirrels and a many many marmots. Life is amazing.

Big Weekend

Theresa — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:56:10 +0000

Tom and I have just gotten back from our weekend adventures, put the groceries in the pantry and refrigerator, and wolfed a bit of the fancy artesian bread we can’t get here with extra cheese and olives. It’s been a long and very full weekend.

I took the day off on Friday for my birthday (Saturday), and Tom and I left Thursday night after work for a quick backpacking trip. We saw many things, had great adventures, and hiked out Saturday morning.

Saturday afternoon we drove into the Bay Area for a friend’s memorial service on Sunday. We talked about goal-setting, and listened to the first bit of Unaccustomed Earth on the drive. That evening, our friends who graciously opened their house to us, treated me/us to a birthday dinner at Plearn, a local Thai restaurant. Really delicious non-European food and the good company of friends is such a treat.

The service on Sunday was beautiful, and touching. The stories celebrating such a remarkable man went on and on. I’m still processing – and just remembering.

Afterwards, we picked up a bed frame at Ikea that we had been eyeing for some time, and then drove to San Jose to meet up with Tom’s family, pick up the car we’d lent, and eat some pizza at a place nearby, Amicis, that serves gluten-free, and vegan options.

Monday morning, we had brunch with yet another friend before making the long drive back to Yosemite, pausing for a bear jam along the way.

I’m back on a frequent-post kick, so expect to hear more detailed stories unfold over the next few days. I’ve had a lot to think about.

Sick Day

Theresa — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:07:55 +0000

Ugh. Sick. I’ve taken a sick day from work and spent most of the day in bed. Thank goodness for nasal decongestants. At least it’s been a rainy inside sort of weekend. although Tom has managed a couple of day hikes with our guests while I slept and hid from the weather. Lots of down time means time to gather together a few loose ends over the last week.

Bliss is a place with plenty of Kleenex and cold meds

Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner

I finished the book by Eric Weiner, The Geography of Bliss. In the past few days, holed up in this house with a rapidly disappearing supply of Kleenex, I’ve managed to get a bunch of reading in. I went from the Netherlands, where some of the leading happiness research is being done, to Switzerland and Bhutan with it’s National Happiness Index, to Qatar where money doesn’t buy happiness – or at least not to casual visitors to Qatar. Iceland was interesting – Weiner describes it as a smallish sort of renaissance atmosphere where the winter darkness isn’t a deterrent to collaboration, creativity and artistry – where people move easily from one profession to another and everyone writes poetry. Moldova is statistically one of the least happy places in the world, poor and hopelessly helpless. Thailand is laid back and happy. Great Britain had a TV show where Happiness Experts tried (successfully) to change the level of happiness of some residents in the city of Slough. India is a study in contradictions.

Weiner summarizes the revelations on bliss in the Epilogue: “Money matters, but less than we think and not in the way that we think. Family is important. So are friends. Envy is toxic. So is excessive thinking. Beaches are optional. Trust is not. Neither is gratitude,” and “It’s not the elements that matter so much as how they’re arranged and in which proportions.”

I thought that this book was going to provide some Answers, but really for someone like me who is happy and therefore doesn’t think too much about it, the Geography/travelogue part was ultimately much more interesting than the Bliss part.

TwtrCon

I caught the cold, I think, on my trip last weekend to the Bay Area for TwtrCon – a conference just about Twitter. I’ve been feeling a little funky and headachy ever since, but not really bed-ridden until this weekend.

TwtrCon was wonderfully interesting though. I get a lot of people asking me to explain Twitter – people who have heard all the buzz, maybe signed up for an account, and ultimately just don’t/didn’t get it. I wonder about the statistics that we all hear about how Twitter is expanding as a platform, and then if those numbers are just artificially high because of all the abandoned or semi-abandoned accounts floating around out there.

Tom has written down a bunch of his thoughts about Twitter – how he uses it and ways that it can be used. I keep thinking that maybe I will too, someday. Not today.

I got a bunch of wonderful ideas about Twitter from TwtrCon, and learned about some of the many interesting tools that people are developing as a way to keep score – figure out whether you are using the platform in a way that helps and influences people. That’s important from a corporate perspective. From a personal perspective, for my own Twitter account, I’m not sure it matters much to me.

I also really liked TwtrCon just as a conference. It was relatively small – attendance was sold out at 200 attendees, and there was only one session going on at a time, which meant that instead of scurrying between rooms and topics, I could set up my computer, relax, and enjoy the presentations.

During lunch the organizers did something that I’ve never seen at a conference before. There was a white-board set up near the registration table where people could propose and offer to moderate a topic for a lunch table discussion. I sat down at the Analytics table. Eric Pratum from Spring Creek Group moderated – sparking some interesting conversation with a few well-placed questions, and I had the good fortune of sitting down next to Christopher Peri, of PeriVision, who is coming up with some interesting ways in measuring the quality rather than the quantity of Twitter followers. Great stuff. After the sessions ended, I also had an interesting conversation with Shanan from TiVo – she said that her biggest take-away from the conference was that we are all still experimenting and that no one has THE answer for how to use Twitter just yet.

It’s a versatile tool – and like happiness, I suspect that the summary is that it’s “not the elements that matter so much as how they are arranged and in which proportions.”

Family Time

I nice consequence of my time in the Bay Area was getting to spend time with my bro and his girlfriend in San Jose. They generously allowed me to crash out on their floor as a cost-saving measure. AH and I are different in a lot of ways, but I always find that he has interesting things going on in his life. Rockin’ out to Rock Band was fun too – an addition started at my other brother’s house over the holidays. AH figured out how to set it up so that you can’t fail out, and I had a wonderful time missing notes and eliciting boos from the fictional digital audience. I guess it’s a little like my current approach to the piano. I’m most interested in stuff that is much too hard for me.

Audio Books – Mrs. Kimble

Mrs Kimble by Jennifer Haigh

In preparation for the solo drive to the Bay and back last weekend, Tom downloaded a few audio books for me. As it turns out, the drive there and back is nearly an audio book long, and listening to Mrs. Kimble
by Jennifer Haigh was a great way to speed through the miles.

Mrs. Kimble is about three different women who are all married at one point or another to the same Mr. Kimble. There’s Bertie, the first wife, the alcoholic mother of Charlie and Jody. Joan, the former reporter who is fighting breast cancer, and finally Dinah, the tennis player who blossoms from a self-conscious girl with a birthmark on her face, into a strong, beautiful woman.

Ken Kimble reminds me a bit of the protagonist in Sommerset Maughm’s book, The Moon and Sixpence, Charles Strickland, except without out the genius for artwork. The two characters share that peculiar lack of interest in people and the consequences of their actions on others. It’s amazing that Haigh was able to create this character, Ken, to be so repulsive, and yet understandably attractive at the same time.

The women in the book are interesting too. They are so different from each other – and so different in their responses to his self-centeredness. While the book didn’t blow me over in amazement, it will probably generate some good conversation at Book Club.

Envelopes and other things I’ve saved

This post is starting to remind me of something that a good college friend once told me. He admonished me for saving up all my news and sending him one long letter instead of several shorter ones. He told me, that it’s really all about the envelopes. The thrill of receiving mail comes by the envelope, by opening the mail box and finding something personal in there. The number of pages in that envelope was secondary, and he encouraged me to write less, but more often.

It seems to be a character flaw that I haven’t corrected even after all these years.

Other things I’ve wanted to write down, and just haven’t gotten around to include:

Taking pictures for Community Safety Day and the interesting conversations that I had. The new backpacking gear that Tom and I have accumulated and our plans for taking it out for a test spin. Buying a guest book and the process of turning our house into a vacation rental property. Twitter. Somewhat sheepishly following Neil Gaiman and other celebrities on Twitter. Being free, my renewed interest in Michel Foucault, and Tom’s story of meeting the great philosopher in person. Google Voice, Google Wave, and switching the default search engine on my search bar to Bing. Climbing conversations and visits from friends… and more.

I should probably start trying to set aside time to write these down on a daily basis again. I enjoyed the process, and I miss it, and I seem to be accumulating ideas. That doesn’t even count the various little interesting things I find on a daily basis on the internet. It’s not even like I’m saving stamps or envelopes.

Travel Notes

Theresa — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 01:00:00 +0000

We’ve arrived safe and sound in Stowe, and have been spending a relaxing morning with family. The trip went very smoothly, no delays and no surprises – except that the San Francisco to Chicago flight got in about 20 minutes early.

The Fresno Airport has started putting their Giant Sequoia displays in. The California tree replica is already in place, and just needs some patching to get the joints together.

On the airplane from SF to Chicago I was seated next to a guy who was watching old episodes of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and giggling so hard that it made the bench shake.

I spent most of the trip reading from an old book of classic short stories that was published in 1941. There are some great stories in that book, and so far my favorite has got to be the one called “A Municipal Report” by O. Henry, the penname for William Sydney Porter. Not only is it a great story with compelling characters, as many of the stories in this book are, but the story is just so tight – all the elements circling back around in importance in the end. In the story the narrator stops in Nashville to engage a writer for a literary magazine. He meets Uncle Caesar, the clever, and kingly old black man that drives the coach and Major Caswell, the boisterous drunk, and finally the author herself Azalea Adair, the wise long-suffering writer and learns of the relationships between the three. It’s the kind of story that I could really see the benefit of going back to study to see how the whole thing is put together. Will definitely be checking out more of his short stories.

Headed to VT for Easter and a Birthday

Administrator — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 05:44:29 +0000

Tom's mom skiing Smugglers Notch in 2002

Bags are packed and ready to go for a lightning quick trip to VT to celebrate Easter, and Tom’s mother’s 75th birthday with family. The plan is to drive down to Fresno tonight and spend the night at a hotel near the airport so that we’ll be ready to go early Friday morning for the big day of travel. Flying across the country from one small airport to another is no joke – our flight departs at 7:31am, and we stop in San Francisco and Chicago before we land in Burlington at 10:02pm and begin the drive up to Stowe – but it will be worth it to spend the time with family on this occasion.

Kids counting Easter eggs back in 2002

The last time we made the trip, we either didn’t get any pictures, or have misfiled/misplaced them somewhere along the way. I’m definitely planning to travel with a camera (maybe a couple of cameras) this time, and hopefully my picture taking will start right at the Fresno airport with some of the new Sequoia displays that they are installing there (if they don’t have the area blocked off). Plus, going back through the old 2002 pics of our nieces and nephews was awfully fun. Aren’t they cute?

Bay Area Hair Cut

Theresa — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:55:49 +0000

My new haircut

This weekend, Sarah Land at Land of Locks helped me donate my hair to Locks of Love. I found out about Locks of Love when a couple of friends mentioned that they were donating their hair to an organization that provides hair prosthetics to children who are suffering from long-term medical hair loss. Since then, have been surprised at how many other people I know have made the same decision at some point.

Locks of Love requires that the hair is at least 10 inches long – so the cut is usually a dramatic one, and since I’ve never done it before I was really looking for someone who knew what they were doing. Fortunately, Sarah was recommended to me by a mutual friend who has excellent taste, so I felt confident that I was going to get a great hair cut, and that the 3.5 hour drive into the Bay Area was worth it for her expertise. Besides, it is always fun to have a chance to visit friends, check out my old stomping grounds, and do ‘city things’.

I love the new cut, and the more I play with it, the more I like it! It didn’t turn out exactly the way I had imagined – it turned out better – because I figure since I was traveling to get my hair done by a professional I respect, I would try to get out of the way and let her do her thing, and other than a few ideas or guidelines. That seems to have worked out well.

I have some funny lingering ‘long hair’ habits, like taking the time to flip my hair out when I put on a jacket, sweater, or put a bag over my shoulder, or extra motions when I wash my hair, but I’m sure as I get used to the convenience of short hair, that will go away. Yippee! Bring on the warm weather!

Before the hair cut

Sarah, cutting the first of 4 ponytails

Somehow it doesn't seem like as much hair after it's been cut.

Finishing the styling

This weekend (not) in Yosemite

Theresa — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:10:48 +0000

I am so excited to be packing tonight for a trip to the Bay Area this weekend. I’ve made an appointment to get my hair cut for donation to Locks of Love, and I can’t wait until I’m free of the burden of these long locks. I’ve tried the super short cuts before and they don’t look that great on me, so I’m not shaving my head or anything drastic like that, but cutting 10″ off is going to be dramatic anyway.

Plus, a trip to the Bay Area is a great opportunity to connect with friends, and do some of the city things that we don’t get to do around here, like eating ethnic food, going shopping, or to the movies. I’m really looking forward to a few days ‘away from it all’, but I’m also a little sad to be missing the great things going on in the Park this weekend.

SpringFest at Badger Pass

Badger is celebrating SpringFest on Satuday this year. I keep meaning to spend time at this fun event – costumes, dummy races, and, if we’re lucky some riotous pond skimming action. The sad thing is that it marks the end of the season here – so by the time I get back, Badger will have closed for the year. The backcountry season is just starting – in a way – but it’s feeling a lot like spring lately.

Yosemite Association Annual Spring Forum

Lots of incredibly interesting interpretive events are going on on Saturday for the YA Spring Forum as well. I also noticed that my friend, Hans Florine, is planning to be up for some book-signing action, which means we will probably pass each other enroute somewhere along the line.

Visiting Friends

And possibly the saddest, is some missed opportunities to hang out with friends who are making a trip up to Yosemite. Yes, of course we are going to be spending time with other friends in the Bay Area who we also don’t see nearly enough of, but missing friends is always a little disappointing.

Happy March

Theresa — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 05:01:17 +0000

Previous years poppies

We’re a couple of days into March already, but I thought I’d wish you a happy new month anyway. March is a good month. The days are getting noticably longer, daylights savings is coming up, and although it’s been rain/snowing outside the last few days, in my mind it is starting to feel like spring. The wildflowers have even started blooming down canyon already. (On his blog, local photographer, Michael Fry, has a great image of the poppies that are springing up where the Telegraph Fire burned last summer.)

Tom and I are splitting weekends between fun weekends and project weekends, and we already have plans for two exciting ‘fun’ weekends for March. We’ve got tickets to see the Yosemite Concert of the Mariposa Storytelling Festival on March 15. Getting to listen to professional storytellers is something everyone should do at least once in their lives, and we’re extra excited because Kevin Kling is performing this year. The last time we heard him on the radio we laughed until we nearly peed our pants.

For our other ‘fun’ weekend, I’m getting my hair cut in the Bay Area on March 29. Not only will that be a celebration because I’ve been looking forward to getting my hair cut to donate to Locks of Love but I’m looking forward to a ‘city weekend’ and seeing friends. Have I mentioned that since moving to the mountains I’ve become fond of shopping?

If we’re creative, we’ll manage to find a way to get out to Glacier Point and visit with our friend McCray before the end of the season, and take a quick wildflower walk too.

Santa Cruz

Theresa — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:16:19 +0000

Initially, I thought this site was going to be about things to do in Yosemite, but as it has morphed into just a little personal blog – the easiest kind to write – I might as well include my little vacation to Santa Cruz.

Mom and Dad enjoying their lobster dinner

My parents came out to CA for a visit. I’m not sure what they thought of the Yosemite part of their trip. We went to Glacier Point and around the Valley, but they seemed mostly to be interested in sitting around our house and helping us with chores. Plus, I made them spend an hour picking up trash for the Yosemite Facelift. “Yeah, there’s Half Dome, ooo, and there’s an aluminum can, grab that.”

They arrived Saturday,and finally on Wednesday we were on our way to Santa Cruz. We drove in and walked the 3 (not 2 as the hotel optimistically claims) blocks to the Boardwalk. It looks a little Disneyland for my taste, but it’s mostly closed and the beach is not at all crowded. The groups playing beach volleyball stir a bit of nostalgia, but my volleyball-playing days are long gone. Not only am I out of practice, but even the thought of diving for the ball makes my back cringe – even if I’m just hitting sand.

Bobcat in Santa Cruz arboretum

We would have had dinner at the Gilbert’s restaurant on the Wharf, but the rude and stupid Maitre-D’ put us all off. Tom was worried that there would be a table minimum, and asked if there would be a problem if only a few of us wanted a full entree. The maitre d’ just looked at us, said, "Yes", then waited in silence for us to turn on our heels and leave. No apology and no explanation. So there’s that. I wish I were Seth Godin (or had all of Seth Godin’s readers), and could let loose on the stupidity of doing that to potential customers.

We went off to spend our money at a more friendly establishment that was serving Live Maine Lobster at a special rate. That turned out to be a good decision anyway, because I don’t know when I’ve seen my parents more gleeful about food, and tonight when we walked by, I took some satisfaction in seeing the snooty maitre-d’ standing in front of many empty tables. I wish them many more empty tables in the future.

Jellyfish display at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Other than that, we’ve been enjoying our time in Santa Cruz. This morning after a jog along the coast from our hotel, we headed inland to poke around the UCSC arboretum and campus. This isn’t really the season for the arboretum, but we enjoyed the the exotic looking African and Australian plants, and the humming birds. My parents wandered off without us, and while looking for them, we spotted a beautiful bobcat. Tom found out later that this is her second season in the arboretum, and was recently seen with kittens. We found my parents later – they’d been enjoying the gift shop – and decided to take off up the coast. The trip around the UCSC campus was a bit of a whim, and we were surprised at how spread out and hilly the campus was. Heaven forbid that you should have alternating classes at either ends of campus… unless you were looking for some exercise.

Family gathering in Monterey
(T, Joyce, T, Grace, Joe, Mary, Daniel)

After that, we headed to the beach, relaxed and enjoyed watching some experienced kite surfers playing in the waves at Rancho del Oso. On the way back, we picked up a half-flat of organic strawberries from a fruit stand that we hope to return to before the end of the week.

During the second part of the week, we went down to Monterey to visit Uncle Daniel and Aunt Joyce, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Aunt Joyce is still recovering from back surgery, but she was her typical energetic and hospitable self, we took several family pictures at her house. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is always a pleasure, and the jellyfish tanks have always been my favorite. Uncle Daniel also suggested a drive south along the coast and a stop at Angel Point (if I remember correctly) where we saw a few wild otters, merrily playing hide and seek with a few kayakers fortunate to be out on the water.

Anthony and Julie joined us for the weekend, and brought their Wii with them. We spent Saturday relaxing with them, and my arms and shoulders were sore for days after playing a bit too much Wii tenis, and boxing. Aunt Grace came down from Rio Vista, and we all relaxed together Saturday. On Sunday, Anthony and Julie left to shop for supplies for won ton making lessons later in the day, but the rest of us returned to Monterey for lunch with Aunt, Uncle, and my cousin David and his family.