Driving to Salt Lake City, UT
Camping on Antelope Island State Park in the Great Salt Lake
Headin’ back east August 19, 2008
We still need to find a place to stay! 
We found one! In Reno, NV! Nate and I pulled into Reno at 11pm, took showers and got ready to head to Atlantis Casino at 12:30am! We said that we would both play $40.00 and when it was over it was over. Well Nate was up $30 at one point (early on) and I told him he should cash out because it would pay for our drinks, but he thought it was too early. In the end we only lost $5 which is a cheap night of entertainment! We had gotten all dressed up because this was going to be the first “real” casino that we had been to; some other people were in their fancy cowgirl hats and dresses but for the most part everyone was in jeans and tshirts. I guess we should have expected that for the early-early morning crowd!
Chillin’ in California August 18, 2008
We were literally chillin’…it got down in the 50s at night so I wore 4 layers on top and two pairs of pants with my socks tucked into the bottom pair…I was quite the site! Ooh la la! Too bad we didn’t get any photos of that. We will post a bunch of photos here though because we saw gorgeous stuff! Random note: at night we could hear seals barking…mating season we think. We were thinking of all of the things that we heard at night while camping and those had included owls, deer, racoons, mice, birds, obnoxious people before camping here, so it was a fun thing to add to the list.
Standin’ among the Redwoods August 17, 2008
Driving to Redwood National Park in California
Camping at Prairie Creek campground in the Redwoods
Here are some photos from in the Coastal Redwoods:
Nate looking up at the tall, tall trees…you feel like an ant among these beauties
Here is one that is 350 feet tall…it’s hard to get the whole thing from trunk to top!
Here I am with two banana slugs trying to keep each other warm
Here’s me walking in Fern Canyon. This is the memory that I had from when I was little…walking thru this green canyon in a river bed with banana slugs. We’ll with the help of my mom’s awesome memory I found it! It was such a cool experience to walk through this as an adult now. And the neat thing is that there were kids walking through this as well, and hopefully they’ll bring their family here when they grow up. It was just gorgeous and green with a small river running through the whole thing that led into the ocean so we had to cross wood-plank-bridges and hops rocks to get across a lot of it! The picture after this one is of Nate and I in Fern Canyon eating the blackberries that we picked at our campground the night before! Yum!
After we walked in the canyon we went to the ocean before we hit the road and we saw a bunch of dolphins playing in the surf. Our experience this whole trip is that when we see dolphins, and we’ve seen a bunch of them, we try to get their picture, but it never works out. So this time I stalked them for a while, but every time I tried to snap a shot they would move to another location and then come back to the original one later. After many attemps I had to let nature be nature and understand that dolphins are the world’s tricksters. This is the shot that I got instead of the lingering fog that was always around. (which meant no awesome sunsets which we were counting on)…
Strollin’ the beach in CA August 16, 2008
camping at Bodega Dunes campground in Sonoma Beach State Park
Soakin’ up the rays in Sonoma August 15, 2008
…with SPF 55 sunblock on!
There’s a new post below Nate’s Yosemite and baseball posts. Check it out to read about Napa County!
Drive to Sonoma, CA
Camping at night at Bodega Dunes campground on the beach in Sonoma Beach State Park
Nighttime pictures of Yosemite August 15, 2008
I hope that these turn out for you guys. we shot them with a tripod and a 30 second shutter speed. the first one is half dome. We are saying that that is a meteor across the upper right because there was a big shower that night, but it could be a plane. Its a meteor.
You can see the big dipper on this one, but it is still too early to see the final star of the basket.
Yosemite August 15, 2008
“’cause we when we left we were defeated and depressed.
And when we arrived we were ripping high” –The Hold Steady “Charlemagne in Sweatpants”
At first it seemed like a joke that 2 days after the Canyon trip we would try Half Dome at Yosemite, bit I have learned a bit about nature over the past several days. It grows on you and challenges you. It just sits there, taunting you and calling you its bitch. You see this enormous granite rock sitting over your campsite, harassing you until you cant take it anymore and take it on. The day in Yosemite began at 4 AM with the cool, cool valley air surrounding us in the cabin, but of course we did not get out of bed until about 5. Damn, I wish I was more of a morning person, but Im not. On the trail at 630 and the first 0.8 miles was rough, with us having to stop every 50 feet to try and figure out why we were stumbing around before dawn (again). I fully expected that we would get to Vernal Falls and maybe Nevada Falls and stop, call it a day, and head to the camp again.
At this point we hit the crossroads of what we were going to do for the day. It was 8.2 miles to the top, 16.4 round trip, with an elevation change of 4800 feet. Anne decided that she was not in the mindset to do it, which is reasonable considering that we kind of threw this plan together overnight. I decided that I was going to go for it at that point, I mean, cmon, how often do you get to climb something like Half Dome; I loaded up with 5 liters of water, had a breakfast of a powerbar, beef jerky, and some peanuts and hit the road. Hard. Too hard in fact, to the point that I nearly puked in the first 45 minutes. I always thought that my sister was full of shit when she talked about pacing herself in marathons, as she always says she does not notice that she is picking up the pace too much until it is too late. Everybody needs a partner. She has Vegas, I have Anne. A always picks a good pace that keeps us grounded; Ranger Lon in the Grand Canyon video tells us that the pace is OK if you can still talk without getting short of breath. Anne, by god, Anne listens and keeps a great pace. I, on the other hand, am more like a brainless lemming stuck in one gear when left to my own devices on the trail. To make matters worse, I had my ipod on me, listening to Stay Positive and Angels and Airwaves made me pick up the pace even more. I was flying and feeling great 3, 4, 5 miles down. Picking off people left and right. I ran my senior year in high school to get in shape for basketball, but I never really understood the running high that people talk about. I do now. I was high as a kite as I passed people, and it just snowballs on itself. I was heading around the west side of the mountain and got a great look at Half Dome.
No problem, Im sure that the trail will wind up the gradual south side and get to the top after a nice, slow ascent. I cruised up another mile all cocky and smug, feeling taht I was going to whoop the shit out of this mountain. Then I saw this and literally stopped in my tracks and (figuratively) crapped myself (yet again).
That little train of ants going up the sharp side of the mountain consists of my path to the top. Along the sheer side of the mountain while pulling myself up via cables. Maybe I should have thought this out a little better prior to taking off. Did I mention that Anne is the brains of this operation and that she was probably on hour three of her nap back at the cabin. I was confused at this point as to how the shit we were going to get up this monster, but it became evident once I got to the base of it. And I was in no way relieved at what I saw.
It basically looked like it was straight up and down, but once you got going with the ropes and the foot holds, it was pretty basic and moved fairly rapidly, although it was sometimes a bit sketchy because there was only one entrance and exit, so you had to move over and let the people coming down pass you on the right. Anyways, long story short, I got to the top at a shade under 9000 feet and it was well worth it. Absolutely amazing views of the valley and mountain ranges. There was actually a small backcountry forest fire that they were putting out with helicopters, so that was interesting to see. All told, I took about 90 minutes at the top while I had a nice lunch of summer sausage, trail mix, and apricots. Here are some of the pictures from the top, including me at the pinnacle of Half Dome.
Overall, it was a great day and a complete gift; I wasa really bummed out after the Grand Canyon was done because I was looking forward to it for so long, but this really raised my spirits a lot. I had a great time, although I did listen to three allergy board lectures on my ipod on the way down; kind of Debbie Downer. I was bushed when I got back, but it was well worth it. Overall, 90 minutes at the top, 7 hrs on the trail, and 18 miles logged in. Not a bad day and it felt great to put my feet up at the end of it. By the way, I ran out of moleskin in the Grand Canyon and had to duct tape the backs of my feet to avoid blisters, and it worked alright, but I still have stains from the tape on my feet. 
And here is the perfect ending to a great day: having a cold drink with Anne at Curry Village in Yosemite after a buffet dinner. Played some cards and called it a night after this.
Random shots from WI August 15, 2008
These pictures are from the Cubs-Brewers game in Milwaukee. Tailgating is a great a noble tradition that makes heading to Miller Park an especially fun time. Sure would be nice if Koske started hitting the ball again. Is there any place else in the world where there is a race filled with multiple different meats? I would like to say that it would happen only in Milwaukee, but who the heck knows. Where is Randall Simon when you need him. 
Sippin’ on wine in CA August 14, 2008
It has been a while since we have posted anything…not sure if it’s due to the fact that I’ve been so relaxed ever since my massage in AZ, or that camping doesn’t equal internet access. We are in Yountille, CA now and staying in this remodeled train car hotel which is awesome!
When we first arrived we were hungry as all get out, so we went to a “local” place across the street. After dinner we walked around the cute town and stopped at St. Jeanty restaurant for some dessert…talk about a good orange butter potluckers - they put it on a crepe! There we met Bob who was the bartender there and full of knowledge about where we should go and what we should do. He wrote us a mini itinerary for the next day which for most of it we stuck to. I felt like Samantha Brown asking the locals for recommendations, it was good info! So we got up in the morning and sat by Bouchon Bakery (across the street as well) for an hour outside which was delightful, again this relaxed way shows. Nate had a sandwich (not much of a pastry fan) and I had a yogurt parfait and a pan au chocolate (choc. croissant) yum! First of all it was the best yogurt ever! Like the stuff you get at Ellewood Thompsons…thick and creamy like custard yum! And the pastry was so light and fluffy! We ended up stopping there later in the day to get another treat because it was so good! AND we’re planning on going to the restaurant for lunch today! The owner of Bouchon is also the owner of French Laundry where it costs $250pp for a nine-course lunch! Before we discovered that we tried to get a reservation for dinner, but sadly found out that you have to reserve something at least 2 months in advance. So Bouchon it is which is just fine by me!
From what Bob told us we tasted sparkling wine at Mumm (remember Meet the Parents!?) It was delicious and one of them was called Annee! Then we went to Markham winery, Turnbull and Hall Family; all of them great. Things that I had read before getting here was that people could be very uppity here, and we have not experienced that at all which is a nice relief! What’s the fun of trying wine if you can’t laugh during it?! So now we have to check out of our little train car and get camping tonight, but we’ll spend the day around Napa County trying some of the wineries that friends have recommended to us…can’t wait!
Oh last thing, Nate got a hair cut yesterday…it looks great!
