Road Trips!

MAY 12
Jobless and aimless, little mini-excursions have been popping up here and there and I've tried to take advantage of every one of them! Most recently, my friend Katie Kueber and I went on a day trip to the marvelous city of San Francisco. We saw all the typical sights like the Golden Gate Bridge, Height and Ashbury, Fisherman's Wharf, shopping in Union Square, and of course, riding the Cable Cars!!! Oh, and need I mention a visit to Ghirardelli Square for some delicious ice cream. We saw some random stuff like a Spy Shop, a left handed shop, seals fighting at Pier 41 and got on the bus systems for free thanks to our favorite driver, Richard.

MAY 10
The last day of skiing at Squaw has come and gone with good timing due to the super slushy conditions. You'd just be cruising along and then hit a slush spot where inertia jerks you forward over your boots. There were a few moments where I thought I was going to flip over the front of my skis, but luckily I didn't =0) To conclude the season, there was a Reggae party at the High Camp swimming pool located atop one of the peaks at Squaw. It was a very strange feeling to have just skied all day, change into a swimming suit to go for a dip and lay in the sun, then put ski boots back on to ski to the bottom. I'm very lucky to have access to this kind of fun all the time!!!

MAY 9
Five of us were bored one day and decided to make the 3 hour trip to Bridgeport to sit in some nice hot springs and then head back. It was quite a ways to go for some relaxation, but as you can see from the photo, it was worth it! The springs followed a crack from the ground only to fall over a rock and into some retaining pools, where we had the pleasure to sit and enjoy it. It was weird when the pools would suddenly get hotter due to the change in temps with the springs.
Although you can't see it too well, our view was of a lovely mountain range and I had some charming boys for company...so it goes in Tahoe.

MAY 4-6
Last but not least, another trip to Yosemite!

My roommate Alex moved to Yosemite for a month with her boyfriend Matt, so we decided to give them a friendly visit. It took us a very long time to drive into the park since the pass accessing the shortest approach is still closed. When we did arrive at 1:30 am there was quite a construction scene going on. We begged the workers to let us through, so they moved a ton of equipment and moved us along with a smile and a wave. We had to set up camp quietly and in the dark, so in the morning I decided to cook us a delicious much-needed pancake breakfast.

Since it was Cinco de Mayo, we decided to see "tourist Yosemite" and tool around in the village and do the paved hikes. I'm amazed at the community that exists in the valley. There's a bus system that's complex enough to require transfers, multiple markets, housekeeping, pizza joints and coffee connections. No one has to rough it around here unless they want to, but it's nice that such beauty is accessible to everybody. We just checked out the lower Yosemite Falls. Pictured are my roommates Alex and Katie with their boyfriends Matt and Brad. They're a rad crew.

The next day the girls went and did their thing while the boys went to rock climb. We hiked from the valley floor to the top of Yosemite Falls. It was quite a butt burner, but the views were stunning. In order to see the falls roll over the cliff, we had to hike out to some rocks down a narrow staircase where the only thing preventing you from a 3,000 ft. drop was a metal rail. That's why we're holding on for dear life. Don't worry mom, it was safe!
So it was a short trip, but a beautiful one. I still have 10 days before starting work, so we'll see what happens next...anything is possible! So keep on truckin' and livin' in the free world. Don't let stress rule your life and keep makin' it happen! xoxo