21 April, 2014

Easter Weekend

I'm still not sure I can put it into words.  The best way to describe this weekend is like runner's high.  I remember coming home from my first half-marathon and registering for another one that afternoon.  On the drive home from Sequoia National Park, I was thinking about when we would have time to do that again.  For the first time I can ever remember, I was sad to be back in Monterey.  Usually the sight of the ocean puts a peace over me, but for some reason I just wanted to be back staring at some mountains and sleeping with the sound of a river in my ear.

As far as any firsts of mine, this has got to be top three.  Maybe even better than my first husband, but only time will tell with that one.

-----------

So about an hour into our trip Lu fell in a rushing river.  No joke.


She was in love with the river.  And then I guess she really wanted to just consummate the affair because we were all sitting there chit-chatting and the next thing I know people are swearing and I see her moving under water and Justin reaching in to pull her back up.  I couldn't speak.  I was ten feet away and felt like barfing.  (Afterwards Justin said while the moment was intense it would have been really funny to see me running towards them just barfing all over myself.)  I remember trying to tell Kim to hold my camera but I don't think that's what came out of my mouth.  I think it was more like "Schmupf partake cheese face".

Obviously she's okay, and before we were even back to the tent she was telling Justin she wanted to go back down there.  Good grief.  All last week I was panicking about having to defend my family against bears, and I hadn't even considered other possible problems.  By the way, the best way to no longer be freaked out by bears is to imagine them as people.  Wearing suits, coming home from a hard day of looting bear lockers and trashcans, just to be nagged at by his wife...I'm telling you, it made it much easier to deal with.



Milo was mad at me, and this is his form of protest.  God love him!


General Sherman and his gang of Sequoias.  Good.  Times.  I came to see ol' Sherm with my grandparents and family back in 2003.  Crap, it's been 11 years?  Just put that one together.  Anyhow, I remember it being just right off the road, a short jaunt to see the big guy.  Turns out, once again Mother's ailments came to our advantage and we used the handicapable parking lot.  You know where the parking lot is for everyone else?  Not just around the corner.  It's down a nice incline about a quarter of a mile or more.  Oh, it's all fine and dandy going down, but going back up with a 35 pound porker on your back is a completely different story.  My body language speaks volumes here.


This is Moro Rock, which is the giant rock at with steps carved into it.  When you get to the top there are panoramic views and it's absolutely breathtaking.  It's also absolutely horrible when you make it to the top to see your son dangling from the fence that keeps one from falling off said rock.  Not cool, Milo.  Not cool.




In case you were wondering, that is not Justin.  That's Pete, of Pete & Kim.  We are in the same small group and have become quite fond of each other.  Justin and Pete really took their relationship to a new level this weekend, but I'm sure there some sort of Fight Club rules associated with camping so I'll just leave it at that.


They have become like family to us, and I'm fairly certain that if Mom and Dad were to meet them they would adopt them as well.  Pete & Kim, if you are reading this, that's a good thing.  It will be uncomfortable and awkward for you about 40% of the time, but in a strange way you will really like it.

--------

Whilst sitting about the fire on Saturday we played truth or dare.  Well, I played truth or dare, while everyone else kept refusing to do my dares.  Most of them involved our neighbor, Party Peter (Not to be confused with our Party PETE).  Don't let the name fool you, he was like early 70s staying with his kids and grandkids.  And SUPER friendly.  But if you know me at all you know I'm rather fond of anyone 60+ and found him to be incredibly entertaining.  The group did offer one really awesome dare for me.  All day Saturday we all had "Standing Outside the Fire" stuck in our heads and were doing a pretty fair job of making sure it stayed stuck.  So I was dared that whenever I got up to pee in the middle of the night (about 10 feet away from each of the tents) I was to sing that song loudly.  That, or yell "HE IS RISEN INDEED!"  I totally would have too, except I woke up for the first time just minutes before six, so not only was it light out and could easily be spotted if I started shouting, I sure as hockey sticks was not going to wake up our children.

--------

I guess that's it.  Even writing that feels wrong, because it's totally not it.  I still have four-thousand more things to say but if you're still reading this you're probably hoping that'll I'll shut up.  I'll leave you with this little gem, because I think I look super adorbs.  Rarely do I take a good picture (please refer to my entire childhood for proof) so I sort of have to run with it when I do.



2 comments:

  1. Love love love this post. Thank you for sharing. Good times!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great memories! Let's camp when we visit in May, how about?

    ReplyDelete

Like this post? Show me some love via comment.

Hated this post? Well, I guess that's your choice. But I still like you.