Days 133 to 140 - Stockton

Hanging out with my sister, brother-in-law and their three kids was a perfect change of pace from solo adventuring!

Our days were filled with relaxing at home, playing school and catch and fort, watching movies, drawing, driving to kids appointments, more playing. Uncle Lee became a member of the family for the last two weeks of summer.

Here are the kiddos, starting with the youngest Grayson, 2. He loves climbing up tables and jumping (no fear), squawking like a bird, and his mommy. Grayson is at his ultimate cuteness when he dances up and down next to you when holding something in his mouth.

Carrington, 6. She loves playing games where she can assume the persona of other girls (with lovely creativity). She is a very good decorator of forts. Carrington and her friend Bella loved dressing up Uncle Lee as a princess.

Anderson, 7. He is, in his own words, "obsessed" with baseball. Close followers of the Washington Nationals, father Shaw and son Anderson share a fanaticism for the Nats. Anderson is always thinking about Nats baseball: watching every game, playing manager and super player on Xbox, and playing out fantasy games in his head always. He knows every Nats player's home runs and rbi stats by heart and knows all the major players in the entire league. His obsession is incredibly adorable.

One favorite moment was bike riding with Carrington:

Another was inciting crazy child behavior early one morning when mom was looking way too composed...

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Day 170 - JMT Forrester Pass

The mountains had a surreal glow this morning as we climbed up towards the 13,200 foot high Forrester Pass. One of the wonderful things about the mountains is that they change appearance as the sun changes height, creating a movie-like experience as you walk. I felt so free and happy this morning--just in love with this light. After sixty minutes of walking, we stopped in the first sunny spot we could find to thaw out and rest. Another hiker came bustling up the trail behind us and stopped at the sunspot to shed a layer of clothing. Sly was a Canadian hiker, just turned 40, who seemed happy to see us. We struck up a conversation about travels and when we pushed off Sly asked if he could join us. We said yes of course. We hiked quickly up the trail, reaching a high plateau with epic alpine views. Selfie time! We skirted around a high alpine lake and then went up a ridge line ever further higher. We were at 12,000+ feet now and the world began to look small y...

Day 62 - Colorado National Monument

Established as a national monument early in 1911, Colorado NM is known for its high canyon "rim road" and sandstone spires of Monument Canyon. The canyons of west Colorado are pretty--as they have more green trees and shrubs than the more famous Utah canyons. This gives them a more alive feeling, although the sandstone spires were formed many thousands of years ago by erosion. Rim Rock road curves up the the top of the canyon cliff, goes through several round tunnels and is lined with scenic viewpoints. The best views were in he Monument Canyon section, and included in sequence, the Coke Ovens, The Kissing Couple (behind my head), and the most famous of all: Independence Monument, the tall spire in pic 3 and viewed from the side in pic 4. The original promoter and caretaker of the park, John Otto, was the first person to climb Independence Monument and now it's a climbing right of passage. Every July 4 climbers ascend and mount an American flag at the summit. Fun! ...

Day 82 - Yellowstone to Montana

My alarm sounded at 5:30am, a time early enough for me to arise before someone found me secretly camping. The geyser prediction said Grand at 6:15am so I set out toward it. I ran into geyser gazer Jim there and he said it likely erupted at 4:30-- missed it. Early morning eruptions are hard to predict as someone needed to have seen the previous overnight eruption in order to make a prediction. I walked on toward Artemesia, an unpredictable geyser at the far corner of the basin. I had seen her erupt from a mile away and wanted a closer inspection. The early morning setting was momentous, yet I didn't see a geyser erupt up close until Grand at 10:30. Then Sawmill erupted with its twirling thirty foot action (pic). The only remaining geyser left to experience on my mental list was Beehive up close. With a predicted window of 810 to 1210, I arrived at 1030 and waited until 1pm, before giving up. The sun was hot, I had read the geyser book cover to cover, and while seeing e...

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