Sequoia National Park

Here are a few pics from the recent Sequoia trip. Note - I did not take these pics, they are a mixture of pics from Jen, Mahru, Ravi, Adam, and Katie.

The first day we went to Crystal Cave. There were some cool formations there.

Later that night, Jen provided us all with glow sticks and the creative juices started to flow...

The second day we hiked a 11 mile round trip hike along the Lake Trail. This near the end - Heather Lake. It was incredible.

Group shot at the Watchtower - part of the Lake Trail.






Here we are hiking back from the Lake Trail. Look how high up we are.

Hiking back along the Lake Trail. Notice how we're going downhill. That means the whole way there we were going UPhill!

Along the trail we came across a Yellow Bellied Marmot! He was cool :)

Sunset at the campground the second night. It really looked that red!

Last, but not least we took a group shot by General Sherman Tree. The largest living thing on earth by volume!

All in all it was a fantastic trip!

Granite Rocks

Since my last post things continue to go well with the guy. He's been in a couple social situations with my friends now. They so far all think he's great. My sister was in town this past week and he met her as well. So far so good! Hopefully I pass similar tests with his friends...

My sis was in town recently and it was a lot of fun having her around. We got to go to the zoo, check out some good restaurants, went shopping, went to the beach, went to Shout House with Justin, and last but not least went to Sequoia National Park with a group of friends. I'll have to post pics shortly.

Sequoia was awesome. I was a bit unsure about going there as I felt it wouldn't compare to Yosemite. Well I was wrong. They are definitely comparable. Yosemite has more impressive waterfalls, but Sequoia is much less populated and still has the incredible granite formations and crazy vistas with trees going for miles and miles. Because it's less populated there's more opportunity to see wildlife. We saw quite a few brown bears - including bear cubs! There were quite a few pretty birds and we also saw a yellow bellied marmot. The highlight of the trip had to have been Heather Lake. We took a 11 mile round trip hike into the sierras and came across this beautiful, pristine, magical lake. Even better, there was a bear there! Fortunately he was across the lake so we didn't have to worry about him. After a grueling constant uphill hike the lake was a welcome resting spot. Well worth the effort!!

I'm really glad I've been missing out on work! In my absence, the lab was flooded! A pipe under the sink broke. The office floors were soaked and there were blowers and dehumidifiers making a whole lot of noise. People are working, but it's chaos and highly annoying! Glad I've been gone!

Fleeting brilliance

I just had my committee meeting yesterday. Should be my last until it's time to defend my thesis! It's nice to not feel like I completely suck at what I'm doing. I still don't want to touch it with a 10 foot pole once I'm out.

On a separate note. One minute I'm brilliant, then next I'm a dumbass. Things continue to go well with the guy. He met my roommate the other day. Then yesterday he asked if he got the roommate approval. I said yes. I also said "I'm glad because it would suck if my roommate didn't like my boyfriend". FOOT - ENTER - Mouth. In my defense I had been drinking at the time that I said this. I didn't *really* mean it that way either. More like 'boyfriend' is easier to say than 'guy I'm seeing'. And if I did have a bf, it would suck if my roomie didn't like him. Anyway I apologized profusely (which probably made it worse). Luckily, he didn't flinch at it. He brushed it off jokingly that I was trying to put a 'label' on him. So probably not a big deal. I just wanted to kick myself.

WOOT!

Things are going awesome.

I'm stoked!