Yosemite Vacation

This weekend the husband and I took a little vacation up to Yosemite Valley for a few days of hiking and enjoying nature.  We left early on Friday morning hitting the road at 6am.  We got to Oakhurst, CA which is close to the entrance to the National Park at about 10:30 and ate brunch at a cute little local place before heading into the park.  We got up there at about noon and checked into our "tent" at Curry Village.  Our tent was really a canvass sided cabin with beds and a lock box for food.


The "tent" was pretty nice, the only real problem was that the temperatures were down in the 30's at night and our sleeping bags are most certainly not rated for temperatures that low!  Once we got the blanket situation figured out it was just fine.  A lot more convenient than bringing our own tent and easier to make last minute reservations but you don't get to have a campfire, ah, the trade offs.



After getting checked in we took our first hike up to Mirror Lake.  We missed the road and ended up going an extra mile but it was all nice and pretty flat.  We got there and it was absolutely breathtaking, the perfect introduction to Yosemite.

After our trip to Mirror Lake we went back to camp and ate dinner at the buffet before heading to bed and nearly freezing to death :)

On Saturday morning we really wanted to hike to the top of Yosemite Falls and while it was labeled as "Very Strenuous" but we figured we would try to make it as far as we could.  They weren't joking with that label.  The trail was ridiculous!  We made it until we could see the upper falls and it was totally worth it!  We hung out there for a little bit before my horrible back ache and overwhelming feeling that I was going to be sick made us turn around and head down.

That night we decided to eat at the Yosemite Lodge and enjoyed a nice dinner and dessert that was about 100x better than the Curry Village buffet.  We also went over the Awahnee Lodge to check out the oldest hotel in Yosemite Valley, pretty impressive although I could never justify spending $500 a night to stay there.


On Sunday we woke up and decided to try a hike up to Vernal Falls and if we made it up there we would see about continuing on to Nevada Falls.  This was an amazing hike.  Nearly 600 granite stairs to get up to Vernal Falls and then what felt like a million more to get up to Nevada Falls.  It was all completely worth it.  It took us 5 hours to make the 7 mile trek which included a nice little lunch at the top.  The most amazing thing I've done!  At the top it really felt like I'd just finished a half marathon or other big race.  Truly amazing!  After our hike we ate lunch at the grill and began the 6 hour journey home.  It felt good to be back in our bed last night but I really wish I were back at Yosemite right now!

Let the packing commence!

Okay, so yesterday I promised to give you the full update on what's been going on around here. First, I have not made any significant progress on my dissertation. I've been crawling towards the finish line and not even crawling like a baby that really wants something but crawling just using my elbows to propel me forward. I feel like I'm never going to see the end of this darn thing! Each week my boss and I sit down to plot my hours for the next week and I keep saying "I might be defending that day" and the day keeps getting pushed forward. What happened to the drive and motivation I had a few weeks ago? Is it gone? Will I ever finish? Today, after lunch, I am heading back to Starbucks to get the revisions done. I want to get the monkey off my back and start making everyone call me Dr. Suzie!

Second, we are switching apartments in just 2 weeks!!! We have been approved for the one bedroom bond program so we are moving on June 28th. We really like the location of our new apartment and it will be a lot easier to move out of when we finally get a house. I imagine we will live there for two years or so and hopefully be able to save up for a house by then. We will be saving $500 a month on rent which makes me super happy. With the savings and the income from my job we should be debt free in about 6-7 months. We have also sold most of our big furniture so we have much less to move these days. It should be fairly painless :)

Third, my job is going well. I really enjoy working with the family and the time seems to go by quickly. Each week I am getting more and more hours which is really great. I am also working to line up another nanny job to start in September which will be fantastic.

Fourth, and most exciting, we went on a hike on Sunday and ran across 2 rattlesnakes on the trail. I got totally freaked out but the snakes didn't rattle, they just slithered off into the weeds. We definitely have to keep our eyes open whenever we are on the trail to prevent any tragedies. The hike itself was great, we were out for an hour and a half and there was a lot of uphill. My behind was a little sore on Monday.

I think that's all that's been going on, we are excited about the move and looking forward to all that is to come.