Yosemite 2.0

Well folks, I've been slacking on here haven't I? I've been a bit preoccupied... visitors, training, dieting, and well... ok I don't have a great excuse. Mostly I just didn't want to write another post about running and how dieting makes me so hungry sometimes I could punch through a wall like the hulk. So here we have a nice little post about Brian & Michelle, elephant seals and Yosemite!

I should say, I cherry picked a couple pictures from Michelle's album (pretty much all the pictures with actual people in them) so thanks for being such a great photographer Michelle! :)

We picked them up from the airport and went straight to Half Moon Bay for a little beach time and a brewery for which we had a Groupon. The weather has been ridiculously nice lately but the beach was still chilly - as all Northern California beaches are...

That did not stop this from happening:

 No pants! (Which in my head will always be said the way Fred says "No panties!" in Drop Dead Fred)

They were gallantly rescuing what turned out to be an empty suitcase from the ocean.

We all got a little sun and caught up while the boys dried off. The next day the real adventures began!

We made our way to Ano Nuevo beach to see the elephant seals - large males and little pups who were called weaners. Yes, there was no end to the stifled giggles over the number of times our guide talked about weaners and weaner pods.

The houses below were used for navigation but abandoned when they set up more advanced services that didn't require someone manning it at all hours. The houses are abandoned now and infested by sea lions. Our guide showed us a picture of the insides... it is unpleasant. But would be a great set for a horror movie - if you didn't have to wear hazmat suits to be there.

The first big male we saw is below. Let me just say, they did not move very much. The guide said physical activity in their body was something equivalent to running a marathon in a wet suit with a fur coat on top on a summer day. I would not want to move much either.

And the weaners! They were adorable. They also looked incapable of moving but just because they were so ridiculously fat. Honestly, it was like scene in A Christmas Story when Randy can't put his arms down.

Michelle took this one, I love it.

We watched this guy make his way in from the ocean and then make the exhausting trip up the beach.... only to cause a ruckus with some other males and then chase another female into the water for ages.

From there we made our way to Yosemite. Traffic was... not pleasant, but that's what we get for going through the east bay instead of around it. Oh did I mention we rented a car? You can imagine my surprise when Ed and Brian came home with this:

Ed swears he asked for a Corolla. Suuuuuuure he did...

Either way it made for a fun drive to the park. We stayed overnight in Mariposa, driving into the park the following morning. It was even better than I remembered, with all the waterfalls rushing and the Merced river going gangbusters.

Bridal Veil

The boys risking life and limb. You know, the usual.

The spray from Bridal Veil was crazy. My hair was soaked just from the few minutes of standing there at the base. It was pretty incredible.

Tunnel View lookout spot

We made our way over to the trail we took with Dad and Debbie before. The top of it was closed for the winter, (the scariest part) but that was alright. It made for a really beautiful hike and felt good to get out and get some exercise. 

We had a wonderful lunch at the base of El Capitan but didn't take any pictures.... oops! I guess we were a bit tired by that point.

Look at how teeeeeeny Brian looks in comparison to it all

This same coyote was there when we drove in. And even though I know it's a coyote, I like to think it's a 'toy dire wolf' :)

It was a really great visit. It's too quiet without them here! I'm so glad they could come out and that everything went so well.

Like I said I've been running... 7.45mi this past Monday and this Sunday will be my longest run to date at 8mi. I'm excited because apparently there is a dam and a big ole water reservoir I haven't seen yet. And based on the number of pictures I take, you can see I love running by the water. I feel a little bit less like I'm running through the desert, dying of thirst and exhaustion. I'm still only down about 12lbs... since the friends visit I kinda plateaued but I'm hoping I'll break through that this upcoming week. That's all I'll say about that!

It feels like summer is right around the corner here and I can't wait. We have a bunch of visits lined up including a trip to MD for my sister's baby shower! Yes, I'm going to be an aunt and I cannot wait. I know Omi is disappointed it's not twins but I'm a bit relieved. Now I can spoil that one little niece or nephew like crazy and not have to split the riches. :) Congratulations Ck!

"Oh reckless abandon, like no one's watching you"

Such a fantastic weekend.

Lately Ed and I have been discussing our plans for leaving CA more and more, trying to work out the details, and in the process, trying to appreciate what we have out here more. We've made up a short list of things we want to experience before we go and this weekend we checked one off the list:

• Visit Tomales Bay and eat fresh oysters

I'd been there once before with Dad and Debbie and had an amazing time. Well, mostly. The ride home was pretty miserable because of a combination of eating waaaaaay too many large oysters and the curviest roads I have ever been on. Horrible. Never, ever, order large oysters. They are bigger than you can even imagine. Medium is plenty for fanatics and small is good for most. But other than getting in over my head tummy-space wise, that first visit was fantastic. The oysters were salty and delicious and it's just a beautiful area, muddy, beachy, hilly... It's hard to pinpoint what makes it so invigorating.

The weather really cooperated, so much so that we left with a bit of a sunburn. The sun was bright, there was a cool breeze and you could smell the eucalyptus trees all over. Add the smell of all the grills and - so, so many hot pots! - and the brine, it was heavenly.

Man these guys had a ton of meats on their grill, and I don't think they ever stopped grilling the whole time.

We made it through about 50 oysters, with maybe 20 of them cooked? We were surrounded mostly by families and hipster gatherings who looked to be around our age. The young crowd came stocked: Champagne, olives, clementines, cheeses, prosciutto, fancy olive oils and balsamics. We were not quite as thoroughly packed, but our Triscuts, hummus, hot sauces, and olives were just as good! I mean, we brought organic lemons from our upstairs neighbor so... boom! We can hipster it up too ya'll. Many of the families were grilling up tons of different meats and using hot pots and piling toppings on the oysters. Everything looked and smelled delicious.

We remembered gloves! I thought so many people were going to impale themselves...

Post-grill, pre-opening...

Post-grill and pre-gullet :)

Nothing beats raw and fresh!

View of the farm

Ed testing to see how far he can get before the mud eats him whole

There isn't much more to add other than we drove up, ate, drove home on the 1 along the coast and had an incredible day. It just really framed why we love being out here so much. It's hard being away from friends and family, but living in California is such a dream when we finally get out there and enjoy it.

Pull-off on the 1 on the way home, in Marin Headlands

Looking towards S.F. and home

This past weekend was also packed with movies: Ted, Pitch Perfect and Mama. None totally disappointed, and one left me with solid nightmares to haunt my middle of the night bathroom trips. If Ed wasn't here at night, I'd be living with all the lights on... probably all the time. Although the ending of Mama was terrible, everything up until the last 5 minutes made for a fantastically scary movie. I can't get enough of Guillermo del Toro. If I haven't recommended you all read his The Strain trilogy written with Chuck Hogan, then I will say it again - it's creepy as hell. Rumor is it might be a show on FX soon so read up now!

Speaking of reading I finished two more books:
Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
The Last Kind Words by Tom Piccirilli
I'll try to do a write up of these later, but for now I'll leave you with this: Where'd You Go Bernadette is on my top 10 favorite reads right now.

Everything else is going well. Running is... going. I'm trying to get my time down but it's really fighting me. At least I'm getting out and doing it regularly, that's all I can ask for, keeping up with my measly 11-13 miles per week. Ed's workin' away, poor guy didn't even get today off. Next weekend I have a dentist appointment and I'm getting my first crown. I am terrified. Terrified. The weekend after that brings us February! The best month ever. I'm really looking forward to my birthday this year... just feels like a big one. :) That's all for now folks!

S.F. within sight!