wrapping up

the rest of my vacation was truly relaxing. kelly had departed for a work trip to virginia and dylan to a work retreat outside of portland, leaving me alone in the house for my last day in the city. it was blissful. i slept in, and did pretty much nothing all day....well, almost nothing.

spencer and i enjoyed a delicious breakfast prior to my departure, where he attempted to eat three pizza-size pancakes and earn a picture on the wall of fame. though i knew he didn't have a chance, i was impressed that he made it half-way through, after having also eaten a rather large omelette. impressed, or disgusted...not sure which exactly.

he's still a little green after his adventures in pancakes

i made a quick drive up to vancouver, wa to pickup another stamp at the national historic site, and then left the pacific northwest heading towards northern california to meet julie.


the drive was a little longer than expected as a result of numerous and large fires raging through that part of the state. the road i would have originally taken was closed and i was forced to go around. the timing still worked out quite well as julie, her mom annette, her 3 kids and her niece were driving up from a couple hours south to meet me at our home away from home for the next couple of days.

the neighbor

that 'home' was the cabin of a family friend who had agreed to host us in her secluded retreat. and a retreat was right up my alley. with no internet and two tv channels (both of which were pbs), we actually got the opportunity to disconnect a bit from the outside world, and enjoyed the time sitting around just talking and laughing.

it wasn't all talking and laughing though - there was some eating too. :) in addition to the talking, laughing, and eating, there was another motivator for the excursion. annette had suggested that i might enjoy burney falls, and after checking them out on google, i thought she might be right.

gorgeous. the falls ain't half bad either!

teddy roosevelt once called these falls the eighth wonder of the world, and though quite beautiful, one does have to wonder how much of the world roosevelt had seen at that point :) that being said, i was actually pleasantly surprised. the falls exceed the expectations the pictures i'd viewed had created. julie and i left baby taggert with her mom and friend, and she and i headed down to the base of the falls with madison, cooper, and caitlyn.


once at the base of the falls we decided to do the 1+ mile loop that winds up around the top. though not much of a hiker, i wanted to see the top. unfortunately, it wasn't one of those moments where you think to yourself, wow, this was so totally worth it. it was more like 'so, um, WHERE are the falls?' sadly, you could not see them from the path through the brush at the top. but, it was a beautiful day - unseasonably cool for this time of year (80 degrees instead of 115!), the company was good, and the scenery was still quite pretty!


after burney falls, we headed back to burney for lunch, after which, annette took cooper and taggert back to the cabin, while julie and i headed to the subway caves with madison and caitlyn. the drive to the caves might have been boring, but for the fact that we were driving on the road that had been closed due to fire on the previous day. the landscape was blistered and black and still smoking...and in some cases, still burning. we saw more than a few flames close to the road, though none significant.

the charred remains

we stopped at the ranger station near the caves and were told that they were closed. in a conspiratorial manner, however, the ranger suggested we park outside and walk in. things that are closed are so much more interesting than things that are open, don't you think?

we had purchased flashlights before arriving at the caves, and it was a good thing. there were places that, had we not had light, would have been impossible to see your hand in front of your face.

girl time, wandering around in cold dark caves

the tunnels were formed from lava flow and very much resemble your average subway tunnel - hence the name. as the majority of the tunnels (though not very large) are completely dark, the girls were a bit nervous to begin with. but after they adjusted, the darkness and our aloneness somehow turned into a great adventure.


on the way back from the caves, i asked julie to make a small detour to lassen volcanic national park, where i, of course, picked up a few more stamps. the final trip stamp tally was 13 :)

the following day was d-day. departure day. mostly a driving day, i had two stops to make. the first was in grover beach, about 3 hours north of home, to see some very old friends whom i haven't seen in a decade. their oldest, 11 now, was 1 the last time i saw her. as you might imagine, she had changed a lot! ;)

i am often pleasantly surprised at how easy it can be to begin again right where you left off, even after 10 years. we slid into natural rhythms and patterns almost immediately while catching up on the last 10 years! we did so while enjoying some tri-tip bbq, which is not insignificant.

tri-tip is HUGE out here. people love it. LOVE it. i don't recall ever having seen it on a menu before my move here, but it's difficult to find one here without it. and only then usually chinese or mexican ones exclude it. i'm not particularly adventurous when it comes to food and several months ago, i had decided to give it a shot. it was terrible. oh my goodness i wanted to throw up. i was eating with some coworkers and one of them had also ordered it. i asked him what he thought of it (a more regular tri-tip eater) and he called it delicious.
so i counted myself out for tri-tip.


imagine my dismay upon arriving at tim and holly's and learning that we were having bbq tri-tip for dinner. that would be a great way to make a second first impression - throw up the meal they had made for me.

but i sucked it up--a little green as i went to take my first bite--and shock of all shocks, it was delicious. it must be texture or flavor or a combination of both, but this was a great meal, accompanied by great conversation. after dinner, and after getting a blu-ray education from tim, it was time to be on my way.

my last stop of the trip went longer than anticipated in santa barabara with jesse. i had initally debated about staying the night as it was already very late, but i decided i was ready to be back in my own bed. so at 3am, i was. and i've been there ever since. well, not consistently, but every night since my vacation, i've been able to relish being HOME. reminding my dog of my existence. reminding my roommate of my existence. reminding myself of my existence in my own life and actually getting to experience it for a little while!