Yosemite Part Deux

Made it back to the bay area safely. Lots to catch up on. 2.5 weeks before I leave for two months. Just trying to get everything taken care of before then is crazy! So on with the fun stuff.

Say It In Scrap's 6th Challenge is up. Hope you try it out. We scrapped the phrase "Oh No She Di-int." I'm so excited to be creating with such a fun group of ladies. Here is my take on the challenge:Went swimming and spent most of Thursday reading Deception Point by Dan Brown. I'm totally sucked into the story line. Celebrated my Mom's birthday in the fancy restaurant the Ahwahnee.

Went for a bike ride and saw something I'd never seen before. A mountain lion cub crossed the road in front of me. It was carrying a squirrel in its mouth. I was scared that its mom was near by so I didn't linger to take any photos. Jenna, Mom, and I went to the Merced river to cool off after. We helped Jenna pack up and said goodbye. She had to be in Sacramento Saturday morning for an orientation for her study abroad program. Then the four of us went swimming at the Lodge pool. Dan jumped in before I even noticed he was out of his chair!

Woke up early Saturday morning for a bike ride before packing up. We were resting at Happy Isles when a bear cub and mom crossed the road directly behind us. I didn't have a camera with me, but my mom got this blurry photo of them walking through the woods to the Merced river.
My mom wanted to stay and watch them cross the river but the rest of us were ready to put some distance between ourselves and the bears. Mom took this photo of Dan & I outside of our cabin before we sadly sad goodbye to Yosemite.
Thanks for all of your sweet comments while I was gone. They really made me smile. I've missed reading blogs and hope to catch up these next few days. Its so nice to have fast internet back.

from Yosemite

Happy Birthday Mom! Today we are celebrating my mom's birthday in Yosemite. I love coming up here every year. Its so interesting to see how things vary. Here is my Mom and Dad on their way up the Mist Trail to Vernal Falls.

Dan & I left Monday morning for Yosemite. I drove all the way to Oakdale and then had Dan take over so I could take a nap. My parents & Jenna were waiting for us at the cabin when we arrived. After the long drive and altitude, we were exhausted. We had dinner at the Yosemite Lodge. Everything tastes absolutely wonderful up here.

Tuesday we went for a 5 mile bike ride around Yosemite Valley. We stopped at Curry Village for an ice cream break before lunch. That's how we roll. ;) Jenna, Mom & I went swimming at the Lodge pool. It felt great since the weather has been pushing triple digits.
Had pizza at Degnan's loft for dinner and then rode around on the free shuttle for a while. Why the heck do we do that? The drivers are such great entertainment, when you get that fun story-telling personality. Our driver was telling us to look to the right to see some bucks and to the right to see a bear.

It was standing up on its rear legs when we saw it! Of course we jumped off the bus to run get a closer look of the bear. Park Rangers were on either side of the meadow to make sure people didn't get too close. The ranger told us that there was a mother and her two cubs at an apple tree. We saw a male bear coming over to get apples from the tree. The mother bear got really protective and started rushing the male bear while the cubs ran up the apple tree. It was such an exciting night! I had my camera, but even at 1600ISO, the photos were so incredibly blurry that the bear looked more like a furry blurry bunny. Maybe better luck next time.

Wednesday was hike day, so we all woke up extra early and headed to Happy Isles on the shuttle. We took the Mist Trail up to Vernal Falls bridge and then continued on to the top of Vernal Falls. There was very little water this year in comparison to years past.
The last 1/3 of the mile up to the top of the falls are incredibly steep stairs.
It's called the mist trail because you walk right into the mist from the falling water. This is one spot that you'll be guaranteed to see a rainbow or even a double rainbow as long as there is water!
Looking down at the path that we just came up to reach the top. 3 miles round trip. I've never drank so much water in my life! Jenna & Dan had already reached the top and were waiting for us. Poor Jenna pulled some muscle and she had to use a walking stick (found in nature) on the way back down.
The oasis at the end of the hike is Emerald Pool. It is snow melt run off that feels great. 50 degree water in 100 degree weather.
The water runs down granite rock that is super slippery. A lot of people like to go down the waterslide part of it. My mom went down the smaller one on the left side of the rock. Not many go down the bigger one because its too powerful and there are lots of jagged rocks at the end of it.
Even though I went swimming in the cold water, I was completely dry by the time I finished the hike. I went with my Dad to the Lodge pool to cool off, again. On the bus ride back, we saw the same male bear out in the meadow. My mom got off to try getting better photos while it was still light. By the time she got there, the rangers had scared him back into the apple tree.

This morning I got up early and went on a photo walk. It was so serene and peaceful. I've taken this shot several times but never in the early morning. I was surprised that I didn't see any wildlife. I ended my photo shoot a little early because a photo tour of people came through.


Animals I've seen on this trip as of Thursday morning:

1. Bears
2. Deer (dawn, doe, and buck)
3. Mole
4. Squirrels
5. Stellars Jay
6. Robin
7. Butterflies

HAMBLY!

I drove to Hambly first thing Friday morning. Here is one of the entrances:
No surprise, I was the first to arrive and they were still putting out the finishing touches. They have a really great family/small business vibe that I really admire. everyone was very welcoming and so fun. I was a bit silly with my entrance. I threw up my arms and said, "I'm here!" Allison wasn't there so I took my time shopping.
I was surprised when Ginger walked in and recognized me from Scrap Mojo. She was shopping for a whole bunch of people, one of them was Marie. Ginger let me call Marie on her iPhone and chat with her. We totally caught her off guard.
They didn't have any of the new rub ons yet. Can't wait to get my hands on those cameras!
Allison arrived back at the studio and we talked about her trip to Europe that she took a few years ago. I'm loving all of the advice that I am collecting. Then she took me back behind the scenes. The silk screen printers do not work on Friday's so they don't give tours on Friday's. Of course I had to see it! I love that they leave the ink right there on the screen. I didn't realize that rub ons were made the exact same with with just more layers of ink.
Pretty ink/paint cans that they used for the 2008 Summer CHA display:
This screen had a calendar on it:
I loved seeing the silk screening area but the art department was the best. What more could a girl ask for than a light table and a dark room with a bunch of Hambly overlays all over the place?
Allison had a table in a room with stuff all over. I wish I had such a large table to work at! I could work on multiple projects and leave them out.
Storage for the stickers:
I had such an incredible time at Hambly Studios. They told me to come back any time I was in the area. Too cool! Of course I bought a ton of stuff, including limited editions or the new designs, and the regular new designs. Allison even gave a me a few of the mock ups of the camera overlays. I'll add a photo of my purchases here in the morning.


Friday was such a great day. That evening i met Kristi at the Scrapbook Depot to scrap. We have so much fun together and its even more fun when we shock other scrappers with our unique personalities. We love Carina! We've already signed up to go back in two weeks. Can't wait!

Went to Per's house warming in Half Moon Bay on Saturday afternoon. It was also a birthday celebration/get together for a bunch of his co-workers from Oracle. I met so many cool people that all had amazing stories. The food was incredible and I was so thrilled to be included in the festivities. I met another photographer named Michelle. She was so full of stories and places that I have to go in Italy. Sita made an incredible meal. Food kept appearing for hours. I tried so many different plates that were delicious.
Sita and Steve are visting from Italy. Sita's father is a night/panoramic photographer. We're hoping that we can arrange for me to meet him and see some of his work while I'm in Italy!

Per's incredible view. I say I live at the beach, but its really two short blocks away, not my backyard!


And here's my favorite part of his side yard. And outside shower!
I'm packing for my trip to Yosemite. My family and I celebrate my Mom's birthday there every year. This is the first year that I'm bringing my laptop, but I am not sure that I'll have any success at finding an internet connection. So check back and leave me some love. I'll do my best to post a few photos! I'll be home on Saturday. <3

Fun Things

I put together a Whimsy jar for Cathy and now I can share it. So glad you love it!

I was planning to steal Jenna's digi camera to make something cool for you blog readers out there. But she needs it for a picnic so it looks like that will have to happen via still images instead. My hint has to do with this post. One of the many reasons why I love living in the bay area.

Dan got a Wii on Monday and managed to leave it unopened. He didn't mention it until late Wednesday night. I convinced him to set it up tonight. We played so many different Wii sports that my heart was racing at the end. Pathetic? Maybe, but its fun. Wii fit, here I come!

Played scrabble with my grandma and beat her by two points. Its been a while since I've played and I worked really hard to win. :) My third time I've beat her, but whose counting?

Wednesday night was my last official night of the dark room. I won't be in the Fall class since I'll be an international traveler. I got a lot of great advice from my professor and classmates. They are priceless fountains of knowledge. I also met this incredible girl today at work that gave me a bunch of great tips for traveling light. I'm so excited, can you tell? :D

Have a Hambly weekend!

*Scrap Mojo 19* Say hello to my little friend

Challenge 19 is up at Scrap Mojo. The challenge is to scrap the phrase "Say hello to my little friend" and use a page from a book. Due August 15th. We have Kara Haupt as our guest designer and an awesome prize from the Red Velvet Art Kits! Hope you give it a spin!
Here is my take on the challenge. Photo by Kristi Lewis. My first lo using glimmer mist. I'm finally starting to get messier. :D
It has been so foggy here that we drive to places where we know there is sun. On Monday Jenna, Toby, Dan, and I piled into the car and went to In & Out. They gave us stickers! We ended up in San Mateo and yep, there was sun! Jenna can spend endless amounts of time roaming through Safeway, so she did just that. I guess you might say we drove 30 minutes to have Jenna buy pie in a different Safeway. We're silly like that when it comes to finding the sun.

I'm nearly done editing wedding pictures! I started out with something crazy like 1700 photos and I'm aiming to get it between 500-700 photos for the bridal party. Hopefully I'll have them in the mail on Friday.

I told my mom that I have been having trouble finding cute shoes that will be comfortable for Europe. She came home with these two pairs the other day. I thought I was pretty dedicated to finding some but she really came through. I like both pairs but I'm going to leave the slip ons at home since they are heavy.
Jess got me super excited about my visit since it is less than a month away! I leave September 3rd. And no, I'm not ready yet. Eek. So here are some of my faves from flickr of Germany.

1. Weisbaden - St. Boniface, 2. BERLIN - FOTOAUTOMAT -the secret girl, 3. "Vanished Berlin Wall", 4. Berlin, 5. Berlin, 6. Cocoon Study - philosophic library Berlin, 7. Frankfurt, 8. Frankfurt am Main / stock exchange / Börse, 9. Frankfurt Dome Reflection, 10. Frankfurt Cathedral, 11. Frankfurt skyline, 12. Frankfurt, 13. Kappele, Wurzburg, 14. Hamburg railway station, 15. Cadillac in Hamburg, 16. Schwarzwald/Black Forest (Gutach - Germany), 17. Freiburg , Germany, 18. Street Scene, Rothenburg, Germany, 19. Schwetzinger Moschee/Mosque (#01) - Taj Mahal from Germany - 1001 Dreams/Träume, 20. Sylvenstein Lake..., 21. Hintersee/ Germany, 22. Koblenz (Germany), 23. abbey of eberbach germany, 24. Berlin, Germany, 25. Münster

Visitors

Anders came to visit from Minnesota for a few days last week. We kept him pretty busy at Dan's house. We ate yummy food, I scrapped, and they played the violin together. We watched this great movie, Deja Vu with Denzel Washington. I was a little apprehensive to watch it at first but it turned out quite well. Anders left early Saturday morning, but the late nights don't end there!
My sneak peek for the next Scrap Mojo challenge:
My newly finished ATC's for the We Scrap Better swap. I'm really happy with how they turned out!
Dan's friend Toby is visiting for a few days now. Yesterday we went to Malibu Grand Prix and played miniature golf. Toby silk screen printed his really cool shirt (purple giraffe). I really want to learn how to do it now.

We had plans to play in the arcades as well but so did everyone else. There wasn't much room for anyone so we decided to take the fun back to Pacifica. We played Rock Band and I got called Yoko since I can't play medium that well yet. Toby & Dan striking a pose x2:

Jenna joined us for some fun guitar hero. She hadn't played in a while and easy was too easy. She switched to medium and then it was a little too fast for her. My favorite thing she said last night was "this song is hard, its extra medium."

Playing co-op literally:
Oh, and I finished watching Sex & the City! I really can't wait for the movie to come out on DVD so I can see that too. Loved the series!

Construction 129 & Battery Spencer: photo heavy

My cousin Jeff & I went on an adventure on Wednesday. Jeff brought his camera too, so it was a bit of a photo walk. We started off at the top of the Marin headlands at Construction 129 (I was calling it Battery Townsley earlier). Here is the first tunnel entrance to the other side of the mountain.

What a surprise it was to find such neat "cave paintings" as we walked along the darkened tunnel. We had to flash the wall to get this exposure.

The view from the tunnel exit. See the red arrow? That's where the Harry Potter style door is. Wouldn't even know, would you? Reminds me of a portal or something.

So its not technically going directly into a tree. But it was hidden pretty well. At lot had changed in three weeks. Fresh graffiti. I think graffiti can be art but not when it ruins such history. They even tagged the tree. :(

Jeff & I continue on through the second tunnel which had two open rooms. I'm not sure why they weren't closed off like the others. When we looked into this room, I was jolted a bit by this:
There was more artwork in the room but I couldn't trick my camera into taking a photo. Jeff was able to get his point and shoot to. Just a few feet from the rooms is the housing of where a gun would have been.

The view looking in:

And a comparison that I found on National Park Service website:

There was a trail up above called the Hawk Hill trail so we decided to hike up to the top. It was quite wet on the trail, and even muddy in some spots. When we got to the top we saw a bunker and several platforms where artillery may have been placed.

Normally, I would not venture into the bunker, but I had Jeff with me. I wanted to go in and see what it looked like inside. It was hidden pretty well from the top and the other side. Dirt and plants were growing around it. It goes underground one level but we didn't go down since it has a bit of a lake down there with garbage.

I was amused that someone tagged the bunker with "ATC" in neon green paint. I am working on some Artist Trading Cards right now.

People started showing up at the top, so we hiked back down and went through the final tunnel. The second part of the battery was never completed because it was decided that it wasn't needed.

We drove back down the mountain to Battery Spencer. The modeling I did three weeks before was inside the green building. All the windows let in beautiful light.

View from inside one of the buildings looking across.

Emplacement for gun. See above link for photos with gun.

Can you find Jeff in this photo? Getting a little goofy after having explored for a while.

The lovely view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Its quite rare for it to be clear on this side of the bridge. Yes Misty, you were incredibly lucky when you visited last October!

I didn't mention how incredibly windy it was, but it was so bad that we had enough after that. We drove down the mountain and into Sausalito to grab a bite. We had a little difficulty with all of the bicyclists taking over the whole road. But we made it. Its a very touristy spot so parking was hard to find and so was a place to eat. Here is one of the cute little streets:

We found a non crowded Deli and then made our way out to the bay to sit and enjoy the blue sky and sunny weather. Such a change from the weather in the headlands. The bicycle tours get on to the ferry and ride back over to San Francisco once they arrive in Sausalito. Jeff and I wonder where they fit all of the bikes on that thing!

We drove back to foggy Pacifica after enjoying the nice weather for a while. Thanks for letting me share our photo walk. And if you made it all the way down to the end, I hope you enjoyed the tour. Have a great weekend.