Remember my friend Em, with whom I hiked all last summer? Well, she thought it would be fun to get married and move to CA. I disagreed but I guess I didn't get a vote because here she is.
It's a wee bit windy here.
Today we planned to go to Muir Woods and the main entrance (though not the park itself) was closed. So our one-hour drive turned into two as we drove wayyyyy out of our way along the coast and around to the other main road that leads to the monument. Not a bad view, though.
It was foggy and cool, which is the perfect weather for a stroll in the ancient woods. I think this is the first (only?) stroll we've ever been on, since we usually hike 10 miles straight uphill at a sprinter's pace until I just about collapse from an aneurysm. It was downright relaxing today, though, not to mention picturesque.
Pictures don't do it justice, but here are a few. The reason I'm in so many of them is to provide scale. Without a (sizable) person in the frame, it's hard to realize how big and tall the trees really are!
I mean, could you die or what? G and I were here in 2009 (during that trip we got to spend a lot of time in both Berkeley and San Francisco, which was really awesome) but I couldn't pass up the chance to spend a day here this time around. Because we went during the week, and because schools have started, there weren't many people around. It was possible to enjoy the silence and stop and listen to the rushing water. It was so remarkable. I would love to spend more time in these incredible forests.
After our stroll, we warmed up with lunch at their on-site restaurant. I had tomato soup alongside a cheddar and scallion scone. Then I may or may not have perused the gift shop for perhaps a coffee mug and a T-shirt. One must do what one must do when in the redwoods. That's all I'm sayin.
I worked my patootie off on the plane here (lesson prepped like a mo'fracker) and plan to do the same on the way back (this was my mode during the Gama/Arkansas trip, too). My writing consultant job starts up later this week (ahem, supervising, kill me now) and the semester will be in full swing next week. Not a syllabus has been printed. Nothing has been posted online (my goal for the courses this time around). Lord help me.
((But tonight? Tonight is sushi. Then ice cream. Then a movie. Then reading myself to sleep. Then playing tourist again all day tomorrow. IN NAPA VALLEY! I've never been! I'll get to visit THE SOURCE of life's many blessings...))
Enjoying my last breath of air before going under again, folks.
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