Lake Mary

So, this was over a week ago, but cut me some slack, i am trying to catch up.

I drove up to Brighton (about 20 miles away) for what i thought would be an easy walk around Silver Lake. After driving past 20 miles of cars parked along the side of a windy, narrow, canyon road, I finally arrived at the Silver Lake visitor/information center. The walk around the lake looked a little too easy, so I thought, "what the heck, why not go for a nice leisurely hike?" So I asked the guy at the visitor center about hiking to Lake Mary.
"Its about a mile, it takes me about thirty minutes," he said.
I eyed the guy up and figured I was in at least as good of shape as he was. Then he chimed in, "There's still a lot of snow on the ground up there."
"Oh, I guess I'm not dressed for that," I replied, trying to point out my hiking sandals, T-Shirt, and shorts."It's warm," he said. "There's just melting snow on the ground. You'll be fine. The trail head is just up by the Brighton Center. It takes off from between the lifts."
"Alright," I replied and was out the door.

So, the hike to Lake Mary was probably only about a mile, like the guy had said, but it was not an easy mile. Between the melting snow (which makes mud, by the way), the steep incline, and the elevation (trail-head at over 9,000 feet and the lake itself sitting just about 11,000) I was utterly exhausted when i finally arrived an hour and a half later. But I was rewarded for my efforts.

The view was absolutely stunning. Despite the numerous other people that were at the lake, it was still secluded enough to be peaceful and relaxing - even though I never once lost cell reception. I guess that is one of the "benefits" of hiking above a ski resort. Anyway, I hiked about half way around the lake until I found the incoming snow-melt stream and hiked up and away from the lake about 25 yards. I found a very nice secluded little grove with a small waterfall of snow-melt, which I used to cool my warm water bottles. I sat for about an hour just enjoying the afternoon before heading back down the hill. If every hike is as rewarding as this one, I'm going to have a hard time enjoying California hiking again...

The First Two Days

This one will be quick:

I started work yesterday morning. I was pretty apprehensive as I had no idea what to expect - Salesmen can be pretty intense. Thankfully, that was not the case. Everyone seems very nice and has been very friendly and helpful so far. My boss (Mike) took me out to lunch yesterday with Jason (who I am basically shadowing), and I went to lunch with a couple other guys today. It has been really interesting to start relearning everything that I have tried to forget from my days as a "real" engineering student. I can honestly say that I have learned more from two small handbooks than I did from an entire 10 weeks and 600 pages of Thermodynamics. It all finally makes sense.

So, I've been really busy trying to get established - finding a church, getting a gym membership, buying food (and clothes thanks to my forgetfulness), but yesterday I came home just before sunset and here is what I watched as my dinner-show.That's the evening view from my kitchen window. It just made me stop and think for a minute about the beauty that God surrounds us with every day - and that we are all-too-often too busy to notice.

A new favorite restaurant

As you may know, last week I drove home to my parent's house in Hillsboro, Oregon. The following Friday I shuttled on over to Boise to spend the night with my awesome cousin Amber, her husband Patrick, and there son Tavin. Thanks guys for putting me up for the night. First off, Tavin is the cutest kid - I know, i know, everyone says that - but seriously, I love that little guy. Tons of fun!

Anyway, Saturday morning I took off on a round-about trip to Salt Lake City. Since I had time, I decided to swing by the Craters of the Moon National Monument near Arco, Idaho. If you have never heard of it, you should look it up, and if you have never been, you should go. I wish I had more time - apparently there are all kinds of hikes and such that you can do there, plus pretty nice camping facilities from what I could see. I hope to go back at some point this summer, and you'll learn more about it then.

Now, for the reason for this post - FOOD! I found what just might be my new favorite restaurant. It is a chain called Bajio. My California friends can think of it as Chipotle on steroids. The food is amazingly fresh and delicious, and from what I understand, pretty authentic (as much as that is possible from a chain restaurant). Imagine all of your favorite Mexican dishes taken up a notch with some amazing new spices and a hint of sweet - yup, it was amazing. Oh, and I forgot to mention: Sour Cream, Chees, even Guacamole FOR FREE. That's right, no hidden $2 charge for a little tiny drop of Guac, and its the good stuff too! Here is a picture of my $8 lunch. And no, I didn't eat dinner that night.

Early Mornings

An obnoxiously loud rooster jarred me from my tranquil slumber not long after first light. It goes with the territory I suppose. 18 years ago hurricane Iniki slammed in Kaua'i causing almost $2billion in damages and unleashing on the island a plagued of cross-bred chickens. Kaua'i, being a rural island, had a large population of captive chickens that were set "free" by the hurricane. These domestic chickens quickly cross-bred with the "native" chickens of the island and became legally protected as "native" species. Now, the entire island is covered in chickens that seem to have an internal clock aligned with the New York sunrise. They start crowing around 4am! This episode will repeat itself every morning for the length my stay. Although, if an early alarm clock is the worst thing I have to complain about...

Arrival

The plane landed yesterday (Sunday) just after 2pm. I was sitting near the main entrance to the plane, and so, as the seal on the hatch was cracked I could feel the warm, moist air rush into our previously dry and cool environment. I had spent seven hours breathing recirculated air through a stuffed-up nose, so the fresh air felt great, even if it would normally be classified as muggy. I calmly collected my bags and then rushed for freedom beyond the door. For an international travel destination that services 1.2 million visitors a year, the Lihu'e airport is down-right tiny. Walking at a moderate pace I made it from the airplane door to the waiting arms of my family in about 30 seconds. My parents and little brother had arrived several hours earlier, so we packed my bags in the rental Jeep and headed for the North Shore to drop my luggage so that I could turn around and drive back to the airport to pick up my cousin and her husband, who would be landing in about five hours.

The view from the condo

The island has been in a drought, although just prior to my landing it had rained for 22 days in a row. So, much of the emerald green that I was expecting was, in fact, rather yellow and I was disappointed. Traffic on the only "highway" on Kaua'i could push a driver used to L.A. over the edge of insanity. There is one lane, in each direction, with an average speed limit of 45, with the emphasis on limit. Many locals will drive between 25 and 30, more than likely, just to aggravate the tourists. So, the 30 mile journey easily takes an hour, at that's if there are no back-ups. I've had it take almost two full hours to get from Princeville to Lihu'e. Anyway, I picked up my cousins and I drove north again to my waiting bed.