Browsing Tag

California Camping

    CALIFORNIA HIKING NATIONAL PARKS Yosemite

    Then & Now | Valentine’s Day at Yosemite National Park

    A look back at our first Valentine’s Day in 2008, spent in one of my most favorite places in the world: Yosemite National Park. We had been dating for almost a year by that time and were still living on opposite coasts. For my birthday a couple of months prior, Sly gave me my first digital SLR (I still have and use that thing as a backup camera) and I was anxious to go somewhere outdoorsy to experiment. What better place than Yosemite? PS: Note all the tell-tale signs of someone with a new camera: macro photos of water droplets, Ansel Adams-inspired black and whites, reflections, long exposures without a tripod, fast exposures to capture motion, etc. All that’s missing are some close-ups of wine glasses. Oh  wait, there’s actually a few close-ups of a mug of hot chocolate. Check!

    Most importantly, check out the ORIGINAL S.I.T.H (sun-in-the-hair) photo! Since then we have taken a million or more SITH pics and we have no plans of stopping!

    Included are some excerpts from my original blog post.

    yosemite | our first valentine's day yosemite | our first valentine's day

    Sly and I planned our Vday together–weekend in Yosemite with dinner on Vday at the Ahwahnee Lodge. It wasn’t anything we hadn’t done before, but getting away from the city, and having a nice quiet dinner in a low-key atmosphere, really was the perfect way for us to spend the day together. Sly bought me a vintage amethyst heart necklace (the story was that it once belonged to a Vegas showgirl who married a big band leader and collected vintage jewelry pieces like this) that was unexpected and beautiful. We were lounging around in the lodge. I was lying down, watching tv. And next thing I know, there was a necklace dangling over my head. Apparently, Sly kept the necklace in his pocket the entire time, afraid I would somehow discover it on my own while packing things for our trip. I love it, but mainly I love it because it came from Sly.

    My gift to him, on the other hand, was pretty stupid. I gave him a book of poems and a little pez dispenser. Continue Reading

  • CABINS HOLIDAYS MEMENTOS

    happy valentine’s day!

    We don't really have any fancy plans for Valentine's Day--no heart garlands or red roses or boxes of candy. Usually we give each other smaller, heart-felt cards or gifts and avoid…

  • CALIFORNIA OUTDOORS

    June Lake and Mono Lake

    Another unplanned day on the road, this time, heading back North on 395 until we crossed over the Sierras, and headed back West to San Francisco. We packed up and said…

  • CALIFORNIA CAMPING

    Bishop Creek

    We received a tip from a fellow camper at Kennedy Meadows to bypass our original camping destination (which, at that point had fluctuated between several campgrounds randomly chosen from a guidebook)…

  • CALIFORNIA CAMPING

    2 years in

    Last weekend, me and the boy celebrated our 2 yr anniversary by taking a camping trip to Whiskeytown.…