Honey, I'm Home!

After 50 straight hours of driving - I'm HOME! The astute among us may realize that the photo above is of our departure, not of our arrival, but I'm sure none of you would be interested in seeing my haggard, tear-streaked face crowded by a tangle of limp, oily hair that hadn't been washed since Sacramento, California. And yes, I said tear-streaked, because even the most intrepid travelers are entitled an emotional breakdown every now and then, especially when that breakdown coincides with a very intense daybreak dash through snow, ice, and windshield wiper fluid that froze solid. And, of course, the overwhelming relief of finally being off the road!

Looking at my recent post history, you might be remonstrating me from my lack of posts about my trip - the posts I promised you would cover my journey on a live basis - but I guess that just wasn't in the cards this time around. I blame technology failures and horrible time management. Had I a lesser constitution for remoteness, I may have lapsed into catatonic schizophrenia with the amount of time I spent in areas with no service at all. Have no fear, I will recap the adventures like a champ in the weeks to come.

Some adventures to whet your taste buds:

• Completed my life goal of visiting all 50 states!
• Hung out at a nudist colony in Colorado
• Attended a PhD level astrophysics course at UC Riverside
• Saw a wild sea otter up close and personal
• Cross-country skied to a back country yurt for the night

I can't wait to tell you all about it. Expect an abundance of sunset photos. What have you all been up to?

Karl Comes to Cupertino: A Thanksgiving Visitor

Happy belated Thanksgiving, Zy! Our holiday in San Francisco was festive, full of food and friends. We had an SND-worthy potluck (I made green bean casserole à la Daring Gourmet) and we even got a special guest for the weekend. Brittany Whitaker just moved to California and has been staying with us the last few days.

That's us, all warm in our fuzzies because Karl the Fog also decided this is a great time to visit Cupertino. It finally rained (here and pretty much everywhere in California). Not enough to ease the drought, but enough to finally provide some relief to the parched earth. What a nice change of pace from our usual mild and sunny environs. 

Indoor activities are more suitable at the moment. These days are perfect for mulled wine, board games and puzzles -- all things I know you enjoy. I suppose you indulged in those things yourself at the Friendsgiving gathering last weekend. Wish we could've been there with all of you but at least we'll see you soon. Will you pick up a new puzzle? We can do it together when you get here.

The Nessa & Zy Road Trip Finale: Yosemite to Cupertino

Alas, the story of me and Nessa's trip from Vermont to Cupertino, California is coming to an end! From 24 hours straight to Tulsa, to harrowing adventure in New Mexico, to dodging tractor beams on the Extraterrestrial Highway, and much more, we are finally bringing Nessa home...

After the painfully early morning at Mono Lake, we headed up, up, up into Yosemite National Park, conveniently located en route to destination: Cupertino. I love entering Yosemite from the eastern access point in Lee Vining. It feels more removed from the impending tourist traffic ahead and it's always best to drive the road less traveled - the Tioga Road, so far away from the hustle and bustle of the oh-so-popular Yosemite Valley. It's a nice way to lean into a National Park experience before the overwhelming crowds, traffic, and then show stopping stunnery of Yosemite's most famous inhabitants. A night of primitive camping amongst the sage in the Inyo National Forest and a Mono Lake sunrise before a day at Yosemite? Yes, please! (and definitely get breakfast at the Whoa Nellie Deli in Lee Vining)

The first time I went to Yosemite with AGP, we had elected to skip the Valley in order to take a more accessible hike and then make it to San Francisco with time to spare. If you are heading into the Valley, especially after driving the Tioga Road, assume that your adventure will be daylong. I mean obviously, right? Most people save up vacation all year just to spend weeks frolicking amongst the granite domes and the glacial valleys dripping melt water from the upwards of 13,000 feet in elevation. So it was a clear choice for me and Nessa to spend a few hours exploring the beautiful Valley on this special trip.

Yosemite is pretty famous for having several Giant Sequoia groves, although Nessa and I spent our time exploring beneath the canopy of ponderosa pines along the Merced River in the shadow of El Capitan.






Ah, the infamous "Captain", illuminated in geology slide shows in lecture halls around the nation. The granite that makes up El Capitan was formed approximately 100 million years ago!

We cruised out of Yosemite in the golden afternoon, traveling from the crisp summer of the Valley into the bizarre alien scape that was the western edges of the park and the surrounding Stanislaus National Forest, which had very recently been on fire. Actually, Route 120 had only opened back up a couple of days before we had arrived! In the park, we were in awe of the ash colored trees where a low intensity fire had torn through the forest floor, burning up the trunks but leaving behind a cloudy pink canopy of needles.

And then - woah. We stopped at an overlook that truly put the devastation of forest fires into perspective for a couple of rainy day flatlanders like us.



The size consumed by the wildfire was three times the size of San Francisco! With high intensity fires like this one, it can take 20 years or more for the recovery process to begin in the forest. Lost are valuable homes and food sources for many animals and the soil will be at risk for erosion and nutrient depletion, not a pretty forecast for such a massive tract of wild space. However, it was nice to see that nearby Groveland was spared certain disaster, and the streets were lined with handmade signs thanking the firefighters for their hard work and sacrifice.

Before long we were ensconced in the eternal interstates of the Bay area of California, anxiously spiraling towards Vanessa's new life in Cupertino. We arrived just as the sun set, slowly creeping down the dead end that her rental cottage was situated on. Since Nessa's boyfriend had arrived in California a few months before her, he had scouted out this awesome home for the two of them. Greeted by a small front yard lined with fruit trees, flowering shrubs, darting hummingbirds, and a perfect oasis among the nonstop pop-op of urban Cali, we knew we were finally home.

Thanks for reading about our adventure!!

The whole tome is here:
Ready, Set, Tulsa!
From Oklahoma to New Mexico
Adventure in the Jemez Mountains
On Arches & The World's Oldest Living Organism
Dreamland & The Extraterrestrial Highway
Morning Over Mono: A Poem

November Wrap Up

Hello, Yuletide! I can't believe it's time to start Christmas shopping soon - like, right now! Here are some of my favorite posts from this month:

Accidental Light Painting: Streaks of pretty lights - why and how!

Morning Over Mono: A Poem: Dawn breaks and poetry is inspired

Orange Season: A girl dressed in orange stalks through the woods

Manchester Hot Glass: Glass blowing 101

Go: WWOOF-ing!: Adventures farming in South Dakota <3 <3

I have also been trying to utilize Instagram more these days to stay in touch with family and friends. No lie, I've been cheating a bit because my phone and tablet have pretty shitty cameras. You know, gotta keep it crisp!

 

Go ahead, follow me!

Despite the foot of fresh snow (and the impending forecast - whomp), AGP and I have a pretty packed December including plenty of trips to Boston, Maine, and Connecticut. And after new years we have an AWESOME road trip planned to while away the frozen months like some youthful snowbirds before jumping back into tiny house building in the spring. Woohoo!

Morning Over Mono: A Poem

(Follow along on the adventure! Ready, Set, Tulsa!, Oklahoma to New Mexico, Adventure in the Jemez Mountains, On Arches & The World's Oldest Living Organism, and Dreamland & the Extraterrestrial Highway)

Life subaqueous, beneath Lake Mono
In hypersaline stream's end hydro
Precipitation in silhouette
From fresh water springs, spires beget

The western watchmen, Sierra Nevada
Keeping watch on solvent aqua
Lest the Angels whisk it away  
Long live Mono! is what we'll say

But tufa castles still impress
By dwindling waters, lightly dressed
For admiration, lens and eye
The craggy forest and lightened sky

A desert oasis in Mono Basin
Offers parched landscape hydration
Perched aside three ninety five
The sky and ground and lake's alive

Welcome day to Mono's shores
To obelisks of lacustrine ores
And gradients of sunrise drama
The tufa towers in panorama

Daylight glints on softened water
A magnum builder, sculptor, salter
Rejoicing in the sun, awake
The salted banks of Mono Lake
 

  
Boy! Writing scientifically and geologically themed poems is hard! I hope this one does the trick. I'll try to elaborate more on the astounding nature of Mono Lake soon. If you are interested in learning a bit more about hypersaline lakes, check out my post on The Great Salt Lake in Utah!