On My Own Again

Man, I am not good at regular updates on this thing. I have never been able to keep a journal, and this is not so different. I'll do my best.

I am currently sitting in Adriana Palmeira's kitchen sipping coffee and enjoying a leisurely morning. I have been here for about a week now, including two nights spent on Hilary Maynards couch in Oakland California. For those of you who don't know who these people are, Adriana is my dear friend Hugo's wild and incredible mother, and Hilary is my splendid friend/10th grade science teacher. Fantastic.

I left off in Zion National Park I believe. Our second day there we did another hike up to a point called Angel's Landing. I think a bunch of people have died falling off of it. It's only about four and a half miles round trip, but it's not an easy hike. The bulk of it is a traverse up a mountainside on a paved path, gaining about 800 feet in those two miles. Not bad. Then the last half mile or so is a vertical scramble up another several hundred feet. There are chains set into the rock to aid you as you climb, though we rarely found them necessary. The view from the top was stunning and we had the luck of seeing a California Condor up close and personal while sunning ourselves at the summit. There are pictures on facebook and hopefully I can get some loaded up on here soon.

That afternoon we said farewell to our (adorable) friend Simon, who had given us a ride to the park, and made our way to the Cedar City bus stop, bound for the big ditch. In Cedar City we made friends with the gas station attendants who were manning the bus-cum-gas station, who were lovely. We boarded the bus and made it all the way to Vegas before I realized I'd left my iPod and charger in Cedar City. Crap.

We stayed in the Grand Canyon Hostel in Flagstaff, Arizona. The first day we missed the shuttle up to the Grand Canyon and so contented ourselves with wandering the awesome city of Flagstaff (it really is a wicked cool town). The next day we drove up to see that big hole in the ground with a tiny German woman named Caroline and her massive, blonde, German baby, Johannes. The canyon was spectacular. Can't wait to go back and do an overnight, back-country trip down to the Colorado river (which runs through it).

Zac and I left for Los Angeles that night and arrived the following morning. We found a very bizarre hostel for 20/night and stayed there the first night. Wandered the city the next day, then Zac headed back to Minneapolis. I took a late night bus to San Francisco and here I am.

I have been relaxing for the most part, traveling can take a lot out of ya. Today I am going to go for a hike in Marin and visit friends at the Children's Hospital and Research Center Oakland.

I'll try and be more regular with my posts, then they won't be so tedious!