Memorial Day Backpacking Trip #2

This last weekend Gregg and I went on our 2nd annual Memorial Day backpacking trip. We took off on Friday after work and drove 4 hours up to Lone Pine, the town at the base of the Sierra's where we were going to be hiking for the weekend. We stayed the night in a small motel down town. It was a historic motel and there were no bathrooms in the room - just a sink...after we checked in we went to this really cool little diner for some cherry & peach pie - it was so yummy! 

On Saturday morning we set off for our weekend adventure. 

Yes - there were bears and it freaked me out! 

The first day we hiked about 6 miles through the Cotton Wood Lakes Basin to Cotton Wood Lake #5.

For dinner the first night we made homemade chicken & dumpling soup and banana pudding for dessert - super yummy!

Our camp site was at the edge of the lake and surrounded by beautiful snow topped peaks - it was an amazing view! The first night was a little rough though - we didn't sleep very well. We think it had to do with the elevation- we were at 11,000 feet.

The second day we hiked another 4 miles to our next camp site. The hike was beautiful. We went through rock fields, forest, and meadows, the trail hadn't been opened yet so for part of the way we were making our own trail - it was fun climbing over all the big rocks and finding our own way around. 

Our second campsite was up on a ledge looking over this meadow just at the base of this mountain. We could hear the creek running and had another amazing view of the snowy mountains. 

After we set up camp we went exploring - we walked around looking at all the fish in the streams and then decided to follow the stream up the side of one of the mountains to see if we could find where it was coming from - we climbed up pretty far but never found the source - but we did find a beautiful area where the stream ran through a green meadow - it looked like a fairytale.

For dinner the second night we had a mountain man freeze dried meal but we made apple dumplings for dessert - it was really really good - I was impressed with our outdoor culinary skills! 

This is the bear canister that we had to pack every night - we had to put all our food and toiletries in it so that the bears wouldn't be able to find anything in our tent they'd want to eat. It really freaked me out to think that there would be bears even close to our tent - so I was very diligent when it came to this chore! 

We were able to have a fire the 2nd night - It was a little windy but it lifted our spirits and gave us something else to do for a few hours.

On Monday we packed up and hiked the last 3 miles out. We had a great time and we enjoyed the time we got to spend together. 

In all I think we hiked just about 15 miles. Next year we'll do it all over again :) 

6 Month Project

For Gregg's 32nd birthday back in November I got him this print of a painting we found in down town Laguna. I asked my dad to make me a frame for it and he did...we brought it home an it sat on my floor unfinished for the last 6 months - finally I decided it was time to finish this project, so I painted and sanded and then we hung it - It turned out exactly how I'd pictured it :) Thanks dad! 

My mechanic

So i found myself a new mechanic :)...

Cinco de Mayo

For Cinco de Mayo we had some friends over for a dinner party. We made chicken & carne asada tacos, rice, and lots of toppings. After dinner we watched American Idol and had tres leches for dessert. It was really fun. 

We've been busy

March Weekend #1

We went camping with friends Jeff & Mary up near Ortega Highway, in the De Anza wilderness. It was really fun. We camped on Friday night made cobbler in the dutch oven and then went hiking on Saturday. Gregg got this sweet camping stove for Christmas and i had fun using it to make sausage and pancakes for breakfast.

March Weekend #2

Gregg and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary on March 17th. We spent the weekend before our anniversary in Carmel, CA. We stayed in the cutest hotel called the Normandy Inn. 

We ate our 1st dinner at the yummiest Thai restaurant. We found it a few years ago  on our way home from our San Francisco trip. 

The next day we spent a lot of time walking up and down the quaint little streets and going into all the cute little shops.

Then we went to my FAVORITE cheese shop where i spent a fortune on cheese. 

Then we went to the beach. Carmel has the most amazing white sand beach - it is usually windy but so beautiful. 

 We had dinner the 2nd night and the really unique restaurant called Casanova. They  serve a 3 course meal that was super yummy and wonderful desserts (Gregg had a cold and couldn't taste much so he wasn't super impressed, but i thought it was great). 

The next morning we woke up early and hit the road. We drove home on Highway 1. It was so beautiful driving down the coast.  We stopped to take lots of pictures. 

We saw whales - it was so neat! 

We took a little detour and went on a small hike to this waterfall in Big Sur. It is coming right out of the mountain down to the beach - so rad. 

Gregg and I just love spending time together. The last 2 years have flown by but they have been the best 2 years ever! 

March Weekend #3 - We took a break and stayed home

March Weekend #4

The last weekend in March we drove out to Arizona. Gregg went camping with my dad and his scouts to a place in Northern Arizona called Horton Springs.

Gregg and Dad making chicken and dumplings for dinner - Gregg said that it was  the best thing he'd ever made - he is still talking about it and its been 4 weeks since then.  

Dad made pineapple upside down cake in his mess kit - how awesome is that!

New favorite camping treat -  marshmallows and chocolate stuffed in a banana and then roasted over the hot coals. You have to try this! 

While we were in AZ we celebrated my sister Melanie's birthday and my grandpa's birthday. They have the same birthday, April 4th. 

My nephew Owen found his belly button

April Weekend #1

We spent general conference weekend in San Diego visiting our friends Dave & Stephanie. We went out to Coronado Island and walked around. Its a pretty neat place. We got ice cream for dessert at this place with a cow in the front. 

April Weekend #2

My brother Matthew came to visit us for Easter weekend. I took the day off on Thursday and we spent some nice brother sister time together hanging out down town. On Friday night we went out to dinner with our friend Kristal. We went to this place in South Laguna called Tabu Grill. Super pricey but very yummy. After dinner we went to our favorite beach, Table Rock, and had s'mores. It was a cold night but the moon was out so it was really pretty. 

On the way down to the beach we saw this HUGE spider - so scary!!

For Easter I made dinner for the 3 of us. Matthew doesn't like ham so i made salmon instead. 

I made this homemade lemon blueberry poppy seed cake for dessert. 

April Weekend #3

Just this past weekend Gregg hiked Mt. Whitney with some buddies. It was a 22 mile hike that they started at 3 am on Saturday morning. The summit was at 14,800 feet or something crazy like that. All the guys said that this was the hardest thing they have EVER done. Gregg forgot his sun glasses so not only did his face get sunburned, so did his eye balls - it was very painful but Gregg just says "lesson learned, I'm ready to do it again." I think he's crazy but that's just one of the million reasons why i love him. 

April Weekend #4

I'm not exactly sure what we are doing this weekend but i think we need a vacation from all this fun we've been having.  To be continued.....