Colorado, Waldron Family Reunion

One of the best things about being a part of a large family are the family reunions! This year, the Waldrons decided to convene in Colorado, where we all spent a few days in cabins in the mountains. Activities included (but were not limited to) eating, drinking coffee with Baileys, more eating, general socializing, hiking, and then some more eating.  In lieu of the rough summer that Colorado seems to be having, I thought I'd share some of the happy memories that the beautiful state left with me.  

On our drive to the cabins, we passed through Poudre Canyon, one of the areas devastated by the recent forest fires.  This particular stretch was contained the mere weekend before our drive-through.  While the destruction was vast, it was beautiful in its own way.

My sister, mom, and I with my aunt and cousin.  It had been far too long.

On our hike to a secluded mountain lake, we encountered some beautiful wildflowers.

It's one thing to carry your child on your shoulders during a hike.  But it's a completely new ball game to do it at 10,500 feet.  Talk about dedication!

 Edel surprised me at the airport (best surprise ever)! And, of course, everybody loved him.  That part didn't surprise me.

Haley (who I met for the first time) splashing in the lake.  This is just a small sampling of the Waldron clan on the right, enjoying the scenery after a short hike.



When my dad fell ill, Edel stepped up and took over grilling duties. He passed with flying colors, and he never even let on how nervous he was!
On the right, a bigger chunk of the Waldron family enjoying a good meal.  

The young ones, posing nicely for the cameras

On the drive back to the airport, we drove through the scenic Rocky Mountain National Park.  The scenery produced a plethora of pictures, including this gem of my parents.  Aren't they so cute? 25+ years of marriage, and they are still going strong!

It was only appropriate that I stand on the Atlantic side and Edel stand on the Pacific side.

Colorado's scenery never ceases to amaze me.  So beautiful.

Kings Canyon

About a month ago, I purchased a tent.  It was a small purchase made with big intentions...a love of the outdoors is a trait that was instilled in my sister and me at an early age by my parents, and it has only grown stronger since I moved to California.  However, even though I have lived in this awesome state for almost a year, I had yet to properly explore it with a camping trip!  To remedy this, Edel and I packed up his little truck, and made the 4 hour drive out to Kings Canyon National Park.


Kings Canyon is neighbors with the famous Sequoia National Park (essentially they are one in the same), yet, somehow, it is much less busy.  It reminded me of Yosemite, but without all the crowds and traffic.  Basically, IT WAS AMAZING.  But don't take my word for it.  Just look at all of my pictures instead!

Me exploring the creek behind our campsite in style.

Pretty river.

A cool bridge on our 9 mile hike to Mist Falls

Hiking through the canyon to Mist Falls.  The scenery changed with the drop of a dime.

General Grant tree.  Not as famous as General Sherman tree, but still pretty big if you ask me...

This guy hitchhiked a ride for a few miles.

 

(Left) Edel is proudly displaying his handy work.  (Right) Some of the scenery on the drive to Kings Canyon

(Left) A sizable tree at our campground.

(Right) On our way to see Roaring River Falls

We walked along this river on our day hike to Mist Falls.  It was pretty darn picturesque.

Roaring River Falls basically just rushes out of a granite chute.  Pretty cool!

 (Left) Edel's truck (which we named 'Pepe') was such a trooper.  Over 12,000 feet of elevation change overall, and he still got almost 30 mpg!  

(Right) The creek by our campsite

Hiking in style

 

Edel's old man bones were feeling those hikes by the end of the day! Above is me on the way to Mist Falls, frolicking in the ferns.

"I'M KING OF THE WOOORRRLLD!!!" 

Another pretty river shot on the way to Mist Falls.  These trusty walking sticks did us a lot of good along the way! 

Spectacular views.  Zero crowds.

We finally made it to Mist Falls, and the view was well worth the hike.  I promise, a picture doesn't do justice to its size!  This is one of the parks largest waterfalls, and it's about 4.5 miles from the nearest road.

Edel enjoyed our lunch break at Mist Falls by testing out the waters of the river.  It was really cold.

We drove past this cute little fall (Grizzly Falls) on our way home.

This picture is more for my father than anyone.  If he understood how far down the bottom of the canyon was, he would not have approved of my posing like this.  I promise that I wasn't in any danger, but it made even Edel nervous.

On our way home we stopped at a sequoia grove to marvel at some big trees, and we weren't disappointed.  They were pretty big.

Point Reyes National Seashore

Before I jump into things, I want to apologize about the lack of entries recently.  I mostly credit my laziness, but I wouldn't want you to think that Amanda and I lead boring lives.  We don't, I promise!  So here's a little something I found to be blog-worthy: Point Reyes National Seashore.

This massive national park preserve is located about an hour north of San Francisco, just off of the beautiful Highway 1.  The park is packed with hiking trails, campgrounds, rocky bluffs overlooking the Pacific, whale-watching, and beaches galore!  The hike that Edel and I trekked was about 8 miles altogether with a peaceful lake at the halfway mark that we used for a nice swimming break.

We started our hike by walking through a grove of towering eucalyptus trees.  I, for one, think that these trees are just awesome, so I had to snap a quick pic.

 The trail was occasionally dotted with picturesque seasonal ponds in between the mountainside trails, the coastal views, and the woodsy areas.  This place had EVERYTHING.

Halfway to the waterfall, we took a picnic break at Bass Lake, a nice little fresh water lake along the way.  There was a nice small crowd of twenty-somethings, drinking beer and floating on rafts enjoying the summer sun.  We are already planning a return trip to copy their brilliant idea.

After the lake, we hiked a couple more miles to Alamere Falls, a rather breathtaking waterfall that drops 150 feet off a cliff almost directly into the ocean.  The views were pretty decent, if I do say so myself.

Obligatory "couple" photo.  He is absolutely wonderful.

 We attempted to climb down the cliffs to get a picture of the waterfall from the base, but eventually the descent got too steep (and crumbly) for comfort, so we settled for some pictures of the cascades near the top.

These falls were small compared to Alamere Falls, but they sure make Edel look rather minuscule.

This picture was the result of Edel leaning over the cliff on his belly and randomly aiming the camera at the huge fall from the top.  It made me a little nervous, so I made myself busy exploring the surrounding area while he played photographer.

Me having conquered the baby waterfall!  It really was an excellent day, and well worth the two hour drive.  We will definitely be back!

Shit Ton 'O Love

Although I am quite happy in my current job at Cisco for now, I definitely don't presume I will be there forever. In fact, I have a lot of "Plan B" lives planned! One such life has always been to open a cupcake shop and bake. Perhaps also a pie shop? Something involving baked goods.

I became even more enamored by the idea after discovering the show "Cupcake Wars." It just seems really fun to create creative cupcakes of nummy proportions! 

A woman I work closely with had a birthday this week. At work, we usually get a pre-made cake that we all gather around at the end of the day to celebrate a birthday. Instead, I offered to bake cupcakes for the office. The woman I made them for, Toni, loves cupcakes, and more importantly, the flavors I chose. 2 catches of frosting, 3 batches of batter, 6 dozen cupcakes, 4 sangria-ed friends, and about 5 hours later...

Starting in the front left and working clockwise:
1. Red Velvet: this is the red velvet cupcake with the classic smooth texture. We added miniature chocolate chips, and topped it with homemade cream cheese frosting. SheShe added the finishing touch of the mini chocolate chips on top :)
2. Banana Nutella: in the back is the banana nutella cupcake. We used vanilla batter with fresh, well diced bananas mixed in. In the center is delicious nutella. The frosting is a homemade classic vanilla with some nutella mixed in for extra hazelnutty goodness. I obviously lacking a piping device, thus I used a zip-lock back. ...this resulted in the nutella frosting looking a bit like poop, thus these were fondly named "Shit Ton 'O Love." They were my favorites!!
3. S'mores: At the bottom of the liner is a layer of graham cracker crust (delicious). The batter is normal milk chocolate, and at the top we melted some marshmallows to act as the "frosting." If I were to make these again, I think I would have more graham cracker crust, and add some pieces of chocolate into it.

I have already taken some orders at work, and my business is off the ground! Don't be surprised when I open a cupcake shop in the future.

Run, Forrest, Run!

As some of you may know, my new year's resolution this year was to begin running. I've never really been a runner before, and by "never really," I mean the last time I ran a mile was 6th grade gym class. One of my coworkers runs half marathons a few times a year, and I decided I wanted to run one with her over Labor Day weekend. I've been training since about the beginning of February, running more and more over the weeks. Today, I had my first 10K (6.2 miles) called the Mermaid Run.

Kayla and Edel woke up super early with me (aka 6:30am) and we headed out to Quarry Lakes Regional Recreation Area in Fremont, CA. They were amazing and came to cheer me on :) I got there wearing the free T-shirt I got for registering, and my first official race bib (#1114). The theme for this year's run was "I run because..." and every one filled in their bib's with various quotes. For example, "I run because I'm awesome," "I run because I can," "I run because it makes me happy," or "I run because I have long legs." I was flirting with various things ("I run because monsters are chasing me" or "I run because Jenny said so") but settled on:

The race began at 8:30, and I was surrounded by a giant crowd of people. I had no idea how many people ran! All shapes, sizes, and ages. But anyway... the time ticked by and so did the miles. My stride came and went. Miles #1 and #4 were the toughest. I had a nice stride in the middle and by the end. Of course, for me, a nice stride is still between 12 and 13 minutes per mile. But hey! It's not like I was in a race or anything (cough). I finished the race in an hour and 18 minutes, somewhere in the middle to third quartile of the pack.





Upon finishing, I downed a bottle of water, and laid on the grass. It wasn't as great as Michigan grass, but it made do. I've spent most of the afternoon napping, rightfully so. And now I am watching the Star Wars episode of Family Guy from the classic Sosne position - reclined.




I feel really good and proud of myself. I never in a million years would have imagined I could run a single mile, let alone 6 and change. I think running a half marathon in September will feel overwhelming, and I can't wait to accomplish the goal. ...I'm also scared shitless, because doing what I did today TWICE seems ridiculous! Luckily I have 3.5 months more to train :)

Now here are some Joe Man pictures, cause I said so...