A Cloudy Mind

Lately my mind has been a bit cloudy (or maybe it's smokey???).  We haven't been able to spend much time outside because of the suffocating smoke that is STILL filling the Tahoe basin.  It's blowing up from the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park and just when we think it's clearing out... the winds push new smoke and ash into our area.  We are definitely getting some "cabin fever" and we are anxious to spend some time outside in FRESH mountain air.

In addition to the smoke driving me crazy, the house we are renting has been listed for sale.  There have been a couple of showings but fortunately for us, no offers yet.  We really like the house and we've made it into our home.  Part of me would like to buy the house but it's out of our budget and needs some work.  We are in a lease until December but if it sells, we will likely have to move out (unless someone buys it as an investment and wants long term tenants).  I've been stressing myself out over the unknown... will it sell?  will we be homeless?  will we be forced to move in December?  will there be a blizzard while we're moving?  will we find another house in the middle of winter?

I always do this... I put entirely too much stress and pressure on myself to answer all these questions when a problem arises... no matter how big or small the problem.  I'm learning to settle my crazy/smokey/cloudy mind and just live in the present but that is a constant battle for me. I am trying desperately to ALWAYS trust and have faith that the same God who put EVERYTHING in place for our move to Tahoe, will put everything in place this time too!  I'm on a personal mission to live whole-heartedly "in the moment" and to quit stressing over questions that I can't answer right now.  What will be... will be.  And I'm excited to see what is to come!  Maybe we'll find a lakefront mansion that rents for $100/month?  YOU NEVER KNOW!!!!

The Land of Fire and Ice

People around here say that we have 2 seasons: winter and fire season (also known as road construction season).

The entire west side of the country is raging with scattered forest fires right now.  We are fortunate that none are close enough to us to put us in danger.  There is one big fire 100 miles away from us, that is still growing.  It has burned 14,000 acres so far and is only 53% contained.  The smoke traveled into the Lake Tahoe basin a couple of nights ago.  Overnight, we had the windows in our bedroom open and smoke from this fire 100 miles away actually came into our room.  Crazy.

Rain would be pretty helpful right about now... but it seems as if it NEVER rains here.  It IS a desert after all.  But the forecast for today called for an 80% chance of "heavy rain."  It's 3:00 in the afternoon and I haven't see ONE rain drop all day!!!  Mike and I both agree that we really miss good ol' NC thunderstorms sometimes.  It's always sunny and dry here!

I haven't posted anything in a couple of weeks, mainly because we haven't done much! We've been relaxing and working, and just hanging out around Lake Tahoe!  But stay tuned because there's SO much to do and see out here!

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

Friday we drove 7 hours down to Sequoia National Park to camp for the weekend.  I'm pretty exhausted... so here's another post of mostly pictures!  Enjoy!

The General Sherman: the world's largest living tree. 

Standing in front of a LIMB that fell off the General Sherman.  Crazy. 

The Tunnel Log: 

Our campsite was near a small fork of the Kaweah River... awesomely blue/clear water. 

There were a LOT of signs about proper food storage, etc. in the park because of the high volume of brown bears... now we know why: 

Saturday we drove up to Kings Canyon.  It was a beautiful drive.  

King's River: 

Back in Sequoia, we stopped to see the General Grant... another huge Sequoia, and other sights in the park.  There was a giant Sequoia that fell in the early 1900's and it looks the same now that it did then.  It's also cool because it's hollow and you can walk through it... 

We climbed to the top of Moro Rock: 

The views were amazing... 

"Stay inside railing."   Does that really need to be said????  

The coolest thing we did over the weekend, was climb Moro rock at night.  Mike convinced me to do it.  It was awesome. It was a cloudless night and trillions of stars were out.  We must have seen 10 to 15 shooting stars.  Very cool experience.  

 On the way home we decided to take a different route... through Yosemite. 

Yosemite Park is also amazing!  Breathtaking scenery everywhere you look.  But spring is definitely the time to visit because this time we noticed the waterfalls had all dried up.  Crazy.  

We drove over Tioga pass leaving the park.  It was probably the most scenic mountain pass we've ever driven over.  

Lake Tenaya: 

 Waterfalls flowing from Lake Ellery...