Practicing Faith

Guess what??? I'm going to Lima, Peru in November!  I'm going on another wheelchair outreach... where used/refurbished wheelchairs get shipped to Peru and then a team of PT's and OT's show up and hold free clinics where we distribute the wheelchairs to people who need them.  

I did an outreach like this to Romania back in 2009?  [I think that was the year.]  Anyway, it's been a while but I'm excited about doing another one!  And this will be my first time to South America!  

I had no idea how much we (American's) have at our disposal.  Many people here need wheelchairs but we have access to custom fit chairs which get billed through insurance.  In Romania, my eyes were opened.  We saw people in homemade wheelchairs.  We also saw people with chairs that were practically falling apart.  We have a lot of "needs" in this country, but there is definitely a need for this equipment (that we are "throwing away") in these other countries.  

If you want to help by praying: Please pray for safe travels and an effective outreach.  Please pray that all the Americans get along with each other (I have no doubt that we will get along with the Peruvians).  Please pray for every team member's health and happiness while on the outreach.

If you want to help by donating to this outreach: visit https://www.joniandfriends.org/support/
... enter my last name (this is kinda funky, but you have to press the space bar after my name in order for it to work) ... and then enter my account number: 6EF2D5
and follow the steps to to make your donation.

1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm.  Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 

2 Nights on the PCT

The Pacific Crest Trail is a 2,650 mile trail from Mexico to Canada and it runs along the Sierras, just a short drive from our house.

I found myself with a 5 day weekend (sort of unexpectedly).  I was planning to attend a 3 day continuing education course in Sacramento so I had requested time off from work but, it was an intense and expensive pediatric course considering I only have 5 kiddos on my caseload.  So, I skipped the course and went on a double overnight backpacking trip along the PCT instead.

Mike and I were pretty hesitant on going backpacking since the weather has been a little crazy here lately.  We've had frequent afternoon thunderstorms.  Here are some pictures from our deck over the past week:

It looked like the sun was balancing on top
of the mountain. 

Smiley face in the clouds?

We decided to brave the unpredictable weather so Friday morning I went to the Forest Service office to get permits for our hike.  I was feeling a little guilty and selfish for skipping the course and I thought I could make myself feel better by doing something for someone else.  So, I went to Safeway, bought a dozen donuts and took them to the nearest fire station to show my appreciation to the local firemen.  They seemed very grateful (and a little shocked) by my gesture.  It just so happens that I started at Fire Station #1... totally by accident.  But, it made me feel so good that I'm thinking about doing something for Fire Station #2 next weekend... and so on.  All firemen and policemen are heroes but it's fire season right now and I'm especially grateful that they work so hard to protect us.

Anyway, I felt a little better after my random delivery of donuts and when I got home we loaded up our stuff and began our trip.  We parked my car at our planned exit point and drove Mike's truck to our starting trailhead.

Day 1: ECHO LAKES TO LAKE OF THE WOODS (3 miles)

Since Zater is getting older and can't handle really long hikes like he used to, we chose to take a water taxi across Upper and Lower Echo lakes which took off 3.2 miles of hiking.  

We weren't the only ones taking the short cut. 

There's a small channel between the 2 lakes.
It connects Upper and Lower Echo Lakes. 

We let Zater jump off the dock a few times before starting our hike.
It was pretty hot out so we thought that would keep him cool. 

We had only ~3 miles of actual hiking to get us to Lake of the Woods.  Since we left after lunch time... and because it was hot and sunny... I was grateful for the short hike.  

Looking back on Echo Lakes

Beautiful wildflowers... and Pyramid Peak in the distance. 

Lake of the Woods

We camped on the East side of the lake so we could watch the sunset over the mountains.  We walked around the lake, went for a swim and laid on the warm granite rocks.  

Dinner was freeze-dried Mexican rice/beans from a bag (which tasted a lot better than it sounds).  We ate s'mores granola bars while watching the sun set and then headed to bed.  

We slept with the rain fly off the tent.  It was a cloudless night with tons of stars.  You could see the silhouette of the tall trees around our campsite and a perfect little sliver of moon.  When the sun came up there was a gorgeous pink glow on the mountains.  I waited for the sun to come up a little higher before crawling out of the tent.  

Morning reflection. 

The other end of Lake of the Woods - lots of rock islands. 

DAY 2: LAKE OF THE WOODS TO SUSIE LAKE (4 miles)

We made coffee & breakfast before going for a morning swim.  

It was a short 1.5 mile hike to Lake Aloha (on my bucket list).  We originally wanted to camp overnight here but there were no permits available.  It is a very popular spot and now we know why.  It's amazing.  

Lake Aloha.  

 Lately, I've been reading a lot of books about backpacking in the Sierras.  Lots of hikers apparently name their packs ("Monster"... "Big Heinous Pack"... etc).  I decided mine was like a turtle shell on my back, but it's not quite the right color so I came up with... The Citrus Tortuga. 

Anyway, we found a perfect shady spot by the lake with a big rock peninsula.  We swam and dove off rocks.  The water is as blue as Tahoe.  It was cold, but not freezing.  Truly refreshing.  We filtered water and made lunch.  

Our rock peninsula facing the backside of Pyramid Peak. 

It was actually deep enough to dive (safely).  I know it doesn't look like it.  

 The winds picked up and we noticed storm clouds ahead of us AND behind us.  We followed the PCT to the end of Lake Aloha where Mike spotted a perfect rocky shelter.  We were prepared to hide out and wait out the storm but we didn't have to.  The storm in front of us and the storm behind us met right above us but they basically stalled each other out.  We saw a lot of lightning and rain in the distance, but nothing too close to us.  In fact, we got no rain at all.  

Shelter for the Citrus Tortuga in case of rain. 

We waited for HOURS here.  It never came much closer. 

Raining towards Heavenly.  Probably raining at our house.  

After waiting a few hours, we decided to push on.  We hiked past Heather Lake to Susie Lake.  It was overcast and cool but no rain. 

Heather Lake. 

A cool twisty tree overlooking Heather Lake. 

Looking down toward Susie Lake. 

Another cool, twisty tree by Susie Lake - right on our campsite. 

 We set up our stuff and made dinner and then decided to lay in the tent and read for a while.  Suddenly, everything turned pink outside so I grabbed the camera and took a hundred pictures of the beautiful sunset.  

Amazing cloud formations. 

Yes I know those pictures all look the same.
It was so beautiful I couldn't stop taking pictures. 

 That night, it didn't rain but it did stay cool and I slept like a baby until 6:30 am.  

DAY 3: SUSIE LAKE TO GLEN ALPINE TRAILHEAD (5 miles)

We were packed up and hiking by 7:45.  It was 5 miles of downhill to get back to the car.  

Reflections.  It's hard to notice the lake because of the reflection of the mountain.

Desolation. 

We were back at the car by 9:30.  We stopped by McD's for biscuits on the way to pick up Mike's truck and we were home/unpacked by noon.  After a long shower (which felt amazing), I sat on the couch and helped Mike devour an entire batch of homemade guacamole. 

We had a baby shower to attend at 3:00 but around 2:15 Mike noticed an awesome storm in Carson Valley.  We sat on our neighbor's deck and watched the storm cross the valley and come up the ridge towards our house.  

The power went out for ~5 hours (the baby shower was still awesome... even without power).  We heard stories about how bad the weather had been in South Lake the last 2 days (hail storms and lightning, etc).  We were so fortunate to have had good weather while in Desolation.  Truly blessed. 

Sorry for the long post.  And sorry I missed my family reunion at Mt. Gould.  Wish I could have been there!  I miss you all so much and would LOVE to see you all soon!

Being social.

This past week has been very productive.  Work days are always busy which seems to make the week go by very quickly.  This past week, I checked off another bucket list item by hosting a baby shower for my friend Ann.  It's the first time I've ever hosted a party on a Thursday night but I think it worked out well because a lot of people came!  It was so nice to have all the girls from work over and surprisingly we hardly talked about work!!!  I had so much fun planning it and decorating the house in all things pink/girly.

Friday night, we had some friends over for dinner.  Saturday night, we had some different friends over for dinner.  We were feeling very social.  I forgot how much I like having people over.  Sometimes I forget that I like being social!  I get so tired from my busy week that I usually want to come home... change into pjs... eat dinner... eat dessert... and go to bed.

Anyway, Saturday night after dinner, we went for a midnight paddle on the lake under the glow of the SUPER moon.  We met some friends at the beach and paddled out at midnight.  I attempted to take some pictures but they didn't turn out too well...

Lots of people are out in South Lake during a full moon.  It was awesome to see the silhouette of the mountains around us and the glow of the moon on the water.  You could even see the bottom of the lake through the crystal clear water.  We paddled along the shoreline, then laid on the boards to star gaze for a while before paddling back.  

Another item off the bucket list! 

Sunday morning we met a group of friends at Sand Harbor for a day on the beach and paddling the turquoise water.  The water was SO refreshing and it's the first time this summer that I've actually swam in the lake for more than just a quick dunk under the water.  

Sometimes, I can't believe we live here.  

Independence

I enjoyed a nice long weekend due to the July 4th holiday.  Mike and I started the weekend with a hike to the top of Freel Peak.  Another item on the bucket list... COMPLETE!

JULY 3rd: 

Freel is the highest peak in the Lake Tahoe basin at 10,881 ft.  That's definitely the highest peak either of us has climbed so far.   It was only a 10 mile hike round trip BUT you gain 2,600 ft of elevation from the start to the peak.  Another thing that makes it a challenging hike is that the steepest part of the trail is mostly small gravel and sand which is really hard to climb in.  Each step in that soft dirt is like taking 2 steps forward and 1 step back.  The very top of the peak is mostly large rocks and each step has to be carefully placed because you can't tell which rocks are unstable.  

Mike and I were practically the only people on the trail.  During our entire hike we passed ~6 people.  That's exactly what we wanted considering South Lake was FULL of tourists.  The trail was quiet... except for the 2 rock slides that we heard (but never saw) that rumbled through the mountains.  The first rock slide stopped us in our tracks.  You could hear the boulders falling, but ironically we never saw them.  It. was. creepy.  The second rock slide happened while we were standing at the peak and I was videotaping the 360 degree view.  Unfortunately, you can't hear the rumble of the rocks in the video.  

The only sign around marking the way toward the Tahoe Rim Trail...
wasn't sure we could trust it, but it got us where we needed to go!  

Beautiful and twisty Sequoias. 

Freel Peak is the peak in the far left of the picture.  

It was pretty steep... and sandy. 

But the views were worth it! 

On top of the HIGHEST peak in the basin! And it was just us!  

Lake Tahoe on the right... Fallen Leaf Lake to the left. 

An amazing view of Lake Tahoe, the ridgeline, and Carson Valley on the right side of the picture.  Lake level is 6200' and the valley is just over 4,000'.  

Job's Sister and Job's Peak. 

Officially marked off the bucket list!

Did I mention it was dusty?  My legs were black with dirt!

Well worn boots. 

We were all alone except for this brave little guy...

... he did not seem to be afraid of people. 

The peaks by Round Top Lake (where we camped a few weekends ago)
as seen from the top of Freel Peak! 

The hike down was... interesting.  We ended up taking a "short cut" off the trail (not 100% intentionally, but when we realized that we were off the main trail, we were far enough down the mountain that we weren't turning around).  It was dusty, rocky, steep, and at times we felt like Bear Grylls sliding and jumping down the mountain.  

After the hike, we went straight to In-And-Out Burger.  For those who have never visited the west coast... these are cheap but DELICIOUS burgers and fries.  It's great (but not healthy) post activity nourishment.    

JULY 4th:

Mike has had to work at Kirkwood Ski Resort (working the lift for the bike park) Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so I was on my own for the holiday.  I was determined NOT to go down into South Lake with the MILLIONS (literally) of tourists.  

So, I did some chores around the house and was lying poolside by 10:00 am.  Once the pool got crowded, I took Zater for a hike on the Tahoe Rim Trail.  The trails were quiet again and it was lovely (but very hot).  We hiked to a vista to view the lake, then I hung up the hammock between 2 shady trees and read a book in complete solitude.  Once Mike got home, we grilled turkey burgers and corn on the cob before driving up to "Top of the World" to view the fireworks.  It's the first time I've watched fireworks from ABOVE the fireworks!  It was a perfect spot.

The view from the vista! 

Not a bad place to read a book...
you can't tell in the picture but I could see the lake from this spot! 

 

Can I get a lift to the top??? 

Z checking out the wildflowers. 

A wild orchid???  Seriously!?!

Top of the World.  Sometimes I can't believe I live here. 

Moon over Tahoe

LOTS of boats on the lake. 

There were heart shaped fireworks...

... and smiley face fireworks...

... and a killer grand finale!
Such an awesome fireworks show! 

I am so grateful for my freedom.  Freedom to travel outside of this country and come back!  Freedom to do whatever I want!  I've been minimally exposed to other cultures and even though we complain about the state of our country, we are truly blessed to have so much freedom.  Thanks to all who have served to allow us to have such freedom without sacrifice on our part. 

JULY 5th:

We both worked... LAME!

The rest of the weekend was spent cleaning the house and getting things ready for a baby shower that I'm hosting soon.   Well, that's the latest news from our lives out west!