Meteor shower

I had a rare weekend that resulted in minimal pictures. Friday night was the peak of a meteor shower and we drove an hour out into the desert to camp and watch the shooting stars.

It was incredible and could not be captured on our phones. We saw dozens of meteors streaking across the sky. It wa so dark we could see all the constellations and galaxies. It was an unforgettable experience.

The only pictures I have is what the campsite looked like the next day 

Literally middle of the desert 

With a tree or two

The rest of the weekend we lazed at the beach in Santa Barbara. Not much to report out other than a chill weekend WA exactly what I needed.

Clouds rest

I have a whole new crew of friends and they have fully heard about all the adventures the Bakersfield kids are known for. As one of the veterans, it's my job to take them out into the world and show them what's what. So naturally, I started by taking them to my favorite spot. That's right, another trip to Yosemite!!! 

I decided to really test this group, taking them to one of the hardest hikes in the park. Cloud's Rest. 

The trail was very deceiving. It started off very easy and casual. First landmark was a huge lake made from the late snow snowmelt 

From there....it got not so easy. We struggled for 4 whole hours straight up hill through forest, desert, and rocks. Occasionally we stopped for food and photos

And of course stopped to appreciate the surroundings

But mostly we walked and laughed and struggled and sang and talked about life. It was a great group of people which always helps.

Finally we got to the final stretch

I'm glad mom couldn't see this because it was not for people afraid of heights. One false step could lead to a very bad day. But it was worth it because...

I made it!!

In fact all but 1 person made it all the way to the top

And of course we celebrated our victory

And took sometime to relax and stare out at all below us

But sadly we couldn't stay all day up there and it was time to head down.

I did take a moment to snag a picture with my true love, half Dome, which I still have yet to climb 

Next time....

After that we climbed back down and camped out in the park for the night, enjoying well deserved hotdogs and smores. It was so nice out we didn't even need to sleep in the tent.

The next day we relaxed, just enjoying a few beers in the river in the shadow of El Capitan, another behemoth I want to conquer.

It was another great trip. Yosemite continues to be the place I love most in California. I was so glad I got to share it with a new set of people

Now I just have to figure out what to hike next....

Biking down the coast

After a long week in the Midwest, I needed me some real California. It was time to head back to the beach

My friends and I decided to rent bikes in Santa Monica and ride down the coast

It was a great ride, reminding me a lot of biking on the boardwalk in Ocean City.

We made a few stops a long the way, like at the Venice beach skate park 

And muscle beach to show off all my kickbox training

It was such a nice relaxing day. Sometimes I forget to slow down and take chill days

Midwest business trip

My job sends to some exotic places. Mexico, Ohio, Maryland....and Minnesota.

Yup, this week I Was sent out to the great mid-west for the first time

Luckily I was with my engineer, Tina, and we spent our drive through the corn trying to explore. We found many fascinating things 

Like the largest collection of windmills

They had ones from South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Spain, and many others! 37 in total

The worlds biggest peace pipe (in pipestone, MN where they are made)

We drove on some dirt roads

Saw some "big towns"

Made a wrong turn and ended up in Iowa

Where we found...hay

And corn

So much corn

And then after a successful day of making one of my new products...we got to go BACK through the corn fields to South Dakota

Where we spent the night in Sioux Falls. We even got to see the Sioux Falls

The mid west lived up to expectations, mainly because it was full of corn and kit much else. 

New friends and Malibu

So sadly most of my friends have moved on to new jobs across the country, but luckily the new group of friends has appeared in Bakersfield!

We decided to celebrate their arrival by doing the classic Califnoria trip of going to Malibu

It was a perfect beach day, with big waves

Classic Califnoria sunsets

And all the other beachy things 

After a day of beaching with the girls, on Sunday I did a day of tubing down the mighty Kern with the boys

When it's 115 and the water is 65, it's kind of a perfect day

It was surprising how much water there was, and the rapids were crazy!! Better than on the east cost for sure.

But with all this craziness going on, all I really needed was to float

I'm excited for my new friends. They have a lot to live up to if they want to keep up with me and weekending! 

Richmond

So I went from beautiful, perfect Hawaii....to Maryland and Virginia. I had to go back to the east coast for a trial. Luckily, two of my friends had just moved to Virginia, so I got to go see them!

We went out in Richmond Virginia, which was pretty fun. Lots of country music.

The next day we explored the city. First stop...the White House of the confederacy 

We took in a lot of history of the civil war. The coolest was they had all the flags surrendered at the Battle of Gettysburg.

It was a nice day out, so we traveled over to Belle island, which was an awesome park in the middle of the city

There was a lot of abandoned stuff to explore

And then we went to the confederacy graveyard to see all the Southern general's graves.

Richmond was a surprisingly cool city. It was a good, random trip and another place off my to do list!

Volcanos in Hawaii!

Luckily I had one day on the mainland in Hawaii, so I decided to take an all day tour of the island, along with a trip to volcanos national park!

First stop was a Kona Coffee farm

I drank coffee made from a 100 year old tree, which is pretty cool. But I was more fascinated by the pineapples 

Next we did some driving on the coast, and I found more turtles sleeping in the sun

But I was all about the volcano park. First up was checking out the steam vents

Then the lava tubes

They were more fun to swim through though.

And last but not least, the active volcano!

It was so cool to see the lava bubbling and spitting up. As it got darker, it got even more awesome! 

Overall, a great day trip and saw some things I've never seen.

The next day I flew home, and I was very upset to have to return to the real world