Our Valley Girl

As part of his work, Brian has been surveying various rock falls in Yosemite Valley . Lily and I couldn't resist tagging along on this trip! We stayed with Brian's friend, who is the National Park Service's geologist for Yosemite. The family, Greg, Sarah and their little girl, Autumn, welcomed us into their amazing cabin home, just under Yosemite Falls! They were wonderful hosts.

During the days, Brian and Greg explored the different rock fall areas with lasers and compasses at hand. On one day, they rappelled down the side of one of the cliffs to make measurements... for Brian, work couldn't be any better.

Lily and I went on numerous gorgeous hikes around the valley. Lily was especially impressed with all of the waterfalls-she loved the wind blowing in her hair and the mist on her face. Of course, we frequented the Curry Village Taqueria as Lily has become a huge fan or chicken and beans!

Lily got to experience her first big thunder storm, hail and all! The men had fortunately finished their work on the mountain and were returning home during the storm.

On the last day of the trip, we picnicked in El Capitain Meadow (a tradition of Lara and Brian's). Lily got to see the route Brian followed on the Nose with binoculars. I have always enjoyed lying in the grass of the meadow in the early evening-watching the climbers unwind for the night, strapped on to the tiny little ledges. Sometimes you can see their headlamps dance all over the rock face, with some climbers in good places to rest, and some, still struggling to get to those places!

It was a wonderful way to spend a week.