The view on the way down from Sequoia National Park.
It’s June! I can’t believe it. May felt so long to me, but now that it’s over I feel like we’re flying through the year! It feels like I’ve been living at home for maybe three or four months, but it’s been SIX! Absolutely crazy.
I took a bit of a hiatus last week because I was so busy that I didn’t have much time to write or work on anything and I needed to do some catching up. I’m happy to be back!
Anyway, I had a very eventful weekend last week and I wanted to talk about it since the original vision for this website was to be kind of an old-style cutesy personal blog. I have fun with the more expository type of writing too, but it’s more time, effort and pressure, so we’re keeping it light and fun today. :)
Last Saturday morning, my sister and I left our house around 9am to pick up her best friend in the next town over. Once we had her in the car, we stopped at the coffee shop downtown run by my former math teacher’s wife. I got to catch up with her for a minute, which was so nice, and it was great to see how much their business has grown. They opened when I was still in high school and I used to be a regular customer. I told her I would definitely be coming in more often!
Once we had our drinks and breakfast items we started heading up into the hills. The main goal of the trip was to hang out at the river, but there are also several cute shops in town that we wanted to visit. We did our shopping first and I spent far too much money on cool stuff, but I was supporting local artists so it’s okay (girl math). I got a really cool top, a beautiful piece of art, a sticker, and a cool necklace. Then we headed to the river. It was extremely difficult to find a good spot to hang out at because there is sooooo much water coming down from the mountains, and lots of debris came down too. This means that many places that are open other times of the year are completely underwater, and a lot of the spots that are still accessible are pretty yucky looking. I was starting to feel a bit defeated and I felt bad because I knew the girls really wanted to have a river day, but we ended up completely hitting the jackpot. We found the perfect spot, with minimal traffic and some great shade. The girls had a great time swimming while I watched from the bank since I just got my bellybutton repierced and can’t do any swimming at the moment. The weather was spectacular, there were lots of fish and dragonflies, and I was so grateful that everything had worked out so well.
I liked this sticker the best out of all of the options they had at the little shop, plus I've climbed Moro Rock, so I
This is me when I got home, before my shower. I wore my new shirt out of the store, and I'm wearing my new necklace here too, but it's the one you can't really see. :(
When we were done there, we stopped at a very popular sandwich spot just up the road, which I had never been to before. My mom recommended the roast beef sandwich with ortega chilis. I was struggling with nausea the whole day and I’m not a huge fan of warm roast beef sandwiches, but it was still pretty good. I would order something else next time though. The girls and I all got the same thing, and they liked it a lot. We enjoyed our lunch on a deck by the rushing river and my sister shared a crazy story while we ate. We headed back home after that. It was such a wonderful time. I told my sister I was worried that I would feel like the third wheel because they’re both in high school, but it just felt like we were three girls hanging out and I think it was really great for all of us.
This is the view from our spot at the river. It doesn't look like much here, but in person it was so beautiful.
After my sister and I dropped her friend off at home, we went back to our house. I quickly took a shower and got dressed again to head into town for my coworker’s son’s high school graduation party. I was greeted with excitement and immediately fed tacos and watermelon, which were delicious, of course. It was pretty laid back; we all had a great time talking and laughing, and all the young people played Jackbox, which was a blast. Their family is hilarious so I hung out for a few hours and I was one of the last people to leave. I hadn’t been feeling well on my way into town, but I ended up being so glad that I went.
Sunday morning one of my best friends, Abby, came to my house so we could take my graduation pictures sinceI didn’t do them before my commencement ceremony. Other than the time that we had chosen to meet, we had no other plans for where we wanted to take the pictures. We spitballed some ideas in the car before we left, and one of us suggested running up to Sequoia National Park, which only costs $35 to enter, so it seems like an obvious choice. We notified our moms, which went way better than we were both anticipating, and that made us feel very validated as adults.
The drive up to the park was super fun. We played music and ate snacks and took in the incredible scenery. It was the most enjoyable trip to the mountains that I have ever had. Usually I’m with my family, so I sit in the back seat and take medicine to knock out so I don’t have to worry about car sickness. Every time, though, I still feel sick to my stomach and I just am not able to have as good of a time as I would like. This time was so much better. I did take one Dramamine pill but that was still after we had done some pretty windy driving. I was never really nauseous or anything, which made my trip sooooo much more enjoyable. I didn’t realize how much I needed that trip up into nature and away from the bustle of daily life. I smiled almost the whole time we were in the car, both driving up and coming back down.
Our first stop was the campsite that Abby had just stayed at the previous weekend. It was such a gorgeous little spot with a creek right next to it. We took lots of pictures in the creek and with the stunning little hidden waterfalls nearby. The water was very cold for my feet, but when she was showing me the photos on her camera, it was totally worth it. There was also a cute little grassy spot where we took photos as well. We had a lot of fun walking around, enjoying nature, and getting some beautiful pictures, and that was just the beginning.
We headed up higher to Hume Lake, where the Christian camp is. They have a restaurant right on the lake, where we stopped and ate burgers and chicken tenders. The food was good, but the weather and the view were even better. We hopped back in the car and drove only about a quarter mile down the road before we found the literal perfect photo spot next to the lake, with access to a little deck also. That was where we did photos with my cap and gown on, which was great, but we also had a slight hiccup. When we were taking photos of me pretending to throw my cap, my tassel flew off and landed in the lake. I thought it was gone forever because we couldn’t see it anywhere, but we eventually found it. Abby, being the absolutely unbeatable friend she is, waded into the water, sacrificing her pant legs for me, and retrieved my tassel. We finished up our photo session feeling relieved about the tassel, soggy from the lake (just Abby actually lol), and extremely happy with our trip overall.
The drive down was somehow even more fun than the way up. We sang and laughed the whole way home. We made some other important stops in town before we went home, and then she dropped me off at my house. That was one of the busiest and most fun weekends I have had in a long time. Abby and I agreed that we should visit the park more this summer. A year pass is only $75, which would nearly pay for itself in two trips, so we might just get one. What we do have, though, are tickets to a baseball game next week, so we’re looking forward to that.
I’ve decided that this is going to be a great summer, full of fitness, personal growth, fun adventures, and more. This is my first summer where I don’t have the looming threat of going back to school in the fall, and I’m going to make the most of it!
Love always and FREE PALESTINE AND CONGO.
<3 Nicole
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