Yosemite

At the end of July, my mom, sister, and brother were in our neck of the woods. My sister had a friend's wedding in Oakland/reception in Sonora to attend. My mom drove Brittany and her friends here for the wedding (and for some sightseeing). Brian flew in just for the weekend. We all stayed in Sonora at a cute little hotel there. The day after the big wedding day, Brittany and her friends went to a fun little lake in Sonora for the day, while Brian, my mom, Ricky, and I went to Yosemite for the day. I had heard from a lot of people that Yosemite was awesome, but I didn't know what it would be like or what to expect. I was happy with what we fit into our one full day there. We saw many of the waterfalls. They were so pretty! We first saw Bridal Veil Falls. It was pretty and not much of a hike to get to it. Then we hiked lower Yosemite Falls. It was so nice to sit at the bottom and feel a little mist from it! Lastly, we hiked Vernal Falls. Vernal Falls was definitely the big hike of the day for us. It was so uphill and so hot! Then, we made it partway and saw this little view of the falls still so far away. It was kind of a disappointment after all that. But we could luckily fill up our water there and then continue onward. I'm so glad we did. We walked right up by the waterfall with the mist from the falls just soaking us! It really cooled us down and gave us the energy to keep going! Then, we got to the very top of the waterfall! It was so amazing to have made it to the top of it! We relaxed and ate some snacks before heading back down. It was a full and amazing Yosemite day! Here are a few pictures:

Right when we arrived in Yosemite, Ricky spotted a bear! We pulled over to see it. It was enjoying a snack from this tree.

so pretty!

On our way up Vernal Falls - you can see how soaked we got!

A happy squirrel relaxing at the top of Vernal Falls

Berkeley and Oakland

Oh wow, I think we are a little behind on our posts. Well, we just went to Oakland recently, but I realized I didn’t even post about our last Oakland trip! Ooopsy. This most recent trip was quite short, we just went to the temple. Due to working a lot and getting free food often at work, my pants have not fit me very well. So I decided to get a new pair. Brooke ordered me some off Amazon, but they were not quite the right size. Additionally, the fabric was quite thin, not what I would expect from $50 plants. Fortunately, I think returning them will be easy since Brooke used Amazon wardrobe. I had to hide the tags though when I wore them in the temple, which was probably a little humorous to watch. After going to the temple, we went to the smallest taco bell I have ever been to. It had 3 or 4 little 4-person tables. It had a sign “15 minutes only,” as in “you can’t linger here.” I finally tried a quesarito, which I was a little disappointed by. The mini chicken quesadilla is pretty good though. And of course the beefy fritos burrito with 440 calories for 1 dollar is the best value. I think this is turning into a fruglife post though! Anyways, the last trip to Oakland was very different, as you will read!

So we went to the Hotel Claremont in Berkeley where my friend works. It was a gorgeous hotel and he showed us around. We watched a guy saber a champagne bottle in the hallway. We chatted and reminisced about old times.

I don't often give 10/10 for a dish, but I found a 10/10 dish here. The Chicken Bao Buns are amazing. The chicken was perfectly crispy, the bun soft and amazing, the kimchi added punch and the cucumber added a fresh element to the dish. A perfectly crafted and executed dish.

After visiting Berkeley, we went a few miles to Oakland to visit the temple. Brooke needed to use the restroom, so we walked into the visitor center. I sat on a bench while I waited for her. While there, a senior missionary approached me and asked if I was there for the performance. I said I wasn’t, and he replied “you should be” and handed me a program. I asked when it started and he said 7 pm, in just 10 minutes. I told Brooke what had happened, so we decided to stay and listen. I’m glad we did. The artist was a piano duo called happy dog duo. They played 4-hand piano pieces. They were quite skilled. It has been a while since I went to a musical performance. At times the music was so soothly, I felt like drifting away into sleep. They played a piece called “fairy garden”. In my mind, I really did travel to a green and lush garden, with happy gnomes and fairies. Other music was thought provoking and deep. During the music, I realized that I had been stressing about some aspects of life and the music made me feel almost weightless at times. It was a very nice performance.

Apparently there are lots of performances at the temple visitor center. Brooke and I wish we knew about them earlier.