#theneverendingweekend

[theneverendingweekend]

Summary of the Last Weeks of the Trip

We enjoyed an all you can eat pancake breakfast, parade and fireworks in Mammoth Lakes for the 4th of July.  Afterwards, we headed into Reno, Nevada to begin hunting for apartments.  We decided we are officially done with life on the road, and want the comforts of home back... like tables and flushing toilets. We’re going back to NY in August to get married and pick up our stuff (and Melba!), so we figured we would have a month to get settled in before making the trek back across the country.  It took us about a week of apartment hunting and sleeping in Walmart, but we signed a lease on the 11th for a one bedroom, one bath in the heart of the city.  In our spare time, we’ve had the chance to explore a bit of Lake Tahoe (only 25 miles away), go rock climbing with our new neighbor (yay friends!), join in on the slackline culture at the nearby park, and enjoy Reno’s July festival, Artown!  We saw Back to the Future 2 at the park and have seen several dance and music performances.  For the time being, the blog may be a bit on hold, however, we are planning on working part time, and spending our free time exploring the nearby Sierra Nevadas and most of Nevada, which we didn’t really get to check out during the “official trip”. We will post mini trip reports from our new adventures based out of Reno, so don’t delete us from your book marks bar just yet!

[theneverendingweekend]

Summary of the Last Week of June

Sunday - We headed into San Fran (to take advantage of free parking), where we checked out the Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39, watching the funny sealions and enjoying some fresh seafood.  The car took the crazy drive down Lombard St. and we checked out a couple parks with great panoramic shots of the city.  We ended the day with a trip over the Golden Gate Bridge.

Monday - Left the Bay Area to head across the VERY HOT Central Valley towards Yosemite.  Thanks Bala for letting us crash at your place!

Tuesday - After waiting in line to get our wilderness permits (for the following days), we hiked around Puppy Dome and up Lembert Dome before the dark skies hit us.  The rains chased us over to the still sunny Olmstead Point,giving us fabulous views of Half Dome.  

Wednesday - After packing our backpacks and emptying our car of food and smells (everything) into the bear lockers, we were able to hit the trail.  We were amazed by the beautiful Cathedral peak, but soon suffered as we got into more buggy areas.  After sprinting about 2 miles, we trudged up a dome to eat our dinner in peace... we ended up running in circles from mosquitoes a top the dome while choking on our peanut butter burritos.  The tent was an escape, but didn’t cure us from their incessant buzz as they surrounded us.  It was miserable.  That night, we decided our trip to Cloud’s Rest was getting cut short a night, and we trudged out the way we went in.

Thursday - We hiked out, taking very few breaks as it was more buggy than the hike in.  Once back to Tioga Pass, we packed up and finally had the chance to rest, taking a nap in the car.  We headed down the east side of the Sierra’s and treated ourselves to a burger and concert at the famous Mobile.

Friday - Spent a relaxing day in Mammoth Lakes, checking out the Earthquake Fault and Minaret Vista.  We finished the day with some volleyball and found us a nice camp.

Saturday - We woke up early to head into Devil’s Postpile National Monument and Red’s Meadows.  Within the valley, we also hiked to Rainbow Falls and went for a swim in Sotcher Lake.  Afterwards, we checked out Mammoth’s street fair then hit up a local bouldering spot.  That night, we drove to find all the nearby hot springs (but found them all to be packed due to 4th of July weekend).

[theneverendingweekend]

Summary of the 3rd Week of June

Tuesday - We said goodbye to Rochester, hopped on a bus to Buffalo to catch our non stop flight back to LA.

Wednesday - After catching up on sleep at Mahul’s,  we grabbed donuts, explored Ikea and played volleyball at the park.  Mahul treated us to a movie night at the nearby discount theater.

Thursday - We packed up the car and hit Highway 1 driving north.  We got lost a couple times, saw (heard because it was dark) some elephant seals and camped out at a pullout.

Friday - Explored Big Sur, seeing the beautiful McWay Falls.  Then we headed into the bay area.

Saturday - Enjoyed a rest day, playing volleyball at a park and picking up some maps from REI to plan for our next backpacking adventure in Yosemite’s high country.

[theneverendingweekend]

Leah and Rusty dance through quite a few states in this one. Check out the compilation that includes some of their friends and some random people.

[theneverendingweekend]

Summary of the First Week of May

Sunday thru Wednesday - Climbed our butts off at the Frenchman Coulee.  We enjoyed campfires with new friends, encountered a snake on our car (see blog post), received the news that we are officially an aunt and uncle (congrats to Taylor and Blanca on their new baby boy!!!!!).

Thursday - Got an oil change, gorged on some Dennys and headed to North Cascades National Park.

Friday - Had a big day of hiking through the green and exploring overlooks of North Cascades.  

Saturday - Went to the Visitor Center and then headed back south to Seattle for a cheap movie (My Name is Doris) and some laundry.

[theneverendingweekend]

Summary of the 1st Week of April

Sunday - We hiked to often photographed Mobius Arch in the Alabama Hills, scrambled the crazy boulders around our campsite, and hopped on some climbs.

Monday - Climbed some more at Alabama Hills before heading to Bishop.  We toured all the outdoors stores and hung out with the ducks at the local park.

Tuesday - We braved the extremely washboarded road to climb at the famous Buttermilk boulders.

Wednesday - Headed to Owens River Gorge to hit up some sport climbing.

Thursday - Bouldered at the Happy Boulders... we weren’t disappointed.  We left very happy!

Friday - We began our trek north by driving to Mammoth Lakes where we hiked around Convict Lake and explored a bit of the John Muir Wilderness.  We hiked Rush Creek, explored the tufas at Mono Lake and saw the Hot Creek Geologic Site.

Saturday - It rained and we were soggy and sick of the weather so we treated ourselves to a night in a hotel after our failed attempt to take on a very muddy dirt road that would have led us to the Bodie Ghost Town.

[theneverendingweekend]

Summary of the Last Week of March

Sunday to Tuesday- Picked up our friend Kyle and immediately headed to the Grand Canyon. Walked the Rim Trail that evening with tons of photo ops. On Monday, Kyle and Rusty hiked down to the Colorado River via the South Kaibab Trail and came back up using the Bright Angel Trail. They were exhausted. Meanwhile, Leah checked out some more overlooks and tried her hand at some sketches of the canyon. We woke Tuesday morning to snow on the tent :( After checking out a few more overlooks and the shuttle buses, we decided to head to Las Vegas for warmer temperatures.  

Wednesday - Kyle and Rusty attempted a multipitch sport climbing route and then simul-rappelled. Then we enjoyed a Chinese Buffet before hitting the strip.

Thursday - We dropped Kyle off at the airport and then got some errands done.

Friday - Hiked and bouldered at Red Rocks. Then drove to Tecopa, CA.

Saturday - After soaking in our favorite hot springs, we headed through Death Valley (where we missed the super bloom) to reach Lone Pine, CA where we hopped on a classic climb in the Alabama Hills before the sun started setting.

[theneverendingweekend]

Summary of the First Week of March

Sunday - We finished up climbing at Fairview Mountain outside of Apple Valley.  Then we headed into the LA area to stay with our friend Mahul!

Monday thru Saturday - We explored the LA region- but only knocked 2 things off our list of things to do.  We went to the Getty Museum and the Old LA Zoo, but ditched all other downtown ideas since the traffic was terrible and we were spending 3 hours commuting rather than enjoying ourselves.  Instead we revamped our plan and we spent several days relaxing on the beach, enjoyed two discount movies and finally tried some In-N-Out Burger.  We finished the week by attending the Banff Film Festival in Redlands.  Thanks for being a great host Mahul!  We loved your bed and shower!