O Christmas Tree(s) ... and other holiday joy

I realized that I really love (not just hugging) trees! :) Erin, TJ, and I were going to go to Lake Tahoe to ski this weekend, but, unfortunately, there is no snow yet (and I don't think it's necessarily the temps.... just too dry, I think). Nevertheless, we still made an awesome weekend out of things! We headed down to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, which is South of Yosemite. This was the first time I had been reunited with the beloved trees since my little jaunt up to NorCal in September. Anyway, Friday night, we all congregated at the Piccadilly Inn in Fresno (or, as Kyla told me, "the armpit of California" [why are you going there?" she and Amy both asked!]) which was about 2 1/2 hrs' drive for me and a little over three from Palo Alto (it was Erin, TJ, and Sylvia, one of Erin's peds classmates). I was a bit nervous b/c Erin entrusted me with picking the hotel for that night ("No EconoLodges or anything like a Super8," she instructed me [knowing my tendencies...]. "It has to have indoor corridors." (??!??!). In any case, it worked out just fine. A little posh for my tastes, but whatever....

We woke up early (well, early for some of us!) on Saturday morning to drive into the parks. As we got up higher in elevation, we all started getting a bit nervous b/c TJ's car's thermometer started displaying horrifying temperatures such as 29.... (below freezing?!?! This is California!). Luckily, most of us had some sort of warm-ish gear along, such as hats, gloves, fleece pants, whatnot, so we bundled up and headed out. We checked out General Grant, which was declared a nation shrine by Eisenhower and also known as "Our Nation's Christmas Tree" (appropriate for the season, eh??).

TJ, Erin, and Sylvia by General Grant

We hiked up a trail called "Big Baldy" which had some neat pine trees. We also got flurried on (I won't say "snowed" b/c you could hardly call this stuff snow)-- with these tiny, tiny flakes falling from the sky. It was kind of magical!

Hiking girls (Sylvia did GREAT despite never having hiked before!!)

Cute Augustines... ("You should make this a Christmas card!" I said. "I don't do Christmas cards," replied Erin!)

Another cute one (where Erin said she looked "hotter" without the hoodie)!!

Erin trying to "catch" the snowflakes!!

Then, we headed down and did another brief hike up to Moro Rock, which overlooks some of the canyon. It was definitely chilly up there!!!

Gotta love the timer feature on the camera
Erin "rockclimbing"
w/ TJ on the descent
You can get a sense of how giant these Sequoias are-- here is TJ's car!

I love this one of the three looking up!
I'm not sure what Sylvia is doing... waving? :)

SOOOOOOOO BIG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love this one of Erin, Syvia, and me (although we were probably breaking rules by getting off the path...) Sylvia with another interesting move

We also stopped by Giants' Grove and saw the General Sherman (tree), or the most massive tree on earth! It is like 2200 years old and weighs over 1300 tons (yes, tons!!!). Wouldn't want that falling on you :) We also had a nice forest sunset.

"Tree hugging" in the "Land of Fruits and Nuts," or what Erin's dad calls the awesome state of California! :)

We retired to our hotel for the night, Wuksachi Lodge (complete with cozy fireplace... I love it!), where we had a wonderful elegant dinner (see the Chocolate Decadence below :)) and tried not to freeze our butts off or get eaten by bears (we had to be very careful about making sure everything was out of our car!!).

Sunday, we did some more exporing through the park(s), hiking Buena Vista trail which, true to its name, did have some vistas muy buenas :)

We also played a bit near the ice (Erin is barely alive) at Hume Lake.

(We were risk-takers!)
(after Erin nearly slipped to her death on the ice)
I loved these crystals we saw!!

Okay, I know I sound a bit too enthusiastic. I just LOVE exploring. Erin/TJ are perfect people to go with (they want to hit all the national parks in the U.S., which I think is an awesome goal! We all want to go to Alaska sometime soon!). It was such an amazingly fun time, surrounded by beautiful scenery!

I also am just so happy right now in life! When we were in Africa this spring, Kelsey used to say things like "Gosh. I'm just so happy- my heart feels like it will burst from joy!" This used to crack me up and I used to think to myself, "Man, that's goofy. Even if I felt that, I wouldn't say it." But, somehow, I have gotten to feel just about that joyful!

Maybe it's because I'm on an easy rotation and am rested. Maybe because I've gotten to catch up with great friends (and soon to visit with another one... Molly, my FIRST VISITOR [no competition, JB and Wen-- I won't be having a link on the side because it would be measly and pathetic :)], arrives Wednesday!!) and family and have had fun with new friends here! Maybe it's because I am living somewhere awesome and because, most of the time, I'm warm.

Or maybe it's because Christmas music is playing nonstop on the radio. I'm not looked at as looney when I burst into Christmas carols at this time of year :). I love it! And also all the holiday movies on... It's a Wonderful Life, The Family Man, etc.... 'Tis the season to be merry, right? :)

And awesome news I found out this weekend (when Nicole was telling me I sounded pathologically happy on the message I left her....)-- Nicole and Bay are engaged! Okay, I hope I didn't ruin anything by posting that, but I just had to share. My heart (and mouth) are bursting :)

Happy Holidays, everyone!!!!!