Three off on the Fourth

God created heaven and earth (including California mountains).
And (three-day) weekends.

I was so blessed to have the fourth of July weekend off!

I am currently rotating at CommuniCare, an underserved family medicine in West Sac (Love it! Soooo different than our own UCD clinic. But that's another whole post!) and, when the director said, "We don't have clinic on Friday [July 3]," I believe I asked, "Why not?" not even thinking that, even if a holiday was coming up, I would actually have it off. Somehow, being on random ER rotations and whatnot, I was able to have Thanksgiving and Christmas off last year, but I don't think I realized that some normal working people might have a three-day 4th of July weekend and I that I would, too!

Also reflecting and feeling that I was kind of disappointed with my California-exploration efforts last year (after feeling like I hit up many new and cool places my intern year), I was so excited to go somewhere new! Unfortunately, most of my residency friends here either had commitments or had to work one or more days, so it was going to be either "go solo" or not go. Knowing me (well, and seeing that lots of pictures are below), can you guess which option I picked?

I did a bit of research. Several places on my "to visit" list in CA include Mendocino/the coast, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Hearst Castle, and Lassen Volcanic Park. Will have to go to these at some point. But I remembered that Lesley's sister got married down at Mammoth Lakes (just southeast from Yosemite) and I've heard good things about that area, too! So off I went!

I left Friday morning and took what ended up being a breathtaking drive along the Sierra Nevadas. I am not one to really enjoy driving/ long car trips (and, as friends and family have told me, should not really do much more driving than is absolutely necessary regardless of whether I enjoy it). The route there, which took approx 4.5 hours, took me east along Hwy 50 around Tahoe, and then on small county roads to 395- south. I have a major weakness for mountains and lakes and could easily move to this part of the state!

Here are some shots along the way (don't worry, I pulled over to snap these!).

My first stop was to Convict Lake which whose names comes from an incident, noted to be in 1871, when a band of escaped convicts led a shoot-out.

Pretty, huh?

I then drove past Mammoth (very cute town) to the Reds Meadow Valley which had beautiful views such as that at Minaret Vista, pictured below.



I think this is Mammoth Mountain (where the ski resort is)

Other views:

Lake Mary

I decided to camp in the valley (thanks to Kate for the use of her tent) down by Devil's Postpile National Monument.

This monument is very interesting-- it looks fake, but is made of basalt columns formed when molten lava slowed and cooled.

This photo is for Joe

The postpile (thank you, Japanese tourist, for taking this photo for me)

I went on a few mile hike to Rainbow Falls, pictured below. Wonder how this got this name!

For some reason, I was exhausted and, after pitching the tent at the campground, I did a little bit of relaxing and reading but pretty much conked as soon as the sun went down! I fortunately was a) not eaten by a bear and b) slept quite well for it being outside in the wilderness!

On Saturday, I decided to do a bit of a longer hike to Duck Lake.

Wow. What a gorgeous day and what gorgeous scenery. The 10-11 mile hike takes you up to a series of alpine lakes with beautiful, clear blue water.

No tourists were around to take these photos-- they turned out pretty well for being taken with my camera timer!

I had to hike through a bit of snow to get to the top and was feeling a bit nervous about not telling anyone my whereabouts when my leg sank into this; however, all turned out well without any avalanches.

Duck Lake Summit- 11,000 - ish ft?

So I headed home not too long after finishing the hike. I came back seriously renewed and refreshed from some reflection time alone in some of the most beautiful country I have seen in a long while. And I was very excited to see this on my Prius's "consumption" gauge-- check out this gas mileage I got for approx 30 miles coasting down from Lake Tahoe!!

Saturday evening, I had some 4th of July bbq with Kate, Kate's neighbors, and Kyla, and we watched fireworks over the river without the hassle of fighting the crowds at Cal Expo. It was a perfect two days...

... and I still had another one off! WOW!!!

Sunday was also fun because it held a celebration of Sarah and Matt's baby due in October. Termed a "Barbeque" and NOT a baby shower, lest we scare off all those guests with a Y chromosome, it was loads of fun! Kyla (awesome decorating), Aline (rocks all around), and Anna (thanks for providing all the photos!) did a great job with everything!

Kyla with the cute tablecloths

(the small flag on display in case people couldn't find Kyla's house)

Various beverages for choosing

The happy couple

Matt (with Susanna's baby Sage), obviously ready to be a parent!

Anna, Kyla, Matt, Sarah, Aline, Suzanne

Jesse and Amy

Blanca, Darrell, Kate, Jesse, Amy, me, and Ben

Ben and Kyla (Kyla, you look gorgeous in this picture and I refuse to consider un-posting it)

Opening gifts

They got some cool things, including a baby food-maker!

If I quit residency, I am going to go into diaper-cake-making (I can't keep up with cake-decorating like Cathleen!). Would anyone purchase one of these? :)

The hit gift-- the BOB! I definitely would like to borrow a baby just so I can get and play w/ one of these! :)

Sarah seems to like it!

We play the beanbag toss game in California, too (but it's not quite the same as at the Sviggum farm... :( )

So while I could lament that I only have a two day weekend this weekend, I am not. Weekends are amazing, and summer weekends are the best (rafting tomorrow!). Two more weekends left before I start inpatient family medicine wards.