Today's the day!

After days and days of planning, we're off for the trail! We'll be camping at Caple's Creek about a half hour from Echo Lake for 2 days with Glenn's mom, then Glenn and I will begin our month-long trek hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail!!
Woohoo!
Our bags are packed, our gear is sewn, our food is planned, and our money is spent.!
We'll be leaving in about an hour- looking forward to a month of sleeping on an inch of air mat, taking cold "showers" by lakes, (might sneak one one or two hot ones when we re-supply), fishin' for trout every night, and breathing the cool mountain air of the Pacific Crest Trail! I'm excited:) Just have to finish up our website and shave my head!

We'll be sending my sister trail journals that she will be posting on this blog periodically, so check back for updates from our trek! Happy Trails, Happy Summer Everyone!!

Planning our camping sites- check out our John Muir Trail Map Pack:)
Planning our dinners: "hungry! me, food."

"our bundles and bundles of food."
We're sending ourselves three boxes of food to towns near the trail where we will be resupplying about every week. Check out our website under "Our Route" to see our day by day itinerary.

"I'm a fish, don't eat me!"- Glenn playing with our fishing lures:)
Vacuum sealed food :P

rationing our food- cream of wheat for breakfast- ligthweight and creamy! yum

Glenn doing some last minute sewing- he sewed his own water-proof camera bag:)
Two things I will miss most on the trail: 1) fresh fruits and veggies 2) icecream!


There are a few more photos under "Our Gear" on the website, check it out! You can also donate to an art/environmental organization I volunteer for :Creative Community Catalysts.
So definitely give it a looksey, I've spent some time on it: planethikers.googlepages.com/pct07

See ya around the next bend.....

Mt Diablo

"The Devil's Moutain" is the tallest thing close to where we are, rising 4,445 ft above sea level. Our adventure for today. It's about an hour drive here from Oakland East over the hills past Walnut Creek. Perhaps a training hike of sorts for our upcoming hike a 350 mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail. ...Okay, so we only hiked a few miles total, but it was a hike nonetheless, as Caroline can attest.

There's a road that goes all the way up to the top, so that takes a little of the glory out of the satisifaction of hiking to the top of a mountain peak. However I am proud to say that Glenn and I dragged his mother Caroline to the top from a few miles below and had a lovely picnic at the top. There's even a visitor center up there so you can learn all about the geology and flora and fauna. The trail up to the top is called "the trail through time" because you are going from younger to older sediments of rock, with the oldest dark volcanic rock that burst up from underneath millions of years ago to form the summit.

Do you like my hat? This is looking East from the summit- you can barely make out the Sierra Nevadas in the haze, but we saught 'em out- soon to be our temporary wanderland in three weeks!

"Uh, whatta we do now?" "Huh?, what's that there city over yonder?"
"I think I cun see some sorta bridge up over there..." "This here's a purty old mountain eh?"
"Yup, they used it as a point-a - refrence fur mappin out the whole state North ta South."
"It's pretty nice out here in Cali-forn-i-a. I think I might just stay a while."

Pretty cool spot. I guess it's pretty neat that such a majestic mountain with one of the most extensive views in California is so accessible to people and their families. There are a lot of people that bike up there too- it made me get a dry throat just looking at them pedal their way up the windy paved roads to the summit. I bet it's all worth it on the way down.

This mountain was held sacred and worshipped as part of the creation story of the Miwok people native to this area. I can see why, it's the tallest thing around surrounded by flat river valleys and deltas that run to the bay, then to the ocean.
Pretty spectacular.
Here's a view from the top. The little tower is a radio tower? at the summit, that's where there is another tower with the visitor center and the lookout deck.


There are even species of plants and animals that only live on this mountain!
One of them is the Fairy lantern. Only grows on Mt. Diablo, no where else in the world!

pretty little thing.

Another is Mt Diablo Tarantula!

They come out in flocks, swarms, herds? What do you call groups of hairy spiders tromping around on a mountain? Pack?
Cool lookin, but to be honest, I would be freaked out if I happened upon one while on a happy little hike up the trail. I guess Fall is when they come out to play for everyone to see, so summer time you're pretty safe.

One last thought. Living in Oakland for the past four months has been great. There are a lot of things I like about the city- sunshine, environmental responsibility, beautiful hills, rich cultural diversity, cool community events and inspiring non-profit organizations working for justice and peace. But lately I've been so inspired by the trees. Oak trees grow everywhere, including all over Mt. Diablo. Their curling branches twisting toward the sunlight, their hardy stout leaves and intricate branches making a maze of intricate patterns against a sunlit backdrop...More than their mysterious beauty, old wisdom, and simple grace, I hear that Oak trees are amazingly home to over two hundred species of life! I am grateful for your presence might Oaks! May you live long and healthy lives and continue to bless us with your bounty!

Kinetic Sculpture Race!
Photos! As promised Dad.
So I've made my first pilgramage to the Mecca of Arcata since I moved away in December. I forgot how nice it is up there- crazy races, quaint farmer's market, gorgeous river 45 minutes up the road...lovely.
If you don't know about this race, read up- it's pretty whacky awesome.
I lived in Arcata for four years and never saw this crazy race. I come back over Memorial Day as a visitor with Glenn and we find ourselves among a pack of sculpture followers out at the dunes watching the these crazy kinetic contraptions go down "dead man's gulch." Such a great event, it'd be so fun to be in it wouldn't it?...

"Armored Carp" This was one of my favorite ones, made out of kitchen utentsils..

Blue Beetle- check out this guy's outfit! pretty hot huh?

"Bounce for Glory"- he just jumps up and down to move forward

"June's Bloom"- they have the best costumes

"Heads of School"

"The Patriot Act"- the big wheels are best for sand surfing

"Easy Does It"
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Trinity River !!

My Stud Muffin

Peter, Noelle, me and Glenny

Kayakers!

All for now, more later...

Lately I've been feeling like a slacker. a little bit.
Or maybe just a lack of motivation. Change of the season, anticipating change?
I'm still doing everything I usually do, exercise, volunteer, work, chores, trying to do art, planning the future... but I've not been pushing myself lately. I know there's some inspirational saying out there somewhere about how when we challenge ourselves we're more interesting, and full of life, and how it's important to continue growing and not become stagnant...etc....Anybody?
I think I'm snapping out of it now, but I still slept in this morning with a total of 9 hours of sleep! And for some reason I feel guilty about it- it's cuz I really want to make a habit of getting up earlier so that I can make time to pray and be grateful and ready for the day before rushing into it. It's hard to remember that when I'm in dreamland though.
I don't really like how I feel when I sleep that long, but at 7 hours I feel so deprived..I didn't have the motivation to drag myself out of bed at the perfect 8 either, what's the deal?
Is it important that we sleep the same amount each night consistently, or can we make up for other nights where we didn't sleep so long? If that's true, maybe i'm still making up for lost sleep during my college years? Or not. What do you think?...




....I decided to do an image personality test my sister has on her blog, it's pretty interesting.
According to www.imagini.net, I am a person who is a dreamer, an escape artist, a new wave puritan, and a love bug. I think I can live with that. You know maybe it's good that I don't get up at the same time every morning, I think I like the spontaneity of it...I don't think consistency is part of my personality, though at the same time I am a creature of habit...interesting.

On a different topic, I heard about this crazy race that happens every year in San Francisco- Bay to Breakers.

About 7.5 miles from the bay to where the ocean breaks- people dress up, teams race tied together, people register, people dont'---I thought it'd be cool to at least just go out and see...but alas the lack of motivation I was mentioning up there kicked in and I didn't go. Maybe that and I haven't been running 7 miles lately, usually only 2 or 3 a couple times a week....Okay, I could've done it if I had a running buddy, but couldn't scrounge one up on late notice and glenn and caroline definitely do not run. We could've walked, I know I'm just making excuses now.
Maybe next year.
Looks fun doesn't it?

You can go here to see more photos of people's costumes. What fun:)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I'm grateful for my mama. And my grandmas. And my boyfriend's mama.
And my earth mama. And all mamas really.

Caroline and I took five minutes of silence on Sunday as suggested during Karen Stokes's sermon (she's the pastor at the Montclair Presbyterian Church.)
We were sitting silently in the sun in Dimond park, kids playing with their parents, bees buzzing in the clover around us on the grass, blue sky...and one of the thoughts that came to me was that all life comes into being through mothers, just like our mother earth brings forth all life that lives and breathes and thrives on this planet. That's something we all have in common universally, we all come from a mother somewhere; regardless of our race, class, gender, nationality, or species if you think about the planet as mother of us all- that's all something we can relate to. Isn't it beautiful?

During Karen's sermon she was talking about how we all want our children and children's children and children's children's children to have clean water to drink, clean air to breathe, nutritious food to eat, good health care, and a loving community of people to support them...That's what environmentalism is for me and it's cool to think of it as being rooted in our love and appreciation for the all the mothers in the world. All that they work, and sacrifice, and live for to protect and support thier children.
And that's what the five minutes of silence was for- to appreciate mothers; to celebrate life; to show that we believe in that healthy and positive world, that we hope for that world to come into being, that we will do what we can to support peace and life and love and make this world better for the children to come.

Happy Mother's Day mothers!!

In Karen's sermon, she also mentioned some powerful, courageous woman in history who have stood up for peace and justice on behalf of their children : Julia Ward Howe,
Soujourner Truth (1797-1883) and the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo".
Truly courageous and powerfully inspiring women. Can we say role model? Wow. I want to be that strong in my convictions.

Soujourner Truth's speech was my favorite part. I didn't really know that much about her. Here is a quote from her "Ain't I a woman" speech in 1851 at the women's convention in Akron, OH:

"That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?
Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him."

Isn't that great? She had fayda that woman (courage and attitude in the Wolof language).

Oh ya, I have to tell you about a moving song we sang in the choir: it's about missing the tenderness and comfort of a mother called "Wanting Memories" by Ysaye Barnwell (a singer in Sweet Honey in the Rock, a soulful, powerful, inspirational group of women). Very rhythmic and beautiful. Listen here (link on left side).

So I'm feeling full of Gratitude for life and love and all the good things in life.

Cafe Gratitude

This is one of the coolest restaurants I have been to. It's up there with Cafe Diablo, maybe even better. Do you believe me dad? Besides all of the food being beautiful with wonderful service and a great atmosphere, Cafe Gratitude has named all of their dishes self affirmations, so when you order you have to say things like " I am fabulous" and when they serve you they have to say "You are fabulous" or "You are fulfilled", things like that. The cool thing about is that they actually sincerely mean it when they say it.
It's a really positive, comfortable-feeling, community-based place. They serve mostly raw, all organic, yummy yummy food. Their desserts are especially good with things like cashew cheesecake and raw cacao fudge- oh my goodness. so amazingly full of flavor!
I feel so grateful:)

I'm very grateful to be living and learning, struggling and growing, laughing and loving, exploring and giving...

And I owe it to my mama for carrying me around in her belly and bringing me into this world.

And taking care of me and supporting me for 25 years after. Thanks mom.

Well, I should thank my dad too, but we'll save that for Father's Day won't we?