Happy Mother's Day

To all the mothers out there -- whether you mother human children, animals, communities, the earth, or just yourself -- happy mother's day! (or is it mothers day? or mothers' day?)

The family treated me to a yummy breakfast, a rumpl blanket, and for the first time in ages we went to the Thai Temple for brunch. 

[this message approved by Molly Franklin™]

Happy Birthday Opa!

We celebrated Opa's 3x4x7th birthday with flowers, ethiopian food, and lots of silliness. Here's to another trip around the sun, with lots of love!

Trinity Alps Trip - Part 6 - Hike out

We planned on staying three nights, but with the flat tire and the need to pick Clara up at a specific time, we decided to be a bit conservative and hike out after two nights, car camp the third night, and have a bit more wiggle room to get the tire fixed and back to the Bay Area in time to get Clara from camp. 

In the end it all worked out and we had enough time (and energy) to take a detour up to the Grand National Mine (that's the next post). Plus, we found some fun artifacts (aka trash) on the way out. Zach remembered drinking Shasta Creme Soda when he was a kid, although I think this can is even older than that since it didn't have a pull tab. 

Trinity Alps Trip - Part 5 - flowers and campsite

And now for some photos of pretty flowers and beautiful campsites.

Trinity Alps Trip - Part 4 - Peak Scramble

Tangle Blue lake is in a bit of a bowl (as I suppose it must be, since it's a lake). We decided to see if we could scramble up to the peak on the south side. It was a pretty steep scramble (we calculated it was about 800-1000' elevation difference between the lake and the peak) and we made it pretty far. I stopped maybe 2/3 of the way up and just hung out and enjoyed the view (and the flowers!). Zach and Molly scrambled up to the ridge and looked over into the next valley. 

Then we scuttled down the mountain and dipped our toes in the lake, said hello to a dragon fly, and went back to camp. Zach and I did jump all the way into the lake later. It was cold, but very refreshing!

Trinity Alps Trip - Part 3 - Hike to Tangle Blue Lake

At last! The hike to the destination. Oh. Wait. We got a flat tire. Even though the rental truck wasn't as tough as it looked (long story on why we even had a rental truck), it did come equipped with a good spare and jack set. We made it to the trail head before the tire lost all it's air, and we decided to change the spare then, rather than wait until our departure. As the nice ranger said: our future selves would thank our current selves (and they did!). 

One tire change and a little lunch later, we were on our way. Up into the woods, over creeks, and through meadows. There were beautiful wildflowers, funny frogs, hard to spot trail guidance, and a beautiful lake at the end!