June 8th, 2001

Chillin' in F-town...

Christ, I was up late last night. This trip journal is turning into a project. I think I'll have to scrap my plans for doing any other kind of writing on this trip and stick to the journey log.

I'm up late again tonight too... I surprised myself with all the pictures I took... I need to figure out an easier way of doing this... hrmmm...

Anywho... what went on today.

Slept in a little. Woke up and did what's become the morning routine... me stumbling around, talking to Sandy, piddling around with e-mail.

Around 10am Dan brings over Kate, Brian and Jason. We galavant around the pool, coaxing Coco in for a swim now and then. Dan spends most of his time working with Jason and Brian. Jason is all sorts of giggly and squealing. Brian swims around Dan mostly, jumping off the side of the pool into the water around the shallow end. Karen plays with me, diving for hoops and money in the pool. I coax Coco into the pool a few times as well.

After the pool the kids watch some TV and eat lunch.

Dan and the kids take off around noon, and Ed gets home and gets things ready to leave for their cabin.

Ya know, I fell asleep before I could write all this out... so I'm just going to let the pictures do most of the talking. A few tidbits though...

Enroute to Shaver Lake...

I'm am like utterly fascinated by the mountains. Having lived in Florida for most of my life and, after that, Iowa, the whole idea of having these immense shapes just off in the distance on the horizon just blows me away. I'm wide eyed as we travel through the foothills and begin our ascent up the mountain.

(The pictures should speak loads about that).

Once we get up here we go to the Siera Grill, this awesome restaraunt in what would be called downtown Shaver Lake. Ed and Sandy know the owners, and we have the best meal there. The owner of the place comes out and talks to us for about a half hour. She's this sweet little old lady named Linn. She takes me over to this wall of pictures of her granddaughter named Ashley. As she's pointing her out in these pictures and gushes, she points at one picture of a waitress of theirs that's in college now. "I wish she'd meet someone like you." she tells me. Sandy and Ed, meanwhile, are conspiring to get me talking to our current waitress. They're so funny. ;)

Back at the cabin...

I check my email...
I have a message from Alie. She's flying into Los Angeles. Yeek. I was hoping San Francisco... mainly because I have relatives up there I could've stayed with. Plus LA is supposed to be rather evil when it comes to traffic. Ugh... I'll have to make some sort of arrangements.

I got e-mail from an old friend of mine from Highschool/College... Chris Soriano. He writes me and says, "Are you in Fresno? I'm living there right now!" I about died. So, gonna try to hook up with him when I'm back down in the valley this week. That'll be fun, it's been years since I've seen him.

After dinner we go for a walk up to, as Ed calls it, The Biggest Rock In The World. Basically, it's this immense granite outcropping that overlooks the cleft through the mountains we traveled through and, if it's a clear day, way off in the distance... Fresno itself. I find out we're a little over a mile up in elevation. We stand up there and watch the sun set. I'm thinking that I have, completely by surprise, found paradise.

Brian and Kate partake of some Little Rascals episodes.

AH! Brian is coming to get me!

Mmmmmmm... peanut butter and jelly...

Packing up for Shaver Lake.

"Hello Peter."

"Must... get... to the mountain... now!

Just north of Fresno.

In the foothills... look! More mountains!

Nearing a town called Friant. That's Millerton Dam back there.

More foothills...

Um... a bush. Not just any bush! It's a tree! Disguised as a bush. I wasn't trying to take a picture of the mountains in the background, honest. I was seriously trying to photograph the tree/bush. You don't believe me? Fine. Be that way.

The mountains loom closer. And I can't keep the camera still!

Near Kaiser's pass(in case you can't read the sign, or something)

I'd like to take a moment and tell you what this picture was of. We had JUST gotten up the mountain... and from where we were at, there was this INCREDIBLE view of where we had just come from. Just utterly spectacular. We're talking "Wow, damn, that is just frickin' beautiful." In fact, my eyes tear up and I get all veklempt thinking about it. Too bad you can't see it, this tree got in the way.