It's an Exciting World

I got invited by Amit’s sister Neta to go on a half dome hike with her, should she get the passes for the cables.  The day after the invite she got the passes, after weeks of applying for them.  I was really happy to go as I had never been to the top of half dome before.  She had not been to Yosemite since she was a child, so she was also looking forward to it.

I got a Zipcar and found a cheap room nearby the park in Groveland.  She came over right after book club and we left to get to the hostel.  Arriving at 1am, we found that check in time ended at 10pm and a sign said for late check in knock on the door of a house up another road.  We went there and knocked on the door but got no answer.  There wasn’t any cell reception in this town, so we didn’t have internet to check things or call even should we have found a phone number listed.  We were planning on getting up around 4am anyway, so we just plopped down in the car.  The manager had heard us knocking apparently, but just took a while to get out of bed.  He was obviously put out at such a late arrival, and I can’t blame him for it.  We got into the room and passed out hard.

Neta’s alarm went of at 4am, and we were on the road by about 4:20.  We made our way to the Happy Isles parking area and started the hike at about 6am.  We almost took wrong turns a few times, since I didn’t recognize things in the dark.  By the time we made it to the bridge with the last potable water source it was becoming light, so we decided to take the mist trail past Vernal Fall.  I poured out some of my extra water, as I planned to fill up at the last water source with my filter.  We kept hiking up, and unfortunately missed the last water source signs, just from the set of trails we took when they split up in one of the valleys.

We made it to the switch backs and it was painful, but with rests we were able to get through that without too much issue.  We made it to the shoulder, and the bottom of the cables, and were blown away that this was a thing.  The cables go up such a steep and slick area that there would be no way to do it without them.  We started up at a time when most people were still heading up, and only had a few people pass us on their way down.  Looking down while heading up was very scary for me, but Neta said it didn’t bother her.  We got to the top and the views were amazing.  I was able to get signal and called my mom and dad.  They were happy to hear from me, and a little surprised since I hadn’t told them I was going to hike half dome.

Going down the cables wasn’t nearly as scary as looking down on the way up had been.  There were a lot more instances of passing.  I got behind someone who was making good time going down and passing everyone.  Since I was following closely the people who had gotten out of the way for her, stayed out of the way for me.  Neta didn’t get that boon, so she had a few more minutes on the cables.  The only times it didn’t feel all that safe is when more than two people were at a rung, and that was always because there was someone trying to rush up the cables.

My water ran out as we got down from the switchbacks, and Neta was kind enough to share some with me.  We made it back to the Merced River and I filled up some there, using the filter.  I we made it down to Nevada falls and rested for a moment.  We had a snack and had a feet check, with everything seeming to be ok.

We got a lot of time to talk about a lot of things, and we had almost the exact same endurance curve.  Everything was going pretty well up to Nevada falls on the way back.  For some reason that last stint on the John Muir Trail was what did us in.  The last 20% was painful, whereas the rest of the hike had been really fun and not too bad on the legs and feet.  For some reason the way down felt a lot longer than the way up, which is normally the opposite.  We found ourselves thinking a landmark would be around the next corner, when it was really still 15 minutes further down the trail.

We finally made it back to the car, and somehow Neta was able to drive us back to Groveland.  We went to the Mexican restaurant there, and it was tasty.  We really just wanted to sleep, but knew we should eat a big meal before doing so.  When we got back to our room I passed out almost immediately.  Neta still had the energy to brush her teeth and get ready for bed like a normal person.

We got up the next morning and had a pleasantly uneventful drive back.  Both of us were sore, but nothing like the night before.  Our ability to walk like normal people had mostly been restored.  I am glad I went, and Neta was great company.  I’m not sure I would seek out this hike again, but I wouldn’t say no if someone got permits.

Stephanie and I went to Atlanta for Jeff and Katie’s wedding.  I got there a few days earlier than her, and spent some time with the family.  The original plan was to spend time in Birmingham to see Nana, but that fell through as planning for the wedding took precedence.  We ended up walking around a bit and I helped around with random chores.  I cleaned my parents porch and helped Jeff install a ceiling fan.

We went to the rehearsal on Friday evening, and it was a pretty relaxed affair.  We walked around a lot.  Mitch, Katie’s brother, and I walked around the most, as we were seating lots of family members.  We then went to the rehearsal dinner, and it was delicious, but loud in the small room.  Stephanie landed and I grabbed some leftovers for her.  I managed to time it perfectly with getting to the hotel as she was checking in.  We had an early night as we were both pretty tired.

The next morning I let her sleep in as I had to get to the groomsman activities.  We met up at 11 at Jeff’s hotel room and watched a sports game.  I felt a little like the odd man out, but it was still a good time.  We got to the venue right on time, and I stole a bit of time to talk to Nana and say hi to Fred.  I had made a silly birthday card for Nana, which was a popup flower.  The wedding was gorgeous, and everything went well.  We did lots of pictures afterwards.  Stephanie was tired at the reception, so we went outside and sat on the porch.  She took a nap in a rocking chair while I participated in the garter toss.  It went much better than last time.  Not only did I not get a black eye, but I caught the garter.

The next day we went to the botanical gardens and had some tasty chocolate.  There were a few stations spread around serving different chocolate things.  My favorite was a chocolate cheese, which was surprisingly good.  I took Steph to the airport, and on the way we stopped by Holman and Finch and the High Museum.

Monday was interesting, as Irma was coming through Atlanta.  The power went out in the early afternoon, and it stayed out until lunchtime Tuesday.  Nothing too exciting happened when the power was out, and when we drove around on Tuesday morning, we saw that much of Atlanta was without power.  There weren’t too many trees down, but a whole lot of branches were down.

Wednesday I helped Kim with some packing, then Levi Lowrey came by and got a guitar from my dad.  They played a bit together, and Levi played some on his new guitar as well.

I got the airport with plenty of time to spare, since the traffic was lighter than expected, and the line at security was less than five minutes.  I was soooooo ready to get back home after nearly a month of travelling.

Back in Redwood City, my kitties were happy to see me.  Steph was too.

I decided I would visit Stephanie since she had some advance knowledge of when she would be in Hong Kong.  I got the tickets before she had exact days so I got there a day and a half early.  The flight was pretty long, but I got really lucky and there wasn’t anyone in the middle seat.  The sunrise out the window was also very pretty.

The train ride to downtown was also pretty.  I went to the hotel and dropped off my bags before heading up to the peak.  I walked around, as they had a really nice path that nobody else was on, and then grabbed some dumplings at one of the restaurants in the peak viewing building. The tram ride up and back was also very nice.  I was surprised how much undeveloped land there was so close to such a huge city.

That evening I took the ferry to another area.  I walked along the waterfront and grabbed some peking duck pizza.  I somehow got the table right next to the water, and right at sunset.  I got to watch the ferries and boats, as well as a pretty impressive thunder storm go through.

As I finished dinner and went home, the rain stopped.  I made it back just before the rain started again.

The next morning I decided to watch a few videos on where to wander around and they recommended an area called Mong Kok.  I went there for breakfast/lunch and got some of the egg waffle, boba, and some delicious soup dumplings.

I got the 8 flavor combo, as well as an extra order of the garlic, of course.

I then headed to the gondola on Lantau Island.  It was an amazing view, and it led to a really fascinating area, with a giant Buddha statue, a few really nice walking paths, and a monastery.

I took the train back and got to the station as the sky opened.  Again once I got off the train and had to walk the rain had stopped and I got to the hotel to pick up my back and meet up with Steph without issue.  That is where my luck ran out.  On the walk to the Ritz Carlton it rained pretty hard.  There were a lot of sections of the trip that were above ground and uncovered.  I probably should have taken the subway to the building, but I was unaware of exactly where the Ritz was, as it’s location on google maps wasn’t quite right.

I got there about half an hour before Steph and waited in the lobby.  She showed up, and we checked in.  I met the contractors she works with, and we all headed to dinner at an Indian restaurant that she knew.  The food there was pretty good, and we had a good conversation.  I was pretty tired, and they also talked a lot about work, so I didn’t contribute all that much to the conversation.  We headed back to the room and each got a nice soak in the luxurious tub.  The view from the room was amazing.

The next morning we had breakfast with Steph’s coworkers and headed to PMQ with them.  We got to PMQ way too early, and wandered around for a bit.  We found a cute little temple, and Steph put out some incense.  We had a brunch at Yum Cha, and then went back to PMQ for some shop browsing.

We then went to the tailor so Steph could try on her shirts, and we found a place close by for some congee.  It was fantastic.

We went back to the hotel before dinner to relax a little.  Steph and I went to the pool area, and it was a very nice pool and hot tub.  They also had all sorts of sauna and relaxation equipment in the changing room areas.  Had the clouds and fog not been there I’d expect the view to have been amazing.  After relaxing we went to dinner at a Thai place Steph knew of.  We were all tired at that point so we went back and went to sleep pretty early.

The next morning Steph and I grabbed breakfast, then she went to the spa for a few hours.  When she was done with the spa we had high tea in the restaurant in the lobby.  It was very nice.

We then went back to the room to cuddle for a while, and watch some Netflix.  We then went out to dinner at a Ramen place with Trevor.  The food was amazing and it was the same chain as the restaurant we ate at in Japan, Ichiran.  They had the same style concentration booth.  We then went to Glo Station, a multiplayer VR room.  It wasn’t the puzzle room that was promised, but a wave shooter.  We lost on the boss, as we didn’t actually know what we were supposed to be shooting at.  It was a great time despite losing and it not being what we expected.  The set up was also really well done with the multi person tracking.

The next morning I had the last breakfast with everyone as they were about to head back to the factory, and I was going to airport that afternoon.

This was a good trip, and I was happy to spend so much of it with Stephanie.