Work (for Patrick) & Play (for Atalie) in Tahoe National Forest

I'm not even sure where to begin, it's been so long since we've posted! Between weddings (see facebook for photo albums/info), our jobs, and the everyday hub-bub, I guess it just fell through the cracks in my memory and motivation. Time for me to remedy that though!

Might as well start with our overnight trip to Tahoe National Forest back in August. Patrick had been wanting to take me up there, and scheduling field work over the weekend made an economical and practical time to do it.

We arrived late Friday night and couldn't quite tell what our campsite looked like until we had breakfast. It ended up being the perfect size for us, had vegetation giving us privacy from the other campers on one side, and was close to the outhouse & water pump- all making it a penthouse for car camping. :)

No need for Patrick to follow the rules- he set them!

Beautiful day for adjusting a solar panel.

I pretty much just retrieved items for Patrick when he needed them, and spent the rest of the time at this site (and others) taking photos or loading the truck with wood for our fire pit (we don't own one yet, but we WILL!).

An interesting flower in a pretty color that caught my eye along the forest floor.

These looked so much like edamame or some sort of pea. I was really excited at the prospect of collecting some once they matured more, but I couldn't verify what the plant was when I got home. I spent a decent amount of time trying to identify the plant by its leaves online, but edamame leaves don't look like that and the closest results that came up were marijuana! To be on the safe side, I shall refrain from foraging for now. :(


We passed this whisky bottle hanging in its cradle from the tree limbs on the edge of the main road. What the heck? Are we in Arkansas again?

Drilling a hole to run tubing/wiring to the land-based instruments from the sensor in the water.

Wait- where's water world? I don't remember warping to this level in Super Mario Bros!

We had a spectacular dinner when we arrived back to camp that night. Chicken always seems best when cooked over a fire!

While we waited for our corn on the cob to cool, we trekked to the top of a nearby hill to observe the sunset.

There's just no competing with the color spectrums that appear in the sky!

Time to finish our meal, enjoy the warmth of the fire and our view of the luminous moon (it was huge & bright that night) before going to bed.

The next day while Patrick was hooking up some wiring, I got distracted by a visitor crawling between his computer and the bucket it was set upon.

I transplanted the creature to a nearby tree via floating stick. I imagine that would be a rather terrifying form of travel but it didn't seem to phase the caterpillar.

We didn't complete as much work as hoped for due to forgotten objects, a few obstacles and random circumstances. For instance, we found ourselves in the middle of a mountain bike race routed on the back-roads we used to access Patrick's sites, and later that day we nearly collided with a motorcyclist hugging our side of the road around a corner. His bike tipped over and he skidded beyond our view under the front of our truck. Luckily Patrick wasn't going too fast- all his speed was in his reaction. We patched the fellow up and had an interesting conversation, and later he mailed us a replacement first aid kit. It was a rather odd but rewarding weekend as I went to Tahoe National Forest for the first time. :)

Locks of Love & Love of Grillin'

A few weeks ago I finally tamed my mane! Patrick was getting his hair tidied up, so I decided it was as good a time as any since I wasn't going to be one of those people who lets it grow to their knees and get dried out over 30 years' time. Besides, there are some peeps in this world whose circumstances have left them a bit short changed- and face it, I had plenty to share!

Quite a bit past my waist and nearly to my butt! Most days it took me 10 minutes to comb my hair after the shower, and it often got pinned under Patrick's elbow when I'd be rolling over in my sleep. There are definitely some perks to shortening things up a bit.


Unfortunately when I held up the chopped ponytail, it was thick enough that the center just slid out onto the floor since there wasn't enough tension from the rubberband. The hairdresser retied it and told me that even without the stuff that fell out, it was more hair than a lot of donors' locks.

Take 2- it's not falling out this time! I guess there's still a lot of hair there, but it was annoying that another chunk coulda been added to a wig. There's still quite a bit of hair on my head too- nearly enough for a second donation! I can put my elbow over my shoulder and not touch the bottom.
Modeling my new haircut, and our new grill! Thanks to my birthday money, we were able to enjoy grilled pizza, chicken, corn on the cob, zucchini, homemade soft pretzels, brats, and fruit over the course of the week. Delish!

The grill came with free installation from a cute chef. He set it up and made me dinner- that's the best deal out there, no doubt! :)

Britt and Mom's Visit

During the last week of June, my mom and one of my sisters visited us, but the corresponding blog entry kinda fell through the cracks since we left for MI ourselves just 2 days later! Well, it's about time I catch up and show a few pics from their time here:

Mom & Britt arrived on my birthday. I was a bit downcast because I realized I officially entered my late 20s, but Patrick made me dinner and cake, and I was spoiled with presents and my special guests so I didn't stay too depressed for too long. :)

Angel food cake from scratch- it turned out perfectly!

The next day we showed Mom & Britt Glacier Point and the valley floor at Yosemite. It is ridiculously busy there during the summer, but it's basically impossible to spoil the beauty of the park.

The ice cream was overpriced, but Mom said when else would we have the opportunity to enjoy a drumstick or ice cream sandwich/bar at the top of Glacier Point? It didn't take much persuading for the rest of us to give in.

Interesting lichen/branches, especially with a perfect sky backdrop.

Lovely flowers cascading over a rock ledge on the pathway to Bridalveil Falls.

The waterfalls are super-swelled from all the melted snow, so the splash/mist at the bottom was not forgiving! But the weather was nice and it gave us a thrill, so we didn't mind. In fact, it was mom's favorite part of the day!

I don't approve of the people who carved into this wood, but I did revel in the coincidence of their initials.

Our guests showed themselves around during the week since we had to work, but we did get a second Saturday to hang out together in Fresno. There was a lovely courtyard near the place we ate dinner, and later we went to a Shakespeare play in a park. Having Mom & Britt here was a real treat for Patrick & me!

4th of July with the Albins

I mentioned in the last blog that I didn't have all the photos we took in Michigan. But now that Patrick is back in town, I can show pictures from the first half of our trip.

We had a nice view of the Sierra Nevada mountains on our plane to Dallas.

We girls had some nice R&R during Cassandra's bachelorette party. My orange toes look pretty cute, but the best part of the pedicure was the massage chair. :)

We headed into downtown GR for dinner at the Bob. My veggie burger was delicious if you need a menu recommendation!

I booked a hotel room, where we sipped on pink champagne and played games- it was great fun to have a girls night!

Patrick, me, and my family went to a Whitecaps game. Dad was prepared in case of a fly ball, but Courtney was the lucky person to end up with one! Not without a little help from Patrick (bobbled it), mom (it then bounced off her back), and me (I covered her 3:00 when I unsuccessfully lunged for it). She did however earn it for keeping a tight grip when some punk kid from who-knows-how-many-rows-back, ran up and tried to take it out of her hands in her lap! "Stealing's wrong!" I should have yelled, but I thought it a few seconds too late. :)

Dad bought Britt a rather fitting souvenir for her, seeing as she had earlier been joining in on audience activities like the chicken and dinosaur dances. :)

Courtney- making mom proud with her cotton candy stained teeth. Mom had earlier joked, "The real reason for going to a baseball game is just to eat trash!" after I told her I couldn't eat anymore of an elephant year until I had some real dinner.

There was a great fireworks show at the end of the game. Oh- and the Whitecaps won, in case you wondered! (Partial thanks must go to the opposing team's shortstop who made error after error!)

Fourth of July BBQ at my grandma's house. Apparently grillmaster mommas was the trend this summer!

After watching the downtown fireworks from the bridge near my parents' house, we set a few off in the backyard that Courtney had bought.

We hope you all had a great 4th of July!

Summer vacation

It's been about a week and a half since we returned from our summer vacation in Michigan, which means it is overdue we posted about it on the blog! I currently only have access to a few pictures from our time with the Wombles since Patrick is out of town with the computer and one camera that contain a lot of the photos. But I'll give you the highlights of our two weeks in the homeland, and show some of what I do have.

As always, the trip went by too fast and we felt jipped on time, but we managed to cram a lot into it: Me and a pal from high school planned an impromptu bachelorette party for one of our best friends; Patrick scheduled a bittersweet last appointment with a Doctor-turned-family-friend he had been seeing since he was in 5th grade; my family had a BBQ to celebrate a few birthdays and Independence Day; fireworks; catching up with a few friends over lunch; and that doesn't even include our time at a rental home in Traverse City!

For the 3rd year in a row, Patrick's family rented a house (different each time) in semi-Northern MI for a week to offer the space and entertainment for everyone visiting from around the globe. This year, badminton was a main feature, played at least 1-5 times per day!

Grandma took the helm at the grill- MMM! Among traditional delectables like BBQ chicken, I found out I'm a big fan of grilled turnips!

Grandpa Denny taugh John a new trick with the Redi-whip!

As you'll see from the rest of the photos, the water was integral to everybody's time at the lake house! Here, Patrick, Mark, Calum & Isaac's canoe are towing Daisy and Jackie after they underestimated how far they'd paddled and how much work it'd be to get back!

Sally enjoying a cup of coffee on a sunny morning pontoon boat ride.

Daisy waving at us from her place on the paddle board as we're swept away on the boat.

The wind is fair, captain!

Calum had loads of fun and was on his way to being a pro with the paddle boards.

I loved being on the boat, but Isaac does a much better/cuter job of showing his enthusiasm!

Aunt Jackie left the beach chair for a more scenic reading location.

Life is good!

Here was a particularly interesting site on the lake: This balloon gradually lowered its elevation, and at this point we were pretty sure it was about to crash! Everyone on the lake's gaze was locked! But the pilot was either super lucky or super precise, as he recovered his height and never touched the water (although he was just about a foot away from it).

We had an awesome time in Michigan and already miss our loved ones and look forward to our next visit! I'm going back at the end of this month just for a weekend to be the matron of honor in my long-time friend's wedding, but otherwise our return probably won't be until Christmas. In the meantime, we'll keep you updated!