Spring Break

I don't get a spring break from work, but I took one anyway. I went to work on Monday - business as usual. On Tuesday, we took the kids to Point Reyes. Val posted some pictures on the family blog. What she didn't tell you is that it was soooo windy! The first beach we went to had signs posted everywhere warning people NOT to play in the water because of the dangerous current. I walked down to the water carrying Zoey. This was the first time I was frightened by the surf while standing a safe distance from it. The roar was insanely loud and the crashing waves seemed to be coming and going at the same time. White water from waves smacking each other was shooting a couple of feet over my head just a few meters from where I was standing. Zoey was terrified. I was afraid I broke her. She had never shown fear of the water before (which is terrifying to Val and me). Now she wouldn't even look at it.
Val and the other kids had plopped down next to the only windbreak they could find. It was a single log that provided a break from the wind if you layed down right next to it. The kids really wanted to play at the beach though, so we endured.

I noticed that the gravel on that beach (it was really not sandy at all) was polished smooth. The entire beach was a giant rock polisher.

A ranger came down and told us about Drakes beach on the other side of the point. That was so much better! The point blocked the wind completely so we could wander forever without being sand blasted. The surf was also much calmer. All the kids - except Zoey, who I broke - felt safe chasing the and dodging the surf. It was the calmest weather we've had at a NoCal beach!

The next day, Wednesday, Val took the kids to a beach where we found out that I didn't break Zoey (again, see the family blog). I woke up before dawn and met up with the Priest Quorum for the High Adventure. We drove about 3 hours to the Merced River as it leaves Yosimite.
Remember when I was talking about white water crashing several feet over my head a few paragraphs ago? You can take the time to go back and review that part if you've forgotten. I'll wait...

Ok, well instead of being a few meters from it, this time we intentionally went right into it!








The water was snow melt, so it was unbelievably cold! We got to jump in anyway and float through one of the minor rapids. I didn't catch my breath for the entire swim. Boy was I happy to get back in the boat!

We drove home that evening and spent the night at the YM President's house. Next morning, we woke bright and early and drove up to Mt Diablo where we hiked a mile to an eroded trail. We spent the day bent over digging the dirt with fire fighting tools with cool names like "Mattock", "McLoud", and "Pulaski". We basically tore up the old trail and reformed it, making it the proper width, filling in the ruts, and giving it the proper slope. Eight hours later we went home.

I was exhausted and sore.

On Friday (click the link if you dare) I went to work as usual.

Luckily, I recovered over the next week, because the following Saturday, Val and I moved 2 1/2 cubic yards of decorative landscaping rock, and 3 cubic yards of topsoil from a pile in our driveway to various areas around our house and garden. I'll let Val tell you guys more about that on the family blog.

I'm so sore I can barely move my fingers to type.