California: Paradigm Changer

Before this summer, the only part of California that I had visited was the LA area.  It's nice - I love Disneyland, the beaches are fine, and there are palm trees.  However, based on Californians' claims for how awesome the state is, and only having been to LA, (and being from Texas,) I thought their claims were unjustifiably exaggerated.  BUT NOT SO!  Earlier this summer I visited northern/central California, and it was amazing.


My friend Ammon invited me to go along with him - he was going to visit his sister and participate in one of those obstacle course/race things, and wanted some company for the trip. After making it through the barren wasteland that is northern Nevada, we stayed the night in Reno.  (As it turns out, Reno is not a very classy place.  But we stayed in a "nice" casino for cheap!)  The next morning we crossed the border into California.  As soon as we did, the landscape instantly changed - suddenly we were driving through the mountain forests of the Tahoe area, with occasional vistas of gorgeous mountain lakes.  We made our way south and made a stop at the redwood forest of Muir Woods National Monument (WOW - breathtaking!), then crossed the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco.  SF was a neat city - I'm sad that we didn't have enough time to explore there.  We kept going south, and eventually ended up on Highway 1, driving right along the coast.  We watched the sunset over the ocean as we continued on the winding cliff road.  Eventually we made it to Ammon's sister's place in Morro Bay, a neat little town right outside of San Luis Obispo.  It was pretty late by then, and we went straight to bed.  When the sun came up, we saw that they had a beautiful window view of the beach just a couple of blocks away.  I went with them to the obstacle race (which was fun even though I was a spectator), then back home and cleaned up.  In the afternoon, we visited a really fun beach with Ammon's sister and her family, then went out for dinner for some authentic seafood (more authentic than in Utah, anyway).  The next morning we left early, stopping only for church (Sacrament in Sacramento!).  What a great trip!  Who knew California could be that awesome?!?!

 Here are some pictures from Muir Woods...

(my camera phone can't do justice to how majestic it was)

 Sunset over the ocean driving down Highway 1

Ammon's sister's kids were gone the first night we were there, so we got to sleep in their beds - look how cool they are!  I slept in the pirate ship!  (Also, their room was full of Legos, so I kept busy even when we had down time.)

The view from their living room window... sigh... 

Sea otters in Morro Bay! 

A vineyard we drove through on our way to get to the obstacle race, located on a ranch.

 Here's a video made of the race that Ammon and his sister participated in.

 On the beach!

 We had fun with Ammon's nephews scrambling up and down the beach hills...

 Tide pool creatures

 Cool geology!

You may remember the eclipse that happened earlier in the summer - we were able to see it on our drive home through two layers of sunglasses and a tiny hole made with our fingers.  I tried taking a picture, but you can't tell there's an eclipse going on.

Heroes

Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is impressive - he's a serious artist and the films are amazing (though rather dark).  In light of the deaths surrounding the last two installments, I think the following project (that Nolan is also involved with) will come as a welcome and refreshing change of tone:

"You will give the people an ideal to strive towards.  They will race behind you; they will stumble, they will fall - but in time they will join you in the Sun.  In time, you will help them accomplish wonders."

Memorial Day

I had an exceptionally good Memorial Day this year - probably my best Memorial Day yet.  It started out the night before by watching the movie Glory with some friends.  (I did not forget the true meaning of the holiday amid my day-off activities).  Then early Monday morning, a couple of friends and I hiked up near my old stomping grounds (Pleasant Grove) and sat on the top of a waterfall.  After that, we finished the New York Times crossword puzzle over an all-you-can-eat French toast breakfast at Kneaders (probably one of the most divine experiences you'll ever have).  Then I went home and read my book for a few hours out in the sun while drinking some terere.  Then a friend invited me to go swimming - we did, and in addition I got some lovely sunburns on my legs while reading at the pool's edge.  After that, several friends and I got together and ate strawberries and made hot-dogs and hamburgers on the grill.  Following that I participated in an intense water-balloon war with the rest of the ward for FHE.  Then, after receiving a thorough soaking (cold and wet), a group of us went hot-tubbing (warm and wet).  One of the coolest things was that almost none of it was planned beforehand - hooray for summer spontaneity!

Holidays

I'm well into my summer holiday - I've enjoyed my job and spending time with friends thus far.  In the meantime, several other holidays have come and gone.  Let's have a look:

The Pides of March
This actually happened before school got out.  As everyone should know, March 14th is Pi Day (get it? 3/14 and 3.14159...) and March 15th is the Ides of March (the day Julius Caesar was murdered).  I was speaking to a friend at work about combining the two into a "Pides of March" Party.  She loved the idea, and we started planning it.  It turned out great - ancient Rome decor, togas, and pies (along with other round treats) were all part of the festivities.

Notice the togas...

Notice the punny phrase...

We even did a reenactment...

Something I made to put on the wall.

(I would have kept going, but the next digit was a 0.)

May the Fourth / Cinco de Mayo

Here's another set of back-to-back holidays.  May 4th is Star Wars Day (get it? "May the Fourth be with you"), and is actually more official than you'd think.  And May 5th is obviously Cinco de Mayo.  On the evening of the Fourth, I went with a group of friends to the first of a series of free rooftop concerts in Provo.  The super-nice weather, great music, paper lanterns, full moon, and fun friends made it an enjoyable evening.  Afterwards, in honor of Star Wars Day, we watched Episode III.

On the following day, my new roommate threw a house-warming party for our apartment - it was "Old Hollywood" themed.  He spent a lot of time getting it organized, and it turned out great.  We had lots of good people, good food, and tons of Martinelli's Sparkling Cider.  In honor of Cinco de Mayo I came dressed as one of the Three Amigos, but quickly felt silly and changed into something else.  I think the party turned out to be a great success.

Here's the outside view of our place.  Notice the red carpet...

 Here's the inside.  Notice the record player in the corner (playing "Old Hollywood" themed music)...

There was a silent Charlie Chaplin film playing, which was cool.

Downstairs, we had a "speak easy" showing the film adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

Also, a poker table.

Paraguayan Independence Day

As most of you probably know, I went on a mission trip for my Church to the southern part of Paraguay.  A good friend in my apartment complex also served there, but in the northern part.  We decided to throw a party for our mission friends to celebrate Paraguayan Independence Day on May 15th.  It was a blast!  Among other things, we sang 'Happy Birthday' to Paraguay in Guarani.  There was traditional Paraguayan food and music playing, along with flags and other decorations.  We also had a good time passing the mate/ tereré around.  There were two real Paraguayos and my mission president even came!  I think it was a great success.

 From the outside...

 My friend made a map - we all stuck pins in the cities where we'd worked.

All the gente...

 Chipa, mandioca, chipa guasu, jugo de mburucuya, etc...

Here's a nice low-quality photo taken as the party was dying down.

There were lots of other fun things going on between all these holidays - I'll post about that soon.

Fun Fact

While serving a 2-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I had the opportunity to train Elder Lund.  ('Elder' is a title used to denote one's status as a missionary.  To 'train' a missionary is to be the first person they're assigned to work with - in other words, to show them the ropes and teach them how to be a good missionary.)  Elder Lund trained Elder Goodwin.  Elder Goodwin trained Elder Evans.  Elder Evans currently teaches at the Missionary Training Center (an incubator for missionaries).  And at the MTC, Elder Evans "may or may not" (wink) have taught American Idol star/pop singer-songwriter David Archuleta.

So, in a very direct and personal way, I taught David Archuleta everything he knows about how to be a missionary.