Had a Great Time; What a Place We Live In!

We got back from Yosemite's Tuolumne Meadows last night - six wonderful days of "roughing it" in order to thoroughly experience the beautiful mountains, rivers, meadows, flowers, and wildlife in the High Sierra. It felt great to shower and wash my hair after we got home (running water is a wonderful luxury) but I would have easily traded another week of living in a tent with the only running water in the river, if I had more vacation time. It struck me that if ever I didn't have a house to live in, I could follow the warm weather and spend the maximum number of days camping in national and state parks. I'm sure lots of homeless people are forced into doing it, but as long as we had the vehicle and fuel to travel, that would be a reasonable alternative.

Coming home, in addition to running hot water and a real bed, also meant returning to electricity and an internet connection. Although I had a mobile phone that got great 3G connectivity, I had my old phone with the battery that wouldn't hold a charge, so although I could take pictures and email them, I couldn't check Facebook or weather updates. (That's why they call it "roughing it", ha ha!) So now I have over 1660 photos and about 50 minutes of video clips to edit - plus laundry and other things to deal with before my vacation ends tomorrow night. Yeah, my life is really rough ;-) We live awfully blessed lives, living so near the beach in Ventura and having the resources, health, and time available to drive 3-8 hours to places with 8,000-10,000 foot elevations for hiking, fishing, and skiing. Now that I have to go back to work on Monday, I'm already looking forward to another vacation in the fall . . . and looking way further ahead: to retiring and getting to travel even more in a few more years!