My mom and I are heading out to Yosemite for a short trip before Christmas. I am hoping to see lots of snow even though it says it will just be raining. I have been yearning for some new adventures and haven’t been to Yosemite since seventh grade. So adventure here we come. Hiking , maybe cross country skiing, and lots of photos. Stay tuned for photos! See you all in a couple of days.
Otters are definitely one of my favorite animals along with hedgehogs and ferrets. They are beyond adorable and are so fuzzy and tranquil looking. I have been trying for quite some time to get some halfway decent photos of some sea otters since I already got some good river otter photos. I decided that sea otters are much cuter than river otters. Sea otters just have such a cuteness about them, and how can you not love an animal that floats around on its back with stubby little arms.
I found this adorable little creature out at Moss Landing on my way down to Cal Poly. I keep seeing them there and always forget my camera. But I came prepared this time and ran over to capture his cuteness with my camera.
It started to rain on him, he didn’t seem very happy about so he decided to roll over. First he did this cute little fist pumping action with his arms by holding them out from his body and moving them up and down. It was probably one of the cutest things I have ever seen.
Then he proceeded to roll over on to his stomach with his hands held against his nose. It really looked like he was praying or something.
It just made my whole day seeing this otter. I love wildlife and capturing pictures of it to show other people why I love it so much is worthy standing out in the rain for however long it takes to get my shot. Lesson of the day anyways, otters are unearthly cute and I want one as a pet. It makes me sad to know I can’t have one, maybe some day I will befriend an otter and visit him. Dreams, oh well. I love otters and if you don’t… there is something seriously wrong with you.
Crossing names out of address books
After showers patter on a closed coffin
Just a passing moment gone
Putting down the pencil
To look at the rain as it shifts
Dancing in front of the window
As the drops send ripples outward
Pirouetting hand in hand with the grass
as each petal bends slightly under the weight
The water pulling its face down like a tear drop
The face turned upward catches the rain
Between the lines in your face
Catching in the corner of your lips
As a smile sneaks its way to your face
The rain brushes your face
With the tenderness of a lovers embrace
Sliding down cheeks so the tears don’t show
You face the sky alone
With forgotten names rolling off of you
Falling into muddied puddles
Never to be recovered, never to be remembered
Sifting into the soil, becoming part of the earth
Like seeds weaving into the ground
Returning home from life
To the warm embrace of the world’s womb
Wrapped in a veil of the earth’s tears
From the earth but not of the earth
Not yet, for now you rest among the tulips
A shimmering rain drop
Sending ripples into dreams
Into the minds of those who never knew you
Dancing with the grass
I still miss you
I will find you in the tulips in the earths embrace
There your name will be written again
Not in a book but in stone
Guess what this is a picture of 
. This was taken in a rest stop parking lot in Minnesota (after my fall). I loved this a lot, the wet ground made them look really cool. Yeah for randomness!!
I will post the answer tomorrow as a comment for this post but I am sure you all will figure if out pretty quickly.
Today was an entire day of nothing. We went through Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, and finally here in Ashland, Wisconsin. It rained almost the entire day and there was nothing to take pictures of at all. The only real event was me slipping in the rain.
Yes, a little know fact about me (unless you know me really well) is that I am a total klutz. So
Me + Rain + Sandals + Slippery Surfaces = bad fall
We stopped at a rest area to throw away some trash and take a much-needed bathroom break. It had been pouring all morning and was still pouring out. So I slipped on my sandals and ran to the rest stop bathrooms. Just as I stopped running and took a few sure-footed steps I stepped on a slippery patch in a puddle and my crappy sandals just flew off. Next thing I know I am rolling around in a puddle in front of a rest stop full of people, probably laughing. I was so surprised I just lay there in a puddle getting soaking wet, thoroughly coating myself in mud and water. I looked over at my mom while I was laying there hoping she hadn’t seen my wipe out.
Finally I got up and limped into the rest stop. I was entirely soaked and freezing. I had busted up my hand and my butt in a major way. Next thing I know my mom comes in asking me if I was okay between her laughs. So we both start laughing at the image of me rolling around on the floor. I was okay but my hand really really hurts and I probably broke my tail bone -.-. Another reason for my utter dislike for Nebraska and Iowa. Sorry for those of you that live there, it may be for you but definitely not for me.
So right now we are in Ashland, Wisconsin on Lake Superior and watching the sunset over the lake and fireworks. Tomorrow I will finally be arriving in Michigan and I can’t wait.
Oh and HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!
I saw you at a Flea Market or Farmers Market in Eugene, Oregon during a big rain storm. I loved your hair, the purple looked great. I wonder what you act like, you look eccentric but when I saw you I felt that you were very level-headed and quiet. Your image conflicted with your true self and I wonder if that is true or maybe just what I thought I saw.
I think you saw me taking the photo but you didn’t say anything, I almost wanted you to say something. You really intrigued me. You were different and made me wonder who you really were. Anyway, I loved your hair and your eyes, enjoy your coffee .
Here is the site I got to see everyday when I was in Yellowstone. This picture can’t truly describe how beautiful this place really is. I must say it is extremely different than Santa Cruz and this is one of the hardest parts of being back home.
I keep looking outside expecting to see snow and gorgeous mountains but instead I see rain and lots of trees. I am not complaining, it is just such a shock because it is so entirely different. It really reminds me just how lucky I am to get to travel like this because I can experience all the different terrains and lifestyles of the world around me. That is why I believe it is essential to travel because people have to get out of their normal atmosphere and see the world in all of it’s different lights.
When in Hawaii, my family and I visited Hawaii’s Volcanoes National Park. I must say it was pretty disappointing to most of us. It took us three hours to drive there, then it started pouring rain. And I mean POURING. So I had to quickly put pants on because of course I was wearing a dress since it is Hawaii and I am horrible at predicting the weather. So we had to make a mad dash from the car into the Visitor Center, which kept routinely losing it’s power which made things very hard to buy when tha cash register keeps shutting down. I forgot my passport book as well (you get stamps from national parks all over the country.. I have had mine since eighth grade) so that wasn’t as fun. I had to safeguard my little tiny piece of paper which I had stamped and would later put into my book, which was nearly impossible since I didn’t have a jacket, was wearing a dress with pants, and had no were to hide it from the downpour.
I think you see where I am going
The most disappointing part was the fact that the lava wasn’t flowing. The whole thing we drove three hours to see, wasn’t happening today. Can I explain my disappointment.
But you have to push through, so instead we went to go see this really interesting crater. There were also some nice steam vents along the way. Can I also say how hard it is to take pictures when it is pouring? I was running around getting soaked with my camera shoved in a plastic bag whipping it out to take pictures then stuff it back in.
The crater was very cool, but it still didn’t quite fill the void of the unseen lava. But I did get quite a few good creeper photos there. I also learned quite and interesting bit about Hawaiian Mythology which is one of the only types of Mythology I haven’t looked into. Pele is an interesting woman… goddess.
Next was a stop at the Lava Tubes which is basically a giant tunnel underground. It was very impressive. We also had a lot of fun with the mad dash back to car out of the pouring rain. The area around the park was amazing. It was just like a rainforest with giant ferns, and so much green all around you. It really was a beautiful place.
After the disappointment I had a lot of fun at the park. As we left the park the rain got even worse. I love rain but this was scary, we couldn’t even see the road it was coming down so hard. On our ride home a huge storm followed us. Thunder storms chased us along the mountain road back to the hotel. The storm lasted until noon the next day. But that is a different story.
