yuba girl scout camp

this camp is not for wimps. especially when you hike with my personal trainer the feeeeeee bird!!! hustle, rockie, hustle! hmmm.... do you see a pattern?

after i got acclimated to swimming and hiking a few miles everyday with my triathaletic sister-in-law, and also loafing around rocks and rafts like a salamander, i felt completely fantastic. the power of vitamin d and endorphins are amazing. first off, this is the pool that sits below the cabin which fee's and n's grandpa (hil's dad) built years ago. i've been coming and going here since i was 12 and each time i see this view, my breath is taken away.

here is the view down from the rock n and fee dubbed long ago as "the granddaddy commander." it's a nice 30 or so foot drop into the pool below. the pressure of the jump does a number on your ears so now it's best to stick to junior granddaddy (at left) or viper cove (due north). we used to spend hours climbin' all over this place.

one of my favorite things to do this year was cruise down the rugged road into local mining town of washington with the dogs while listening to dire straits. this year the california department of corrections had a fire department crew trimming up the roads. at first i was a bit alarmed to see about 40 men in orange jumpsuits tagged CDC prisoner wandering all over the remote backroad. i was assured at the general store that they wouldn't be there if they weren't totally trustworthy. not only were they trustworthy, but i've NEVER seen men work that efficiently in my life. they'd have trees and machinery all over the road and when i'd pull up to cross their path, they'd have it cleared in 30 seconds. i brought them bisquochito breakfast bread and watermelon one day to say thank you and they were sincerely appreciative. how can we get that kind of work ethic here in nm?!

n, fee and i used to load up on candy at the general store here. fee would gobble her loot down in an afternoon and then demand that i needed to not be greedy and share mine. how does that work?! here is the sleepy, or hungover, town of washington waking up to another golden morning in the sierra nevadas.

my dad loved this old truck in town; he took these photos.

he drew a beautiful sketch of it which he sent to n-man. we sure miss this guy and it was the biggest treat of my vacation to see him. he picked me up at the airport in sacto and drove me all the way to the yuba with a cooler of meat in tow.

when we pulled up to the washington general store one afternoon we were greeted amicably by one of the locals crossing the street with his open can of beer: "is thaaat yer daughter?" indeed.

wally and dad got along great. one is just a little better at relaxing.

over and out, papi. it was soooooo great to see you! thanks for the great visit!!!!

another favorite spot on the river is a great, long pool next to a tumble of rocks and shallow pools. we called it our swimmin' hole and since the sign doesn't say no lap swimming, we went everyday.

here are franco and cho rolling down the rio.

wally watchin' mama and fee bird swimmin'.

two river beauties... my best homegirls.

the shallow pools above the swimming hole are a great spot for sunbathing and dipping crusty feet. we spent many hours up there lazing around watching frogs, gazing up at the hills enclosing us, and working on our irish tans.

look guys, i brought my samwich!

i instuted a new tradition which thouroughly impressed my mother-in-law-- dry sandwich delivery. i delivered some right-smart lunches even though i looked like a total dork. what else is new?! just for you, cho.

me want some too, wockie.

me and my best fwend having such a nice timish!

no vacation would have been complete without some nathan's beef franks. best lunch i had all year!another highlight of my high sierra escapade was when fee took me on a "little hike" up from the campground to the jolly boys mine. i almost had heatstroke, but it was totally worth it. these hills tell stories of days gone by and you feel the history everywhere; especially, when you see old mines and equipment scattered here and there. it's eerie and exciting!

we finally arrived at jolly boys mine and looked down into what is claimed to be the deepest pool on the south yuba. unfortunately, the jolly boys' investment didn't pan out (literally) as the waterfall which beats at the top of the pool washes out the placer rock before you can get to the gold. their recently abandoned equipment is everywhere, along with load of shotgun shells.

this pool was the best. icy cold and bubbling with a mineral scent-- it felt like swimming on clouds. the pool used to be much deeper, but a HUGE flood in '97 filled much of it in with boulders. the edges are still fathomless so it's suuuuuper creepy when you swim over to the sides with the rusty, old mining cables dangling overhead.

fee bird and i headed for the falls. resistance swimming at it's best!

i took frankie and cho and the dogs up here the day before i left. it was a rough hike for the troop, but again, very much worth it.

scoobie got a wittle bit insecure even after her nice lunchie. she did NOT like everyone swimming up to those falls, and like most muscular staffies, she doesn't have the greatest buoyancy. she kept trying to rescue anyone who went for a swim, but would turn back midway with a look of terror on her sweet little terrier face. stay, scoobie, say.

ahoy, maties!

hils and i hiked a little further up to find the end of the trail. i remember this old car from when i was kid.

here is the whereabouts of the rock where hilary's dad would always get the jeep stuck and the oil pan would fall out on the way to the best secret swimming spot--the lost falls, can't tell you more than that, folks. maybe next year. this is a seriously mad road and i can't imagine driving up here, let alone with kiddies bouncing around in a jeep. hils said her dad would go fast and they'd be screaming with fear and delight all the way. apparently he was the funnest person ever and i believe it knowing the great cho!

another magical experience was going to my favorite town ever, nevada city. it is hard not to get lost in the past here and wish you could stay and visit every museum, bookstore, thrift store and old mine around. the history is haunting and close, even though it's getting yuppied up. here's the old firehouse.

grass valley and nevada city are the two best preserved gold mining towns in ca, and can easily get into your soul.

i had such a wonderful time with my family, and it was a true vacation.

thanks for helping me get there!

here's an old pic some old yuba friends. amazing larry and the best dog in the world, fritz the man. fritz lived next door to the cabin, and even in his arthritic old age would defend any of us to the end. i'll be seeing these two in heaven.

here is my love in our newlywed days. thanks for sending me on a great vacation, honeybear. especially, thanks to your dad for taking such great care of you! you boys are the best!

so long, everyone!

good bye to my favorite road. this scene always gives me hope and reminds me of my hope in this life-- but the grace of Jesus and eternal life through Him.

of note: carrolling and candyman

i'm behind on me bloggin' but that's cuz i be back to work. no fear, mateys. i will find time here and there. just wanted to say hi and let you rejoice with me in a few things. the first is that i got to see lauren for the first time in like 4 or 5 years. that's sad... i hope it's never that long again. she and her mum were as cute as ever and i could've spent many more hours in there dear and nuttly presences.bean and i got some time to walk and talk. we finally broke out the gigantic umbrella that was left in my car by a mad-scientist near the mexican border. that's another story.
we shared pizza at their b&b and then watched "so you think you can dance" with great intensity. they are quite the team them carroll womens. they cracked me up and i love them bigtime!

a few days later i ran into pez man.

he was rad and reminded me of our college housemate CJ and his immense pez collection. lauren and i lived with him and a few other boys at the ben and jerry's literature house in college which was an interesting mix of violent wrestling, philosophical reasoning, bass playing, johnny cash serenades, flea infestations, and other domestic anomalies for two girls who like order. it was good for us.

it will be another couple of weeks until you'll hear from me as i'm going on vacation tomorrow. clearly i'm having a little insomnia because i'm afraid i won't wake up at 5 am to get to the shuttle on time. i am very excited, but will miss n something terrible and he me. we've had a terrific week together watching old movies and visiting after work. his dad will be back to care for him tomorrow. i'll be going to my favorite place- n's grandpa's cabin on the yuba river in sierra gold country. it's like going back in time and it's a magical place to rest. my dad's gonna pick me up in sacto tomorrow and i'm mighty excited. i'll also see my feebird, cho, wally and have a whole week with my mom. jd and maria will care for n and that's a huge blessing. many of you have been a part of getting me there and also for having maria come to help on the home front. for that i thank you very, very much.

see you in a couple of weeks!!!

back to work

...and trying not to feel sorry for myself....

who is la capitana?

here she is at 18 graduating high school. today is her birthday! she cooks mean enchiladas and hails from the valley of el carmel in mora county, nm. her grandfather juan aragon dubbed her la capitana because she always stood on the highest rock in the valley and gave orders to all the other ninos. who is she today? please study apache features on faces below and cast your vote!

is she my prima, the lovely lexie (to the left of lovely superkeeks)?

is she my superfranco (she gets mad about closeups, but you know what she looks like. cho says this picture is great so don't get mad, franc!)?

or is she my gramma bamma a.k.a .virginia gregorita roybal devine poloni (to the left of our little tia adelina)?
show your smarts on the right and wish the winner a happy birthday! thanks!

big franco from the coast

when the park ranger, who looked like a very experienced girl scout, came tromping bruskly up to our picnic spot, i was certain she was going to tell me to clean up all my potato chips. i began to think of endangerments to local animals such as the tassle eared squirrel and i glanced up at the looming trees wondering if the rangers somehow had cameras in the park. as she strided quickly up to us i tried to block her view of the cascade of cherry tomatoes and avocados i had missed putting on my sandwich. fortunately, it was just a flash flood warning. no worries!

i wasn't alone in my phobia. my mom thought the same thing, but hilary thought we were big dorks as usual. franco came for a long weekend on the fourth of july and it was so wonderful to see our favorite gal. hils and i took her to bandelier national monument to see the anasazi ruins of frijoles canyon rediscovered in the 19th century by the swiss banker turned passionate anthropologist, adolf bandelier. meag and i had gone there last summer. it's incredible and full of stories and storied apartments carved into the tuff, which is whitish, pinkish, yellowy volcanic ash. long ago when there was mucho volcanic activitiy gasses got trapped in the tuff and made crazy holes which were easy to expand into comfy dwellings.

there is a beyond groovey feeling there.

after being warned about an impending monsoon hils insisted franco and i climb the 140 feet of ladders to go up to see an old kiva. of course hils couldn't do it herself, but kept telling us to hurry up so she didn't get washed away at the canyon bottom. no pressure. when we finally descended after scurrying up and down cliff faces on age-old, smooth ladders, franco declared that she did not like the experience at all. sorry, franc.

were proud of you, though. be all that you can be.

there are some amazing petroglyphs there. franco and cho walked right past this guy! can you believe it? what is he? a parrot or an ardvark? i vote for parrot. the pueblonians traded many goods with mexico some of which were parrots. there are lots of parrot bones and feathers excavated at many sites in the southwest. they worshipped them, but they usually died in this climate. sad.

i highlihted some stuff here for ya. click on picture for better viewing and helpful interpretations of ancient grafitti. the roadrunner is the state bird, mind you, but i'm not sure about the robot.

ah, bandelier. the more i see you, the more i like you. ya'll need to take a visit!

but more than day hikes and ancient settings, i love my franc. it was a short, but sweet weekend. she got to do hours of crossies with her favorite guy, and n has her totally hooked. they call each other almost everyday with clues as she now has her own crossword puzzle books, too. so cute and such a blessing for n to have a buddy who doesn't get frustrated with questions like: okay, babe, what's a 5 letter word for "to sling mud" the 3rd letter is "e"and the 4th is "a"?

...um, i have to go now.

superfriends.

supefreak!

critter control

sorry it's been a while but we've had a few bugs to work out on of every level of life. sheesh! i was looking forward to catching you all up on my mom's visit and a fun weekend at the folk art market, but alas here's the latest...

first, the good news is that the monsoon season has finally set and that the garden is a refreshing retreat for all forms of life including us!

the not-so-good news is that we've had a flu virus invasion. poor juan was the first victim. i think he got in california and is still recovering. cho got it bad this last weekend, but has turned the corner with much prayer and lots of high tech home remedies. i've been staving it off with excessive cleanliness and my favorite homeopathic antiviral-- the awesome oscillococcinum. i highly recommend picking up some this flu season. you can get it at any pharmacy or grocery store. take it at the first sign of flu. of course ask your doc, too.

since we are ultraparanoid about tubbery picking this thing up-- he hasn't yet and we're still praying he doesn't!!!-- i have a plethora of signs posted up all over the house to remind us all about germ spreadage. i top this off with strong doses of oregaspray on anything that sneezes or coughs or any surface that has been touched by one of the infected. that's all of us, but N. around here it's been non-stop turkey stocks and soups, scubbing and washing of surfaces and laundry, buttloads of vitamin C (N's favorite dosage), agrisept (another terrific, but expensive antiviral-- GSE is also good and cheeper), oil of oregano and much, much more!

i am quite the germ nazi. someone should hire me for something important!!! any ideas?

another summertime activity has been cleaning out my ginormous, dusty closet. hils asked if i felt guilty about my excess of clothing after seeing it all piled on the bed. sort of. but i have lots of excuses for not getting rid of it,and a third of it is n's and cho's for the record, and another third is vintage which is art so how can i be blamed? it is pretty ridiculous and i hope i'm not always like this... or that i always have a big closet:).

this was just the beginning. as many of you know i end up sleeping in my closet on my rollaway bed most nights. this is because n kicks me out of the queen bed because of his sensitive sleep, or because i can't handle how much he's up and about. sounds sad to some couples, but it is such a blessing and we're just glad to be in the same room again-- and that's another story. in short, i am so thankful for my closet!!! our friend tom, who so graciously helped us haul all of our crap from california, said my closet was ridiculous and he could live in there. hey, tom. check it out. God knows just what we'll be needing! here are oogie and i just back from narnia.

here are some other recent shots. as i said monsoon season is thankfully upon us and it's awesome. if you're going to visit northern nm, this is the time of year to come-- late summer, early fall. the sky does spectacular things.

as do the flowers...

echinacea in it's purest form! take a chomp this flu season...

speaking of flu season recommendations, here are n's top five preventatives just for you (he looks so tired and he is, but still cute as ever and so nice to indulge me in this interview question):

1. lots of vitamin C 2. lots of rest 3. lots of fish oil 4. lots of fresh air and sunshine (sorry washingtonian buddies-- but you do have good air!) 5. keep everything clean. sounds simple, but nothing is, right? if you do get the bug, i recommend all these things plus the oscillo and major vit c and agrisept or GSE and oil of oregano (so powerful)-- don't know about kiddies-- as always talk to the doc! i'm not sure what kind of flu we have, but it's definitely no bueno. we're not getting tested for H1N1 yet as we three seem to be pushing through by major prayer on the part of many. i truly feel God's grace to uphold the household and it's been a lot! i am so worried about my N, but i know i can only do so much. he is so sweet and an amazing sport for all he's gone through and continues to go through. he has had a rough summer losing some weight and feeling yucky. but he is making major efforts to get stabilized and has a GREAT attitude. i am afraid to think how i would act if i were in his body! he is an inspiration to us all...

well, it's time to take off!

hey, was this really once a caterpillar? hilary thinks that is disgusting, even though she took this photo and doesn't like butterflies. what?! yes, but she has fantastic taste in everything else!

that's all for now. i am sort of wired on lots of vitamins and chicken salad, and my hubby keeps telling me to go to bed (and clean up that kitchen again!). praise God i have a kitchen to clean and a wonderful family to do it for. let's hope i'm saying that tomorrow. ONLY by His amazing grace!

love you and miss you! hope to have some gooder news soon... especially that N avoids this bug!!! thanks to those who are holding us up in prayer!

chirp chirp fly fly

uno.

dos.

tres.

hello my name is wally boo bear and i'd like to tell you something did you know that in june my sister fee bird who picked me out when i was little at least that what she sayz came to visit me for her vientenueveth birthday on 12 de junio and it was berry fun cuz she did somethin' with me everyday

when fee bird came she had to study a lot for her bigfat math class and tubbery tried to help her and everyone said can you believe those two are doin' math together but i could not help out cuz i was huntin' lizards and my dad sayz i'm wreckin' his garden so he makes me sit in my time out chair all the time so i guess that's why they call him the psycho gardener do you think that's berry nice

fee bird made everyone a salad with papaya and mac nuts i did not eat it cuz i do not like lettuce

one day fee bird took me to the top of a mountain and it was the best day of my life but rockie got really short of breath and had sore legs and couldn't walk all week and my dad said she's kind of feeble i agree

we ran down from that mountain as fast as we could cuz fee bird had to get to the airport but rockie could not keep up with us and thats okay poor rockley she is not in shape like us and fee bird kept sayin' hustle hustle and rockie just said i'm comin' but we could not see her through the woods but no problema cuz they got to the airport just in time

like i said it was the best day of my life

fee bird makes life more fun for everyone and i wish she could come over everyday because she is my best sister ever so don't tell rockie cuz she sayz we're best friends forever and ever but she doesn't do everything i want like chunk olympics and hide the cookie but that's okay

i love you fee bird you are so pretty and fun fun fun please come back okay

bye bye