San Gorgonio Wilderness trip, Jan 18, 2009

Hey everyone!.... First, Congratulations to Dominic and Sarah, Lina's brother and soon to be sister-in-Law. Way to go Dom! A ring was exchanged on a cliff over-looking the ocean up in the Seattle area. We are so happy for you both and so happy to have Sarah Join the family!





SAN GORGONIO CONDITIONS:
There is still a good amount of snow up there. It is beginning to melt down by the South Fork parking lot area though. Gaitors are essential if you are heading up into the deeper softer snow up around Dollar Lake or Dry Lake. We used crampons and trekking poles as well. It got down into the high 20's at Dry lake with a little wind the night we were there. Snow shoes would have been nice especially in the afternoon to do much hiking due to an icy layer over the softer snow underneath. Boots and crampons broke through and made for tedious walking. We brought our ice axes but never used them other than to stake out the tent. OUR TRIP:
So, this was our first trip as a married couple. Lina got some crampons for a wedding gift so we were anxious to get out and try them out. We got on the trail at about 11:00 or so and had a great time crunching up the mountain with all our fun new gear. It is always fun getting out into the snow with crampons. They make you feel a little bit like Gene Simons from KISS. We left the Dollar lake cut off and made our way up the last 3 miles of the 6 mile trip up to Dry Lake. As we got up into the softer snow at the higher elevation we started to realize that we weren't as in a good of shape as we would have liked, but the beauty of the mountains in winter along with the promise of a tasty granola bar when we got to camp kept us going.

It began to chill up as we pulled into camp. The sun begins to go down at 4:00 or 4:30 up there and a little bit of a breeze picks up. We were really glad we had brought some good hot soup and began to feel pretty good once we had slipped into our new Down Jackets (thanks for the REI gift cards everyone!) Hot soup in your belly after a long day of walking makes everything a little better. We climbed into the tent at 7:30 or so and were out by about 8:30pm.

The morning was glorious! We stuck our heads out of the tent and got the stove going for some hot Earl Grey. Everything was bright and pristine. We had some Bible reading and prayer time together and then broke camp and headed out. All in all a really great time!










Lina's Feet:
What trip would be complete without some foot trouble from Lina's boots. I think we have both decided that we are at least going to explore the idea of having some boots made for her. Does anyone know of a custom boot maker?

Wild Ride of Winter

Wowzers! There is just to much that has happened in the last month or so to be able to give any real description of it. If you are anything like me a bunch of words on a blog page is a pretty big turn off, so... I will just keep it short and to the point with some captions for a few pictures so you can see what Lina and I have been up to over the last month.



First..... (drum roll) We got married! .. November 22, 2008... I cried a lot as did a bunch of other people I was told. Most everyone seemed to say that it was one of the better weddings they have ever gone to. I think one or two even said it was the BEST! With a bride as lovely as Lina... absolutely. It was a day I will never forget!


HONEYMOON
Next, we took off to Argentina. I had been keeping the trip a secret from Lina, but being as smart as she is, she caught a name off of an email that I accidentally showed her and she figured it out. She was gracefully not going to say anything, but I knew that she knew. I don't know if she knew that I knew that she knew, but maybe we can save that for another time.




We started in Buenos Aires spending a couple days alternating between sleeping, walking around the city and eating. Argentina has some of the best wine and certainly the very best meat in the whole world. That steak there grilling on the Parilla ruined me for life. No other steak will be able to match... soft as butter and a flavor that is out of this world!



The second part of the trip was truly the very best. We booked a room at the Sheraton right next to the Cataratas Iguazu... the Iguazu waterfall. They we kind enough to give us a free bottle of Champagne becuase we were newlyweds.





This waterfall in on the boarder between Argentina and Brazil. It is 1.67 miles wide and has over 200 individual single waterfalls that make up the whole falls itself. The Iguazu river flows out of the Amazon area and dumps millions of gallons of water over this falls.













COSTA RICA

After a much too quick trip to Woodland and then a cozy ... and a bit of a sad Christmas back here in La Habra, we took off to Costa Rica for a visit with the family that I lived with while I was living and working there from '96-'99.





Franklin and Xinia Guerrero





We had a great time kicking around the city with my tican sisters, Diana and Nela. The youngest Caleb, was out with friends much of the time. It was great to be able to reconnect and share some time together.


Thanks so much for all of you who have supported Lina and I during these last couple of months. We have often been dealing with emotional whiplash, bouncing between such excitement and sadness as well. Both Lina and I have been so encouraged and blessed by your friendship and care.