Yosemite!

Well, it's already been a while since I first posted. I need to get used to posting more often if this is going to be my primary form of communication. I promise, I'll get better. Anyhow, I'm now out of Seattle (I love that city and will really miss it) and I drove down to California where I'm living with my family for a couple of weeks.

On the drive down from Seattle, I ended up driving further east instead of venturing down the Pacific Coast as planned. It turns out that my sister was going to be at her timeshare in Las Vegas right around the same time, so I changed my trip to head that way with a quick trip to Yosemite on the way. Well, Yosemite turned out to be gorgeous! I really loved it there. Truly, if ever you are near it (and by near it, I mean within a few hundred miles) you should take the trip to see it. I did a lot of hiking, saw some beautiful waterfalls and spent the night in one of the tent-cabins that they have setup for visitors. I've posted some of the videos I took while I was there (note my attempt at being a Discovery Channel host).

I think the one below has to be my favorite video for two reasons. The first reason is because I call mountain lions, "lion mountains" showing how truly exhausted and out of it I was after the long drive and the strenuous hikes. And the second reason is...

... because this is the sign that I saw posted when I came back from my "off the beaten trail" hike. Uh, oops?

After Yosemite, my drive continued to Las Vegas where I met up with my mom, stepdad, sister, brother-in-law and my nephew, Tyler. Tyler is growing up so quickly. When I last saw him at Christmas, he could barely keep his head up and now he's crawling, standing up, clapping and feeding himself! Still adorable, though.

After Las Vegas, I drove to Murrieta to empty out my car, then left for DC the next day. In DC I visited Kathleen and Jacob and also took a trip up to New York to see Emily where I also saw Joanna and Christos. (Please note - do NOT see the movie, "Flight of the Red Balloon"). Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures during this trip, but I think Kathleen took some so if she ever uploads them, I'll put them up. After DC/NYC, I came back to California, celebrated Mother's Day with my mom and sister, then went up to Irvine the next day to meet my dad and stepmom before heading off on our cruise to Ensenada. Had a great time on the cruise - very relaxing and fun. I gambled a bit and had some pretty good luck. Plus, many of the casino dealers were from Romanian, so I got a few chances to practice my Romanian with them. Only downside of the cruise was I got terrible sunburn on my shins of all places.

I got back from the cruise yesterday and am now back at my mom's house in Murrieta trying to get everything ready before leaving for Philadelphia for Peace Corps staging. One other trip comes first though - I leave for Phoenix on Tuesday and I can't wait to see Kevin and all my friends before embarking on my adventure to Moldova!

(I'm posting a few more Yosemite pictures below)