I can do it!

My little trip over the weekend served three main purposes. #1 An excuse to get out of the house on Memorial Day Weekend since my lovely husband was out of town at a conference. #2 To check out a new park that I had never been to before for the possibility of taking a small group sometime in the near future (either a group from school or church). #3 To prove to myself that I really do have the skills that I think I have. Thursday Night: I gave a printed itinerary, with tons of phone numbers and contacts, and a map to my good friend Denise (the mother of my God son) in case I didn't return on time. Friday Morning: Lazily roll out of bed around 8am when my husband calls me from Michigan. I took a shower, ate breakfast, checked email, got my food together, packed the pack and finally left the house at about 10:30am. Did some last minute food shopping, got some cash and filled up the tank with biofuel from our favorite place www.biofueloasis.com. I finally left Berkeley/Oakland around 11:30. Friday Afternoon: Driving around the Bay is a mystery to me. You never know when there might be alot of traffic of not. On the way south towards San Jose, traffic was wonderful until I actually got into San Jose, then there was construction. The other mystery is the lack of exit numbers and you never know which street or town might be listed on an exit sign so when you exit the freeway, you really are taking your chances. Unfortunately I guessed incorrectly and got off one exit too late. But I didn't realize it at the time because I thought I had seen the road I was looking for (it actually parallels the freeway for a short time and I got off at the wrong spot). My second mistake was not looking up the word names for the numbered routes I was supposed to take (like who knew Route 35 is the same as Skyline Blvd?) This is where I'm thankful that I enjoy driving my car and I kept trying to remind myself that this is all part of the adventure. When I couldn't get a hold of Grant, I ended up calling my mom for directions. She looked them up on Yahoo and tried to help me, but really all I did was make her worry. I finally made it to the park around 2:30pm and started to make my final preparations to head out onto the trail. Friday Evening: The hike in was beautiful and easy. It was about 2.8 miles to the campground. My pack was under 25 lbs. I felt good. I got into camp around 5pm and checked the place out before making myself dinner. By 8pm I was cold and bored. I had already set up the tent, cooked, cleaned, brushed my teeth, hung my food, and read for awhile. It was starting to get dark and I was cold so I decided to go to bed. Saturday Morning: I woke up a few times during the night because of the wind or being cold or restless because I had been laying down for so long. As soon as the sun hit my tent, I got out and started the day. It was about 6am. I was back to my car by 9am and home by 10:15. (Notice 3 hours to get there, 1:15 to get home-- yikes! What getting lost does to your travel time!) On this trip I learned that I can successfully take care of myself on the trail by myself. I also learned that I am alot colder when I'm by myself and that I get bored easier. I missed my husband greatly. Here are some pics. http://photos.yahoo.com/theaussiepea.