Monday, August 8, 2011

A week in the life: Cabin Trip 2011

Ah... back to civilization. Not to say that I don't terribly miss the magical place that is The Cabin. But you know how it is; it's always good to be home.

It was challenging to take photos, knowing I only had two batteries and one memory card to get me through a full seven day trip. It really made me question my shots; to edit myself and think about the story I wanted to tell. Also, since the Rebel is still in the shop, I just had the Powershot. And I noticed later that I was abusing the tilt-shift feature. A lot. So I apologize for the random blurriness in all the photos. Anyway, here are a few of the good bits:

We took a tiny plane from Seattle to Reno (that's Mt Rainier over by the propeller):

I had some lovely magazines and podcasts to keep me amused (and distracted) on the flight
Greg's lovely mum picked us up from the Airport as part of the last leg of her roadtrip and we all drove out across Nevada to the California side of the Sierra Nevada mountains. We knew we were close when we got to the red dirt roads:
And then we were there. The air is so incredibly delicious and fresh and cedar-y.
After a good night's sleep (with the bats zooming around), it's nice to wake up to freshly ground coffee.
And many delicious breakfast items, such as fresh corncakes and veggie sausage.
Of course, in order to work off all the delicious food we were eating, we had to do many many activities. Such as hiking to the tops of small cliffs whilst wearing cowboy hats (not pictured here),
climbing rocks (and butt-scooting down them),
swimming in the lake and sunning on rocks like lizards,
learning to kayak (and letting certain guys paddle so I could take pictures).
In the afternoons, when we'd be a bit tired, we'd have quiet time doing things like reading books,
and working on crafting projects,
and spending quality time with the ground squirrels.
At night, we played board games, read books, or just basically relaxed. One night, we climbed to the top of the Little Cliff and laid out blankets and watched the stars (I saw my first 3 shooting stars ever). Pretty Magical stuff, if not easy to get pictures of.
We even took a field trip to Mt. Lassen National Forest park to picnic and see a little geothermic activity. It was pretty picturesque.
We did start to notice something strange when we got above 7,000 feet or so though....
Um, yes. That would be snow. And glacier water. No, that's not photoshopped; the water IS that blue.
The unfortunate part is that when we got to the Bumpass Hell trail, this is what we saw.
So, a no go on that hiking plan, even though it was nearly August! We went a bit further down the mountain
and found some sulfurous smoking rocks and bubbling mud. Danger zone!
And on the way back, we stopped in town for groceries and a treat at the Frosty Pine Shake Shack (a childhood favorite of Greg's). The shakes are indeed full of old school shake-deliciousness.
The best part of the whole trip of course, was being with good friends and family. (EW! Your mum says hi and hopefully we can coordinate something for next year - G has really been looking forward to nerding it up with Alexis for ages.)
And did I mention that I got fresh-baked apple pie in front of a fire? How awesome is that?

Sadly, our time at the cabin came to its inevitable end. And we returned to civilization.

And finally, we were home.

Hope you had a good week too.

Back in a bit with some more updates. :)

p.s.
already planning the album for this trip. going to use up the last of my love elsie forrest collection with some of that october afternoon campfire. ;)

5 comments:

Nathalie said...

Your photos are fabulous!!!! I want to go there! It is beautiful!!!!!!!

Vera said...

Pretty peeks! ohh the last ones of your Elsie papers... i know the feelin' ;) And mm i would totally love those 'Molly makes' magazines for real instead of the e magazines ones :( we can't buy them here in the Netherlands!

Tammy T said...

Gorgeous photos! And glad you had a refreshing and relaxing time...sounds like you needed it. Glad to see your post!

tammy t

Melissa Mann said...

my goodness. that looks like pure heaven. beautiful photos!

lorena b. said...

When I read "Lassen" & "Bumpass Hell" I said NO WAY! I've been there! Climbed that darn volcano a couple times! Lucky girl, it really is beautiful there, glad you enjoyed it! :)

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