June 9th, 2001

Sandy and Ed's cabin near Shaver Lake...

Woke up late this morning(for me on this trip, anyways), about 8:30am. It was pleasantly chilly in the cabin, and I stumbled down the stairs to find Sandy and Ed enjoying morning coffee. Ed had been up a while from the way it sounded and Sandy had gotten up not long before.

I apologize for not writing more yesterday... by the time I'd gotten done tinkering with the photos and everything I was exhausted. In fact, I'm going back this morning and adding some stuff since I'm more awake...

At any rate, after I had my morning coffee and had woken up a bit I threw on my sweats and told Sandy I was going for a hike. Ed and her had mentioned there were some nice waterfalls down the way if you follow their stream, and I was interested in seeing them. I grabbed the camera and took off. The hike down was pretty easy... I used to play in the woods a lot growing up so following the stream wasn't too bad. The farther down you got, though, the more steep and unforgiving the climbing got. Again, going down wasn't bad, it was the coming back up that really winded me.

The hike itself was immensely soothing. You can hear each of the falls way before you can actually see them, so there's the constant sound of running water and the sounds of the birds all around you as you walk.

When I started to get to the steeper parts, it occurred to me that if I were to take a header and smack my skull into something hard, I'd probably be in deep shit. I walked past about 4 or 5 different waterfalls on the way down, each was a little steeper and difficult to navigate past. I finally got to this one long sloped fall that flattened out, then went over another sloping fall off into what looked like a ravine or something... I really couldn't see past it. It was there I decided to stop, mainly because about 40 feet from the edge I slipped on some moss and fell on my butt. Thanks to the fact that I've taken up rollerblading and have had a tendency to land on my rear, it really didn't hurt too much.

So I hiked back up from there, taking a slightly different route back to the cabin. This was mainly because I'd lost the original path I'd taken down. Getting back proved to be quite a bit more physically challenging. However, I didn't fall once this time.

When I came back I found Ed out back looking for me. He seemed rather concerned that I ran off on my own to take a look at everything. Noting how steep and somewhat treacherous it could be at times I could understand why he was worried. Apparently he went out looking for me at one point and they started getting worried when he couldn't initially find me.

We had breakfast afterwards and relaxed. Tina is bringing up the kids for the day. I might try to go horseback riding today or tommorrow.. that would be fun. =)

Tina's here... more later...

The kids arrive, and Kate's asleep. She had a slumber party last night and didn't get a lot of sleep. We sit around for a while on the outside deck and visit before we have lunch... sandwiches and boysenberry milkshakes. Tina, Sandy and Jason stay at the cabin and the rest of us go for a walk.

Back to the largest rock in the world...

Went back to the huge granite outcropping, this time with Ed, Kate and Brian. It's equally breathtaking during the day. According to Ed, if it was clearer we could've seen Fresno from it. The kids aren't as impressed as I am, and as time progresses they start wanting to go home.
I want to call this place Spectacle Rock. It's amazing.

We interrupt this journal for the following announcement:
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- Text typed in by Kate and Brian as I was working. ;)

Back at the cabin...

Later in the afternoon, Ed, Kate, Brian and I walk down to the waterfall nearest to us to get our feet wet. I wander out a bit in the collecting pool and Kate follows me out, slips and gets all wet. She cries for about a minute, and we decide what the heck. So me and her proceed to play around underneath the falling water, getting sopping wet in the process. She's a riot. Ed and Brian look on, and I think Ed is rather amused. Brian decides after a few minutes that he wants to get wet too, so I pick him up and stick him head first into the waterfall. He giggles and has enough after a little bit. We have a short hike back up to the cabin.

Around 4:30 Tina and the kids head out, and about an hour afterward I take my first ride on a motorcycle. Ed has a sweet Honda Dirt Bike. Apparently he used to motorcross race. He seemed pretty excited about letting me ride his bike, until he asked if I'd ever written before. He sorta blinked when I told him no. He let me ride anyways... he gave me a basic rundown on the operation of the bike and let me take off. I piddled around the neighborhood for an hour, zipping up and down the streets. I think the fact I was an utter newbie made Ed nervous, so I cut my ride time short. I could've driven around until dinner...
I could get to like it.

A British gentleman by the name of Chris came over for a while. He was checking out some stuff about the house for some decoration in his, I believe. Ed, him and I had some wine and sat around visiting. Him and Ed say something that I find particularly... interesting. Life is too short to be unhappy. I think that this is another of those sayings that are going to have to go in the Things to Remember file...
Me and him get to talking... apparently he's been all over the world. He talks to me about how he got an Open Passage ticket of some sort, the proceeded to go all over the place with it, working jobs here and there to pay to see the things he wanted to see, then going to another place, and repeating. A fascinating gentleman.

We have dinner with a guy named Brian. His wife is out of town for 2 weeks and so Sandy and Ed have invited him over for dinner. He's going to be putting in a dry creek bed piece of landscaping for them at some point in the future.

I am so amazed by the utter peace and tranquility that now flows through me. Again, I return to things I'd read by Robert Pirsig, how he describes how the wilderness allowed him to think. The amazing feeling of being on a motorcycle. I wonder what being unleashed upon the road will be like, with no set course, just a final destination with a list of places in between to visit. No set itinerary. A loosely set end date. Freedom. I feel mental shackles starting to break, ideas beginning to flow, and a plan starting to form...

Waterfall #1. This is the waterfall I went and played in later.

Waterfall #2.

The top of waterfall #3.

Shooting back up the stream...

Waterfall #4. Like the lens flare? ;)

Waterfall #5... and the end of the line. The mossy stuff in the foreground is what I fell on. Note how the water just sorta keeps going and going...