The Climb

Last night I returned from an 8 day vacation to the West Coast. Last Friday night, I flew out to Seattle, where I met up with my parents and spent Saturday and most of Sunday with my cousin who is in college at Seattle Pacific and staying in the area over the summer. After that, we hopped on a plane together and flew to northern California to meet up with my sister, brother-in-law, and grandfather to spend the week with my aunt and uncle and their clan (two grown children, both married, with 9 kids between them). The centerpiece event of the trip was a family (mother, father, sister, brother-in-law, uncle, me) expedition to climb this:


For those who may not recognize this by sight, this is Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. And to be more accurate, the expedition was to hike around behind this big rock and then up the backside of it. (No, I've not gone completely insane and taken up free rock-climbing) Once I lay hold of some of the trip pictures (my mother and brother-in-law are both shutterbugs, so while I had my camera with me, it seemed excessive to use it), I'll be able to give you a better sense of what we actually set out to do, but for now, you get this stock photo of the Dome I found on the internet. And no, there wasn't any snow to be found on it last Wednesday, though it is surrounded by a number of higher peaks that remain snowcapped.

I'll go ahead and end the suspense for you now by telling you that I did not make it to the top on this particular journey. Of our party, only my brother-in-law actually did, which was fitting since he was the one who wanted to do this in the first place. However, that does not mean there wasn't a great adventure had, and much to be learned, all within the context of a wonderful and much needed vacation. Over the next several days, I intend to chronicle many of the raw details of the trip and the climb, as well as my reflections. So, if you care, stay tuned :-) After a long dry spell, I've finally got some solid material to work with for a while. I also have extra time on my hands, as my satellite TV receiver died right before the vacation, and I'll likely not get the replacement until later this week. Of course, my internet connection has also gone kind of flaky (I'm currently in the longest stable window I've had with it since I got back, which is why I'm finishing this now rather than risk not being able to do it tomorrow) and may not be fully fixed until mid-week either, but I'll do my best!