easterinyosemite2008@gmail.com

like i said, i am willing to say that this past weekend was the best easter in all of my twentythree years. here are the words to explain...

0. packing up james' car.
1. putting things on the roof.
2. lis driving the whole way. damn, girl!
3. rules 1, 2, and 3: no whining, no complaining, and everyone helps clean.
4. driving up between dillon and nate. so squished.
5. dillon telling me i'm giving more room to nate.
6. me explaining why. no, dillon, it's not because i like you more.
7. the "that's what she said" jokes.
8. those got old real fast.
9. but i couldn't help myself.
10. nate saying "hottie alert" all the time.
11. stopping for coldstone. mmmmmm.
12. setting up camp for everyone.
13. chili and breadbowls. thanks to tammy from urban bread.
14. keith and leslie bribing the caltrans man to let them through.
15. keith and leslie finally getting there.
16. sharing the tent with the boys. who snore and fart.
17. not that girls don't do those things.
18. it's just that lis, leslie and i didn't do those things that night.
19. giggling in the tent like small children.
20. waking up and wondering why the bears didn't visit us.
21. leslie telling the story about the bear who ate the kid's head who used fruity shampoo.
22. riiiiiiiiight.
23. eating breakfast and packing up lunch. mmmm, what a good sandwich! and those cuties!
24. departing for mirror lake and hidden falls.
25. finding the hidden falls and feeling (not thinking) how bad i wanted to be at the top.
26. trusting nate to get to the top.
27. getting to the top and starting to think "how will i be getting down?"
28. watching dillon, keith and nate throw the huge log into the waterfall.
29. james helping me get down.
30. this really is meikle country!
31. james and dan are eagle scouts.
32. incredible.
33. lis and i urinating too close to the water.
34. we didn't know.
35. meikle country says: don't pee within 100 yards of the water.
36. lis and i collecting s'more sticks on the way back.
37. lis and i booking it in front of everyone.
38. pumping our arms, in case we didn't get enough exercise for the day.
39. getting back and seeing trent's car.
40. but no trent.
41. or dawn, dan or connor.
42. connor flew in from colorado. well, puerto rico, really.
43. rachel arrives!
44. micah moore and paul heckman and more of the moore family arrive.
45. have you ever met tinny moore? (corinne)
46. she's the most kick ass eleven year old i've ever met.
47. i cooked the hot dogs and hamburgers.
48. while enjoying hornsby's apple cider.
49. my favorite.
50. a big game of mafia began.
51. paul heckman and i were the murderers.
52. he was much better at the game than i was.
53. we managed to kill a lot of people!
54. then... somehow i began talking about my appreciation for the apostle's creed.
55. and dillon started making fun of me for enjoying the apostle's creed.
56. and then keith's flask kept appearing.
57. hopefully no one has herpes because everyone was drinking out of that flask.
58. especially keith.
59. i do not prefer whiskey.
60. yuck.
61. and finally the last car came: micah, cg, jihae, julie and erin!
62. all 17 of us safe and sound.
63. and cold. well, it wasn't too bad. maybe high twenties?
64. the next morning i made chocolate chip and banana pancakes.
65. and bacon. mmmmmmm. pancakes made with bacon grease.
66. it's a heart attack waiting to happen.
67. then we set off for a very intense hike. vernal falls.
68. we made it half way there to be told that the trail closed five minutes earlier.
69. that made for seventeen unhappy people.
70. so back down we went. alas! micah m. has a plan!
71. a real intense hike up boulders. and no trail.
72. but the secret trail was breathtaking.
73. once we got there.
74. i've never experienced anything like that.
75. i felt blessed.
76. for my legs.
77. and my hands.
78. and my eyes.
79. and that God created Yosemite.
80. then we played wiffle ball.
81. but not just any wiffle ball.
82. a very intense and competitive game of wiffle ball.
83. at one point, toyota tundra man came out and talked to us.
84. "how about this: it's three strikes if you hit the truck!"
85. "or you can end your game now!"
86. we hit the bumper, once.
87. isn't that what bumpers are for?
88. to be bumped.
89. then nate and i lost to james/leslie and lis at spades.
90. it was partially my fault.
91. i played the queen of spades before the ace of spades.
92. but what can i say, i'm a beginner.
93. (if you want to play hearts, i'll show you how it's done.)
94. but nate went blind nil on the last hand.
95. and we lost. but we were going to lose anyway.
96. i like that game, though.
97. mmm... and saturday's dinner was incredible.
98. carne asada tacos with dang good guacamole.
99. and brett klop appeared!
100. fun to catch up.
101. and then we had a talent show.
102. but only two people came prepared.
103. dawn and trent played the best song.
104. it was about our favorite san francisco game, murder in the dark.
105. and connor told a joke. for fifteen minutes.
106. that, in itself, was funny.
107. and later erin found herself entertaining us with the blues.
108. and lis and i brought out the npr hand crank radio.
109. oh, what a night.
110. sunday's easter service was perfect.
111. thanks dan and crew for leading.
112. and then we started to pack up.
113. but the boys decided to shake/break the tent.
114. awesome.
115. and then we went for a little walk. before we left.
116. back to mirror lake.
117. and we got back and james said something hilarious.
118. "and then i looked up and saw them in my rear view mirror sucking face"
119. he was referring to two of our friends.
120. who will remain nameless.
121. and then we had amazing dance parties in the back seat on the way home.
120. and in-and-out was closed.
121. we forgot it was easter. blast!
122. and the night ended by unpacking and sharing pictures.

i heart yosi.

and here are the photos to explain...

hey half dome!

sad because our other friends weren't there yet.

dawn and trent. adorable.

dillon, dan and connor. great shot.

group shot: connor, cg, micah, dan, jihae, nate, erin, me, dillon, trent, dawn, leslie, keith, james, lis, julie.

not sure what's happening between trent and dan?

mirror lake. which way is right side up?

hot dawn!

julie, me, erin and dawn.

another group shot. everyone this time! notice i'm next to tinny.

peace.

trent, dawn and connor made it to the top!

that's hot. (julie, dillon, erin. and lis.)

paul and gang workin' it out up the mountain.

erin, me, lis.

nate and i made it to the top of hidden falls.

the last group shot.