Tour de Mont Blanc: Rivers and Rocks

On the Tour de Mont Blanc, you were never far from some sort of river. There were streams you could leap over, deep gorges you had to cross via suspension bridges, sightings of waterfalls as you rounded corners and glimpses of icy blues and glassy greens through tree branches. Each day we crossed water at multiple points. These crossing were aided by bridges of all sorts--skinny bridges held by swaying ropes, ancient bridges of cobbled rock, wooden bridges recently painted and makeshift bridges composed of single boards balanced (sometimes precariously) over raised rocks. At times the river water was brilliant blue; other times it was milky green. When the water ran fast, it was frothy white; and at slower points, it was steely grey or muddied brown. The rivers crossed countries. They zigzagged and meandered; gushed and pooled. Sometimes the trail hugged the tour's rivers. Other times the trail furled away from them. But never for long. Each day, again and again, your travels were punctuated with that sound of water over rock (rushing, trickling, flowing, lapping).

Rocks were another constant. They rose up on either side of you, forming hillsides and distant mountains. They were underfoot--as small bits of gravel ground into dirt by the summer's hikers or smooth slabs of rock deposited during the Roman empire. Their colors were varied--bright orange, deep blue, liquid silver, nearly black, white with flecks of gray and gray with stripes of white. Rocks were assembled into teetering cairns, sturdy huts,  piled offerings to lost hikers, protective walls for windy summits and other, more frivolous arrangements. They made sounds--crunching, falling, jostling, echoing. Some were so large they took your breath away, while others were small enough to be examined in the palm of your hand. They were jagged and craggy; they were polished and smooth. They resembled things: stern faces, whimsical animals, little hearts or broken glass. There was no way to see them all but that didn't stop you from trying. 

This is my (small) tribute to the many rivers and innumerable rocks of the Tour de Mont Blanc:

They're forever changing; they've been around forever.

Spring Cleaning

It's time to do some spring cleaning! Since I last posted there has been Thanksgiving in L.A., a weekend at our friend's family cabin in Cayucos, a trip back to Washington for the holidays--where we attended the Egge family Christmas party and made a trip up to snowy Winthrop for Christmas with the Nelsons--a scenic drive back to Santa Cruz and a trip down to L.A. to meet my new niece. There have been other adventures, too--big and small--but these have been the best documented events of my last several months. Photos and lots of words below:

Thanksgiving in L.A.:

Cabin weekend in Cayucos:

Egge Family Christmas Party:

Christmas in Winthrop:

Drive back to Santa Cruz:

 Trip to L.A. to meet my niece for the very first time:

 For Thanksgiving, we stayed in a rental house with my parents and middle sister. Our visit was: runs through neighborhoods of Tudor, Spanish style and storybook houses, a steakhouse dinner with Christian's uncle and parents (who were in La Jolla for the holiday), walks with Buckwheat under palm trees and past green yards with succulent gardens and walls of climbing flowers, wandering under strings of Christmas lights at the Grove, a day of cooking by my brother-in-law (with a little help from the rest of the family), football on the television, holiday crackers with colored paper crowns and bad jokes, sausage stuffing, bacon brussel sprouts, a delicious turkey, good conversation, banana cream pie, Hunger Games at the Arc Light and leftovers for lunch.

Just after Thanksgiving in L.A., Christian and drove up the coast to meet up with our friends at a cabin in Cayucos. Our evenings were filled with old mixed tapes, family style meals, a jar of our friend's home distilled moonshine, dips in the hot tub under a black sky and bright stars, games of cribbage, cards, Balderdash and Ticket to Ride, rounds of ping pong, balance board attempts and talks late into the night. During the day there were attempts at archery, matches of corn hole and badminton, tournaments of cribbage and ping pong and hours spent trying to solve a marble solitaire board starting with an empty center hole (which upon our return to civilization, I learned cannot be done). It was a good weekend, tucked away in the hills and woods.

At the Egge Family Christmas party there were new babies to meet, a visit from Santa bearing gifts for the little ones, prime rib, salmon, popovers and sides galore, toasts made in honor of my late grandfather, time spent catching up with cousins, conversations with aunts and uncles and sugary desserts created at an ice cream sundae bar.

Winthrop was filled with big breakfasts, leisurely mornings, early afternoon Nordic skis to Mazama, on Jack's trail, around Freestone and up Cougar Bait with Buckwheat, hours spent over jigsaw puzzles of cupcakes and maps, night sledding, hilarious rounds of Telestrations, exchanging of presents, overstuffed stockings, cookie decorating, swings made by little cousins at a homemade Santa pinata, time spent with Christian's parents, grandma, aunts, uncles and cousins, family dinners of pasta, huge salads, turkey, take and bake pizzas and enchiladas, rousing matches of ping pong and late night movies.

While we were in Winthrop for Christmas, my oldest sister gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in L.A.--my first (and only) niece. Once back in California, we got to drive down to L.A. to meet her. She was tiny with adorable little toes, soft skin and pouty lips. She mostly slept but in her sleep she smiled and snuggled and was perfectly sweet. And sometimes she opened her eyes wide and looked right at us and we were giddy; other times she waved her arms around as if performing an interpretative dance and we laughed. My sister and brother-in-law were head over heels in love with her. It was wonderful to see them so happy. And I loved meeting my niece.

There have been many other events that have filled these last several months for me but these are the ones that are most dear to me. And now that I've shared them, I feel ready to move forward: into spring, into what these next months and this next year will bring. And also to (finally) post more photos from our honeymoon back in September.

It's official--I'm back!