Cedar Creek Falls Hike

I went out this weekend with some people from Gen-Probe (my old company) and had a great time on a hike that I never knew about before. It's up in Julian about an hour and a half away and is quite incredible. The wildflowers were even better here than we saw in the desert last weekend. We saw one waterfall in the distance and hiked to another one up close. There was a big group of 15 of us (+ a puppy). I was the first to jump in the water and had to do it in my underwear again (remember Costa Rica). I can never seem to remember to bring my bathing suit on these things! The water was so incredibly cold - it was really a shock to my body and everyone else could tell too and decided not to get in. Only 2 others in our group even braved it! I had to get back out of the water almost immediately. Before we hiked back up a slope, though I decided to get in again to keep sure I stayed cool on the hike back up. This time, I swam over to the waterfall with my friend Christopher. It was so beautiful and felt great, but I stayed cold the rest of the day, even hiking in the sun - crazy! I never knew such beautiful hikes were around, but I definitely want to discover more - I feel so alive when I get out in nature. I'm finding that more and more the older I get, I'm really noticing all of the beauty the world has to offer all around me. My polarizing sunglasses help, too because they make the colors all much brighter. :-)
























There were lots of butterflies all around us, which always puts a smile on my face. But we saw even more caterpillars than butterflies - they were everywhere and every color and size. In one area, we saw some very large ones all over the plants. Someone in the group mentioned that it might be a soon-to-be monarch, but I'll take his word for it.

Wild Animal Park

My friend, Jo was super sweet and told me about a butterfly exhibit at the Wild Animal Park and since we are both zoo members, we got to go for free! The butterfly exhibit was awesome - we saw so many pretty butterflies. One big one even landed on me and didn't want to leave for quite a while - I was super excited! :-) We were trying to get one to land on Bailie, but next time.

We also walked around the park and took a bus tour, but still only saw half the park - it's so big! For the bus tour, I felt like I was in Africa again - it's amazing how they have all of these African animals just roaming on San Diego type landscapes - very beautiful too. While we were having lunch, a large owl was being shown and we got to learn all about them. I had to catch a video of the head-bopping. The lions just had cubs and we were able to watch them play - too cute! Enjoy the video!

Desert Wildflowers

Last weekend, Scott and I went out to Anza Borrego Desert State Park to look at the wildflowers that I had been hearing and reading about for weeks. We actually got out there a couple of weeks too late to see a lot of the flowers, but we chose the one trail that still had a good amount of flowers. The Palm Canyon Trail was the one we went on. I put together a video of the pictures I took, so that you can enjoy the wildflowers along with me. We also saw a couple of big horned sheep and you'll them here too. I LOVE Southern California! :D

Help out a Friend in Need

The new company that I work for, BD does a great service to medically underserved countries in Africa. They do a great deal of support through the organization called Direct Relief. We have a number of employees from our company over in Ghana right now giving medical aid to people who severely need it. An except from the website reads:

During this trip, a particularly important project is the installation of BioSand Water Filters in the clinics and outlying villages where BD associates are volunteering. These simple, economic and highly effective filters instantly produce clean water. An estimated one billion people around the world do not have access to clean drinking water — including nearly 40% of those living in rural Ghana. Simple solutions
like the BioSand filter are crucial.

I donated $25 for one of these fileters that can provide clean water for a whole community. I wanted to post this here in case anyone else wants to do the same. To read more about this and to donate, you can visit: http://www.directrelief.org/SupportUs/BDGhana2008.aspx

Happy Easter!

We found a new park in San Diego called Kate Sessions and decided to go there for an Easter picnic. It was a GREAT location for a picnic and we had some great company as well - thanks, guys for an awesome Easter day!

 

 

Baby Shower for Shelly and Kevin

Since baby Cole is on the way very soon, Shelly and Kevin had a few people over for a shower. It was nice having the guys there too - it was basically just like any other party to hang out and catch up with friends and so we could all congratulate them on their soon to come bundle of joy! We also got to catch up with Jo, Steve and sweet little Bailie. Congrats Shelly and Kevin - we can't wait to meet Cole!

Take a walk with me!

We've had more rain in San Diego than since I've lived here and everything around shows it. Of course, while the rain comes down, we all complain, but all of the growth that has come from it is amazing. I went for a run a week or so ago and was amazed at all of the growth and wildflowers out. So, I had to go back out a few days later with a camera. Not only were there tons of different color and species of wildflowers, but look at all of the growth in the canyon. It's usually all brown with almost no growth at all! This is all within a couple of miles from my place - awesome! I loved it so much, I had to take Terri and Josh out a few days later so they could see how beautiful everything was. Now, I just need to get out to the desert before all of the wildflowers out there are gone. I LOVE San Diego!!

Class Structures

One of the saddest things I noticed around Cape town were the many, tightly packed shanty-towns where most of the poor black people lived. Apartheid only ended a little over 10 years ago here (in 1995) and there is still MUCH work that needs to be done for these people to have more power and better lifestyles. These shanty-towns had homes made of scrap metal pieces that were tiny, just thrown together and practically attached to their neighbors. I would have loved to have gone in one and talked to the people and seen more inside of these places, but I guess it's not necessarily the safest thing to do. It's so sad to see white people living in huge extravagance like we Americans or even nicer than many Americans with many of the black people living in horrible poverty. Hopefully with time, things get better for them.

Shan's husband, John was reading a book called "The White Man's Dilemma" that sounds really interesting - I'd like to read it. It talks about the problems of what many white men do to try to help these sorts of people in the situations they are in. For example, that giving money can actually be worse off for people who are destitute than maybe going in and doing education or something like that. I don't actually know what the book says, but that's kind of the feeling I got. I have many torn opinions on these matters and on the class structures, etc all over the world, but it really struck me here in South Africa.