Where the Hopkins Family Shares Stuff
Watch Adam wakeboard on Lake McQueeny. Next stop, X Games, forreal.
If the video stops and starts at the beginning hit the pause button and let it buffer a bit. Also, this video may not play properly in newer versions of Internet Explorer. Not sure why. You should be using Firefox anyway…
The Yeagers and Hopkins in Sequoia National Park
What a great feeling it is to see family! Early Sunday morning Matt and I headed southeast to Sequoia National Park and at the same time Layne and Amanda headed west from Las Vegas. Layne and Amanda had been in Vegas for a Michalsky family vacation and had made plans to head to Cali for a short part of their trip. After a wonderful five hour drive though the middle of California and into the Sierra Nevada mountain range, Matt and I arrived at our home for the next two nights 6,720 feet above sea level, Dorst campground. Dorst is located in the Giant Forest area of the national park on the western side where you can see some of the largest and oldest of the giant sequoias anywhere. Sequoia National Park is about 1.5 hours outside of Fresno. Somewhere between the San Francisco Bay Area and the Los Angeles area, but much further east away from the coast. Because we were traveling south Matt and I were prepared to face 112 degree temperatures but were pleasantly surprised when we found our highest temp to be 85. Not quite sure where weather.com is getting their reading on the temp for the park?
Matt and I set out to put together our campsite while we waited for Layne and Amanda to arrive. Our site was secluded from the main sections of the park but near the restrooms, which was nice. Bears are a HUGE problem (for people that is) in the Sierras and the park rangers warned us to take all precautions with our food and any scented items (including lipstick and toothpaste). Although, calling them a problem might not be the best way to put it. We are after all visiting in their home. Each site is supplied with a “bear box†which is where you can store any food items, toiletries, and anything else that might attract bears. The bears try so hard to get food that they have been known to break into cars in order to get at the goods inside. Needless to say we were very careful to empty all the contents of our car into the box right away. Neither Matt nor I wanted to say hi to Yogi, Smoky or any other member of the bear gang on our trip. Although I agree with Matt, seeing them from a distance would be really cool.
After Layne and Amanda arrived we decided it was time for a hike. We figured that a trip to the largest living organism on the plant was in order. After a short drive down the Generals Highway, which weaves through the national park with hairpin turns and breathtaking scenery, we arrived at the trailhead for the General Sherman Tree. We walked the 2.5 mile loop to view this amazing sight and all the other neighboring giants in the area. The General Sherman Tree is 102.6 feet in circumference and is 274.9 feet tall. This is one massive tree! We all found it so interesting to learn how the trees used their extremely thick bark to guard them against forest fires and to protect them from dangerous gasses in the air. In one of the photos, you can see that my arm span just barely the width of one of the recently downed branches from high above.
After enjoying the sight of this humbling behemoth we continued on the Congress trail and enjoyed the sights of many other majestic sequoias and their smaller family members, the redwoods. There was one tree that had fallen and been hollowed out so we could walk thought it – when I walked through I spread my arms out as wide as they would go and still wasn’t even near the width of the tree. Matt kept saying he felt like he was in some fairytale land you only read about in books or see on the screen in movies. It’s hard to describe the feeling you get from being in a place where everything seems larger than life. It really puts us young small human creatures in our place.
After finishing our hike and taking a few quick showers we headed back to our campsite for a much deserved dinner. We drove with visions of hot dogs dancing in our heads only to be greeted by rain. And not just sprinkles, seriously hard, fat, sideways rain. I couldn’t believe that it was raining in California and that we hadn’t seen the rain on the weather report. Needless to say we did not let the rain dampen the spirits of our trip. After the rain stopped (about 15 minutes) we got out to survey the damage of our sight. Everything was a little wet but nothing was ruined.
Amanda and I set to begin cooking dinner as Layne and Matt put their survival skills to the test and worked on getting us a fire going (with wet wood), since along with the rain came cooler temperatures. Our boys were successful and Amanda and I were so proud and thankful to have a warm fire to stand next to. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner of chili dogs and fruit (yeah, like the fruit compensates for the calories of a hotdog drenched in chili?). It was still wet but not raining, even though the large trees drip for hours after it finishes raining. We enjoyed a few rounds of spades and then decided it was time for bed. Now, because our tents had gotten a bit too wet in the rain we chose to sleep in our cars. Layne and Amanda lucked out with a Jeep Liberty and had plenty of room to sleep. Matt and I were thankful that the seats in the Mazda laid down providing access to the trunk. We all slept warm, dry, cozy and bear free. Car camping at its finest!
We got up bright and early on day two so that we could fit in a hike before Layne and Amanda had to return to Las Vegas. After a couple of breakfast tacos we set out to hike the Little Baldy trail. This trail rises to 8,044 feet above sea level and ends on top of a treeless, granite dome at the tip of a long ridge with amazing views of the High Sierras (the much taller mountains to the west of the range), as well as the whole of Sequoia National Park to the east and south and Kings Canyon National Park to the north. This trail was a total of 3.4 miles and we enjoyed every foot of it. Although the climb to Little Baldy was mostly uphill it was worth every minute of the struggle once we were greeted with the breathtaking views from the top.
Once atop the outcropping of rock we enjoyed about 30 minutes of rest and play while admiring the glory of Mother Nature in all her splendor. Aside from what looked like the roof of a small green park ranger hut (Amanda said it looked more like a billboard – she had the video camera’s zoom fixed way in on it) part way up the neighboring peak and a short piece of the Generals Highway in the valley below, there was no other visible or audible signs of civilization. How cool that was to be in a place where there is just tree after tree and row after row of mountains as far as the eye can see in every single direction. Talk about the definition of “the great outdoors!”
Our trip down from Little Baldy provided a few laughs. We were greeted by a friendly marmot, which is a form of groundhog or also known as a woodchuck. After chasing him down the trail to get a picture he decided to give us a little chase! He headed straight for Layne and one point Layne became scared he would crawl up his leg – it was quite a sight! I guess you never know what a wild animal can do! Mr. Marmot did stop long enough to pose for Matt. National Geographic is calling for our marmot pictures right now. Matt said it didn’t click at first, but at one point when he got close enough to this giant mountain rodent to get some great shots he realized he might be getting a little too close. He couldn’t tell if the marmot was starting to get curious about him or starting to get defensive. He was slowly creeping out of a hole in between the rocks toward the camera. Matt brought the Nikon down from his face and swiftly backed away. I don’t think he cared to capture any close-ups of a flying marmot!
After we returned from our hike it was time for Layne and Amanda to head back to Vegas. Although I was sad to see them go I am very thankful for the family time we got to have. I only wish they could have packed Morgan in their suitcase too, I think she would have given the marmot a run for his money!
Matt and I stayed and enjoyed the Sequoias for a few more hours before packing up and heading home as well. Rain was coming again and we were not ready for another wet night. We are already working on planning our next camping trip as well as our next mountain excursion with Layne and Amanda. Until next time!
Whaoo! I’m proud to say that I am officially employed in the state of California. For the 2006-2007 school year I will be teaching special education at Piedmont High School. I had a few interviews and out of all my options I would have been silly to pass up this opportunity. Piedmont is a very nice little town in the hills of east bay near Lake Merritt with an excellent school district. There are 3 elementary schools, 1 middle school and 2 high schools (one being alternative). PHS is thriving with 837 students – Almost as many as my graduating class at Humble. They are very proud of their students who seem to out score every other school district in the Bay Area. The majority of the students (like 96%) move on to a 4 year college – great stats huh? The parents expect the same for the special education kids so I’ve got my work cut out for me. I believe, although it’s not official, that I will be teaching math; mainly pre-algebra, geometry and possibly algebra. I just hope there aren’t any special education kids taking calculus, or I’ll be looking for a high school tutoring group.
The school seems to be awesome, and I’m looking forward to meeting all the teachers I’ll be working with. I’m not sure that I’ll have an assistant as great as Denise, but hopefully it will be someone I can get along with just as well. The school has block scheduling which changes everyday – I don’t know if I’ll ever get the schedule right. On the 6th and 7th days the kids leave early, one day is for staff development and the other day is for tutoring. What a great concept – let the kids go early so that tutoring can be taken care of within school hours. The principal said that the majority of kids do stay for tutoring. Hummm, I’ll let you know how that works out. Also, the kids get a break for lunch AND brunch! Crazy! Now I know that I don’t have to eat breakfast before I leave for school – I’ve got brunch time! Too bad there isn’t a Starbucks nearby. And, finally another great thing about teaching in California is that there is no dress code for teachers! Yes, you heard right I can wear jeans and tennis shoes or flip flops everyday if I want. They call it California Casual. I’m down with that.
On a sad note – I just can’t win in the mascot category with any of my teaching jobs – I moved from being a WPE Panda to being a PHS Highlander. Maybe eventually I’ll get to be a panther or falcon or cave troll (ok, I admit, I put that in there. -matt) or something. I’m sure men who wear kilts and run around with bagpipes are fierce…. We’ll see. There are some pictures of the beautiful PHS campus here as well. Take a look. The campus does not have AC but thankfully with the California temps we don’t need it. I’ll keep you posted on how the first few days go – the teachers don’t report until 2 days before the kids. None of this HISD 2 weeks stuff. I hope I can learn it all before the first day! Until then Go Highlanders!
For our first excursion together since Lindsey moved out here with me, we took off to Castle Rock State Park near Santa Cruz. We did a bit of hiking and really just enjoying being outdoors together. I’m going to have to make it back down there to do some climbing sometime. There is a lot of it there. Good luck finding much of it without a guidebook though. It’s a really nice spot about 30 miles from the Pacific coast. You can see Monterray Bay way off in the distance in one of the landscape shots we took. To view all of the photos, click the one above.
Here’s to finally getting a break from driving!
We’ve posted more photos to the Move to Californa set. They were pics from my mom’s camera, so we’ve stuck them in where they belong with the others. There are a lot of great ones. My mom has quite the eye. Moms rule! Thanks mom!
Move to California – Follow the link for more photos
We made it! On Wednesday June 28th at 9:00 pm Matt, I, and his parents (Carla & Ron) set out to make the drive across country to our new home in California. We drove through Texas, which we have all seen before (not that there was anything to see being that we were driving through the night. We stopped just outside Amarillo, TX for breakfast at the Waffle House and then made our way on into New Mexico from there.
Now, I’m all about traveling and seeing the country but if you like variety, you can cross northern New Mexico and Arizona off your list. There is nothing to see there, really…nothing. Matt might disagree some, but it’s just brown, dry and hot. I think Matt would like to spend some time climbing in the endless hills and mountains throughout.
We stopped driving at 7:00 pm on Thursday, June 29th in Flagstaff, Arizona. We were all so tired we didn’t really care where we were or what we were doing; we just wanted to eat and sleep. However, we were blessed with spending our night in a splendidly beautiful town. Flagstaff has a very rustic alpine feel that makes it a really neat place to be. During the winter months when the snow covers the mountains there, the place is filled with snow sport seekers. They have several large ski resorts located around the town. We got a couple of rooms at the Hampton Inn which were very nice and comfortable.
Once we were settled in at the inn, we set out for some grub. On the advice of the teenaged staff member behind the reception desk, we headed for a favorite steakhouse in the area. Our dinner turned out to be a wonderful meal at a fun and homely restaurant, The Horsemen Lodge. We had a few well deserved drinks in the lounge while we waited for our table. The décor was made up of local cowboys’ actual hats and chaps hanging on the walls. There were plaques hanging below with the name and date of the cowboy who had given their gear to the restaurant. There were also countless numbers of huge paintings adorning the walls of scenes from western life on the range. I tell ya, it makes you really hungry for a steak! This place served wonderful steaks, trout and veal. Matt said it had to be one of the best ribeyes he’s ever enjoyed. No A-1 sauce for that boy! I had a bite and it was perfect! We were all in heaven and very full when we left. It was the perfect end to our first 24 hours of traveling.
We had 10 hours of driving left when we woke up the next morning. I couldn’t believe that we had so much further to go; I thought we had already come so far. Matt felt differently, he kept saying, “we’re only 10, 8, 5 hours away! We’re almost there!†For the second leg of our trip we experienced 111 degree temperatures as we drove through the desert followed by the 64 degree temps of the Bay Area much further north in the state. I am very thankful we are living in the Bay Area instead of southern California. They may claim that it is a dry heat but I’m telling you it is still HOT! It truly is the land of extremes. To the credit of the west, they were having some out-of-the-ordinary hot weather for this time of year. Can anyone say global warming?
We arrived at our new home on Palm Avenue at 6:45 pm on Friday June 30th. I stepped out of the car only to get back in and grab my sweatshirt – it was chilly! After signing our lease and getting acquainted with our apartment building we began to unpack. Our new place was everything we could have ever wanted. It has plenty of space, new carpet and paint and a large kitchen. We have a view of a large palm tree right outside our living room window, and we are two blocks from beautiful Lake Merritt. How much more California can you get? Well, I guess we could live on a beach bungalow in Santa Monica next to a surf shop…
We’ve spent the last three days unpacking, cleaning and getting our home set up. Matt and I are very thankful that we had the help of Ronny and Carla during this move. They worked so hard to make sure that our apartment is now a home. Matt and I have a few more boxes to unpack but we feel very settled in California ready to begin this new season of our lives. Matt will start back at school soon and I’ll set out to find a job. There are tons of cute little shops and restaurants where I could work part-time until the school year starts. I’m looking forward to seeing what the Bay Area has to offer. Until next time…
