Breast Cancer 3 Day

I've registered for the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk. It is November 10-12 in San Diego California. I could use all the support I can get. My goal is to raise $5000 by the start of the event. Here is the link to donate to my cause.
http://www.the3day.org/SanDiego06/laragans757

Another interesting site

I added a new button to the right side of my site. It's Yahoo Answers. It's a pretty interesting place to waste a bit of time. If you haven't heard of it, it's a place to post your questions and get answers from people all around the world. A lot of the people on there treat it like a joke or like a chat group, but there are some very interesting questions and some very informative answers. The button on my site leads to questions that I've answered recently. Anyway, check it out! Let me know what you think.

I'm going to study for a midterm now. The next time I post I'll write about Driving over the Tioga Pass toward Mono Lake, Mammoth Mountain and Bishop California.

Take care!

Exploring California

Since we've been here in California we've tried to explore as much as we can whenever we can. One of my favorite trips was an overnight one around the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We started with a drive through Yosemite Park. So far we've been there 3 times and I can't wait to go back again. We always drive in from the southern entrance on Route 41 out of Fresno. We drive through Wawona on our way to the famous valley floor. There is a lot of evidence of fire activity along this section of road. Over the past year the park service has been hard at work piling downed wook at regular intervals to be burned off systematically in the hopes of preventing a devastating forest fire along the road in the future. The farther you go on the road, the more evident it is why they have been working so hard. Just a few miles before you enter the Yosemite Valley, the mountains are still scarred and charred from their last fire.

I highly recommend Route 41 to anyone that hasn't been to Yosemite National Park yet. The road is longer and more winding than the approach from 140 or 120, but the view is spectacular. You round a corner, enter a tunnel and once you emerge you are at the aptly named Inspiration Point.

Driving along the Yosemite Valley floor is no fun. Yosemite National Park has the highest visitor volume of all of the national parks (last time I checked) and most of them visit this area of the park exclusively. Parking is difficult to find. The shorter trails are crowded. But it is worth the trip if you can stay patient among so many people. Bridal Veil Falls is probably the most popular short hike. The water volume is usually highest in the spring. We went in April last year and couldn't even get to the end of the lookout point on the trail without getting soaked. The rocks are slippery too! We went back in July and found the falls a shadow of their former self. Most people were climbing over the end of the lookout point and scrambling up the boulders to get as close to the falls as they could. It's not a good idea... but there were hundreds of people out there doing the same thing.

After touring the Yosemite Valley, we drove east on 120 through the Tolumne Meadow and over the Tioga Pass. I'll add pictures of those next time.
:-)

Study break

I'm taking a quick break from studying to write a little today. It's been a little bit hectic here balancing work, family, and school. It's midterm week and I've just finished writing a term paper for Nutrition and taking a test for Microbiology. I've picked up quite a few extra hours at work lately too. I expect even more hours as my counterpart gave notice earlier this week of his intentions to move to Las Vegas and start a new business. All of these happenings have meant that writing in my blog has not been my top priority lately.

Microbiology has been my top priority actually. I'm managing to keep a 99% in the class so far. I've also started tutoring some of my classmates. I'm excited to be doing so well in the class. My classmates are not so excited for me. I keep hearing grumblings about ruining the curve. Someone told me to stop being an overachiever. It's kind of funny, hearing these things actually makes me want to work harder. I figure if they were really interested in doing well than they could show up to the study group since we extend an open invitation. Sometimes I think I should charge admission to it...

I have my next big trip in the works. Looks like it will be a trip to the Grand Canyon some time this summer. I'm excited! We are still planning the details right now. I'm hoping it turns into something of a family reunion, but I'll have to wait and see. I can't wait to write about the trip though.

I'm going to go back to studying about microbial genetic mutations for a little while. Take care!

Odds and Ends

It's always amazing how fast time goes by. I didn't realize that it had been two weeks since my last post. I've been busy with work, school and my family the past few weeks. Mid terms are coming up and I have a research paper due in a week which I haven't started to write yet. At least I've collected all the sources I plan to use.

I've actually worked 4 straight weeks instead of my usual every other week due to a high demand for seats in the class I facilitate and watching over the office while my supervisor attended national conference in Florida. It was nice to earn a little extra in my paycheck, but I posting on here became less of a priority when I had less available time.

Studying seems to occupy most of my extra time these days. It's paying off too. I'm proud to say that I have a 99.37 average in my Microbiology class. I also have an A in nutrition but it isn't quite as high.

So, what would you like to read about next? Here are the options:
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Yosemite National Park
Sequoia/ Kings Canyon National Parks
Pismo Beach
Driving route 1 from Morro Bay to Monterey Bay
Lake Tahoe, Reno and skiing
Sierra Summit skiing
Western Caribbean cruise on Royal Caribbean's Sovereign of the Seas.

Leave a comment and let me know what you would like to hear about.

Oh, one more thing. If you like traveling as much as I do and helping other people while you are visiting a new area check out this site: Volunteer Abroad for a Change! See the world in a whole new way. Volunteer projects from 4 to 12 weeks spanning four continents. Volunteer travel is one of my dreams. I haven't had the chance to do it yet, but it is definitely in my future. If you've had the chance to go overseas on a volunteer vacation trip I'd love to hear about it! Leave a comment about where you went and what you did while you were there.

Don't forget to let me know which trip you would like to hear about.