So Thomas kinda crapped out on our plans to go to the Grand Tetons. We aren't really backpacking anymore (although I'm still carrying all I need in my backpack). Instead, we're staying at Jenny Lake in the Grand Teton portion of it.
Ah well, I'm over it. The rest of us will be exploring it up regardless. So then we ran into the problem of car rental - fees were racking up cause no one is 25 (although Bryan and Robby would both be 24), and my mom wanted full insurance.
But now my parents are driving in earlier, giving us their car when we get there and renting one themselves, so it's a lot cheaper. About $770 give or take for each of us.
I'm just relieved that its all done and we are definitely set to go. It's going to be an amazing trip.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Spring 2009 Pictures! (Plus a video and thoughts)
Isn't it weird that people mow lawns?
I thought this one day as I was walking up my driveway. The sun was shining, illuminating this really tall, uncut grass. There were patches of moss and wildflowers and dandelions all over, and vegetation growing among the trees.
Why would I want anything else? Let alone a clean cut, perfectly straight lawn? That would just be, as Alan Watts says, us trying to control the wiggles with a net. But why? So our lawns can be less beautiful and less soft? And some go so far as to not allow anyone to tread on the lawn, and even put poisonous fertilizer in it. Then you can't sit in it or walk in it barefoot or enjoy it at all except from afar. But I guarentee the view won't be as nice as it could've been.
A lone, purple Iris growing in my front yard
I was walking home from my neighbor's house when I looked up and saw this beautiful rainbow (or circumhorizontal arc?) going all the way around the sun. Breathtaking.
When I realized my camera could have 15 second night exposure, I took a flurry of starry night sky pictures. Can't wait to try it out with Milky Way Galaxy...
Some nice bluebell flowers. I'm just guessing that that's the name. Bluebell the troll, terrified throughout the nine kingdoms!
Pine tree in my front yard against the brilliant blue sky
Cool feather I found on the side of the road.
A Japanese-esque flowering tree had dropped lots of its petals. Almost looked like snow!
A pointy-nosed turtle Thomas and I found in Highbanks Metro Park in Ohio. Looks like it has a kinda leathery shell.
The really tall grass that gets lots of water from the ditches. It grew even taller later! (But it got cut recently, and now it's just short, brown, ugly patches) I love walking through grass barefoot, it's so soft!
Thomas against a sunset. It probably didn't look THAT brilliantly orange, I had it on sunset setting.
Beautifully radiant, neon-green tulip leaves. They didn't bloom this year, though. Which is funny, cause it's the only year the deer didn't eat them either.
A pretty wildflower growing in my backyard. Why cut this?
I thought this one day as I was walking up my driveway. The sun was shining, illuminating this really tall, uncut grass. There were patches of moss and wildflowers and dandelions all over, and vegetation growing among the trees.
Why would I want anything else? Let alone a clean cut, perfectly straight lawn? That would just be, as Alan Watts says, us trying to control the wiggles with a net. But why? So our lawns can be less beautiful and less soft? And some go so far as to not allow anyone to tread on the lawn, and even put poisonous fertilizer in it. Then you can't sit in it or walk in it barefoot or enjoy it at all except from afar. But I guarentee the view won't be as nice as it could've been.
A lone, purple Iris growing in my front yard
I was walking home from my neighbor's house when I looked up and saw this beautiful rainbow (or circumhorizontal arc?) going all the way around the sun. Breathtaking.
When I realized my camera could have 15 second night exposure, I took a flurry of starry night sky pictures. Can't wait to try it out with Milky Way Galaxy...
Some nice bluebell flowers. I'm just guessing that that's the name. Bluebell the troll, terrified throughout the nine kingdoms!
Pine tree in my front yard against the brilliant blue sky
Cool feather I found on the side of the road.
A Japanese-esque flowering tree had dropped lots of its petals. Almost looked like snow!
A pointy-nosed turtle Thomas and I found in Highbanks Metro Park in Ohio. Looks like it has a kinda leathery shell.
The really tall grass that gets lots of water from the ditches. It grew even taller later! (But it got cut recently, and now it's just short, brown, ugly patches) I love walking through grass barefoot, it's so soft!
Thomas against a sunset. It probably didn't look THAT brilliantly orange, I had it on sunset setting.
Beautifully radiant, neon-green tulip leaves. They didn't bloom this year, though. Which is funny, cause it's the only year the deer didn't eat them either.
A pretty wildflower growing in my backyard. Why cut this?
Hocking Hills
So, it's been quite a while since I updated. Summer is practically here, and spring is lovely.
Actually, Robby is planning on moving out in September, maybe even living near us. So that would be awesome - we could airsoft or go camping or whatever whenever.
What did I do during spring? 
First, I went to the opposite of wilderness, New York City, to visit my cousin Robby with my brother. We did a lot! We saw the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Nintendo World, the Soup Man, etc. etc.
It was a great time, and lots of it was really beautiful. Towering skyscrapers, blue skies, night lights, etc. It was nice to wind down each night at his apartment too.
We had some amazing food. Some delicious burgers, shakes and fires, Chinese takeout (of course!), Black and White cookies, HUGE plates of ribs/steaks (along with mashed potatoes, a salad, fried plantains in my case, and onions), and some delicious Soup Nazi Soup (I got the crab bisque with some grape soda. Freaking delicious.)
He has 4 roomates, two of which stay in a closet, haha. One of them had all these inspirational posters with national parks, which was awesome. I have a feeling staring at those each night while living in the city would kinda start making me feel really poopy.
Actually, Robby is planning on moving out in September, maybe even living near us. So that would be awesome - we could airsoft or go camping or whatever whenever.
Speaking of camping, right after our trip to New York (P.S. We also went to D.C. for a bit), we came back to Ohio, met up with Robby's cousins (no relation to us), and my neighbor Thomas (the planner of Tetons - more on that later), and went down to Hocking Hills State Park.
This was our second time there. It was overcast, but that meant the waterfalls were flowing! It was as beautiful and breathtaking as the first time.
The picture above shows all of us in front of some beautiful waterfalls. This is one of the first things you see. It's called the Upper Falls.
Here was a timer picture we took of all of us standing at a cliffside path. This area was beautiful, and it was right after we left...
This place. A secret path we found. There were old, crumbled stairs made from stone. A partially collapsed bridge made of three rock slabs. And a beautiful, solitary waterfall that you could walk right next to. One of the best parts. Other than, of course...
The lake at the campsite. Unfortunately, my batteries AND SD card ran out in my camera, so I got no pictures of the lake... Or, more importantly, the beautiful, beautiful stars above. It was near our campsite, and at first all I heard on the way there was whirring of generators and chatter. All I saw were bright lights of bathrooms, a strange, out-of-place playground. Thomas was leading us to the lake, but so far it seemed like there'd be nothing great. Then the whole place opens up.
A big slope to the right. A beautiful lake to the left. A pathway down the middle, and thousands of breathtaking stars above. We could very, very faintly make out the milky way, and we saw so many more stars than usual, not to mention many shooting stars. We just lied there listening to music and talking. Amazing.
-Andrew
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