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BJ and I recently went to Allyson Smith and JK’s  wedding in the village. We had spent the week before in town, staying at Tim and Mary Lynn’s house and had, of course, packed  our version of wedding clothes: jeans and a white shirt for BJ and a hippie skirt and tank top for me. The day of the wedding we made a last minute decision that we were way under dressed and rushed home, showered, and put on our best. Thought we should share.

We drove to Shadow Mountain for the weekend for a little camping and bike riding. What we didn’t know is that we would be riding motorcycles. Tim, Mary Lynn, Shannon, Jimmy, Scott, Ian, and his two kids (Anne, 6, and Parker, 3) made up the crew. Tim, BJ and I went MOUNTAIN BIKE riding Saturday afternoon, and although we encountered quite a bit of snow on the first part of the trail, we were treated with wonderful single track, beautiful views of the Tetons, and a lucky window of sunshine for the rest of our ride. We spent most of the afternoon in and out of brief snow storms . . . in JUNE I might add. Then Ian showed up with the excitement. The bed of his truck filled with a Honda 450 and two 50s, for the 6 and 3 year old of course. Let the pictures tell the rest of the story. All I can add is that we can’t wait to make up the cheering section at Anne’s first race.

After leaving southern Utah, we made a quick stop on the western side of Vegas to take a shower at an RV park, and then drove directly to UCSB to visit my little sister, Anni, during her freshman year of college. Nothing like partying in the dorms again and needless to say, we only lasted one night. We hopped in the car the next morning and drove up Highway 1 towards Half Moon Bay where we would meet up with Tim and Mary Lynn. We camped at Half Moon Bay as it was the cheapest, not to mention beautiful, lodging to be found close to San Francisco. We spent the first evening on the beach, just footsteps from our camp, playing with our kite. While Tim and BJ attended a two day Google developers conference, and saw Flight of the Conchords live, in downtown SF, Mary Lynn and I poached wireless internet from various locations in the city. Our favorite was the W Hotel. They had great tea too. Not many photos from the big city, but I experienced a big day for my older sister, Shalyn. Just two days before turning 29 and three months before her wedding date, she became Jewish. I attended her Mikvah and naming ceremony. Her new Hebrew name . . . Gila Chaya or Joy Life. Coming from a very non-religious family, it has been really interesting to see it become a very important part of her life.  We made a quick trip up to Sonoma to visit my dad and Fran. And then, a fter a short evening with Eros and Jaime in Noe Valley and a layover in Tahoe visiting Tal, Quinner, and Jess, we finally made our way home after three weeks on the road. Despite stories of constant rain and snow at home, we can’t wait to get there and see our little shitty kitty.