Relaxing ... kind of

This weekend we had some leisure time. Friday night we went to the drive-in movies near our house with Rachel, Ben, Katie, and Jim. We saw the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It was entertaining, but not as good as the other three - I really missed some of the cast from the previous movies, although I don't think Chris was displeased with the addition of Penelope Cruze (or whatever her name is).

Saturday we went on a hike to Greyrock Mountain with Nick, Dave, Jim, Pete, Sierra (Dave's dog) and Winston (Pete's dog). This is an excellent hike most times of the year, especially since it's only about 30 minutes from home. The views from the top of the mountain are well worth sitting and enjoying for as long as possible - you can see for miles to east (flat), north (to the bumpy mountains of Wyoming's Vedawoo area), and west (from foothills to the continental divide). We hiked up the Meadows Trail in hopes of finding some wild flowers. We saw several lanceleaf chiming bells near the streams (petite blue/purple bell-like flowers) and little white and yellow daisies on the way up. In the meadowy area below the summit there were a few Pasqueflowers, which I just learned are in the buttercup family, and is the state flower of South Dakota. They are a pink flower with a fuzzy stem. The higher the trail went, the better the views of the surrounding foothills. While not as impressive as the snow-capped peaks, there is something serene yet wild about seeing mile upon mile of rolling wooded slopes.

There is a fair amount of elevation gain in the first few miles of the Meadows Trail , which makes for super-slow preggo hiking.

At the end of the Meadows Trail (about 3.5 miles), you rejoin the Summit Trail, and from there it's a rocky, steep .75 miles to the top. I was hiking extraordinarily slow and opted for a nap nestled among some boulders and spruce. It was super nice to just lay around in the grass for more than 1-1/2 hours while the men and dogs went to the top. It was a windy day (of course) but I found a perfectly shielded spot in the sun.

The meadows and Greyrock Mountain to the right.

Dave, Pete, and their dogs on the summit. At first we weren't sure if Sierra and Winston would get along, but then Winston made it his mission to hump Sierra - which didn't help matters because Sierra has high standards.

The hike back to the cars (along the Summit Trail) was of course way easier, being all downhill. The only problem for me was that my ankles were swollen and didn't fit very well into my boots. They were extremely sore last night as a result, and I have never been so tired from a 6.5 mile hike! Overall though it was so so nice to be outside and getting some exercise. The company was great, and the guys pretended to not be waiting for me when they had to stop every mile or so. Chris, Dave, Nick and I ended the hike in perfect fashion, with a trip to one of my new favorite restaurants, Lupita's. (We even discussed naming the baby Lupita since she has spent a fair portion of the last 7 months swimming in their green chile sauce.)

PS. I started writing this at 4:30 AM on Monday because I couldn't sleep! Then I got it in my head to make strawberry-rhubarb crisp (I've actually been wanting to do this for days because our rhubarb is going bananas after last week's rain). So ... here I sit, at 4:50, eating the crisp (with vanilla ice cream, of course), and watching the horizon turn orange (man, the sun comes up early in the summer!). Maybe I will sleep now ...

Different but the same

Last week Chris and I had a friend, Arthur, visit from Liberia. We really enjoyed his company. He was a pretty easy-going visitor except I was constantly worried we were going to turn him into a popsicle. We usually keep the heat at 58 at night, which is probably colder than it gets all year in Liberia. So we had the heat running more than usual last week, and hopefully he was comfortable. It was fun being able to talk about a whole range of topics with him - from funny topics like African baby names and the wonders of hamburgers, to more serious things like differences between Liberia and America, faith, and how things are going in Liberia with an upcoming presidential election and war in neighboring Ivory Coast.

That I can recall, this was our first international visitor, and definitely the first person to stay with us from a developing country. It was kind of eye-opening to think about how my house would look to someone coming from a country where the average income is $1/day. Chris and I are middle class by American standards, but we are basically swimming in cash from a Liberian point of view. We have so much stuff we don't need, and so much money just sitting in the bank (again, relatively speaking!). Arthur's been living in the US since January, but I can't imagine the culture shock. And I think it would be frustrating to see the wealth of this country, knowing what a difference just a fraction of that wealth could make for my family and friends back home. On the plus side, he's here to get a job and further his education - both of which will ultimately help him and his family.

Anyway, his visit was great for us personally and furthered our friendship with him, and it also helped remind me that we are very fortunate to live where we do. It helps to get a more global perspective on life now and then. I'm glad we're staying connected with the people we met in Liberia. Some members of our church are returning there in June and we won't be joining them, but I would love to go back one day. Who knows what the future holds :)

Focus

This post could also be called "Insert expletive here", but I'm trying to optimistic! Yesterday was a frustrating day - bad enough that I made a list while at work entitled "Shit that sucks today", and came up with 9 things. Then added another when I got home and found out my step father is having a procedure on his heart on Thursday (#10) and my mom needs to be with him and so can't make it to Colorado this weekend (#11). I figure enough bad things happened yesterday that I should have met my "bad karma" quota for the week. Hopefully it can only get better from here!

We had a nice start to the day - coffee with a friend Russ, and our friend Arthur who is visiting from Liberia (well, technically visiting from Boston, where he lives now). Now the goal for the next 7 hours or so is to focus on my work, so at least some of the work-related frustrations can get better. I am having a bit of trouble focusing and thinking clearly lately. Hopefully the next 9 weeks won't be like this all the time!!