Schedule Change!
June 28, 2007
So! No pics this time, just some information!
Due to the extremely ill feelings that plagued me while visiting Yosemite two different times, I met with the Global Manager to discuss the seriousness of this issue. It was decided today that I will be removed from California entirely & placed in a completely different region. Yes, unfortunately, that means there will be no Sonoma/Napa wine country experience for me 
.
My schedule now looks like this (!!)
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Fly to Utah on July 4 & drive van + trailer to Glacier National Park in Montana
* I have July 8th to explore in Glacier!*
Fly to Utah on July 9 & drive van + camping trailer to Cali
*At this point, I’ll be leaving Cali for good*
Fly to the Tetons/Yellowstone National Park on July 13
*Yes, I do know I’ll be in Wyoming with the roaming moose & bison LOL*
I’ll stay in Wyoming to do a familiarization & lead 3 family multisport camping trips during the month of August
This trip includes biking, hiking, rafting & kayaking!
Site to trip description: http://www.backroads.com/trips/MYTCF
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My health is important & I have to feel GOOD to lead trips with guests. It’s really unfortunate this unexpected issue occurred (& brought some unwanted attention to me as a new leader), but I’m certain that my new scheduled trips are going to be totally awesome! All camping trips (no hotels for me)! If anything, it’s more great people & beautiful places to experience!
I may even have enough time to come home to LI in August!
& who knows what September will bring?
As always, keepin ya in the loop!
My First Guest Trip!
June 24, 2007
Soooooo – I had my 1st guest trip in Yosemite National Park & it was an amazing experience! I led the trip with 2 other co-leaders, Erin & Jacob (for family trips, more leaders are necessary).
On Friday, Jacob, Erin & I prepped for the trip. We put name tags & pedals on each of the 19 mountain bikes & then strapped/racked them. We also went to the supermarket & did our foodbuy for the week’s picnic & pack lunches. I also prepared to do my first night’s orientation talk & wound up getting only 5 hours sleep!
On Saturday, the trip began! We picked the guests up in San Francisco & I drove the van with all of the parents to Yosemite. We then hiked the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequioas. Later that night for dinner, I had a huge lamb leg LOL & a very yummy ice cream dessert. In fact, thinking back now – I think I had dessert every night of the trip, yikes!!
OK – so on Sunday, the group went mountain biking together on a trail called “Big Sandy” & I really enjoyed the downhill part so I could go fast (stopping periodically to remain last & support the guest riders)! That was was a lot of fun. & you have to love when a 20 year old girl (guest) tells you that you have the coolest Tevas ever! Right on! I then took the kids horseback riding while the other leaders hiked with the parents. The kids instantly adored me when I suggested ice cream while we wait 
That night, unfortunately my ill feelings started up again (sore throat, headache & nausea). I even had a major fever in the middle of the night which worried the other leaders a bit. I felt a bit off the next day, but continued on! I did the 5 hour long Panaroma trail with all guests which was really great – I led parts of it & backed up the end of the trail too. It’s still the best hike ever!
Tuesday was REALLY nice, because it was considered an “on-your-own-day” for guests. So the other leaders & I went & headed out to a secret beach (complete with view of El Capitan). We relaxed, swam in the glacier river water (aka: instant bone-chilling cold water), siesta-ed & read books until we met the guests for dinner. It was down time well spent!
Wednesday was all about the high country (9K elevation) – the kids went rock-climbing with Erin (I’ll probably get to do that next time!) & Jacob & I hiked the dome & the meadows with the adults. It was a beautiful day & there was no sign of hail in sight!
Thursday was the last day of the trip & after having an all you can eat (oh no!) buffet breakfast at the famed Ahwahnee Hotel, we did a short hike to Mirror Lake. I then drove part of the way back to San Francisco (this time with the trailer & 10 kids). No pressure LOL! A viscious headache stopped me from driving the entire way. We also stopped at a cute farm/bakery to have lunch & bought some pies for the guests to eat too. Did I mention I need to stop eating this forever now?
Anyway! So, here’s the deal-e-o . . . I had a great time doing my first trip, but I was seriously ill every day. I took all sorts of perscription allergy meds (thanks for the drugs Diane!) to try & alleviate the pain I was having, but to no avail. I even visited the village walk-in to discuss how I was feeling & what meds I was taking with a nurse. The 2 last evenings of the trip I had to take controlled drug pain-killers to stop the headaches!
The strangest part is that when I came back to Berkeley, I felt fine! So, I am not certain as to what the problem is, but after researching my symptoms, it looks like I’m either allergic to a pollen/plant in the Sierra Nevada Mountains or I have a serious type of elevation sickness that is not allowing me to acclimate once there.
Now that I have 2 weeks off, I am going to see a Doctor at SF University Medical Center about this (in addition to going to the gym everyday!!) So we’ll see what they say. My mom may come for a visit & I may still work in the Marketing Department of the Backroads office. I also have to speak to my Regional Manager & Human Resources about my situation (they knew this illness occurred the first presearch trip as well).
Keep me in your thoughts & we’ll see what happens!
Talk to you all soon — & enjoy, summer is finally here!!
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Driving To & Fro!
June 16, 2007
I don’t have much time now, as I leave TOMORROW for my 1st guest trip in Yosemite! Just some things to mention with regard to my unit drive from Salt Lake City, Utah to Berkeley, California though . . .
- The Utah leader house is nicer than Cali’s.
- Hiking on my day off was awesome!
- Racking all those bikes gave me some ugly bruises on my arms.
- Dang that drive was long.
- Yes, driving into & out of the mountains with a van & trailer filled with bikes is very stressful. LOL
- The glittering sand was very picturesque, & could definitely make you sleepy (Yikes! I drank some espresso to overcome that!)
- It seemed as if you could touch the clouds they were so close to me.
- I blasted all sorts of music from “Hurts so Good” by John Cougar Mellencamp, “View to a Kill” by Duran Duran & of course, some good ol’ country. & it’s God’s country, so I listened to an evangelical station for a bit.
- I listened to news of the area which discussed wolf shootings. Right on . . .
- No joke: saw a coyote head in the road somewhere in Nevada (not sure where the body was though).
- Stayed overnight in a suprisingly clean Super 8 in a place called Battle Mountain.
- Picked up my dinner in a restaurant that had a million pics on the walls of people with their biggest dead game displays of bucks/elk I’ve ever seen. Umm, there were even pics of young girls holding up the heads next to their guns. Okkkk ~
- There really are rodeo cowboy proms, at least in Nevada LOL
- & it was like I was a celebrity driving that thing — it drew a lot of attention & so I waved & smiled the whole way!
OK, chat with you about my 1st trip when I return!
To view all pics, see this link: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AcsWzRq5ZNW4o
I know Yosemite Inside & Out!
June 10, 2007
So let’s see . . . I traveled about 4+ hours to get to Yosemite National Park from Berkeley. I went with the Regional Manager to meet the Trip Specialist. The Regional Manager is totally awesome (he oversees California & Hawaii!), so in addition to the many items we discussed on the trip, I mentioned how much I would LOVE to go to Hawaii for a bit! So this is really great news
Years ago, I was in Yosemite (I was about 10), but definitely didn’t remember how amazing this place really is. Yosemite hosts some of the most difficult, but beautiful hikes known to man. In fact, the Mist Trail was the best hiking I’ve ever experienced in my life! I also saw 2 bears (1 f2f & 1 while in the van) & several inquisitive deer. I met some very cool people along the way. I did 2 & a 1/2 shots of Tequila one night & was really OK (I love when new friends buy you shots) — as everyone knows the saying: 1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila floor! LOL I also learned about almost every hiking trail & area in Yosemite and now I’m definitely ready to lead trips!
So! Although it really was a fabulous time, I have to make sure I point out the “not-so-good” things so people don’t constantly think my life is a bowl of cherries eh? LOL But really now . . . I worked 9 days in a row & camped out at night. I had to share room space with a guy, we woke early (sometimes 6am, yikes!) & worked till late (sometimes till 11 at night!). It was a bit taxing on the body to hike almost everyday (1 day we hiked over 17 miles) – yeah sometimes you just don’t want to get out of bed! One morning, the van battery was dead so I had to get a jump. It hailed in Tuolumne Meadows (OK this was actually a cool thing as I have the best raingear) – but then I had to drive a company van for an hour & a half back to the campground on winding roads in hail (not such a cool thing). & lastly, I was pretty much ill on each day of the trip, which I think may have been an allergic reaction to some sort of plant/pollen in the Sierras.
Anyway! Life as a travel leader is gooood. I love that my day off today included hula-hooping in the yard! Tomorrow I leave for Utah to load a unit up & drive it back to Cali (alone for 11 hours)! OK, so I have to go pack & get my stuff ready for a 6:30am flight pick-up!
Miss y’all & will post again upon my return
All pics are posted here: http://www.shutterfly.com/share/confirmation.jsp?res=ok&sType=O&dsID=8AcsWzRq5ZNW4b&snUnique=0&s2type=0
