Big Bend Day Two Deer

I need to hire a blog editor. This guy got left out.

Near the top of the mountain we saw this deer eating. We were 15 feet away from him but he didn't seem to care about us. He never budged during the five minutes we rested there.

Big Bend Day Two

Since this was our first entire day we thought we would try the big hike. After a ridiculous power breakfast of eggs, sausage and a leftover steak we headed out to the top of the South Rim. After chugging a ton of water we loaded up our backpacks with close to a gallon each of water along with a few Gatorades and a bunch of food. Need to be prepared when hiking 13 miles roundtrip up and down a mountain.

Let's hike

Casa Grande

Getting close to the top

At the top of the mountain. 7000+ ft. There used to be 100 miles of visibility up here just 30 years ago. Due to pollution it's now half that.

After you stop staring at Robin's awesome style check out Mexico 50 miles in the background.

Not sure how I missed this guy but apparently I stepped right over him. Robin wisely stayed behind and screamed till he moved on.

Still hiking

Odd rock formation on the left

We learned that hiking up a mountain stops being fun sometime after the 10 mile point. Robin wasn't too excited to see the end of our hike still so far in the distance.

We drove through this old tunnel on the way to to the showers that were 30 minutes away.

Javalina near camp at night

Journey to Big Bend

Robin had spring break so we decided to check out Big Bend. We didn't know many people that had made it out there as it's 500 miles from Houston. We had a great time and I definitely recommend it if you like the outdoors. Our pictures don't do it justice.

The long road

We made it!

The beginning of our first hike
Sunrays over the rocks
King of the mountain
It's hard not to take a picture everywhere you look.
Here we are at the highlight of our hike, The Window. Ten feet behind us there is a several thousand foot dropoff.
Part of the mountain on the hike back up
Robin in front of Casa Grande. Scouting out the next day's hike.
First night in the tent

Health Smoothie

Can't remember if we have been boring lately or if we just haven't had a camera handy while doing the exciting, blog worthy things we do. Anyway, here's a healthy and tasty snack or meal:

-banana

-1 or 2 egg whites

-handful of almonds

-6 or 7 spoonfuls of uncooked oatmeal

-spoonful of wheat germ (whatever the heck that is)

-spoonful of flax seed (no clue what this is either, but I think it's better for you than bacon)

-vanilla yogurt

-bunch of frozen berries

-some OJ

-mix in blender

Serving size: a lot

The ingredients

Yum

Sewing!

Last year for my birthday I asked for a sewing machine and my parents got me the Singer pictured below. This year for my birthday they got me sewing supplies. I have finally taken the machine out of the box and am ready to sew! In January I went to a sewing class with my friend Carrie and learned some basics. Last night I set up the machine and got ready to sew. I was able to successfully thread the bobbin and the needle and was very proud of myself. I also did a test run of different stitches and settings on the machine with scrap fabric. I am officially ready to sew! I will post again soon with my first project. I am going to make a pillow from a pattern that I got with the birthday loot. More to come...

The machine, in it's temporary set up. I am definitely going to need a bigger table!

More Washington, D.C.

Here are a few pictures from our trip to D.C. I've been pretty busy catching up on everything since we got back and haven't taken the time to post anything.

On the tram to the Inauguration. It's 4 a.m.

At the Black Tie & Boots Ball

And at the Washngton Monument, before the We Are One concert.

Inauguration 2009

As many of you know, I am in Washington D.C. this week with a group of 17 high school girls for the Inauguration. My cousin, Stacey, is also traveling and staying with us. And thank God for that. I don't think I would be here typing this if she weren't here helping me! Let's just say that yesterday was a true test of patience and nerves. I'll lay out the day for you in a timeline:

Monday, January 19th
7:30 a.m. - Met with girls for breakfast before their daily activities with Close-Up to discuss plan for Tuesday
9 a.m. -Left hotel and went to Georgetown, walked, shopped, ate, etc. (We were told in one of the stores that Cher had left minutes before we walked in !)
7 p.m.- Left hotel for Black Tie & Boots Inaugural Ball sponsored by the Texas State Society of Washington D.C.

Tuesday, January 20th
2a.m.- Returned from ball and slept for 45 minutes
4:00 a.m.- Met students in lobby and left hotel for the metro. Metro was packed when we got off at our stop near the mall in front of capitol. It was shocking to see so many people this early in the morning
5:00 a.m.- Arrived at our sport on the mall at which we would remain for 8 hours
6:00 a.m.- Trip to the bathroom (port o potties) to retrieve two girls who had to go and could not get back. This was unbelievable...I could see the students 30 ft away and they couldn't get to me. I told them to stay where they were and I went after them. It was the most horrible time I think I can remember. People would not let me get through, were asking for money to pass and even flat out refused to let me through and to even move one inch! I finally made it to the girls and we tried for about and hour to get back to the group. I didn't get much sympathy when trying to get back even though explaining the whole time that I needed to get back to my students. Eventually we were crawling, yes, on our hands and knees, to get back to the group. It was scary- but we eventually made it.
9:30 a.m.- Crowd finally shifts enough that we are no longer having to lean against one another and be continuously pushed. It was extremely cold and windy, but we tried to keep bouncing to stay warm.
11:45 a.m. events are now underway and crowd is much better. There was so much excitement around at this point, it was awesome! I have a great video of the swearing in of Obama, and the crowd cheering and waving flags all around us.
1 p.m.-the next test for us of the longest day...getting home. We had made a plan to walk back due to the mass crowds of metro and the fear of losing the student in that mess. We walked 5 miles back to the hotel.
4:00p.m.- we made it back! And are so exhausted and in so much pain from the day- I couldn't believe it was over and we made it back. There were many times throughout the day that I didn't think it would be possible. 12 hours of constant crowd, pushing and walking.

With all of this, we decided this day was the most memorable ever. And not only for the history...it was the longest, coldest, most trying day that I could ever imagine, much less live through. I will definitely remember this for the rest of my life and will have a story to tell my kids and grandkids.

I hope this doesn't sound negative, just a true description of the day. I have decide that this is the only Inauguration that I will ever need to attend- good thing I picked such a big one!

I feel like I am 80 years old today. So sore and tired from yesterday. If you think this is an exaggeration, try standing in 20 degree weather for 8 hours, then walking 5 miles. :)