The Giant Forest

On Sunday, I woke up to get ready for church and halfway through my beauty routine Bryan woke up and said we shouldn't go. We were all sick and we shouldn't pass it around. I told him that was probably the right call, but I would go crazy if I spent another day inside. Last week Bryan had 5 gigs, Tuesday-Saturday and I was either at work or at home all those days. On top of that: I was sick, I had some hard personal crap happen, I had that emotional post (and cryfest) and I was just DONE. 

When things get hairy I like to bolt. Loud music and the open road settles me. I know and accept that about myself and so does Bryan. We hopped in the car and went for a drive. We headed east on the 198 and stopped in Exeter for a quick lunch at the Wildflower Cafe. I've blogged about a trip to Downtown Exeter before. We were excited to finally check out the Wildflower Cafe which has the cutest little patio area! I asked the owner and she said I could take photos to share. 

Just so you know, we paid for our meals and she doesn't even know the name of my blog. Most of the pictures are from the front of the store and I vlogged the rest. I totally forgot to vlog/photograph the food, but they had lots of options and it was great! I hope to have the video up on Friday, but we'll see. I'm heading out of town tonight and I'm not sure I'll have time to put it together.

The counter displayed various awards, local publications and business cards. I love small town restaurants. You could just feel the love for their community!

We didn't get any desserts but I looked at them for a few minutes and counted calories in my head. It helps to keep me from pulling the trigger. I mentally consume them and then walk away. It's not as satisfying but also does not result in being a big tubba. Soo... I win in the end. Even if I lose too. 

The next photo is from our May 2014 trip to Exeter and the one below it is from this past weekend. Look how big Shepherd is now and the difference in Bryan's hair! Crazy how time flies. 

After lunch, we headed up to the mountains. My goal for the day was to breathe fresh, clean air. Our air quality has been horrible the past few days and being so sick, my sinuses needed a break. We paid the $20 entrance fee (!!!!) and went to Giant Forest, where the largest tree in the world resides. There is some technicality about it being the largest tree... If I remember correctly it's that there is no tree that has the same mass and height or something. It's a big tree and it's cool, so make sure to check it out if you are in the area!

Before I forget - the entrance fee is a 7-day pass and I don't think it includes camping. I don't know. But we had four people with us in the car and at 5 bucks a head, thats not too bad for entertainment/fresh air/change of scenery. Cheaper and better than a movie, you know? Anyways, Shepherd looked up at General Sherman (the tree) and said, Whoa! And then proceeded to play with dirty snow. It was around thirty-eight degrees and the ground was slushy. We got there around four and left about 4:45. I was worried about being that high up the mountain after dark with no chains, so our goal was to be as far down the mountain as possible by 5:15. 

We caught a lot of on video so stay tuned for that. Shepherd threw more than a few snowballs and loved stomping on them. Justus went up with us and we love having her crazy self around. The fresh air was amazing for my sick face and we all blew our noses a lot and took some nice deep breaths. It was a good day. We even caught a spectacular view on the way down the mountain. It looked like a painting. Bryan hopped out of the car to be included in the photo. Pretty gorgeous, huh? 

We are heading to Bass Lake next week and I can't wait. This excursion made me so excited. My mother-in-law and I plan on hiking a bit, which she'll run circles around me as I lag painfully behind but hiking is my favorite "exercise" so I'm going to take advantage of it as much as possible while I'm there. 

I'm so thankful that we live so close to the mountains.