Thursday, September 23, 2010

Conquering Half Dome

I was lucky enough to return to Yosemite National Park this past weekend.  I was scheduled to go out to Sports Marketing 2.0 in San Francisco so I figured I would try and fit in one last weekend in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. 

While Kristie and I were there back in July, the one hike I didn't get to try out was Half Dome.  Half Dome is one of the most recognized peaks in Yosemite because it looks like a dome that literally got split down the middle.  It rises 4,800 feet from the valley floor and the hike is about 17 miles round trip. The last 400 feet of the hike include a 45 degree slope up a granite wall with steel cables to help pull yourself up. 

I am not a huge fan of heights, so I knew it would be a challenge.  I did some research before hand and I decided the best thing to do would be to buy a climbing harness and some sewn runners and clip onto the cables with a carrabiner clip.  That way, if I fell, the worst that could happen would be a few bruises and scrapes.  

Keith, my old college roommate tagged along on the trip.  We stayed in Curry Village and ended up waking up at 4:00 a.m.  We checked out at the front desk and we were on the trailhead by 5:30 a.m.  It was still very dark outside so we used a flash light for the first hour.



People were very friendly on the trail.  Especially on the cables.  I think with the traffic jam and it taking about 45 minutes to get up, it really made people band together even more than usual.
It took me about 11 hours and 30 minutes round trip and it was so worth doing.  I thought I would be nervous and have a hard time, but once I got on the cables, it was really easy.  Below is a video that chronicles the whole journey.  P.S. - My creepy whispering in the beginning is because we were in canvas tents and at 4:00 a.m., I didn't want to wake up my neighbors.  You could hear someone drop a pin 50 yards away which made sleeping pretty difficult!


Sunday, September 19, 2010

Basement update

We have been remodeling/renovating to get ready for the baby. We added a closet to the old office upstairs which will become the nursery and have painted that green. We also moved the gym from the one corner of the basement and are almost done with the new office. It looks terrific. Dave and Jeff started working Sept 1 and we are almost done! The only things that are left are putting up the trim and baseboard and a few other small touch-ups. I can't believe how quickly it all came together. This will be the nursery - paint is done, now we just need some furniture!

Here are some pics of the basement from the beginning to where we are now. This is the corner of the basement with the sump pump where we put in some closets.

This is that same wall, the door on the right is where the sump pump is. The 3rd picture is taken from a different angle and was taken after the floors and ceiling were put in. We have two closets with pocket doors to the left of the sump pump door. I finished up painting the baseboards and french doors today and Dave will probably be back this week to put the trim and baseboard up. I just can't believe how great everything looks.
Other than the remodel, we're doing well. I am at 28 1/2 weeks and feel good. My feet started to swell this week so I have been putting those up when I get a chance. The rest of today will be filled with laundry and some cleaning up of the basement from the dust that was created from our basement project. I'll be glad once we get everything put back in it's place. Jeff is hiking in Yosemite. He went out on Friday with Keith and has a conference for work on Tuesday. They are staying in Curry Village in a tent cabin. I don't think I would like to do that at this point in my pregnancy.