Little Sister Comes West...

One of the benefits of being a elementary school teacher (besides a lavish salary,
ample respect from government officials, and unlimited access to Trapper Keepers
and #2 pencils) is having your summers off. Little Sister took advantage of this
and came out for a visit.


We took a good hike in Mt. Tamalpais State Park...


...oogling Redwood groves...


... and posing with ferns.


Strike a pose! Work it Ellen!


We actually saw a momma deer and her fawn (which you can see if you squint
your eyes in this "Invisible 3-D"-style picture.)


After communing with nature, Olin and I met up with C-Buck, Betty, and Geoff
and headed out to a local watering hole. Here Olin totally schools Buck and I
with the bilateral over-the-shoulder "Get a load of these guys" finger point.


Readers of prior posts should immediately recognize that in this picture,
Ellen is getting a little bit...


CRABBY!!!


Water under the bridge, though... water under the bridge.


Freak-a-zoid! Chim-pan-zee!


The next day dawned bright and clear, so we took advantage of a rare fogless
summer day and headed out to Point Reyes to hike the Alamere Falls trail.


We offroaded a little bit to make the climb and get a birdseye view of Double
Point. Admittedly, the trail was a little overgrown and Ellen was only wearing
shorts through the underbrush... But I think she was a little overdramatic by
getting...


VERY CRABBY!!!



She was squawking the whole way up, but a whale sighting (my first ever from the coast) and beautiful views like these...


...got her to lighten up a bit.


We took a little breather and soaked in the views before heading down the trail to the beach and...


...Alamere Falls.


Ellen Nosek Glamour Photo #21


It was perfect weather. Someday, I want to pack a picnic and some beers and
head out early enough to make a day of it on this beautiful secluded beach.


Ellen toodles around the falls.


Siblings 4ever.


Another great part of this hike is that there's an awesome swimming hole halfway
to the falls that you can cool off in. It even has a rope swing into the water.