This post used to contain pictures, but due to new storage limitations from WordPress, I had to fix the problem and decided to create a new blog that works as an archive for all the posts from my two years in California. This full post can be found here.

I’m so proud of myself! And of course of my hiking companions Anna and Vasoula! We did an eight mile hiking trip on a mountain today. Two hours up and one and a half on the way down. Four miles one way. We are dead now but so happy we did go through with it even though it was warm and our shoes were the worst ever! What we saw at the end of our trip was amazing! And the things we saw along the way. OMG!

The plan for today was to go to Julian, but the girls who was supposed to pick us up were three hours late so we got really bummed and made plans of our own instead. Anna really wanted to go to the famous potato chip rock and so we did. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, so we drove there with Vasoula’s hostmums car. We waited for so long for the other girls that her hostmum went and came back home to lend us the car (you really feel handicapped here if you don’t have a car here).

Happy in the car for 40 minutes with our Converse and sandals. When we got to the little shop by the lake in Poway we realized what we had ahead of us. A hiking trip in the moutain. An eight mile long hiking trip in the mountain just to see a rock that looked like a potatochip! But we decided to try and see how far we could manage to go and then turn around if it was too hard. The sun was shining like never before and it was really pleasant outside. I didn’t think it was too warm, it was ”lagom”. Anna on the other hand thought it was way too warm and wanted to give up all the time. But we pepped her and we got her to the top of the mountain!

After half the way up we asked some people on their way down how far we had left. They said 2 miles. Nice, we had already climbed 6! But they laughed and said that it was 4 miles up, and 4 miles down. That was such a relief! 8 miles uphill, no way! Soon after we got warned by a lot of people about a rattlesnake on the trail up ahead. Anna freaked out, but it would be worse when we actually saw it. Me and Vasoula could climb up on a mountain way past the BIG snake (everyone said it was a really big one, like three feet, so I trust them because I’ve never seen a rattlesnake). I thought it was pretty cool to see it and if you got too close to it, it rattled with its tail!

After two hours of climbing we finally reached the stone. It was super cool! We took a lot of photos and then started to go down. Our feet hurt like hell and so did my thighs. I had a jeans skirt on today and when my thighs were rubbing together with every step it eventually gave me a rash and now it hurts so bad…. Good thing I’m just gonna go to the LCC meeting tomorrow and then be on an airplane to Houston!

When we were almost at the car we found a couple playing with a snake. Me and Vasoula wanted to  do it too. We got the snake and took photos. It was awesome to hold that snake! I have no idea what kind of snake, but I hope it wasn’t poisonous :).

After our hiking trip we had dinner at Pizza Hut and when I got home I did those notes for the kids easter egg hunt. Last night I filled the eggs with candy and today I made the notes that eventually will lead them to the eggs. I hope they will enjoy it on Friday when they get home from Mammoth :).

Oh, when they went this morning the kids were so cute! Especially the girl. She said goodbye like a hundred times, a lot of hugs and kisses and ”I love you”s. I miss them. But it’s gonna be nice with a week off!

And speaking of spring break. There was a girl who was supposed to drive me to the airport tomorrow afternoon. But now, in the middle of the night the day before, she texts me and says that she can’t… I was so scared that I had to cancel my trip and the thought of being all alone this week without a car and knowing what I would miss made me sad. Fortunately I have some really nice friends here who will help me. I’m so happy I have them!!

Today was really awesome! It hurts, and I had to throw my Converse in the washing machine, but I am happy :).

Tomorrow I will be going to Houston and then New Orleans on Monday. I don’t think I will be able to update my blog as often as I would like, but I will if I have access to Internet! Otherwise there will be a big update when I get back to Carlsbad next Sunday ;).

Now I’m gonna finish packing and then get some well deserved hours of sleep, good night!

This is not a tan, it’s dirt…