I know many of you have probably heard about our Yosemite trip last weekend. Yes, it was supposed to be a camping trip. But due to some rather unfortunate weather, we decided to rent 4 very nice houses instead. Okay, so it was 3 very nice houses and 1 house that even the guys called “spooky house”. I actually stayed at the spooky, haunted-house looking place. It wasn’t too bad. But it was sort of eerie to have to park the minivan near the street, then walk down the dirt driveway with only a flashlight… only to see a house on the hill with a long, winding staircase leading to the front door. And the house was wooden, so it didn’t look very inviting either. Chul tried to scare some of us by turning around and saying, “Do you think I am really Chul?”
Well, we weren’t too scared… at least, not as scared as Sharon and Mia during the Bourne Identity. (We had a rock-paper-scissors contest to see which movie we would watch. Shufei, representing the movie Glory Road, handily won the 2 out of 3 contest. But being gracious, the men let the women watch Bourne Identity while some of us played Bang! and Settlers of Catan.) During the movie, I think some people almost regretted choosing to watch. (like Sharon and Mia) In the back, they started to hide their face behind pillows and screamed at every suspenseful moment. I heard one of the guys did as well, but he will remain nameless. (though I think he lurks around here like a panda…)
The drive to Yosemite in May was not what we expected. There was rain and snow. Yes, at the start of summer, it was snowing. (It kept the drivers awake!) And it rained on the entire hike up to Vernal Falls. But rain or shine, we were determined to enjoy Yosemite. The weather was cool, the rain was fairly light… so it was actually perfect hiking weather, aside from the fact that we were wearing rain jackets, wind breakers, and ponchos. (a bright red one!)
The scenery was beautiful, even though it was foggy. In fact, it was reminiscent of a Chinese mountain painting with the fog partially covering El Capitan and Half Dome. So it was great to see and be reminded that nature–which is so wondrous at times–was something that God called “good” when He created it.
In sum, we were thankful to enjoy nature, deeper relationships, and great food… even in the rain. (yes, we were in our nice houses a lot of the time too) I’ll have a separate post about the hilarious icebreaker games from Saturday night.
Yosemite was absolutely gorgeous!
I believe Mia, Sharon and the anonymous guy’s shocked responses during the watching of Bourne Identity are only expected, natural reactions from individuals who have not been jaded by violent movies. I think their example demonstrates how humans ought to respond when exposed to suspenseful cinematography.
Kudos to those 3 brave audience members who endured!
It was a brilliant idea hiking up the mist trail, especially in the presence of rain. Since we would’ve been wet from the mist trail regardless of whether or not it rained, we’ve managed to negate the effects of rain by submerging ourselves in the wetness of the waterfall.
It was pretty painful losing to Shufei and then to Sara in rock, paper, and scissor. Hey, can someone put up the videos for “This is so fun”? It was hilarious with Joseph’s eyes popping out and Shufei high pitch voice. Congrats to Joseph on being the last man standing.
I wholeheartedly concur with misterpanda about the whole movie thing…how anyone can watch people kill each other without screaming is beyond me.
Well said, misterpanda, well said.