Choice Precious

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I think I may need to upgrade to a smart phone, because having a dumb phone is no help when you are lost or find yourself “making a U-ey” and a little nine point turn action to back that trailer up! Luckily, not all my passengers were back seat drivers as this was going on. My evaluations for van support in Wine Country ranged from “We love your sunny smile and enthusiasm and hope you’ll be our tour leader on a future trip” to “the girl had no idea what she was doing.” Ding ding, that is correct, because I have never been to Bodega Bay before and although I am van supporting this route, I have never driven it in my entire life. Backroads tries to schedule new leaders with a few days of familiarization of the area, but my van support is allowing me to see how the trip runs and the routes we take, while doing them! So, I am being easy on myself and trying my best to conceal the huge print-out of directions that sit on my lap while driving.

That being said, I just gone back from a week of van support in Yosemite, where I will also be leading trips through October. Most everything about Yosemite is breathtaking, including the sudden, striking peaks of Half Dome and El Capitan that are right in front of you upon coming out the other side of Valley View Tunnel. (I may have squealed).

Driving into Yosemite Valley after coming from the South entrance of Yosemite National Park and Mariposa grove was like arriving in Tokyo. Four million people visit the park every year, the majority of whom spend their time in the Valley, which is without question. I spent my rainy day off perusing the Ansel Adams Gallery and the museum to better understand the geologic forces that shaped the valley, the sprires and domes, to sheer walls and craggy peaks.

To sum it up, the Pacific plate was forced under the North American plate resulting in unimaginable amounts of heat and pressure being created. This action caused deep rocks to melt. Some of the magma erupted onto the surface as volcanoes, but most of it cooled and solidified beneath the surface of the earth to form granite plutons. (El Capitan and Half Dome are basically blobs of bubbling rock that rose up and cooled as bumps of top of the enormous magma block that was in the process of cooling into granite.) Continued erosion eventually brought the granite to the surface. The top of this block would become the Sierra Nevada mountains. During the Ice Age, glaciers added their erosive power, scouring the layers of soil and soft earth, leaving little but solid granite behind. At the end of the last glacial period, huge volumes of water from melting glaciers flowed into Yosemite Valley, bringing tons of rock, gravel, sand, and silt. Yosemite lake filled with sediment until the valley floor became a flat, marshy open plain. Got it? Just call me Miss Frizzle.

Highlights: Being underneath the blanket of stars atop Glacier Point and the pure quiet of the night sky.

Lowlights: So darn lonely (when you let it).
I will admit I have been avoiding writing a blog post as I’m not quite sure how to capture this transition to a new job and new places. I’m sure it could be likened to moving to another state and starting anew, with the exception of not living in your new home, at least not for more than 2 days at a time. So….how to say this without causing concern or sounding trivial? I find there are moments in any given day where I literally cannot believe this is my job! I am on a hike or driving, the scenery is unreal, I’m chatting with guests, snapping some photos, and navigating the way.

Other moments, I cannot help but wish I were navigating this place with a loved one or companion. That maybe I were along for the trip on the receiving end.

I know this is my job and it is a great opportunity to see new places all throughout California this summer. I’m sure I am walking around with huge bug eyes because I am new to these areas, new to the service and tourism industry in this capacity, and new to figuring out how to be amidst so many people with the feeling that nobody really knows you. Knows me.

People in big cities walk past countless individuals each day on their way to work, the store, etc. Does it take a certain breed to be a city girl? Do some people thrive off the animation, noise, culture, and bustling feel to a crowded area while others feel alienated or lost in a big city? Can you feel secure, humbled, and less alone knowing you are surrounded by people, or is it normal to feel alienated? These are questions that leave me floundering at times, but are also shaping how I want to live my life.

Silver Lining: To learn where we see ourselves, how we want to spend our time, the lifestyle(s) we choose, and who we want in our lives, all by experiencing and putting yourself in it. I want to end this post with the following quote that I jotted down from the Yosemite Valley museum because it stuck out to me that both Earth and life are choice precious.

“Earth is choice precious and scared beyond all comparison or measure.”
- William Pollard

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