Fabulous holiday weekend
So, on Thursday, the dad-in-law flew and I to Tahoe. Timeline: Friday was pretty lazy; Derek took off to go to Redmond for some plane foo, and G and his mom played some golf. I took a nice evening walk around the big loop of Lahontan Drive--about two and a half hours. Saw a bazillion chipmunks. Saturday we did a massive hike with Susan, almost up to the Frog Lake view; it was absolutely gorgeous. Had lunch up on the mountain. Graham made wonderful blackened catfish for dinner, and his mom contributed the veggies; I didn't lift a finger save to set the table outside.
Sunday AM, Graham and I took off for camping. We found a fantastic spot at the Bear Valley campground in Tahoe National Forest. The area is fire-scarred in vast swathes, from 1994 according to our camp host. This guy was a character--82 years old and the minute we walked up he started flirting with me! He was a total sweetheart. Around the camp are quite a few fire roads and logging roads marked up for off-roading; we went for an afternoon hike and found a fantastic view. The Bear Valley camp was actually really nice--the open forest made it easier to see the sunset, and the meadow at one side of the campground would be a great place to bring a telescope for stargazing. In the evening, when the moon was up (about 3/4), it was really bright. Despite all the light, we could see Jupiter and two or three moons with the binocs!!! We cooked a couple of packages of sausage over the fire and had some cucumber to go with it, and after all the hiking it was the most amazing meal ever. Went to bed fairly early, maybe around eleven, but then after the moon set (very late) we got up again and went out to look at the stars. Fantastic sky, and we didn't even bother walking away from our camp... I could practically draw new constellations, there were so many stars.
Today was wonderful and quite mellow. We struck camp and drove up to Plumas Eureka. Just kind of aimlessly set out from the parking lot by the museum and ended up on the campground trail, a really well-maintained trail about a mile and a quarter long. Wandered off that at the campground end, to look around; we ended up walking a short trail down to a side creek. After following that to the main river (pretty full for this time of year!) we waded a bit, got our feet wet in shockingly cold water, hung out on the rocks for a while, then walked on back and visited the little museum and shop. On the drive home, we stopped in Graeagle and I looked into a couple of the little shops. Graham didn't feel like swimming but we popped into the store for sodas. It was a fantastic day, just relaxed and unhurried and stress-free. Tonight G took me out to an AMAZING dinner in Truckee, and then tomorrow we'll fly back and have a day at home before he has to go back to work.
We've been doing great on the diet--I think the glaze on Graham's pork chop had some fruit in it tonight, and he had a nibble of bread, but other than that we've been sticking to Phase 1 really well. I might have gone over my 1 serving of nuts once or twice, because I love my peanut butter, but we've been getting SO much exercise it's probably fine. I'm feeling hungry quite often, but I really prefer the cycle of being hungry and eating frequently to my old pattern of eating one or two big meals in a day and getting woozy low blood sugar! I feel like my metabolism is really kicked up. We have a great start that we can stick to, if I can just manage to stay away from Pizza Chicago and Chili's and all the other places I love. Just another week and a bit, some hard work, and we can have some whole-grain stuff again!!!
I keep catching myself planning my downfall--having typical lunch at Pizza Chicago, or getting dessert somewhere. Must muster willpower! It's easy enough to eat right when there are no alternatives, but at home I'm really going to have to stare down my addictions and break those habits.
Still, I'm really proud of where we are now and it's been a fantastic weekend on all fronts! The in-laws have been just great--I love flying in the Lancair, and Susan borrowed a copy of the South Beach book to get recipes for our stay. We had wonderful dinners Thursday and Friday, and as always she made great salads to go with them.
Must go out and see more stars!!!
Sunday AM, Graham and I took off for camping. We found a fantastic spot at the Bear Valley campground in Tahoe National Forest. The area is fire-scarred in vast swathes, from 1994 according to our camp host. This guy was a character--82 years old and the minute we walked up he started flirting with me! He was a total sweetheart. Around the camp are quite a few fire roads and logging roads marked up for off-roading; we went for an afternoon hike and found a fantastic view. The Bear Valley camp was actually really nice--the open forest made it easier to see the sunset, and the meadow at one side of the campground would be a great place to bring a telescope for stargazing. In the evening, when the moon was up (about 3/4), it was really bright. Despite all the light, we could see Jupiter and two or three moons with the binocs!!! We cooked a couple of packages of sausage over the fire and had some cucumber to go with it, and after all the hiking it was the most amazing meal ever. Went to bed fairly early, maybe around eleven, but then after the moon set (very late) we got up again and went out to look at the stars. Fantastic sky, and we didn't even bother walking away from our camp... I could practically draw new constellations, there were so many stars.
Today was wonderful and quite mellow. We struck camp and drove up to Plumas Eureka. Just kind of aimlessly set out from the parking lot by the museum and ended up on the campground trail, a really well-maintained trail about a mile and a quarter long. Wandered off that at the campground end, to look around; we ended up walking a short trail down to a side creek. After following that to the main river (pretty full for this time of year!) we waded a bit, got our feet wet in shockingly cold water, hung out on the rocks for a while, then walked on back and visited the little museum and shop. On the drive home, we stopped in Graeagle and I looked into a couple of the little shops. Graham didn't feel like swimming but we popped into the store for sodas. It was a fantastic day, just relaxed and unhurried and stress-free. Tonight G took me out to an AMAZING dinner in Truckee, and then tomorrow we'll fly back and have a day at home before he has to go back to work.
We've been doing great on the diet--I think the glaze on Graham's pork chop had some fruit in it tonight, and he had a nibble of bread, but other than that we've been sticking to Phase 1 really well. I might have gone over my 1 serving of nuts once or twice, because I love my peanut butter, but we've been getting SO much exercise it's probably fine. I'm feeling hungry quite often, but I really prefer the cycle of being hungry and eating frequently to my old pattern of eating one or two big meals in a day and getting woozy low blood sugar! I feel like my metabolism is really kicked up. We have a great start that we can stick to, if I can just manage to stay away from Pizza Chicago and Chili's and all the other places I love. Just another week and a bit, some hard work, and we can have some whole-grain stuff again!!!
I keep catching myself planning my downfall--having typical lunch at Pizza Chicago, or getting dessert somewhere. Must muster willpower! It's easy enough to eat right when there are no alternatives, but at home I'm really going to have to stare down my addictions and break those habits.
Still, I'm really proud of where we are now and it's been a fantastic weekend on all fronts! The in-laws have been just great--I love flying in the Lancair, and Susan borrowed a copy of the South Beach book to get recipes for our stay. We had wonderful dinners Thursday and Friday, and as always she made great salads to go with them.
Must go out and see more stars!!!