TRAVELS WITH MATTIE

We've been around Reno. This means something new now, because Greg moved into a sweet little guest house on a 17 acre ranch on the Truckee River near Verdi. It is the BEST. But I'll start from the beginning. We left Santa Barbara a week and a half ago and drove the long road up Highway 395. We stopped at cool places like Red Rocks, Fossil Falls, and Bob and Nancy's house in Washoe Valley before getting in late to the ranch. Feeling small, Red Rocks State Park. Bighorns and things. Antelopes elsewhere. Fossil Falls is awesome. But there was no time for relaxing! We woke up the next morning and drove out to Pyramid Lake for the most low-key wedding ever in the world. Scott and Laura were married on a beautiful Saturday at the lake. Fishing, beers, vodka in grapefruits, sand castles, sparklers, tents, campfire, s'mores, hot dogs. My kind of wedding.  The whole gang. The next day we drove back to town and climbed. We've been climbing pretty ...

It's Yeti's Day!!! Happy Birthday! We love you Yeti. You are the best. Where would we be without our hiking, adventuring, backpacking, marathon running, movie-naming Wild Y?  Light blue-phase Yeti atop McKinley Peak. This hike was horrible, but days on trails with Yeti are awesome. Lighter blue-phase Yeti with Dad, Sid and Anni. Ice cream at the Mono Market? THE BEST. Dark blue-phase mountain Yeti and gremlins. Blue-violet phase Pine Creek Pass Yeti and Dad. In the Santa Ynez River Valley with my Y.  Happy Birthday Yeti! Can't wait for our next adventure! Love, Allie

Hi Everyone! It's been a beautiful winter. Meaning it hasn't felt like winter at all, and we could really use the rain. Mattie and I have been working hard, but finding time for adventures, climbing, finding animal prints and other silly things in the dirt, painting and drawing, and getting in a lot of exercise. Liiiike going on walks through the creekbeds finding all kinds of weird and awesome stuff. I want it to be a "camofrog." But I think he's a toad. Sandstone creek walls. Even found some recent prints from a good buddy near Upper Oso! That's no little kitten. A big cat in the creek. Of course we made it back to the mountains. My class this quarter was a 5-week intensive course, so when that finished last week we headed north on 395 to burning sagebrush, Greg and Milo. We were sad to hear about the burned homes in Swall Meadows, but happy that everyone stayed safe in the fire and windstorms. The rain that night was welcome, even thoug...

Hi Everyone!  Sorry it's been forever. Mattie and I tend to get wrapped up with work during the fall quarter, and coming back from 3 months in the mountains it's always a little overwhelming. Fall is our blogging break-time. But we're BACK. We had an amazing fall. We worked hard. We went on adventures. We saw the best concert ever (David Rawlings Machine at the Lobero...just...good God, insanity) and then more great music (like Willie Watson at SoHO). The weather was perfect and there have been a few wonderful rainstorms that brought rocks down on the road. Mostly, Mattie and I have been enjoying the relaxing days we spend wandering, working, drawing (new art coming soon!), reading, spacing out, cooking (that's right, you guys, I've been COOKING). I worked hard to get back in shape, and was repaid with a sickness that still has me down almost a month later. WTF.  BIG NEWS: It's been exactly one year TODAY since Dad's aortic dissection, so we...

Yesterday, we drove out of the mountains.  After a wonderful week with Sid and Anni, and a final beautiful long weekend at the Lee Vining Creek  home, we drove south on the 395 and hit the Alabama Hills just as the sun left Lone Pine in the dark on a perfect Eastern Sierra night.  I always feel like a little of my heart stays there. So before I get all sentimental about how my life is unreal and lucky and I love both my summer and non-summer homes more than I can say, here's what happened since Hawaii...in pictures. We spent a lot of time with the little monsters, and got to celebrate Sid's 8th birthday. You were born EIGHT years ago? Where did those years go? I love you. We painted faces and had a cake.  Anni the creepy bunny and Sid the creepy puppy. Caught stealing cookie dough. We made cookies, hatched sea monkeys, made bracelets, built Legos, watched Star Wars, played soccer, climbed, walked with Mattie, read stories, p...