Roofing

I had the opportunity to participate in a home build with Habitat for Humanity.  Whether you've ever been interested in learning a handy skill, need a therapeutic day outside the office, or just enjoy volunteer work, I highly recommend it.

The job was to give "sweat equity" to this family from CDS. Each potential new homeowner must volunteer 200 hours on another house before they earn enough equity for their own. Since this family was limited in their ability to contribute physically, several of us who know the family provided those hours for them.

Most of the volunteers wore shorts (hot July day).  I decided to wear some old jeans, and that's what got me the roofing assignment.  

I'll have to admit that it was a huge learning curve for me.  The supervisors could have done this so much faster themselves.  But I appreciated the exposure and training on a skill I've never learned, and it was fun!

A co-worker is in purple, and we're working alongside the CDS family member who is able to provide their sweat equity.

Africa - Part 2: Safari

After summitting Kilimanjaro, Ashlyn and her friends stayed in Tanzania for an extra week to recover, relax and go on safaris. 

They spent most of their time exploring Serengeti National Park, home of the greatest wildlife spectacle on earth. 

Ngorongoro Crater which is the world's largest inactive, intact and unfilled volcanic caldera. Absolutely an amazing experience to see so many animals in their natural habitat!

Wildebeests, zebras, giraffes, lions, elephants, warthogs, hippos, gazelles, rhinos, crocodiles, etc.

Love her smile!  And also her "safari" hat she borrowed from Luke's lifeguard uniform.

And a final stop to experience the Tanzanian tribe life.

But my favorite picture of all her adventures is this one...

where she's back home, safe and sound.

Africa - Part 1: Kilimanjaro

For summer break, Ashlyn traveled to Tanzania with a two of her med school friends, Eliane and Nick.They stopped over in Doha and Kenya along the way and, once in Tanzania, met up with Eliane's Aunt and Uncle from Switzerland. The first week of their trip was spent climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. They followed the Mangaru Route over 6 days, and hired a guide and porters to assist in the climbing process.

Day 1 - Mountain base to Mandara Hut (elevation 8,858 ft) / Distance: 8 km / Hiking Time: 4-5 hours
This portion of the hike was mostly in the rain forest. Upon arrival at the hut, porters sang a "Welcome to Kilimanjaro" song.

Day 2 - Mandara Hut to Horombo Hut (elevation 12,205 ft) / Distance: 12 km / Hiking Time: 6-8 hours

After a long day of hiking, afternoon snacks (popcorn and freshly roasted peanuts) with hot drinks were greatly welcomed.

After the morning hike, the rest of the day was spent relaxing, playing cards, and hanging out with other hikers. With no light pollution or clouds to block the night sky, they saw millions of stars and even the milky way!

Day 3 - Acclimatization day. Elevation 14,400 ft / Distance: 5 km / Hiking Time: 2-3 hours
This is an extra day meant for acclimatization and was spent day hiking up to Zebra Rock.

Day 4 - Horombo Hut to Kibo Hut (elevation 15,430 ft) / Distance: 10 km / Hiking Time: 6-8 hours

This day's trek consisted of a long gradual accent up to Kibo Hut, where the air was getting progressively thinner, wind was stronger and the radiation was more intense. After reaching the hut around 2pm they enjoyed lunch, rested, forcibly ate an early dinner at 5pm (though no one was hungry), prepared for summit day, and finally went to bed at 6pm in anticipation for a very early start. However, due to the high altitude and cold weather, no one was able to sleep.

Ashlyn checking her O2 saturation. At normal altitudes a good O2 saturation is above 95%; however at this altitude Ashlyn's was 84%.

Day 5 - SUMMIT DAY! Elevation 19,341 ft / Distance: 22 km / Hiking Time: 17 hours

Very early in the morning (around 11:30pm), they woke up, forced a bowl of porridge down and begin their push to the summit. With headlamps to light the way, they ascended in the darkness for several hours while taking frequent, but short, breaks. This was the most mentally and physically challenging portion of the trek due to the steep inclines, wind and bitter cold.  At Gilman’s point (18,600 ft), they were rewarded with the most magnificent sunrise and a hot cup of ginger tea. Finally, at 7am they reached the summit - Uhuru Peak- the highest point on Mount Kilimanjaro and the continent of Africa.

After spending a few moments taking in the plains of Africa and their accomplishment, they descended all the way down to Horombo Hut. Coming down was much faster, and easier as they could just ski down the fine loose rocks. Later in the evening, they enjoyed their last dinner on the mountain and a well-earned night's sleep.

Ashlyn and the head guide, Moses, who successfully lead the group to the "promised land".

Day 6 - Horombo Hut to Mountain Base / Distance 15 km

This was the final day of hiking. After departing Horombo Hut, they hiked down through the rain forest and made it safely to the mountain base. 

At the base, the guides and porters gave a farewell Kilimanjaro song. 

A successful 6 day hike was celebrated with champagne, actual toilets, a swimming pool and most importantly a hot shower!

Pigeon Forge

We had a rare opportunity when all of us were home, so we took off for Tennessee on a short family vacation. Destination: Pigeon Forge.

We did a few tourist things, like catching a dinner show at Hatfield & McCoy and Dollywood Splash Country water park.  But the rest were a bit off the beaten path.

Literally...

This was a stretch of the Appalachian Trail.  It was difficult to find, and we were the only ones on there.  Eric got tired of me taking so many pictures...goofball.

We then found an Egyptian escape room, although it's not the like most escape places.  It had neat special effects although not near as difficult.

Having just watched the first 3 episodes of Indiana Jones the days leading up to this vacation, we just pretended we were on our own quest to open King Tut's tomb.

Our next day took us to Tuckaleechee Caverns.  This cave system was discovered by two boys ages 6 & 8 when they were playing outside back in the 1920's.  It was permanently opened to the public in 1953 and was determined to be formed over 25 million years ago.

Eric was back smiling for my pictures.  It was a cool 58 degrees inside.

We even had our guide take a family photo.

This was a wishing well inside, so the Little One flipped in a coin.

Their "great room".  Although it's not as large of a great room as what I saw in Carlsbad, it's still pretty impressive.

 Near the hotel was a park that provided a nice opportunity to burn off some energy.

One unexpected but glorious find was Bush's Beans factory.  Yes, we had to stop.

Ashlyn can eat her weight in beans.  She absolutely loves them!  They have a nice museum and tour inside their building.
  

There's even tour guides pointing out all the interactive displays along with the gift shop.

This must be the largest can of beans I've ever seen.  

We sampled their bean of the day - honey chipotle. Quite tasty!

Blueberries!

July means blueberry season!  We've been picking our annual supply of blueberries each year from one farm in Six Mile.  They are the best!

It starts by bringing our own buckets.  We then split up, sample a few to know which bushes are the sweetest, then pick it clean.  

Eric is usually the fastest picker.  He doesn't sample as many as we do.

We also move around more to find the absolute best tasting ones.  Sometimes they're the ones hanging low, under the bush.

Almost done!  

After weighing the berries in at exactly 10lbs, it was time to donate a few dollars to the 'sin' bucket.  This is to compensate the farm for sampling more than just a few.  Yep, we're guilty.

Then we ring the bell to show our honor system deposit to the sin bucket.  Plus, it's just fun to ring.