Friday, October 6, 2006
Morning run: 10 minutes. Usual oatmeal breakfast plus one red plum. Spent most of the day helping Joel set up for the White Coat Ceremony. Lunch: sandwiches from Subway. Home. Showered. Finished packing. Dinner at home: a bowl of oatmeal, yogurt, red plum, leftover cow strips with basmati rice. Packed the car. Left at 6:38 PM. I'll be camping with friends at Pinnacles this weekend. Patrick has to stay home because he works Saturday and Sunday. I'll be posting again in a few days. Oh yeah—Ena, the student affairs assistant in our office said she found another job working for the department of surgery and breast care at Mount Zion and her last day would be the 20th (I think). She's been with us for (8?) years, and we'll miss her very much. The drive to Pinnacles was perhaps the best long drive I've ever taken. I eventually left San Francisco around 7 PM after eating leftovers and fruit and yogurt. Traffic getting to the edge of town was (as always) the worst part of the trip. The night was partly cloudy with a full moon. During the drive, I listened to the radio which kept me awake until all the presets died out from lack of signal somewhere along Highway 25. I stopped for a bathroom break and gasoline near Hollister. The night seemed warm, so I drove part of the way with the sunroof open. Near the campground I nearly ran over an owl which was sitting in the middle of the road facing away from me. I slowed down because I wasn't sure if it was aware of my arrival, and it flew up and away at the last moment. I got in to camp around 9:15 PM. I had arranged to share a tent with Steve and Travis who had arrived earlier in the day. When I arrived some were chatting and some were playing a truth-or-dare game of wooden blocks called Janga and I joined in but I had disappointed Marck by successfully removing only beige blocks which meant I didn't have to do either a truth or a dare. Set up my sleeping bag and yoga mat in the tent and bundled up for bed wearing my ear flaps hat which kept me pretty warm.