So it is smoky. Extremely smoky. Thinking that the smoke was mostly restricted to the valley, I drove up to Tahoe with Kuan to meet Lydia and this other dude to climb at Star wall yesterday. Well, it was so smoky that we couldn't even see Donner Lake. It was unbelievable! And I just read Justin's blog and it's smoky in Yosemite Valley as well. I talked to my friend Sunshine who lives in Oakland and was driving towards Big Basin. Yep you guessed it: smoky as hell there too. You know, I don't mind it too much. I still climbed yesterday, still did a long bike ride this morning, and I feel fine. No congestion, no breathing problems. I guess I'm in the minority though because a lot of people seem to be having trouble. Oh well, guess I'm lucky in this case.
I discovered a new 30 mile bike loop (I'm sure that everyone who has ever ridden a bike around Davis knows about the beauty of Putah Creek Road, but it was new to me). Beautiful scenery (through orchards and fields), smooth road, very little traffic. You can just fly down it. I want to bike into the coast range at some point next week and do some hills. Looks like there's a good 40-50 mile loop.
I also discovered two amazing desserts: Haagen-Dazs chocolate sorbet and coconut sorbet. They are scrumptious, and you don't feel like you're going to puke up whole cream if you should (ahem) happen to overindulge in things like ice cream. Of course I up the ante by putting dulce de leche on top. I've always been a toppings kind of girl.
The cool thing about this week is that I've been rediscovering and reconnecting with old friends. I think I had been "comfortable in my misery" with certain aspects of my life as Kuan astutely pointed out. When you clear out some of the clutter in life there is more room for new things.
I'll go up to Donner again Sunday and try to redpoint Cookie Mix, which is a fun little route. Then I'm not so sure what to try next. At any rate I need to get my ass into the gym to regain lost ground in fitness. I also started (finally) the IVIG treatment, and I don't feel psychotic afterwards. So today is over with, and I'll go in Mon-Thurs next week.
By the way, I tried to donate blood the other day and was "deferred" which is a euphemism for "rejected." Guess they think donating blood will stress an MS patient. Go figure. Guess I'll have to be satisfied with donating a bunch of old books and magazines to the infusion center. I just feel like giving right now...something, anything.
