At the beginning of the year, when we were still in pandemic lockdown, I started to learn how to play the ukulele.
A few months before, I had gone down the rabbit hole of watching a lot of videos from a Youtube channel called TwoSetViolins that inspired me to get back into playing an instrument.
When I was younger, I played a lot of music. I played violin from fifth grade until junior year of high school and then switched to playing viola through college. I was in school orchestras, youth orchestras, quartets, and even played in the pit for high school musicals. I really enjoyed making music back then, and was excited to jump back into it.
And what better time to pick up a new hobby than when locked at home for a prolonged period of time.
So I started watching videos to learn how to play ukulele.
For me, the toughest part early on was learning how to sing and play at the same time, especially when singing on off beats. Practice didn’t make perfect, but I’ve gotten better with repetition. Things started to feel legit when the tips of my fingers started forming callouses.
I can now comfortably play 15-20 songs, including some of the classics, throwbacks from high school and college, and some new stuff.
It’s been a lot of fun and I love the sound that my pineapple ukulele produces. There’s a nice warmth and cheeriness to it. Has definitely helped brighten the mood in tough times.
Visited Pinnacles National Park for the first time last Friday! I had a day off from work and decided to make it a day trip (it’s only a two-hour drive from the Bay). Pinnacles actually only became a national park in 2013 so it’s one of the newest.
Pro tip that everyone already knows: go visit places on weekdays or off-days. Pinnacles is known for its “pinnacles,” tall rock spires that jut out in the landscape, and it was awesome to hike among them without many other people around.
Since my mom works on her own schedule now, I invited her along and we made it a nice mother-son hiking day.
We ended up exploring the West entrance area of the park and did a couple hikes with a lunch break and quick nap in between. Juniper Canyon Loop was a strenuous 4-mile loop that took us from the canyon bottom to the high peaks, where there’s some steep climbs and railing to hold on to. At the top, we got some gorgeous panoramic views and saw a good few California condors soaring in the sky.
In the afternoon, we explored the Balconies Caves which required some crouching and navigating narrow spaces. The shaded caves were a nice reprieve from the blazing sun.
I owe my adventurous spirit to my momma and it was fun to share a day of adventure with her. While we hiked, we recounted old stories of her taking me and my brother on trips as kids and some of the sticky situations we got ourselves into and out of haha. She is so brave and adventurous and continues to inspire me to do the same.
Some of it was unplanned, but it’s crazy to think that I’ve been to ten national parks within the last three months! Hoping to hit up some more in the second half of the year.
I got back from a much needed 11-day road trip earlier this week. After over a year without travel during the pandemic (except for a few short camping trips), this vacation was a release of a lot of my pent up energy. On the road trip, I was able to do a weekend in Vegas, attend a friend’s wedding in LA, and visit all five Utah national parks (+ Death Valley) which I’ve been really wanting to do for a while.
My unofficial ranking of the Utah parks:
- Zion
- Capitol Reef
- Bryce Canyon
- Arches
- Canyonlands
Highlights from each stop of the trip below.
Yant Flat
This was a cool little hike we did near Zion. Beware that the last 30 minutes drive to the trailhead is on pretty rough road. My SUV handled it fine, but left coated in a fine layer of Utah dust. Yant Flat is nicknamed “Candy Cliffs” due to the coloring on the rock structures.
We went in the late afternoon/near sunset and I loved hiking and exploring all over the cliffs (reminded me of Badlands in that sense).
Zion National Park
Zion was a bit of a zoo in terms of crowds, but it is worth it. We had to wait around a hour to get a shuttle out to the trails each day (though you can avoid this by getting there super early in the morning). Zion is home to two of the most unique hikes I’ve ever been on.
The Narrows might be my favorite hike. We got our feet wet and hiked upstream on river rocks through a gorge with walls a thousand feet tall.
Angels Landing was also a great hike with a lot of elevation gain and the use of chain cables along the cliff side. At the top, we were rewarded with a breathtaking view of Zion Canyon.
Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce is known for its hoodoos (tall, thin spires of rock)! There were gorgeous views of them from above the canyon rim, but you could also hike down alongside them. There were much fewer visitors here than Zion and the summer weather was cooler as well, which made for a more relaxing trek through the weird and interesting landscape. Felt like another world.
Capitol Reef National Park
I hadn’t heard much about Capitol Reef before the trip, but really enjoyed it and think it’s underrated. The park had a fantastic balance of length/difficulty of hikes versus reward. Another great day exploring red rock cliffs, canyons, domes, and bridges. The highlight was standing on top of Cassidy Arch (see if you can spot me).
Canyonlands National Park
With massive canyons carved by rivers, it’s easy to see why they called this place Canyonlands. Mesa Arch was like a beautiful natural picture frame. We split one day between Canyonlands and Arches, and while it was doable to see the main spots, I want to go back in the future to do some of the longer hikes.
Arches National Park
Arches, arches, arches everywhere. If you are into arches, this is the park to visit. There are some truly epic arches and rock formations here.
Death Valley National Park
It is not recommended to visit Death Valley in the summer, which we found out when we were welcomed by 123°F temperatures near sunset on the day we visited. We might as well have been walking on the sun… at the hottest place on Earth and lowest elevation in North America. Nonetheless, I was struck by the beauty and variety of landscapes. I thought it would just be one large desert, but there were cool canyons, rock structures, sand dunes, and even many plants.
And that’s a wrap on an amazing road trip through Utah and back! 6 national parks in 7 days. I had an awesome time traveling and hiking with my friend Steven who I’ve known since the beginning of high school. It’s crazy that we’ve been friends for 18 years (a whole adult!)
We ended up doing about 77 miles of hiking/walking all total, but every mile felt great. On to the next national park :)
Last weekend, I took a two-day solo road trip to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks.
I didn’t make any housing or camping reservations, but packed up a sleeping bag and some food and just went. It was actually rather impulsive and barely planned, which is very unlike me.
To be honest, it’s been a pretty shitty year and I just needed to go. Somewhere, anywhere.
Some highlights and thoughts:
Whenever I stopped at a scenic overlook at Kings Canyon, I was blown away. I mean just look at this:
Sequoia trees are absolutely MASSIVE (check out the person in the lower left for scale). This one here’s the largest tree on Earth. Provided some nice perspective on the passing of time, resilience, and having a strong base.
I overestimated my car’s ability to drive in snow… and got quite stuck. After ten minutes of maneuvering and sweaty palms, I was luckily able to wiggle myself out of that one.
I was fortunate to snag one of the last first-come first-serve camping spots in Kings Canyon. Not sure what I would have done if there weren’t any left, but hey, this was a yolo trip and it worked out.
That night, I hiked off on my own a little ways behind my campsite and found a beautiful spot to take in the sunset among the forest.
Woke up to this view, staring up from the back of my car.
Started off the second morning with an awesome hike to Tokopah Falls. Got to get up pretty close to the waterfall and have lunch on some rocks nearby with a view.
Finished off my trip with a hike to Moro Point, where I climbed 350+ steps along the side of the rock to the top and took in one last view.
I kept going back and forth on whether to go on this trip by myself, and in the end I’m really glad I went.
It was my first time at these parks and despite some areas being closed due to snow, I had a really great time just being alone and going on my own adventure. Nature helps brings me peace.
I tested positive for covid a month and a half ago and joined one of the 100+ million people that have tested positive since the pandemic began.
It was a shock and one of those things that you don’t ever expect to happen to you, even though the odds weren’t tiny.
For almost a year, I had been really careful, always wearing a mask outside, working from home, and only leaving the house once every couple weeks for groceries or going on few socially-distanced hikes.
Over a weekend in early January, I went to the grocery store and on a hike. I started to have a mild cough and sore throat on a Saturday afternoon and after about an hour of lingering cough, I got a sinking feeling that I had contracted covid.
So I went and got tested and a few days later I got the email:
Your COVID-19 RT-qPCR test was POSITIVE, meaning that the virus that causes COVID-19 was detected in the specimen you provided.
Fuck. I really got it huh…
After it kind of set in, I texted the few people I was around in the days before symptom onset and suggested they get tested as well. I was relieved when they all ended up testing negative. It also meant that I must have caught covid from a passing stranger.
For the next two weeks, I sealed myself up in my room. I got comfortable in there and tried to keep a calm and positive mindset. I mostly worked like normal, except for taking it a little easier to rest and try to get better.
Like a good public health major, I kept a daily log of my symptoms and health, and was fortunate to only have mild cold-like symptoms the whole time:
I never had a fever, and never lost my taste or smell. On a few days, I felt some general fatigue but I’m not sure really sure if it was from covid or my heightened anxiety. I was very worried that things would take a turn for the worse.
After my isolation period, I got tested again and was glad to test negative.
The next day, after a light rain, I was finally able to go outside for a run and breathing in the crisp air felt amazing.
The whole covid experience was pretty surreal and I feel very fortunate to have had a relatively light bout with the virus. Please keep wearing your masks and staying safe!