he has the immune system of a 2 year old

Ahoy,

We had plans to go to Pinnacles National Park over the weekend. It was a long (year) postponed trip with the RRS's family to celebrate his graduation. And, of course, he gets sick. We left Friday morning and arrived in the afternoon to a less than spectacular, perhaps underwhelming entrance into the park. But I was super excited to see the park and all its great features. We went for a short walk and saw a non-venomous snake that made A jump out of his shorts. Such fortitude in his spirit. We made dinner and A became much more ill. He slept in the car for a while. I went with his parents to hear a snakes talk by a ranger who didn't sound the most thrilled. But making powerpoint presentations thrilling is pretty hard.

In the morning, we decided (I agreed reluctantly) to leave early. I feel like he is always getting sick on vacation. The story of my life: we went to xyz, but then he got sick... This blog will become a record of all the times he gets sick. Somebody was describing to me how their 2 year old gets sick every month. That is as frequently as the RRS gets sick. He has the immune system of a 2 year old. We went on 1 hike and had a nice picnic lunch in the shade before heading out. I was really looking forward to being outside and getting at it this weekend, but sometimes I'm left with a 2 year old to tend to. A spice of life I would rather leave in the cupboard.

Fortunately I was still able to cancel and get a refund. It was super busy in the visitor center and I overheard the ranger turning this couple away because the campsites were all full and there was a waiting list. So how lucky for us, I offered them our campsite and they were super, duper stoked!

Pinnacles is the newest national park. It was once a monument. I asked the ranger why it changed, and he said it's the same amount of funding but more visitors, so it's actually not advantageous. And then our shuttle rolled up and I couldn't pepper him with more questions. True story, there is a pool right next to the visitor center. There used to be 2 other campsites but they got washed out by floods and were never fixed because probably wanted to let the ecosystem do its thing. The more scenic parts are on the west side, but the camp site is on the east side and you can only go to the other side through hikes or a 2 hour drive. We didn't quite get to the cool stuff, so we'll have to go back. They probably won't connect the sides with a road because it would probably disrupt the ecosystem too much, according to Paul Mondragon, another ranger I bugged about stuff. He is a descendant of the natives that used to live in Pinnacles. Fascinating.

repeatedly replanned,
jt