Fun In Joshua Tree

On Sunday, Margaret, a fellow KD and UVA grad, came to visit us in Yucca Valley. She is on a road trip across the country, and stopped by in between Las Vegas and San Diego. Yesterday I showed her the sites. We went on a morning hike to the 49 Palms Oasis in Joshua Tree, which was so cool! Literally, it's an oasis smack in the middle of the desert-y National Park. Pretty cool. After our hike, we went down to Palm Springs, where I showed her around, and at night, we went to the local Mexican joint, so she could taste just how good the Mexican food out here is! 

We had a lot of fun. However, I definitely started to feel limited in my abilities for the first time (in a significant way, at least) since being pregnant. For example, our hike in Joshua Tree was 3 miles, with only a 400 ft elevation change. Normally, this would be a nice moderate hike for me. Instead, I was huffing and puffing the whole time! Also, I realized just how easily I become exhausted these days. We had a fairly full day, leaving our house at 8:30 to head out on the hike, and we didn't get back from Palm Springs until 4:30. I was SO pooped! It made me realize that there was no way I'd be able to pull the 7 AM to 7 PM days at the Bureau of Tourism any more. Finally, I feel like all of a sudden I'm HUGE! I used to tell myself that I could pass as just a person with a bit of a beer belly - not so much any more :). When I saw the photos from our hike that Margaret took of me, I felt like those Jenny Craig celebrities who say the turning point for them was seeing a pic of themselves. Obviously, I'm pregnant and I'm not in any way trying to lose weight; it's just amazing that in the past month all of a sudden I feel like a blimp. Greg should be in for a treat when he comes back in August and sees how much I've grown after six weeks!

Tomorrow I'm heading back to Maryland, for three weeks. I'm excited, and hope that the travel goes smoothly. It's a pretty busy three weeks, but I'll get to see a lot of family and friends, so I'm very excited. I'm sad to say goodbye to Greg, though, and mad that he'll have to miss one of his favorite holidays, July 4th, because he's training. Hopefully this month will go by fast. 

Hope you all are having a good week!

Margaret at the Oasis
Me, with the Oasis in the background (tiny palm trees in the way back)
The oasis!