Mammoth girls weekend 2012

Several years ago the girls in my lab started a tradition of going to Mammoth Lakes every winter. This year we originally scheduled to go in February but had to re-plan at the last minute because it was right after Nathan's surprise surgery. Now that Nathan is recovered we were able to get together for a super wonderful girls weekend in the mountains. :)

one rule of girls weekend is that we always have to watch the most recent twilight movie. We've been doing this since the first movie and sone years have been more painful than others (but we're stubborn and it's tradition so we do it anyway). There is only one Twilight movie left after this one so we might be able to make a more prudent choice next time we sign up for a series of movies. The good news is this year's movie was quite a bit less painful than last year's (and I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I'm kind of excited to see the next one...). The rest of our time we spent coding, hiking, shopping, and cooking. Here's some photos from our trip (if you click on the pictures it should make them bigger).

Driving in that car, lots of Taylor Swift helped the drive go faster (I think it was about 8 hours long?) Sarah is my Taylor Swift sing-along buddy which made singing along way more fun.

You can take the girl out of the computer science department, but not the computer science out of the girl. Yes, we spent some quality time working on phone apps and building webpages.

Cuddly reunion, these animals get to see each other once a year. It was Bunnykins' first visit and she fit in perfectly.

While we were there we went on several hikes. Here's a photo of the gorgeous Convict Lake. We also went shopping which was also very fun but I didn't manage to get any pictures of it.

I found out my new phone has a panorama setting so here's my first try! Works decently well... although it has trouble with getting the exposure consistant (note left part of picture).

Sarah and Lisa with a giant tree!!! (also some weird exposure here, but at least you can see how big it is!)

Mystery trail we found, where does it go?... maybe we'll try it next year?

After all that hiking we headed over to the hot springs. Sarah and I had never been before and we had thought they'd be kinda gross and muddy, but it turned out they were really nice!

it was really warm, just like a hot tub! :D I think I could get used to this! (photo courtesy Sarah)

View from in the hot springs (photo courtesy Sarah). Way better than the view from the hot tub in our apartment complex (which is of the parking lot).

We had a really fun time, but soon it was time to start heading home. Little Babar and Bunnykins know to buckle up, safety first!! Bunnykins also had the presence of mind to remember to bring a carrot as a road trip snack, smart rabbit.

kinda sketch looking, but this place had awesome jerky. And even more importantly, a restroom. :)

Happy Trails!

Elizabeth