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I've been working way too much. My friend Eric realized this, and to save me from myself, booked a room in a motel outside of Yosemite.

I had been talking about taking a solo weekend off in the woods, telling my officemates (half jokingly) about my plans for a grand vision quest--how I would "find my soul" and bring meaning to my life. I'm fond of being overly dramatic.

Anyway, Eric and I drove out there Saturday morning. I just got back (now, Sunday night). I had no cell phone, no Internet access. We hiked probably about 15 miles of pretty mountainous terrain in that time.

I'm glad I did it. I'm a decently outdoorsy person (though never a big hiker), but I've been too tied to the computer lately. Just walk away. Go for a hike.

I've now gathered that there's probably not a better way to force yourself to face spirituality and search your soul than to climb to the top of Sentinel Dome and slowly spin in a circle.

My National Park Pass has (four months later) paid for itself. I really need to get into this. I'm not a big fan of Silicon Valley on the weekends. What I need to do is go drop some yuppie cash at REI and go camping every weekend.

I have a new goal of scaling Half Dome. Unfortunately, the hiker cables are down for the season, so that'll have to wait. I would like to do a big two-day loop up Yosemite Falls and then all the way along the North Dome trail and then back down by Snow Creek falls into the valley. Maybe that'll be my true solo vision quest. Maybe over Thanksgiving weekend.

It was absolutely depressing to leave Yosemite and pass strip mall after truck stop oasis all the way back to Palo Alto.