SVong-Along

Bryce Canyon is an interesting National Park that is like walking through a Dr. Suess book with weird shaped rocks (hoo doos) and carved doorways.  We finished the basic trails through the amphitheatre in about 2.5 hours (even going the uphill/tougher route), and I wouldn't budget for more than a day at Bryce.  I recommend parking at Sunset Point, hiking the Queen's Navajo/Combination Loop (2.9 miles), walking from Sunrise Point back to Sunset Point along the rim trail/road, and then driving around and seeing whatever else you want to see. (the Natural Bridge, Inspiration Point, etc.) We started at Sunrise since we found parking, but the views are much better at Sunset and the hike is much easier from Sunset to Sunrise than Sunrise to Sunset.  View of the northern end of Sunrise point. One of my favorite hoodoos. The real tough part was going uphill to sunset point. There is a set of switchbacks called Wall Street that is pretty tough and I had to take a break or two. The bett

Zion is a US National Park that has activities for adventurous hikers and also beginners/families- from the exhilarating Angel's Landing hike where you cling to chains to make it to the end, and the chilly and wet Narrows between weaving canyon walls. Going in early November was a great experience- it wasn't too hot, the views were still nice before the snow, and there were fall colors all around. The last bit of Angel's Landing - most pics from Chanrith's phone. Before going, I reserved a shuttle pass at  https://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit/zion-canyon-shuttle-tickets.htm . To get to Angel's Landing, the Narrows, and most of the park, a shuttle drives you from the bottom of the canyon. I was able to get two $1 shuttle reservations the day before, even though tickets can be reserved up to 2 weeks in advance. The shuttle reservations range from 7 AM to 2 PM. I woke up at 8 AM the day before and reserved a 9 AM reservation since we wanted to do Angel's Landing

Today I was on a King Hall First Generation alumni zoom panel with Alex and John, who were also first-generation college and law students (and now lawyers). It's great that UC Davis is setting up this group to help first-gen students, and I myself got valuable advice from Alex and John and also got the chance to reflect on my own challenges as a first-gen lawyer/law student. I forgot to advise the students to take advantage of the deals at the Davis Grocery Outlet, Bargain Market, but hopefully still was able to share some tips based off my experience working for state government. Below were some of my reflections: What do you wish you knew in law school that would have prepared you better for your work and in general as an attorney? I wish that I practiced legal writing more/tried to enter more legal writing essay contests/scholarship competitions. I also wish I used Westlaw more to read sample pleadings/briefs/cases in certain areas of law.  My colleagues gave advice on networkin