Yangmingshan National Park

On Friday (our day-off between summer camp and family camp) Zach, Hillary and Ali traveled to Yangmingshan National Park. "Shan" means mountain in Mandarin, and the name of one of the popular mountains in the area is "Yangming", which is pronounced "yummi." So we have been affectionately calling it "Yummi Mountain!"

Vicki and Bill, who had previously taken us to dinner in Taipei and tea in Jioufen, were our hosts for the day. Vicki's parents and Frank, a friend of Vicki, also joined us. Vicki's parents were such incredible hosts. Her mom made us homemade breakfast rolls with fruit and nuts, and supplied as with tea and cookies at every stop.

Vicki's parents also treated us to an amazing lunch-time feast, which helped "Yummi Mountain" live up to it's name! We all got our fill (and then some) of traditional Taiwanese foods, such as ginger potatoes, steamed sugar cane, sweet potato greens and whole shrimp.

After our 12 dish feast we went hiking of course! We first visited the Siaoyoukeng sulfur stream vents, then we hiked up a steep trail abuzz with cicadas and butterflies. At the top view point we could see all of Taipei, our town of Guandu, the Nature Park where we work, and the ocean! Zach, Hillary and Ali were all excited to get a little hiking in, and see a little more of this beautiful area.