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A very wet Winter led to an amazingly beautiful Spring here in Southern California. Wildflowers went bonkers in the deserts all over the place. Mitch and I trekked out to the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve (because why ELSE would you go to Lancaster?!) to take in the glory of the California Poppy en masse. And it was indeed glorious... until my camera decided to stop writing photos to my removable memory card... @*#*&%!
Santa Ynez (Beckmen [gotta get my rose], Roblar [yummy food, I’ll try to pay attention to the wine nex time], Gainey [good stuff], Foley [also good stuff], Babcock [skip it], and Fiddlehead [hello, wine club!]), Goleta, and Carpinteria State Beach
While it’s been way too long since I posted pictures, I’m excited to write about what a fun trip this was. K-squared, Mitch, and I headed up for a wine-tasting extravaganza in the Santa Ynez area which resulted in our first wine club adventure. A snippet from the planning...
“The stop at Beckmen is largely just so I can pick up some Grenache Rose which they just released. We have been there before and were underwhelmed by their wines... Though I LOVE their souvenir wine glasses ;)
Roblar serves lunch, so we’ll have a base for the 4 wineries we hit after lunch. Foley is optional if we’re doing well on time since both Babcock and Fiddlehead close at 4pm.”
We stayed at an interesting little hotel in Goleta where I suffered for my art, and then hit Carpinteria’s lovely tidepools on the way back to smell-A. I never get tired of the beauty of the Santa Ynez area and increasingly see myself living there... well before retirement age. Woohoo!
You don’t need a map to where my Mom lives either.
One of my happy places has become my Mom’s house. Aside from the predictable family fun, eating and drinking and laying around like bums, and the adorable fuzzball, I love her garden. Roses and Camelias, Orchids, Palms... lush and lovely. The house really has great light, too, which just warms it up even more. These pics are from my last visit up there.
You don’t need a map to where I live.
Totally inspired by yesterday’s photography and flora, I decided to go enjoy some of today’s sunshine while I still could since tomorrow I have to go to work. Sucks to be an adult sometimes. There is so much landscaping in LA, which the environmentalist in me worries about, but it sure is pretty.
Enter this lovely hike off PCH and Winding Way, hike up about a mile (supposedly) through a neighborhood to the start of the trail.
Ken and Serena came down for a weekend visit (so nice of them to do so) and we originally planned to go see the California Poppy Reserve out in Antelope Valley. Unfortunately it’s not yet grown in enough to be worth the drive so we took advantage of the splendiferously beautiful day and went hiking up in Malibu near Point Dume. The grasses and wildflowers were lovely, the waterfall was nifty (despire the strong sulfur smell), and I think it’s one of my new favorite hikes.
Float Display for the Rose Bowl, corner of Washington Blvd and Sierra Madre Blvd in Pasadena
After a perfectly lovely New Year’s Eve at our friends’ house, we woke up and watched some college football. No offense to our generous hosts... but blech. (I think Kristi agrees with me, but she might never tell.) However, Kris was kind enough to show the girls some footage of the parade and I was inspired! I wondered, "Where do they put the floats when they’re done with the parade? They’d probably make great material for photography!" So the Internet hooked me up and I drove out to the boonies to check it out. Other than the cloudy day and the totally-lacking-foresight location under MANY power lines, it was pretty neat. And I have to say, the flowers smelled heavenly. I’ll try to go back next year and hope for sun!
Guelph is the home of Mitch’s Dad and stepmother Shirlee. Located about an hour outside of Toronto, it is a lovely university town.
The Universe seems to have had regrets about not displaying winterous glory on our recent annual treks to Canadaland at Christmastime because it made up for it big time this year. We saw just about every winter phenomenon we could think of—short of a blizzard—including Frozen Fog, Wet Snow, Flurries, Sunny, Frozen Rain, and blustery nasty winter wind that descended without warning. On the nice morning, Mitch and I went for a walk and played on the swings at the neighborhood park. The pics with the little spiky things are the consequence of the Frozen Fog. All in all, I enjoyed the winter but I’m happy to have returned to the sunshine and palm trees!
Romero Canyon, my favorite drive through Montecito, State Street (Santa Barbara), and the Santa Barbara Pier (aka Stearns Wharf)
A little bug whispered “Santa Barbara” in my ear on Tuesday, so by the end of this insanely long and tiring week, a day-trip up to one of my happy places was necessary. Fortunately, the weather agreed and we had a lovely wooded hike through Romero Canyon along a streambed (more happy). I could tell you about the hike, or you can read someone else’s prose. After the hike, we ambled down 192 toward the Mission and then down to State Street. That just never gets old for me... especially the trip under 101 when you come out the other side looking at the pier and the beautiful coastline. After communing with a seagull, we headed back home for a hearty pasta dinner, some wine, and some Tiger Woods Golf on PlayStation2. That last part is hardly adventurous, but it definitely wrapped up a lovely day.
Salt Lake City, Capitol Reef National Park, Natural Bridges National Monument, Arches National Park, and many points between
Upon hearing about the Bortle Class 2 Dark Sky at Natural Bridges National Monument, Mitch was compelled to check it out. Seeing as I’m always up for an adventure we scheduled the trip for a convenient 3-day weekend that just happened to also have a new moon to make the sky extra extra dark. If only it wasn’t cloudy that night! My general opinion on Utah... unbelievably gorgeous state with some scary people living in it. The drive from Salt Lake City toward Natural Bridges was truly magnificent. The less-often photographed parts of Arches were definitely the highlights... especially the first parts of the park that you get to after you pass the visitor center, though it’s probably not worth the extra drive unless you have a full extra day to make it.
Willow Springs Raceway (Rosamond, California), Streets of Willow
Every year Edmunds.com’s Editorial Team must get certified... and this year, there were a few extra spots available! The team kindly invited my boss Damon (the guy in the pics), my coworker Eddie (not pictured), and I along for the ride to Danny McKeever’s Fast Lane Driving (Racing) School. We drove suped up Toyota Celicas on The Streets of Willow, a tight little windy race track. They also taught us how to do 180s both going forward and backward... and I drove BLINDFOLDED! Don’t worry, I clearly survived... and so did everyone else!
A little piece of heaven in Palm Springs, California (no, we’re not telling you where!)
You may notice a theme in my pictures... particularly evident here. I like palm trees, sunshine, mountains, oceans, hills, and any combination thereof. And I like to drink wine... apparently so do the cockroaches in Palm Springs! Little sucker died happy though, it was a great bottle of MacRostie Cabernet Sauvignon that he got the dregs of. Everything you see in these pictures was photographed at the luxurious condo we stayed at... mostly taken from our own private pool. Is it time to go back yet?
Off Old Topanga Canyon (not very far from a friend’s house)
My favorite pictures from this batch include the "Los Angeles Department of Danger" and the closeup of the dangly bits from the Maple tree. It was a beautiful day where I learned I needed better shoes for hiking than my tennies and that I need to work out more!
Showing work a little love... and you, too, since you might just like what I like!
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