Pinnacles National Monument - Nine Mile Hike

We spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at the Pinnacles National Monument near Hollister, California. This is one of our favorite places to hike and camp. We always try to go in the spring and/or fall because in the summer it is just wayyyy too hot, and in the winter it can be unbearably cold, especially at night.

Well, this visit turned out to be unseasonably warm, or should I say, HOT! It was like July or August instead of April. On the other hand, because of the recent rains the wildflowers were out in full force, and looked absolutely incredible. We saw flowers we'd never seen before, and in such quantities that they blanketed the ground in many places. And the green grass and leaves! It was really beautiful. I just wish I were a better photographer so that I could do proper justice to the gorgeous scenery.

Mike's photos are much better than mine but since he hasn't given me copies yet, and he's gone to bed, you'll have to make do with my poorer efforts!

Usually it's the Pinnacles themselves (caused by a long-ago volcanic eruption) that are the attraction . . .

. . . but this time the flora stole the show. Here are just a few of the photos I took of the wildflowers, grass, and trees:

...the easy part of our hike....LOL!

. . . hummingbirds love these. . .they are Common Monkeyflower . . .

. . . we'd never seen these before, they are called Virgin's Bower. . .

. . . not sure which member of the Pea family these purples beauties are . . .

. . . of course, California poppies were everywhere . . .
. . . amazing, even growing out of cracks in the rocks. . .

. . .switchbacks took us ever higher . . . just look at all that green. . .

. . . and what a view from up there . . .

. . . oh, and we can't forget the young, healthy poison oak EVERYWHERE. . .
my favorite plant . . . NOT!

. . we also saw this cool dude sunning himself on a rock . . .

. . . and explored Balconies Caves with teensy flashlights.

Must admit, though, that this next photo was my absolute fave of the day:

Mike, who looks so cute, and my CAR waiting patiently for us at the end of a long, hot & dry, nine-mile hike. Ahh, the pleasure of moving from one place to another while sitting still!

Amazingly, we neither of us had blisters, but I had aching hips and knees, and my feet were so tired they burned. We didn't take quite enough water but at least I did have sunblock for skin AND lips, and we wore good hats.

And you can bet the pool at the campground felt AWESOME.

Head 'Em Up, Move 'Em Out

It's me, ha ha , taking a photo of a cow. Yeah, I'm enough of a city girl to think bovines are pretty cool when you can get this close to them. We were on a bike ride in the Wildcat Canyon Regional Park (northern Cali) when we ran across these lovelies.

We've been riding our bikes quite a bit lately, and I'm getting a little bit more in shape. The long winter took its toll on my fitness level. I have more photos to post but no time today, so I will try to do that after the 21st, when my schedule eases up just a bit.

Tomorrow Mike and I leave for Florida to visit his dad and step-mom. We'll be back on Friday. My cousin, Laurel, will look in on the cats while we are gone. I hope they don't have too many parties and wreck the house. (The cats, I mean, not Laurel, LOL!)

My Precious (my laptop) is not going with us and there's no internet at Art & Betty's house so I'll be totally off-line until late Friday. If you need me, call my cell phone!

Back soon!!!

One-Word Wednesday

AWESOME.

A Gorgeous Summer Day

It's a shimmery summer day here in Benicia, with just enough of a lovely warm breeze to set the leaves in our birch tree sighing. I'm sitting outside in the "cat garden" with my laptop and a nicer setting you couldn't find anywhere I think! It's too bad the lighting is really not too good for viewing a computer monitor! But I'll persevere at least as long as my laptop's battery holds out which is about another hour. It's just too nice of a day to be indoors (plus this is a good opportunity for me to do some deep watering of our trees and tomato plants).

The bird in this photo visited one of our hummingbird feeders a few days ago. He's definitely NOT a hummingbird, and I'm pretty sure he (or she?) visited us last year about this time as well. Naturally, I can't remember what kind of bird he is, and I'm thinking we never were really sure if he was a northern tangier or an oriole, even though we checked our bird guides. He's got an orange head and body and tail, with brown/black/grey on his wings and belly. If anyone knows what kind of bird this is, please let me know!

We've got lots of hummers right now, too, and mockingbirds. The mockingbirds usually nest somewhere nearby and sometimes dive-bomb our cats when they are in the garden. As if the cats could get anywhere NEAR the nests! They are well-confined to their garden, but I guess the mockers don't know that and, after all, a few years ago our male Burmese cat, Tony, did find a mockingbird nest (they nest in evergreen trees only about 3 feet from the ground, how foolish is that?) and killed all three of the babies just before they fledged. It was tragic.

Mike is at work today and, can you believe it, he had to work on the Fourth! I was NOT happy about that, nor am I pleased he is working today. It's a shame he has to miss this gorgeous weather. No one should be inside on a day like this. And I just noticed that a pure white gladiolus has sprung up and bloomed! We planted bulbs years and years ago and didn't do a good job cultivating them so over the years we've had fewer and fewer. Last year I'm not sure we had any at all and now, out of the blue, popped this one tall stalk with a dozen buds, the lowest three already blooming. I often think things like that are "signs."

I wonder what it means?

"The Real Measure of a Day's Heat . . .

. . . is the length of a sleeping cat." Charles J. Brady.

Or, the length of a half-sleeping cat. Jack finds the coolest spot in the house, the kitchen floor, for his afternoon nap. Outside in the cat's garden Scout, who spends much of her waking hours hunting small rodents and reptiles, has her eyes and thoughts on something high in the tree.
Ah hah! A small rodent it is. This squirrel was up very high in the branches where he obviously felt safe enough to just settle down and wait out the threat. He doesn't realize that we have wrapped the trunk of this tree with sheet metal.

Scout couldn't have climbed it if she'd wanted to. It also helps discourage raccoons from coming into the garden and then through the cat door into our house where they eat every speck of cat food they can find and track water and mud all through the kitchen and dining room.

Of course, that doesn't keep Jack from climbing the arbor! This is about as high as he can go, though, before he is stopped by mesh nailed on the top crosspieces. He's always searching for a way out of the garden so he can go off on one of "Jack's Big Adventures" outside the confines of the Purr...fect Cat Fencing.

In spite of their instincts to hunt and roam, Scout and Jack do manage to content themselves with a quieter (and safer!) life in their small corner of the world.

Signs of Spring

Nothing more "springy" than a bird's nest with brand new eggs! I've been keeping an eye on a certain bush in front of our house where a house wren (I think!) has decided to set up housekeeping. When I first noticed the nest a few days ago there were only 3 eggs in it. Yesterday there were 4, today there are 6! It's seems strange that most of the eggs are bluish-white and 2 are speckled. It almost looks like two different birds are using the same nest. Could that be?? Or can a single bird lay eggs that look so different? And I always thought birds only laid one egg a day but two have appeared in the last 24 hours. I'm really intrigued by this situation. I guess I'd better get out my bird books and do some research. I also need to try to get a good look at the bird (or birds!) that is using the nest. She must hear us coming out of the house because only once have I actually seen a bird fly out of the bush, and even then I didn't get a good look at it. Every other time the nest is already empty of Mama Bird.This is the bush where the nest is, about 2/3 of the way up and slightly to the left. Not very high off the ground, which worries me as there are cats in our neighborhood! My own cats are not allowed to roam unattended but I know others are. Also, crows are known to be nest-robbers and have ransacked nests in the past. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll get to see these babies hatch and eventually leave the nest.
Some of my daisies in the front yards. Aren't daisies just the happiest flowers??? They're always so cheerful! Have a happy day!

Benicia State Recreation Area

It's one of our favorite places to walk, bike, run, or rollerblade and it's also one of the state parks that is on Gov. Schwarzenneger's list for closure. We do hope that doesn't happen. In the meantime we are going to enjoy it as much as we can, and this happens to be one of our favorite times of the year at BSRA.

We took our bikes there yesterday afternoon and had a wondeful and relaxing ride to the end of the main bike trail and back, just over a 5 mile round trip. Lots of people were out walking or jogging or riding bicycles, although not as many as on weekends, or late afternoons after school gets out. The weather was perfect; warm and sunny and not too much of a headwind. Flowers and trees are blooming and the hills are covered with bright new grass.
Here's a field covered with that mustard grass I'm so fond of!

Mike climbed over a fence to explore this old abandoned trail, now partially covered over in grasses and plants. (He's like a cat -- put up a fence and the cat can't think of anything else until he's climbed over it!) We saw wild pheasants out in these fields, as well as lots of ground squirrels.
Along the bike trail, in the ditches, grow cattails. This group is from last year, blown out and going to seed. Later in the summer the new ones will appear. I often gather 4 or 5 and take them home to put in a tall pottery vase.
One of the few shaded parts of the trail, this path is lined with huge eucalyptus trees. It's always a welcome respite from the hot sun when we ride here at the height of summer.
At the very end of the bike trail is this view of the Carquinez Strait. Can you believe it? That's Mt. Diablo in the distance!

A xeriscape (low water) garden highlights native plants and flowers. The plants are marked so you can learn a lot about the different types that grow well in this area. We always stop here to make note of growth and changes. (And I like to take photos of the flowers!)

A walking path heading off toward the marshes. At the end is a viewing area to observe waterbirds and other wildlife. There are tons of Red Winged Blackbirds out in the marsh; also ducks, seagulls, and muskrats.

If you live in the east bay of northern California and have never visited the Benicia State Recreation Area, get over here! If it's closed it may be a long time before you have another chance. It costs $4 to park, but you can also park free in the residential areas nearby and walk or bike over. Bring your camera!

Springtime on I-5

Anyone who says California doesn't have distinct seasons just isn't paying attention.

It's Spring in Cali.

And if you've ever driven Interstate-5 between Sacramento and Los Angeles you know it's one of the most boring routes in California. Except right now! The mustard grass is blooming and it has transformed boring into breathtaking. Look at all the fields covered in yellow mustard grass! In just a few short weeks these fields will be brown and dry. Summer follows Spring very quickly in California and the bright green and yellow will be gone as the long summer, and very dry, days arrive. But for now -- enjoy these pictures and, if you need to drive I-5 between Sacramento and L.A. anytime soon, please share any photos you take. An old red barn behind a swath of blooming mustard grass. Mustard grass has nearly overgrown this wire fence; only the fencepost is still visible.Windmills on the Altamont Pass - seen from I-5 looking west.

Awesome!

Enjoying Laundry

The weather has been so beautiful that I have stopped using my clothes-dryer and yesterday I hung out 2008's first load of wash on the clothesline. After hunting around for clothesline kits at Home Depot, Target, Wal-Mart, etc., with no results, I finally went on line and found dozens of websites for small businesses, often family-run (my favorite kind!) that make all kinds of clothes lines. I settled on The Clothesline Shop LLC which had the exact style I was looking for at a good price. (They also sell snowplow-resistant mailboxes which I'm very grateful to say I have no use for)!

I wanted a clothesline just like the one my mom hung our family's clothes on when I was growing up in southern California. I have fond memories of the comfort and well-cared-for feeling I always got when I saw our clean clothes swaying gently in the breeze. Often the lines were hung with dozens of cloth diapers in those days before Pampers, and while our family was growing. On hot summer days my brothers and I used to play among the damp, cool sheets, imagining them to be ghosts or a fort where we hid from Indians.

My friend Judy's mom hung her family's clothes on the line, too, and she had an apron with a big pocket in the front where she kept her clothespins handy. I thought it so clever. I coveted that apron! When I hung my clothes out yesterday I thought about that apron and how both clotheslines and aprons are making a comeback.

I think line-drying clothes is yet one more way for us to slow down a little, enjoy the fresh air, flowers, and birds in our backyards, and more keenly appreciate each individual day of our lives.

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

On Sunday we took our bikes to Golden Gate Park for a day of cycling and a picnic lunch. We had just set off on our bikes when we heard thundering cracking, crashing, splitting, and crackling noises and then shouts. Only a split second later we rounded a bend in the path and were confronted with the sight in the above photo. A huge eucalyptis tree had fallen across the bike path. Dust and leaves were still in the air.

We just missed seeing this happen, and maybe being underneath it! About a dozen people stood around marveling at how this occurred just out of the blue and with no warning whatsoever. Luckily, no one was hurt. Nature is awesome! We rode by the Conservatory of Flowers and admired the early spring garden of purple, red, yellow, and orange. Every time I see this set of stairs I remember the time Michael (our #2 son) was about 14; we took him and his brother bicycling at Golden Gate Park, and Michael rode his bike down these stairs!These flowers are a kind of poppy -- I think -- I've always called them Cosmos. I love their bright orange and yellow color, they practically glowed in the sun.
We ate lunch at Ocean Beach. Those are our bikes parked against the concrete wall. Behind them is the windmill that stands at Queen Wilhelmina's Gardens. It is restored, but not functional. It's one of my favorite sights at GG Park. I want one in my backyard!
We crossed Golden Gate Bridge on our way home. Next time we are out that way we will ride or walk across it. You can see that many people were out taking advantage of the gorgeous summer day!

Ten Things that Made Me Smile Today

(In the order in which the smiles occurred……)
1. Orange tabby cats rolling on concrete warmed by the sun.

2. The sounds of recess at a nearby elementary school.

3. eMail from my Mom.

4. Lemon bars.

5. Two Netflix movies in the mailbox.

6. Mailing a package with a handcrafted item inside to someone who has no idea it’s coming.

7. Intense orange poppies growing wild along Northern California highways.

8. Two sports bras for the price of one at Target.

9. The smell of newly mown grass.

10. The Ellen Degeneres Show.

Mystery Bird Identified!

My friend, Susan, who is a ninja net-surfer, has identified our mystery bird! It is a Townsend's Warbler and is commonly seen on the coasts of Oregon and California in winter. Here is a link to a better photo than mine of this beautiful bird. Isn't he a stunner? Thank you, Susan!

Well, it's another gray, rainy day here in northern California so I plan to stay inside as much as possible. I'm so lucky to be self-employed and able to work at home! The cats will do more of this:

Scout, sleeping on top of my sewing box.


And this:

Jack, having his bath on my sewing table. Wherever I am . . . that's where they want to be!