Flagstaff
This post of business begins with a walk I did through Flagstaff. I found this mural, painted on the side of Coconino High School. I thought it was cool so I shot it! lol
Clear Creek
Ellen and I did a day trip to Clear Creek. We only paddled back to the pumphouse after getting a late start but, on the way back, we picked up GARBAGE!
Phoenix
We spent some time with Ellen's family in Phoenix attending her brother-in-laws memorial service. A sad reason to gather but a wonderful time seeing the fam. We also found this lovely pipe organ in the smaller chapel at their church!
Tehachapi
On May 29th we were off to Tehachapi, CA, roughly the half way mark of our trek to Marin County to see MY family. On the way we camped at Tehachapi Mountain Park for the night.
The above image was in a local cafe where we had breakfast. It is a collection of carivngs made by a carving group in Tehachapi.
Next stop, Mariposa to see my sister Laurie and her family.
Mariposa
Laurie and Doug's property is beautiful. We camped out near the horses beside one of the pumphouses. Doug is a master rose grower. Their home attracts all kinds of wildlife, a few of which I captured here. The image below shows Acorn Woodpecker holes in a ponderosa pine tree with...ACORNS in them!
On Saturday we went to Bass Lake for a day of paddleboarding and getting to know each other better. We met our niece Casey, in fact we insisted on riding with her to the lake for a little auntie niecie time. She handled the interrogation well...lol. It was a beautiful day.
That afternoon, while the paddleboards were drying out, Laurie and I watched some great softball with the Women's College World Series while Ellen found a couple of trees for the hammock and a book.
Sunday found the three of us at a Rails-to-Trails hike along the Merced River. It was a lovely, shaded experience on the way out and in full sun approaching 100 degrees on the way back. It was about five miles round trip.
We found more wildlife on the hike. Above is an underground bee colony. Look closely and you can see three bees. And...a WATER SNAKE! It surprised Ellen so Laurie and I chased it down trying to get pics and video. We also found clusters of these tine bluish butterflies.
This area is all about mining. We ran into a total stoner gold panner who was quite happy to share his knowledge of the activity. It seems quartz is an indicator of gold in them thar hills. The stoner dude even emptied his little vial of gold dust he'd gathered to show us. He was getting ready to head out for a day or two to camp a mile and a half down river to pan.
We spent some time sitting by the river, chatting, finding snakes, watching Laurie submerge into the freezing snowmelt water and had our picnic lunch before heading home to a delicious tri-tip dinner.
Our final dog walk on the local road found me playing with my phone camera, the sun and dandelion seed balls.
Marin County
Then, we were off to San Geronimo, land of the Coastal Redwoods and lots of family.
We did several morning walks with various groupings at local redwood grove that had its trails upgraded. The paths became smoother unless you opted for the Wilderness Way which meant walking on boards, tree rounds and, at times, tree trunks, to get to the next area.
Above is a downed log with baby redwoods growing out of it. To the left is a ring of redwoods that have clearly been burned but are still thriving. These trees live to be 2,000 years old. Imagine.
This sign made me laugh. Probably because it has the word diarrhea in it.
We attended my niece's aerial performance one afternoon then went back home for one of several family BBQs out on the patio.
Today we did something I've been wanting to do for YEARS...the Marin Museum of Bicycling. It far exceeded expectations. We will be going back.
Friday found us at Heart's Desire Beach on Tomales Bay for our niece and nephews end of school gathering. The four of us rode together and met Lily and Ella there. Matt, the kite master, had a curious thing happen. Ella, his nine-year-old daughter, had taken over flying the tortuga out over the water. Somehow, the reel of string got ripped from her hands and the turtle was off. The reel got bounced and dragged across the surface of the water by the kite and somehow made it to the other side of the bay. THE. OTHER. SIDE. The turtle landed in a tree and the string? Who knows.
After the school at the beach experience we rallied to meet the family at cousin Tracy's house. I believe this is pretty much my whole family who lives in the Bay Area. It was GREAT to see them, thank you Tracy, Rob and the girls for hosting. I love these people SO much.
Saturday? Our first ever Fairfax Festival!! complete with pre-parade festivities like eating Matt's pancakes and sausage in the parking lot.
The parade was all the quirkiness one would expect at The Fairfax Festival.
Here's the crew that went. I felt compelled to snap this quick shot as we did not spend the entire day together. We would drift apart, reconvene in spurts, drift, join up again then POOF...a picutre.
THIS guy...He paints a design atop water. He then dips the hats in and the swirliness sticks to the hat. Each had is individual and many of his best designs happened by accident. He was fun to talk to.
This is just a cool pic of the side of the hat guy's water pan.
Ella set the table for our special girls only breakfast one morning. It was lovely.
We walked this little aerial artist to school a couple of times, which gave us good sister-in-law time on the way back home.
Free shoes anyone? We snagged the gold ones for dress up for Ella.
Random artwork we found.
Ashfork
We finished our trip to California with a quick stop to see friends in Ashfork. They had just had an Estate Sale for a family member and were cleaning out her 125 year old home.
I hope you enjoyed the adventures of our last month, I know we certainly did.
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Comments
Those are gorgeous shots and your adventures are inspiring! If you end up ever adventuring around Portland, please let's get together! Hope you're staying cool this summer -- Jas.
What a fun trip with adventures and family! As always, love your photos & commentary!
Amazing pictures and a great visit!