Birthday Adventures

On New Year's Day, after sleeping in a bit, naturally, Stace, Violet and I went back to Quigley for a walk.

Monday was my birthday, and also the day Stace had to return to work.

I woke up to this sweet card from Violet, and a precious Hi-Chew, from her Christmas stocking. She's been cherishing these, so I appreciate her sharing one with me.

I met up with Christina and Colleen for my birthday breakfast at Egg Plantation. Naturally, I took half of this home for another meal! 

Stace was able to get home a little early, and we went for a hike at Placerita Canyon with Colleen, Rigo and Liana. (I didn't make Cora come along - not worth worrying about!)

Here, we're checking out the natural gas and oil seeping up out of the ground. The Walker family, some of the original settlers who lived in the canyon, were able to monetize this in the early 20th century.

This fireplace is from a home the Walker family had started building but never completed. I'm thankful the family sold the land to the state to make this lovely park, in its natural state.

 

These two decided to walk part of the way back along the river, but found it very slow-going. The delay meant we were rushing to get back to the parking lot in the growing darkness before the ranger locked the gate to the road! Thankfully it all worked out!

For my birthday dinner, we went to Kisho's, a Japanese restaurant that has sushi and rice/noodle bowls on one side, and teppan yaki on the other side, where the chef grills your food in front of you. We started out with some sushi, since it was going to be a 30-40 minute wait, and then moved over to our grill-side table. 

It's been a while since we've been here, since it is a "special night out" kind of place. But, so yummy and so fun, with the chef lighting things on fire, etc.

The best part of our meal - since the portions were so large and we all ordered meals, we had delicious leftovers for days! The birthday gift that kept on giving...