Week in Review

Violet and I had a summer adventure day on Thursday. She's taking a summer school class online, so she's not free all day, but we snuck out in the morning to Quigley Canyon and saw two deer. Then, in the afternoon, we went northeast to Agua Dulce, to a market I'd heard about to get drinks.
 

We took our drinks to Vasquez Rocks, where we sat at a table by the nature center to rest and enjoy the view. 

We also chatted with the park employee who cares for the animals there (tortoises and raptors). She was very encouraging to Violet about volunteering at Placerita Nature Center, to gain experience for a future parks job. Vi is very interested, and started looking into it online. She'd enjoy working at Yosemite someday.

Ellie came over for a few hours on Friday, and we played at the little park, along with Legos and Calico Critters.

Also Friday, we had our new air conditioner and furnace installed. I'm very pleased with the company; after several quotes, I know we got a great deal. The air is blowing so cold now!

Also this week, we celebrated Colleen's 60th birthday with a little gathering at their house. I don't have photos, but it was a great night together.

One of the installers, after removing the old one outside, found this clutch of gopher snake eggs! Yikes! He took them home to try to keep them warm and hatch them.

When the A/C guys were done and Ellie had gone home, I met up with Christina and we went to Havana Savannah for coffee and pizza for a late lunch.

On Friday night, Stace played soccer, and Violet and I went to Placerita Nature Center, where the animated film Rango was being shown in the amphitheater. We hadn't seen it (it came out when Vi was tiny), but it was well worth seeing. Johnny Depp plays the main character chameleon; if you like old Westerns, you'll like it.

Spring Break

It's Spring Break week!

I was happy to have tea with Christina - with her working nearly full time, we don't see each other often enough. It was great catching up at a new tea room on Main Street in Newhall.

In the evening, I had dinner with Christina, Tiffany, Liz and Melissa.

Meanwhile, Stace has caught the cold that went around our family, and was sick enough to need to stay home! Very unusual.

Thankfully he recovered enough to be able to attend the Stereophonics show he and Jim had tickets for, also at the Wiltern.

We spent part of a day on a tour of New York Film Academy, an acting conservatory and college she's considering for the future.

It was a great afternoon, followed by some shopping in a part of Burbank with a lot of vintage stores - and Porto's! - an L.A. favorite Cuban bakery. I picked up goods for dinner and a nice coffee.

 NYFA had an amazing library with film scripts and movies - you can take out a script, and there were hundreds, and watch the film after reading through the script. Great way to see how things come together, and what changes are made.

Violet got a pair of pants she'll wear to Ren Faire at a thrift store in Burbank. The girls are spending this week getting their outfits ready - while watching shows, they're creating their own chain mail jewelry.

On Thursday, Colleen and I got together with the girls and went thrifting. We ended up going to a few stores, and also to San Fernando Coffee Co. 

Stace and I got out to see Cats, the Musical, at the Canyon Theatre Guild. Our friend Jill was one of the lead cats. 

We also went to the Cowboy Festival for a couple of hours, getting our favorite peach cobbler and watching a bit of music.

I also went through some of the stuff that had been under Violet's bed, and discovered my collection of cloth diapers. The ones that were in good shape, I was able to send to a mama who covered the shipping cost. Hopefully they can get some more use.

Stace got the cat treats out, and, surprise, found himself popular.

JT and Jim and the kids stopped by on their way home from Yosemite on their spring break. Callie had fun with Winston.

Yosemite: Glacier Point

 Stace and I woke up Monday, made coffee and tea and took a walk along the river. 

We spotted these pileated woodpeckers, which were crow-sized and "one of the most sought-after" birds to spot in the park. So we were lucky! Acorn woodpeckers, like we have at home, are more common in Yosemite, too.

We got back to our cabin and Violet was finishing up making breakfast.

We packed up the car again, and took a final bike ride before driving off.

We decided to go about an hour out of our way to Glacier Point, which offers a gorgeous vantage point of familiar sites from the weekend.

There's the Merced! We could also see where we stayed, both Housekeeping Camp and Curry Village.

Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls are visible in this photo.

We got back on the road, and made it home around 7:30 p.m. A beautiful little trip we'll remember.

Yosemite: Mirror Lake, and More

On Sunday morning, we checked out of our tent cabin and loaded up the car and our bikes, for a day's adventure.

We rode down to Happy Isles Nature Center, and admired the views.

Violet found this cool bit of wood.

We the rode down to Mirror Lake, a spot I remember visiting on our first trip, but Stace hadn't been before.

The bike routes around the Valley floor are so well done, and the weather and scenery were awesome.

Mirror Lake is nearly right under Half Dome, so the views were fantastic again.

But as for the lake? Missing in Action!

"It's so clear, you can see the bottom," Violet remarked. Love her sense of humor.

We found a nearby boulder to sit on, under the trees, for some snacks and drinks before riding on.

We stopped at the fancy, nearly 100-year-old Ahwahnee Hotel to look around. We checked out the shop and ordered nice drinks at the bar.
 

Cheers!

Violet found it amusing that her dad was enjoying his pricey gin and tonic with a PB&J from our bag.

We rode on to Yosemite Village, where we went in the big store and the Ansel Adams Gallery. 

By then, it was late enough to check into our night's accommodations at Housekeeping Camp, right by the Merced River. We got settled in and made dinner - at Housekeeping, you can cook food and have a fire pit near your cabin. We cooked up onions and sausages and put them in pitas with hummus - so tasty and a new idea for us for camping food. We took the finished result with our chairs to the river. 

Now that's a dinner view! After eating, we walked along the river, returned to our cabin and made a fire and read until bedtime. 

Yosemite: Fishing on the Merced

While Stace and I were tired and napping after our Vernal hike, Violet was ready to go fishing. We're so glad she pushed us to get up and going again, as we enjoyed a gorgeous evening together.

At one point, Stace had the hook caught in his own shoelace, and at another, Violet caught a tree branch. She was able to get the hook free, but alas, no fish were harmed that day.

We found ourselves near Half Dome at the Golden Hour, and many people had their fancy cameras out. 

We happened to hit Curry Village hungry for dinner at the same time as the rest of hundreds of others. It took a while to get our food ordered and delivered, but the bartender did compensate with a healthy pour.

Our burgers were very yummy, when they arrived.

Stace and Violet took the Canon and the tripod out before bedtime, and got these beautiful shots. The stars are incredible in the Sierras.