Fresh Air

We explored a new hiking spot on Monday--at Chantry Flats, Big Santa Anita Canyon. We started out to hike to Sturtevant Falls, but changed courses on the way. It was a (rather steep, but) beautiful trail. You can see in this picture the treeline where the river runs down below. . .

Check "Find House to Rent" Off the List

Drum roll, please. . . line up here for your virtual tour of where we will live after the wedding!

I started taking pictures and quickly realized that photos of empty rooms are not only boring, they give little feel of the size or layout. So I will simply tell you that in addition to the living room (pictured below), there are three bedrooms and two bathrooms.There is also a kitchen and dining area, separated by the peninsula Erik is leaning on below. . .a patio that looks out over a small, private-feeling fenced yard (and shed). . .
. . . and our very own tangelo tree!I think that if I'm shown a picture of this house thirty years from now I'll still smell and taste those tangelos.I'll post some more pics after we've moved in. . . but for the REAL tour, you'll have to come visit us!! :-D

:-D

Yay for dinner with a wandering friend! Jeff, a friend from Orlando you MAY recognize from an August post, drifted back out this way again for work. Ben & I met him for dinner and conversation at Outback, which was yummy and fun.
AND. . . Erik & I go to sign on the rental on Friday! :-D Will post pics.

In Other News

We had a super-busy weekend in Bakersfield. . . not only did we clean out our cars, we also looked at houses to rent. And we THINK we've found one. So say a quick prayer! More soon, we hope. :-D

Summit Mountain

Ben, Erik & I headed out at some unholy hour of the morning last Thursday for Big Bear Lake, and picked up Ben's friend Rachel along the way. Ben and some of his friends had gone up the Sunday before and it was so cold and windy that they came back after one run (you know it was bad when they turned around after a 2.5 hour drive!!) So we came prepared. . . and quickly dropped layer after layer. It was a simply GORGEOUS day. So nice that we sat on a deck without any jackets for lunch!



Erik has only been on skis once before, back in army days when he was living overseas. After 20-some years, he's decided lessons might be in order next time. :-)

Yes, that's me... Ben and I took turns getting a few action shots. ;-D
That tiny dot coming down to my spot on the hill is Ben... note the big grin on his face in the second picture. :-D

Sunset on the way home.

Switzer Falls

Ah, the lovely sound of water running! Today's hike was COLD (not a lot of sun down in this woods) but beautiful none the less. Ben & I enjoyed the brisk air and then stopped to browse in a little bookshop on the way home. Doesn't get much better than that!

Monrovia Canyon Falls

Ben & I got out the old Afoot & Afield today and decided to check out a hike that Mom, April & Ben had explored when they were out here for Christmas. It was a lovely day!

After we'd parked, we walked behind the Nature Center to pick up the trail and there were a pair of deer grazing and playing with each other! They watched us and chased each other a bit; I think they must be yearlings. Fun!!

The book said it was a shady trail, and we were prepared to be chilly. But the sun was bright and there were plenty of lit spots along the way.


The stream was bubbling noisily, the sun was shining and the waterfall at the end was beautiful!
Afterwards we had fun doing a little exploring of the quaint side of Monrovia--and we found a yummy kabob place for lunch too!

Nice to have a relaxed day with a little new exploring. ;-D

Old Friend

My good friend Mark was here this weekend! He would be an old friend from college who actually lived not to far from where I am right now... up until about a 9 months before I moved out here. :-D He's in Wyoming now, but flew in on Saturday and had a day or so before his conference started, so we got to hang out. So good to see him.We've been getting rain like crazy. Not only is there all sorts of water where there usually isn't... do you SEE all the green?!?!

Ben's Birthday!

On Tuesday (The Big Day) we headed out a little after 6 a.m., destination Big Bear/Summit. Jaime drove Danny, Jose & Juliette; Ben & I followed with their snowboards (he & I rented skis at the hill). It was about a 2.5 hour drive and well worth it. It was so good to see SNOW!!! :-D And really fun to be back on skis--I think I figured it's been about 15 years for me. Yipes... does that makes me old?! ;-)
You can see Big Bear Lake behind Ben & Jose in this picture. We had some lovely views; this one is a little obscured by snow as it was pretty high on the mountain.It hardly looks real, does it? It was just gorgeous.Funny to see the completely snow-less land below and beyond, isn't it?The birthday boy feeds hungry skiers/snowboarders. Mmmm. . . quesadillas. . . :-)

Busy Weekend

I'm feeling the pressure to post (Kirsten!!) but will have to be quick about it. . . I'm sunk knee-deep into my book and haven't been doing much else with my non-work/sleep time this week. ;-)

Last weekend was filled with all sorts of things though! Ben was off on his (now) annual ski weekend with friends, but was kind enough to model his new ski helmet before taking off. . .
I drove to Erik's on Friday after work and then we drove to Santa Maria on Saturday morning after HE got off work. We met with the pastor in the afternoon which was really good. He gave us a book and suggested we pick up another--between those two and the ones mom gave us we'll be busy well into the new year! It was nice to talk with him, and we went back to his church on Sunday for the service which was also good. It was also really nice to see Patrick & Debra, as I hadn't been up there since Thanksgiving!

Random inserted note: it's always fun to see Packer fans in places far away from Wisconsin, and California is no exception! One of Patrick and Debra's neighbors had a Packer helmet planted in their yard, and a worker at Best Buy was in a jersey--and Ben said the ski hill was FULL of green & gold! :-D

We headed back to Bakersfield on Sunday afternoon and Erik surprised me with a short stop at BigRock Canyon, which is part of some federal land I think. We drove back in and took a little walk. So nice to be outside!!Then we made our way back to Bakersfield and spent the evening with Steve & Laura, who have been close friends with Erik for a long time. I got to meet their beautiful children this time too! They are a really special family and it was great to spend some time with them.

The rest of the weekend is a bit of a blur. . . staggered off to sleep and got up to drive back south to close at work on Monday. Always hard to go back after a good weekend!

Alright, my book is calling. Love to all. Be good out there!