Mountain Get-Away and New Treasures

I can't believe summer is over!  It flew by SO fast!  It seems like just a few weeks ago that we were planning our big road trip...and, then, it was over.  Then, we were looking forward to the many weeks left and now my daughter is back in college.  Whew!  It was an incredible summer and I guess that's why it seems to have gone by so fast.  Great times are usually like that.

Those great times made it harder for my daughter and I when she moved back for college.  We both shed some tears and felt down for a few days.  But, moving ahead means moving on to more opportunities for great times and making more wonderful memories.

Our summer was so busy that we hadn't even made it up the mountain to one of our favorite places, Idyllwild.  We found some time a couple of weeks ago and headed up late on a Friday afternoon.  It was a bit cooler up there and that was really nice.  We got some iced drinks and wandered around a few shops.  Unfortunately, even though it was a Friday, shops closed early and there weren't very many people up there.  So, we didn't get to do much shopping or see much.  But, it was soon time for dinner and we decided to try a place we'd heard about for years but never gone to, Cafe Aroma.  

When we arrived, we were told that all of the outside seating was reserved until later that evening.  They were going to seat us inside and I asked if we could have a table as close to the door as possible so we could hear the live music.  She thought for a moment and the next thing we knew, she was seating us at a table outside.  I think she called it their "banquet table".  It was larger than all the rest and had seating for six.  My husband and daughter and I were thrilled.  It was close to the stage and was one of the best tables to see the musician.  I'm not sure why it's called "cafe" because it turns out to be a pretty high end restaurant.  Although, it does have a casual atmosphere and most of the tables are outside.  That was wonderful on that beautiful night to dine outside.

It was the last full weekend that our daughter would be home before moving back for college.  It was a perfect reason to splurge.  And...we did!  We ordered a delicious bottle of wine and toasted to a great school year.

Our food was so good that I forgot to take pictures!  We all had pasta dishes.  They offer gluten free pasta!  How cool is that?!  And, it's really good gluten free pasta.  My daughter's dinner was smothered in a delicious, creamy, tomato sauce and it had chicken, sausage, prosciutto and shallots.  Hubby had pasta with shrimp and jalapeno cream sauce...yum!  Mine had portabello mushrooms, white wine and garlic.  The music started shortly after we got there.  See how close we were and how nice it was to sit outside.....

Since we were already spending so much and wanted to make it a great evening, we decided to go for dessert.  There were lots of yummy choices.  Here's something I posted on Instagram later that night...

But, we decided to share the flourless chocolate cake (gluten free).

It was very rich and delicious!

I noticed that they had blankets hanging around on hooks for guests to use when it got chilly.

What a great idea!  I even saw a someone take advantage of one.

Our waitress had a ring on that was so cool that I had to ask her about it.  She told me she'd gotten it at a shop in town and that it was going out of business.  Well, that meant I needed to get up there quick before they were all gone!  So, we went back up that weekend.

As we headed up, I realized that I hadn't even thought about how much it might cost.  But, I really liked it and it was worth checking.  I was figuring it would be around $10-$15.  It turned out to be $4.99 but everything in the store was 50% off because they're going out of business.  So, it cost a whole $2.50!  What a deal!  I love my new ring!  It's a shell that's been cut and polished on the top and a hole was drilled through the side to slide it on.  Such a unique idea!  I love it!  Hubby kept laughing at me because I was so thrilled with my new ring that I kept holding it up and looking at it.

Since everything was 50% off, I had to look around!  I ended up buying a second ring.  It's Labradorite.  The color is interesting...it goes from blue to bluish green to gray and sometimes shimmers a bit like opal.  I love the leaves on it and it fits perfectly.  I've been looking for more rings for a long time.  It was fun to finally find some that I like and that they were so cheap.

My daughter found a cute ring that has three colors of Topaz on it.  And, she got a really cute beaded bracelet with a southwest/Native American design on it.  Fun!

It was a beautiful day up there!  Here's a shot looking up the main street of town.  That's Lily Rock or Tahquitz Rock in the center.  The peak above it and to the right is Tahquitz Peak that we've hiked to a few times.  I never get tired of these views!  In fact, we have a peek-a-boo view of Lily Rock from our loft window at home, many miles away.  Pretty cool!

We stayed for lunch and this cute, carved bear was standing near our table.  

 Such a fun weekend and a perfect way to cap off our summer!

I've got tons to do....back to work!

Hiking Devil's Slide

When my husband arrived home from work last Thursday evening, he asked if I'd like to go for a hike or something on Friday. He had a rare day of no meetings and thought it would be a great opportunity to take a day off and spend time together. What a sweetie! And, what a great thing for him to have a day off!

The weather finally started cooling down last week which made hiking a comfortable possibility. We quickly decided on a trail in the San Jacinto Mountains near Idyllwild, called, "Devil's Slide". We got up early Friday morning, had a good breakfast, loaded our day packs and drove up the mountain.  We made a stop at the Idyllwild ranger station for a permit for that trail and a wilderness parking pass.

It was a beautiful day!  The sky was blue with some desert clouds building in the distance.  I think the temperature was in the 70's to low 80's.  The humidity made it seem warmer, especially in the sun, but after the heat we've had the past few weeks, it was really nice!

There were interesting and beautiful things to see right from the start of the trail.

Check out this twisty tree.  I wonder what makes some trees do this?

Here's the whole tree.  It's dead but still standing strong and beautiful.

We saw another one later that day...

 Gorgeous blue sky!  And, more dead trees...but...the color and texture is beautiful!

So are the lines and shapes.  Strong and pretty!

This one looks like a dragon.  Click on it to make it larger and check out the scary looking head!

Little babies...trees of the future.

Hubby found a ring of bark on the trail, cleared out the center, and put it on my wrist.  A bracelet!
It was strong enough that it stayed on all day and didn't break when I took it off.  

The trail was two and a half miles long with 1700 feet of elevation gain.  It was a very good workout!

The terrain varied from smooth dirt, roots, rocks, steep drop-offs along the side,

and a couple of muddy sections.

There were a few sections that leveled out...slightly.  But, most of the trip up was just that, UP.

Lots of climbing!  There were some switchback sections that climbed pretty quickly.

At one point, we looked down and saw four sections below us.  I couldn't get a good

picture though because of all the trees.  But, here are two shots of some of them.

The steep climb made for a quickly changing view when we looked down the mountain and into the distance.  We started below the level of "Suicide Rock" (on the right side of the photo) but quickly climbed to a point that it was straight across from us.

And, in a very short time, we were above it and much farther away.  There was a marine layer over the valley that was slowly burning off and, even farther away, we could see clouds over the ocean.  What an incredible view it must be on a crystal clear day!

There aren't many flowers right now.  But, I did spot a few...like some Indian Paintbrush...

Some teeny, tiny flowers...

I think this might be Buck Brush...

Ranger's Buttons!  So cute!

We saw a few berries.  I think this is a Gooseberry.  Wicked!  Even the stems!  Hubby lifted a leaf out of the way so I could take a photo and it pierced his finger.  Ouch!

The above photo and the one below are from the same bush.  I love the colors in the one below.

More thorns!

We saw lots of lizards darting around and jumping from rock to rock.

Some were laying around, enjoying the sunshine.  They even posed for pictures!

So cute!

Now, I have more photos to use for sculpting lizards in my ceramics class.

Hubby is taking the class with me this semester.  :-)

We kept seeing tiny fur balls darting across the trail so fast that we couldn't get a good look at them.

We assumed they were chipmunks but weren't sure until this one actually sat still for a moment.

There were busy gray squirrels too.  Some of them had huge, fluffy tails.

I wasn't able to get any pictures of them.  But, I got a picture of this skinnier tailed squirrel
running around.  They all seemed quite busy getting ready for winter.

After a couple hours of hiking, we made it to the saddle junction.  I think the elevation is about 8,000 feet at this point.  There are lots of signs and trails that take off from this point.  Including, a trail that leads to Tahquitz Peak...the peak we went to last year but from a different side.

Even the famous Pacific Crest Trail runs through here.  A 2,663 mile trail that runs through the Cascade, Sierra, and other mountain ranges from the border of Canada to the border of Mexico.

At the saddle, we noticed strange things growing on the trunks of some trees.

Weird!  Creepy!

And, really big!

I also spotted this yellow growth.  The color is pretty but I wasn't about to touch it.  Eeeew!

From the saddle, we decided to follow one of the trails for a while and see where it lead.

The terrain started changing from mostly brown to partly green.

And, all of a sudden, we were surrounded by green fern.

The farther we walked, the greener it became and the fern got taller and taller.

It went from a few inches tall at the beginning to hip high further down the trail.

The clouds were getting bigger and gently drifting in front of the sun, giving us periods of shade.

It was gorgeous and magical up there.  I had no idea we'd find anything like this when we reached the saddle.  It was worth every steep step and all the heavy breathing and sweat!

We even came across a wet, boggy area.  I wonder if it's always there or if it was from the recent monsoon storms?  Either way, it's pretty cool and provides much needed water for the wildlife.

As we hiked back down, the clouds got thicker and darker but

we never heard any rumbling and they didn't seem to get any bigger or closer.

After our hike, we headed into the town of Idyllwild for a bite to eat.  We wanted to try a new place and decided on "Restaurant Gastronome".  They had outdoor seating under the pines with a terrific view of the mountain we had just climbed.  I had a delicious sandwich made with tender chicken on a soft, fluffy thin bread (I can't remember what they called it) with lettuce, tomato, purple onion and a yummy raspberry sauce.  Hubby had a delicious barbecue chicken wrap.  And, we had some ice cold beer.  The weather was wonderful, the food was delicious, and the company...there are no words to describe how wonderful he is!  I'm a very lucky girl!  Thanks, hubby, for a wonderful day!