Happy 4th of July!

We celebrated after dinner with red (strawberries), white (vanilla ice cream & bananas), and blue (serving bowls) brownies followed by economical "fireworks" put to music. Hope your day was a great one and take a moment to thank God for being privileged to live in a land of many freedoms!

Wilder Ranch State Park

The first weekend in June we spent in Santa Cruz, my primary objective being to venture on a 12 mile hike near the coast that I had in mind for several months. The route was part of Wilder Ranch State Park's trail system. Our chosen path went through open fields in the hills (everyone had to keep pulling off or checking for ticks and there was actually a sign warning us of them at the trailhead, that's how bad they were); a small oak woodland area; we meant to go through a redwood grove but accidentally missed the loop for it; through an old farmhouse plot where we explored an old stable containing carriages and a blacksmith workshop where we saw a demo of some hydrological-powered machinery; and the largest draw for me was the walk along the seaside cliffs, which is the focus of the pictures below.

These poppies weren't as thick or orange as the ones at Hite Cove, but they were the brightest yellow ones I'd seen, and just popped in the sunlight provided by the perfect weather.

Our luncheon stop. Awesome view of the crashing waves, wildflowers at our backs, and a breeze that made me feel at peace. 

The peninsula in the last photo is where I am now standing to take this photo. The connecting bend is where we ate lunch, just out of the frame, a little ways to the left of where you see the people pictured above.

A little cove that will eventually be a tunnel one day, I imagine.

A bit too steep to get down to that beach.

These look like the flower I posted in the last entry, but simply yellow, not combined with pink. Covered in them, this bush made quite a lovely impact along the trail.

Poseidon's throne behind Patrick?

Artichoke farm! They looked so odd to me, never having thought about what they'd look like growing, so I actually found this a rather exciting feature along the trail.

Pretty view of all the points we walked along tiered in the waves.

Ice plant- we had seen it along the coast during our last visit to Santa Cruz, but I don't recall any of the blooms appearing as perfect or as perky as this one! It looks like a land-loving anemone.

The spikey bumps on this plant were cactus-like but it's leaves were supple and flexible and it's shape structure reminded me more of a weed.

 

An absolutely beautiful view near the finish of our hike. 

After turning round the next bend in the trail, we saw the back end of a bobcat high-tailing it into the shrubs! (One of my bucket list items for CA was to see a bobcat, so I found that very satisfying, although I'd still prefer to see the front end of one as well). :)

We had shuttled our car near the end since our friends wanted to leave at an earlier point in the route, but unfortunately we headed in the wrong direction along the highway where the trail spit us out. So after retracing our steps and correcting our course, we reunited with Doris in the surfers' turnout, determining that we made up that mile (and then some, perhaps) we cut out when we missed the Redwoods. But it was just the right amount of tired, having felt sufficiently rewarded for our labors with the splendid beach scenery.

May Couples Retreat

The weekend before Memorial Day weekend, Patrick and I joined 6 other couples from our church small group for a Couples Retreat at a "cabin" near Sonora. I hesitantly say "cabin" because it was a very large, clean, lovely, young rental home with plenty of modern conveniences. The aim of the weekend was to take time out to relax with each other and spend a few moments reflecting on our marriages as a group and on our own. Friday night entailed a late dinner and lounging as we trickled in at various times, and Saturday's highlight event was a 4-5 mile hike around a nearby lake.

Just about to embark on our trek: Patalie on left, Tony & Rosa next to us (they were pictured in the previous blog), Debbie (the church's "first lady") and daughter Kacy, Michelle & BJ, Matt (Kacy's husband), Carrie & Brian, Pastor Jeff, Eddie & Missy.

 

 Not far into the walk I took advantage of the high perch and turned around for a picture.

  

We came from the left, and crossed this dam to the point where I'm standing. Waterfalls cascaded down to the right.

  

I've also seen this flower in Yosemite NP on a rockslide we climbed. Not sure what it is, but the orange was quite vibrant on such a sunny, lovely day.

 Pastor Jeff showing off. If Patrick tried this I would yell at him. Debbie probably stopped bothering long ago though! :) 

My view from the bridge Pastor Jeff was walking across. Looking up the hill first....

 ....then in the other direction, back toward the lake.

I loved this flower! That it had two different color buds on the same stem was intriguing to me, and the pink-yellow combo is so fun!

Doesn't this look fake?! So weird. Several of its branches looked like this, as if it was half made of resin.

 

Eddie & Missy about to jump across a bit of a gap back to the trail. I've got a shot of Missy in mid-air that is kind of neat, but I liked the tranquility of the scene in this one.

 

Crazy lookin' plant we came across! I feel like it belongs on another planet or in a futuristic world, but our friend Sarah immediately recognized it in the photo and informed me it is called Snow Plant. It has a symbiotic relationship with a fungus on its roots to get nutrients since it has no chlorophyll to produce food of its own. 

 

Patrick and I brought the kayaks with us for their long-awaited debut in California, but we didn't take them out on the big lake since we wanted to join the rest of the group for the hike. Instead, we took them out on a small lake behind our cabin. It was fairly peaceful out there, but unfortunately it was kind of lost on Patrick. He was feeling bad because Pastor Jeff went out in the kayak for his first time and tipped/rolled around several times due to a misunderstood instruction. But Pastor Jeff's pride and iPhone were the only casualties, suffering minor injury, and the situation became the epic joke among the group for the remainder of the weekend.

 

The view from the middle of the lake Sunday morning. I went out there during our time set aside for self reflection, but my thoughts would periodically be interrupted. Those geese in the distance, for instance, made quite the racket as they came in for landing.

The geese were a lot more skiddish than the ones at city parks. I paddled very slowly/quietly and didn't get too close but they still migrated to shore as I approached.

The trip there was too short, so our group would like to go again, perhaps for a 3-day weekend when the opportunity arises (and when a few more can go, since 2 couples had to sit out due to baby births). In any case, it was a nice breather for the meantime!

Miscellaneous Moments

A couple months ago, I meant to make a blog entry showing off our Christmas gifts getting use, but I got sidetracked and haven't consistently remembered to take photos. However, some of the things and events we've been occupied with don't warrant a full entry on their own, so I decided to build off of the idea and do another "miscellaneous" sort of posting.

Our tea ball broke so we requested a new infuser for Christmas. Evander went crazy and bought us three different types to experiment with! This one is so cute, I just had to share.

My father bought us each a nerf gun. After getting shot at several times, I told Patrick he needed to find something else to have target practice with. One night I walked out of the bedroom to see why he wasn't getting ready for bed, and our front room's lamp looked like this. We still have no idea how he got the one stuck on the rim at the top. In the process of giving it a try, I got hooked on shooting darts at the ceiling light as well and it's provided a great source of entertainment for several months afterward, particularly for guests during a house party we hosted.

Speaking of the house party, here were our host & hostess outfits. We held a "Goodwill Prom" (I got the idea from a friend on Facebook who attended one), which is basically just the normal party/get-together but you dress up with clothes from thrift shops. Our friends had some awesome ensembles but stupid-us didn't take any photos that evening to share. Patrick & I look kinda like a Vegas/Gangster Bonnie & Clyde that looks pretty good, but what you can't tell from this photo is that all of Patrick's clothes are about 5 sizes too large for him and I'm wearing a bathroom robe with the most horrific pants.

Cue the pants I just referenced. Skin tight (I totally had muffin top on my hips hidden by the dress) and fake-snakeskin in texture, they were covered in a metallic gold spray-paint pattern broken up by zippered ankles. Absolutely horrid but perfect for that sort of an evening!

Patrick's mom sent us a cheese-making  kit for St. Nicholas Day, so we've attempted a few batches of mozzarella. The first batch lost its shape in our fridge since it was about the consistency of thick slime, but our next two batches graced rather delicious homemade pizzas.

Our garden kept us tied up nearly every weekend during Spring. Prior to this year's bed-prepping, Patrick pruned the trees and decided to give our decorative grasses an inaugural trim (he's only got about half the plant snipped to ground level at this point in the photo). The bushes are huge havens for snails so he got gooed more than once. Yuck.

A couple in our small group had a recommitment ceremony in their home on their 10th wedding anniversary. It was a fairly small affair so we felt pretty honored to be invited. Tony & Rosa worked hard leading up to the event to have their backyard ready for the special occasion, and the weather had been perfect all week. Naturally it poured all day then. Everything was drenched and soggy so they moved things indoors, but the sky cleared to reveal the largest and most complete rainbow I had ever seen as we drove to their home.

Now that we've got a little more disposable income built up, we've been able to dabble in brewing a bit more lately. We made an awesome oatmeal stout over the winter, and a pale ale made with citra hops this spring. Patrick would like to get into all-grain brewing eventually so he bought a grinder, and in the meantime we were able to use it for our ginger pale ale, of which I reused the spent grain to make chocolate chip cookies that were delish! We just cracked open a few bottles this week that are rather refreshing in the 90/100 degree weather, and this weekend we will be bottling a Zythos IPA. I think we'll need to take a short break now to rebuild that disposable income I mentioned though!

 

 Downtown Merced  had an event called Cap & Town during an early weekend in May to celebrate the graduation commencements. We had a really great evening together browsing craft booths, grabbing a local brew at the nearby pub, browsing (and buying) art at the nearby gallery while chatting with the owners & artist, thrift shopping, eating brick oven pizza & homemade ice cream from food vendors, and taking in some of the live entertainment. The hula group was of particular interest to me, and this performance from their star pupil was certainly eye-catching. You'll see what I mean when you click on the above video.

Since the Cap & Town event was right outside my work building, I showed Patrick the little bakery down the street where I got our anniversary cupcakes. I've since been back a few times, and we picked up some lemon-blueberry cupcakes to devour the next day. I think my sister Courtney will appreciate my dorky posing.

Around 6:30 on May 20, a solar eclipse was viewable in our part of the country/world, and with full sun in our backyard at that time, we didn't have to travel far to participate, conveniently enough.

Shadows of the crescent make for a happy cyclops shadow monster.

So, those are a few odds and ends on display from our life these last few months. But tune in soon for some reporting on our latest out-of-town excursions!

Hite Cove

Two weekends ago, Patrick and I decided it was high time we get out on a hike! We had been told by the locals that the foothills look painted in the springtime with wildflowers, and having not experienced that last year, we thought that would be a good direction to take. As we drove the route, we began to doubt the people who had tipped us off, but it turns out we just weren't thinking of the right spot. Once we got closer to the Yosemite National Park gate, the sun hit the poppies and created neon orange streaks across the slopes. It was quite the living watercolor.

We didn't pull over to get a picture since we were focused on arriving at the Hite Cove Trailhead and figured we could get a snapshot on the return trip. Unfortunately, we got rained out after a couple miles in and left early, so the poppies were closed on our driveby. Determined to complete the hike and celebrate Easter in a unique way, we went back the following weekend (this past Sunday) and made sure to find a nice shoulder for a photo opportunity!

A little zoomed in.

This picture isn't at the trailhead, but it provides an idea of the general nature of the Hite's Cove hike. It followed the river (bottom left corner) along the side of a hillside, with periodic ups & downs along the path.

The hike starts with a shaded steep incline, so you tend to lean forward and look down, oblivious to what is ahead. At the top of the ascent, you round a corner and suddenly find yourself utterly surrounded by poppies. It is extremely dazzling and reminiscent of a fairytale.

My point is made!

The poppies definitely take the lead in the show, but plenty of supporting flora accent the landscape in a most flattering way with beauty of their own.

Closeup of a poppy.

Lupine

The poppies made friends with different flowers in different spots. This particular hillside was mostly filled in with small yellow blooms. I told Patrick I wouldn't mind if Heaven's "streets of gold" were paved like this.

And likewise, this section had equal parts white and orange flowers, with purple thrown in here and there, for a different dynamic.

Most of the flower-laden hillsides were in the first 1 to 1.5 miles of the hike, but we continued to see smaller patches of different species throughout our entire expedition.

Just beyond the thickest patches of wildflowers was a great spot near the river to eat our picnic lunch and read the Easter story on Patrick's phone. Thank you, Jesus, for offering eternal life, and in the meantime, a pretty Earth to bide my time. :)

On our return to the trailhead the first weekend, the rain brought this guy out of hiding. All of the gecko/salamander things I've encountered out here so far have been extremely quick, skiddish, and small. But this guy slowly walked across the path- I'm glad I didn't step on him! - and didn't try too hard to escape my grasp. It's not as apparent here but he was somewhere between a bright red and a rusty red.

On our return trip the second weekend, Patrick was conversely leading the way and abruptly halted on the trail. When I peaked around him, I saw a decent sized snake body draped across the path a couple yards in front of us (at least 3 feet long and about the thickness of a toilet paper cardboard spool). Patrick tossed a rock at it and it didn't move (although I thought I might have seen a muscle twitch) so he thought it might be dead. "Are you sure?" I said, not wanting him to approach just yet. A second later we see a head turn around out of a bush and double back on the body. Before I could snap a picture, it dove off  the edge of the hillside! After a 12-15 foot plunge, it landed on a large flat rock surface. I think it may have manipulated its landing, but Patrick thinks it may have successfully executed suicide (probably just his wishful thinking since he's less keen on snakes than me).

As we approached the 4 mile mark, we began to see various parts of machinery and metal scraps, signaling the remnants of the mining settlement at the end of the trail were near. Unfortunately it took us a while to find our intended destination since the various different detours previous hikers took made it difficult to determine the correct way to go. After bushwhacking through poison oak and brambles for a little bit, we decided to turn around since we weren't even sure we were on the right track. Good thing too, because on the way back we found it.

The shack was in pretty good shape for being an abandoned lodging pushing 100 years in age or so. A few shelves on the wall made for simple bunk beds.

"Union Iron Works Builders S.F. Cal."- presumably San Francisco, California.

I'm totally not jealous of the work the miners had to do to get their equipment and materials out this far. We assume they assembled a lot of the machinery on site, but that doesn't change the fact it would have been heavy toil to lug regardless. I picked up a relatively small metal scrap about a square foot in size that was fairly weighty, and yet it paled in comparison to the sections we saw seamed together to form the littered equipment.

The 4 mile hike back to the car was not nearly as pleasant as the first half of the walk. Usually I pack plenty of water and it ends up being extra weight and not drank. So I scaled back this time.....a bit too much. (Especially for a very sunny day.) Very dry-mouthed and lethargic, we uncomfortably trudged back the entire way on a few mouthfuls. Patrick joked that we paid an homage to Jesus Christs' suffering! lol :) Luckily I had a little H2O waiting in the car, but by that point we weren't feeling too awesome. We took some respite by the river to recover before the drive, nibbling on Angel Food Cake and sipping on some white wine we had intended for the picnic. Our collapsible plastic champagne flutes from Mark & Daisy FINALLY made their debut. Originally we had been waiting to use them until we could make a trek worth an indulgent reward. Turns out we really did work for it after all!

One last glance at Cheetoh-stained landscape as we departed for home! Vibrant enough to burn itself into our memories until we can return next Spring!