Joshua Tree National Park

I had a wonderful time Joshua Tree National Park on Saturday. After dropping Kevin off at LAX on Friday afternoon, I braved the Friday evening LA traffic and headed east to Joshua Tree. I got in kind of late, so I checked into Motel 6 and crashed. The next day I headed into the park for a day of nature!

Joshua Tree is one of my favorite places on the planet. I love the desert! The flora and fauna are wonderful, and the geology of this spot is soooo cool! And the weather: soooo hot! The high was 109ºF that day.

I took a couple hikes and a geology motor tour, plus just stopped whereever I felt like it to take in the views.

I have a lot of pictures to share, so I'm posting only a few here, and you can go to my album to see more.

Just after I entered the park, a roadrunner crossed my path. Cool! Later on, a jackrabbit bounded into the road, made a quick left and bounded off again. So athletic!

I also saw these critters:

I didn't see a Bighorn Sheep, but I saw some of its poop!


A typical rock pile:

A few wildflowers still bloomed.

Bladderpod (above and below)

Here is a picture of Malapai Hill. These peaks are made from basalt, different from the monzogranite and gneiss of the area. There are a couple theories. Either a shallow intrusion of magma rose up, or there were a couple of lava-spilling cinder cones that have since eroded away.



Here are a couple pictures that show the dikes within surrounding rock.

This is a view from Keys View, looking southwest. Here you can see the San Andres Fault. It runs along those hills in the mid-ground.


Here is a link to more photos:

Joshua Tree June 2009

Nature Photographs

Here are some photos from my last hike.

There are a few wildflower holdouts.



(I think this flower looks like Janice from the Muppet Show!)

But mostly it is berry season!
















This leaf was caught in a spider web. It looked like it was floating!

San Roque Canyon

As you know, I was unable to hike San Roque Canyon for the final installment of the Creek Watch because the trail is closed due to fire damage from the Jesusita Fire last month.

The bridge over the canyon and park was a turning point in the firefighting effort. According to news reports, several fire engines parked on the bridge and poured water over into the canyon. This stopped the fire from progressing into the San Roque neighborhood and threatening the whole city.

Here is a map of the area. The pointer is on the bridge.

View San Roque Canyon Bridge in a larger map

Here is a shot of the bridge from just to the north of it.



Here are a few photos from my attempt at hiking it last week. I walked just a few hundred feet beyond the bridge. I decided to honor the closed signs.

This is a shot from the top of the bridge looking north.

And here is a view of the other side, looking toward Santa Barbara on the south.

Whew! We are so thankful for the efforts of all the firefighters!

Happy Birthday, P-Doobie

And many happy returns of the day!!

Creek Watch 4

Creek Watch: Santa Barbara Creeks Through the Seasons

Volume 4: Summer Solstice 2009

Find my previous entries here.

Unfortunately, the project is truncated, as both San Roque Canyon and Rattlesnake Canyon trails are closed due to Jesusita Fire damage. I recently visited San Antonio Creek trail and our nearby San Jose Creek, so here they are.

San Jose Creek Upstream:

San Jose Creek Downstream:

San Antonio Creek Upstream:

San Antonio Creek Downstream:

Watch for more about San Roque Canyon in a future post!

Maui? Wowee!

Kevin will be starting his adventure in big style. He is leaving for Maui on Friday! Luuuuucccckkkkkyyyyyyy!

I'm going to drive him to LAX on Friday morning. I think I'll try to stow in the baggage compartment.

We'll He'll be back on Friday, July 10.

Sweet Jesus!

One of my fondest childhood memories is watching The Lawrence Welk Show. Every Saturday night, I'd join Gram in the living room. She'd sit in a comfy chair, and in the middle of the living room, I'd sit in my little rocking chair and dance.

"Dancing," in this case, consisted of rocking back and forth while making a series of third-base-coach-like moves. I'd dance to every number!

A few years ago, I was writing some documentation at a skilled nursing facility (nursing home). I was sitting in the day room, where the TV was showing The Lawrence Welk show. I sat, lost in my memories, and watched for a while. My trance was broken when someone in her office saw me and laughed, "I never knew you liked Lawrence Welk so much! You should see the grin on your face!"

When I saw this video recently, I could only think, "Oh, my." Wasn't there any one on the cast or crew who could warn them? Where the heck was Bobby?

Squeezing more out of Spring

Spring has almost completely sprung, but my front yard is still producing a few flowers.

I've shown you Blue-eyed grass in the wild. It finally bloomed in my yard!

I'm not sure what this one is. It may be one of the wildflowers from the seeds I threw last fall. I think it may be a species of Gilia.

EDITED TO ADD: I found another packet of seeds like a threw last fall, and indeed it lists Gilia capitata.

Mysterious Missing Missive

I posted a post last night and then decided to delete it. It shall be re-visited in the near future, and all will be revealed!

A love affair with Johnny

Meet Johnny, my new love. (Dubbed by Miz E)

I love him. I love him very much.

Red

Meet my new daughter, Ariel.

Congruatulations, Graduate!

Kevin has come a long way since his first day of Kindergarten!

We had a really good time! Here are a few shots of the fun stuff.

Kevin and his cake on Wednesday evening.


The Dos Pueblos High School Class of 2009



Kevin and his Dad & Mom
Photo by BobBIE


Kevin with his Mom and Grandma
Photo by BobBIE

With Auntie Pagrs and Auntie Bobbie

With Dad, Pau, and Gram

Photo by BobBIE

And here is Kevin finally receiving his diploma:


They had given each graduate an empty diploma holder as he crossed the stage, holding off on the official diploma until after the ceremony....a little extra insurance against shenanigans?

Here is Kevin crossing the stage. For the last several months, whenever Kevin got shot by his friends in the halls at school, he would fall down and die. Several people shot him when he was about to shake the principal's hand. That's my boy! (Thanks, BobBIE, for the video!)

Art

Erin decorated a planter dish for Mike. Here it is!



Detail:




It's too pretty to use under a planter!