This weekend's adventure!

So this weekend was mostly taken up by a school-commitment, so I didn't have much time to get out and do anything. I knew I was going to have most of Sunday to myself, so I planned a little day-hike up in Forest Falls. I didn't want to go very far up into the mountains, so I did a little research, and found a nice little trail that would take me to a waterfall called Big Falls. I'm a total waterfall junkie - I try to find one everywhere I travel - so I was super excited to find one so close to where I live. Just a short drive out on Highway 38, and through the town of Forest Falls brings you to a little parking area at the base of the San Gorgonio mountain and wilderness area, where there's different trailheads that will take you to the summit of San Gorgonio mountain. I want to climb to the summit later this spring, or early summer, before I head up to Seattle for the summer.

The summit of San Gorgonio is the highest peak in southern California at 11,503 feet, and any trail requires over 4,000 feet of elevation gain. It will be a good training hike for me, since my goal is to climb Mt. Whitney (which is the tallest peak in the contiguous 48 states) by the end of the summer!

Anyway, back to today's adventure. So I knew there was a chance of rain, but it was sunny when I left the house, so I figured maybe I could do a little hiking before the real rain showed up. Well, much to my dismay, by the time I made it up to Forest Falls, it was snowing!! So much for that plan. Well, at least I found the trailheads, but I had to turn around before the roads got too bad. I did stop at the Momyer Creek traihead, and watched the people playing in the snow by Mill Creek - which was flowing pretty good.



On the road back, after I got past the snow, I stopped at a vista point and hiked down to the creek to take a few pictures.



Prickly Pear Cactus & snow on the mountains in the background!




Cute ladybug & prickly pear





Then, a few more miles down the road, I stopped at Thurman Flat picnic area. I took a good little trail that crossed over the creek, and then started climbing up the hill on the other side, but had to stop, because the trail got too muddy for how steep it was.



The first little creek crossing


The bigger creek crossing - had to hop across some rocks and walk across some logs


I stopped to admire a pretty cool huge boulder that people must use to climb and rappel, because I saw a few anchor points on the side of the boulder.



When I got back to the car, I found that the Forest Service was kind enough to not issue me a ticket today, (since I didn't buy an adventure pass yet). So, on the way back home, I stopped at the Ranger station to buy my year-long pass. Hopefully I can make it to the waterfall in March, when Mike is here!

You know you're a gringo in Mexico if...

So I found this list on the internet today, and I closely identified with quite a few of them after my month-long vacation in Mexico, so I thought I'd re-post it here. It's pretty amusing!

Have you been living in Mexico for too long? Are you going native? Does living South of the border feel more like home to you than your colder Northern homeland? Have you begun to notice some perculiar traits cropping up in your daily habits? If so, perhaps some of the following will ring true:


You Know You Are A Gringo In Mexico If…
•You automatically show up at least 15 minutes late to anything.
•You forget what closed toe shoes were.
•Checking for scorpions in your shoes is just part of your morning ritual
•Clothing begins to weigh a thousand pounds.
•Your motto is that “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere…” every time you pop open another bottle of beer for breakfast.
•Spanish palabras come to your mind before English ones.
•Any time you go to an ethnic restaurant back home you try to order in Spanish… even if it’s Japanese
•Tequila stopped burning on the way down a long long time ago.
•Even your creases are tan.
•Fine dining is anywhere that puts a table cloth on the white plastic tables
•You put limon in everything and no longer thing it’s strange that it even comes in your shampoo.
•A night out consists of a movie in the air conditioned Cinepolis and caramel popcorn, where you learn a little Spanish through subtitles.
•You stop checking the weather report every day. They are ALL hot.
•If nobody in your neighborhood is blasting music in some form you wonder what is wrong.
•Banda and Mariachi music no longer drives you insane.
•Discovering a new favorite taco stand can make your week.
•The prices of Starbucks irritates you.
•The prices of Office Depot irritate you.
•The prices of most anything irritate you.
•Your driving style has become… more creative…
•Finding yellow cheddar cheese, crunchy peanut butter, beef jerky, or pastrami excites you.
•In desperation you have tried every ceran wrap available only to discover they are all terrible.
•Socks and sandals no longer are the fashion faux pas they once were
•Monitoring exchange rates is a pastime.
•You drive with your hazard lights permanently on.
•Upon returning to the homeland, you feel alien, constricted in clothing, and in wonderment of the strange people you used to live among.
•You catch yourself humming the Global Gas theme song.
•Every time you hear the Pink Panther song you suddenly want ice cream.
•When the temperature dips below 75 you put on your ‘winter’ clothes
•Your winter clothes consist of a long sleeve shirt and a pair of jeans.
•Three of your closest friends are named Jesus
•Tourists look ridiculous!

This past week's adventures

I've been trying to get out and do more stuff, so figured I better start keeping track of them!

Mt. Rubidoux
On Saturday, Kelly and I met up at Mt. Rubidoux in Riverside to do a little walk to the top of the hill. I brought the two pups, and we met up with some other people from a Meetup.com group. Parking was pretty crazy, you have to get there early, and find a spot on the street, but it was a beautiful day, and I was excited!

Here's a little history for you:
Mount Rubidoux is a hill beside the Santa Ana River that marks the boundary between the city of Riverside, California and the census-designated place of Rubidoux. The hill was named for Louis Rubidoux, who purchased the Rancho Rubidoux from Benjamin Davis Wilson, the second elected mayor of Los Angeles, in 1847.

Mount Rubidoux has been designated Riverside City landmark #26, and has been a city park since it was donated to the city by the heirs of Frank Miller (1857-1932), the founder of the Mission Inn, in 1955. In 1909 a sunset over Mount Rubidoux set the occasion for Carrie Jacobs-Bond to compose her famous song "A Perfect Day" which for many years was played each day as the last tune on the Mission Inn's carillon.

In April, 1909, Jacob Riis of New York, and a friend of President Theodore Roosevelt, was in town to give an address at the Mission Inn. He suggested holding an Easter sunrise service at the top of the mountain, and on the following Sunday they held the first outdoor Easter Sunrise Service in the United States at the top of the mount.

In 1925, the Peace Tower and Friendship Bridge were dedicated in honor of Frank A. Miller (for his vision for the Mountain and for his ideals of International Friendship and World Peace).

There is a paved road that goes to the top of the hill, but it has been closed to vehicles since 1992. Since it's paved, it was a rather easy walk - way easier than a regular dirt trail. There is an "up" road, and a "down" road, although Kelly & I ended up using the "down" road on the way up, and then came down the "up" road. Great workout! The pups had fun, and they were pretty tired out by the time we got back. The total walk is only about 3.5 miles, and I think it took us less than 45 minutes to walk. Here's some cool pics from the walk:

Looking up at the cross at the top of the hill:


Looking up at the Peace Tower & Friendship Bridge


Looking out from the Friendship Bridge


Plaque on the Peace Tower


The Peace Tower & Friendship Bridge


Pismo Beach
Later that day, I decided to drive up to my Dad's house for the weekend. It was a 4-day weekend, and I needed to take the dogs up there anyway so he could puppy-sit, so I loaded everyone into the car and off we went!

On Saturday evening, I took the dogs down to the Grover Beach entrance to the sand dunes, and we walked for a little while, then watched the sunset.








On Sunday, we all went to Avila Beach, and played with the dogs by the creek. Tica (my Dad's dog) loves to chase sticks, and they're trying to get her to swim more, so we kept throwing sticks in the creek for her to fetch. It was pretty funny, because she only likes to go in as far as she can stand, and if she has to swim at all, she lets the stick go. Nieve does NOT like the water at all, and neither does Spike, so we just played fetch and ran around on the beach.
























On Monday, Dad and I went for a nice little motorcycle ride. He & Michelle both have street-legal dirtbikes, so him and I took off on those towards the hills. We rode out on 227 and through Old Oak Park Road, Printz Road, and over towards Price Canyon. We ended up at the beach, and stopped in at the Moose Lodge for a beverage. Then we headed into the hills again for a little, before heading back to Arroyo Grande, and had another beverage at our favorite bar - Bill's Place. It was really beautiful riding in the hills, and a couple of the places have a great view of the ocean. We took a couple trails that were a little scary - the dirt was way too soft and sandy, but it was still a lot of fun. I love being able to ride on the street and transition to the dirt, it's pretty cool. Since Michelle never rides her dirtbike anymore, I'm thinking of kidnapping it and bringing it down here!

And on Tuesday, I finally had to drive home and go to school :( Here's a picture of me & Nieve right before I left. I won't see her for a whole month! Hope she doesn't get too big while I'm gone!

Nieve's on vacation... I'm sad :(

With only 9 days to go until my better half comes home from Iraq, I finally had to tear myself away from my cute little fluffball puppy, and I almost cried! Since I'll be flying up to Seattle to welcome Mike home, I had to leave my two pups with my Dad for the next few weeks. So, Nieve's on vacation at the grandparents' house now, where she'll undoubtedly be spoiled rotten, learn all kinds of bad habits, and double in size over the next month. As of today, she was officially 20 pounds, and just a few days shy of 4 months old!

Random Saturday Adventure

So there I was, bored on a Saturday afternoon as usual. The dogs were getting antsy, but it was too muddy to play with them in the backyard after the all the rain we had last night. Instead of sitting around watching tv and movies all day again, I decided we would go for a little adventure. We drove 10 minutes over to Yucaipa Regional Park, and decided to go for a nice little hike up to Zanja Peak. It was a pretty easy hike, no more than 20 minutes to get to the top, which is at about 3500 feet. The dogs had a blast running up the trail, chasing birds, and enjoying the view. We didn't do the whole trail loop, which is about 4 miles, but from where we started, I think the trail was about a mile up & a mile back. Next time we'll have to start earlier in the day and do the whole trail. The park closes at 5, so I didn't want us to get stuck inside the park. After we got done with our hike, we walked around the little lake, which looks like it is great fun during the summer - swimming lagoon, water slides, snack bar, little sandy beach, and even a separate fishing pond that is stocked with 1000 pounds of trout monthly! We'll have to go fishing there this spring too, as soon as the weather clears up a little. All in all, it was a great day, and I'm glad we got out of the house!

Here's a few pictures from our adventure today...

Nieve enjoying the view


About halfway up the trail


See the rain in the distance?


At the top


On the way back down, the dogs had to take a break while I got a pic of the lake


The "fishing" lake


The "main" lake