Road Trip

We took a weekend trip to Laughlin, NV.
Here's the Prius resting in Oatman, AZ.
More pics will follow, later.

Cuyamaca State Park

I went hiking with some friends in Cuyamaca State Park this morning. The temperature was a few degrees cooler than what I've previously encountered. With not much cover on this particular hiking trail, a bottle of water was required if you wanted to avoid dehydration. There was a lot more dust on the trail due to the current drought conditions in Southern California.

Nevertheless, the hike was enjoyable and I found some interesting plants along the way. This plant was growing a curious stalk of flowers that fanned out on the top. The leaves were soft like the "lambs' ears" garden variety plant.

The thistle flowers had a lot of bee activity. I could see a wild "mini-honeybee" along with the two regular honeybees. I wondered where the mini-hive was located, and what would it look like?

The swirly seeds of San Diego mountain mahogany were out in full force. On some parts of the trails, these shrubs dominated the scene. With the sun shining behind them, the fluffy seeds' brightness lit up the branches.

The species living near my home is named Cercocarpus minutiflorus and it's most likely the same plant growing out east in the Cuyamaca State Park mountains.

CityFest 2009

The community of Hillcrest had its Cityfest street fair today. After Mahi tacos and a few Tecate beers at Baja Betty's, I walked over to the fair. For some reason there were linens to buy at several of the booths this year. I settled for a 600 count Egyptian cotton set for $20.

These wine bottle holders were so colorful. At a different crafts display someone was waving a "NO PHOTOS" sign at me, so I guess I won't be showing them here!

I don't know much about "The Fellowship of the Surf Monkey", but these figurines sure are cute!

The locals and the sun were out in full force as usual. I'm glad that I managed to steer clear of the funnel cake booths!

Beach Hike

I went hiking with some friends last Sunday. The hike started near the Scripps Pier and went north to Black's Beach. On the way over, a guitar fish and small shark carcass were being nibbled over by the sea gulls and flies. We decided to make an octopus sand sculpture before we left.

Torrey Pines Gliderport

A few weeks ago, I took a friend to the Torrey Pines Gliderport. After watching the paragliders takeoff, circle around and land a few times, we climbed the cliffs down to Black's Beach where there were extra bodies due to the 4th of July weekend. Sorry, no pics (wink, wink)!

The Great Smoky Mountains: Rainbow Falls Trail

Here are the pics I took on the trail to Rainbow Falls. Since I stopped so many times to take pictures, I threw off the "hiking groove" and didn't make the final destination. There was only one more mile to go!

Click on the slideshow to gain access to full sized pics.

The Great Smoky Mountains: Clingmans Dome

For the 4th of July holiday, I took a trip to see the Great Smoky Mountains with my family. We took up residence in Sevierville, Tennessee and Dollywood was only a few miles away. Besides the rollercoasters, dinner shows, go carts and mini golf courses, etc., the best attractions were the hiking trails available in the national park (map). It rained just about anytime we decided to drive through the park.

It was cloudy on the way to Clingmans Dome Bypass Trail. The steep and 0.5 mile paved trail lead up to a concrete structure.

It was a cloudy and misty day at Clingmans Dome.

Here's a pic looking up from under the structure.

A spiral walkway rose in elevation on the way to the lookout point. Birds could be heard in the trees.

Unfortunately, the trees in the Smoky Mountains are suffering from acid rain pollution.

On the way back to the car, the rain poured down hard and some thunder could be heard. It wasn't ice-cold rain, though.