Friday Hike Day: Heart Rock, Crestline

Pretty much the only *sign* marking the trail. haha.

It's Friday the 13th y'all! Not  that I'm superstitious but...if I was, today would be the day to convince me. haha. My GPS was a little wonky...giving me directions that included 5 freeways! Not only that, but it kept telling me to get off the freeway onto another freeway, just to get back on to the original freeway. I realized, after it was too late, it was trying to help me avoid traffic congestion. Ayiyiyi!

Once we were up the mountain, it also gave weird directions so I am pretty sure I was going in circles through an unfamiliar area. Didn't help that the trail head didn't really have markers or signs.

Thank goodness for the tree!

It's a fairly rustic trail...NO restrooms. NO water except for the creek. Signage is also at a minimum.

The trail has some rocks and tree roots, once again, making it NOT stroller friendly. For the most part though, it IS kid friendly.

Autumn might end up being my most favorite hiking season. Everything is so beautiful. Seriously. 

I was afraid I might not actually find heart rock. I didn't do my research the night before except for driving directions.

We hiked to what appeared to be the end of the trail and it was steep to get down there (last pic). I went back up exploring a bit. All I could remember was that the heart rock probably required looking upward, from what I could vaguely remember from an online picture I had seen on a hiking site.

Graffiti SUX! 

I found the water fall before I finally found the heart rock view. We had actually passed by it. It is a bit precarious to view so PLEASE use caution with your children. Hold their hands! You basically view it from a rocky cliff above the water fall.

Oh just a fern growing on the side of a boulder. 

Besides the risk of falling, the slippery slope, rocks and tree roots, the trail is fairly easy. It's not that long at all. It felt like it took us longer to drive than the actual hike. Its 'mostly shade, which at this season was very cool. We dressed in layers and were ok. 

This was the water fall. I wonder how much it flows in spring? We ate lunch here, in the shade of the mountain and it was cool. Plenty of flat rocks and a large fallen tree to sit on. The rocks are cold though.

Adventure Kids!
The end of the trail, as far as we could tell. Nice spot to sit but Heart Rock is before this.

We didn't see many signs of life, as far as animals are concerned. A few birds. We did passed a fenced in, empty pool near the start of the trail. Talk about random! lol We arrived between 9:30-10am and were the only people on the trail for awhile. Parking appeared to be free and wasn't very clear.

There isn't obvious signage so you have to turn into what appears to be a campground! The campground parking lot had a closed gate and signage strictly prohibiting trailhead parking. Follow the asphalt road a ways and you'll see the tree in the first pic. It looks like a parking lot there and I suppose you could park there if you wanted and make the walk longer. 

You don't have to park there though. Continue to follow the very narrow road farther up until you reach another closed gate. There is room to park there. The trail is off to the right.

Since the hike isn't long at all...I would make a day of it. Not much farther around the mountain and you can head to Lake Gregory, Lake Arrowhead etc. My phone went dead very fast due to the gps madness or else I would have stayed longer. I get nervous not having directions to get home. Which btw, were much easier (and what I had initially thought) on the way back only requiring a simple 3 freeways--the way we normally travel! Haha!

See ya next week! 

Friday Hike Day: Icehouse Canyon, Cucamonga Wilderness Trail, Mt. Baldy

  

Cucamonga Wilderness is the trail we took this week. It was a little breezy when we got there and we felt COLD! Hey--we're southern Californians, breezes are cold. We warmed up quickly once we started moving. It helps that this trail is pretty much all uphill and rocky. Definitely NOT stroller friendly.

A few basics to know before you go: NOT stroller friendly in any stretch of the wild imagination, There are two vault toilets, take them as they are, at the trail head. They only seem to smell downwind. NO water, be sure to bring your own. Adventure Pass required for parking. The trail also states online a free hiking permit is also required. I think this is a safety issue because once you get farther along the trail, it's open season in the wilderness...as in you can go anywhere-you are not restricted to the trails. We did not get one but I advise you do. There is a ranger station on Mt. Baldy Rd before the trail head--watch for it and check there.

This trail offered us creeptastic ratings on the adventure scale, thanks to quite a few abandoned and broken down cabins. How often do you get to climb and stand on a stone door frame, fireplace or window? Not to mention the fascinating imaginings of the tenants that used to occupy this space? We found rusted 50's style metal bed frames, old sinks, bath tubs, a refrigerator and weird open set-ups. The teens especially loved that. A few had all four half-walls, while others had only foundations and fireplaces left. There are also intact cabins, that are private property and have actual tenants. I do not recommend disturbing them. Be respectful of others property at all times. 

The woods are absolutely gorgeous this time of year. Wonderful shades of orange all around, mixed with lush greens and dry whites. The kids found this lovely orange feather. We don't see orange birds very often. It was a nice find. 

Here is an example of the trail...it gets rockier than this at times. There is a creek that runs along most of the trail that offers soothing sounds of running and splashing water and small water falls. We sat and ate lunch next to the water on our way back. Though this trail was short (1.6 miles) the miles are long and uphill. Expect to take more time than you think. Dress in layers. As we ate lunch, we cooled down quickly and were cold. There are shady and sunny parts of the trail. Right now for fall, it is much cooler than the temps we've been experiencing in suburbia. 

I'd say this trail is fairly family friendly. You can stop at any time and admire the trees. We saw two bluejays, a small rattle snake (yes, we kept our distance!) at the trail head, and a few squirrels.  The drive takes about an hour from our area, not much traffic and pretty much the same on the way back. 

Enjoy! 

Rainy Day Walk

Every Tuesday my daughter has guitar lessons and I use the 30 minutes to get in an extra walk...while also praying {multi-task!}.

Today it was raining but not that hard. I certainly did not want to just sit around for 30 minutes...My sciatica began to hurt a few months ago and has been acting up ever since. There is no explanation for it but it pretty much hurts no matter what I do; sit, stand, walk, sleep...etc.

I finally had to admit that certain exercises seem to aggravate it more, and cut back on my 'morning crunch' routine. I started using the time to walk and pray (which I used to do but had gotten away from)...this way I am still exercising but in a gentler manner.

I bundled up, grabbed an umbrella and was on my merry way. It was actually a gorgeous day. Sure it was raining...but everything was lovely. Bright flowers and colorful leaves of autumn, in brilliant hues of yellow, red and orange paved the side walks.

Who needs rose petals when you've got these amazing leaves? He leads me along the path of righteousness...

The lover of my soul was before me, with glorious displays of His love, just for me. It was breath taking. Everywhere I turned, looked and pay attention, I saw His love, in the details.

I always enjoy my walks but this was one of the best  I'd had in awhile. Spending time with God isn't just in sitting down, reading the Word...it's getting out there to SEE His Word in action. To commune WITH Him. Meditate on the wondrous beauty and majesty around us, right in front of us.

Be blessed!

Happy Halloweenie!

We did this last year and it was a big hit. I want my children to not be self centered, to learn to serve others willingly.

I've also, always thought of Halloween as such a wonderful opportunity to bless so many people at one time...how many other times do you have random strangers coming to YOUR door, willingly?

With those thoughts in mind, we turned up the music, brought the 'party' outside and set up a canopy and tables to serve and love our community and neighborhood.

Last year it was chili, this year it was weenies! aka hotdogs. We had nearly 100 hotdogs and we gave  away about
 all of them, minus a few we ate ourselves, to complete strangers. We had to shut it down by 8:30, which I felt was pretty early.

Then we walked around our neighborhood 'trick-R-treating' but most homes were not giving out candy at all, which was strange. Plus, it started pouring rain. That was fun for a little while. I am so proud of my kids. Not one complaint. Even Kurtis really enjoyed climbing up in the front tree 'hiding' and 'scaring' people. Which meant most people did not see him until he made some funny voice that a 5yo would consider creepy and then they saw him. It was hilarious.

The rain was quite nice actually. A great way to usher in a new month. I have great expectations for this month of 'thanksgiving'.

Red Sky at Night

'Red sky at night, sailors delight.'

My phone doesn't do this fiery sky justice...which may just be the point. Some beauty is not meant to be contained or captured. Stepping out of work to encounter this brilliant view, was the best thing that happened to me today.

I know that God is good all the time...sometimes He just makes it more obvious. 

Thanksgiving Memories

When I was little, Thanksgiving was always celebrated @ my grandma Margaret's house. A large ping pong table would be brought out & set up in the back room, covered in brown butcher paper. I hated being seated in the 'crack'-the space in the middle, it made your plate uneven & you had to finagle your feet around the bars. I remember my mother looked so pretty with her short, feathered hair,  burgandy dress that had an elastic waist and high heels. There were always a few extra visitors; single men from the local military base who knew they were welcome to enjoy the meal & family atmosphere...a couple of them eventually joined our family as husbands and others whose names I will never remember.

Grandma would make her Puerto Rican rice, which we ALL love & I think she purposely rations out for special occasions.  Of course I can't forget that my mom *always* made the ham--covered in pineapple rings with cherries in each center. Aunt Rosie always made pineapple upside down cake & Aunt Haydee, well...she 'made' a husband out of one of those marines...Aunt Ramona was the first to be whisked off by her military man early on, so we didn't spend as many Thanksgivings w/ her.

Each year drew a few different people, but the family was always constant; me, my parents, my brother(s), both grandmas & my aunts. Before we sat down to eat, we'd all stand around the table holding hands & one of the men, I think usually my dad, led us in grace.

Of all the things to remember, from those occasions, what stands out are the *people*...& I think that is really what is most important.

ETA: I was cleaning out the closet & recently found this picture--of this very event! 

L to R: Mom, dad, brother, & service member helping little me push in my chair.

Here come the HOLYdays!?!

I know some may be feeling the dread of the upcoming holidays. Maybe things feel really hard right now or you are missing a loved one that is not here or you just don't know what God is doing, if anything, in your life. Listen, first, it's ONE day out of every day. Someone decided to make it 'special'...but seriously, is it really any different from yesterday or tomorrow

? It's just the menu that is different.

The dates on the calendar change but GOD never does. I am not denying things feel really hard and/or your facing challenges. But pay attention here....especially if you are thinking you are going to have a *horrible* (for whatever reason) Thanksgiving or Christmas or Hanukkah or New Years or whatever...

NO you will not--God is GOOD! He is going to bless you w/ peace, good food, good fellowship & HIS presence. YOU are going to embrace each day, moment by moment & GIVE THANX--start w/ the breathe you are taking right this second. As your lungs fill w/ oxygen--He fills you w/ the goodness of his spirit. As your cells pump through your heart to be refilled w/ clean air again--so your soul longs for the cleansing of Christ. As your heart beats--it beats in rhythm w/ the Spirit of Christ.

You are not just "surviving"--you are thriving because God has called you to a life that thrives. You will live passionately, boldly proclaiming the good news & goodness of Christ--NO MATTER WHAT each day brings. BECAUSE you HAVE the JOY of salvation! That will NEVER be taken away. Remember: EVERY day is a HOLY day.

What is seen is temporary (husbands, wives, homes, marriages, cars, holidays) but what is UNSEEN is eternal--hold on to those eternal things: salvation, peace, love, charity, long-suffering, faith, hope!

God has prepared you your entire life, for your next breath & every breath after that. He has given you everything you NEED to get through each moment of every day because HE is with you & His spirit is withIN you. Greater is He that is IN you than He who is IN the world!

You are ok. You are daughters and sons of the King, wholly & dearly loved, all beautiful within!

Happy THANKSgiving.

This is Halloween! This is Halloween!

Halloween wasn't our normal night of shenanigans this year.  The past few months have moved so quickly and almost in a blur. Normally, Halloween would have found me sewing or some how pulling together home-made costumes much earlier.

We still did home-made but there wasn't any sewing involved. We did do our make-up though. Whatever works, right? We went with a Calavera or Dia de los Muertos theme this year. I chose it cause I knew doing the make up would be easier than sewing up costumes. I just didn't have the gumption to sew for everyone. I think it worked out really well. Plus in the kids art class--they studies the original Calvera artist and created their own calavera inspired pieces.

The Mr. finagled this photo-op on our porch and it came out pretty good, I think. We walked two blocks for more than enough candy then headed home. But not before we visited a home that was just as festive as they were last year. Apparently, the father of the house enjoys playing DJ. They light up their drive way and he sits in the entry of their garage, blasting music from his laptop. It's fun and really makes me feel like I live in a great neighborhood. Of course Sammy didn't waste this opportunity to show his moves.

There wasn't much screaming from a nearby house on the same block that sets up some sort of maze/haunted house thing. Another corner house that usually draws mobs of people, didn't set up anything this year either. I'm perfectly ok with that. The crowds tended to get slightly out of control last year.

Kurtis had a great time passing out handfuls of candy at a time. Although there were crowds in the neighborhood, we didn't actually get very many ToTers. I think becuase we were the only house on our block passing out candy! Good thing we are on a corner.

Oldest kept himself busy hiding in the bushes to startle people walking by. One man ran away and left his toddler there. Needless to say, the mother wasn't too happy about that.

Thanksgiving

Our camera was dropped in the sand...so although the pictures are few, the memories are innumerable. The picture above is the headband I wore in honor of the holiday...a little orange bird among orange berries.

We started our Thanksgiving festivities by running 5k for the local 'Turkey Trot' at the beach. What's not to be thankful about that? Gorgeous weather, supportive family, strong, healthy body, the beach!?! Hello!!

The Mr. then played tennis. The ktbunch and I enjoyed the rest of the morning slowly--with delicious oatmeal. It's amazing how much I LOVE oatmeal. Really. Growing up, we often ate it for dinner because it was cheap and that was all we had. It was nothing special and rather blah. I am so grateful for that hearty oatmeal though. And those lean times in my life. It made an impression on me, even though I will probably never know the complete scope of it. It is one of the most nutritious foods one can eat.

I like to 'gourmet' mine up though; I add dried, frozen or fresh fruits like cranberries, blueberries, apples, whatever is on hand. Filling fats like coconut oil, butter or even almond or peanut butter. Favorite spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. Vanilla is always a staple. Can't forget brown sugar! Now I use steel cut oats for more nutritional punch and sprinkle with wheat germ as well.

We were blessed with a complete Thanksgiving meal from Mimi's unexpectedly. How amazing is that? Oh and totally scrumdillyumptious!

Later we went to my Mother-in-Love's to hang out. We had no idea they were waiting for us to start eating! My two sisters-in-love and MIL had set the tables so lovely. It is such a blessing to live only 15 minutes away from family. The meal was delicious, of course. We visited for a little while and the middles and little played. We laughed and joked around.

Then it was time to leave to my aunt's house. It was a drive but what's an hour when you've road tripped across the country, right? Everyone from my side was there. My side has grown the past few years with a couple new additions; the next generation of cousins, two more boys. It works out great because Kurtis will now have someone around his age to play with. He was so good too as the older cousin of the two younger ones is not used to being around other kids very much. Kurtis took it in stride and basically ignored his attempts at shenanigans and toy control. I was proud of my gentle toddler.

I felt like I couldn't hug my grandma enough. She is getting older each day and mortality seems closer and closer. I owe so much of who I am to my grandma. She was always one of my biggest encouragers, when I was young. When she said it, I believed; knew I really could become all I ever wanted to be....."as long as I knew how to read". LOL

Of course the middles adore their two same age cousins, my nephews from my brother. They could care less about the holiday, the food and desserts, all they want to know is if the 'M & M's are gonna be there?'

My aunt already had her tree up and lots of Santa knick knacks out. It all looked lovely. She gave Birdy a TON of jewelry she didn't wear anymore. Little did I know that she has two huge jewelry chests filled. Birdy was really excited about it all though. Isn't that so sweet? My uncle has a mini-man cave in his bedroom. The guys enjoyed watching the game on his big flat screen in there. My aunt met my uncle while he was serving as a marine. My aunts would go on base every weekend to go dancing--they met at the club there, fell in love & the rest is history. I didn't really like him when we first met--he was so 'sporty'--needless to say we didn't have much in common. Turns out he's just a big ol' bear when you get to know him.

The evening wound down and it was back to our home. Our cluttered, well-lived-in and warm home. The home we've rented for the past 13 years. That's a long time to rent. A long time to be blessed with ridiculously cheap rent. Our home that is filled with reality. A reality that is filled with blessings beyond measure when you want to see it. Which I do. It was wonderful to fall into my cozy bed, layered with blankets that are just the perfect weight to make me feel secure.

I am blessed, of this I know.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

Happy Halloween

Another Festive Fall Evening has come and gone. Last minute, we added exterior lights and garden fencing with 'spider webs' along our walk way. We also brought one of our 'porch' swings and tiki torches from the back yard. We really like to hang out in our yard together and greet the Trick R Treaters. The Mr. downloaded some festive music to have as background. Old favorites like Monster Mash, horror movie theme songs, Thriller and the theme from Disneyland's Haunted Mansion.

If you've read my blog for any amount of time, you know I like to be crafty...OR perhaps you've randomly clicked on posts in October--then you'd know I prefer us all to dress as a *theme* and we (which means primarily ME) make our own costumes. THIS year my children decided to thoroughly REBEL & choose individual, unrelated characters. I am impressed by their creative choices though. I like to think they get that from MOI'!

This is a pic of oldest. He fashioned his costume, this year. after the DJ's in the TRON movie, Daft Punk. (his friend also created a similar costume so there were two of them) He created the helmet from scratch, using the interior of a bicycle helmet as the base, adding cardboard and paper mache to create the shape. He & his friend heated, shaped and added the plexi-glass visor then battery powered lights on the interior. I hand sewed another strand of lights around the collar.

Sammy chose to be a MIME, inspired by an old fashioned circus style act we saw at the County Fair. It was convenient that we were able to find the shirt, newsboy style cap and "suspenders" at the thrift store. The suspenders were actually two different elastic belts. The bowtie is a hair tie. I already had the theatrical make-up. People passing out candy would tease him by forcing him to talk, to which he kept replying, "Mimes don't talk!"

Birdy made her costume at a sewing class she took at the art studio the past six weeks. The dress was originally a men's long sleeve shirt. She altered it to fit and added a couple stripes. We found the wings at Dollar Tree and spray painted them black. We created antennae from jumbo size pipe-cleaners and pom-poms hot glued to a head band. I also did her hair in a make-shift 'bee hive' do. We also added a few little bees glued onto the dress for extra emphasis. We purchased yellow & black striped tights that she wore with her black chucks. She crocheted yellow chains as shoelaces to match.

We purchased this crocheted Angry Bird (a video game that involves shooting birds at obstacles and pigs) beanie for Kurtis from our trip to San Fransisco a couple weeks ago. We used it as inspiration for his costume. We kept it fairly simple by purchasing a pair of red sweats and red shirt from Walmart. I used yellow felt over his shoes as bird feet. I especially like his treat bag.

Again, I used felt and created the pig character from the video game. I did something different and hand sewed it together. It was fairly simple. Of course we all thought he looked fantastic--everyone else thought he was Elmo. <eye roll>

A friend and his son came by as did my brother and his family. We made chili and hot dogs and brownies. No one was too interested in the brownies since they had all that candy. More for me!

My nephews costumes were; "Smalls" from the movie the SandLot and a "shrunken adult". Well, my brother, the good sport that he is, dressed up too. He was a "giant kid" and insisted on playing the part all evening. He had a back pack, skate board and Nintendo DS he kept pretending to play as we walked the kids around the neighborhood. (I thought he looked like many of the college students I see every day. LOL) I could NOT stop laughing when I saw my brother. He's such a crack up. His wife was a good sport too--she doesn't usually dress up at all--dressing up as a little girl.

The neighborhood had a passive-aggressive vibe this year. A bunch of homes were decorated BUT had all their lights off when dusk arrived, the undeclared but universally understood time to start Trick R Treating. Many blocks only had a couple homes passing out candy. It was weird. You'd have one friendly home welcoming children, then three dark then another friendly one. We had to walk blocks and blocks just for a decent handful of goodies.

A few homes went all out with "Haunted Houses" which were really horror-ific displays of gore. We avoided those, of course but they attracted large crowds. There were plenty of 'drive-in' families this year too. (families that drive into the neighborhood, park & go Trick R Treating) I don't mind, really. I like being a friendly face.

One home was really in the neighborly spirit. They were passing out candy from their porch and from their connected garage they had a DJ playing fun party music. I think the DJ was the dad of the family, possibly even the grandpa! Their drive-way served as a dance floor. I had so much fun as my middles took to the 'stage' and began to strut their stuff. Initially they started dancing as a joke, I think, doing silly moves. The DJ got excited and started playing even more upbeat dance music to accommodate them and they began to 'really' dance. A crowd formed and they basically had their own dance show going on, even Kurtis got in on the action. We must've stayed there, dancing for at least 15 minutes. I think we could have stayed there all night but my brother is not much of a dancer. He and the wifey enjoyed the 'act' from the sidelines. That was my favorite part of the evening and left me with warm, fuzzy feelings for my neighborhood.

While we were canvassing the neighborhood, the Mr., oldest and our friend Forrest were back at home passing out candy and offering a bit of frightful fun for the older candy beggars.