The Letter "M"

The letter for this week's Alphabet Photo Challenge is "M".

I decided to do my "M" post like I did my "L" post...use only photos from a trip.

This time it was a day trip to the Mountains for some Mountain biking.

This first photo probably has nothing to do with "M" except that I took it at the top of the Mountain at the ski patrol building.  I think it's quite clever and cute!  What a great idea for using old skis!

  My dear hubby and I rode the ski lift up to the top (our Mountain bikes went for a ride too!).

Then, we headed out to enjoy some of the Many Miles of new single track trails the resort recently built.  Most of the people there were riding on the downhill and stunt trails.  That made it nice for us.

It seemed like we had the place almost totally to ourselves.  We only saw a couple cars when we

were near a road at the top.  And, we saw a few hikers.  Otherwise, the single track trails

were all ours!  It was fun riding through the trees on some trails we'd never been on...

It's Monsoon season and we've had a lot of clouds lately.  We were hoping to experience some rain that day but it never happened.  We did enjoy the clouds, the shade, and cooler temps they gave us.

This is what it looked like up on some of the ridges of the Mountain...

That's Me!...

We took a break at a great look-out point.  The views were amazing but not good for photos because of the hazy, Moist air from the clouds.  I looks like I'm Meditating but I'm just enjoying a little snack.

And, the cold wind that felt so refreshing because of all the heat we've had lately.

There's my Mountain bike and a hazy glimpse of the Magnificent view I had from my big rock...

On the way back down, we stopped to look at a Meadow filled with what I always thought was 

Skunk Cabbage.  But, I just looked it up and now I'm not sure.  But, this area is always 

so pretty and worth a stop.  Obviously....much prettier in person.

 We rode over 10 miles at about 8,000 feet of elevation!  Whew!

That earned us a Mexican feast!  And, a Margarita!  Yum!

On our way back to the truck from the restaurant, we Marvelled at this amazing wood Mountain bike...

I've been putting off this post for a couple days because I was taking photos of more things that start with "M".  But, I decided to keep it simple and all about our afternoon in the Mountains.

Have a Marvelous week!  :-)

Mini Vacation and the Letter "L"

Our summer has been so busy that trying to fit in a vacation has been challenging.

We squeezed a mini vacation in last week.  We stayed fairly local to reduce travel time and cost and maximize our fun and relaxation time.  We went camping about two hours away near Big Bear Lake.

I decided to use the trip to take pictures for the Alphabet Photo Challenge.

So, this is a vacation and a photo post all in one.  The letter for this week is "L".

The weather was warm...hot in the sun...but about 20f degrees cooler than at home.

That was a refreshing break.  Day time temps were around 80f.

Here's a Lovely view of part of the Lake from the north shore...

We stayed up there from Sunday to Friday.  Here's our Little traveling Lodge...RV...

Some campers arrived Later in the week with this tent trailer.

It's like staying in a Loft or a tree house.  Pretty cool, I think.

We did some reading, played cards, assembled a jigsaw puzzle, ate and drank, 

crocheted, knitted, biked, hiked, shopped and Lounged.  My daughter spent many hours

in the hammock and read.  I finally got a chance to try it out before we Left...

We stayed at Pine Knot Campground which is right next to our favorite Local ski resort, Snow Summit.  We Literally could walk down the road in our campground and right onto Snow Summit.

They've been doing a lot of work this year to turn it into a bike and adventure park when it's not ski season.  They were doing some work on the east side and had rows of ski Lifts Lying in rows...

Since they were just sitting around and not working...I called them Lazy Lifts...

We headed over to the Big Bear Discovery Center one day for a visit.

They have a bronze sculpture in front of a Large Bear...

Inside was an adorable Little bear to welcome everyone coming in...

There were some structures (for shade??) out front with benches under them.

I thought the shadows were fun and made some interesting Lines...

From the Discovery Center, we set out for a hike on the Cougar Crest Trail.

We hiked about 5 1/2 miles that day.  It was hot but there were a lot of 

great things to see along the way.  Like this Large old tree...

Little, baby trees...

Interesting and beautiful Lines in the trees...

Lichen...

Lizards...

A Little rattler!  Hubby almost stepped on it.  It was stretched out along a rock in the

middle of the trail.  It was quite small and easy to miss....until it rattled and started to move! 

The top of this trail provides spectacular views of Big Bear Lake and the surrounding mountains.  

There are several benches at the top.  Here's my daughter Looking at the views...

We spent one of our mornings riding around the entire lake...18.6 miles!  Whew!

Here's one of the Lovely views of the Lake and surrounding Landscape.

And, that mountain bike...it was my Lift around the Lake!

I had to get a picture of this old Lodge in Fawnskin (a community on the north west side

of the Lake).  It's fascinating!  I'd Love to know the history of it. I wonder how big it is inside?  It's Looks quite Large.  How wonderful it would be if it could be fixed up and running again.

Little and Large bird houses on the side of a tree...

Little pine needles...

Long pine needles...

Little Oak Leaves.

Large Oak Leaves (a different variety)...

Lines on a Leaf... 

My daughter and I went shopping in the Big Bear Village one day.

I saw this pretty Little butterfly while we were there.  Look at the Lines in it's wings... 

Hollyhocks seem very happy up there.  This one was in front of a restaurant in the village.

There's a bee hiding inside!  And, Look!...more Lines...

More Hollyhocks...more Lines and what a Luscious red color! 

Little Daisies...

Little but Larger Daisy...

Lots of even Larger Daisies...  Pretty!

We're officially about a month away from the time we'd normally see Fall color.

But, somehow, some of the trees are already starting to change.

I Love all the beautiful colors of Leaves in these trees...

This tree was breathtaking in real Life.  The color was intense and stunning!  It glowed!

I Love the rich red Leaves.  They Look so pretty against the white trunks and branches.

Our mini vacation was way too short!  But, it was wonderful to get away for a few days.

It gave us all a chance to be together before our daughter goes back to college.  I Love that!

And, it's always great to spend time in nature.  I can never get enough of either!

The letter "L" has been one of the easiest and most fun letters so far in this challenge.  The whole family enjoyed playing along.  We were surprised at how many words we use that start with "L".

I repeated quite a few in this post but I think I used quite a few.  Hmmm...I'm curious...  I think I'll list them out to see.....   lovely, lake, little, lodge, later, loft, lounged, literally, lift/lifts, lying, lazy, large/larger, lines, like, lichen, lizards, look/looks/looking, landscape, left, local, love, long, leaf/leaves, luscious, lots and life   ...I think I got them all.   Wow...that makes 31!  That was fun!

For anyone who's interested, photos were taken with my Razr cell phone and Canon Rebel.

Penelope Post

Just have to share some photos of my precious Penelope.

She's the sweetest, cuddliest, silliest, most wonderful and unique kitty I've ever had!

I love this girl!

Her and I have bonded and she's my sweet lil girl.

Every morning she waits until she sees me open my eyes and then runs over for morning snuggles.

I love that!  She even looks into my eyes with a loving look and puts her paw on me.

It's become a morning ritual.  She's trying to make it a middle of the night routine too.

If I wake up in the night, she runs up and lays next to me for at least a few minutes of snuggling.

She's so sweet!  Just look at her adorable little face...

We started taking her on camping trips when she was itty bitty.  She meowed a LOT!

We went again last week and she did SO much better.  She did very little meowing.

 I think she even liked it.  She seemed to enjoy looking out the windows. 

She hung out in the back seat with my daughter for most of the trip.

She wore a harness and a leash to keep her safe.

In this photo she was checking on our dog Salsa who was laying in the back...

A little time in the front seat with me...

And, in the back seat again, sitting on my daughter's lap.

She used my daughter's arm as a paw rest...

She rested her chin on the window sill of the door for a while.

From the reflection in the glass, it looks like she fell asleep...

She seemed to enjoy her week of camping.  There was a lot to see, smell and listen to and that

kept her awake and busy watching out the windows and running around the RV all week.
She slept and snuggled at night and early in the mornings but took very few naps.

Now that we're home, she's all tuckered out.  She played with her toy a little this morning.

And, she did a little sun bathing.  But, most of the day has been spent cat napping...

She was very relaxed and stretched out on the love seat this afternoon...

Such a cutie!