Wednesday, July 30

Joshua Tree



After spending the night in Needles, CA, we drove onto Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree National Park.

Let me tell you, Needles is not the most happening place! And gas was $5.29 a gallon. Fortunately we didn't need to fill up there. We had pizza at a local pizza joint and stayed at Motel 6. The next morning, we had to drive to 3 filling stations to find one that had hot water. (For my tea and Will's coffee.)

Upon arriving in Twentynine Palms, we drove through the town and then headed into the park. There is just so much to see in there. It was nearing 100 degrees, so we spent the day driving around the park, stopping at many of the exhibit points to check out the views and ever changing landscapes. So amazing.

Later in the afternoon, we checked into the Harmony Motel, a small motel on the edge of town. Their claim to fame is the fact that U2 stayed there while they were working on the Joshua Tree album. It's a pretty awesome place. We had the room on the end so had a great view of the desert. I think it reached 110 degrees that afternoon so we took a dip in the pool and then relaxed on our patio for awhile.

Ah yes, vacation!

There is so much to tell, and I keep getting up late so I'll have to continue with this in the days to come.

Tuesday, July 29

We are back!



Vacation was absolutely splendid. I am not quite ready to be back home even though it is nice to be with the kitties again.

On the first day of our drive, I took a lot of photos from the car. The clouds were amazing that day, and I just love the colors of the desert. It had been a very long time since I was west of Albuquerque and so my eyes were glued to the landscape for most of the day.

There is lots to show and tell, but I got up late this morning and have very little time before work. Must go water now.

P.S. I actually slept fairly well throughout our vacation, but as luck would have it, last night I barely got any sleep at all. Work is going to be f-u-n today!

Sunday, July 20

One more flower picture before I go.

Okay, two more.





I took these shots in my mom's garden. Her echinacea is always quite lovely. I just love it. And I think the top shot is my favorite echinacea picture to date.

I'll be checking in sporadically on Flickr...have a great week!

Friday, July 18

flickr faves

7/18/2008
1. Alexanderplatz, 2. pelicans & sea, 3. whispering, 4. Untitled, 5. , 6. sphinx, 7. Longing for film, 8. dance, 9. Halford Special!, 10. pixie, 11. italy will have to wait..., 12. Call me

Created with fds flickr toys.

My tomato plants are doing quite well.





The eggplant is looking good too. I can't wait for fresh tomatoes and eggplant! Yum. Next year I am going to plant all the vegetables in the side yard because they are doing so much better than the plants in the back. Our back yard is tough.

Happy Friday!

Thursday, July 17

Happiness is also...



...self-portraits with my boy Rocky!

Frustration is...

...the DSL at home not working and Qwest, as per usual, providing awful customer service.

It did not work Tuesday night. Magically it came back on for awhile Wednesday morning, but then it didn't work in the evening. Or this morning.

How am I supposed to get my Flickr fix??

...ripping out 18 rounds of knitting because I could not find a dropped stitch. I spent all evening backtracking to no avail. I thought I was going to lose my shit. Okay, I did lost my shit for a minute. It's all better now, I just have to redo those 18 rounds.

...being so excited about sleeping through the night and then not being able to fall asleep last night. The upside being that when I did finally fall asleep, I slept until 6:00 instead of waking up every hour.

...just having one of those days where so many things seems to go wrong.


Happiness is...

...getting my Flickr fix at work. Whew!

...only two hours and one day left of work before vacation.

...all the rain that we've been getting. Unfortunately it's caused some leaks and flooding for some folks, but personally I have no complaints. The garden is much perkier now and in this climate, we *always* need rain.

...having three DVDs of Battlestar Galactica waiting for me at home!

...VACATION!!!

Wednesday, July 16

Whoa.

This morning,
when I woke up and
looked at the clock,
it was 5:19.

FIVE NINETEEN.

Unbelievable.

Considering that
my alarm is set for 5:30,
I'd say that qualifies
as sleeping through the night.

The first time in...
I have no idea how long.

So so sweet.

Wednesday, July 9

All I really want to do these days

is go on hiking adventures!



We hiked 16 miles round trip on this past Sunday. Destination: Pecos Baldy Lake. It took us through grand meadows and forests of aspen and conifers. We saw elk (on our drive out there), deer, marmots and lots and lots of cows! It was all very exciting.

I keep meaning to write more here...I was kind of enjoying the daily posts. But I've been busy with work, knitting and watching Season 1 of Battlestar Galactica. And thinking about our upcoming vacation which is only 10 days away. Woo hoo! Still struggling over which cameras to take with me. Decisions, decisions.

As for the sleep issue, it is better and it is not. I still have yet to sleep through a night, but with some of the dietary changes and not drinking alcohol, I am feeling better than I was there for awhile. All I can do now is hope for that some of these changes eventually lead to better sleep.

Tomorrow we are off on another hike. We are headed up to Santa Fe Baldy with my dad. We did it last summer and the wildflowers at the top were amazing. Looking forward to getting up there again.

More soon. Be good.

Wednesday, July 2

Stewart Lake

where we went today.
Our last hike was to Stewart Lake, a small spring fed lake in the Pecos Wilderness. It is a beautiful hike, albeit a bit on the strenuous side. There are a few ways to get there, we chose to do the 12 mile loop route. We didn't see anyone on the trails, although there were quite a few people at the lake. A few campers and a handful of fishermen.

I hadn't been out that way since...well, since I don't know when really. When I was a kid, many of our family backpacking trips started out in that area. It was really surprising to me how different it felt to hike on the Windsor Trail from the other side. It looks nothing like the hikes we set out on starting from the Santa Fe Ski Area. It was like a whole new world. So, so awesome.


I love this picture of Will. Hiking = happiness.


Another one of my favorite shots from the day.

This coming Sunday we are going to hike to Pecos Baldy Lake, another tough one. Apparently the wildflowers are wonderful in July and there are longhorn sheep up there!

Sheep!

Tuesday, July 1

I love echinacea.



The echinacea in our garden is just starting to bloom. I have a white one which I bought at a nursery and a pink one that my mom transplanted from her garden.

I'd like to have more in our yard, but I think I am done planting for the season. Typically I get burnt out on gardening in September or so, but this year, I already feel burnt out. The bigger yard is just more work than I can handle and takes up a lot of time. I love gardening, but I do need to pay attention to the rest of my life as well! Plus the backyard frustrates me so because the giant elm tree does nothing but shed sticks and leaves all over the place.

Speaking of the yard, I have to go out and water. I'm behind schedule, as always. It baffles me that I can get up at 5:30 and still end up running late.

More soon...I want to tell you about our hiking adventures!