that's me and jg at the top of saddle rock. we went for a quick hike after our july fourth bbq feast and before going to see the sb fireworks.
jg was grilling like a texan all weekend. tri-tip, beef and chicken asada, bell peppers, peaches, and a giant zucchini straight from our garden. you can see it all sliced up in the picture to the right above and before it was harvested in the picture below.
giant zucchini
this one is actually the second zucchini of the season. we sauteed the first one last week.
fireworks started promptly at 9 pm. as usual we walked a couple blocks up the street for a superb vantage point. except the fireworks were particularly lackluster this year. there were long pauses through out the show and no rapid fire finale, causing a bit of confusion in our neighboorhood crowd.
may favorite shot of the evening
other than over-eating, jg and i spent the weekend catching up on tasks we neglected during june due to guests and road trips. we took a couple of breaks to swing by likey mikey's birthday party and to meet up with fred+jennifer at yogurtland. i did sneak away for a 6+ mile hike with tom and rubayi saturday morning.
rubayi+tom on the trail to gaviota peak
good thing we started the hike at 8 am. the trail is 90% expossed and it got unbearably hot by 10, when we reached the peak.
i provoked rubayi to strike a pose
the view south
and east
we left the peak looking for a shady spot where we could snack. i brought some kiddie crackers while t+r brought choice stuff like strawberries, raspberries, and bread+cheese. some of us must be a five star chef!
schmee and five star chef in the distance
we ran into those two on the way down. see if you can guess which one is the fitness instructor.
i spent saturday afternoon in the garden pulling up old crops and reseeding a total of ten squares. none of the tomato plants ever fruited so they got replaced with okra.
these next few shots are my favorites from the weekend:
1.5 inch long click beetle
baby blue eyes (?)
to be identified
me with my all time favorite skirt
(thank you, texas!)
i hope your j4 weekend was equally patriotic with bbq, fireworks, and enough leftovers for the next two weeks.
that's really me, everybody! jg and i went rock climbing for the first time over the weekend. we were talked into it by our friend, the man with all the plans, chris diersen.
we drove to redlands friday afternoon and met chris at the five ten underground store, where jg and i got ourselves matching red shoes.
chris took us to rei for harnesses. then he made us a terrific grilled salmon dinner complete with green beans and baked potatoes.
yum!
bright and early saturday we went to meet up with a group of climbers before heading up to holcomb valley pinnacles.
team knuckleheads in the esri parking lot
holcomb valley pinnacles
coyote crag at 10:30 am
our intrepid leader rocking his harness
jg studying the lead climbers
we got there fairly early and the park was already full of climbers. chris set a top rope on a 5.7 route and everyone in the group took turn climbing. i was more than happy to climb last.
chris checking my knots
schmee takes on bye crackie
unlike gym climbing (when it took me four tries to get off the ground), i had no problem getting on the rock. the fear of embarrassment must have motivated me. i got pretty far up! chris did a great job giving me technical instructions. jg was shouting all manners of encouragement. he was rather pleased that i didn't give up after climbing six feet like i did in the gym.
schmee shortly before giving up
i didn't want to give up but i just couldn't extend far enough to reach the next hand hold. i tried so hard that my arms and legs got all shaky.
schmee back on the ground
(too tired to give my belayer a high five)
of course jg got to the top of every route he climbed. i tried to sabotage his efforts by shouting "hey jg, why don't you gain some weight?!" i don't know why i'm so bitter that he and i should fit the same size harness.
joe giving jg directions on a 5.8 route
joe making like spiderman
chris setting top rope
pretty clouds in the distance
one of the benefits of wearing tight red shoes
i climbed a total of three routes. jg climbed five. we wrapped up and headed out at 5:30, some seven hours after we started.
team knuckleheads
clockwise from left: richard, jg, joe, paul, schmee, rina, and chris
leaving holcomb valley pinnacles
we drove directly to eureka burger for dinner. chris touts it as the best restaurant in redlands. i ordered a fig marmalade burger with feta cheese sauce. it was delicious!
