Burn Season

It's that time of year when San Francisco empties out. Burners have been building human-sized cat trees or gigantic flaming metal sculptures for months and are ready to transport them to Black Rock Dessert for the annual burning of the man. This year is no different. There are Burning Man virgins in my circle making the trek, pulling their costumes together and buying their goggles.

But, what is different about this year is that there is a real serious burn happening, too. The Rim Fire, as its been touted, is ravaging the Sierra Nevadas and wreaking havoc on my family and thousands of other residents of the area. While I remember many summers when fires affected the area - it is a dry climate after all - the fires never got so close. Scary.

Los Angeles: Griffith Park

While in LA, I was able to get out and explore Griffith Park, which was fun. The sun was shining and I happened upon a very LA scene: the Friend Zone was being filmed near where the old zoo was. As someone who gets sucked into whatever is on Hulu, and is sometimes a watcher of Raising Hope, Lucas Neff caught my eye although I had no idea who his leading lady was (I never got sucked into Switched at Birth or Desperate Housewives).

At any rate, aside from that minor excitement, there were lots of smiling Angeleno's even in the middle of the day on a Friday, including a sister of the cloth. My jacket was off in about fifteen minutes since the sun was beating down and I was ascending almost the entire time. From the top of what seemed to have been called the Five Points trail, I was able to catch views of downtown LA although I was walking on the side overlooking Glendale for the majority of my "climb".

When I move to LA, I will definitely need to spend ample time tromping the hills of the park regularly.

Drive to Los Angeles

After the holidays spent with the family, I took a drive down to Los Angeles to relax, spend time with friends, and regain my sanity. On the way, I snapped some photos of Solvang during a pit stop and the beach near Carpinteria:

The tourist office was thriving, even in the midst of winter.

 

The center of town is marked by this windmill. Check out those gorgeous New Year's Day blue skies!

 

This made me laugh: palm reader next to the Little Mermaid Restaurant right on the main drag.

 

 

 

 

And, then there was this beautiful view from Hwy 1 near Carpinteria at dusk.

Groveland Getaway

For the holidays I headed up to my parents' house in Groveland, as usual. At the end of the week and after some light snow and heavy rains, I got out for a beautiful hike along Big Creek. Here are some photos...

There was even a two-mile marker that lent itself to a little tableau ringing in the new year.

Fourth of July on the Lake

For the fourth, I went up to my parents place, soaked in the heat that San Francisco lacks, hit up the tiny farmer's market that only comes out in Summer, got my hair cut for $20, watched a boat parade filled with sitcom-themed putters and party boats, ate masses of food including delicious organic mini sliders, and watched with my mouth wide open as the fireworks shot over the lake and their sound ricocheted off the mountains. Now this is summer.