Third Try's a Charm

The first time we tried to ride the balloon it was too windy. The second time it had mechanical problems. So we tried again on Thursday evening. W called and they said they were flying. So we hurried there.
The basket is a circular cage that is only about 3 feet wide. Note the frame above W and C.
The passengers have to be evenly distributed to keep it balanced. The balloon is on a cable. We were up at 400 feet for about ten minutes.

It also has some flaps with cords that can be pulled to let out helium. The flag shows that there is a little wind. They don't fly if it is more than 15mph.
After all that excitement, C was hungry and decided to eat a giant peach.

Waves

We decided to do some exploring. This time we drove to New Port Beach and went out on the peninsula. We took a lunch along and ate it on the ocean side beach. There was a good wind blowing and I thought it was pretty cool, but there were people playing in the surf. There were a few surfers out too, in wet suits.
This area is interesting. The west side is filled with boats. The peninsula is jammed with buildings and homes. If you have back door shore on the inside, your boat is tied up there, or there may be a string of boats on buoys there. At one time there was a wharf area with an amusement park. All that is there now is the Ferris wheel and shops. We had done some sailing with W in this area when we were out for his graduation.

W had recommended an area called Crystal Cove to eat and explore. So we went there next. Buildings were first built here in the 40's and 50's. It is still being restored.

We did some beach walking. The tide was coming in. There was good surf here but no surfers as there are lots of rocks. We picked up a few shells at an area that had lots of shells, most of which were the same.

I took a few pictures of the waves
and of one that almost got B. He did get sprayed while washing off a shell but I missed it.

There are some interesting rocks on the beach. These rocks are round and are about 6-10 feet in diameter. They are not sand stone like everything else around here and look like basalt. They are composed of black layers. Cracks run out from the center. W says that there has never been any volcanic flows here. There are several of these rocks here, some lying down, some on edge, some tilted. So what are they? Any ideas L, since you have had the geology classes.
Left upper, double click to really see.
the above one is still embedded in the surrounding rock.

What would beach pictures be without one of these,

or without some of these?

We did see some tide pools but W says there isn't much life in them because of the contaminated run off.

After walking the beach, we stopped in and had dinner at the place recommended by W. It was good food and nice to sit and watch the beach and waves while eating.

For a Laugh

As I sit at our table, facing the back or kitchen area of our trailer, I look out on a slight hillside that is right behind the trailer. About twelve feet from our door and half way up the hill is the hole of a ground squirrel. He has another door over and behind our neighbor's trailer; about thirty feet apart.


While working at the computer I was watching him venture out and eat grass and seeds. He came down to the picnic table, close to us and out of the hole came another head. Now, maybe the ONE we say was actually sometimes the other one. (At the hole and lower left corner.)

B was out cleaning on the front of the trailer. All of a sudden I saw a flash of white out of the corner of my eye. There he was, making a mad dash for his door way with a prized possession that he had just swiped from B.

He kept smoothing down the sides with his paws. Maybe he wasn't sure it would fit down the hole. He kept looking back as if to say, "It's mine now and you are not going to get it."

This, That, and Other Things

I have been waiting to post a picture of the balloon that we keep trying to go up in with the hopes that we would make it. We will try again this Thur. eve but I've decided to just show this picture from when we were first there. It was B's idea.

Do you remember that giant asparagus plant that B was standing next to? (It was in the "Hiking" blog.) I went on the net and found out that it is a yucca whipplei plant. It lasts for one year. We were hiking last week, I'll tell more about that next, when we found one in bloom. This is what the top turns into. I know you can eat the root of some yucca but I think that is the one that is more of a tree. From what the site said, you can eat the pods that form from the blooms. I'm not sure that I would want to as it takes a moth to pollinate the blooms. She stuffs pollen down on top of the eggs that she has laid so that the seed will provide food when they hatch. They are in the pods.
Last week B and I decided to do some exploring by truck. We had seen a paved road that went S off of the main highway just W of the top before dropping down to Lake Elsinore.

For some of the way, it winds along the top of the ridge, sometimes on the west side and sometimes on the east side looking at Lake Elsinore, and then drops off into a canyon. At one point we could see a housing development but no road over to it. We also came across an area for four wheel vehicles to ride on. You can see some of those trails and the housing below.
Shortly after turning off the main highway we saw a sign, at a trail head, showing another trail head for going into Tenaja Falls, a hike of about 7/10 of a mile. We had seen the falls marked on the map at the trail head we take here at the park but it is some seven plus miles in to it on this side. This sounded like a much better way to get to it. So we drove about twelve miles on one lane, very twisty, however paved, road and finally got to the trail head. The whole time we were driving, we were wondering why they ever built this road as they went to some work to do it. I guess there are some ranches someplace up there and that it is good for getting to fires. (When we told W about this, he said that he had taken this road on his motorbike all the way to Interstate 15.) After hiking to the falls we back tracked.

The hike wasn't that steep although, since it was the mid afternoon, it was a little warm. At times the falls must be really something to see, but there wasn't much water going over now. This was the first view we had of it. We did hike around to the top of it. There is not water flowing, at this time, into it from the draw above it. There is some coming in to the left above the shaded area.
This drops down into a small pool.
This is on the trail just before you break out at the top of the falls. I thought the water flowing through here was pretty. That is a concrete slap that it is flowing across. Don't ask me how or who put it there.The trail head is just at the left end of the road that you can see. The trail is the darker line that circles around the hill just above the rocks in the foreground.In all, it was a nice hike and sure beat going in the other way.

While driving into Dana Point we had been seeing signs advertising a bike race. Last Sunday was it.

Since it is only about seven blocks from W's place, B and I walked down to it. We caught the last six laps of the Cat 2 race. W was back grading some papers but, after we called him, decided to join us to see the Cat 1 race. He had never gone to it. This drew some big names as the money was $15,ooo.
Check out the legs! B did.
Yes, the riders are blurry. I was hoping for even more as I was trying to show their speed.W was watching up at one of the corners with the riders coming towards him. He said that after the racers were around the corner, the wind from them just kept coming straight.

Now for the other thing.

There is a tree, or bush, that started blooming a few days ago here at the park. I decided I needed to send on a picture of it as the blooms are interesting.

The next picture shows some of the blossoms just starting to open. This is better if you double click it.
The light color on the ends of the red are pollen.
Further up the stem, you can see some of the seed pods from last year. The base of the red fibers also has this shape.
Apparently humming birds like this bloom also as when I was taking these pictures I heard a whirring sound and looked up to see a pair of them. I didn't have time to change the setting on my camera from micro, but here is what I got. They were gone in a flash. He is in the center of the picture.

Sunset

We went in to town yesterday afternoon so that I could take some pictures of the sunset on the beach. We had been on the beach previously for a sunset but I had left my camera at W's place. I keep it in my purse and I didn't take my purse to the beach. One of the things that was interesting before was as the waves came in they took on a purple cast. We were higher up last evening so I didn't get this effect.

We fixed some salads and took them along. Oh yes, we had fruit dessert. W and C were discussing if fruit is dessert or part of the main course. Since C didn't dish it up with the salads, it was dessert this time.
Each sunset seems to be different, depending on the atmosphere, moisture, etc.
As the sun goes down, sometimes it becomes different shapes. Double click on the below picture to really see it.
There were some surfers out as there were a few good waves. The waves weren't very big but were good ones, according to W. I didn't get any good pictures of them. There were a few boats out on the water fishing. It took them forever to turn on their running lights.
There is a path that runs along where the lights are. On the other side of the path are bushes and then it drops down onto the beach. After the sun was set, out of the bushes came four little rabbits. They lined up on the walk way, across from the bushes, and started nibbling on the grass at the edge of the path. We call them the new lawn edgers. That lasted until someone came along with their dog.It was cooler here, note the jackets, and a nice way to spend the evening. This is also a nice little park area above the sand. It is very close to W's place. No wonder he likes it here.