Taking a Hike...in Eaton Canyon

Early last summer,Patrick informed me that he and some of his friends from where he works wanted to go on a hike and wanted me to go with them since I was about the only one of them that had ever done any hiking. I told him to decided where they wanted to go and we would see about the hiking trails in that area.He took one of my hiking books to work so they could look through it and when he came home that afternoon, he informed me that they wanted to go somewhere where there was a water fall. A waterfall?? I told him I had no idea where there would be a water fall at that time of the year and the fact that we were in the midst of a severe drought would also make it tough to find a waterfall. Well Patrick is not one to be so easily distracted from what he wants, so a couple of days later he informed me there was a water fall in Eaton Canyon and that is where they decided they wanted to go.
He had even found out where Eaton Canyon was and how we were to get there, I was really impressed!!

So early one Saturday morning, we all met up at Joseph and Cherry's house to take off for our hike. I had not met his co-workers at this point but I had heard alot about them from Patrick. There were Joseph and Cherry, Emily and Dennis (who had only recently met) and Patrick and I. So we set off in 2 cars for Eaton Canyon.

Eaton Canyon is located right outside Pasadena in Altadena, which is in the San Gabriel Mountains. It is really a beautiful place and the nature preserve covers around 190 acres. Because of the heat, we started out on our hike at around 8:30 and we were so glad we did. The hike from the parking lot to the waterfall is just over a mile one way. We had so much fun and saw some really beautiful scenery and we even got to see a real live inhabitant of the canyon in one of the streams we had to cross, a small snake who was keeping himself cool in the water. It is a pretty easy hike, so if you like to hike or think you might want to try...this is the hike for you. I did not know it at the time but there was alot of area history thattook place in the canyon,and there is a really nice Nature Center there to explain the history of the canyon.

We took our time and made it to the falls. There were a few people who made it ahead of us and it was peaceful and calm. A lady and her daughter were swimming in he pool at the bottom of the falls and I just had to take off my shoes and put my feet in the cold water. It was so nice! We hung out at the falls for a little while taking pictures and such. We were really enjoying the peacefulness of the place but decided we had better head back before it got too hot. We stared back and stopped in some shade to have a snack and drink some water and as we were doing this, about 30 Boy Scouts came by us heading for the falls, the peacefulness of the falls was not going to be peaceful much longer! We were so glad we made it there when we did. We made it back to the parking lot around 11:30. We stopped by the Nature Center to use the rest rooms and to cool off(it is air conditioned!) and see the exhibits they have there. We ended our hiking that day at a Chinese Restruant where I got to have one of my favs....Black Pepper Gravy Pork Chops...after that meal, we all headed homes for naps!!!

It was such a beautiful place in the Summer, I plan on going back in the Spring when everything is in bloom.....wanna go with me? Just let me know!

later

p.s. I case your interested: www.enca.org






Joseph and Cherry
Jaymes and Patrick
Dennis and Emily

A Walk on the Wildside....taking a walk in my neighborhood

It was such a beautiful day today that I just had to get outside this morning and take a short walk in my neighborhood. I really enjoy walking and when the days are longer I usually take a mile or two walk every day on my way home from work at the Los Angeles Historic Park over by China Town. But today PL and I had plans later in the morning so I settled for a mile walk here in our part town. After being cooped up for many days because of our rain storms, it was really great to get out and enjoy the beautiful morning. Thought I would share with you some of the scenery from my walk....hope you had a chance to get out and enjoy the day yourself!

later.....

I Found.....Funkeytown!!!

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There was a song back in the early 80's (for those of you who remember the early 80's) that everyone seemed to love, I know I did..it was called "Funkytown" and it was a really big hit. It was written by Lipps,Inc back in 1979 and through the years has been redone by several groups, none as good at Lipps, Inc.

Part of the lyrics say "Won't you take me to...Funkytown". and that phrase kept repeating through out the song..."Won't you take me to...Funkytown". Now I don't know about you, but every time I heard that song I wondered...where is Funkytown?, if I knew maybe I would want to go too!! Well wonder no more...cause quiet by accident...I found Funkeytown!! Yes Sirree!! It is right there on Sunset Avenue in Silverlake....so next time someone you know want to go to Funkytown....just drive them right on over...and who know, I just might be there to welcome you!

later!

Waking Up with LA

Something that I really enjoy doing is watching the City of LA wake up in the morning. Sounds crazy huh?

As most of you know I love scouting out places I have not been to in LA. I usually only get to do this on the weekend, but all during the week on my drives to and from work, I am always on the lookout for things I want to take pictures of and maybe learn more about. I have found the best time to come back and take pictures of things is very early in the morning, before people get to stirring about. Today was such a day. It seem since around Thanksgiving I have busy enough with doing 'stuff' that I have not had the chance to go on one of my picture taking excursions. There were a couple of things I really wanted to get pictures of before they vanished ( and believe things seem to vanish quickly sometimes around here!) So I got up early and headed out,actually I was leaving a little later than I had wanted to but the bed was oh so warm on this chilly morning if ya know what I mean. But I was up and out around 7:30 and I headed over to Sunset Blvd where there was a picture spray painted on the side of a building I wanted to get a picture of. Actually I see pictures like this all the time and they are always in little out of the way places and they are really small and most people do not even notice them. Pics like these you really have to get quick because they are usually painted over as they are considered graffiti. I was really afraid this one would be gone and to be honest I could not remember which building I had seen it on exactly. So off to Silverlake I went and to my delight, it was still there. Now to look at it you will probably wonder why I would want a picture of it, well I think the thing that excites me the most is that these are very temporary works of art and they are gone so quickly. It is things like this about LA that gets me excited. I look for things like this every day and in doing so it makes me really take in to account everything I see very day. How often on your drives to and from work do you really pay attention to what you pass by? I take the same route to and from work most everyday.
I drove this route for months not paying attention to what I was driving by, then one day on Melrose Ave I noticed this small black and white spray painted picture of
a mouse holding a sign, it was spray painted from a stencil most likely. I laughed when I noticed no one walking by it even seemed to see it. The next day when I drove by, it was gone, painted over. From then on I hooked. I started looking to see if there were others and from time to time I would see more. Since Patrick got me my little Canon camera year before last, I always carry it with me and when I can I stop and take pictures of the little masterpieces before they are gone. But this also got me to seeing details in allot of other things. You will really be amazed in what you see around you if you pay more attention to what you pass as you go to and from places.

But I learned early on in doing this, that by getting up really early and getting out, there aren't that many people out. Now mind you I am talking the weekend here.
But I love the early morning feel of driving around LA early in the morning and listening to the quiet hum of the city. And then as I am out taking my pictures or exploring a new street, I notice the City slowly starts to come alive. The sun gets a little higher and slowly I notice more people start stirring about and then slowly the street traffic picks up . The shops start to open up and before you know, you can hear all the normal noise of the City. I just love getting to experience this.

Have you every got to hear where you live wake up? Have you ever noticed how the world where you live starts to come alive and starts a new day? It is really an exciting thing to witness,I hope one day you will take the time to!

later

Happy 2010!! (a few days late)

Well here we are..aleady at the end of the first week of 2010...thankfull this week did not seem to totally fly by like they did in 2009...I want 2010 to hang around for a little while, I have things I want to do this year!!

Our New Year's eve was nice, we stayed home like we have for the last few years, we had the neice and newphew over and also our BFF Timmy. Patrick had to work a little later than usual but we still had enough time to eat and watch some TV before the big moment arrived. This is the time we usually exchange gifts with Timmy and this year was no different. We always have alot of fun doing it on New Years Eve, it is almost like having 2 Christmas's!! I have to say I am soooo excited with what
he got me this year. He got me a gift cerificate to Esotouric Bus Adventures!!!!!
I hear you saying WOW!!...what the hell is an Estouric Bus Adventure???
Well let me tell you!...It is a bus tour of different kind...and each on has to do wih something bout LA. Like the Black Dahlia Tour..which is about the unsolved 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short, except this tour it follows her sad, solitary life in post war LA. They have many different tours, you really should to over to www.esotouric.com and when check them out. I first heard about them last year when I was attending the Downtown LA Art Walk and have really wanted to take one of them, so now I get too...and Timmy is coming along so I KNOW it will be fun.

Getting back into the regular routine at work after having 3 weeks of only working 3 days a week was a little rough, not only for me but everyone in our office, including the Docs! But we made it, my next scheduled Holiday is not until May, but I am sure I will sneak a day off in there somewhere, probably around my Birthday in March. One sad note for me at work is, my best buddy at work, Jill, gave her notice and will be leaving us this coming Tuesday. I will really miss her, she was working there when I started and besides helping train me, we because good friends too.
She even taught me how to ride the Bus here in LA one night after work!!! I still have my other buddy, Nancy, and I am sure the new person and I will get along fine, aleast one can hope!!

So here we are....starting off a whole new year and a hold new decade. Looking back over the last 10 years I am amazed at the life changing things that happened in my life...in 2000 I met Patrick (talk about life changing!!),in 2002 I left the desert after almost 16 yeard to move to LA to be with him, in 2004 we had our Wedding, in
2006 my Mom passed away, in 2007 I started what will most probably be the last job in my work career(they have made me promise to stay with them till I retire,at the age of 70). Also over these a past 10 years I have met some of the nicest people I have ever had the privelge of knowing and I have added so many members to my Chosen Family. I can't help but wonder what the next 10 years is holding in store!!

later