At The Coast In October 08

Again this year we made it back to the beach house at White Rock Resort. It was a nice drive on Wednesday along the Smith River to the coast and we made sure that we did it with a cup of Dutch Bros. coffee. Thursday we had a tee time at noon to play Salmon Run Golf Course, my dad, Heather and I had a great day it was beautiful. Friday my dad and I drove up the Smith River for day one of fishing along the north fork, it was a beautiful hike up the river but we managed to only see a school of fish but not catch any. Later that day all 5 of us went golfing on Del Norte Golf Course along the Smith River, it was my dad and Heather against my mom and me with best ball. Our team the "Jewish Viper's" (inside joke) ended up winning. Saturday involved a hike in the Oregon redwoods along with lunch, walks on the beach, and a beach campfire with hot dog's and marshmallows to end it. Sunday my dad and I tried fishing again but this time on the south fork and managed to find some Cutthroat trout, I landed about 13 fish but my dad got the big one for the day. Another fun trip of beautiful fall weather, golf , walks on the beach, and fly fishing.

Organic Vegetables

About a month ago we found this Organic Food Co-op that meets every week on Saturday in Redlands in front of The Farm restaurant. Today was our first time going there, picking up our pre-selected basket of organic fruits and vegetables, paying for the next time we come, and taking it all home for a way better price than at the grocery store. Each week someone collects all the money from everyone participating and then goes to local organic farmers and buys their produce at cost. They then devide all the produce evenly (depending on how many people decide to RSVP for that week) and distribute it on Saturday morning. We were really impressed with all the different kinds of fruits and vegetables we were able to get, and it's kind of fun to just let someone else pick out what's in season right now for you to eat. Our next pick up for us will be October 25th because we don't think we'll be done eating all our stuff by next week.
After we picked up our produce we took Jackson for a walk around downtown Redlands (does that alley look familar?). Then he was so tuckered out that he and Hermione took a nap together.

Huntington Beach Trip

One of  many beach trips over this summer. We went with our friends Trevor and Leah for a 1/2 day at the beach. After some taco bell, a wardrobe change, and some final yoga poses Trevor and I ventured out into the waves to do some surfing. Once again a beautiful day, but don't let the sunny day fool ya the water still needed a wetsuit. 

Memorial Day Weekend

Saturday morning Jill and I and the pup drove up to Ventura, CA for 2 days and a one night stay for the weekend. When we got there it was raining, but by the time we had walked around Ventura Harbor the clouds broke and there was sun. We ate lunch at a nice little restaurant called the Cajun Kitchen Cafe where we shared some chicken gumbo, red beans and rice, corn bread, and a biscuit. We eventually checked into the luxurious Motel 6 before going out to dinner later that night at the Anacapa Brewing Co. We followed that up with going to see Indiana Jones at the downtown Cinema. Sunday morning we got up and went for a 3-4 mile run with our new Nike+ipods on the Ventura River Trail followed by Starbucks for breakfast. At the last minute we decided to drive up to Ojai for part of the day and managed to catch there farmer's market, but sadly no dog's were allowed. After walking around the art festival they had that day we went back to a little organic cafe inside of the local market and found stuff for lunch.








Sunday afternoon after eating lunch we drove home to beat the traffic and also to prepare for the 15 mile round trip hike that we were planning to do the next day to the top of one of the 9 San Grogronio Peaks. Oh by the way, Jill and I have decided to summit all 9 peaks of the San Grogronio Mountain Range before we leave S. Cal in 2 years. Our friends Trevor and Leah were up for it as well and so Monday morning at 8:30 we made our way up towards the mountains. We stopped at the Ranger Station to sign a hiking permit and then up to the Foresee Creek trailhead that lead to San Bernardino East Peak Summit. It started off cold and foggy but eventually with some altitude change we broke through the clouds. About 1:00 pm we stopped and ate lunch just off the trail, and then continued on. As we got towards 8,500- 9,000 ft. elevation we begin to walk over mounds of snow that covered the trail periodically. Once we reached 10,400 the trail was mostly gone and we had to rely on the GPS coordinates for the summit. But even more than the GPS we used the trees (thanks to Trevor for noticing) since someone had cut parts of the bark to mark where the trail continued on from tree to tree. At about 5:00-5:15 pm we summited San Bernardino East Peak at 10,691 ft., and what a view!
We took it all in as long as we could, but then the descent had to start sometime. Half way down we caught a beautiful sunset and then we made use of the headlamps we brought until we reached the truck at about 9:30 pm. (Oh the burn!)

What we've been up to...

We've been making dinners, we took advantage of the REI sale this month and bought sleeping bags (thank you uncle Sam and Jackson). About a week or so ago I pulled out my fly rod, got my license and headed up to the Santa Ana river and manage to pull some nice trout out of there. I caught about 9 trout total some brown some rainbow, but only about half of them were of any size for that river / creek. It was a good start to the season though. We decided to plant a garden this summer and since summer is almost here we did the quick planter box method of cement blocks with a layer of chicken wire underneath due to our resident gofers. Took a couple days of moving dirt but we finally finished it and put a nice layer of compost and Starbucks Pike Place coffee grounds on top. So far we have two Roma tomatoes plants, one Serrano Chile, and one crook neck squash, today is a cooler day so we'll have to take advantage and plant some more.

Morning Book Review

I just finished this book in about 2 weeks after it sat on my bookshelf for a couple years. It was a pretty easy read so I was able to read a chapter every morning. In this book he follows the Lord's prayer and devotes a chapter to each line relating it to our lives today. The premise is in the title, how we must "Travel Light" and let go of the baggage we carry around each day. The "suitcases and duffel bags of sorrow, disappointment, and guilt", whatever it is that a person holds with them. The idea was good but to me not one of Lucado's best. Insightful on occasion, but some of the "baggage" I had a hard time relating to. Easy read though, of course still has redeeming value but to me not one of his best.

~ N. Schmunk