Farewell

After the boat ride, we returned to the cabin, and I prepared to leave. I needed to get home to continue to prepare for my new assignment for this year. I had a wonderful time! Thanks for including me Elsa and Miguel!!!

Next time, we hope Doreen and Barb will be with us! We missed both of you!

Friday's Hike and Boat Ride

After a slow morning, Elsa and I headed up the lake to Huntington Lake Resort. We walked along the road to get across the creek and then proceeded to the lake path. Again, it was a beautiful day with lovely vistas of the lake. Miguel met us at the resort where we ordered sandwiches to take on a motor boat ride across the lake. Miguel was our captain. Of course, our meal tasted delicious because we were outside and hungry. We navigated the entire lake before we gave up the boat.

Elsa and I repeatedly tried to capture a picture of an orange butterfly. We finally succeeded when we stopped at the dam next to Huntington Resort.

Eastman Park

As we returned to the valley, we stopped at the Edison Project park created in honor of Eastman, who engineered the various reservoirs and pipes. The electricity created will power one million homes. It is called the "Hardest Working Water in the World." Here the water pours from the power plant into the river and on to the lake.

Our Return to Huntington

We headed for the cabin as the rain began, but it stopped quickly. We stopped to take another picture of the vast expanse before us. Later, we stopped at a meadow we had admired on the way to the hot springs. Elsa and I frolicked at the edge of the meadow, wishing you were with us! We did verify that the meadow looks much prettier from a distance, as it proved to be a bog with hundreds of bugs.

The Scenery from the hot springs

While we were at the second hot spring, an orange dragonfly came by and was kind enough to light so I could take its picture. Wildflowers were scattered among the rocks, too.

Mono Hot Springs Inviting!

We returned to the river and climbed carefully over the slick rocks to reach to natural springs. Miguel had a hurt tendon he wanted to soak in the hot water. Elsa was not prepared for the mud and rocks with her sandals. We found two of the five springs. As you can see, Miguel was our guide over the rocks from the first spring to the second. The first one was the hottest, so we returned to it to soak until the thunder sounded and the rain began to fall.

Mono Hot Springs

The Mono Hot Springs Resort was established in the 1920s. There is a rejuvenated bath house, where you can sit in the water from the natural hot springs, or you can take a bath inside the bath house with the spring water. Massages are offered, too. There are cottages for rent, a general store and a restaurant. We continued back to the natural hot springs.

San Joaquin River

When we finally made it down to the river, it was beautiful! We were hungry, and, of course, Miguel had packed a snack for us. We enjoyed crackers and cheese as we sat on the rocks and enjoyed the view. Little did we know that we were just a brief walk from the actual hot springs. We would drive on only to find out that we had missed them.

The Journey Down to Mono Hot Springs

The road is very narrow road - one lane! We sporadically honked as we approached another blind curve or hair-pin turn. They seemed to be endless! The first picture shows the view from the edge of the road. The granite rock seen in the top picture is Bear Mountain. It is supposed to be the backside of a bear.

Kaiser Peak

Thursday, we decided to visit Kaiser Peak and Mono Hot Springs. Elsa remembered that it took quite a while to reach the hot springs and that the dirt road to the peak was deeply rutted, but not how twisted and narrow the road became. We had quite a trip for a short sixteen-mile jaunt! With my careful driving, we took two hours to arrive at the hot springs!

The above pictures are from Kaiser Peak. At the pass the elevation given was 9,182 feet! The top picture is of the pink flowers which thrive in the granite grannies. The second picture is of two large pieces of granite that perch as if they are going to topple at any moment. Elsa wanted a picture of me pushing on them, but I chose not to continue out to the edge! Chicken!

The third picture is the view from the top. In the distance is Edison Reservoir. It is part of the Eastman series of lakes.

We had a great day, however! The views were spectacular!

Second Day

Elsa and I were determined to kayak. We returned to Rancheria to rent the kayaks. We were glad that we chose to rent from that end of the lake because the wind comes up about 10:00 in the morning and blows toward that end of the lake. We were able to navigate up the lake against the wind and float casually on the return. We crossed the lake, headed up a finger past a Boy Scout camp to the entrance of a little creek. The far side of the lake is home to several camps for boys and girls. I wish I had gone to a camp like these. They all fronted the lake and had kayaks, small sailboats, canoes, motor boats. The campers were out learning how to navigate with these various means of transportation. They looked like they were having a great time!

The Ledo race was back on that day, too, so we had to watch carefully to stay out of the way of the sailboats. There were two different groups racing. On Tuesday, the racers had been divided into two groups - the gold and the silver. They were racing in their respective groups as we kayaked. It was great fun to be on the lake and watch the sailboats.

Eventually, we started back across the lake between the two racing groups. We hurried to make it before the boats returned to the middle of the lake. We had managed to kayak about three miles back to where the cabin is located. Altogether, we crossed about six miles! We felt great!

Randy's spot!

As Elsa put together her puzzles and Miguel worked quietly, I read Gulliver's Travels to see if it would be an appropriate addition for my senior English class. I am looking for ways to connect English literature and American government and economics. Heather suggested I try Gulliver. I hadn't read it since college. I'm sure I laughed harder and understood more this time. I tended to sit at the table in the living room under a good light. Miguel was generally on the couch across from me.

Elsa's Interests

Elsa loves to master puzzles! She spent mornings and late afternoons putting together a "moving" puzzle. This puzzle had no straight edges and could be changed once it was complete. Elsa's goal was to change it twice each day. She moved on to another puzzle, too. Because the puzzles were on a table on the deck, we had to keep watch on the sky to be sure we put the puzzle under cover before it rained.

When she had had enough of puzzles, she re-read her favorite book, The Little Prince. One of her book clubs is reading it, and Elsa is leading the discussion. She had a long list of quotes identified before I left.

Down time at the cabin

Miguel spent much of his time preparing gourmet meals for all of us. He created guacamole dip, served tomatoes with basil, mozzarella cheese, oil and vingear, a fish stew, and smoothies each morning! We were treated like special guests! When he wasn't cooking, he was working on his lessons for school and figuring out how to use his new calculator. He meticulously read the manuel and practiced each new skill. He also gave us an astronomy lesson. He kept us fed and mentally stimulated!

The Cabin

The homestead cabin originally belonged to Gile Tiffany's father. Gile and his brother, Charles, inherited the cabin, and their families share it to this date. Gile's family, Elsa's side, share the cabin during July, and Charles' family have the cabin during the month of August.

The cabin sits on a site owned by the forest service. It has a kitchen, bathroom, and living room. There are three sleeping porches. One is off the hall to the bathroom. The other two are off the deck at the back of the house. It is a short walk to the lake, which has a wonderful path that almost circumscribes the entire lake. Elsa has walked the whole lake. We walked the length of the lake. We walked up the lake the first day to the Rancheria Boat Dock. Miguel made a great sandwich for us, which we enjoyed as we watched the sailboats during their final race. As we were walking toward the docks, we saw a cluster of butterflies.

Huntington Lake

Miguel, Elsa, and I left Camarillo for Huntington Lake on Monday morning, July 12th. Elsa traveled part of the way with Miguel and part of the way with me. We arrived at their homestead cabin about 6:00 that evening.

Huntingtion Lake is east of Fresno in the Sierras. The elevation is about 7,000 feet. The lake is part of a series of lakes designed by a man named Eastman who hiked the mountains, figuring out the natural water flows and creating the system of waterways and lakes. Southern California Edison instituted the plan. Huntington Lake is about four miles long and about a half mile in width. This last weekend it was the setting for the national competition for Ledo 14' sailboats.

Visit with Diane and Steven

I spent Sunday with my good friends, Diane and Steven. They were very generous and took me out on their patio boat on Westlake. It was a beautiful day with good friends. Here is a picture of our skipper!

Diane and I spent much of our time worrying about a baby hummingbird that was found shivering under their front patio table. The mother bird was very busy protecting her baby and feeding it. Diane fed the baby sugar-water, but we stayed close to the baby. Later, we found a second baby we hadn't seen because we were too focused on the first baby. Here is what they looked liked.

Elsa and Miguel Welcome Me!

I stayed with Elsa and Miguel in Camarillo. They had a full agenda ready when I arrived. We went to Santa Paula with another couple to have dinner and see The Matchmaker, performed by the Santa Paula Players. The venue was wonderful. The actors did a good job!

Then, we started to pack for our trip to Huntington Lake. We were scheduled to leave on Monday morning.

Sunday, while Miguel watched the final match for the World Cup and Elsa went to a barbecue with the German Club, I went to Westlake Village to spend the day with my good friends, Diane and Steven. They took me out on their patio boat on Westlake. We had a lovely lunch of grilled salmon and sushi. We returned to their home to enjoy a glass of wine and watch a pair of baby hummingbirds who had fallen onto their front patio. Diane and I stayed very busy taking pictures and worrying that a cat or bird would take the babies. The mother hummingbird was very attentive. Here is a picture of one of the babies.

Another jaunt to Southern California

I headed to Southern California on Friday, July 9th, to attend the wedding of my good friends' daughter, Mia. The wedding was on Saturday, July 10th, at the Camarillo Ranch House. It was a beautiful setting for a perfectly lovely event.

My daughter, Heather, was one of the bridesmaids. Heather and Mia have been close friends since Mia arrived from South Korea.

Alonzo, Mia's brother officiated, and Lark, Mia's sister was the matron-of-honor.

I sat with my son-in-law, Josh, during the wedding and with former students and teachers from Newbury Park High during the reception.

One of the highlights of the evening for me occurred when Josh asked me to dance during the dance for mothers and sons. Thank you, Josh!!!

Here are a couple of pictures of this event!