Big Laguna Trail

Last weekend, Chuck and I went on a 11 mile hike at Big Laguna Trail. Unfortunately, our hiking book doesn't have very detailed directions nor the trails aren't marked well and we didn't complete our planned loop. But we did manage to get in 11 miles of hiking from retracing our steps back to the trailhead.

Laguna Lake with no water in the summer months. In the winter, it is wet and water fills in the lake.

Jennifer Visits San Diego

My sister and her boyfriend visited us over Labor Day weekend. Since Andy had never been to San Diego before, we did the more touristy attractions (San Diego Zoo, the beaches, Gaslamp District).

Of course you can't come to San Diego without going to the famous San Diego Zoo. It was my second trip there and I still enjoy watching the animals. A new baby panda was born in August, but won't be on display until he's 5 months old.

Fun tree people performing at the zoo.

My sister has taken to hiking, especially since her boyfriend is very outdoorsy. On her things-to-do in San Diego was a hike. We went up north to Poway and hiked 6.5 mile up Mount Woodson. It has tons of large boulders which are popular with rock climbers. Like our hiking book stated, the best time to hike Mount Woodson is spring, fall or winter as the summer months are just too hot....and boy are they right!! This is a moderately difficult hike because it's a good climb to the top, but the hot hot weather makes it strenuously difficult. You don't want to run out of water because you can get heat exhaustion pretty quickly.

I didn't think we would make it up to the top because it was so hot. Unlike the Pacific Northwest, the trails aren't covered with many trees and the sun beats down on you with few shady spots. Luckily, the huge boulders did provide for much needed sun relief. But we made it to the top and was happy that getting down would be easier since it all downhill. After the long hike, we quenched our thirst at Stone Brewery!

Road Trip to El Paso, Texas

Two weekends ago, Chuck and I took a road trip to El Paso, Texas. Chuck took two days off work and we had a long weekend to visit with the family, my in-laws. From San Diego, it is an eleven hour drive through Arizona and New Mexico. A long day of driving, but easier and cheaper than if we were still living in Seattle.

It has been a long time since we've seen John and Virginia, the wedding being the last time we got together. I haven't seen my nephews in a long time and was nice to hang out with them. Actually, I never met Shaun before, Virginia being pregnant the last time I visited El Paso, and Jack was three years younger. What a cute bunch of boys!

Not only did we get to visit the family, but it was Hatch green chile season! We bought thirty pounds of fresh green chiles, roasted and packaged them. Since we have a tiny freezer in our apartment, we took half for ourselves and gave the rest to the parents. So we have 16 quarter bags of frozen green chiles which to make a lot of hot and tasty dishes.

Arizona and its many cacti on the roadside. I didn't realize how tall they can get.

Halfway to El Paso, we had to stop by and eat lunch. Of course, we had to make the pit stop at a brewery. Chuck found Nimbus Brewery via Google maps at Tucson, Arizona. Really cute brewery with good food. Being from the Pacific Northwest and an ultimate beer snob, I thought their beer was just okay. Their flavors seem muddled and was shy of tasting like a stout or an IPA or a red ale, etc, etc.

Fortunately, we were able to hit up High Desert Brewery in Las Cruces, New Mexico again while we were there. Really really tasty beer and it's good to know that they haven't change since the last time I was there in 2005.

Chuck gave me a tour of El Paso and one of the touristy things we did was the Wyler Aerial Tramway. The Wyler Aerial Tramway is in Franklin Mountains State Park. It's a four minute ride up to the top of Ranger Peak where you can get a view of El Paso, New Mexico and Juarez Mexico.

We spent a day in Las Cruces, New Mexico which is just a half hour away west of El Paso. It is where Chuck went to college (New Mexico State University) and has a cute little historic district called La Mesilla. We went to La Posta for lunch for yummy New Mexican food and a margarita.

The next time we'll visit El Paso is for Christmas and hopefully, the weather won't be so hot and unbearable!

Knitting Project For Miss Julia Umayam

This was my first attempt at knitting a stuffed animal and it turned out good. The hardest part was embroidering the parts of the bear, especially the eyes. They turned out more squarish than circular.

The pattern came from 'Knitting for Baby' by Melanie Falick and Kristin Nicholas.

I used just one ball of yarn to knit this baby bolero. The back features an eyelet motif that, according to Eastern folklore, brings luck and protection to the wearer.

The pattern came from 'One Skein: 30 Quick Projects to Knit and Crochet' by Leigh Radford.

To accessorize the bolero, I knitted a pair of pink socks and a hat which both have the same edging as the bolero, a K2 P2 rib.

I love knitting hats and made a light green (hard to tell in this photo) one with a "umbrella pattern".

I got the pattern in the same book as the baby bolero.

Hiking in Escondido

Three weekends ago, Chuck and I hiked at Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve in Escondido which is 30 minutes north of San Diego proper.

Chuck crossing Escondido Creek. We had to cross it twice as we went the wrong way into a private residency.

Olivenhain Reservoir. It holds 8 billion gallons of water - an extra, temporary supply for the region in case an earthquake severs or damages aqueducts that transport water from NorCal.

Lake Hodges Overlook.

Chuck heading towards the Elfin Forest. We're on our way down to the trailhead. Conveniently, Stone Brewery is just a short drive away and we're headed there for a beer fill up.