Rita Plays Dead

Beaudry loop: Verdugo Mountain, Glendale

This is a 6-mile loop, best done on a cool, clear day. We opted for it because of the "cool." After a scorching hot week, the temperature dropped 30 degrees over the weekend. What a treat!

Here's where the loop connects: Beaudry South Roadway and Beaudry North Roadway.

This hike has great views all around: downtown LA, Glendale, Burbank... and on a clear day you can even see Catalina!

I think it took us 2.5 hours. Courtney and I went with our doggies. Four dogs can be a bit crazy: Harvey, Annie, Rita, and Bo. They got in a tangled mess when we met up for coffee.

But were much better once we got out on the trail:

Best to go on a cool day. This was just about the only ounce of shade on the hike:

Rita gets to carry the doggie hiking pack because she is a hard workin' dog. I'm convinced she's mixed with a cattle dog. She definitely needs to keep busy and likes to be the leader of the pack whenever possible.

My little buddies, too cute:

Burbank to the west:

Panoramic views (click to enlarge):

The mountains in the distance on the left reside the Angeles National Forest.

A few more photos here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=269679&id=527707845&l=db8eb9d47d

Friday's Photo of the Week #30

Still haven't gotten around to posting anything about the trip. This week has been a mess in attempting to catch up, AND the heat is no help. I am sluggish without AC. Anyway, I only got a chance to photograph once this week and it was at last night's Telegram show at Club Moscow. It was a fantastic show, as usual. Here's the photo of the week:

And a few other shots from the show last night:

Friday's Photo Of The Week #29

So I've been on vacation the last week and it's been great. I think I need another week of catching up on bills and emails and house stuff now. ;) We head back to LA today (Friday).

A week ago Friday, we went to Fresno and stayed a night with some amazing family, then to Yosemite the next day. We stayed that night (and the next two) with some friends in San Jose and spent some time in San Francisco, mostly at the Golden Gate Park with some row boating on Stow Lake and riding around on a 6-person bike. We also went to the Academy of Sciences there, which is rad. Then we went to visit my Grandmother in Santa Rosa and drove through wine country (Napa and Sonoma) to end up in Nevada City, where we've spent the last few days visiting some friends. It's been such a blast. We did some off-roading to the river, played with some horses, and spent a lot of time downtown. It's hard to pick just one, and I'll try to do some more specific posts next week, but for now, as hoped for...

The Photo Of The Week:

Friday's Photo of the Week #28

The man and I are heading up north for a week. Fresno tonight, Yosemite tomorrow. Then San Jose and San Fransisco for a couple days. Up through Santa Rosa to see my Grandmother, then to Nevada City to see some good friends. All of this with the puppies! Should be a blast. Probably won't do any posts, but hopefully I'll have time to show a favorite photo by next Friday! Hope you all have a nice weekend.

Last Weekend in Pictures

Headed to Vegas!

Got to eat at Gallagher's steakhouse at NY NY.

Sister-in-law's new petticoat -- beautiful!
We were celebrating some friend's grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary.

Sad day for friend's boy, Trey. (Gotta love this pic though)

Trey's brother with dirty feet.

We got to play with our niece, Audrey.

And our nephew, Lukas.

Best part of the weekend (besides seeing all our family) was relaxing at the pool with a mojito.

Traffic on the way back, 15mph to the CA state line.

Driving by Vasquez rocks on the way home.

Stopped by our cousin's house on the way home to visit more family.
This is Brian's son Kolbe taking a bath in the sink.

Friday's Photo of the Week #27

More than half way through the year and I haven't missed a photo of the week yet (knock on wood). This is photo of the week #27, Bo wins the POTW:

Amazing job Bo. Thanks for posing my dear doggie. Now stop your whining.

Also, I've been slightly obsessed with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers lately. So many good songs I don't know what to do with myself. The Greatest Hits album is the ultimate road trip album, which I will definitely be playing on my way to Vegas this weekend to visit the in-laws. I watched the 4.5 hr long documentary Runnin' Down A Dream and was captivated. This man has a hand-out from God and keeps it going. When they put together the Greatest Hits album, he was asked to write a single for the album. Although opposed to writing a new hit, when it was supposed to be a collection of greatest hits from the past, he conceded and put out this lovely song:

Thanks Petty. You're incredible.

A nice evening on the Altadena Trail

Two nights ago, I enjoyed a wonderful hike up on the trail at the top of Lake Avenue in Pasadena. This is the same trail that goes to Echo Mountain, although I took a trail nearby called Altadena Trail. I didn't want to do anything long because I didn't want to be hiking past sunset. Here are some of the pictures from the evening hike.

My favorite picture was this panorama with the Echo Mountain trail and a view of downtown LA in the distance (click to enlarge):











AND I saw a tarantula!!