You may have noticed I haven’t done much hiking this year. Guess you’ll have to be getting most of your trail information from other sources. I’m sorry; I would like to hike more. (Take up the subject with my feet.)
So, we walk. Down the road to Cold Springs Campground, through the campground to the Nature Trail (which no longer has a sign to let visitors know about it because the Park is and has been very understaffed for several years—take up the subject with your congressman, perhaps?) —it takes us to the Mineral King valley.
These asters were very vivid right along the road.
Look at the cotton from the cottonwood trees along the road.
These are aspen, which resemble cottonwoods, but the leaves are rounder and they “quake” in the breeze.
There is a turnout for day use above the campground. This is the first time I have noticed the BBQ device. I’ve never seen anyone cooking here. Interesting. We just walked into the day use area to see if the log for crossing the river is still intact. (It is.)
The trail crew worked on this little footbridge so there isn’t such a giant step off it any more (or on, if you are heading downhill).
Trail Guy still hikes some (but stays on the trails these days). I’ll show you tomorrow.
When I first worked at the Silver City Store (4 miles below Mineral King) in 1985, at the end of the summer my car stereo fell out whenever I drove uphill because the rough road vibrated the screws loose. (1977 Honda Accord, my first car, because I know you care about such things.)
The road is much much worse now. Driving down the other morning, I took some photos in the construction zone. I didn’t take any photos in the unpaved upper areas because those sections require 2 hands on the wheel, 2 eyes on the road, and 2 halves of one’s brain fully engaged in crawling through the hogwallows, washboard, potholes, and deep ruts, some created by springs, some by run-off.
The plan is that the road will have 145 new culverts and be repaired after fall of 2027. This means 2 more years of road construction. The company is very accommodating, pleasant, and communicative. We can do this.
P.S. At the beginning of the summer, Trail Guy told me to NOT drive Fernando (’96 Accord with 255,000 miles and a wearing-out exhaust system) on the MK Road. Then I sold Fernando (sob) and got Mom’s Car (yep, that’s the name). Trail Guy told me to NOT drive Mom’s Car on the MK Road. So, I hitchhike with neighbors up the hill if I go on a different day from Trail Guy and then ride down in the Botmobile with him. However, no one was going up when I did, so I took The Good Pickup, AKA known as “my truck” (although it is a pick-‘em-up, not a real truck.) And I don’t consider a vehicle to be mine unless I have a hairbrush and gloves in the glove apartment (because gloves are supposed to live there.)
Trail Guy and I accompanied Laile, who is an archaeologist/historian (I think those are her titles) to show her something we found. She cleared up a mystery about a rock platform that we always thought was a cabin foundation. Nope, it was a ride-by bar! George Thurman and his wife Hattie had a bar for miners riding past, who could hold out their cup and get it filled with whiskey without dismounting. (I think it was for miners but now I have forgotten the years. I am NOT a historian.)
We headed up the trail.
Thurman’s Bar! (Calm yourself – they weren’t open and I don’t drink alcohol anyway.)
Laile explained that the grass-covered log with some metal spikes used to be a dam on the creek, which obviously has changed course.
It was so beautiful out in that meadow.
Working
I spent some time caulking and painting our windows. Look at the extreme difference between wet and dry paint. It was alarming at first stroke, but then as it dried, everything was okay. There is more to be done, but things are looking better.
Hanging Out
We hung out with our very dear annual neighbors, the Sawtooth Six (now there are only five, but the name remains, and we miss Ted something fierce).
Yeah, I said I don’t drink alcohol, but other people do. The “little” bottles are normal sized; the huge one looks like a joke. (This opinion almost got me banned from the neighbors’ deck.)
It is a tradition to hang out on the bridge in the evenings.
The Olipop can won the competition to become a tripod.
I left early one morning because I have actual work to do (as you might have read on yesterday’s blog post.)
Farewell, Farewell. (The weird darker spots in the sky are because I borrowed Trail Guy’s camera. Mine was temporarily missing, because I have too many homes, too many buildings, too many vehicles, and too many briefcases and totebags. This contributes to me being a loser in the true sense of the word.)
In case you were wondering if all I do is yammer on about the beach or Mineral King, let me remind you that I am a working artist. Sure, maybe I’m only working part time these days, but I AM working. Here’s a list of upcoming projects (remembering that until money exchanges hands, it is only conversation):
I bid a mural which I did not get.
I won a competition for a mural that was initially promised to me, turned into a competition in which my design was chosen, delayed, and now, three years later, it might actually happen.
Some folks want a pencil drawing of the view from their parents’ front porch in Texas. This will be a very challenging commission. Maybe they’ll send me to Texas. . . probably not.
The same folks want another pencil drawing of the view from their other parents’ home with a vineyard and the Sierra in the distance.
Someone I’ve never met in person but am getting acquainted with on The Frugal Girl blog wants an oil painting of his house, somewhere on the east coast.
A friend and I are discussing a painting of the 2 sequoia trees in Redwood Canyon (on the Mineral King Road), which she calls “Two Sisters” and I learned as “Aunt Tillie and Uncle Pete”.
My show continues in Tulare, so here is a reminder of the dates, days and hours.
The list format doesn’t allow for photos to be inserted, so here are a few to keep you from thinking TLDR, which means Too Long, Didn’t Read.
#1 —I didn’t waste time doing sketches when the potential customer hadn’t come up with a budget. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way.
#2 This is the mural that I designed, submitted to the competition, was chosen, then put on hold. I sure do hope I get to paint it!
#3 Texas porch view photo to be turned into a 14×17” pencil drawing
#4 Front porch view (but change the trees to a vineyard)
#5 This is just a photo of his amazing Japanese maple. This will be a very challenging painting but I’m up for it!!
#6 After photographing them countless times, I could only find one shot, which is horizontal rather than the desired vertical format. For now it is just conversation, so there is time to get new photos.
Finally, here are the specifics about the show AROUND HERE in Tulare.
AROUND HERE will be at the Heritage Gallery in the Tulare Historical Museum through August 30. Days/hours are Thursday, Friday, and Saturdays, 10-4. (444 W. Tulare Ave.)
QUICKETY CORRECTION: Yesterday’s flowers were NOT zinnias; they were dahlias. I couldn’t remember the name so made a substitution. Thank you, Jane, for setting me straight!
After finding lunch on our beach day (easy drive from Gilroy to the beach), we thought about heading back to Gilroy, but there was way too much traffic heading that direction. We made the very prudent decision to do our waiting in Santa Cruz rather than on a freeway. I’d never been there before. Wow, so much noise and color and crowds and distraction from the ocean.
Why do people want to pay for all that fake stuff when the ocean is right there??
Those rides actually compete with the beach?? Incomprehensible to my simple, easily-satisfied, easily entertained rural self.
The carousel was too loud for me but the displays were really well done and interesting. So much history! We watched riders try to grab a ring on each round and toss it into the clown’s mouth. If I had grabbed a ring, I might have been tempted to keep it. I wonder how many they lose that way.
It was very well maintained, quite impressive. I love beautiful architecture, so I was very fascinated by how it looked, rather than the whole arcade/carnival/entertainment aspect.
We laughed ourselves silly with the funhouse mirrors. My mental image of myself is like the one on the left; the way I want to look is like the other images.
Someday I might finally find some sort of self-acceptance. Meanwhile, I’m heading to the beach.
A lighthouse!! Too far to walk, particularly with the tide rising, and the parking meter might run out of those quarters. I am NEVER too tired to keep going on the beach. It’s a sickness. A weird deficit or disorder or syndrome.
LOOK AT THESE WAVES!!
Since this is supposed to be a blog for my business, we interrupt this program for a commercial break. AROUND HERE, my show in Tulare at the museum/gallery, is open Thursday-Sunday, 10-4, through August 30 at 444 Tulare Avenue. Besides Tulare County scenery, there are beach paintings so this is an appropriate interruption. These paintings are each 5×7”, $100, on panels that sit on tiny wooden easels. (Take three—they’re small!)
Finally, we cut back to the boardwalk, walking along the spit that separated the river from the beach. We didn’t find out the name of this river (the Santa Cruz River, perhaps? San Lorenzo River), but hustled back (that parking meter).
Maybe tomorrow I will get back to the business of art on my blog. I’m supposed to be. . .:
…using pencils, oil paint and murals to make art that you can understand, of places and things you love, for prices that won’t scare you.
Yesterday we were at Rio Del Mar beach with my Texas friends who were staying in Gilroy (hence the title of this series of posts).
Mrs. Texas carries a bag at the beach to collect pieces of driftwood for making mobiles, one of which hangs at my kitchen window.
The sun came out in the afternoon at Rio Del Mar beach. Glorious!
These are very dear friends of 39 years, and we thoroughly enjoy one another’s company, whether being serious or silly.
Jee-um in earrings?Mrs. Texas with a LONNNGGG ponytail.Don’t poop on my head, you birds!
A friend texted while we were at the beach to ask for some help on a painting, and I responded with this.
She said I look like a tourist. Indeed, I was a tourist!
Finally, we headed out to find a place for lunch. The first and closest place was out of clam chowder (to be expected at 3 p.m.), and Mrs. Texas asked for a recommendation of somewhere else that might still have some. I said, “Don’t ask him to send us to his competition!”
She said, “We came all the way from Texas for some clam chowder!”
The guy was great and gave us a recommendation, so off we went, this time in the Texas truck rather than on foot.
We found the place, but this ain’t Instagram and I am not going to waste your time with pictures of food. Instead, look at this zinnia garden next to the deli. It was most totally excellent, as delis tend to be, particularly after walking miles on the beach.
Tomorrow I’ll show and tell you what we did next. Thanks for reading along!
My Texas friends are in Gilroy, California (yeppers, the garlic capital of the state or maybe the country or even the world), and since that is only 3-1/2 hours from me, I went to see them.
To get there, I went over Pacheco Pass, the same way I went to Monterey last fall. However, while last year I blew past the beautiful hills, this year there was road construction, which provided opportunities to take some photos. These are awful photographically, but very paintable. That’s why artists say they are using “reference photos”. Well, that, and because of the snobbery against painting from photos as opposed to creating the scene oneself or painting plein air. But that’s another topic for another day.
Mrs. Texas provided a list of places to go and things to see and do while there; all I cared about was being with her and going to the beach. (Big surprise, eh?) So, we hung out, played a fun simple game called Shut The Box and a more complicated one called Assassin Code Names while catching up and laughing, went thrift shopping (the thrill of the hunt overcomes my aversion to accumulating possessions), and of course, went to Trader Joe’s.
There were a few walks, because they are on the edge of town, surrounded by agriculture and golden hills. It is so beautiful there, not hot compared to the Central Valley. But it is a very desirable place to live for folks who work in the Silicon Valley, so traffic can be a problem.
Gilroy’s old courthouse is now a restaurant. It rivals the fancy courthouses I discovered when I was in Texas. (scroll to the bottom of the posted link)
Rio Del Mar was Mrs. Texas’s beach of choice, based on many years of living in Gilroy.
Like many California beaches, it was foggy in the a.m.
“Rio” is Español for river, and sure enough, a river flows into the ocean right there in Aptos. “Rio del Mar” means “river of the sea”.
We found some interesting items: a fisherman caught this skate, and there were a few jellyfish, including this weird little rectangular one with a blue border.
Mrs. Texas gathers little shells and pieces of driftwood to make mobiles with, one of which hangs outside my kitchen window in Three Rivers.
Rio Del Mar Beach has a “shipwreck”, which is the SS Palo Alto, an oil tanker built of cement when steel supplies were low during WWI, not needed after all so converted to an amusement ship and parked by the pier in Aptos in 1929, and currently just serving as a bird place and a diving destination since the pier went bye-bye in 2023. You can read about it here.
What are Mr. and Mrs. Texas looking at??
WEIRD!!
A buried bird, with a blue foot and one blue toe sticking out of the sand. Mr. Texas offered to exhume it, but we more delicate women declined the offer. (We may have even squealed a little while running away.)
This is too long. See you tomorrow for Chapter Two!
The reception was well attended by people from all different parts of my life. I was especially touched to see several of my drawing students there (no extra credit for attending; no demerits for skipping.)
Here are some photos provided by attendees.
I love my drawing students and miss them when we don’t meet for two months in summer.
There was an enormous selection of finger foods which looked delicious, but I stuck to water. Too much talking and handshaking and hugging to be dealing with a plate of food.
Father John, formerly of St. Anthony’s Retreat in Three Rivers is a very accomplished painter who encouraged me back when I began oil painting in 2006.
Kim is a fabulous realistic pastel artist and also a fabulous pianist. Her tunes in the background were perfect.
I was thrilled to see some MK friends! (and learn that others stopped by a day or two later on their way to MK—thank you, G & D!!)
This is the only decent photo of the ones I took before the reception began. I was a little worried that no one would show up, so maybe I wasn’t giving photography my best attention.
Why is this chick so smiley? Because: A. Her favorite dress still fits after 30 years and she rediscovered that it has pockets; B. She is going quiet on the interwebs for a week or so; C. She will be with her first friend from Three Rivers and her very dear friend from Texas next week.
Nothing to see here, folks.
AROUND HERE will be at the Heritage Gallery in the Tulare Historical Museum through August 30. Days/hours are Thursday, Friday, and Saturdays, 10-4. (444 W. Tulare Ave.)
Some weekends in Mineral King are just action packed, all about the people. Who has time to hike? Or just sit quietly while contemplating matters of consequence? Go home if you want solitude, you delusional creature!
It was the annual cabin owners meeting, which is traditionally the weekend when we see the most cabin folks. (Yes, I know, duh.) This year’s meeting was the most energetic, enthusiastic, and optimistic that I remember. The president of the board for the last umpteen years has stepped down, and a dynamic rock-‘em-sock-‘em git-‘er-dun woman is stepping into the role.
I walked down to the meeting, but accepted a ride for the final stretch because I was late. I left on time, but so many people stopped me to ask a question about this or that or something else that time got away.
Here’s only a few of the folks present. I chose this photo because it shows almost no faces, and I am a respecter of privacy.
Sarah read a beautiful tribute to the retiring president that made many of our eyes leak.John has served us well. He wanted a plaque. (Please, NEVER give me a plaque for anything, please!!)
This is Eddie, our county supervisor. Three years ago, he told me that I could paint a mural on the Ivanhoe library. Then the bureaucracy kicked in, and after jumping through all the hoops, meeting all the deadlines, returning all the emails, and counting my chickens before they hatch, I gave up. After the meeting, without my prompting, he told me that it is almost time for the mural to happen. It began with a conversation about one, ballooned to a competition to paint two (which I was told that I won), and apparently is now back down to one. Until there is a signed contract or money exchanges hands, it is simply conversation. (Links to the posts about the library are below.)
This is a friend whom I have admired for many years. It was because of this hat that I went searching until I found my own version. I would like to draw this photo.
And this is me (wearing the straw hat based on my friend’s hat above) with my good friend Sharon, my most faithful blog commenter!!
Two different people approached me separately to say how much they enjoy my blog. That was my highlight of the day. (Hi Eliza, one of my tens of readers! Thank you, Glenn, you faithful reader!)
Here is some token scenery from an after-dinner walk to the bridge. I don’t think Bearskin will make it through the summer. (That’s the snow patch in the shade on the right side of the right-hand peak.)
The gallery director and her granddaughter hung the show with my eager and curious assistance.
This gallery seems dark inside, but the lights on the art are terrific. Carpet on the walls looks odd at first glance, but it is surprisingly effective in preventing the need to continually patch and repaint holes.
