Country Girl in the City #4

We visited Coronado Island, which isn’t exactly an island. When I lived in San Diego, it cost money to cross the bridge to go there, so I didn’t go very often. Now it is free. Hunh?

This is a beautiful beach with white sand that gets raked regularly.
The Hotel Del Coronado is the big draw here. When I was in college, sometimes people would go into the fancy lobby of the fancy bathroom and take pictures in there. That’s in the days when a “selfie” required a tripod. (We felt a bit weird carrying a tripod into the bathroom, but did it anyway.)
I wanted to go into the tower but couldn’t figure out how.
I did boldly climb stairs into areas for registered guests only and was delighted to see this mural on several walls (Was it wallpaper? I wasn’t bold enough to go touch it).
Isn’t this awesome?
A sailboat with black sails?
My people with Point Loma in the background. The last time the three of us were together at a beach, it was the Mediterranean in Israel!
It was so hot in Israel that we couldn’t stand close together for the picture. (And I am wearing the same clothes that I wore at the beach on Coronado.)

Country Girl in the City #3

While in San Diego, my sister, niece and I went to an unusual restaurant called “Farmer Nate’s” or something like that. It had a nursery and some farm animals on the surprisingly large property located on a canyon in the city.

This sign in the restaurant cracked me up.
These morning glories are considered to be invasive weeds by farmers in Tulare County, but in Sandy Eggo, they are sold as a garden plant.
My niece loves succulents, and these were some of the weirdest ones we have ever seen.
More weirdly beautiful plants.
Baby goats are so appealing, but I prefer cats.
Apparently my niece and I both share a borderline Cat Disorder.
See? I told you we were having more fun than a human being should be allowed.

Tomorrow I’ll show you another trip I took down memory lane in Sandy Eggo.

Country Girl in the City #2

This country girl had more fun than a human being should be allowed to have in San Diego with family and friends.

I lived in Sandy Eggo for about 4 years in college. (Went to 3 colleges down there – after 5 years I ended up with a 2 year degree from College of the Sequoias in Visalia – sure made my folks proud. Sigh.) I asked my sister if she had ever seen Sunset Cliffs below one of the schools I attended, and she was game for some exploring in her new city, so we headed out to the beach one evening.

We could see people down there. What a mystery – all those warning signs about unstable cliffs, stay back, no access, and still there are people down there.
I think they go down this crack in the cliffs.
This is just as beautiful as I remember.
This is another sort of trail. No thanks!
What is this tile area? Was it someone’s patio and the house fell into the ocean?
Of course we stayed for the sunset.
Sunset on Sunset Cliffs.

Oh wow, I love the ocean and the beach and maybe even Sandy Eggo. (See? I done went to college.)

Country Girl in a City

Still running behind after my road trip.

Where did you go, Central California Artist?

So glad you asked! I went to San Diego to see a dear friend who was there for a class, a dear cousin, another dear cousin, my dear aunt, my dear niece, and mostly, my dear sister. Oh dears.

What did you do in San Diego?

Great question (all interviewees begin their answers with “Great question” or “I’m glad you asked that”, and in a misguided attempt to appear normal, I am parroting that habit.) We had more fun than a human being should be allowed to have!

The view in the morning from my friends’ beach house.
I finally got to meet this precious boy who still loves the blanket I knit for him before he was born! (no names or locations because this is the World Wide Web)
My oldest and tallest cousin met me at the beach for a long catch-up conversation. Our dads would be happy if they knew what good friends we have become.
Another cousin and I went for a walk together, and crossed this footbridge over a major freeway. That was a thrill for this Central Californian.
Isn’t this scary and thrilling? It sure was loud.
We ended up in this neighborhood. San Diego is made up of semi-self-contained neighborhoods with their own identities.
My cousin explained this peculiar sight to me. All over San Diego there are scooters to rent; if you have the app on your device (good grief, our language has certainly gotten weird), you can hop on a scooter anywhere, ride it wherever you wish, and leave it wherever you are finished. People are paid to collect them, charge the batteries, and return them to popular spots.
Would you look at this!! I’ve heard of Little Free Libraries but only seen one. They are specially built box cupboards for people to leave books and borrow books for free. This one matches the architecture of the neighborhood.

This cousin and I were so engrossed in conversation and my city education that we forgot to take a photo together. He’s almost as tall as my other cousin, and we have been good friends for most of our lives. (Our dads were very happy about that.)

Little Shavers

Does this title please you as much as it does me? Heheheh. (That’s me snickering).

After having a wonderful reunion with wonderful friends in a wonderful place (is Lawrence Welk around here somewhere??), I wanted to commemorate our time together. As a Central California artist, art seemed like the right choice.

(We went to Shaver Lake. I wrote about it on Tuesday.)

I painted 5 Little Shavers. See?

An easel adds cuteness and versatility.
2×2″ paintings won’t take up much space in people’s lives.

Our hostess got the big oil painting of Shaver Lake (can’t call that a “little shaver”.)


This is actually Tunnel Creek, which comes into Shaver Lake via a tunnel from Huntington Lake, I think. Hence, “Tunnel” Creek. We are clever like that here in California’s flyover country.

Reunion at Shaver Lake

Seven women friends met for a long weekend at a Shaver Lake cabin. 6 of us went to Redwood High School; 1 went to Whitney (but we have forgiven her). 6 of us graduated in 1977; 1 graduated in 1976 (but we love having her with us). 5 are turning 60 this year; 2 turned 60 last year (but we were celebrating all our birthdays).

It was FANTASTIC! No more chatting, just some photos (but all the friends shall remain unseen and anonymous.

The cabin.
First view of the lake.
Wildflowers, new to me, not found in Mineral King.
Wild Rose, quite abundant around Shaver Lake (occasionally found in Mineral King.)


We had a day on the lake in a pontoon boat.
This is Tunnel Creek, one of the main ways that Shaver Lake is supplied with water (through pipes from Huntington Lake, I think).
Sometimes other boats made waves.
There were many penstemon in my favorite wildflower color.
We bushwhacked to get to this waterfall, which was spectacular.
We smelled this wild azalea before seeing it. It seemed different and definitely more fragrant than the ones I saw at Hume Lake. Maybe the ones at Hume had all their scent sniffed right out of them because it has 1000s more visitors than our weird little non-trail.
Another mystery flower, growing in the water at the falls.
What 61 year olds do for fun.

P.S. Not my toes (and I’m still in the Fs.)

A Funny Walk at Hume

There is a funny walk at Hume, which most of the residents call a “hike”, but this ain’t Mineral King, folks. (What a snob I am!)

The walk is best enjoyed in photos. Let’s go!

I believe this qualifies as a Peculiar Sight.

Hume Lake Wildflowers

Say what? “Hume Lake wildflowers”, I said! It is still the Sierra, and I love wildflowers, as you know. And sometimes I go to the mountains in places that aren’t Mineral King. It’s permissible.

I stayed with my old friend at her cabin. It was charming, and it has electricity and even a teevee with a DVD player! There are 2 cabins nearby where her cousins are, including my new friends from Georgia. But I came here to tell you about wildflowers today.


There were many wild iris. (Mineral King only has them in one spot, a place I am not telling anyone about, which you would know if you have read Mineral King Wildflowers.)
This variety of penstemon is in my top 10 of wildflower favorites.
WHAT IS THIS???

There we were, just walking along a road above Hume Lake, when I almost got whiplash, or flew over the handlebars, or went a little nutso. Lots of Mariposa Lilies, and then BOOM!

RED MARIPOSA LILIES!! NEVER HEARD OF THEM BEFORE, NEVER SEEN THEM, NEVER WILL FORGET THIS!

That was completely thrilling! The Mariposa Lily that I know is on the title page of the white chapter in my book. When I got home to my books, I found 2 mentions of a different type of Mariposa Lily that occasionally comes in red or purple, but no photos, and I had to read to the bottom of a couple of boring descriptions to find them. (I hope my book isn’t boring to you.)

100 page paperback, flowers in photos, common names only, lots of chatty commentary, $20 including tax.
Available here
Also available at the Three Rivers Historical Museum, Silver City Store, from me if I put them in my car, or Amazon.

Little Get-Away

What is going on? At the end of June, I hadn’t been to Mineral King, but I did visit Hume Lake. This has become a tradition with a friend of mine from childhood. (“Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other PLATINUM!)

This is the now historic dam that forms Hume Lake, built for harvesting timber, for the lumber industry, a vital piece of our world, and thankfully, a renewable resource.
There is a fantastic view of the high country of Kings Canyon National Park across the lake.
The wild azalea were in bloom while I was there. We don’t have those in Mineral King.
Hume Lake is perfectly smooth in the morning.

More tomorrow.

Mineral King Road

Road update from Sequoia Roads Supervisor:

The current plan is for the Sequoia Road Crew to return to maintenance on the Mineral King road as soon as the current road center and fog line striping project is completed through the Giant Forest area this week.
Mineral King road maintenance will consist of spot brushing priority areas, pothole patching, drainage maintenance, shoulder damage repairs and regrading of the washout above Cold Springs and spot grading of the remaining unpaved sections of roadway, not necessarily in that order. Tentatively starting date of 7/15.

Today’s post isn’t very fun, but it is informative if you or someone you know is planning a trip to Mineral King this summer.

I’ve been driving the Mineral King Road regularly for 35 summers, sometimes weekly. This year it is the worst I have ever experienced.

There is no attempt to smooth it, no pothole patching, no erosion control, and no brushing. None.

Several times I wondered if I should stop, get out of my car, and eyeball the route on foot to find the safest way through the obstacle course. Instead, I crawled along in first gear, sometimes riding the brake to go even slower, and I made it without breaking anything.

My non-objective view is that since Trail Guy (AKA Retired Road Guy) retired 7 years ago, there has been a cumulative effect of his not working on the road. The Park roads department is headed up from an office in Grant Grove, which is in Kings Canyon National Park rather than from Ash Mountain in Sequoia. When Road Guy was there, he made certain that the Mineral King Road was not neglected. As a retiree, he still volunteers many hours on a (borrowed) big yellow machine to clear away the winter snow to get the road opened sooner than if folks waited for the Park or for nature.

The Park’s view might be that the road will be redone in a few years. Do they think that it won’t deteriorate further until that time??

I counted 60 potholes in the paved sections on the four-mile stretch between Silver City and Mineral King.

It would be easy to prune these cottonwoods that obstruct vision on this little stretch.
When potholes are full of water, it is impossible to judge the depth.
Just a random sampling of the potholes on the final stretch of road.

2019 was a real winter, which delayed the opening of the Mineral King road, campgrounds, and our own cabin. Atwell Mill Campground is open, but Cold Springs won’t be opened until July 10. (Most of the passes are snow-covered, but people are backpacking and day hiking anyway.)

Drive carefully. If you find the road to be a problem, it might not hurt to write a letter to the acting superintendent, whose name I do not know. (Woody is away, working at the Grand Canyon this summer.)