It's Spring for Sure!

When I went away to LA, the weather got colder here (and warmer in LA, incidentally--coincidence? You be the judge =)), so my worries that the long-awaited Spring bloom would start here without me were ill-founded. Nothing changed here while I was away. I got a chance to see the buds open up around me. Some of the trees have yet to be roused from their slumber, but many plants and trees are awake and making for very pretty pictures.

I have some GREAT friends!

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Originally uploaded by Travelinfool.

I have often thought that I have some of the best friends in the world, and I continue to think so. Here are two of them right here.

Thank you so much, Carye and Hugh for putting me up (last minute) on my last stay at home.

Thanks for the always open invitation to your couch and for always listening to my many crazy stories with patience and interest. You are the best.

Oh, and by the way, thanks for always being willing to make me tuna melts (and other Vogt delicacies).

Ky

9 Days Home--Sequoia

GOING UP!

Welcome to the Sequoia National Park. It was an amazingly beautiful place. It was even nice to see it when it had not yet shaken off its winter coat. I have been through these parts before, but never to the top where the trees live. Incredible. The things you can see in just a few hours driving from LA! I love California!


Heading up, up, up to the giants.


Native American drawings??


This is what happens when you hand your camera over to strangers--or even to friends.


Jirka really loves this park, and I can't say that I blame him.


Lookout point

AT THE TOP

Useful log


Good thing I brought those snow boots from CZ!


Split trees


Sequoias through hole in bark


Me in front of cut tree--don't I look tiny?


Info

A view up the back of General Sherman


On the way to the museum


The Giant Forest Museum

COMING DOWN!

Yes! A real, live bear. Just hanging out on the side of the road like it's nothing. That was amazing. NATURE!

Around the hotel...

The pool was practically useless at this time of year, but NOT the jacuzzi--even in the rain!

9 Days Home--Calico

On the way back from Las Vegas, we stopped in Calico, a California Ghost town. Ghost towns come in all kinds of conditions. Some can look like nothing more than a patch of earth. This one is nice and restored. It was great fun to walk around it and just...imagine the days when it was "modern--" if they ever used such a word in such a place. It's in the middle of nowhere now, I can't imagine it in 1881! Wow.



The Town--Beautiful, really.


Guns


Fire brigade


Wagon wheel


After working in the mines all day, I guess tired folk needed a little help getting clean--and were willing to pay for it.


Hmmm...perhaps he took a stray one in the last shoot out.


Undertakers


Saloon Folk


Teacher and naughty student.

GOD! ALL THE PEOPLE OF CALICO LOOK SO FAMILIAR!!!!


Cemetery--with some quite recent burials, I might add.


The important folks.


Look who's smiling!


Jirka's favorite tombstone.


Tree in forefront--I like it.


View of the California Desert from Calico.

9 Days Home--Nevada

Arrived in LA on Friday night, took off for Vegas on Sunday morning. While in Vegas, we made a little side trip to Hoover Dam for the day--a couple of hours, really. There were a lot of people coming to see this wonderful creation, without which it may not have been possible to have so much life in the desert.


Someone is making me laugh. A regular joke a minute, it was that day.


Looking down, careful not to drop the camera. =)


The line between two states. As with all things, there have to be boundaries somewhere.


Adela is fascinated by this wonder of civil engineering, as you can see.


So the sign said...


But some of us...

Are a little bit hard-headed, it would seem. Or maybe we are just not very afraid of danger. =)


Mr. Jokes himself. Managing a laugh of his own as well.

9 Days Home--Ren Faire

Front of Faire.

I have been coming to the Renaissance Faire every year for a few years now. I even went three times last year!! AND I have my own costume! It's a fun day of entertainment, food, games, shopping--what more can a girl want?! It is a lively event--and I mean full of life! It was the first day of the Faire (the day after Mrs. Harajdova and I arrived in LA) so it wasn't fully revved up yet, but I think both Jiri and his mom enjoyed and appreciated the event. And the weather was beautiful!




Actors--FUN-ny! Penitent prayers: "Always do good, and never do bad. Always treat your neighbor as someone who lives close to you..."


The Puritans--egging her on!


Me and my exchange partner.


Hidden talent


And he got a bull's eye!


My Mom!


Me and the moms hanging out in the most comfortable chairs ever. I swear, the minute I have a decent place to hang one, I am buying one--or two!


Put both feet up, Mom. Relax!


THE RELUCTANT PHOTOGRAPHEES =)



The Jousting competition. =)


God save the Queen!

I see some of the same actors here every year, including our beloved Queen Elizabeth I.


I also love these little details. They are the funny little things that make it all come together. The smallest things count for so much. Nice day. Way to kick off the trip!

KM