Mother's Day Trip to the Poppy Reserve

For Mother's Day this year, Jeff took note of what I'd mentioned that I would like to do and planned an outing to the beautiful Poppy Reserve in Antelope Valley, California.

I'd asked to go early early, as I was wanting some sunrise photos and to catch the transformation as the poppies began opening to the sun.

This meant rising after just four hours of sleep.

While dashing around to get ready well before dawn, I kept hearing birds chirping outside and thought it was a bit early for birds, but didn't give it too much thought.

Until we'd dragged the boys out of bed, opened the front door and very nearly stepped on this:







Isn't he adorable?

It was chilly outside, and the parent birds we'd heard chirping earlier had apparently fled when the door opened, so the boys put a pile of weeds around the baby bird to keep it warm.

We surmised that the poor little guy must either have fallen from his nest under our roof tiles, or had simply not gotten the hang of learning to fly.

We told the boys that if he was still there when we got back home, they could find some worms for it's food and take care of him until he flew away.

After getting into the car, Jericho fell immediately back to sleep.

Judah, on the other hand, stayed awake the entire way there, peppering us with questions like, "Will da birdie still be dere? Why are we driving in da darkness? Is it night time? When is it gonna be day time?" Why did we have ta get out of bed in da dark time? Where are we goeen? Are we goeen on fa-cation? Are we goeen to da zoo?"

Finally, we arrived at the reserve.

The sun was just peeking up over the hills.





It was super-windy. And cold. And for some dumb reason, I'd not worn sensible shoes. We had to hike the paths with me wearing some slip on heels. Doh!

Nevertheless, the scenery was spectacular and worth every bit of discomfort.





The brochure the Poppy Reserve provided said that Spanish Explorers used to be able to see these rivers of golden-orange flowers from their ships, and nicknamed them La Sabanilla de San Pasqual (the Altar-cloth of St. Pascal), in reference to their shepherd saint who tended his flock far from church and village and knelt in fields of wildflowers to commune with God.

Modern day Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre are all areas that at one time used to be filled with wild poppy fields, but today, the only large fields left are in the rural Antelope Valley region of Southern California.

We watched this little bird struggle in flight against the high winds. It finally stopped to rest here, and didn't seem at all afraid of us as we got close. I wondered if he was friends with the little bird-family we'd met earlier that morning.



The poppies were truly a sight to behold.







The brochure also mentioned several types of snakes known to live in the region.

I was very glad that we didn't see any of them. In all our 12 years of living and camping in the deserts of the Southwestern U.S. we've seen only one snake. Ever.

And I'm not complaining.





The boys were real troupers. It was 6:15 am in this particular photo.

Jericho still had that puffy-eyed, fresh out of bed look, but that cold wind and the brisk walk helped to get our blood pumping after the long drive.





I loved the backlighting in the following photo...the whitish curled over stalks are the pre-bloom stage of a weed called Fiddleneck.





While walking the pathways, Jeff took this photo of Judah tucking his little hand into mine. It was cold and he'd just told me, "I wuv you, mama." **heart melts into a puddle**



I always wonder if such moments will be the 'last' time my little guy does such things...he's growing up so fast.

For fun, we also took a shadow family portrait.



And later, just the boys and me...and the poppies.



Naturally no trip is complete without the boys pulling some goofy stunt or another.

My tripod became Judah's Tommy Gun.



Jericho found this rail to be great for sliding. Over and over and over again. It didn't hold the same appeal for Judah, who was stopped by every post because he was too little to slide down the top of the rail.



As we were leaving the Poppy Reserve, we'd driven a mile or two away and came to a bend in the road where we were surprised to see this



Here's the black sheep in this family.





Though minutes away there was a Poppy Reserve where you couldn't touch any of the flowers, here the sheep could graze to their hearts content.





Such a pastoral scene would be incomplete without the shepherd, watching over his flock with care.



His faithful sheepdog (at center) pricked up his ears and appeared ready to come racing after us when we pulled over on the side of the road to take these photos.



It was truly the icing on the cake to get to see such a sight after just viewing the poppies.

Back in the warmth of the car, the hilly roads finally lulled Judah to sleep.



We stopped off for breakfast as soon as we hit civilization, and then headed back home.

There was time for a long leisurely nap before having a little Mother's Day BBQ that evening for all the local moms in our family.

Our Nephew's son Baby B does "the Mowgli" over to Auntie K on the back porch. He can walk, just barely, but prefers this four-legged method above all.



Meanwhile, Cousin J and Judah ride around 'the outback' in Judah's jeep.

The one he got for Christmas which is already missing a headlight.

Need I explain that he was trick-riding when the accident occurred? Legs sprawled across the hood, hand on the gas pedal? MmmHmm. That's our Judah.

I'm already praying for that long-distant day when he begins to operate real vehicles. With horsepower. And torque. And peer pressure. Lord, have mercy!





I just love the little 'baby-bird' look of Baby B in this picture. He's such a cutie-pie, and seems to love our dog.

Oh, and speaking of baby birds...our little visitor from early that morning was nowhere to be found when we arrived back home.

The very next day, I saw a bird bearing a striking resemblance to him, fuzzy feathers and all, sneaking food out of our dog's dish.

Some moms are distinguished as the kool-aid moms of the neighborhood...but it appears I've am the dog-food mom to all the critters in our 'hood.

A Weekend Get-Away to Big Bear Lake, California

A couple of weekends ago we picked up our niece S, and took her on a little mini-vacay with us to beautiful Big Bear, California.

Though we'd already had a few weeks of warm weather in our desert valley, on the drive up into the mountains we passed several large fields of snow, and stopped at one so our poor deprived-of-snow kids could get out and throw some snowballs.

Big Bear is a gorgeous little mountain town in Southern California best known for great snow skiing in the winter and water sports on Big Bear Lake in the summer.

Oh, and the camping up there is superb. In the summer, the fresh mountain air smells of pine and and tends to be at least 20 degrees cooler than the desert where we live, and at most of the campgrounds, you're far enough from roadways to hear only the sounds of nature.

For these reasons and more, it's been a favorite destination of our family for years.

While there, we usually have to take a trip to the Moonridge Zoo.



For years, the small, privately funded facility has rescued orphaned wildlife or rehabbed injured animals.

We arrived at feeding time in the Red Fox habitat. The zookeepers hide the meat (chicken legs), inside boxes with small openings so that the foxes are forced to root around for their food and dig it out much like they would do if they were looking for rodents in the wild.



What cracked up the kids was that the foxes couldn't seem to relax while eating their food, because they could see the wolf 'pups' next door, pacing around on the other side of the fence separating their enclosures, and so were wolfing down eating their food as quickly as they could lest it somehow be taken from them.



Here is a coyote on high alert.



Cousin S really liked the big cats exhibits, particularly this snow leopard which lifted it's head momentarily for a look at us but went right back to his nap before I could get a photo.



Here we visited the Mountain Lions.

This one seemed to be saying, "Ew...you stink!"



"Here, let me give you a bath."



"Ahhh, much better."



We watched the grizzlies for quite a while. To a child of Judah's age and disposition, there is something thrilling and yet terrifying about getting that close to big, scary wild animals, even those separated by fences.

I suppose the fact that you could smell their natural, wild smell added much to the experience from his perspective, as he clung to Jeff's neck the entire time we were there.

This grizzly got up to leave because it was feeling a bit crowded and wanted some space from his brother, and so moved to his own place in the sun.



Brother bear, missing his warm, soft pillow, followed along and snuggled right back up to him in his newly scouted out spot.



This is perhaps my favorite photo from the zoo.

Can you see what it is? It's VERY well camoflauged. (You may need to right click on the photo to enlarge it.)



That log looking thing between the two tree limbs? A bobcat. About twice the size of a normal housecat, but with thicker, more powerful legs and paws.

I wouldn't want to tangle with one in the wild, that's for sure.

Then we got to the bird exhibits.

The owls all sleep in plastic dog houses burrows which keep out the elements, namely the snow, and are therefore much easier for the zookeepers to keep clean.



This barn owl had a little perch in the top of his habitat, as his type of owl is more accustomed to hanging out up high.

I would almost swear that this owl was speaking to me in Joe Peschi's voice, "Are you lookin' at me?





Here was a very large California Golden Eagle.



I tried to get a photo of the Bald Eagles nearby, but it didn't turn out.

One had somehow injured one of it's eyes, which left the eyeball devoid of the cornea and pupil rendering it a very faint grayish white yet still able to move around wherever the eagle looked. The result was that the eagle, which was hopping around on his talons at the bottom of the exhibit, looked at you with a very blank 'eagle eye' stare.

Which really freaked out Judah. "I don't wike dat zombie eagowl!"

:: :: :: ::

Not far from the Moonridge Zoo is one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, La Montana. (The n should have that little ~ thing above it, but I can never remember how to get it there.)

It meets our criteria for good Mexican food: It's rather rustic inside, they make their beans from scratch (with lard), and the place is always hopping. We're pretty sure that is because they make some of the most delicious chile rellenos we know of. They also keep replenishing your tables with their addicting chips & salsa to the point that you end up taking most of your entree home with you. Delicioso!

Another fun place to visit while in Big Bear is Pine Knot Village. This is an area consisting of all kinds of wonderful shops, galleries, a few restaurants, coffee shops and even a movie theater.

The shops are spaced out so perfectly that the boys never feel like we're shopping, and therefore don't drag their feet or complain when we go into 'boring' shops (the ones mom likes, lol). We just poke around in all the shops and everyone has fun.

This area is also home to the best ice cream/candy shoppe in the San Bernardino Mountains. It was rather chilly outside while we were there and the shop owner was shoveling snow away from the front entrance, but we noticed that it didn't stop too many tourists from having an ice cream cone while window shopping in the area.

Normally we would have done just that, but we'd already passed the bakery which was down the street and around the corner, and which sells raspberry, cherry or apple turnovers. Those just sounded better to us that particular day. Decisions, decisions.

While Jeff and the kids wended their way through several souvenier type stores, I meandered through the nearby quilt shop and other crafty, home-decor type places. Ahhh...bliss. The ideas alone made it all worth the trip.

One of the art galleries there boasted a 'taxidermied' Dr. Seuss character that was mounted in much the same way as an 8 point buck's head (we weren't allowed to take photos, sorry). It was amusing to say the least. And sorry, no...it was not a Zizzer Zazzer Zuzz.

This same gallery also had some beautiful Bev Doolittle prints in which the artist masterfully camoflauges wildlife and sometimes Native American images in among nature scenes...so well that you really have to look at them to finally see the wild horses among the birch trees or the bears among a pile of large rocks. (If you click on the link, her 'hide and seek' series are the ones to which I refer.)

There were also some Thomas Kinkade special edition paintings that incorporated Disney characters like Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and The Princess and the Frog and even Pinnochio into the fanciful scenes. This perfect 'marriage' of art forms was such that I could envision a pretty spectacular girls bedroom decor theme around any one of the scenes a.) if I had a daughter, and b.) if they were they not quite so spendy.

Towards the end of 'the strip' of shops, there is an old converted filling station where folks can take old-time carriage or stagecoach rides around the village behind a draft horse, or have old-timey photos taken indoors.

Incidentally, this was where Judah went rushing out to pet the goat that was tied up outside. He got right down beside it, and the carriage owner called out, "That might not be such a good idea. That goat might butt him!"



Surprisingly Thankfully, we got out of there unscathed, and went inside to have our photo taken.

The kids all voted in favor of the Roaring 20's style clothing.

I think that was because Cousin S found out she could dress like a flapper, and because Jericho got to hold a Tommy Gun.

The man who runs the studio was a congenial fellow (dressed in old-time attire) who was kind enough to allow us to play around with our own cameras behind the scenes while he answered a stream of customer inquiries at the counter.

He even suggested a couple of fun poses like these.















I'm pretty sure this was permitted only because our boys took such an instant liking to his delightful canine Chester.



Chester knew several tricks, but perhaps the most endearing was that he would high-five you for a treat.

The fact that he would lie on the floor beside them and plop his weary head into their laps like he'd known them for years may have also contributed to their instant bond, because they really wanted to take that doggie home!

The portrait we had taken there was copyrighted and therefore can't be shown here, but we took plenty of our own photos and I must say, they all turned out pretty cute.











After having exhausted ourselves exploring Big Bear that weekend, we headed for home.

We always know it's been a good trip anywhere when Judah is out cold moments after buckling into his car seat.



This was the gorgeous scenery at a scenic pullout on the way down the mountain.





A lovely way to end a lovely weekend.