Cinnamon Thoughts

Spectacular Spectacular

My husband woke up before the sun and said a-walking we should go. He said he could see stars in the pre-dawn sky and it would be a beautiful morning to hike Mt. Hollywood from the Griffith Observatory. So we did just that. And after 5 straight days of an onslaught of downpours, hail, and end to end rainbows, the skies on this day were clear giving us spectacular views of the snow line and our fair city.

Flickr Set

Christmas in Yosemite

I have just spent Christmas in the most wondrous of places I could imagine. We had perfect weather with a blanket of snow on the ground and ice cycles hanging from eves and rocks and branches. With ice and snow crunching under foot we walked through the meadows and along trails to falls, cliffs, and the banks of the Merced River.

My photo set here, and Will's here.

A Merry Campbell Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone.

My husband and I will pick up Casey, my mom-in-law, and hit the road to Yosemite tomorrow morning. I hope we arrive before dark and maybe see some sights or catch the sunset as we cross Tunnel View. We have the entire day Thursday and Friday to explore. I picture snowy domes and strolls down tree lined lanes, walks through meadows in crystal clear and chilly air with my sweetiepie. I'm sure I'll be bundled up and wearing my wool cap most of the time, but we are packing our formal evening wear for the Bracebridge Dinner on Christmas. My husband is very dashing in a tuxedo.

A Happy Thanksgiving

As the sun sets on our last night in Death Valley this Thanksgiving my wonderful husband is out happily riding his bike to an abandoned structure in the distance, and Ranger, tuckered out and licking tender paws, is snug as a bug in the camper, I point my camera at the lake and know that the images I am able to capture can in no way depict how truly wondrous Death Valley is and the love and the joy they all bring to my life.

Hey. Froggy.

My husband poked me this morning and suggested I update my blog. I know it's been a while. There's been a lot happening since our trip to Bug Sur soooooo many weeks ago. The newest addition to our family are three tree-frogs. We call them Hop, Skip and Ajump. They're hard to photograph but I finally got a pretty good one here. They have settled in real nice and when they bark the dogs don't bark back anymore. Just part of the family. And I get endless enjoyment out of watching them catch them crickets.

My Mom came to visit a couple of weekends ago. She made the trip West and her first stop was my Brother's in Reno, then on to Grandma's in Redding, and the final stop was me. Will was in San Diego at a conference until early Saturday evening so Mom and I were able to hang out just like old times. She used to come visit me (before I was a married lady) every May, and I'd go visit her every Thanksgiving. My agenda for her visit was pretty loose, we sat on the porch, went to a craft fair and farmer's market, strolled a couple of shops in my Silver Lake neighborhood and ate really good food. I often wish she weren't so far away. It'd be nice to call her up and go do something together. There's so much we have in common. She's better than any best friend I've ever had ('cept my husband). We are two peas, that's for sure. Will also treated me and both our Moms to the Mark Taper to see "Parade". And that was about the best play I've ever seen.

Halloween was a success. We added to our graveyard collection of bones and skulls, tombstones and ghosts. Really nice turn out and the neighbor kids came by to check it out. Photos on Flickr.

Big Sur Coastline

Taking a few days off leading into the Labor Day weekend, we headed to Carmel and Big Sur for a brief and welcome break. So many wonderful sights and beautiful trails along rocky creeks and redwood forests. Ahhhh. A wonderful mash up of land and sea indeed.

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