Mother's Day Hike

It wasn't so much the weather (cloudy, windy, blustery) or the incredible yellow wildflowers that caught our attention. It was the difference in color. Within the past six weeks, the hillsides have transformed from vibrant green to golden brown. Case-in-point:

March 2010
May 2010
Proof that there are seasons in California.

We thought about hiking up the "telephone trail" like we did last time, but the rattlesnake threat had me deterred. (We've already seen and heard a few on Villager Peak and one out in Sedona, AZ). Nathaniel just laughed, but as I'm the one who thinks catastrophically I told him that I was sticking to the well-defined trail. And so we went...

Waking up to this guy was great...and you can't help but be enthusiastic to spend the day together...The Breakfast of Champions: Raisin Bran.

The open trail awaits...
Fields of wildflowers (and we're heading towards those power lines!)
There is no place that I'd rather be...here hiking with my special someone...
The view, half way up the cliffs.
We reached the power lines!
AND the trail's end, with a great view of the ocean.
Snack break!
Truly an essential service (because when you gotta go, you gotta go. Especially after eating GORP - Good Old-fashioned Raisins and Peanuts)
Holy Cow! There's a snail attached to that flower! They (snails) were everywhere...
Almost back at the car...looking up.
Palm-tree lined road home.
It's hard to be apart from your loved ones...especially on holidays...and Mother's Day is no exception. I hope that EVERYONE had a wonderful weekend and was fortunate enough to spend it with their loved ones. And...that everyone was smart and avoided rattlesnake threats. Yeah...that one is important as well.