Back from visiting Mom

I drove out to Oceanside, CA, to see my mom for Mother's Day. My brother, who lives in Solana Beach, also was there. She's 94 and going strong, joking with the staff and whizzing around in her wheelchair because she doesn't like her walker.

Here she is watching her beloved L.A. Lakers in the playoffs on Saturday. They lost, but she still had fun. Kevin brought a pizza and I brought a big chocolate cake that I had baked, so it was a party.

I also hit up two quilt shops, both in San Marcus. First was Grand Central Quilt N Stitch, which was hopping with two classes going on. The quilt above was being taught by a 90-year-old woman for the San Diego Modern Quilt Guild, and I was thrilled to see that at 90 you can still be modern, although she could have passed for someone decades younger!

I bought a pattern there for five sizes of project bags, which I'll work on this summer for gifts when it's too hot to hike.

The other store was Eleanor Burns' massive Quilt In a Day warehouse, which included a shop and classroom. The outside had huge painted quilt blocks all around the building. I used to watch her TV show, "Quilt In a Day," long ago in my early quilting days.

Inside, the fabric bolts went on forever!

I couldn't go to the coast without hitting the beach, so Sunday afternoon while Mom napped I walked for miles along the Oceanside Beach, which was packed. Lots of families.

Despite rows of "No Swimming" signs, there were plenty of people in the water.

My favorite site was a sand artist who raked swirling patterns into the sand, exposing the darker damp sand. People were lined up on the pier watching him from above.

But my favorite discovery was the charming Alta Vista Botanical Gardens, sprinkled with outdoor art and many lovely shady sitting areas.

This rock bench was a true work of art and also was so nice and cool to sit on because it was a warm, humid day.

 

A stream and waterfalls added to the cooling environment.

My favorite art was made from kitchen utensils at the culinary herb garden.

The children's garden also had fun art, like this row of whimsical figures.

I walked the labyrinth, with inspirational signs like this one ...

... and a beautiful view of distant hills. I'll definitely return the next time I visit my mother.

My last stop was at the Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside, which has a beautiful rose garden and magnificent palms.

Speaking of plants, my daughter sent me this saguaro wind chime for Mother's Day! (It's hanging by a quilt I made in 2009 called "Morning.") And here's little Juniper tending to the barrel plants in her sun hat.

Have a colorful day

The scary cholla cactus

Dead cholla look like staggering zombies!

It's been awhile since I've written about the cholla cactus, pronounced choi-a. But they've been catching my eye lately because they start blooming in April, producing spots of beautiful color in the middle of their nasty, scary barbed spines.

They're shaped like small trees, but their jointed branches easily break off, sticking to you if you bump into them and their barbs latch into you. You can't pull it off with your hand because then it will stick on that hand, so hikers are advised to carry combs and tweezers to remove the branches. That's why they're given wide berth by hikers. In six years of desert hiking here I've never bumped into one because I'm really careful.

Here are a few from my recent hikes. There are about 20 different types of cholla, with descriptive names like teddy bear cholla, jumping cholla and buckhorn cholla.

Looking closer, you can see how thick some of them are with spines!

Looking closer.

Here are some of the beautiful blooms. I've seen them in pink, orange, red, purple and yellow.

The skeletal branches of dead cholla are interesting ...

... and are incorporated into a lot of art pieces like this wall hanging that I made from native plant materials.

Here's a link to another post I wrote about the cholla, and it gives more info:

the-nastiest-cactus-cholla.html

Have a colorful day

Halfway done with my 70 hikes!

 

I checked off hike number 35 this morning on my challenge to do 70 hikes in a year after turning 70 last December! For the occasion I wore my "Life Is Better In the Desert" t-shirt.

Here I am resting on a bench to catch my breath after climbing the steep hill at the beginning of the Canyon Loop Trail, which is my favorite. It's only two and a half miles, but it goes through a variety of very scenic Sonoran Desert terrain in Catalina State Park.

I'll show you why it's my favorite hike. These pictures are in order, starting with what hikers see after topping that hill. A beautiful desert panarama greets you, with our impossibly blue sky, Santa Catalina Mountains, tall saguaro cacti and lush Sonoran Desert brush.

After a mile or so of flat hiking through terrain like this, you come to two benches just before the trail takes a steep drop into the canyon. I always stop here to take in the view. Today I was the only one there, but sometimes there are a dozen people and dogs stopping to rest, take photos, and compare notes.

Then it's down a zig-zagging flight of about 100 stairs. If your joints can't handle stairs, there's also a trail without stairs designated for horses that you can take.

Looking up at a yucca from partway down.

Then it's a very pleasant winding walk through the canyon, where I always make another stop at my petroglyph rock. Here I sit for awhile and take off my hat and glasses so I can feel the cool air on my head.

It's shady and quiet here, so today since I was alone I sat on a rock for about half an hour enjoying the coolness and dappled sunlight. The stream's water level is way down and hardly moving.

This butterfly was on the ground near my rock. Half of its wing was missing, so it was having trouble flying. I hope it did okay after I left.

Most of the wildflowers are past blooming. This is a cholla cactus.

Then you come to the majestic saguaros rising above the canyon. The one below has some gnarly twisted growth going on in its center.

After emerging from the canyon the trail continues on, winding and flat, through iconic desert scenery.

Toward the end what used to be lush green grasses have turned golden around the mesquite trees.

Then you're back at the trailhead, where I took some pictures of the plant identification guide and met a couple from North Carolina who come here to bird. They told me where to see a nest with two baby owls, but by that time I just needed to get home and eat.

I hope you enjoyed your virtual hike!

Have a colorful day