Teenagers are wonderful?

As I flip through my photos I see my son. Lovely boy indeed. Just look at this photo, he is showing his best pose for the camera.




Now I come across one of his girl April and my daughter Nicole, with Jade posing in the back ground. Lovely children indeed, doesn't everyone wish they had kids like these?



Don't children know how to behave anymore? This bunch is never tame. Truly the unwashed.
Nicole, Jill, Becky, and David left to right. And my loving caring wife in the middle. Doesn't she just seem thrilled?
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I have lost my mind

So a few weeks ago I discover our medical card for insurance has too much money on it. If we don't use this money we lose it, lovely thought indeed. So I make a decision which should be reserved for mental patients. He maybe I should go in to the dentist for a little torture. Isn't congress debating torture? Isn't there laws against such random acts of violence? Not in this case, I decided to have my teeth fixed and have appliances installed in my mouth. (Braces):(
I seat here this morning picking at last nights fine culinary delight from Panda Express, trying to eat and all my mouth is saying STOP IT! Yesterday was a great confidence builder, The torture chamber ghoul, oh I mean dental assistant informs me having braces installed is the best weight loss program known to man. Indeed I believe he is correct, all I have had done is let them place spacers inside my mouth and all ready I am miserable. I know of no other place we go to embrace such pains other then the dentist. We as lemmings go of to this house of pain to have our mouths torn at, poked at, pried on, and just in general tortured. Are we all nuts? Should we all see a shrink? Is there no relief from our on insanity?
I will surely regret my decision to have these chains laid across all of my teeth for the next year. I guess the up side here is, I will be about as fat as Twiggy was in the sixties.
Save yourself from yourself DON'T GO TO THE DENTIST!

Boredom and babies

Well, it is Sunday afternoon and I am bored. Arising from a quick 20 minute nap I quickly realize I am desiring something new and sweet. I grabbed the Taste of Home Cookbook the wife has in her library of cook books, did I say library? I fully mean BOOKSTORE! Someone could get lost for weeks perusing her collection of literary works of food. Indeed one day I will surely fall into the trap she has set and I will emerge from the kitchen nothing more then a rotund troll.
So I see a recipe which peaks my curiosity. A Dutch baby, I have never heard of such a wonderful treat. I embark on a tour through the internet to seek out what exactly this culinary delight could be. I see it is nothing more then a souffle type pancake. So I embark on this worthy journey with the thoughts of finding something new to tease the taste buds with.
As the process begins I quickly realize the refrigerator lacks the 1/2 and 1/2 needed so I proceed to the pantry. Where there is the evaporated milk! None, alas I find one lone can of Eagle Brand Sweetened condensed milk. I rummage through the kitchen drawers and find the ever present 'Church Key'. I quickly open the can, and discover the contents have turned to caramel. I fully open the can to discover, yes, indeed it is all solid. So I decide to taste it, yes its good. I proceed to scope out some of the coagulated contents and put it in with the eggs and flour, I add water and start the butter. Using a cast iron skillet with far too much butter for the process I pour the liquid into the skillet. Then push the pan into the oven already heated to 425 degrees and wait.
What comes out is something I have never had before. I top it with zested lemon, squeeze on some of the juice, sprinkle with powdered sugar and WOW! Debbie had a small portion, I indeed finished off the rest. Yes, once again over stuffing my face.
This is a project I will surely repeat over and over.

Mt. Baldy Local So. Cal.

The day started out wonderful. We ran into these fellows before we even started the hike. We were able to watch them for 5 minutes before they got board with us and moved on. This is part of the herd above Wrightwood.



This day was one the hotter days we had in 06. In fact summit temperatures this day were pushing 85 plus even at 10,000 feet! This hike has no water available during the hike. I recommend in the summer time no less then 100 oz. of water. The day these pictures were taken I carried 148 oz.s and had roughly 16 left over I had given some to the boys hiking with me. So I figure I drank 100.
This hike is 10 miles from the Pine Mountain side. You summit 2 other peaks before reaching Baldy. This hike is not for the faint of heart!



You are greeted with this ridge within the first mile of hiking. As you can see this is not a walk in the park. Much of the trail is little more then a 'goat path'. There are moments when one is wondering, what am I doing here?



Once past the ugly ridge known as Pine back bone. You start to enter the lodgepole forest. These trees are among my favorite to walk among. The path is better defined here yet give it time it will disappear again.



Once atop Pine the goal is in site. Roughly 3 miles walking left yet now Blady stays in your view from this point forward. The views from this summit atop Pine are magnificent! There are rocks stacked in circles on top where hikers camp for the evening to protect themselves from the winds. It is a great place to just kick back and enjoy the view. Remember anyone can be a "trail pounder" Take your time and enjoy this hike it is not a foot race.




Baldy looms the whole way across Dawson peak. Dawson is not a hard part of the hike quiet and beautiful would be the words to use for Dawson. The trail on this part of the hike once again becomes a game trail.



Yes this is the base of the beast. There is this low saddle between Dawson and Baldy which you cross in short order. This area is the quietest of the hike. Fully surrounded by these two peaks. Not far from civilization yet far enough to feel you are in a wilderness far from any city.



Look steep? Well it is, you will be about half way up the side of this mountain and start asking yourself, what am I doing here? This part in short spurts becomes a class three scramble. For the most part though it is just STEEP!



The mountain on the right is Dawson and the one on the left is Pine. You can see the ridge you come will come down off of Pine. And yes you must go back the same way. This hike is not hard one way, it is hard both ways. This is what really makes this hike strenuous. Once tired from the hike to the summit, then you must turn around and do it all over again.



Closer getting closer!



Yes! Victory!










These images are of Baden Powell in the far right half shaded by the clouds. The image shows all the way to Mt. Wilson over by Pasadena.
This hike is a great hike if your are looking for a good work out. Be sure to bring lots of water. As I stated earlier 100 oz.s minimum. You may want to bring more though depending on the weather.
This hike can take upwards of 7 to 8 hours to complete. Remember there is no water on the trail you must bring it all.

Local So. Cal Hiking

The Lodgepoles on Mt. Baden are beautiful. These trees are some of my favorite trees to see. Of course many folks can 'cheat' and drive to these trees in many areas throughout California. However I prefer walking to them.



This is Sun rise at 8600 feet.



Yes! Victory! Not that it is all that hard. But to the kids they seem to think so.
David my son did run the last 3/4 of a mile up though.



Victory does have cost though.
This monument was erected in 1957 by a Boy Scout troop to honor Lord Baden Powell Father of the Boy Scouts. This was an Eagle project. The troop carried up the cement and water and wood to erect this memorial to Lord Powell. As you can see it sometimes fills in as a resting spot for weary souls.

Local hike

This is the summit of Mt. Baden Powell in Southern California. My son David is on the summit. The summit is right at 9600 feet a quick 4 mile walk and you are in an area of Lodgepole pine. The mountain can be busy with up to 50 people on it on a Saturday. So if you think being in the 'wilderness' is scary rest assured you won't be alone.

Never Let them see you sweat!

I was tagged, I had to state my life in six words.
So here it is in the title
Now to further expound on this topic.
When a dog senses your a afraid of it they will take it as
a weakness and attack all the more. People are no different if they know they are getting to you, then they will pick all the more. Anytime we show a weakness someone will take advantage of us. So therefore NEVER LET THEM SEE YOU SWEAT becomes a policy which must be adhered to if you don't want bully's taking advantage of you.
Another phrase I am fond of is PRESS ON REGARDLESS. This phrase I read many years ago as a young boy. It comes from "The Epic of Everest" There was a doctor who made this statement about climbing this formidable peak. In the book of Ephesians there is another phrase spoken by the apostle Paul, Vs. 14 states : "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;" Wither you believe in the Bible or not this statement has meaning to the Christian as well as anyone else. If you are not a Christian then "having your loins girt about with truth" becomes what you know is right. You ask what a
breastplate of righteousness" is to someone who is not a Christian? Their character of course. So if you are doing everything right and morally ethical then STAND! Press on regardless and go about your business.
Life is much more then a simple phrase and we all know this, however there are statements written in which we can place a part of our lives on which will get us through the tougher times.
Cheers!