August 4th: More projects and having fun with Karen and Craig

It was Monday morning at Rebecca's and I was leaving Wednesday at noon to visit with Craig and Karen. Rebecca and I discussed a plan the night before. Her next two priorities were shelves. The first  was a shelf over her washer and dryer. There was no place to set clothes, cleaning supplies, etc.The microwave and cleaning supplies had been sitting on top of the washer and dryer and cleaning supplies would sometimes fall off as the washer and dryer were running. We decided on a 30 inch x 6 foot shelf. Plenty of space for everything needed. In the garage, a 10 foot x 4 foot shelf above the hood or her car. That would provide a huge amount of storage and get stuff off of the garage floor.

I discovered the night before that Home Depot would not deliver the wood we wanted. Two 4 x 8 sheets of 3/4 inch plywood and three 10 foot long 2 x 4s. Fortunately Rebecca has a Grand Jeep Cherokee with a roof rack for the plywood, and the 2 x 4s would fit inside. So we set out with our masks and plenty of hand sanitizer. 

The roof rack didn't have anything to tie to, so we put the plywood on top and decided to tie it down through the windows. Worked well. Rebecca was in the car passing the rope back and forth and I got everything securely tied. I went to get in and the door was locked. Or so I thought. Rebecca said, "It's open".  Then I realized, of course the door won't open, It's tied shut by the ropes through the windows. Well I wasn't about to untie everything, so I said I'll climb in the window. It's a fairly large window but pretty high off the ground. Rebecca was skeptical. I put a cart next to the Jeep and was able to climb in head first under the 2 x 4s. It wasn't pretty and we got some strange looks but it worked!

Half the day was gone so I started work on the laundry room shelf. It went pretty well. Had to redo a couple things because the distance from the floor to the shelf was different from front to back. It's not like the floor looked slanted, but when we put a level on it, we decided it must be. At that point I said, "Time to quit". Had a nice dinner and another episode of Game of Thrones

The next morning I finished everything but the final installation of the laundry room shelf. Rebecca is going to paint everything before screwing everything down. In the meantime, she can use the shelf.

London and Trevi

Garage wall beam that will
support the 10' x 4' shelf

Then I had some time left so I investigated the garage shelf more closely. The shelf will go along the back wall on top of the beam. It's high enough for Rebecca's Jeep to fit under it. I decided we really didn't want to install the shelf until the new dry wall was installed. Oh well. Guess we'll just relax! London and Trevi had no problem joining in!.

Rebecca with new ear phones

Rebecca had ordered ear phones so we could watch the outside screen at whatever volume we each liked, plus we wouldn't annoy the neighbors! They aren't that close, but still, want to be good neighbors! We watched another episode of Games of Thrones. I'd never seen Game of Thrones when it came out. I tried reading the book but it was way too detailed and complicated for what I enjoy reading. I'm hooked on the series now. Rebecca and I are watching it almost every night, in Studio City or together on Facetime from my home in Encinitas.

Spent another enjoyable evening. The next morning I had time to make a pot of clam chowder and BBQ the chicken I brought, but we didn't use. Of course we sampled both before I left. Rebecca loves my leftovers! Then I headed to Karen and Craig's in San Juan Capistrano. There's something fun about being able to say, "I'm going to see friends in San Juan Capistrano."

View from the bike path

Electric Peddle Assist bike

Craig had borrowed a neighbor's electric pedal assist bikes. He asked if I wanted to go for a ride. Peddle assist? Of course. I'd never ridden one before but I'm sold. We went up some long hills with minimal effort. And you can use as much or as little of the peddle assist as you prefer. I might need one of these!







We enjoyed "Docktails" on their new back yard furniture. I was especially intrigued by their "Flying Saucer swing". It is extremely comfortable. It rocks and swings in a very soothing way. It's very much like the rocking of a boat. Definitely a great place for a nap. I think Wendy and Matt might be getting one of these! Christmas?

Crab cake dinner with Karen and Craig

I had made some crab cakes to bring with me. We all like them and they fed me last time! It was a very enjoyable evening. Big hike planned for the morning.



After a very large breakfast, we headed out on the hike. We went early because we knew it was going to get hot.We went to Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park. It's a beautiful place to hike with easy to difficult trails. Click here for history, geology, ecology, etc.  I told Craig I was up for anything as I'd been walking 3 miles every day and doing stairs.

Bobcat

 We were about a mile down the trail when I spotted an animal sitting in the path. I couldn't tell what it was but we approached slowly trying to get a good look. We were doing pretty well until a couple bikes came the other way. They also spotted it and stopped but it was too late. At first I thought, "Coyote, but as we got closer it looked like a cat. A pretty big cat. We had passed a sign warning about mountain lions, but we knew it wasn't a mountain lion. I thought "Bobcat" but I'd never seen one in the wild. They are usually nocturnal and very shy. As we were discussing it, another hiker came by and said, "Yep, it's a bobcat. I've seen it here several times." I wish we could have gotten closer but at least I got this picture.

Inside Dripping Cave

We were hiking along the "river". Not much water but a nice little canyon. It was easy going as it was pretty flat. We decided to go to Dripping Cave, about a 3 mile hike. The trail in, was in the shade, which we appreciated as it was getting hot. It was a very pretty little spot. Unfortunately, this time of year there was no "Dripping" but it was still fun.

Dripping Cave information

There was a sign that gave the history of Dripping Cave. The view from the cave was pretty neat. I took a picture of Craig reading the sign.

Craig reading the Dripping Cave sign

We had to turn around at Dripping Cave because the trail that eventually looped back was closed. Time to make a decision. If we took the river trail back, it would be flat and easy. If we took Car Wreck Trail, which was marked "Difficult" we could go back along the 700 foot summit, great views. We went for Car Wreck Trail wondering how it got it's name. There were no roads anywhere close.

Wrecked Car on Car Wreck Trail

 After hiking about 1/2 mile The terrain was uphill but it wasn't terribly difficult. Then we discovered where the name of the trail came from. Out here in the middle of nowhere, on a very steep hillside, is a wrecked car. Crazy!

Craig, climbing to the summit

From there we quickly agreed the trail was difficult. It was a very rough trail, rocks, loose sand, places where we used our hands as well as our feet to keep climbing. And it was getting hotter.

I let Craig get far enough ahead of me so I could get a good picture. It's kind of a cruel trail. When we finally thought we were at the summit, it would make a turn and keep on going, seemingly straight up. And as course, as we moved away from the riverbed there was no more shade.

The round trip hike ended up being about 6 miles. Fortunately, the climb to the summit was "only" about 1 mile. Then the two miles back to our starting point had some ups and downs but it wasn't too strenuous. And the views were spectacular.

I told Craig the next time we cut the distance, or the climbing, in half!

We arrived back at the house tired but it was a good hike. I headed back to Encinitas and a nice hot bath at Wendy and Matt's house.