At Ft. Morgan Beach in Alabama

As you can see, the beaches were packed! And the water full of oil. Not. It was absolutely beautiful, and there was no one on the beaches. This is Russell and Jordan Anderson taking their daily stroll.

Russell and Paula, Mikki and me out on a sand bar. It is beautiful water. 

Paula, Lauren and Mikki out for an afternoon sunset walk on the beach. 

Mik Mik with Caroline, Brody and Jack at the beach house.

Grey and Molly taking it easy.

Miss Caroline and her purple horse... posing for Papa G.

Grey munching on his Cheerios...

Jack grinning...

Caroline, Jack and Brody taking in the sun, and taking on some sand. 

Saturday of last week at Go Away Farm

Mik got a good shot of the chickens. We are not officially over-roostered. Three need to go! Want a rooster? 

Amazing GIANT Yellow Squash growing from the Compost pile. It is huge! 

Corn is coming on. Isidro feels the urge to plant other things in amongst the corn. He has a plethora of peas, canteloupe, melons and beans. We probably will have to pick corn with a Cherry-Picker machine before its over:-)

Poor Mik has fought horrible allergies this year from the blooms of the Bahai pasture grass. 

Grapes are coming along nicely. 

And so are the black berries.

And so are the thorns on the black berries... 

Short drive...

A funny thing happened to me yesterday. I thought, instead of going back to the RV after a Saturday's work at the client, why not go on a short drive and see some California I haven't seen?! So, I fueled up the big truck and drove North on I-15. After a while, I thought that I should head back toward the RV and take in some dinner. So I looked on the navigation system and saw a road, Hwy 138 that appeared to head in the Westerly direction. Good enough. I took it. Then, after driving through some beautiful territory of foothills and mountains I saw a road that pointed left and said, Hwy 2. I recalled in a flash a conversation I had just had with Dan Ablett at ABG about the big bike race next week across hwy 2 and the 12,000 foot ascent they would make. So, hey, why not go see what he was talking about. It was just 4:30 pm and I had nothing else to do. Well, to cut this down some, it was a short 3 hour drive late and the gate was closed... on the main road. No warning for the past 40.3 miles of hairpin turns and overlooks (which were absolutely beautiful). And I had to turn around the beast on a two lane mountain road and go back. Then, I saw another road that headed West, and I turned on it, following a Cadillac that appeared to know his whereabouts, since I had no clue where I was really. It said, "Mt. Wilson". Then, I spotted a couple coming from a mountain trail in back-pack regalia. I stopped and inquired if the road I was on would lead me back to L.A.? "Nope" was the answer. So I probed. "Turn-around, go back till you see Tejunga (?) Canyon road.. take that". Never made eye contact. I guess they eat people who look at others up here. Thanks! Well, 5.5 hours after determining that a short drive would be good, I got back to Hwy 210. Totally turned around I headed to the RV. The wrong direction. But, Santa Clarita is pretty too. I collapsed in bed exhausted:-)

I came into a massive area of fire ravaged forest. Miles and miles of it. And then I noticed these beautiful cactus blooms everywhere across the scorched landscape... as far as you can see. It is really a bit surreal, but stunning all the same. Here is one I shot out of the truck window. I wish I had been carrying a high-quality camera. 

This was a valley from the road. The views toward L.A. were stunning, but my little camera just couldn't overcome the sun setting in the West. Too bad. Amazing views. 

Where's Waldo?

It's bad when you awake in the night and you can't remember if you're in The Woodlands, the farm, Switzerland, in California in an RV... or some hotel room:-) You learn to lay still for a few minutes before bounding out of bed (my normal fashion of bed-launch). These RV beds are close to the wall if you get my drift... Beautiful in California right now. 70's in the day, 50's at night. Nice. Fog in the morning and late evenings. 

For some reason, I can't help but take pictures out of plane windows. Maybe I can't believe I'm really up above all this beauty. 

Lost yesterday, I turned down a side street in a poor neighborhood of San Dimas. What I saw in several of the small clapboard home yards was nothing short of stunning. Proves it's not where you live, but how that makes a big difference in your outlook. What a beautiful rose garden this lady had.

Coming out here this time, I glanced out the window and to my surprise I saw a plot of land, and probably a large one, with a family name planted plainly in the East / West direction. The "Loecke" family, out somewhere between El Paso and San Antonio kind of likes their name. 

I was setting here night before last answering some e mail on my iPhone. As it got dark, I kind of enjoyed the lights and sound of a small plane doing touch-n-go's from the airport I'm overlooking. I heard a shuffling of feet in the grass next to me. I looked to my right, but my eyes were not able to adjust quickly to the dark. When I turned back, thinking I had probably heard a cat, I saw a white inverted V to my immediate right... it was a giant skunk! He / she had sidled up to my side without me knowing it. I literally lunged immediately forward and made a lap around the neighbor's trailer. Luckily, he/she as oblivious to my launch and failed to fire. I'm a very lucky man. Last night, I came in right at dusk.

Brody's first suit...

I caught up with Brody and Caroline going into church from Sunday School last week. I thought this was a beautiful shot. At 4-1/2 years old, Brody in his first suit, and buttoned to boot! There there was Liney all dressed up with her doll. 

In Termen Switzerland

This past week, I had the pleasure of flying to Geneva Switzerland, then taking a car to Brig. Brig is a small town in the Southern Swill Alps, just below the Aletsch Glacier. There lies a spring of water that has been under analysis for 40 years. In 2008, the founder's began producing bottled water from the spring. It is in a town called Termen, Switzerland. It was a great experience. What a beautiful country. There isn't much I've seen that compares to the beauty of the Alps and the precise but cordial Swiss people.

The castle in Brig from my hotel window. 

On Lake Geneva at Montreaux, looking over at Evian.

In the little city of Brig, Switzerland.

A church in Oberreid, Switzerland, just above the towns of Bitsch and Termen. The churches in Switzerland are mesmerizing. I'm not sure if it's the architecture, or their setting in small villages that strike me.