heading out for a reward

in an effort to avoid cabin fever, we've been piling into the hub's truck one day a week for a nice drive out somewhere for a scenery change.  one day we drove all the way to cayucos, taking in the ocean view and grabbing a sandwich for lunch from the only spot open in town.

another day we headed up to lake arrowhead, where we found a closed-up lodge resort and took the dogs out for a quick walk.

and then last weekend we decided to head out even further.  the hub had read about reward mine, an abandoned gold mine out near the manzanar historic memorial, and it sounded like a pretty cool outing.  the bean got herself all comfy and settled in the back seat with her homework and the dogs and off we went for a 3-hour drive way up the 395.

when we got to the turnoff for the dirt road that led up to the mine, it started out as a partially paved road.  seemed...not so bad.  and then it got really hairy, turning super narrow and rocky and bumpy and scary and fun and hilarious all at the same time.  after making our way up that trail at a snail's pace, we found the opening to the mine and a pretty sweet view just beyond it.

we knew from doing a little research online that we could walk down the main tunnel for about 3/4 of a mile before it would branch out into 8 different directions.  some people were brave enough to actually drive through it, but we weren't really feeling quite *that* adventurous.  and we'd somewhat jokingly discussed how much it would suck if we were down there exploring and an earthquake hit, trapping us inside with not a single soul nearby and no one knowing we were there.  yeah...no.  but we did head on in to walk what we could, taking the dogs on a leash and grabbing flashlights to guide us through.  while it was 90 degrees outside, the moment we set foot in there the temperature dropped  probably 30 degrees.  crazy.

no one was willing to climb this ladder.

there was plenty of evidence of visitors who'd come before us.

and then we got to the wall that told us we'd gone as far as we should.

heading back was a little rough, because the entire way we'd walked downhill.  despite the cool temperature in there i was sweating and huffing and puffing as we climbed the hill back up and towards the opening.  i was pretty happy to finally see daylight again.  i can't even imagine what it must have been like for the men who actually worked there so many years ago.  no, thank you.

photo op!

once we made our way back to the main road, we went a little further in the other direction and found another part of the mine.  you could see portions of old buildings and mining equipment along the way and some cool rock formations on the side of the mountain.

and then on the way back out towards the highway the hub noticed what looked like an old runway and couldn't resist stomping on the gas and driving like a bat outta hell up and down it a couple of times while the bean and i squealed in half fright/half glee.

at the end the bean got to experience her first "donut."  heh.

although the manzanar memorial is closed, like everything else, due to the pandemic, you could still do the self-guided auto tour through the grounds of the old internment camp.  we've done this a few times before, but i always feel compelled to go and pay my respects, even if it's just by driving through and remembering the stories i've read about.

and on our way back through lone pine, we stopped and grabbed some terrible fast food at mcdonald's since we wouldn't really have much to pick from for the next few hours on the way home.  i love this super retro sign at the mt. whitney motel, where lots of folks stay before heading out to climb the mountain.

we spent a lot of time in the car that day, but exploring that old mine and doing a little off-roading was totally worth it. not to mention that it got us out of the house, gave us something to do and still managed to maintain social distancing.

everybody wins!

living the lake life (for an afternoon, anyway)

last week, we were sitting around the house trying to think of something fun to do for the whole family.  after chowing down on some delicious mochi waffles (that i kind of want to make again, stat), we decided to hop in the car and head up to lake arrowhead.  with the temperature hovering somewhere around the mid-90s at home, we knew we'd find some much nicer weather up in the mountains.  not to mention, we hadn't been up there in years.  8, to be exact...holy cow.

it was a gorgeous day up there, just as we'd anticipated.

like we usually do, we'd parked in the village area so we could walk around the shops and find some lunch.  and as much as i'm not really a coach fan, we had to go into the outlet shop because it's just what we've always done whenever we go up there.

the entire store was 60% off, and i was super tempted to pick up this buttery-soft leather jacket.  i'm still kind of kicking myself for passing it up.  i've always wanted a fun moto-style jacket, and this one was pretty perfect without giant logos all over the place.  oh well.

although the hub scored a sweet deal on a leather duffel bag that he's actually been needing for awhile, since his old one is pretty beat up.  in fact, i'm pretty sure we bought it here during our last visit.  heh.  but i did scream silently a little, because that pretty much foiled my plan for father's day.  he's not easy to buy for because he never really wants anything, so i was going to pick up luggage of some sort as his gift this year.  bah.

inside another shop we found a whole wall of silly little home decor that we stopped to read and giggle at.

nope, didn't buy any of those either.

we headed across the way into this restaurant, which was new to us and a nice change from the other ones in the village area.

we ordered their beer-battered pretzel-crusted cheese curds, which the bean tore right into.

the old lady opted for the buffalo chicken salad:

her special friend went with the "red hot" hot dog, topped with fried jalapeños, bacon crumbles and spicy mayo:

and the hub and i split a burger made with american kobe wagyu beef (which the bean also ordered).  it was tasty.

the old lady had this strawberry-lime hard cider.  she let me have a sip and it was light and refreshing, so we're now on the hunt to find it to have at home.

afterwards, we strolled around the lake a little and i made the bean re-enact this old photo.  hahahahahahahahahaha.

she managed to sweet-talk her daddy into getting us a boat ride for an hour, and i have to admit...it was really nice to cruise around the lake, taking in the views, looking at the gorgeous homes, wind in our hair, relaxing on the water.  i could get used to that.

 afterwards, the old lady asked for a photo (which the bean just had to get in on).

and while she's outgrown the rides at the little amusement park she wanted to pose in front of it anyway.

it was a lovely afternoon, and maybe we'll have to head back up there again soon.  maybe we'll buy a boat!  but the lake is private and all the boat docks are owned by locals.  maybe we'll buy a lake house!

hey, a girl can dream.  actually, that's more the hub's dream.  i'd rather have a beach house, personally.  but i suppose i'd be happy with either one.  right?  right??

sunset in solana beach

so i went to bed on saturday night with the intention of getting up the next morning, rounding up the troops and heading out to the rose bowl to get a long run in.  they planned to do at least one 3-mile loop and then go grab some breakfast while i finished out the rest of the miles i wanted to log.

yeah, we all slept in.  i didn't even get out of bed till after 10.  so much for that.

and so instead, the hub said "let's get in the car and go for a drive."  i love going on these spontaneous day trips that he comes up with, and so we all got ourselves ready and hopped in the car.  it wasn't too long before one of us passed out.

even pointing out the nuclear boobies on the side of the freeway didn't catch her interest.

the only thing that got her up was when we got to solana beach and found somewhere good for a late lunch.

after we placed our order we found a table near the little arcade, where she got her daddy to help her figure out how to play a pinball machine.

mmm...pizza and housemade root beer.

the old lady is weird.  look at how she ate her pizza.

afterwards, we decided to go for a walk and check out the row of shops nearby.

a lot of shops weren't open on that sunday afternoon.  we stopped here because it caught the bean's attention, and it looked super cute.

as we walked inside, i heard the lady ask the hub if he and i might be interested in taking a couple of photos for some channel 8 feature they were getting ready for.  i still don't know exactly what it was, but i'm always down for a photo op.  the old lady snapped this from inside the shop.

we browsed in a few other shops before heading back towards the beach to check out the sunset.

 the bean was highly amused at this sign (because all things bathroom-related are funny, duh).

this is such a pretty area.  maybe we should come down again for a little weekend getaway sometime.

and it's not complete without a couple of selfies.

hmm.  long run or day trip to solana beach?  well, i guess i'll have a more definite answer for you next weekend, after i get through that half.  eep.