Annual Tradition

I suppose the pictures look the same each year, but I promise I took these pictures today!

Maybe one year I will go inside and listen to the convocation speeches.

Bonus picture from Instagram

Next Trip

One of the highlights of my time at home (home of my heart) was riding my bike to Little Free Libraries in the neighborhood.

This one has been around for a while. It was started by a
classmate's dad and led to the formation of
a great organization that makes sure that kids have books.

Not far away is this library in a beautiful yard.

A dog walker's tip led me to this beautiful library.

Some kids selling lemonade told me about
this library at the local elementary school.

Some other dog walkers pointed out this one,
which had only a couple books in it. :(

My parents had a few extra books
so I went back the next day.

Other book adventures included Ohio's best bookstore

and the local library (photo from their Facebook page).

Last mountain vacation post

I am not so keen on cycling on gravel, sand, or other challenging surfaces. Lucky for me there is a beautiful paved trail along five lakes.

I tried to ride all the way to the top without stopping and then took my time going down. A. is always taking pictures of his bike in different places, which strikes me as odd since his bike always looks the same. Despite that I took his lead and took some pictures of my bike, along with a few others.

 When the guys were finished on the mountain 

we met up with friends who had extra paddleboards.

It doesn't get much better than this!

More Vacation

A friend recommended a hike that would not be too crowded and she was right!

I skipped the little loop before Heart Lake that focused
on the gold mining days and headed up. I did not see anyone
on the way up, anyone at the lake, or anyone on the way down!

If you have very sharp eyes you can see a mining structure
in the center on the far-right side of this picture.

It was not a very long hike so I had time to explore

the library and 

a thrift store.

Two sets of friends were in town so there were a lot of people riding together. 

No problem since there were a lot of trails to ride!

photo credit A.

photo credit Jacob

I am so happy they were having a good time and

so happy I was not on even the blue trails!

Start of Vacation

On our way to Mammoth we made two stops. 

A visit to Manzanar is not an upbeat occasion
but we did not regret learning a bit more.

Not far away is Erick Schat's Bakery, which is a popular place
on a Sunday in the summer. After getting a few things
we enjoyed a picnic in the city park across the street.

When we first arrived in town we had time to get in a little ride. The guys went off to meet friends and do a more technical ride.

I rode the uptown trail to

Earthquake Fault, which is really an enormous fissure.

I rode the downtown trail back to the room, which was not a whole lot easier for me than going uphill. I guess I am more of a pavement kind of person. The good thing was that it was late enough in the day that there were very few people on the trail. The other good thing was staying at a place a very short distance from the trail.

Underground Plumbing System

There are so many posts to write, but the biggest surprise on our vacation was the Hot Creek Geological Site.

It would be easy to miss the sign off of I-395, but we found it. Not long after leaving the main road the pavement ends and changes to gravel. We brought our bikes and decided to cycle the last couple miles.

It is not a long hike down to the creek.

We thought this sign was very American - no nude bathing!

It is easy to see the steam from the colorful pools,

But we were surprised to see bubbles coming up in other places, too.

It was tempting to take a dip, but in the end we enjoyed
just walking around before cycling and driving back.

Holiday

How did you celebrate National Baseball Card Day? I heard about it while listening to a game and looked to find a local store. Lucky for me it was very close to the bicycle store where D. was picking up A.'s bike, which had an unusual problem that one unusual part (and some money) could fix.

D. was given this pack - what luck! The store is one part collectibles and one part tables with people playing games, mostly Magic the Gathering, but some others, too. Maybe one day I will take in my boxes of complete sets that I got with Bazooka bubble gum comics back in the late 1980's (I think).