May 31, 2017

Memorial Day

We headed up into the Eldorado for Memorial Day.  We decided to check-out the Caples Creek area off the Silver Fork Road, about an hour from our apartment.  

There were snow plants everywhere.  They were popping up like crazy!  This drab, colorless forest floor and then this brilliant splash of red.  I love snow plants!
More wildflowers showing off in one of the meadows we hiked through.

 A lovely alpine lake we hiked by.
Green meadow.

 If there was one word to describe this hike it would be water.  It was everywhere.  It was flowing, it was fast, it was powerful.  Caples Creek was more a roaring river than a gentle creek.  The water in the next few pictures is coursing so fast it looks more like a lingering patch of snow.



There were places where the trail was hard to follow because there area was flooded.  There were places where the trail itself was a happy babbling brook.  It made navigation exciting.

At one point, the trail crosses Caples Creek.  This trail is managed for equestrian use, which means horses easily ford the creek and humans get a little wet, aka - no bridge.  

....when the creek is a fast moving body of cold snow melt....

We found a very convenient log to use to get across.  It was extremely nerve wracking but we made it to the other side.


 Gil meditating (and levitating) to bring the nerves back into check.

It was a lovely day and a lovely hike.  Always good to explore the new office!

May 21, 2017

Tap Dancing

I have always loved to dance and have really come to enjoy tap dance.  About six months after I moved to Rescue, I was able to find a studio with adult classes.  Not quite like the studio in Houston that I love and miss, but it was tap.  Three weeks after I started, we had a performance.  I learned the routing as fast as I could.

It was a Night Out event in downtown Placerville.
 The street was closed off and we were right in the middle of the old part of town.
The studio started with some Zumba routines.  I am not in Zumba but the instructor pulled me out anyway.  Zumba in tap shoes? 
Our routine was to "Tainted Love".  I didn't mess up too bad either.

 Afterwards, we went to the Hangman's Tree, an old fashion ice cream parlor in downtown.
Gil treated me to a malted chocolate milk shake.  My favorite!


Our performance happened the afternoon/evening after we'd been at the Pioneer Day event all morning.  Between pioneer events and tap dancing, we went to the local thrift store and found chairs for our kitchen table.  It was a long, great day.

California Pioneer Day

A California Pioneer Day Celebration was held on May 20th.  The location was Marshall Gold Discovery, where the first gold was discovered in California, and just up the road from where we live.

The day started with a parade


An extremely talented performing youth group from a conservatory in Sacramento provided excellent entertainment.



There was live music.


A cannon was fired.


We practiced walking on stilts.



We even got dressed for the photo booth.

It was a grand way to spend the morning.