In the Shadow of the Mallard - Sunday 7/13/2008

GuitarDaddy whipped us up a mighty fine breakfast!



We ate in the shadow of the mallard. I did mention that I'd had a mallard for a pet when I was in middle school.

His name was Wolfie, because when I got him from the incubator in the science lab at school he was black and gold, the school colors of Wolf Lake High School where my dad and brother went. (Before Evil Consolidation.)


A lingering look back up at our bedroom window. It was a great weekend to be at 5000+ feet, since it was about 20 degrees cooler up here.


Heidi sees us off.

Bye! Thanks!

It was a wonderfully relaxing weekend, and it was great to get to know these two terrific musicians better.



On the way back, we stopped to take photos around the ruins of the Llano del Rio commune, which opened in 1914. We walked around speculating, and I just found that link above which tells the history of the place.


Here's a photo I found online! Apparently the hotel burned down in 1920!

How much do I love the Internet? This much [holds arms as far apart as possible.]


The back of one of the big old fireplaces.

I've been wanting to stop here for a long time, but not quite enough to actually pause in our travels. Now they're in the process of widening parts of the 138 and I figured I'd better do it sooner than later.



An old cistern.



I suspect that this was the base of a water tank. You can see some other remains in the background. This place was much bigger than it looked from the road, with traces of what looked like a dozen or so dormitory style rooms in one area, and lots of less-identifiable foundations.


Looking through what was once a window. As Hydra commented, it's amazing how much of the rock wall is missing. He theorizes that what didn't burn was scavenged to build other structures elsewhere. Nicely collected rock.


And here's my theory...that this duel track of stone was once an aqueduct. It runs from up near the big lodge house to the furthest structure on the property...probably a distance of a couple of hundred feet.


Not sure if you remember, but a while back Hydra and I stopped at the Pines Cafe. It had been operating on the same site for decades and had a very good local reputation.

So glad we stopped there the two times we did! It's no longer there!

Now it's Habanero Grill.

The Pines Cafe and a Littlerock Junk Yard - Saturday 1/19/2008

The Pines Cafe. We've been meaning to go there for years. It was once in the middle of nowhere, but Palmdale has sprawled out to meet it.


Not a broad menu, but they have some interesting omelets with zucchini in them and hand made burgers, and incredible thin-sliced fried potatoes that actually rival my mother's (which is saying something, friends.)



Outside The Pines. People who put together things like this warm my heart.



Very old, very worn tires at a real mess of a junk shop in Littlerock, CA.



The person who worked behind this cash register could probably not have imagined it would end up here.



Clever recycling of an old sign as a roofing panel for a shack in the junk yard. This area produces a lot of fresh produce.



I love the way the paint has aged on this.



Some one has been cleaning up around here. I don't really have a shot that shows just how much junk crowds this 3-acre junk yard. I don't think I can go back and get one. Things were so decayed it was like a trash heap with paths through it. It was kind of depressing to think of the man inside sitting by his barrel-shaped woodstove day after day, hoping to sell something.