Monday, January 07, 2008

• I haven't posted in awhile, so I'll actually start off by posting a couple of pictures from when we went to the beach on the 17th of December.  We filmed a little video of us having fun down there, which we uploaded to www.dhpfilms.com. 

  
  Here I am filming our remake of "Chariots of Fire".  We didn't get past the running on the beach part...

  
  Playing a little football on the beach.  We were actually doing it for a little video we were making, but it was still fun... even if it was just for the video. ;)

  
  The guys intently staring at the opposition... waiting for the serve.  Only later did they realize that the ball was sitting at Kyle's feet.

  
  We got a fire pit for our backyard for Christmas this year.  We've had fun sitting around it and roasting hotdogs for dinner a few times so far.  It's not the same as doing it at the beach or in the mountains, but it still is a lot of fun, especially with the cooler weather we've been having lately.  If anyone wants to come over and roast a few hotdogs with us, you're welcome! (just bring your own hotdogs )

  
  We had a few days off for Christmas break, so Kyle, Kevin, Stephen and I went on a little two day camping trip.  There was supposed to be a big storm coming in on Thursday when we left, but it didn't actually arrive till late Friday night when we were driving home.  We wanted to try somewhere new, so we headed down to some of the mountains in the San Diego area.  We ended up in the Cuyamaca and Laguna Mountains in the Cleveland National Forest.  It is really pretty there.

  
  Here we are next to Mt Laguna off of the S1.  There was a great view from where we were.

  
  Same place, different view.  I'm sure you all were just dying to see a picture of a bench. 

  
  You could definitely tell there was a storm coming in.

  
  A dead bush.  Ok, I'll stop with the random scenic pictures for now, but I'll get back to them.

  
  We thought there was a good chance we would get snowed on, but we didn't.  The picture with the old snow will just have to do.  Everyone thought we were crazy for going right when there was a ton of rain/snow predicted, but we actually wanted the elements... makes things more exciting.  I bet it would have actually rained if we didn't want it to...

  
  Here we are on a hike near our campsite on Thursday afternoon.  It may not have rained or snowed, but it got chilly enough.

  
  On Friday morning we set out to find a nice trail, but the one we chose ended up being paved the whole 0.2 miles of it.  Talk about roughing it.  It did lead to this lookout though, which had an absolutely stunning view.

  
  I'm helping the trees to block the gorgeous view in this picture.  I blend in pretty well... my pants match the fence, and my shirt matches the trees.
  

  
  We did end up finding our nice long trail.  Walk around for a bit and you are bound to stumble onto a trail which leads to a better trail, which leads to an even better trail.  That theory only works when you are in a decently populated area.

  
  Kevin, Stephen and Kyle hiking to nowhere.  We hiked for a long time and then headed back when we felt we had hiked long enough.  I'm not actually even sure how long we did hike because I lost track of time.  When it is overcast and you are just talking and hiking along, you can lose track of time very easily.

  
  A barbed wire fence we hiked along for quite a ways.

  
  Stephen picking out our next destination once we got back to his Jeep. 

  
  We ended up hiking Japacha Ridge at dusk and well into dark.  A really heavy fog rolled in which made it even darker.  Flashlights weren't an option, they were a necessity.  We found a trail that said it went to "Airplane Monument".  We decided to take that one, as it sounded interesting, and found the monument pictured above.

  
  An airplane crashed there on December 7, 1922, and they cemented the engine from the plane for the monument.  The story behind it is kind of interesting, and you can read about it here: http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/v51-3/pdf/v51-3_crash.pdf

  Once we got down from our hike, we ended up back at Lake Cuyamaca for the 3rd or 4th time, and then headed home.  The roads were really winding, and there was a really thick fog, but Stephen was driving so he had all the hard work. 

  It is really hard to describe our trips... it is easiest to say they are "camping trips", but we are way too mobile for them to be considered regular camping trips.  We end up driving around and stopping in all sorts of different places, so it can be hard to tell which spot we actually "camped" at.   I guess the spot we put up our tent would have to be it.

  Getting back to work after a break is no fun, but I guess what makes a break so much fun, is that it is actually a break from work.  If you never work, you can never take a break from working!  Ok, I'm trying too hard...

  Hope you all have a great week!

  • 9:59 PM
  • 6 eprops
  • 4 comments