Spring from Japan

Hello there.  I'm sorry that I've been MIA from Elderberry Street. There has been so much going on here that I feel a little overwhelmed trying to narrow things down to tell you.  I could fill every day here with something, usually something really fun and cool.  I wonder how I'll handle life when I'm back in the U.S.?  We've even gone back to California again since the last post.  My husband had meetings and I stayed an extra day to play with friends.

I've titled this post, Spring from Japan.  Basically because Spring is ALL OVER JAPAN these days.  And it is amazing.  We've been on a hike from Tsumago to Magome.  I thought it was HARD.  Nobody else did.  Stopping to take pictures every other step didn't help matters.  * I've decided to keep this post just about the hike because there are too many photos to share.  I promise I'll post again this weekend with photos from Yoshino which is a famous location for Sakura.

Immediately when I got back to Japan I helped with a Ladies Retreat from our church.  It was at a monastery which was barren and cold.  Kind of like you'd expect, I guess.  There wasn't much warm water either.  I was in charge of the crafts.  I know that's a shocker.  We made journals because the theme was about The Great Love Story.  They were able to use them for the remainder of the retreat.

Here are the wonderful ladies that were there the second day. It was such fun to be involved with.

Back to the hike.  There were eleven of us.  We drove an hour and a half to Tsumago and hiked down to Magome.  It didn't feel like down to me for the majority of the hike.

At this point I was very happy to be finally going downhill.  That is just a taste of the beauty we saw that Saturday.  I've also been playing with kids, visiting the park for Sakura season and all around having fun.

 Grace and Lucy are absolutely adorable.  They noticed I was taking pictures and the show began.

 On my way home from the park I caught this Quince with the Sakura in the background.  

My neighbor, Meryl, was all dressed up for the tea ceremony, but her little boy was on a different time schedule.  

I'll leave you with this.  A serene little spot on my walk home the other day.  

A Little Get Away

I'm such a bad blogger lately. Sorry for the lack of communication. I totally forgot that I had not shown you pictures from our trip to Palm Springs in late January. We have some close friends that use their time share points to go to Palm Springs every winter. They invited us to join them.  

Can you see those C R A Z Y cyclers? This is a very steep road with a lot of hairpin turns. They must have a death wish, I think.

Our time share was beautiful.

 The first day we went to Joshua Tree National Park to hike.

 It is in two different deserts.  One being the Mojave Desert. Deserts are dry, but this one was unbelievably so. There was barely any hint of life. It should've been greening up for our "wet" season.

My husband spotted a herd of elk sheep (my husband got a laugh when I said elk) from the road. They were a long way from us, but I used my telephoto lens for this.

 They were posing for us.

 We went on a 7.2 mile hike. Not that I'm counting.

 This barrel cactus had an amazing color.

 The sand was very deep as we approached the half-way point.  My legs were getting pretty tired.

 Proof that I actually did the thing.

As we got all the way in, we found ice along a creek. IN THE DESERT. So, strange.

Don't worry, I'll have more pictures next time. Just to be honest, hiking in the desert was never on my bucket list. But, it was incredibly beautiful. Have you ever visited or hiked in the Mojave Desert? 

Hiking in Idaho

While in Idaho, we spent a couple of days hiking.  We hiked four miles each day. My husband and friends are experienced hikers.  Me not so much. Our first hike was the Box Lake Trail.

 This area had been burned in a wildfire in 1996, I think. You could still see so much of it. 

 It was pretty hot. We were airing out. 

We didn't go the entire way.  It would've been an 8 mile hike! I would've passed out.

 A little goofing off was required.

The second day we hiked to Louie Lake.

 My husband and I actually saw an eagle catching a fish!

It was fun, especially after the fact.