A birthday excursion to Idyllwild—a teeny little city nestled in the San Jacinto mountains. We were camping about half an hour down a non-road from the city, up, up, up the mountains in a bouldery little campground. Ginger (our car) lost part of her bumper due to the treacherous climb up. But it was all worth it, as I was overwhelmed by the delight of it all. It was short, but it was good.

We waded into Lake Hemet (despite firm signs that suggested we ought not to), we hiked up the boulders and mountain to experience some incredible views, we  slept among pines whose scent recalled to me so much of my homeland (Canada), we cooked for hours over our campfire, we ignored cell phones and digital things, we wandered through the foresty bits of pinecones and logs, and we even were presented with a totally awesome carrotcake birthday cake, baked by Erynne. Yup, it was an all-around great little adventure. Let’s do another one this month!