Hiking On A Holiday

On Independence Day, I went for a hike with Jellyfish, Lucia, and Mountain Lion past Lake Ranch Reservoir and up the new stretch of John Nicholas Trail. Due to our late start we didn't make it all of the way to the end, but at least I got farther up the trail than I had previously. I think we ended up hiking around 7 miles, all told. Not bad, I guess.

On the way back, we watched an egret alight at the very top of a tree, perching there like some sort of Christmas tree topper.

But even the egret had to look up.

Down by the water, Jellyfish spotted a large Garter snake. We had a quick photo session with it before moving on.

Afterward, we found an Ethiopian/Eritrean eatery surprisingly near home (one that Jeanine and I were unaware of) and had some decent food. The service was a bit slow and the decor was crappy diner-esque, but the location bumps it up a notch.

Jeanine spent the day working, first for pay, and then for free at the annual block party that occurs on our street. I managed to avoid any sort of 4th of July celebrations though, because by the time I got home, the block party was over. There was a brief illegal fireworks show happening a block or so away, so we saw some of the action through the window. At one point, I went out to wheel the garbage and recycling bins to the street and saw no fewer than three police helicopters on the prowl for illegal fireworks activity. That didn't seem to slow people down at all though.