Idyllwild Cabin Trip and other fun stuff

A friend of ours rented a cabin in Idyllwild for a weekend in October and we split the cost of the stay. It was a fun little mountain trip. And a nice respite from the heat. 

 Ben brought his bike along and rode some forest roads. He loved it. This is looking out towards the ocean. The mountains here rise rather suddenly out of the ground, so you get some spectacular views of the valleys. We were up around 5500 feet, as compared to sea level in Irvine. 

 We went on a hike with friends. And while Gordon and Evelyn were running all over the trail and climbing all available rocks, Jilly just hung out with the younger girls, content to be firmly planted on the ground. 

 Holding back a boulder with friends.

 Our friend had heard there was a UFO cabin in the area, so we drove around to find it and finally did. It was a bit of a hike in to see it. 

 The kids had fun making forts out of the leftover logs and firewood. They had to put it all back before we left. There was a tire swing as well. 

 We watched a sunset from the peak one night. After it was dark, we took a short walk to see what we could see of the night sky. It was more visible than in Orange County, but there was still quite a bit of light pollution which make seeing lots of stars difficult. 

 Ben photo-bombing the kid picture. 

 Watching TV while making breakfast. Evelyn make good friends with the toddler in this picture and he used her as his seat. We had lots of good food, company and conversation on this trip. 

We celebrated our 11th anniversary by going to the Red O in Newport Beach. Rick Bayless is our favorite Mexican food chef. We went to a session in the Newport Beach temple prior to this as well. We're working on some family names, which makes going to the temple a bit more fun. 

 The food did not disappoint, and neither did the service. It was a beautiful restaurant with great food. These were the beef sopes. We also had the chips with various salsas, tacos, tortialla soup, and some shrimp. We had a fancy churro with chocolate sauce for dessert. 

Here is my fine specimen in his native Southern California habitat drinking from a coconut.