Our holiday adventure in Idyllwild, Part two

As we mentioned in an earlier post, we decided to head to the local mountains of southern California for a quick holiday getaway and, of course, Iris joined us on this adventure.

Idyllwild is a lovely mountain community located just a little over 100 miles east of Los Angeles in the beautiful San Jacinto mountains.  It provides a quiet and peaceful escape from the traffic and noise of the city and offers plenty of opportunities to enjoy outdoor activities like hiking, rock climbing or simply enjoying the vista from one of the local restaurants or your own cabin.

We stayed in a rather luxurious 3 bedroom house/cabin with a fantastic fireplace.  We had expected others would be joining us, hence the large abode.  We found this rental through Quiet Creek Vacation.  It had a lovely view of Lily Rock one of the amazing “rocks” or mountains that form a focal point to the Idllywild vista.  We were also very close to Humber Park and thus to the very scenic Ernie Maxwell Trail which is a great 2.5 mile trail (one way) that passes through rocky terrain with great open skies and many different types of tree including the beautifully twisted Manzanitas to fresh smelling pines.  Sadly, the drought has made many of the trees susceptible to an invasive bark beetle that requires the trees be destroyed.  However, one of our goals for 2014 is to focus on Martin's art and he is currently developing ideas for a beetle painting so the nesting grounds that are created from the fallen leaves provided inspiration for texture and background for his paintings.  Something good comes from everything!

After a day of long walks we felt we deserved to eat at some of our  favorite spots including pasta at Cafe Aroma, a regular for us.  And, if you are lucky enough to be there on a Monday night you will get to hear local live jazz.  After our long walks we would often splurge and eat sticky buns and lemon mascarpone slices at Honey Bunns, delicious home made cooking at its best!

How did you spend your holiday break?

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Iris enjoys a trip to the local mountains

It has been quite some time since we shared any of our adventures with our beloved rescue dog, Iris.  But she did join us on our winter "escape" to the local mountains during the holidays and really seemed to enjoy the cooler weather and higher altitude of Idyllwild, California.

Iris is a canine of few barks.  In fact, she rarely barks; although on this occasion she would use the wrap around deck to issue the odd bark at a passing hiker.  How dare anyone pass on her trail!

She shows off her hiking skills in this photo of her easily and bravely crossing a log:

and in this photo where she has clearly picked up the scent of some local critter or, more likely, a delicious morsel of food.

Many of you may recall that we adopted Iris from a local rescue organization, The Rescue Train.  They have many dogs like Iris looking for new homes so if you are in or near the Los Angeles area and are looking to add a new member to your family, be sure to check them out.

You can also view our entire collection of custom architectural hardware at www.martinpierce.com.