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Aunt Donna turned 75 on Monday. Tammy and Aunt Vivian and I and Stanley the Bear were there to celebrate it with her. A fun time was had by all.

Before packing a few things and driving up to the San Bernardino mountain resort, I hurriedly sifted through old family photos and found the perfect one for a birthday card for her.

I added the phrases you see for a humorous touch, and printed it on cardstock. Below the inside text, I wrote:

“I LOVE YOU.
Best wishes on your 75th birthday,
Mitchie”

(She’s the only one who is allowed to call me Mitchie.)

I left Laguna Beach at about 2:30PM and made it to the “Inland Empire” by about 4:00PM.

I got lost on my way up there because I was confused about the highways 30 and 215 and 18, and I stopped at Der Weinerschnitzel on Waterman Avenue in San Bernardino to grab a quick bite to eat, and to get my bearings.

I noticed a pair of tennis shoes, shiny and expensive-looking, tied together and hanging from a telephone wire in the parking lot. I shot this photo just in case anybody wants to know where to buy drugs in San Bernardino. Perhaps this is also the reason that nobody there was able to help; in fact, one stoner’s misinformation almost had me back-tracking, but I eventually made it up to Crestline, and to Aunt Donna and Aunt Vivian’s cabin, by about 5:30PM.

This photo came out really dark, so I brought up the levels and added a little saturation. The mountains get darker sooner because of the many long shadows created by the mountains themselves.

Tammy and I visited with our favorite aunts until about 9PM or so, and then we left for Tammy’s cabin, on the other side of Crestline, where I stayed the night. We had plans to visit Dad and Bonnie the next day in Yucaipa. I hadn’t seen Dad’s new house yet.

The morning sun was brilliant, breaking through the trees; and squirrels were coming out of their nests(?) to bask in it. I saw bluejays and huge black ants, and bees, and, and… Too much nature!!

All things considered, I think I’d rather be in Laguna Beach.

(Check out the rest of the photos I took, on Flickr.)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 31st, 2005 at 11:12 am and is filed under Event. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.