Getaway to the Mountains

Since my DH was having a birthday, we planned a little getaway, heading north on Highway 49 through the California Mother Lode country. We went all the way up past Downieville, to this vista of the Sierra Buttes. I visited the area during the summers of my teenage years. It was just as beautiful as I remembered, with a sunny mild day. Gave DH the camera for this photo.
OK, it was very breezy that day - neither me nor my hair is usually so puffy!DH wanted to see the famous Gold Lake -a subject of legends galore during the gold rush. So up we went, finding snow drifts as we went higher and higher. As you can see, the snow was right down at the lake, and melting like crazy. All the rivers and streams were rushing like mad - very fresh and cold. So no fishing was done, and we couldn't even find a safe place for a little gold panning either. Enjoying the scenery was just fine - the gorgeous colors of nature in the pure air of those high elevations was fantastic. I want to do a quilt with some of those blues!

Being the practical sort, we brought along picnic lunches. This scene of Andy (the dog) with DH was taken after lunch, during an easy hike around this beautiful small lake, the Lower Sardine.
I recall taking off on some big hikes from this vicinity, during my younger years. I actually did get all the way up to the top of those Buttes, on foot! Andy seemed to really enjoy his outdoor adventure, scooting up and over the rocks, under logs and chasing a lizard once in a while. Looks like he did get a little warm and kept trying to jump in the lake.
Back at our hotel we enjoyed this view from our private deck. I loved the view of those rushing waters in the North Yuba River, but also was struck by the wonderful variety of the greens in nature. I have been saying for years that the shades of green chosen for quilts just do not have to match each other - they all look fine together. So I gazed upon the scene and admired our
waterfall, while DH and Andy watched the wildlife. It was wonderfully relaxing and peaceful.
We passed this really cool, really old building right on Highway 49 in a place called North San Juan. This looks like it could become a quilt............

In the next blog I will be talking about the things I learned at the Ricky Tims Super Seminar. Ricky did a beautiful quilt that was a picture of a fabulous building. When I took this photo I had no idea that I would ever attempt one, but now..........

During our visit to Grass Valley on the way to the mountains we found a darling quilt shop, the Sugar Pine Quilt Shop on South Auburn St. They don't have a website yet, but it is not to be missed if you are in the area. I picked up a few more 30's prints (sigh.....can't help it!) for the stash, and had a great conversation with Bonnie, the owner. Hope you can check it out.