Succulents and More™

We spent Christmas at my mother-in-law’s house in Mount Shasta, about 3½ hours north of where we live, at an elevation of 3,500 ft at the base of the 14,179 ft volcano it takes its name from. We were hoping for a white Christmas, and it did snow higher up on the mountain... ...but in town it rained. A lot. My MIL’s barn Stella wasn’t happy about the wet stuff falling from the sky... ...but she enjoyed tearing up the wrapping paper from our Christmas presents... ...and spent a lot of time on window patrol, just in case a squirrel or who knows what else dared to venture into the yard: In the end, though, we did luck out. It finally snowed on Boxing Day. First tentatively... ...then pretty heavily for a while: In the end, it didn’t amount to much, but it was still a pretty sight. Here’s my mother-in-law’s backyard with a bit of snow... ...Mount Shasta... Mount Shasta (14,179 ft) Mount Shasta (14,179 ft) ...and Castle Crags, about 15 miles south of Mount Shasta: Castle Crags (~6,500 ft) On...

Day 3 of our stay in the Bavarian Alps was spent in the Berchtesgaden area. As is the case with so many exceptionally beautiful places in the world, Berchtesgaden is overloved and overrun, especially in the summer, leading to heavy traffic and disgruntled drivers looking for parking. Still, I can't blame anybody coming here to enjoy this slice of paradise. After all, we were part of that crowd. Bergfriedhof Church in the town of Schönau which borders Berchtesgaden to the south

Day 2 of our stay in the Bavarian Alps was all about the Königssee . This fjord-like lake in Berchtesgaden National Park is surrounded by mountains rising steeply to 2,700 m (8,900 ft), including the Watzmann , Germany's third highest peak. The setting is drop-dead gorgeous. St Bartholomew's Church on the Hirschau peninsula of the Königssee The easiest way to see the lake is by boat. A fleet of electric boats provide service to St Bartholomew's Church about half way up the lake and to Salet, the terminus at the far end. The trip takes about two hours, there and back. 

We spent the last four days in the Bavarian Alps , mostly in the Berchtesgaden  area. On our last day, we made a quick side trip to Salzburg , Austria. I took a lot of photos and will show you my favorites over the next four days. Day 1 started out relatively cool, with often dramatic clouds and an occasional drizzle. Our first stop was the village of Ramsau , best known for its beautiful church: Church in the village of Ramsau

No need to dream of a White Christmas this year. We have one!  Originally, we had planned to drive to my mother-in-law's house in Mount Shasta, in the mountains of far northern California, on Friday afternoon. However, because of a winter storm that make freeway driving iffy, especially for cars without snow tires, we decided to delay our departure until Saturday morning. It ended up being a good decision because we were able to experience winter wonderland in all its glory once we got to Castella, about 15 miles south of Mount Shasta. This photo of Castle Crags  epitomizes what I mean:  Castle Crags

I haven’t posted much in the last two weeks because we’ve had friends from Australia staying with us. Last week we spent four days in the Eastern Sierra, the vast high desert east of the Sierra Nevada range. Sparsely populated and spectacularly beautiful, this part of California is a wonderland of mountains and lakes, sagebrush and tumbleweed, and even the occasional ghost town. In the “olden days” my wife and I spent quite a bit of time of here, camping and exploring. In the last 15 years, our visits have been few and far between, but the Eastern Sierra is always in our heart. Mono Lake at sunset Our home base was in Mammoth Lakes , the largest and most developed town in the Eastern Sierra. Located at an elevation of 7,880 feet (2,400 m), Mammoth Lakes is a world-class ski resort which in the off-season (summer) offers remarkably reasonable accommodations and easy access to alpine lakes, hiking, fishing, mountain biking and a host of other outdoor activities. It’s a great spot to...