Grilled banana boat dessert

We had grilled banana boats for dessert Saturday night up in Pinyon.  Hubby found a similar recipe on the Whole Foods website:

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/grilled-bananas-sweet-toppings

Did I mention that a Whole Foods Market is coming to Palm Desert?  It should open this fall.  The workers are busy remodeling the old Best Buy store and I can't WAIT for it to open!   :-)

Dinner in the mountains

My good friend Barb invited us up to her home in the pinyon area of our local mountains last night, so off we went, armed with asparagas, corn, and wine.  We had grilled shrimp, chicken, corn, asparagas, and some peppers and home-grown tomatoes for dinner.  It was delicious!  AND, we ate outside (something that we can't do here in the desert this time of year)!  We saw stars and the Milky Way.  It was WONDERFUL!  We met the nice couple who grew the tomatoes.  They have their own small organic farm and I'm so thankful he shared his tomatoes with us!  They were delicious, unlike those you buy in the grocery store (which taste like cardboard!).  A good time was had by all, including Barb's horses and other animals!  :-)

Palm Springs building~Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors~072213

You know, I need to drive in to Palm Springs more often!  I've been driving there almost every morning now to take photos of the Mountain Fire and hubby and I had to drive our daughter and her family into the airport Saturday morning.  They are going to Oregon for 10 days.  On my way back home (it's a good 25 miles to Palm Desert), I was driving down Palm Canyon Drive looking at all the buildings.  The street was deserted at 6:00 a.m., so I was able to stop and snap a few photos, like this building.  One day this week I'll just drive slowly down Palm Canyon and take photos of the buildings!  Then I can stop at Jensen's market and buy some of their delicious salads to take home!  Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors for July 22, 2013.   To visit WWDD, please go to:   http://iwishiwereaphotographer.blogspot.com/2013/07/whimsical-windows-delirious-doors-86.html

Cows, fire, and fence~Friday's Fences~071913

I took this photo of the Mountain fire on Tuesday and by Thursday the road was closed.  The cows weren't too concerned about the fire, which burned away from them and is now heading down into Palm Canyon and Andreas Canyon (the Palm Springs Indian canyons).  We will all watch the weather today because a monsoon is moving toward the valley and our mountains and that means wind shifts.  This fire is now over 22,000 and is the priority of the US Forest Service.  The entire towns of Idyllwild and Fern Valley have been evacuated and are ghost towns.  Friday's Fences for July 19, 2013.  To visit Friday's Fences, please go to:   http://lifeaccordingtojanandjer.blogspot.com/

Mountain fire

The Mountain fire (as it is called) is up in our local San Jacinto mountains, where I spend a lot of my free time.  In fact, it's right at the turnoff to Idyllwild, where hubby and I spend weekends in a rented cabin.  It is NOT moving toward the town of Idyllwild, rather it is now burning south and east, toward the Palm Springs Indian canyons.  It started a few days ago and went from 5 acres to 10, to 25, to 50, then 900, then 1,500, then 2,500 acres, and it is now over 9,000 acres.  It is only 10% contained. I drove up that way yesterday to go to my horses' weekly lesson (they are AWAY from the fire and are in no danger...) and after that I drove out Highway 74 to view the fire.  There were quite a few cars pulled over, too.  We haven't had a fire like this in our mountains for many, many years and the trees and brush are all very dry.  Plus, the winds are not helping.  It was quite breezy up there yesterday.  It's very scary to see all the smoke settle down here in the Coachella Valley.  A few mobile homes burned up near Mountain Center and Lake Hemet and a camp was evacuated.  It's hard to control this fire because they are very few roads up in that area and NONE on the Palm Springs side until one gets to the Indian canyons and populated areas.  I'll keep an eye on it and I might go out today to take more photos.  Here are some from yesterday.

Orange dome~Orange You Glad It's Friday~071213

This cute domed building is along Highway 395, near Olancha, CA (where Crystal Geyser water is bottled).  It's actually in a little town that has several run-down buildings.  We usually just drive right by it, but on our way home from the Sierra Nevada in June, I insisted we stop and take a photo of the buildings, including this one.  It's it unique?  I wonder what it's like inside...Orange You Glad It's Friday for July 12, 2013.  To come on over to OYGIF, please go to this link:  http://writingsofmaria.com/ and participate!

Strange clouds~SkyWatch Friday~July 12,2013

Hubby and I went outside one evening a couple of weeks ago because we noticed we might have a decent sunset and this is what we saw~~a really strange cloud!  Of course, it didn't last long and soon was gone.  SkyWatch Friday for July 12, 2013.