SOME FANCY CREATIVE SCARECROWS IN CAMBRIA, CA

 I was happy to be able to walk through town one time on a trip to the central coast to see these scarecrows.   Cambria has an annual scarecrow festival.  

Then after the visit to Cambria, San Simeon where Hearst Castle is located is just up the coast from there.  I only went through Hearst Castle once but what i really enjoyed is walking the pier at San Simeon State Beach.  It's a beautiful area. 

We usually go to the coast to spend Thanksgiving with my sister and her family but we didn't plan it this year because of Covid and you have to get reservations months ahead of time to get a hotel room up there.  

SOME MORE AUTUMN IN BEND PHOTOS

Thanks for visiting and looking at the pics in the post before this.  Here are some more photos that make me anxious to be able to visit Bend again some day.

The neighborhood they live in is called Northwest Crossing and these houses are built in a circle around a park called Compass Park - The live 3 houses down from the park where so many kids and parents would gather there and visit while the kids played.  I enjoyed many hours at the park with my grandkids in my 5 or 6 times i have been there since 2012.  These are all from my first trip to Bend.

Mirror Pond down below - the lake - is part of an "impoundment" of Deschutes River as it runs through town.  It's a beautiful park and lake which is right in Downtown Bend.

"I LOVE BEND IN THE FALL"

. The very first time I visited Bend, Oregon was in October 2012.  My son and his family had just moved there from SoCal where we live.   This was the  first trip ever to Oregon and it was a perfect time of year.  Bend is considered high desert - it's in central Oregon about 3500 ft altitude.  They experience beautiful  seasons there and the fall is especially  beautiful.  

I figure for the rest of the month I will post photos from various places I've visited in autumn.   They make me happy just looking at them again.  My granddaughter is now 13 but the day we took her over to Mirror Pond she was about 5.  Jake was just 2 1/2.

A FEW PHOTOS FROM YESTERDAY'S LAKE WALK

 Another perfect day for a walk - slight breezes keeping it cool - i picked some wildflowers over near San Moritz Lodge but this is probably about it for the  these white flowers with yellow centers as mosts flowers with blooms have gone through their season and are looking like they are ready for winter.    These flowers are about the size of my fingertip but taking close ups makes them look so much bigger.  After the walk I was sitting in the car while Mike ran into the store to pick up some things for dinner so I thought I would photograph them close up.  

I normally don't take photos of girls in bathing suits but I was far enough away using my zoom and I don't think she saw me, lol.  I loved the scene and she just happened to be in it.  

The first photo of the house is that one house I know will satisfy my need for autumn color.  I see it whenever I drive over to the lake.  I don't think I've ever seen a car at this house and possibly it's just a second home where they show up once in awhile to enjoy the lake which is right across the street.  So I'm thinking maybe it's time to take a picnic lunch and sit at their table.  Probably not a good idea.

Oh and that yellow leaf - every day  when I'm out I usually see one leaf that is being backlit by the sun - I never miss the opportunity to take a photo of them.

that's it for now .  I'm out again in about an hour.  I have to take advantage of this weather before it turns cold.  

THE DESTRUCTION FROM THE "EL DORADO FIRE" LAST MONTH

 The fire was in Oak Glen a popular Apple Farming area with a little village and lots of small ranches and apple farms.  People go up there this time of year for apple picking.  It's a quaint beautiful little area.

The first photo is a picture of the park beyond those gates where a couple had a "gender reveal" party by lighting a smoke bomb type thing that puts out blue or pink smoke for the gender.  This sparked a fire that quickly ran up into the mountains .  This couple must feel terrible that their gender reveal party caused a fire like this.

(Laura thought u would like to see it )   

 We went up yesterday to this area  to see how it looked.  The fire burned a total of about 25,000 acres and only four homes - So that is good news, although sad for the loss of 4 homes.  

The Bobcat fire on the other hand, a huge fire closer to Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Mountain area burned 90, 000 plus acres.  

We haven't had our typical Santa Ana winds here in our mountains so that's been so nice not to have to worry about fires around here.