Kissed by an Angeles (forest)

Freddie, my Mother and I decided to crawl out from under our bridge of a home and see the light, so to speak. Since giving birth to Pepper, I haven't strayed too far from the house. My cabin fever was getting real and setting in too hard. To cure my near jaundice state, we all decided to get out and get some fresh air and a bit of sunlight; which entailed, heading to the Angeles Forest, Mt. Baldy to be exact.

Mt. Baldy isn't too far from the condo, so I felt confident that on a Monday afternoon it would be close enough of a drive as well as not too busy to give it a go. 

We packed the baby bag with all of the goodies that I may need on our little trip out, buckled Pepper into her carseat, lock n' loaded Mumzie in the passenger seat, clicked myself in right next to Pepper in the back and Freddie stepped on that gas petal to go-go-go. Off we went indeed. We were at the foothill of Mt. Baldy in no time. It was a temperate 77 degrees. 

Up we went! The curving narrow roads lead no where but up and or off the mountain. We drove slowly to capture all of the foliage and regality in our near backyard. My mother white-knuckled the "oh shit handle" from time to time as heights really aren't her forte.

As like many mountains, we drove through dark and eerie tunnels carved for passage through the middle of the gigantic hills, spotted signs you'll most likely never see on grounded sea-level land, and endured ear popping elevation levels.

As our curvy drive up the mountain progressed, we passed a small village equipped with a tiny school, one opened restaurant, a visitor's center, a small campsite and park & hike areas. Onward we went. 

Although we did not make it to the summit as to get there would require a ski lift advance in which wasn't in the cards for the day, the sights were beautiful and it felt so wonderful to breathe fresh mountain air and feel the warm sunshine beat down on my forehead. The temperature now registered at approximately 65 degrees. I felt somewhat human again rather than my troll-like self hibernating in the depths of this dimension.

The sounds of birds singing, squirrels chattering and the wind whistling through the pine needles was extremely reviving. There were no sounds of swooshing traffic, blaring sirens, or blabbering people. 

The hustle and bustle of Southern California was what felt like left behind for the current moment. The chaos can really weigh on a person. It's no wonder the beaches and mountains are a complete necessity for sanity. Lucky for me, both are within close driving distance <3.  

The quick trip to heaven ended seemingly as quick as it began as the little one began to get restless. Back down to reality we went. Goodbye Mt. Baldy, it's been beautiful, we'll see you again real soon.