RA Family Event at Sweetwater Park

April 2, 2005

This month's Royal Ambassador outing was open to families and we enjoyed having the Nava family and a friend along for a hike in Sweetwater Park. Andre Amos, Javier Lopez, Stan, Christian, Francisco and Francisca Nava. Kevin Lopez, Zach and Brandon, a young friend of the Navas and Paco Nava.

We usually spend out time chasing a bunch of rowdy boys up and down the trails, so it was nice to have a family like the Nava family along for this trip.

The Nava family and Javier by the ruins of the old factory. We continued along the stream, noting the new wildflowers like these tiny blue flowers, about a quarter inch across.

These tiny flowers formed some extraordinarily beautiful clusters along the pathway.

Another abundant wildflower along the trail was this early-blooming rue anemone.

Above are Kevin and Rod on one of the overlooks of the Sweetwater Creek. It was raging today after two days of heavy rain. Kevin and Javier at right. We had just come through a shower along the trail, but it was not enough to dampen our spirits.

Javier captures a bit of the fury of the rain-swollen Sweetwater.

This flowering bush stood about five feet tall beside the return trail up on the side of the ridge.

Rod discusses a cluster of baby pine cones with Christian. The girls enjoyed the flowers and plants along the way.

The rue anemones were blooming in profusion. This is their time to shine - they are one of the earliest wildflowers and have their fling before the leafy canopy forms. There were lots of natural clumpings with violets on the forest floor.

It was a pleasant day to be out to see the emergence of the new leaves, even though the wind was high and we went through a couple of showers.

The ridge trail brought us back down alongside the shoals as we approached the trail head.

After lunch near the lake, we enjoyed feeding the geese some of the leftover pancakes from our breakfast.

On the land or in the water, the geese were happy to get the handouts.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the family outing. Thanks to Javier Lopez for the nice photography.