Up above the world so high (or at least San Diego County) in my birthday helicopter ride back in April 2007. I thought that house in the first picture was pretty cool. Looks like something electronic.

El Capitan Dam? Maybe...

I could be wrong (and probably am), but this could be El Capitan Lake. Hard to be sure exactly where you're at when there aren't big labels on the land. :-)

Continuing with my birthday gift helicopter ride back in April 2007. I'm not 100% sure, but I do believe we may be heading north above Interstate 15 in these pictures. We did that and then hung a left

Heading away from the little airport, now. Naturally, I can't even remember which little airport it was. :-(

Up, up and away we go! Similar to that balloon trip that I took previously (another gift from that same friend). But we covered much more ground in the helicopter, much more quickly.

See how tiny it is inside that little 2-person helicopter? And it's LOUD! :-)

Jumping ahead to April 2007 and it's time for my free helicopter ride around coastal San Diego County! This was a birthday present to me from a good friend of mine. Not the first time I'd been on a helicopter,

Finally, here we are inside the Campo Stone Store in December, 2006. Lots of interesting tid-bits for sale, plus historical pictures of this store (and other area landmarks) during different periods.

And here we have the "1875 HANGIN' TREE", right outside of the old Campo Stone Store. Well, what's left of it, anyway - a stump! Interesting story revolving around this stump (involving pickled

And there it is, the old Campo Stone Store - and my little car, too! :-)

Still exploring the Campo area in December, 2006. Another interesting old sight out there - The Campo Stone Store. Here's what this marker says (seems like the dates are ALL screwed up!): Campo Stone Store

A few shots showing how low the water level was at Lake Campo in December 2006. I wonder if it even exists at this point!

This was my destination on that particular day - Campo Lake up in the mountains. It's just a little lake as you can see. But I hadn't ever been there before, so I wanted to see what it looked like. Kinda

Me and my Miata, out Campo way, December 2006. I went everywhere in that l'il car. Heartbreaking to have to give it up - especially due to government BS.

Still December 2006, but now I'm out in the "local" mountains near Campo (again). Can't remember exactly where this little monument is posted (I could look it up, but I don't feel like it :-)).

Finally make it up to Idyllwild in December 2006 and these are the only 2 pictures I take? Well, they are interesting. :-) However, www.mantlecarvers.com appears to be a dead website. :-(

"ICY" up near Idyllwild in December 2006. Yeah, just a tad. :-)

Now, we're past the burnt areas, still on our way up to Idyllwild in December 2006. They're at 5400 feet, so they do occasionally get this cold, white stuff. Pretty to look at for very short visits, but

Still December 2006 and now I'm cruising up to Idyllwild. This was right after they had a big fire in that area that actually threatened the town and required evacuation. But as I recall, they managed