The day was so beautiful, the weather so close to perfection, that it sucked us right out the front door and over to the Buttermilk Bend trail along the Yuba River, about 30 minutes away. Not an isolated impulse, as it turned out. Nearly half the county must have been under the same spell, including a few people that we know (which works out to be a huge subset of ALL the folks we know around here).
The wildflowers are fabulous! Here are just a few shots. This trail is well-known for a gorgeous spring display. Yuba River State Park puts little signs on some of them to help us learn the names. I also nerdily brought my Wildflowers of Nevada and Placer Counties book to help out (Tom picked up on my strategic hints for Christmas). The flowers in these photos happen to be: chinese houses (duh), globe lily (white ones), and the ubiquitous combo of poppies and lupine. Too many of them to post all, but, trust me, there is a huge variety right now.
The river is raucous and beautiful! And cold, as we discovered where we decided to pop our feet in for a bit. Made our toes numb. Upstream, I spied a couple of people who must have suffered additional, uh, numbness having decided they'd happened on the "clothing optional" section of the river (we missed the signs, I guess).
A little B'n'R ice cream afterwards was just the right thing. Generally, when asked my favorite ice cream (which is like asking which of one's children one prefers--sheesh), I will answer with my standard "Cherry Garcia"--a Ben and Jerry's flavor, as if I have to tell you. I will always love Cherry Garcia. So it's an easy answer to a question with no meaningful answer. I hate those questions. Like what my favorite movie is, or a favorite song. No way can I choose (or even remember all the options).
How can one compare Peanut Butter and Chocolate with Nutty Coconut? Like comparing Barber's Adagio for Strings with Marvin Gaye's version of Heard it Through the Grapevine! Impossible! But, yesterday, I went with a newer fave candidate--Love Potion #31. Corny name, I know. But such lovely ice cream! It's actually a corollary to Cherry Garcia, with white chocolate and raspberry ice creams swirled together with a raspberry ribbon and raspberry-filled chocolate hearts and chocolate chips mixed in. Unbelievable! I think it might be a leftover from February, when I tried it for the first time.
I get my ice cream, always, in a sugar cone. Tom likes a cup with a spoon. He also eats pizza with a fork. Anyway, Tom chose the solid PB'n'C with the little-more-unorthodox selection (for him) of Strawberries and Banana. Hard to go wrong, really. Except for ice cream with coffee flavors. Seriously. I would eat them only if they were the only ones available, like during a total world emergency, say nuclear war. In Nevada County.
There are wildflowers and ice cream where you are, too. So, get to it!
