Well, since the topic of finding places to practice came up on the PoorPiper email group, I decided to grab the camera and drag Andrew out to take some photos, as we were waiting for phase three of the current storm system.

Now, phase one had brought a great deal of snow to the area. In the eight years that Andrew has lived here, this was the first time he has seen the "Chains Required" signs turned to face traffic. Phases two and tree ended up bringing only rain. But for the purpose of showing the area, having the snow melted from the ground is best.

Well let's start the tour by taking a look in all directions from the back yard.

To the North:

To the East. Here is a view directly from the backyard:

About a "Brown Haired Maiden"'s walk out the gate:

About a "Atholl Highlanders"'s walk out the gate, the view really opens up The mountains seen here are the Inyos. Farther North, the same mountain range is called the Whites. Farther South, the same range is called the Cosos:

To the South you can see a little bit of the High Sierras through the clouds. The switchbacks you see will take you up to Horseshoe Meadows in the Spring time. You can drive up to about 10,000 feet.

To the West:

And from the dirt road that runs along the North side of the Church property, we look back at the Vicarage. The left end with the larger windows is both Lone Pine Kwan and the PoorPiper store:

So we walk West on the dirt road to the gate and peek out the front, what do we see?

Southern Inyo Hospital is to our right. At the left edge of the photo, you can see the Mt. Whitney apartments, where our friends Robin and Kerry live. The second photo is the Mt. Whitney apartments:

And who is this coming down the street? Why it's Andrew's dad. (Wearing my scarf again! Grrrr.)

Walking around to the front of the Vicarage, we see our ponies parked in front. (No. That's not my Honda next to Andrew's truck. That's Andrew's Focus.)

And which Church is it that the Vicarage belongs to? Why, the Lone Pine Trinity Episcopal Church. Father Douglas Buchannan. (Father Douglas is also a Bagpiper with 30 years of experience)

Well, the batteries in the camera are losing it. So, we decide to saddle up the Focus and take a trip into town to Joseph's market for some more:

And who should be out in the middle of the street in front of Joseph's, taking pictures of each other? Why, it's our buds Violet and Rosie. Violet and Rosie are both members of the Alabama Hills Gang, which is a local old-West reenactment group:

Well, obviously we got the batteries. So let's take a quick tour of town:

Kitty corner from Joseph's is BoBo's Bonanza restaurant:

A right turn onto Main Street & a block down is the patio next to Caffein Hannah's, now called Lone Pine Realty, where Andrew will sometimes play in the Spring/Summer:

A circle around the block brings us back to the Lone Pine office of Inyo County Sheriffs:

Across Main Street and West a block or two, we find the Lone Pine Volunteer Fire Department:

We take a short tour along some of the residential streets in town and find Richard's (student) house, and his truck and canoe. A couple blocks away is Jim's (student) house, with a big nose in the way. (cutie)

A couple more views of the area from the car as we head on home:

And into the driveway we pull... Then after we are parked, I just had to get another shot of the Vicarage:

Well, it's hard to tell from the photo, but the drops in the puddes tell us that wave three is about to hit, so it's inside for us to do some cuddling...

I just had to show my sweet snow Piper again: