An early autumn walk around Lake Gregory
I have received one swap card and zero postcrossing random cards in the almost two months Ive been a member boo hoo. So since I don't have cards to show you I will tell a little more about my area, some information you might recognize if you ever receive a card from me. (Yes, I know, my last post was about my area too) The "Rim", a road along the top edge of the mountains with views to the valley below

The area I live in is east of Los Angeles and is called the Inland Empire. It features Riverside County and the largest county in the nation, San Bernardino County, which is larger in size than Costa Rica, Bosnia/Herzegovina, or the state of Maryland. Over 4 million people live here, but it is not as crowded as one may think since the land area is so vast. However, most of the population lives to the southwest in part of the Los Angeles area urban sprawl. The area was known for citrus groves, dairy, and gold mining but with cheap land, the area became populated and is now more known for industry and housing. The area is mostly either mountainous or desert. The high desert
Wildflowers and a Joshua tree in the high desert

Elevation range from a little over 11,000 feet high (San Gorgonio peak) to 220 feet below sea level near Indio!
Lake Gregory in winter

Okay more on my neighborhood! Silverwood Lake at sunrise
The San Bernardino Mountains (which San Gorgonio is part of) are a 60-mile long mountain range, part of the San Andreas Fault, with many small communities and a lot of forest- 800,000 acres (3,200 km²). View through sugar pines towards the desert
Over 50,000 people live here and because of the lakes, hiking, camping, and ski resorts, the population can exceed 100,000 on holidays and weekends. People visit because it is so beautiful and gets snow unlike the surrounding area,
A flatter road in snow
but because the roads are not salted and are steep and windy, it means many accidents and traffic which the local residents don't favor. A winding road, this is a state highway.
Lake Gregory in autumn, homes among the trees

Growing up here, I rarely went "down the hill" to the city as my family hated traffic, smog, heat, all that.
View of a sunset from my dining room
There are a few stores here but as an adult, I usually shop in the city as there is more variety. I loved living here as a child as I went hiking a lot, wading in the lakes and creeks, sledding on the snow, climbing trees... so much fun! I cannot imagine growing up in a city with yards, sidewalks, and the like....how boring!
rainbow!
I like living here when I wake up to a gorgeous sunrise and the stellar jays, chickadees, ravens, red tailed hawks, and the occasional bald eagle as an alarm clock. Hopefully no bears, coyotes, or raccoons got in the garbage cans over the night, haha. I love the four seasons we get, and all the variety of animals as I had listed (plus deer, fox, skunk, bighorn sheep, squirrels.....) and plants (lodgepole pine, sugar pine, jeffrey pine, coulter pine, yellow pine, black oak, live oak, maple, cedar..). However when the fog is so thick you literally cannot see more than ten feet, it is best to stay home, inside, and hopefully the power wont go out as it may be days before it is restored.

The weather can vary a lot. In the summer it is usually 75-85f in the day, 50-65f at night. The winter is on average 45f in the day, 28f at night but there can be days that do not go above 32f/freezing and nights as cold as 8f. The average snowfall is 60 inches/5 feet but you can get one storm with 4 feet of snow. The area is usually dry- no rain- from May to October.
Hence, fires. Fires. More fires. Here are two in the foothills near Yucaipa, small ones under 1,000 acres as when they're bigger, I am evacuating, not taking photos.
any by the way there are all my own photos :)