OK, Mapquest says 7.2 miles. And these aren't the high Sierras. But the fact that you can be in a fantastic mountainous area just minutes from the energetic vibe of the city of Glendale puts Adams Hill in a great location!

Nothing says mountains like a sturdy pine!

Since part of the fun of moving to a new place is exploring things nearby, I thought I'd share one of my favorite escapes, outside of the immediate neighborhood.

This is the town of Montrose. Bordered on the south by Glendale and the north by the Angeles National Forest, you'll want to find your way over to Honolulu Ave.  There you'll find an eclectic stretch of great cafes and restaurants. One I frequent often is the Black Cow (menu). Pretty much everything cafe style, and everything is great. I think they call it "California Kitchen." We love our little paraphrases, don't we?

Earlier or later in the day is better for lunch, since they get pretty busy from the locals. I see a lot of bicycle aficionados on the weekends, so if that's your gig, this is a cool place to do some weekend trekking.

There's also Zeke's Smokehouse BBQ (menu) which is much appreciated since I cannot find a good BBQ in Glendale outside of the usual kabob shops. Don't get me wrong, I actually love a good kabob and we have our own right on Adams Hill (Adams Kabob House), but sometimes I want to let my hair down, go wild and venture off the skewer.

A pleasant country drive.

The very short drive up and back also gives you some great views of the mountains, downtown LA, and downtown Glendale.

See? We got some of that height thing going! It's pretty amazing that you can be in the heart of Hollywood, downtown LA or this little mountain getaway in about 15-20 minutes. I promised to avoid clichés in an earlier blog, but what the heck.

Location, location, location.

And we're back to Adams Hill!