Our house from space...

Where we live, as seen from the eye in the sky. The image is a bit dated, and appears to be a year or so before we moved in. Now there's two dogs in the yard, and life used to be so hard, now everything is easy....


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Thanks to Google maps. And Graham Nash.

Point Cabrillo Lighthouse

A few miles north of the Mendocino Headlands is Point Cabrillo, another landmass that juts out into the Pacific Ocean. The Point is home to Point Cabrillo Light Station and a state park. There are lovely views of the ocean and beautiful cliffs that plunge into the ocean. Here's some photos:

Sunset one evening, with a blustery 20-25 mph wind and temperatures in the mid-40s. It was quite chilly on the headland.

We stayed at the Lighthouse Inn, the renovated lightkeeper's house.

The lighthouse is surrounded by a 270 acre nature preserve.

The lighthouse. More of a house than a tower, in contrast to the tall lighthouses we're used to on the North Carolina coast.

Mendocino

We spent four days in the Mendocino coastal area, and it was my favorite part of the trip. The coast is unlike anything I've experienced before, a truly beautiful place. Our first two nights were at the Stanford Inn by the Sea, which ranks as my favorite hotel/lodging of all time. The room was great, the rate included a remarkable breakfast at Ravens, their vegetarian restaurant -- everything was wonderful. This is a view from our balcony, overlooking the organic gardens. You can just see the Pacific through the hazy air:

Mendocino itself is a small village crouched on the Mendocino headlands, which jut out into the Pacific. Years ago the fields and cliffs surrounding the town were preserved as Mendocino Headlands State Park, so you have this great little Victorian-esque town with a great oceanside park surrounding it. Nothing quite like it. We spent a few days hanging out in town and walking through the fields and along the cliffs.

The headlands are surrounding with cliffs and trails. Here's a sample.

Barrie on one of the trails. It was very windy and chilly.

It seemed to be peak wildflower season, and the fields and cliffsides were covered with unfamiliar Pacific coast flora.

Looking back from the cliffs across the fields to the town proper.

Two churches caught my eye - the above was a bank, with a couple of battling lesser angelic types on top. It appeared to be a celestial mugging of sorts. Did I mention this was a bank?

A nice, colorful transformation from church to organic grocery.

Happy hikers on the headlands.

And, finally, a video link to the song that kept ringing through my head the entire time we were there. The Sir Douglas Quintet's "Mendocino," of course! A classic Tex-Mex hit that I remember on the radio from a long time ago. Here's Doug and the Texas Tornadoes from 1970 (check out the dancing - it's from Hugh Hefner's Playboy show!) Also click on this link for some cultural commentary on the song :

Kinetic Museum & Avenue of the Giants

Leaving Eureka, we headed south a bit to Ferndale to visit the Kinetic Museum, a small but cheerful place dedicated to traveling artwork that competes in the annual Kinetic Grand Championship race from Arcata to Ferndale. Folk art on the move! Here's a few of the vehicles housed in the museum:


Following that, we continued down the Redwood Highway en route to the coast near Mendocino. Running parallel to the Redwood Highway, a zippy quick four lane, is the old road that meanders between redwood trees and the Eel River in Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

A typical stretch of the road in the Avenue of the Giants.

Zoom goes the automobile, your intrepid photographer gleefully capturing pixels from the passenger seat.

The visitor's center at the state park featured this truck (the "Travel-log") carved from a single redwood trunk.

Back door of the Travel-log.

Lost Coast Brewery & Samoa Dunes

Now that we're back in Virginia and reliable internet connections, it's time to catch up with posts from our western swing. As you'll recall, my last post chronicled our day in the redwoods.

What could be better than ending a day among giant trees than enjoying regional microbrews? (he asks rhetorically) So we paid a visit to Lost Coast Brewery, which makes beers that are proudly :"brewed fresh in the Humboldt Nation." They make a great IPA, their Indica IPA (which I've discovered is available here in Blacksburg at Vintage Cellar, our great local purveyor of beer & wine). They also make a very tasty fruit-flavored beer, their Tangerine Wheat, which is an ideal summer beverage. One of the treats of Lost Coast's products is the artwork of Duane Flatmo, who creates all their labels, including the wonderful Indica IPA label at the left, complete with a stylized version of the god Ganesh.

The following day we spent hanging out around Eureka, starting with a trip out to the Samoa Dunes Recreation Area. Somoa Dunes is on the end of a barrier island that protects Humboldt Bay, and its one of those recreation areas includes both a protected ecosystem (dunes, in this case), as well as off-road vehicle access to the beach.

Some photos of the dunes and vegetation:



The dunes were site of defensive fortifications during WWII, when there was a fear of Japanese invasion, so there are concrete bunker/ammunition posts scattered throughout the dunes. Apparently they didn't actually have real canon, but used redwood tree trunks to fool enemy ships into thinking that some really big canon awaited them.

After strolling through the dunes, we went out to the beach and walked out on the breakwater that protects the entrance to Humboldt Bay. Here's a few photos from the end of the breakwater, which appears to be anchored by giant concrete jacks. You can see the beach we walked down, along with the hills just on the other side of Eureka.

"From the Redwood Forests..."

Beaches in northern California are markedly different than the sandy, warm water places I'm accustomed to in North Carolina, those famously washed by the Gulf Stream waters (Woody Guthrie fans please take note to this last allusion). We headed up to Redwoods National Park yesterday, and after yet another beautiful drive, you crest a ridge to find this stretch of beach:

Barrie checking out the shore.

Beach vegetation.

At the end of the beach is the Redwoods National Park visitor center, where we got trail information and did the tourist thing for a while. A bit disconcerting were the warnings for "sneaker waves," large waves that suddenly emerge from deceptively calm surf and roar up on the beach. They've swept four people to their deaths in the area over the last few years. "Don't turn your back on the ocean," the signs warn.

After strolling on the beach for a while, we took a hike on the Trillium Falls Loop Trail, filled with old growth redwood trees. The best word I can muster for a walk among these giants is "humbling." The oldest of these trees are nearly 2000 years old, over 370 feet tall, and up to 22 feet in diameter. Here are some photos from that hike, with more to come when I get back home and have access to better photo editing software.

Barrie walking between two trees. Just for perspective.

This is a temperate rainforest, and the ground is moist and filled with ferns, groundcover, unfamiliar wildflowers, and huge, deep piles of redwood needles.

This tree trunk was head-high, and like nearly everything in the forest, covered with moisture and moss.

Looking uphill. Ferns abound.

Trillium Falls

More groundcover.

North from San Francisco on the California coastline

Cross continental travel is so commonplace that we should, theoretically, just take it matter-of-factly. Hop in a plane one morning in North Carolina, sit down for a while in a few planes, and arrive in San Francisco at the end of the day. Of course it's commonplace, but I'm still reeling in the wonder of it all. We had some unexpected good fortune when we went to pick up our rental car. Our long-reserved car wasn't ready, so we were offered an upgrade to a Toyota Solara convertible with a GPS at no additional charge. We quickly agreed and took off, car top down and grinning.

Looking south to SF from Muir Beach

So here we are, 48 hours after landing in northern California, and we've traveled from San Francisco up to Eureka. Our first night was spent at Half Moon Bay, a tourist town on the coast south of San Francisco that was made famous, at least to me, by the fact that a Bill Evans album was recorded there in 1973 (sponsored by the curiously named Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, which still hosts live jazz on Sundays) . Being mostly exhausted after sitting down all day, yet miraculously traveling 2500 miles, we opted for a quick beer and a meal at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, a great seaside bar with a live blues band, some very fine salads and microbrews, and decor that included fire pits on the patio, a stained-glass Steal Your Face Dead sign hanging over the mantle, and surfboards on the wall. Our hotel was beside a run-down little house with wetsuits hanging outside and surfboards in the yard.

Looking north on Hwy 1

The next day we drove up Hwy 1 through Pacifica, into San Francisco, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and then into Sausalito. Needing some provisions, we were seeking a Target, and decided to try out our GPS system. Being total novices to these gizmos (but outfitted some a handful of amusing anecdotes about their idiosyncratic natures from some GPS equipped friends), we asked for directions to the nearest Target. We were sent 16 miles to a Target that was long abandoned. We regrouped, asked again, cross-referenced against one of those antiquated print items called a "map," and were successfully sent to a Target that was actually open for business.

Provisions in hand, we decided to head over to Hwy 1 to Stinson Beach and catch lunch at the Parkside Cafe, which was highly lauded in the California Lonely Planet guidebook. It was such a great idea that it seems like a hefty hunk of San Fanciscans had also thought of it, and we found ourselves in a mile-long traffic jam on Hwy 1, with everybody slowly heading to Stinson Beach to discover that there wasn't any parking in the entire town. So we turned around and heading to the Green Gulch Farm, where we had a room for the night. We stopped a few times on the way to take a few photos and enjoy the view.

Traffic jam on Hwy 1 heading to Stinson Beach on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Actually, as traffic jams go, this one wasn't too shabby thanks to this view.

Green Gulch Farm is a working organic farm and Buddhist retreat center run by the San Francisco Zen Center, and provided a beautiful, restful respite after our day of driving around the Bay area. We had a room in their guest house, a Japanese-influenced building, and our stay included an amazing vegetarian dinner with the students and residents at the Zen center. (The Zen Center publishes the Tassajara cookbooks and runs the famous Greens restaurant in SF, so they know a bit about veggie cooking. After dinner we walked down Green Gulch through ornamental gardens and acres of organic lettuce and other vegetables down to Muir Beach, encountering quail, a snake, deer, many other birds, and a fox along the way. Somehow, it didn't seem quite right to take photos during our stay, so you'll have to follow the links above to see this wonderful place.

We headed north the next morning, finally making it to Parkside Cafe for breakfast, then heading north on Hwy 1 through misty fog. We stopped at the Point Reyes National Seashore visitor center to stretch our legs, which happens to be on the San Andreas fault line. We took a stroll on the Earthquake Trail, which straddle the fault. The picture below shows a fence that was split during the 1906 earthquake - moving about 20 feet or so. The blue pole behind Barrie is on the fault line itself.

Barrie standing on the Pacific plate. These fences were joined prior to the 1906 quake.

We encountered this shy prairie dog on the Earthquake Trail, who kept poking his head out to see what we were doing near his lair.

We continued north on Hwy 1 to Bodega and Bodega Bay, where Alfred Hitchcock shot a few scenes from The Birds. Here's a few photos from our Hwy 1 expedition:

View of Tomales Bay. Note the lack of an automobile roof!

Pastoral setting near Bodega.

The church in Bodega where a scene from The Birds was shot. We encountered other Hitchcock fans here and talked about scenes from the film.

After visiting Bodega we left the coastal highway and went inland to Hwy 101, the Redwood Highway, then drove another 200 miles north through miles of vineyards, beautiful hills, and redwood trees. We reached Eureka in the early evening, very happy and ready to relax for the evening. A foggy day is predicted for tomorrow. Fun will ensue. Stay posted.

Some Springy Photos (with geeky OED citation)

Springy : "1. b. Characteristic of the season of spring; spring-like."

I discovered this wheelbarrow full of avian domiciles parked in a front yard during a long walk around the neighborhood. I haven't followed up to see if any of these actually made it out of the wheelbarrow, or if this is some form of mobile cluster housing for birds. No evidence that any of these birdhouses are for your soul:


We saw this pair of rainbows last weekend after an afternoon thundershower. The view is from Flat Top Road between Boone and Blowing Rock, NC:


There it is! The end of the rainbow!


This indigo bunting lighted on the hedge beside a friend's house on the Watauga River near Sugar Grove, NC:

An Easter morning photo taken behind my mother's house in North Carolina:


And, finally, an enthusiastic Bou in our backyard, eagerly wanting to know what I'm doing with the camera:

There you go. A springy set. And now, as promised, "springy" from the OED:

springy, a. (from the Oxford English Dictionary)

1.

a. Growing in the season of spring. Obs.¹

1593 QUEEN ELIZABETH Boeth. I. metr. vi. 16 Nor seake not thou with gredy hand The springy Palmes [L. vernos palmites] to weld. [Cf. SPRINGINESS 2b.]

b. Characteristic of the season of spring; spring-like.

1860 S. WARNER Say & Seal II. xviii. 229 It was April now, and a soft springy day. 1936 N. COWARD To-night at 8.30 III. 85 Quite Springy out, isn't it?

2. a. Characterized by the presence of springs of water.

1641 BEST Farm Bks. (Surtees) 4 Lowe, moist, and springy groundes are the best to increase milke in an ewe. 1733 W. ELLIS Chiltern & Vale Farm. 262 It will greatly improve springy, or over-wet Grounds, if we first drain them. 1799 [A. YOUNG] Agric. Lincoln. 245 Many similar springy sides of hills are to be met with all the way to Ranby. 1853 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XIV. I. 36 Occasional parts of the field were found springy and full of water. 1865 MRS. WHITNEY Gayworthys xxvi. (1879) 250 A huge, dry slippery log that lay over a springy spot.

b. Coming from springs. rare¹.

1653 W. BLITHE Eng. Improver Impr. 19 That thou maist goe under that..springie moysture that breeds and feeds the Rush.

3. a. Endowed with spring or elasticity.

1660 BOYLE New Exp. Phys. Mech. i. 27 Though the Air were granted to consist of Springy Particles. 1685 emem}" align="absbottom" border="0" height="14" width="26"> Effects Motion ii. 14 Which depends chiefly upon the Celerity of the springy Corpuscles of the Air. 1709 FLOYER Cold Bathing I. iv. 93 The Animal Spirits being compressed, are more lively, springy, and fitter for Motion. 1734 Phil. Trans. XXXVIII. 414 Her Hair was long and springy as that of a living Person. 1786 Med. Comment. II. 105 The tumor..was a little springy. 1817 KEATS Sleep & Poetry 95 A laughing schoolboy..Riding the springy branches of an elm. 1839 F. A. KEMBLE Resid. in Georgia (1863) 36 Moss..as light as horse-hair, as springy, and elastic. 1887 RIDER HAGGARD Allan Quatermain 67 A light but exceedingly tough native wood, something like English ash, only more springy.

b. Of the muscles or body, or of persons, etc., with reference to these.

1776 MICKLE tr. Camoens' Lusiad 454 Their springy shoulders stretching to the blow. 1822 SCOTT Peveril ii, He satisfied himself..that though her little frame was slight, it was firm and springy. 1837 Fraser's Mag. XVI. 367 The prompt equerry had led the springy coursers to the gate. 1871 L. STEPHEN Playgr. Eur. (1894) xiii. 324 His muscles feel firm and springy.

c. Elastic to the tread.

1797 COLERIDGE This lime-tree bower my prison 7 Friends, whom I never more may meet again On springy heath. 1875 W. S. HAYWARD Love agst. World 13 Away they thundered over the springy turf. 1886 Cornh. Mag. July 58 The stage is..very ‘springy’, a condition designed to help acrobatic performances.

4. Marked or characterized by spring, elasticity, or resilience: a. In general use.

1669 W. SIMPSON Hydrol. Chym. 93 The springy motion of the animal spirits. 1672-3 GREW Anat. Pl., Roots II. (1682) 82 The Aer being of an Elastick or Springy Nature. 1710 T. FULLER Pharm. Extemp. 249 It..roborates the Springey Tone of the Lungs. 1741 A. MONRO Anat. Bones (ed. 3) 171 In raising the Trunk, these Cartilages will assist by their springy Force. 1837 JAMES Phil. Augustus I. ii, There was a springy vigour in the atmosphere, as if the wind itself were young. 1888 RUTLEY Rock-Forming Min. 193 Then drive a needle, by a sharp, springy tap.., into the mica. 1893 Brit. Jrnl. Photogr. XL. 745 Resisting with all its springy power.

b. esp. Of the bearing or movements of persons or animals.

1818 Sporting Mag. II. 166 His attitude was springy, and ready for quick action. 1820 SCOTT Monast. xxxii, The springy step..reminded Henry Warden of Halbert. 1889 ‘R. BOLDREWOOD’ Robbery under Arms xx, Rainbow [a horse] sailed off with his beautiful easy springy stride.

Hard frost's A-Gonna Fall

We had a hard frost this week, hopefully the last of the season. I took these photos in the backyard just as the sun was reaching the yard. The first photo was taken with the frost intact:

While this one was a few feet away in the sun: