Snow in San Francisco and other anomalies

I heard yesterday there was snow in San Francisco. When my girls were small we lived in that area and I don't ever recall having the opportunity to throw a snowball in our front yard. Instead we drove to Yellowstone or up to a snow line on the mountains. I'll bet neither one remembers the day we did that and saw a 'real live black bear' up close... and one of mine - I won't say which one - wanted to get out and hug it.

On my return trip to Florida, I opted for the southern route to avoid any
snow or storms. I managed to keep away from the storms, but this is the
well-known Mt. Shasta in California seen on my left as I drove by.

A lot of people think Mt. Shasta is one mountain. Actually it is two volcanoes, side by side, one more worn away than the other. And there is a third 'baby' volcano imbedded in the base which is too low to have snow on it, but you can see it from the road as well.

Along the way there was a load of road kill, which shouldn't be too surprising with vehicles hitting speeds of 85 and 90 mph even in speed zones of 70. There were several deer in the western states, loads of smaller critters everywhere and much to my surprise, a coyote alongside the road in either Alabama or Florida (I'd lost track of the states by then.) But there were other surprises as well.... I saw a pen of camels right next to a pen of bison and wondered what the owners were planning. Is this a return to the Old Ways? Except being prepared by having camels instead of horses?

Clearly there are deer or elk statues in the back of this
trailer; and I wanted so much for the driver to stop when I
did so I could ask him about his cargo. I'm so shy.

There were peculiar things being carried on trailers and in the back of trucks, too. So many stories, so little time. I may be retired, but I'm not retiring, as in "shy and" so I am willing to approach strangers and say, "I'm curious, why are you... ?" and my previous travel partner found this behavior annoying instead of charming. However, he was perfectly willing to tell the story afterwards as if he had been the one to ask the questions. Oh well, that's all over now.

I was lucky to have the window of weather that I did looking back at the timing of the trip and seeing how challenging the weather has been recently (snow, ice, tornados, etc.) on both the upper and lower sections of the U.S.

Zooming past a Redneck Riviera in Louisiana, I snapped this shot. I  am
not sure if you can see the bayou (body of water) behind the trailers,
but these humble abodes have it all - water, warmth, shade for the dog,
and a place to grow the vittles.

Spring is trying very hard to break through the cold snaps, and this last photo I have entitled "Redneck Riviera," because it seemed to me that it embodies all that is needed for a pleasure palace for Jeff Foxworthy (comedian) and his 'buds.'

Today I worked on the yard and was rewarded with the second wave of robins coming in to snack before heading north. They make a lot of noise rustling about in the leaves for worms and bugs, but everything here is organic, so they probably had a good meal. Wish someone would let me know when they get to New England.

Flowers along the way...

Since Jey-hu and I both enjoy photography, and we both seem to be drawn to capture flowers (and sometimes weeds) in their native habitat, I thought it might be fun to share some of the various colorful presentations we found as we drove from California to Oregon along the coast. This rugged little clump of yellow flowers (left) was found at Point Lobos, CA, amid many craggy rocks, boulders and sand. It caught my eye because it reminded me that sometimes it takes that kind of persistence to finally bloom and to be noticed because one is not in the midst of thousands of others.

And yet, masses of color are created when many gather (or bloom) at once... another sort of beauty. These trumpet-style flowers caught Jey-hu's eye because they were so tiny and the color was so deep.

There were many wildflowers along the roadways and just up from the beaches, especially in California. Here is an example of what we saw near Big Sur. So much of the coastline is in

danger because of all the building going on, it was quite delightful to see portions which were not impacted at all.

How interesting that all the greens and yellows go so well with the blues and greys of the ocean and sky... do we ever see discordant colors in nature?

Critters in the Park

Our stop at Point Lobos near Carmel, California, was a rewarding one both photographically and in terms of getting some exercise. We walked around on three of the longer trails around the park and saw lots of wildlife. This shot above is of a very healthy squirrel who had absolutely no fear of humanoids!

In fact, he came up to me and was within a few feet of me for several minutes. I don't know what type of squirrel he/she is, but there were others like it and equally 'friendly' if coming up close to you is a determination of 'friendship' in the squirrel kingdom. It is a serious violation of park policy to feed them, and I don't espouse exposing nature's critters to our mostly unhealthy foodstuffs, so it wasn't even a thought for me to risk getting nabbed by a park official.

But perhaps this little guy has been able to put the touch on others and expected the same from me.

The picture on the right is of another one which Jey-hu caught eating some item found on the ground, not anything given to it by us. We must have spent almost half an hour watching and photographing them. What was most interesting overall however, was watching the numbers of other tourists passing by who didn't even STOP but rushed on past to get to the next outlook on the ocean, apparently never even seeing the wildlife in the bushes beyond the paths they were on.

There were also several small groupings of deer, mostly does and fawns, either grazing or taking a nap in a clearing, but surrounded by fallen trees. Jey-hu was able, with his telephoto lens, to get this shot of a young one relaxing.

I was walking ahead on a path and because I tend to go into 'quiet mode' in these settings, I can walk so that I make minimal noise. I startled a small rabbit who tried to hide in the grass...

"Look, I have a blade of grass in front of me; I cannot be seen." Jey-hu came up behind me without knowing why I was stopped and spoke to me, which caused Mr. (or Ms.) Cottontail to lippity-lop away back into the bushes.

And there were lots of wonderful views of the ocean in turmoil, with all the rich colors of the sea and rocks, which I will share in my next blog.

Observations along the way

As we were driving out of Santa Monica, CA, heading up the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH to the locals), we noticed huge (really enormous) motor homes parked along the coastal road. To be sure, they were in designated parking slots - in fact, the state provides a sort of 'parking meter' for the weeks and months the leviathans on wheels sit there - but there were so many it was impossible for us to pull over to park even for a moment to take a picture. It was the beginning of my now-developed skill of shooting anything and everything through the sunroof. If you look closely at the photo above, you can see them stretching out along the entire beachfront. Further up the road, they park at an angle to allow more of them to fit in the alloted space - astonishing!

There were portions of the drive north that took us inland slightly where we saw lots of the commercial farms either being harvested or re-seeded for the next crop. It was a reminder of how dependent we are on the farmers and the workers to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to our tables. We often stopped at local farm stands to get fresh strawberries, raspberries or blueberries. And you could still taste the sunshine on some of those delicious fruits!!

One of our stops/rest breaks was at a long pier which was built in the 1870's and is still stretching out into the Pacific today. The planks are grey with age, but their 12-inch width and estimated 3-inch depth make for a sturdy walkway. It seemed like it was over 1000 feet long, but we didn't measure it. But when we got out to the very end, the heavy gusts of wind made the platform jiggle - somewhat unnerving.

We also saw hundreds of bikers, both motorcycle and pedal-type, navigating the twisty road even during the middle of the week. And some of the elevations of those narrow roadways must have made the rides pretty interesting for everyone. On our first day of driving we had the pleasure of warmth and sunshine, but as we inched our

way toward Big Sur, the air got cooler and of course the sun went down. Then it was really exciting trying to drive on an unfamiliar road without any lights (not even the moon!) knowing that on one side there was the potential for rockslides, and on the other side there was a chance to slide 200 feet down to the ocean! This was one of our last shots of the day.... and the one without the tree was truly the last one...

Hard to keep up a blog without Wifi

Our reports on the journey from Los Angeles have been interrupted by the lack of WiFi signals at some of the very special little spots we have found along the way, driving up U.S. 1 along the California western coast and the Pacific Ocean. For tonight I will offer up a little teaser with some of the fabulous sites we have seen.

We left L.A. on Monday, June 22, about noon. As we were heading north, I realized that the Solstice had occurred and now every day from here on will be shorter. Yikes! But we made the most of the daylight hours and drove all the way to Big Sur, stopping for dinner at a restaurant that is still in business after 35 some years - the last time I was there - and the food was still fabulous! Nepenthe is still perched on the cliffs at Big Sur, just up the road from Eselen Institute, and we were given great advice about where to find a place to lay our heads for that night - and got the very last cabin at Big Sur River Inn and Restaurant.

More about that adventure later, but suffice it to say that at least we didn't have to drive any more... and the road was very windy, twisty, narrow and dark by the time we reached our stopping point - without much hope of it getting better before midnight. Below was one of our last coastal shots of the day.

Father's Day

My father is buried here in Santa Monica, California, and due to the seminar requirements we will not be able to visit his gravesite until tomorrow, but it is because of him that I am able to be here for this informative event. So once again, for him, I give thanks and acknowledge his place in my life.

The picture of the Santa Monica Pier was taken to honor his memory as that was one of the last places I visited with him - surprisingly unchanged since that last sunny trip. He would be approaching 100 years of age were he still around... and paraphrasing his words, "If I could not be traveling at 45 miles an hour, steady on, I would not wish to continue." So he went on another journey, and I still miss him.