I really have mixed feelings about hiking from the Sterling Pointe trailhead at Folsom Lake. On the plus side, parking is free and the lot is usually nearly empty whenever I go. It’s also a fairly easy hike downhill to the lakeshore with great scenic views and even a bench or two along the way. Once at the bottom, you […]
Last June we went on quite a long road trip, driving from Northern California to Fort Worth, Texas, to visit the Big Guy’s parents. It was the second time we’d done this drive, and we figured we were getting to be old hands at this type of travel. So much so that the Big Guy decided on an extra side […]
Since I was visiting Fort Bragg’s Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens in late October, I was surprised at how many brilliant flowers were blooming in the Perennial Garden. And even though shooting flowers wasn’t my main purpose for being there, it was impossible to walk past these beauties without stopping to check them out. I couldn’t always find signs to identify […]
I really wasn’t sure what to expect when I started the trail known as the Ecological Staircase at Mendocino County’s Jug Handle Reserve, but it turned out to be a really great hike — not too physically demanding and yet a decent workout. All the way out to the Pygmy Forest and back, it totals about 5 miles. After taking […]
My apologies for the punning reference to a song from 1974, but that was pretty much what popped into my head this morning after I spent nearly an hour laboring over my backyard project. I bought this small shed last spring with every intention of assembling it by myself; and I have done most of the work thus far, with […]
At the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens in Fort Bragg, I was surprised to find so many different varieties of fuchsia, and each one of them more beautiful than the last!
If you’re traveling along coastal Highway 1 in Mendocino County, you will probably notice there are quite a number of different bridges crossing over creeks and rivers that flow into the Pacific Ocean. From south to north, the scenic artery crosses the Gualala River, Elk Creek, the Navarro River, the Albion River, the Big River, Jughandle Creek, and the Noyo […]
I’ve been wanting to stop and explore the trails at Russian Gulch State Park for a long time. Yesterday I finally got a chance to spend a couple of hours — not nearly enough to see everything, but enough to fall in love with this gorgeous part of the coast. Russian Gulch State Park was established in 1932. Just two […]