It’s fairly common knowledge that Fort Ross in Sonoma County was founded by Russians in the 1800s, when they came to the Pacific Northwest to hunt for furs and to trade with the indigenous people. Fort Ross was actually the southernmost limit of their contact. At Gualala Point Park, just south of the town of Gualala, we came across a […]
Lately it seems like everybody in my area is going crazy over the purple lupine at Folsom Lake, so naturally I had to go and find some alternative wildflowers. Besides the Douglas iris which I found near Gualala growing almost as thick as the lupine at Folsom, there were so many other shapes and colors. Some of them were familiar […]
We just returned from five days at the coast, near Salt Point State Park. We were lucky to find a small house with a great ocean view only a few minutes away from Stillwater Cove. We were able to cook our own meals — including freshly caught fish one night — and we had tons of solitude. I tend to […]
Although the Brugmansia is extremely toxic, all seven species are still very popular ornamental trees. These plants, native to the South American tropics, are listed as Extinct in the Wild; but they’ve still managed to spread to other regions around the world, thanks to human cultivation. The name “angel’s trumpet” refers to the large, pendulous, trumpet-shaped flowers, 14–50 cm (6–20 […]
I can’t count the number of times over the years I passed through the city of Auburn on Interstate 80 and noticed the old courthouse and the statue of the miner. Each time I promised myself, “One of these days I’m going to stop and check this out.” Well, that day finally arrived — and even though I only paused […]
It’s been a strange week. I managed to accidentally publish my Wednesday post on Tuesday; then, having received the first of two Covid shots yesterday, I decided I just didn’t have the energy to try and fix my blogging mistakes. I hope to get back on track by tomorrow! Until then, here are a couple of images shot with my […]
A couple of days ago, I described the dramatic weather changes we experienced on our recent trip to Clear Lake. As always, the time seemed to fly by, and much too soon we were packing up to head home. I had arrived at the lake separately from the Big Guy; he rode along with a buddy who was towing our […]
Even though our recent trip to Clear Lake was only three days long, we experienced so many different kinds of weather it made for a very memorable time. The day we arrived was windy, with dark clouds threatening — not exactly ideal for a fishing trip. It rained off and on all night, and we woke to yet more black […]