Greenwood Beach at Elk
Newport Coastal Trail
We went looking for potential new fishing spots north of Fort Bragg, hoping to reach the town of Westport and maybe a bit beyond. Leaving behind gusty north winds in Point Arena, the Big Guy had only a vague idea of what he was looking for, but we were enjoying the process of exploration. Just a little south of Bruhel […]
Santa Rosa Lake State Park
As we drove along Highway 40 to north Texas and back again, we passed so many light-brown signs along the road pointing toward different state parks. I felt some serious twinges of regret every time I spotted the familiar color-coded indicators, wishing we had time to stop and explore each park. New Mexico alone has 35 state parks — Ute […]
A peek at the Colorado
As we were driving through Southern California on the way to Arizona (and further east) in early June, the Big Guy decided he wanted to pause and look at the Colorado River. This vital waterway, originating in Rocky Mountain National Park, winds through the desert south of Lake Mead and marks the state line between California and Arizona. We have […]
Santa Rosa
On our third road trip driving across Arizona and New Mexico this past month we had decided to allow ourselves time to stop and check out anything that caught our fancy. It turned out that not all our little side trips were successful — my failed attempt to buy Indian fry bread is only one example — but sometimes it’s […]
Hiking the Darrington Trail
Here are some images from an outing I joined back in April 2024. It was sponsored by Folsom Lake SRA, and two park aides led us along the Salmon Falls Darrington Trail on the South Fork of the American River at Folsom Lake. Because the morning was overcast and slightly drizzly, some people who had signed up for the hike […]
Pine float
The 1.5-mile walking path behind our hotel in Flagstaff, Arizona, was exactly what we needed to stretch our legs and decompress from two days of desert driving. Our room wasn’t half bad, either. We hope to get back there at some point and maybe stay longer than one night! My title today is borrowed from a song on the original […]
Headlands at Russian Gulch
Russian Gulch State Park is such a beautiful place to explore, especially on a cool afternoon in October. The sky sent down a light drizzle as I started along the headlands trail, but by the time I had circled back and later headed to the landward side of the park — following the road that crosses beneath Highway 1 — […]
Roadside memories
I’ve shared before about taking Highway 16 on the way back from Clear Lake rather than the usual I-5 route. I’m fascinated by these hills and canyons and always so torn between the desire to get home and wanting to stop every mile or so along Cache Creek just to explore. I didn’t realize until later that I’d stopped at […]