The disappointment of seeing ever-lower water levels at Folsom Lake on each successive visit is only just counterbalanced by the abundant wildflowers and the fact that, so far at least, everything looks very green and fresh. Now is the best time to get out hiking, before everything dries up and the temperatures start climbing beyond the magical springtime range into […]
This colorful sparrow is a new discovery for me, although they seem to live in the area year round. Both the male and female have similar markings. I found these while hiking around Peninsula Campground on the east shore of Folsom Lake.
Today I have an image of each of the three missions featured in Wednesday’s post, San Francisco de Asis, San Rafael Arcangel, and San Francisco Solano. Although I’ve never visited them, these three missions have been more interesting to me, partly because they are all in Northern California. These three missions perfectly illustrate the widely varying fortunes of California’s historic […]
It takes roughly an hour to make the long, winding drive from our house out to Peninsula Campground at Folsom Lake, although sometimes it feels more like half the day. The last 11.5 miles take you along a twisting one-lane road full of blind corners; I’ve had more than one close call when someone came rocketing toward me, using the […]
Huell winds up his tour of the 21 missions this week by visiting San Francisco de Asis, San Rafael Arcangel, and San Francisco Solano — all in the San Francisco Bay area. You may recall the Mission San Francisco de Asis from an episode I featured in October 2018; during that visit Huell learned that this mission contains one of […]
Many times when I’m hiking a dirt trail I have to control a serious impulse to stop every few feet and shoot pictures both ahead and behind me. That’s especially true if I’m walking through a peaceful woodland, if the trail is surrounded by greenery and wildflowers, or if it’s so full of curves, switchbacks, and punishing hills that it […]
I’m always delighted to find photos of our various dogs from the 1970s and 1980s. Penny came to us as a tiny puppy from a pet store called Fin, Feather, and Fur in late 1978 or early 1979. I know that she was slightly less than a year old when we took her on our 1979 road trip to Canada. […]
Hiking above the shoreline of Folsom Lake near Salmon Falls on April 2, I noticed this guy standing on a rock, and I just knew he was about to dive in. He may not have been the first swimmer of the season, but he had to be right up there on the list! But that wasn’t the only thing that […]