Colorful characters

As I wandered through the village of Mendocino earlier this month I found quite a few sculptures on the grounds outside the Mendocino Art Center, but others can be found randomly around town. One of the most prominent is the former Masonic Temple, built between 1866 and 1872. Its builder, Erik Albertson, topped it off with a sculpture that is […]

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A walk into town

During our recent stay in Mendocino, I actually walked into town twice from our rental house on the east side of Highway 1. Of course there’s loads of amazing ocean views to take in along the Mendocino Headlands; but if you stroll along any of the village streets you’ll soon find all sorts of quirky touches and beautiful historic structures. […]

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Blustery Wednesday

On a bright Mendocino afternoon in between rainstorms we set out to explore another potential fishing spot, this one along Hwy 1 north of Jughandle (near Fort Bragg). The sun was shining and the sky was bright blue — but it was so windy and cold we could barely walk along the cliff top. According to my hiking guide book […]

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Forest hike

I’m not sure if there’s a name for this phenomenon, but maybe you’ve noticed that whenever you’re driving carefully along a winding, narrow, possibly dirt road full of potholes searching for a specific location in the middle of nowhere, three miles can feel more like 50 miles. Just a few miles up Little Lake Road in Mendocino, not far from […]

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Life in a small town

Just a few of the photos from my wanderings around Mendocino village last week. Zooming in closely on my computer, I realized the man in the photo above was carrying an American flag. Now I kind of wish I’d stayed to see what he was doing. I wasn’t aware of the significance of the two signs shown below until I […]

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Painting with light

Some of the sights along the coast on Highway 1 almost seem like paintings to me as I look through my photos of our drive north. The ever-changing clouds made the sky a wild backdrop for the wide open spaces and rolling coastal mountains.  

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Scenic Mendocino

I’ve been wanting to explore Mendocino village for awhile, but to be honest, the usual crowds of tourists swarming the place put me off. So I was very happy when I got a chance to do some exploring the other day. It was rather late in the afternoon, most of the shops were closed, and the weather didn’t exactly invite […]

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Colors for all seasons

Getting away to the Northern California coast is always a fun adventure for me because I never know what I might discover along the shoreline; but no matter where we end up staying, I’m also eager to spend time exploring just outside my door. Sometimes the unfamiliar back yard can be full of wonderful details — things that are easily […]

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