Tag Archives: outdoors

Jan20

Spring Lake Has a Beaver

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Spring Lake Has a Beaver

Spring Lake
Sheila Albert was so kind to invite me on her birthday walk around Spring Lake. Her partner, Bob Brannigan, arranged the special birding walk with their dear friends Bill, Judy, Steve and photographer-naturalist Tom Reynolds. With binoculars and bird books (and an iPhone app) we looked at twitters, flutters, swimmers, nests and habitats for beaver (pictured) muskrat, otters and mink.

A spectacular green heron (immature) posed for us in perfect light. Too far for me to photograph but I’m sure Bill got something great.

I especially enjoyed learning how to recognize a squirrel nest. Tom is an amazing source of knowledge. Judy was delighted to learn that racoons could be encouraged to depart their encampment under a deck with the scattering of mountain lion scat acquired from the Sonoma County wildlife shelter near the landfill on Reibli Rd.

And frozen paths are not muddy. Yea!

Sep21

Airship Over Wine Country

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Airship Over Wine Country
Airship Over Wine Country

I was so excited to hear about a zeppelin at Sonoma County airport that I went for a ride on it before 24 hours went by. Howard saw the zeppelin at the airport on Thursday and the next morning I signed up for the 3 p.m. cruise to Guerneville and back. Buoyant flight feels more like scuba diving than flying in a plane. The lift-off feels more like rising to the surface of the water using a buoyancy compensator. Landing is so gentle that there is hardly any sensation — so different from the loud and pressured landing of an airplane. The airship never actually touches down — it just hovers as new passengers board and departing ones disembark simultaneously so that the weight load stays constant. For more, see this article in the Press Democrat.
ext-airship-sonoma

May9

It’s Always 40° at the Coast

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It’s Always 40° at the Coast


A few days before Mothers Day, Santa Rosa had a record-breaking 89° so we packed up Friday morning and headed to the coast. I remembered how cold it gets so I brought a parka and a knit cap, but Howard didn’t. He also did not pack the extra down sleeping bag we often use as a bedspread. It tends to get very cold around dinner time, then as the temperature differential between the inland valleys and the coast dissipates, it warms up by midnight and stays comfortable throughout the night. But warm stews are the best dinner in the cold California summers! I brought homemade lentil soup and Chicken Tagine, a Moroccan stew made with apricots, chickpeas and bulgar.

Here is a map of the Gualala River Watershed with the ocean and the mouth of the Gualala River in the background. This is a prime spot for whale watching in February when the mothers come close to the sandbar to scratch off their mussels. The county campground is small, lovely and has a full-time camp host so it is very well run. We sat in the tent and read, or sat by the river and read. It was great having the campground to ourselves!